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the-magic-lava-lamp · 5 years

Text

The ‘I hate Tony Stark’ Club

Chapter 2

Summary: Bucky & Steve, childhood best friends, have been living together for a while now after being separated at the end of high-school. Together again, they’ve been maneuvering through their twenties. And through new relationships when Steve found his way to Tony Stark, another old classmate.

While making some changes to his room, Bucky discovers a box of middle school memories. The old photos are hilarious but the real amazing finds are the old notebooks he and Steve used to pass around during class.

It’s time they rediscover being the founding members of the good ol’ ‘I hate Tony Stark’ club during their sixth grade year.

Ships: Stony, Sambucky

Word Count: 3,739

“Eat your fries.” Sam glanced up from the notebook Bucky had gladly handed over only to find the man anxiously picking at his nails. He tried to give him a kind smile but sometimes he just didn’t know how the man would react to that. He was...a character, that guy. His large doe eyes gave the impression that he was actually a hell of a lot sweeter than he was to Sam. He’d been through some kind of car wreck that cost him an arm just shortly after he’d fallen out with Steve but he was now up to the point where he could laugh about it. Bucky was a nocturnal, interesting and irritating old soul that could have jumped straight from the pages of a Stephen King book. Though Sam hadn’t even finished one book by the guy, he felt that it was accurate nonetheless. Finding out he was that kind of kid in middle school who growled...well, that was just plain fitting for the puzzle that Bucky was.

“I paid good money for those and I doubt you’ve eaten more than crappy snacks today so at least get some hot food in you...” He waved his hand and flicked to another page.

Wordlessly, Bucky flipped the foam lid up and started in on the fries.

“Tony got mad because of this?” Sam quirked his brow and set the journal down and watched as his friend tried to speak before swallowing, he could be such a pig. “Close your mouth.” His nose scrunched up and he regretted that in an instant because it was always those reactions that only spurred Bucky on.

Bucky opened his mouth wide in hopes that Sam got a nice peak of the now creamy sweet potato.

“Your disgusting.” Sam felt like gagging but the sight of the guy triumphantly licking his lips and swallowing...that calmed him a little.

“Anyway, Tony was mad because of something else. He actually loved the notebook.” Bucky stood on his tip-toes as if he wasn’t already tall enough to lean over and look.

“Wouldn’t put it past him.” Sam scoffed and went about digging some more through the bin. Tony was a whole other mess of a character. Sam claims the normalcy of their little group (no matter what Natasha or Bucky had to say about it). He picked up a small pile of photos and started leisurely flicking through them while Bucky stuffed his face some more. “Oh man.”

“What?” Bucky’s attention was pulled away from the delicious food to find another picture of his moody young self. “That was...let me see...” He waved his hand and Sam handed the photo over. “Eighth grade. Can tell because I was really trying to grow my hair out that year.” He grinned.

“But were you washing it because...?” Sam widened his eyes and playfully slapped Bucky when the man had the audacity to pinch his arm. “And it was covering your eyes, man. Those steel blue eyes are one of your best traits.” He squinted at the photo and didn’t catch the way Bucky rolled his eyes.

“Shut-up.” He took a selfishly long drink of his water and sat on the stool next to Sam instead of awkwardly leaning over from the other side. “I wasn’t aware that I had best traits.” He put air-quotes around ‘best’ and went reaching into the gold-mine for himself.

“Ahh, modesty. That’s another one of them.” Sam clicked his fingers extremely close to Bucky’s face and enjoyed the look of annoyance.

“Moving on.” Bucky scowled and started a tiny pile of the photos he’d like to keep out. “Tony...well.” He struggled to find his words for a second or two but picked up when Sam gently nudged him a little. “He found out or...ok well, I told him but only because I thought he already knew-”

“Get to the point, Barnes.”

Bucky seemed to appreciate whenever Sam was a little blunt. “Steve and I kinda spread a rumor about him in the sixth grade. It had a bigger effect than we thought it would.” Bucky glanced at him with his sad doe eyes and Sam felt heat in the pit of his stomach.

“Which was...?”

“We told people that he was gay.” Bucky shrugged but Sam knew that he was currently killing himself over it just by looking at his face. “And it followed him up to high-school.” He scratched behind his ear and pushed his hair back, a nervous tick.

“That is cold.” Sam nodded and Bucky took that in with a knowing look. He was about to speak again but Bucky was quick to interrupt.

“I never would have spread it if...” He bit his lip and rolled his eyes when he thought about his eleven year self. “I didn’t know what gay meant.” He admitted, feeling a little dumb.

Sam couldn't help but break his posture to sigh into an amused but fond smile. “Perfectly understandable considering you were a stupid little sixth grader.” He could tell that Bucky got a lot of comfort out of that comment.

“And if I had known at that time...I wouldn’t have thought that was funny at all.” He widened his eyes as if that comment shocked him too but he was in fact, very casual about this. Sam leaned forward. “Because, y’know, I would’ve finally had the word for what I was.” He chuckled but still looked incredibly guilty. The way he spoke about it heavily implied that he thought Sam knew this fact which was far from the truth.

Sam felt like an idiot. How had he missed the fact that Bucky was actually gay? He always thought his flirting was missed on the guy because he was just straight.

“That wasn’t even the rumor I wanted to spread.” He wiggled his finger and drew Sam’s full attention again. He was good at that.

“And what did you wanna spread?” Sam crossed his arms.

“Only the classic reputation crushing sixth grade rumor.” He genuinely smiled for the first time since Sam walked in. “That he still slept with a teddy-bear.”

He shrugged and went for another fry when Sam started to laugh. Boy, he really adored this guy.

“I tried to...” Bucky waved his hand out but let it fall when the words wouldn’t come to him.

Sam decided he’d buy the guy some time with a little distraction and went through another stack of photos. He’d been expecting more of the middle school stuff but he’d pulled out something entirely different.

“Oh, that’s gotta be....near the end of Freshman year.” Bucky gladly took the bait and leaned over Sam’s shoulder.

“What the hell happened to you?” Sam could hardly hold in his shock. Sure, he’d been aware that both Bucky and Steve had to have their growth spurts and all that puberty junk at some point but...the change (at least in the photos) was abrupt.

“Football and Baseball, mostly.” Bucky’s eyes narrowed, trying to place the memory.

The photo was obviously candid considering the odd angle and general relaxed expression on Bucky’s face. Someone, his best guess was Steve, had taken the photo after what looked like a successful baseball game. Bucky had his bat slung across his shoulders with his arms loosely hooked around it. His sleeves were pushed to the crook of his elbows and the red fabric was tight around his skin. The sun was setting behind him and for an old photo, the moisture of the raindrops was pretty clear on his face. It must’ve just begun to sprinkle.

“I’m guessing, you got really popular, huh?” Sam nudged his arm gently.

Bucky glanced at his lap and shuffled in his seat, it took Sam all but a week into their friendship to realize the guy did not know how to take compliments to save his life. But that never stopped him from throwing them at him constantly. In fact, it only encouraged Sam. “Steve was better suited for it but...” He shrugged.

“There’s that modesty again.” Sam rolled his eyes.

“What were you like in high-school?” Bucky wondered out-loud and Sam crossed his arms in thought.

“I was...” He paused, glancing at Bucky. “I did very well.” He threw him a smug smile.

“Oh, alright.” Bucky rolled his eyes and went for another fry.

“Definitely wouldn’t have been your friend in middle school.” Sam scoffed and slid another picture to him. “Would’ve avoided you at all costs.” He shook his head at the image of the moody eleven year old.

“Can’t blame ya for that.” Bucky clicked his tongue. “I did growl at people...” His face turned to that amused yet grumpy expression that Sam really liked. He took the high-school photo from Sam and sighed. “High School’s when I tried to...control Tony’s rumor.” Bucky finally got out what he’d been hoping to explain.

“Control?”

“Yeah. I would...tell people that he was straight cause I’d seen him with girl and I would just make stuff like that up in the hopes that people would...lay off of him.” Bucky pursed his lips. “Once I’d figured myself out...I felt horrible.”

“I’m guessing, you guys didn’t come out in High-School?” Sam found himself wondering. In College, Steve had kept his dating life private. In fact, Sam never really saw him flirt with anybody let alone date. There’d been fleeting moments where he’d mention how attractive some guy was but that was it. The first few times it happened, Steve sounded as if he were testing the waters to see how Sam would react...and maybe even how he’d react to himself.

“No.” Bucky shook his head and scooted a bit closer. “Steve had two girlfriends, I think.” He shrugged. “I didn’t even know he was gay until we found each other again. Same for him with me. But I mean, the signs were all there, weren’t they?” He shoved the notebook over to Sam with a roll of his eyes.

“I tell ya, it was a lot for Steve to take in. He found out I was gay and that I’d lost my arm in the span of like two seconds after we met up again.” Bucky laughed.

“But anyway, around Sophomore year, we both figured ourselves out. Just never said anything about it.” And he continued to speak with his mouth full. It was as if he’d never been scolded for it. It was endearing and...

“That’s still disgusting Bucky, close your damn mouth.” That was the second time he’d told him now. Bucky only grinned.

“You know, you shouldn’t beat yourself up for this.” Sam tapped the spot on the table next to Bucky’s hand. “You were kids. It was an honest mistake that just got...bigger than you.”

Bucky took his words into consideration but still looked incredibly moody. “Tony probably hates me...even more than before.” He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Steve’s gonna be pissed cause we already barely got along.” He fell back into his chair and resembled a pouting child. “But maybe that won’t even matter cause I broke them up, anyway.” He threw his arms out.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Your a big baby, anyone ever tell you that?” He gently bumped their arms again and Bucky looked up at him with a scowl. “You can apologize to Tony first thing tomorrow.” He got up to throw away the empty foam container. “But for now, you’re gonna wipe that pout off your face and enjoy my company.” Sam hopped off his chair and made himself comfortable on Bucky’s couch.

“That’d be a first.” Bucky, as charming as ever, followed him and nearly shook the couch as he thumped down next to him. Heat filled the pit of Sam’s stomach when he realized this was one of the few times he and Bucky would be alone together...and maybe without insulting each other (as much).

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

“What part of ‘don’t follow me’, was missed on you?” Tony narrowed his eyes but allowed Steve to pace the length of his living room. It occured to him that he wasn’t really enforcing the idea of ‘get out of my house’ to the best of his ability but part of him liked the show.

“Tony, did you honestly think I would just let you leave when you were that angry? I have to explain, I have to-”

“Make excuses? You already did that.” Tony clicked his tongue and flicked his hand, fully aware that he was treading very close to bitchiness. But he was definitely going to allow it this time.

Between the two of them there was a large couch, two love seats and a coffee table that was covered in papers but Tony wanted more space. He was in the mood for some healthy isolation. He decided to fidget with the designs he’d been working on in his kitchen while Steve tried to explain. He’d left some mock-ups on his counter that morning to tinker with later and now was the perfect time.

“Tony...” Steve’s voice was small as he approached the counter, slowly. But his boyfriend merely raised a brow as he examined some of his notes. “Can you at least look at me?” His voice got way too small for Tony’s comfort and he couldn’t help but give the blonde what he wanted and found his eye-line. Brown met blue and Tony waited for his apology.

“I just don’t see why this is such a big deal.”

Tony slammed his papers down and went to his fridge just so he wouldn’t have to look at Steve in that moment.

“Wait Tony, I didn’t mean it like that. I just.” Steve took a deep breath to steady himself. “I really, really liked you and it terrified me-” He couldn’t help but vividly feel those same feelings he had in the sixth grade. All that mixed up shit of always wanting to be Tony’s project partner yet not wanting to admit that he even liked him as a friend. He’d only heard the term ‘gay’ a few times in their class and never in good context....it had been horrifying to attach himself to a word that their classmates whispered in disgust. So he’d pinned it on Tony... before anyone could pin it on him.

“I know that, Steve. I get it.” Tony twirled back to him with an unreadable expression. “But you got to have that great High-School experience. A Football player, popular and chicks dug you.” Tony winked but it wasn’t with his usual charm and it made Steve’s stomach drop.

“Maybe my chances of having that weren’t that great for me anyway, being that I was a...” He paused “Dork, though I prefer the word intellectual, who had nothing but a snarky attitude to his name but...” he shrugged. “That rumor completely wrecked my experience. At least you got to figure yourself out in peace. I was being called names before I even understood my gay thoughts.”

Tony let his expressive hands fall and Steve stepped back. For a moment, they were eerily silent.

“Tony I-”

“I just want to....” He gestured absentmindedly to his papers. “Get some work done. You should go home.” He nodded. He didn’t sound all that angry anymore and that was terrifying.

Steve wasn’t about to let their relationship end because of this. Not when they were finally getting serious. This couldn’t have come at a worse time. In fact, they’d been planning on moving in together in just a short time and been hoping to bring up the idea of Sam taking his place as Bucky’s roommate in the next few days. Either that or Tony’s plan was to just start moving Steve out and moving Sam in without blatantly mentioning it to Bucky at all, which honestly probably would have worked flawlessly.

“This isn’t...-I mean, you’re not....?” Steve couldn’t finish his questions, nerves bubbling from his stomach to his throat.

Tony rolled back on the heels of his feet and let his arms swing, deep in thought. “I’m not sure. What I do know is-” He took a deep breath. “This...” He waved his hand between them and Steve followed the motion with watery blue eyes. “Will be put on hold. A break, if you will?” He scratched the base of his throat. “Just a little breather.” It almost sounded as if the last sentence was meant to reassure Steve.

Steve’s chest suddenly felt too constricting for his heart, which was beating abnormally fast. “Tony, let’s keep talking, please. I want to fix this so that we can get back to where we were. I didn’t-” He took in some more air to steady himself. “We’re coming up on the big stuff.” He sounded pathetic and maybe a little childish with the phrasing but all his life, Steve just wanted to settle down and start his life with a partner. And they were nearly there.

“And it’s been a great trip but every once in a while, you gotta take a piss at the rest-stop before you go again.” Tony’s nose scrunched up at the end “Not my best analogy but we’ll take it.” He nodded to himself, chin to the floor. “I’ll see you when I see you. But for now, it’s best you go home.” And with that, Tony turned and went for his bedroom. He trusted Steve to show himself out.

And eventually, Steve did.

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Sam was stealing the tiniest glances at Bucky while the man fought to stay awake. His chin dipped every few seconds and his eyes would flutter close before shooting open at a loud sound effect from the TV.

He was tempted to smack the hand out from under the man’s chin when he started to drift again, it was something they’d done to each other over twenty times in their ‘friendship’ already. But Sam was finding that he didn’t have the heart to interrupt the peaceful moment.

Thankfully, he didn’t. Steve’s loud door slamming is what woke Bucky permanently.

Bucky shuffled out of his lazy position and crawled to the edge of the couch, hand gripping tightly onto the arm. “Steve-?”

Steve didn’t look mad, however, absolutely devastated was a good word for it. “We’re taking a break.” He clicked his tongue and shrugged. He looked as if he was fresh from a fight, feeling utter defeat. Bucky felt his stomach drop at the sight. This was completely his fault.

Sam must’ve felt his quick drop and patted Bucky’s thigh before standing to face Steve. It somehow felt odd that it was a friendly touch instead of their usual playful fighting kind. “Tony’s gonna come around, Steve. What’s in the past, is in the past. It sucked but...” He shrugged, stealing a small glance at Bucky who looked just as heartbroken as Steve. “You were just kids.”

“That’s what I tried to say.” He gently sat himself on the chair next to the couch and sighed. “This whole thing is just a mess.” He rubbed his hand against his forehead.

“I’m sorry, Steve. I didn't mean to start this. I honestly thought he knew about that.” Bucky was uncharacteristically nervous and almost vulnerable, Sam hadn’t ever seen him like that. But he supposed that was because they weren’t very close, at least not like Bucky was with Steve.

He waited for Steve to give him a reply, eyes wide and curious.

“It’s fine. You’re fine. I just-” Steve waved his hand and Sam could tell there was some lingering angry feelings towards Bucky that he refused to voice. Steve was always careful with his friends feelings, an endearing though irritating trait, that went double with Bucky.

“If you’re mad, I get it-”

“I’m not mad.”

“But Steve-”

“Bucky, It’s fine.” Steve gave a firm answer and Sam could see where this was heading and it wasn’t good.

“Alright. Everybody simmer down.” Sam held out his hands.

“I said, I’m not mad.” Steve let out a frustrated sigh and decided to give up on friendly chat, he wasn’t in the mood. He heaved himself up and went straight for his room, shutting the door behind him.

Bucky rolled over from where he’d been sitting and tipped his chin back to sigh. “This is gonna be a fun night.” He practically growled but then his eyes lit up almost as soon as they met Sam’s.

“What?” He felt the need to step back, a little nervous under Bucky’s sudden stare.

“You should stay over! At least until Steve’s had dinner.” Bucky was suddenly crawling back towards the end of the couch and Sam was willing himself to move but he couldn’t. The man stopped at the edge and slowly raised himself, Sam could feel Bucky’s breath pass his stomach as he moved to met his eyes. “As a buffer. You could be my Adam Cunningham.”

“Am I supposed to know who that is?” Sam was completely thrown.

“He was some kid that Steve would pal around with whenever I pissed him off. Y’know, to get back at me.” Bucky waved his hands around.

Man, that guy could be so oblivious to how his thoughts sound to other people. Sam was amazed at how many people Bucky managed to accidentally piss off. And he’d been one of those people plenty of times before, so he tried not to take too much offense.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Thanks, that’s a real nice way to look at me comforting you for the last hour.”

Bucky chuckled. “I know we’re not...the closest.” He shrugged and Sam gave him a look that implied he was correct. “But you were nice to hang-out with today and I really don’t want to be alone with Steve.”

Sam sighed, wondering how bad it could be. He’d be right in the middle of their tension and that would be torture. But, hanging with Bucky could be fun. They’d never hung out alone together before. Sam had tried to flirt with the idea before but Bucky never really got the clue, maybe it was all the teasing.

“Yeah, Alright. But, I wanna hear more embarrassing school stories.” Sam gave in and made his way around to the other side of the couch.

“You got more college stories?”

“About Steve? Tons.” Sam proceeded to launch into some of his favorite embarrassing Steve stories.

It was a nice end to the day until he started to convince himself that he was just a pawn in some spiteful game that Bucky was playing on Steve.

#is this chapter good???#let me know your thoughts #pls #sambucky #stony #sam wilson #bucky barnes #tony stark #steve rogers #marvel #the avengers #my fanfiction #winterfalcon

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elcorhamletlive · 5 years

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you see, i'm tony stan, but i'm stony shipper. and like...why i would ship Stony if I don't like Steve? he's amazing and his relationship with tony is so interesting. and if you ship but treat one of them like a shit, you really don't like the ship. I mean, why the hell you ship your fav with someone you don't, at least, understand? I really get mad with the way people talk about steve in stony fandom. it's STONY, it's about tony AND steve. not just one of them.

I get what you’re saying, anon, I really do. To me it’s the same - I can’t bring myself to ship something if I’m not at least moderately invested in both characters (that’s the reason why I was never able to get too into Stu////cky, for example). I can’t wrap my mind around the idea of shipping my favorite character with a character I don’t give a shit about. However, at the end of the day, there are no rules to shipping, and individual people have their own individual reasons for shipping stuff, so I don’t think it’s up to us - or anyone - to determine whether someone “really” ships a couple or not.

#but i get your frustration anon #i really really do lol #it's just... at the end of the day we just need to accept that some people feel this way #general salt #negativity #mcu wank #fandom wank #Anonymous

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papistark · 5 years

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Okay. I’ve allowed a night to let everything sink in. I’m ready to talk about Endgame now.

*cinemasins voice* spoilers!! (duh..)

so the wounds are still fresh. v v v v v v v v v fresh. but my thoughts during the entire movie were just OMG IM TRYING TO REMEMBER EVERY SINGLE THING THAT IS HAPPENING SO I CAN REMEMBER IT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE BEFORE i inevitably go see this movie again

This is what the movie reduce me to like 99% of the time btw

now, I’m gonna try and break this up to be as organized as possible into 4 main sections which will be general thoughts, the highs, the lows, and closing thoughts. that may sound organized but I promise it won’t be and as always I’ll have to use bullet holes to even stay relatively "organized"

I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out that I either loved or would wanna discuss but tbh the ENTIRE FILM i was just like GOD I WANNA REMEMBER THIS FOREVER!! Every scene that happened i was like god there's still 3 hours of stuff that's going to happen but I want to remember it all!!!

Overall

this movie was good. and i’m mad it was so good and i found it so enjoyable for how dirty they did me. The pacing was pretty well done for a first viewing, but I'm sure after a couple rewatches I'll get caught up on the occasional misstep in the pacing and general direction the story took, but I really liked it!!

I thought the Thor stuff was kinda distasteful and honestly a joke that ran too long. Like ha ha okay we get it but also? He went through so much fucking trauma can we just lay off him? Damn? I don't wanna linger too much on it bc honestly the more I think about it the more I get upset the russos did him dirty

all the callbacks??? made me so emotional????? eleven years and almost two dozen films guys holy fucking shit it felt like such a good homage to bring stuff back

Yo literally when they went up to busted ass thanos i leaned over to my bf and whispered "are they just gonna kill thanos in the first ten minutes is that allowed" and uh YEP! WOW

Also the opening scene being Clint's family getting dusted... gasps in my theater y'all they went in hard on us

TIME HEIST!!!!!! FUCK marvel knows how to take you on a fun journey!! The concept was so fun!!

I also appreciate them mixing up the plot a bunch to keep us guessing!! Like fuck, when Thanos was finding out through Nebula... future nebula talking to past gamora i was SO SOFT... sisters...

Hulk was... weird. It felt a weird kind of fanservicey for a little bit, and honestly a little out of place? But. Eh. Wasn't the worst part. Certain parts of it were fun! I think I got used to it haha

Everyone looked. So good. After the time jump. Damn. Thank you make up department for everyone's new looks. I live for silver fox tony always.

I loved seeing Loki again i know it was so little content BUT I DONT CARE I'LL ALWAYS LOVE MY FUCKING PRINCE

We didn't get as much Nebula and Tony content as I was hoping but god it was so cute and tender in the beginning. Imagine all that bonding. Nebula finding tony on the floor, knowing he's on the brink of death, and propping him up in the seat :'(((( tony helping fix nebula :(((( the father daughter relationship we deserved and didn't get to see come to fruition.

AMERICA'S ASS. THANK YOU SCOTT LANG.

All the New York flash back was so fucking fun. The elevator scene. Brilliant. I really thought they were gonna recreate but it was such a fun tease. Also cap making fun of his past self for saying "i could do this all day" I SCREAM why do the Russo's get steve so well

Carol taking a direct punch in the face from Thanos without even flinching? We stan a goddess

ALSO SHORT HAIRED CAROL YESSSS I LIVED!!!!! YES!!!! (But also that movie could've used like way more Carol thats just mY OPINION)

Also AGAIN, I DON'T CARE THAT IT WAS FAN SERVICE, STEVE WEILDING MJOLNIR WAS E V E R Y T H I N G. They have TEASED US since that one middle avengers movie we don't talk about that he was worthy and!!! Our!! Son!! Is!! Fucking!!! Worthy. And the scene of thor making him swap w/ him "you get the little one" i screamed bitch

also I was living for how much Steve swore in this film lol literally fuck joss Whedon's characterization we don't know her!

Valkyrie on a Pegasus thank you THANK YOU i was living

That entire final action scene..... holy fucking shit y'all. It was just crazy enough without being too crazy. I loved the callback to the original long continuous shot

THE HEAVENS OPENED UP AND SANG WITH THAT A-FORCE SCENE. YES. ALL THE MARVEL LADIES LINING UP. THEY ARE HERE AND THEY ARE THE STRONGEST OF US ALL. A-FORCE. FUCKING A-FORCE. Thank you Russo's for my LIFE

Carol's little "hi peter parker :)" god i love them. I love peter. My fucking spider son. I missed him so much. I missed Tom Holland's sweet peach little face AH I CRIED WHEN HE SHOWED BACK UP

Also last kind of ~general~ thought i know i don't get time travel at all and it is an instant way to confuse me in any franchise but wouldn't steve doing what he did fuck literally everything up idk we'll get to steve in a bit

Highs

morgan

fucking

stark

I CAN’T BELIEVE I GOT FED WITH SUCH GOOD TONY CONTENT THIS FILM ONLY FOR THEM TO STOMP ON MY HEART LMAOOO

DAD TONY BEING AS LOVING AND DOTING AND SWEET AND TENDER W/ HIS DAUGHTER AS WE ALL HAVE HEADCANONED HIM TO BE FOR YEARS!!!

TONY GETTING HIS JUSTIFICATION IN BEING MAD not just mad but PISSED at Cap for how everything fell out. catharsis. felt good scoob.

speaking of good tony content of course i need to just take a moment to YELL ABOUT STONY thank you russos for the fan service thank you for having tony ogle and comment on steve rogers’ ass it almost makes up for all the pain and suffering

btw do y’all think the H. for Morgan’s middle name stands for Harley because I LIKE TO THINK SO

also am i lowkey annoyed that like half of viewers won’t recognize an adult ty simpkin at tony’s funeral at the end even tho i know i shouldn't be because ot everyone is a die hard BUT half the articles im looking up for reviews and shit of that scene literally all the results are “SO WHO IS THAT KID AT THE END OF ENDGAME” YOU FUCKING FOOLS IT’S TONY’S FIRST BORN SON HARLEY KEENER FROM IRON MAN 3. FUCKS. im getting off topic anyway i was just happy they brought him back because I am an iron man 3 enthusiast and his relationship with tony was SO important and this confirms that at the very least tony kept in contact with him over all these years!!! and he wasn’t just some insignificant blip

Not to be stony on main but steve being the first person to hold Tony again once he was back on earth :)))) wrow.

Also the first thing tony telling him being "I lost the kid" WOW BREAK MY HEART MORE HUH!! WHY NOT!!

The first thing Peter doing when he saw Tony again :'') just rambling about everything that happened and tony just so happy to see him alive and hugging him so tight I'M NOT FINE!! NOTHING WILL EVER BE FINE AGAIN!!!

I appreciated the closure with Howard like?? A lot?? I'm the last person to be a Howard stark apologist, but I think his character and his relationship w/ Tony and how Tony viewed him as a father and as a man was so well crafted throughout the series??? Idk I liked that scene it was good to my baby.

And now a pOSSIBLY CONTROVERSIAL~~ opinion but..... I loved Steve's ending. I really did. I thought he got a beautiful and fitting ending and I was so happy. It meant so much especially to hear his reasonging being that in a way, he did it for Tony. He was inspired by what Tony told him. He saw Tony get his happy ending and for so many films now Steve has been searching for that and he missed an entire life. Tony helped him realize that. It just made me!! So emo!! Like Bucky's face when he knew Steve wasn't gonna be coming back. Steve's last convo w/ Sam. It was just amazing. I can't believe I'm seeing hot takes from people calling Steve selfish or blaming the fact that the Russos have a boner for Steggy or whatever. Who cares!!! Steve got his happy ending and it was well deserved and a wonderful arc!! Lay off him bc you ship him w/ Bucky or tony more damn!!!! (Idk about the timeline y'all dont come for me i really have no idea i think the Russos just said fuck it for that one even when talking about not fucking up the timeline)

Lows

Natasha deserved better. She did. I understand why they took her character arc the way that they did, and honestly, this is the first time I've felt we've seen Natasha have even a modicum of actual character traits since like, Iron man 2 and Avengers 1. She found purpose in keeping the family together and trying to help the people left living, while never stopping or losing contact with anyone else in their endeavors to fix what Thanos broke. As tired as I am of seeing a female character die for ~man pain~ this felt like so much more than that. In the end Nat wanted to sacrifice herself for the greater good, and that's what she did. I'm still fucking upset though, even though they've butchered her character across almost all the films she's been in

Thor being turned into an entire fucking joke. That's it. I got nothin left for the writers at this point.

So..... let's talk about Tony's death, shall we

"You can rest now" broke me. It truly did. I've never loved any fictional character across any medium as much as I have loved Tony Stark. But Pepper's line at the beginning "you'll sleep, but will you rest?" Is so fucking telling. I think I immediately knew for sure in that moment. Because she's right. And that's the worst part.

Peter :)))) finally :)))) calling :))))) tony :)))) by :)) his :)))) first :)) name :))) as he was dying :)))) asking him not to go the same way he told tony he didn't want to go when he was getting dusted GOD. AND WE THOUGHT THAT SCENE IN INFINITY WAR WAS ROUGH. HAD N O T H I N G ON THIS.

No offense but where was Rhodey when Tony was dying lmao ok

That funeral scene.... seeing everyone there drawn together..... god. It was beautiful. It really was.

Of course I'm not happy. I'm extremely fucking upset. I knew tony wielding the gauntlet would be coming, but I thought they would find a way for him to make it out alive. As soon as they were showing that even the hulk couldn't handle it with the gamma radiation, I knew the nail was going to be in the coffin.

All that aside... what I can say, is that if they HAD to kill him off, I think it was a proper send off. We saw so many arcs of Tony's come to a close, and I knew it was just a matter of time. Also that being said, I really don't believe in death being necessary to end a character's arc. Yeah yeah blah blah we get the sad and tragic but TRUE message that at the end of the day death is inevitable and that tony had to sacrifice himself for the greater good. He and Strange both knew it, and as soon as Strange held up that finger I knew that was it for him.

It wouldn't be so hard if they hadn't given us everything they did with tony after the 5 year jump. He healed. He was HAPPY. But pepper was right, and as long as Tony was alive... he would never truly /rest/. And that's the only way I'm able to make peace with this death. Tony has always been a character who was just going going going, never going to stop even if it killed him, all to protect the ones he loved, and protect the whole world and make it a better place. He had a beautiful story that was told so well over these past eleven years, with admitted shortcomings here and there. He had the most cohesive trilogy films, the best character development and arcs, and an incredible portrayal. I'm grateful for it, but that doesn't make it any easier that they decided to go and show us that Tony was able to FINALLY settle down with Pepper and see him find the best version of himself as a husband to her and a father to his little baby girl. A baby girl that now has to grow up without her dad, and pepper has to go on without her husband, the love of her life. It's fucking tragic and honestly, we didn't need that imho lmao

The hardest parts is that like.... idk. I feel like the only reason they killed him is for shock factor, but somehow without the shock? A lot of us felt or were worried that this was coming. I think the russos and co. We're just totally set on the idea that like... tony HAD to die and that was the only way for this arc to come to a close not just WITHIN the universe, but meta, outside of the MCU as well. They did the same thing with Hugh jackman as Logan and that shit HURTED me y'all. Eleven years we had RDJ give us this amazing character and he is the SOLE reason the MCU is where it is today. So you know what, the Russo's and everyone can circle jerk about how much ~poetic justice~ there is in this ending for Tony, but at the end of the day... it just ain't it fam.

Realistically I know after wielding the infinity stones there is no way Tony, a human, could've survived, even with his armor on. I knew that. And as biased as I am towards seeing Tony living, if he had wielded the stones and NOT died? It would've felt cheap. So again, if they had to end his life, I appreciate the way they did it and thought it was the best send off they could've given him. I also would've appreciated some kind of alternate option where oh i dont know carol or someone strong enough could've handled the snap and tony could live the rest of his days with his wife and daughter and found family but..... ig that's just me huh.

:(((( Happy asking Morgan what she wanted and her saying "cheeseburgers" SHE'S JUST LIKE HER DADDY I AM SO!!! UPSET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And last thought is that I fucking cried AGAIN because the biggest applause moment was during the credits when RDJ's name appeared. My theater gave a standing damn ovation. Also the very last sound after it faded to black... Tony hammering away, building the very first Iron Man suit.... that shit hurted.

If any of y'all read this and wanna yell about stuff w/ me I WELCOME YOU INTO MY DMS LMAO PLS MESSAGE ME I NEED MORE PEOPLE TO CRY WITH!!!

#avengers spoilers #endgame spoilers #avengers endgame #endgame #have my classic word vomit long ass post after a marvel movie mess of a review lmaoo #long post

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grecoisms · 5 years

Text

title: time of the singing birds (1/5)

pairing: cullen rutherford / cassandra pentaghast

summary:

"She never made things easy. But she always made them possible."

Cullen and Cassandra across the years.

Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls. From these emerald waters doth life begin anew.

1. They are still cleaning blood off from the cobbled streets of Hightown when the Seekers prepare to leave, a whole army of them, the same way they have arrived: clad in the darkest of clothes and blankest of faces. Kirkwallers – what is left of them anyway – avoid them automatically, not quite aware what is happening, what will happen. It is hard to forget recent happenings, even if summer envelops the city in its hotbright arms.

The tail of the small army is almost out of the great market square when a solitary figures emerges from its mass, and hops off their horse, graceful and quick. Cullen, who is helping with reparations along with some remaining templars closely tagging at his heels, notices this warily. He doesn't stop the task at hand, which is presently to load the cart with salvaged Chantry stuff: a half-singed book here, a chipped Andraste statuette there. An Antivan leather rug. Letters carefully stacked into a smaller cabinet with rattling doors. Alphabetized. Cullen is impressed, which is a sort of miracle nowadays.

At the end of the day, after leaving Darktown, he has to sit down at the dock to collect himself. Because despite sending food and finding shelter, the mass wails and blames and points. He doesn't shake before them, but he bites his tongue until he tastes blood.

He already sent two of such carts in Lowtown and plans to check the deal the templars made with the Blooming Rose and the Hanged Man. Shelter. Food. Order. Desperate times, desperate measures, he thinks, just when the figure who gets off from their horse starts to stride towards them.

The figure is a woman, all sharp edges and a strict expression. Cullen senses the leadership in her movements - no one moves quite as sure, quite as determined.

He is just about to throw Chancellor Uthric's Legendarium onto the cart when the Seeker stops before him. The youngest templar, Thomas, freezes. His mouth hangs open, all comical. Cullen bites his tongue before he can snap at him, and instead, crouches down to collect the loose papers that are falling out from the fractured spine of the codex.

"Knight-Captain Rutherford?" Nevarran accent, hard on the tongue. He looks up. The sun blinds him, catches the Seeker from behind, turning her into a dark silhouette.

Still, he doesn't stop his task. Up and down, left to right. From the ground, to the cart. From the Chantry tables, to the people's belly. Cullen laughs a bitter laugh.

"I am not Knight-Captain anymore" he'd address her properly, but he lacks this particular etiquette too, it seems. He wipes his face with the cleanest patch on his sleeves, careful of the fresh scars. "But I am Cullen Rutherford, yes."

His soldiers - Thomas and Lauranna - share a quick look between them. Their faces are shadowed and battered, their armours with the proper insignia thrown in the cool shade of the debris, discarded. They must be a sorry sight. Still, Cullen has never felt calmer, here, standing in the sun, moving objects with his own two hands. Survival, it seems, has turned boredom into safety.

When he stands up, straight as an arrow, the Seeker steps towards him, stepping onto the half shadows of the great white columns. She has a solemn face, all angles and dark eyes that do not shy from his gaze. An armored and strong and scarred woman, only a few years older than him. Though Cullen does not trust his own age anymore.

Because sometimes, when the sun sets red behind the Vimmark Mountains, Cullen would think of home, and his heart would feel ancient and lost - as if he dropped it somewhere between Kinloch Hold and Kirkwall. Perhaps it turned to stone, like Meredith, and sunk deep down to the bottom of the Waking Sea. Maybe this is why he favours the docks so much. He adamantly refuses to think of the docks at home, by the lake.

Yet when Cullen looks at the woman and finds her face familiar, it does not hurt like violent sunsets and the deepdark waters. In fact, he trusts her scarred and stony face on sight, like he trusts the loops in Mia's handwriting. Even years later he would not be able to tell exactly why his heart calmed so under her eyes.

"Well, serah" the woman smiles a bit and her scar ripples with it. She speaks as if they had been talking for hours now. "There is a ship going to Highever tomorrow morning. Then we'll set for Haven, for the Conclave. Surely, you have heard of it."

"Yes" Cullen says, careful, because the scar on his mouth is still fresh and because he knows an offer when he hears it. "But I don't need to sail across the sea and listen to a council saying that there is a problem. I live it now. And I watched it happen." He motions to the cart, he points at the debris. He thinks of the hundreds of hungry mouths and the hushed wails when he crosses Lowtown. He thinks of Kirkwall, burning and mad and red.

Cullen doesn't add, because it is obvious: I made it happen.

The woman makes a barking sound - it takes a second for Cullen to realize this is her way of laughing.

"You are every bit the man I have heard about" she crosses her arms to hide the white symbol on her breastplate, an eye on bright fire. "We may be kindred souls, Commander. I, myself, also dislike idle talk and favour taking action."

"I am no Commander."

"You could be." the woman retorts, eyes flashing. "You should be. You were forged in an army. For an army. Better still, you are fit to lead, to plan, to command. Unless your idea of saving Thedas is to sort through Chantry Literature."

Her mouth is set in a thin line as she eyes the piles on the cart. Cullen locks his jaw and steels himself.

"That is also a commendable way of ensuring safety. And legacy, for the future."

"Legacy lies in people, not paper." she says. "And safety should be done with them and by them, and again, not through paper. But you know this, do you not, Rutherford?"

She points at her own scar and looks at his. Soldier to soldier.

"Alright, Seeker." he says, holding up his hands. "You have my attention. What is your proposal?"

"The Conclave is but theory. What the Divine truly wants is radical change to the order of things, so Thedas can survive the next age. What we think - what Justinia thinks, is that the Conclave will fail. More dire decisions are needed. For this reason, I have set out to collect a group of remarkable people to serve her and the Maker's will."

It is Cullen's turn to make his distaste visible.

"Am I to serve as a substitute for Hawke?"

"Maker no. The woman is a force of nature, but she has no finesse for battle strategies. And her presence, though sorely needed, is out of question as of the present, unfortunately. She'd have been the symbol for our cause. Alas. But no matter if Hawke returns or not: You are to be the Commander of the Armed Forces."

"If I accept."

"If you would, please."

"Hm" he scratches the beginnings of his sandblonde beard and knows he would not know himself now if he would stare at his reflection in the water. "You don't know me. Why the trust?"

The woman seems annoyed.

"Would you require a more elongated verbal foreplay? Take care, I am not a patient woman by far."

Cullen laughs, and this time, it is genuine. The woman laughs as well. When they calm, the woman's eyes are solemn again, almost angry. He doesn't know yet, but this is a sign of her passion.

"Listen" she says. "What I am, however, is a Seeker of the Truth. You know what that means, do you know? I know true men when I see them, and you look like one. Trust me. Trust yourself. Come with us, because we need your help."

She is shorter than him by an inch, but in the semi-sunlight and dark armour, she looks like a giant. His heart sinks.

"I cannot go with you tomorrow."

"But you will come." A hopeful lilt.

"But I will join you later. When I have finished the last of my dealings here."

"When you have filled the cart and the list, you mean."

"You got me." He smiles again, but it smaller and sadder this time.

"Well, Commander Rutherford" she says, and gives her hand for a shake. "Welcome aboard the Inquisition. Write to the Haven Chantry once you start your journey there."

Her grip is firm and warm. His is tentative.

The whole ordeal is a but seconds. She lets go, nods to the others and is already on her way back to her horse and to the docks.

Cullen almost crouches back again to read the burnt letters of some other book when he realizes something.

"Wait" his voice is a shout, all echo as it reaches her. She turns around, caught offguard."I didn't catch your name."

"Cassandra" her voice reverberates across the square, even and acute, like her. "My name is Cassandra Penteghast."

She disappears.

The fleeting bells from the Viscount's Keep begin their solitary song under the scorching sun.

#cullen rutherford #cassandra pentaghast #cullen x cassandra #dragon age inquisition #dragon age #da:i #da:3 #My writing

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starsandsupernovae · 6 years

Note

11 for stony/thorbruce ❤️

there doesn’t seem to be alot of angst for thor/bruce so here’s some angst with a fluff end

11. I never meant to love you

“Banner!”

Bruce turned at the sound to see Thor in the doorway of his room. He had his own small set of his rooms, a rarity on the ship that now housed all the Asgardians but no one had wanted to room with him. Which was understandable. He wouldn’t want to live with him either.

“Hi Thor.”

Thor grinned at him with a smile that was completely unfair. The man was supposed to be the god of thunder, but his smile was one of pure sun, brightness that could light up any room, a happiness that, even through unimaginable pain persisted.

Sometimes Bruce wondered how he did that, kept so happy while around him, worlds burned.

“We’re not far from Earth now. You’re going to be home!” Thor said, sounding so happy for him, Bruce almost couldn’t stand it. Because of course, he had wanted to return to Earth, of course, he didn’t want to remain in space forever, of course, he wanted to go home. But as they got closer to the planet that hated him, that had probably, in their deepest hearts, rejoiced when he had disappeared, as they got closer to when Thor would drop him off and leave with the rest, to where Bruce had no one to smile at him, no one to care at all, Bruce was feeling something else entirely.

“That’s great, Thor.” Bruce managed a small smile back, trying to hide his feelings.

It failed spectacularly. Thor came into the room, sitting on the chair opposite the bed he was lying on, head tilted as he asked

“What’s wrong? Do you not want to go back?” and he sounded so genuinely concerned, like he cared about Bruce, and god he probably did, and Bruce wished he didn’t because that would make it easier if Thor just didn’t give a fuck about him at all. But no, Bruce was Thor’s friend and Thor cared for him as such. Never mind that Bruce wanted more, and hated that he wanted anything at all, hated that he wanted Thor to have to deal with him and his problems, hated that he wanted Thor to love a monster.

“No, of course, I want to go back.” Bruce didn’t look at him, instead laying back on the too big bed, the one big enough for the other guy if he came out, if he decided to rob Bruce of his consciousness and his body again, wanted to steal days, or hell, years now of his life, and continued scribbling at the tablet he had been given, the closest they had to an earth model.

“You’re lying,” Thor stated, still staring at him.

“It’s just- it’s complicated alright?” Bruce finally set down the tablet and looked Thor in the face. “People aren’t exactly, uh, fans of the other guy. Or me. He’s a monster, and I’m the mad scientist who created him. I’m going to have to figure out how to deal with that.” How to deal with being alone. How to deal with being without Thor.

Thor sighed.

“I wish they could see you as I do, Bruce. But we can overcome that. You’re an avenger now. I’m sure they will begin to appreciate you more.”

Bruce shook his head lightly at Thor’s misunderstanding because it wasn’t just that, he could deal with the people hating him, fearing him, ignoring him. He wasn’t sure he could deal with Thor leaving him. And that was what was going to happen when they got back. Thor would go wherever his people went, Bruce would go wherever he could without anyone knowing who he was and that would be all. And that was how it should be. That had always been how it should be. Monsters and people shouldn’t mix, he should be on his own. But it had been nice, just for this while to pretend he shouldn’t.

“That’s not just it, Thor. I’m sorry, you don’t understand.”

“So tell me. Help me understand.” Thor looked so earnest, and Bruce realized he could never deny that, even if it was wrong, even if he was being selfish.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen, Thor. I’m sorry, I never meant to-” He cut himself off trying to find the words.

“Never meant to what?”

Bruce stayed frozen for a moment before mumbling out.

“I never meant to fall in love with you.”

The silence hit him, and he rushed to continue.

“But I did and now we’re going back and you’re going to leave and I’m going to be alone again. And that’s fine. You should. You need to take care of your people, you’re their king and I’m the last person anyone wants among their people. Just gonna take me awhile to get used to that alright? That’s all.”

Thor sat still for another minute and Bruce wanted to run away to take the words he had said and stuff them back into his mouth.

“Bruce-” Thor’s voice was suddenly rough, as though he was having trouble gathering the words. He crossed over to the bed and gathered Bruce in his arms instead, holding him tight and Bruce didn’t understand why, why he would be doing this.

“I am not going to leave you. I want you with me. I would be honored to have you among my people. And I- I love you too. I love you, Bruce, and I would never leave you. Wherever I go, wherever I need to take my people, I would hope for you to come with us, with me.”And there in that moment, wrapped in Thor’s arms, Bruce let himself believe that maybe he didn’t have to be alone again.

#thor/bruce #thor #bruce banner #hulk #dani writes #coldnerdytrash #yay! an ask

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timeisacephalopod · 6 years

Note

Hey just wanted to ask if it was even possible if both the partners are aro, if so will you be willing to write something with that, if yes pretty pls write something with stony😊😊🙏.(Stony! I know its shocking but I do ship Tony with almost everyone its just that thunderiron is my obsession atm 😁😁) also thanx for all the other fics and all the prompts you have filled😘😘.

Its been awhile since I’ve written Stony! And I’ve never done something with both partners being aro so this will be fun :)

“Wanna get married no romo?”Tony asks, looking up at Steve and grinning.

He frowns, “why would we get married then?” he asks.

“Tax benefits,” Tony says immediately, like he’s thought this through.

“You’re rich, why the hell would you need tax benefits?” he points out.

“I don’t but I figured you could make use of them. Also I kind of want to throw a party and a wedding in an acceptable excuse. Pepper won’t yell at me if we’re getting married,” he says.

“Neither of us have much interest in marriage though. Pepper’s not an idiot, she’ll see right through that.” Tony has actively rejected any notions of marriage for… well, the better part of his life and Steve isn’t exactly apposed to marriage but he doesn’t really care about it either. He wonders if things were easier for Tony to figure out given his general repulsion to all things romance. Finding the term aromantic and knowing it fits, Steve thinks, would be much easier if you already knew how much all things romance put you off. It took longer for him. Its not that he doesn’t like romance, he doesn’t really care either way and has a sort of guilty pleasure for romcoms, so when Bucky suggested he was aromantic it didn’t seem right.

He had stupidly thought that you had to be… well, more like Tony for something like that to fit. But Bucky made a point- Steve has dated around and he cared about all the people he dated, loved them even, but they all had the same complaints. Steve just didn’t seem that into their relationship. He always denied it at the time, but looking back on things he was holding back. Then he met Tony, who already seemed to have things figured out and it felt a lot less… performative, he supposes. Less like he had to act a a certain way to get a certain result. It took time still but he eventually realized that when Tony described how he felt about things he felt the same way. Sam had been pissed about owing Bucky twenty bucks.

“You know what, I resent that. She’ll totally accept our cool party with fancy clothes and stuff,” Tony says.

“Why not just throw a party like a normal person?” he asks. Tony always has to go make things complicated when he could just choose a normal, average solution like a normal, average person. But this is Tony Stark- the man couldn’t be average if he tried. And Steve is sure that he does sometimes try.

Now isn’t one of those times though because he looks like Steve just gave him the perfect solution to his problem. “I could just throw a party,” he says like this hadn’t occurred to him before.

“Yeah, honey, you can just throw a party,” he says, shaking his head.

Tony wrinkles his nose, “why is being called bee vomit considered a term of endearment?” he asks and Steve laughs.

“Better than ‘platypus’,” he says and Tony makes an offended noise.

“I will have you know that Rhodey thinks my nicknames are adorable,” he says.

Steve snorts, “I should have stuck with Bucky as a life partner,” he mumbles.

“I should have stuck with Rhodey,” Tony says, nose in the air. “But then who would remind me I could just… throw a party.”

“And I’d have to deal with Bucky and Sam bickering,” Steve says.

Tony lets out a long sigh, “and they bicker so much. Its so annoying.”

“Right? If I didn’t know better I’d think they were enemies, not lovers.” They were mean too. Honestly they must have one hell of an understanding of one another to be that mean and not actually offend the other.

“Think Pepper will be mad about a party? I’m not very good at keeping things in check,” Tony points out.

No, he isn’t, but that’s what Steve is for. “Is she your keeper? Just do some paper work and send her and Natasha on a cruise or something so when she hears about it she’s half way across the world on vacation,” he says.

Tony snorts, “I like how you started that with a ‘fuck Pepper’ statement that immediately led into a way to appease her and make sure she’s not around to bust us. That’s a good idea though, she’ll be happy about that paperwork- I’m like seven years behind,” he says and Steve lets out a shocked squeak.

“You get in that office right now! How do you live like that? You’re going to get it all done before any parties are happening here and you’re apologizing to Pepper!” he says, shoving Tony towards his office even as he protests.

Steve pushes him into the office and shuts the door. “You aren’t allowed out until you’re done with all that paperwork! And don’t even think of going out the window,” Steve tells him.

“What if I have to pee?” Tony asks.

“There’s a bathroom attached to your office, Tony, nice try.”

On the other side of the door Tony groans, “what if I get hungry?” he asks.

“I’ll slide you cheese through the key hole,” Steve tells him, laughing at his own joke.

“You are horrible. Rhodey was a much better life partner,” Tony tells him.

“Well Bucky might have depression, but at least he mostly has his shit together. Do your paperwork,” Steve tells him.

“Rhodey wouldn’t make me do paperwork,” Tony mumbles.

“Instead he’d make you go for runs with him in the morning,” Steve says.

He hears Tony sigh on the other side, “you’re right. Paperwork is better than exercise. I fully believe exercise should be illegal.”

“I think pineapple on pizza should be illegal but you still eat that like a heathen. Paperwork, Tony,” Steve tells him, walking away. Tony yells after him but seems to realize his attempts to distract Steve by talking to him to avoid his paperwork isn’t working so he stops talking presumably to actually do things. Knowing Tony though he’ll end up watching seven hours of cat videos and going on a Twitter rant about a stupid subject like how Mothman was a hoax.

#steve x tony #stony #alternate universe #aromantic tony stark #aromantic steve rogers

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spacerainbows · 7 years

Text

Pick 10 ships before reading/answering the questions

chronologically ordered

I found this posted on someone’s blog and even though I want tagged I decided to do it anyway

1. Destiel (Supernatural)

2. Sabriel (Supernatural)

3. Drarry (Harry Potter)

4. Spirk(Star Trek TOS/AOS)

5. Johnlock (Sherlock BBC)

6. Merthur (Merlin)

7. Cockles (Supernatural actors{Misha and Jensen )

8. Jim/Pam(The Office)

9. Stony(Marvel)

10. Spideypool (Marvel)

1 - Do you remember the episode/scene/ chapter that you first started shipping 6?

Merlin was recommended to me by a friend that already shipped Merthur, so I ended up walking into it expecting to ship it. I already shipped it by the end of the first season because they are so reliant on each other and “two sides of the same coin” I call soulmates

2 - Have you ever read a fic about 2?

Yes I have. I actually started shipping it because of fan fiction because there isn’t a ton of fule for it in the show. Way to go random destiel works for getting into a new ship*distant sounds of applause*

3 - Has a picture of 4 ever been your screensaver/ profile pic / tumblr?

Yes it actually is my phone screensaver currently. I’m rewatching TOS and it’s wonderful. My name is based around an inside joke with my brother regarding spirk and the enterprise so I guess that counts for something I found a shirt with the enterprise that had a rainbow trail behind it and my brother said “You know it’s because Kirk and Spock are getting it on” and I said “It’s just the spacerainbows having some fun”. Yeah that probably didn’t need to be said. Anyway…

4 - If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

I’d cry. Cockles is beautiful. The conventions would fall and it would be sad. They are wonderful together and they know it. I would never let this happen. Even if they aren’t actually together*for all that we know* so much could happen if it stopped. Also a good section of tumblr would probably be crying and rage posting.

5 - Why is 1 so important?

I don’t know if this question means important to me or the fandom so I’ll explain my thoughts on both. For me it seems so important because Dean has been alone for most of his life constantly worrying about protecting his little brother. He always needed to be strong enough to protect because there was no one really there to protect him. Then enters Castiel, a celestial being capable of killing thousands in seconds. He’s an angel of the lord who “gripped Dean right and raised him from perdition” He has the capability to protect Dean, but Dean needs to be able to let him. I feel like this took many seasons for him to finally admit and he still doesn’t but through all of it while Castiel looses and regains his mojo Dean is always there for as much as he can. They protect one another. Dean can finally have the comfort he needs. And then there’s Cas. He’s an angel. They appear as emotionless beings that could care less about the world but Castiel isn’t, and right at the beginning in season 4 you could tell that he knew this. He was scared to admit to himself that he could and did feel. The first person he confides in is Dean. Throughout the show he embraces these feelings and grows new ones and learns the meaning of love and family*cried over season 12 episode 12* They’re always there for each other,and even if the show never shows them as anything other than platonic, their still friendship means so much. As for the fandom as a whole, I feel as though it’s provided a focus point and feeling to build. I feel like all good shows have two characters that fit so perfectly, either as friends or lovers, together; just watching the relationship solidify and grow is just showing how amazing character development can be. Then there is the fandom uniting over it. I don’t really care if you ship destiel or not or you ship wincest or samstiel or nothing at all, you still know that it exists and is something that is talked about in the show. The fact that it has come up as a topic in the show itself shows how much it has affected the Supernatural fandom as a whole.

6 - Which one has the strongest bond?

I’d have to say Spirk. Throughout both aos and tos they would do anything for each other. They would stand by each other during death and fight to save each other. Not to mention the Vulcan bonding or honds. #t’hy’la

7 - Which ship has lasted the longest

Spirk. Probably. I mean it’s know as one of the first slash pairings in existence and one of the first to actually start the spread of a fandom gathering and forming around one thing. It’s sometimes called the flagship or the mothership. I’ve shipped it since I was a little kid because I grew up watching tos and the movies. My dad said would say that they were secretly gay for one another as a joke and my small young mind believed him so I got mad whenever they were ever with anyone else and they shipped caried over to when I took to watching it again on my own. And small me also noticed how similar their actions were to straight couples and I asked my dad if they were dating and that’s what led to the secretly gay thing that my dad started saying

8 - How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up I mean.

They never canonically got together and one of them is kinda dead now until further notice. If you want to count when and before Arthur dies because of the fight and his death than sure, but there were other times when they would get with other people and Arthur was kinda married to Gwen by the end of the show so…

9 - If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive? 2 or 8?

2. Sorry Jim and Pam but you’re being pinned against a hunter who deals with zombies on a daily basis-one of the actually less crazy things he’s seen- and an arch angel capable of snapping his fingers and changing things to fit his desires. I think they would be pretty good. Also angels can heal and not die unless killed by an angel blade or in Gabriel’s case an arch angel blade, so unless a zombie can find one and stab Gabe I think they’d make it out pretty unscathed. 10 - Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reasons? I mean, this could be canon, but for all I know it isn’t, soooo i don’t really know the answer but for all we know they could secretly be hiding it right now.

11 - Is 4 still together?

I mean, is you take into account the new information brought from aos you know they’ve known and been friends with each other until Jim’s death. So I can only imagine that if it truly were canon they would still be together because they’d be able to go against time as they’ve done it before for each other.

12 - Is 10 canon?

Na, the only canon thing on my list is Jim and Pam. They are adorable and great btw. I shipped them by the end of the very short first season and all their interactions are adorable and all the stuff they go through to finally be happy together and when the start a family, aaaaaaaaa, it’s just too great.

13 - If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

If I had to answer honestly I’d say it come down between 1 and 2 because of the healing capabilities, and then it would be a 4 way suicide. Sam and Dean would never be able to kill each other and I doubt Cas and Gabe would want to kill each other either, so it would either be a battle that would never end or a suicide. Also DON’T THROW MY CHILDREN INTO A PIT OF DEATH i cry

14 - Has anyone ever tried to sabotage 5?

Mary Watson… you know how she ended up. She’s actually great though.

15 - Do you spend hours a day going though 3’s tag

Not as much as I used to but if I get a sudden urge.

16 - If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all up, which ship would you SINK?!

Stony. Sorry, but civil war kinda happened. If that fight doesn’t count as a break up as is for their not canon pairings I don’t really know what does.

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valyrfia · 6 years

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hey friend! fello eurovision shitposter here :) first of all I want to say that im so glad to have finally found someone whos as convinced as i am that bulgaria should win this year! I had another question for you: so you post a lot of marvel as well and a lot of stony so i stalked your blog and im confused because you said you started to ship them more after civil war? idk im a huge stucky shipper and steve and bucky just seem to have the better dynamic no offense intended i just want yourview

BULGARIA. THEY’RE AMAZING RIGHT? I’m honestly almost more in love with this song that I was with Beautiful Mess last year (that’s a lie I still cry that my boy Kris didn’t win but I also adore Amar Pelos Dois so I’m not mad). Now with the footage of their AMAZING live performance at the London pre-party, I’m almost fully convinced that they are gonna clinch the top spot this year. I mean, imagine Bones with the camera work and lighting of Eurovision and the atmosphere of the arena. It’s going to be incredible I’m so excited.

Moving on from my trash talk: why I ship stevetony and not stucky? Whoo boy this is gonna take an essay to answer, and it’s going to be difficult a. because I can never remember all the reasons why I do ship stevetony (I always end up missing one lol) and b. because stucky shippers are…enthusiastic, for the lack of a better word. I love them, I respect a lot of them and I’m friends with people who ship it. But fandom is a tricky business. Stevebucky never did it for me as a ship. The explanation is long and complicated but it can be boiled down to a distinct idea: For me, adding a romantic element to Steve and Tony’s dynamic makes their interactions much more interesting and intriguing, while adding a romantic element to Steve and Bucky’s dynamic would almost subtract something quintessential from both of those characters.

Friendships to me are almost more impactful on a person’s life than romantic relationships, god knows where I would be without my friends today. There’s a tendency in the media to push the obligation that the most important person in your life has to be your significant other. I hate that, frankly. Steve and Bucky love each other more than anybody else in the world, and for me, that’s beautiful. I guess I just never did understand the romantic connotations that people attached to what seemed to me, seemed to be a fully functioning, complete and beautiful relationship.

Steve and Tony’s relationship however, you always feel like you’re missing some part of the story when you observe their interactions. From their respective monologues to each other, The Confession and The Oath to their familiar joking with each other right before everything goes to shit at the base in Siberia in CA:CW. You feel like you’re missing some part of their story. I, (it seems along with Jonathan Hickman, RDJ and Chris Evans) like to headcanon that this missing piece is a romantic plotline, but you can interpret it however you want. That’s the beauty of fictional works. It’s not the cold, hard canon that matters, but your interpretation of it. My experience is different from yours and to me that’s beautiful.

An essay is available below the cut, if you’re interested in how I actually stopped shipping stucky and started shipping stevetony (an origin story if you will.)

In my introduction to Marvel, a couple of years ago, I did initially read Steve/Bucky fics more than any other pairing, but incidentally it was a Steve/Bucky fic that made me start reading Steve/Tony ones (oops I guess?) The Man on the Bridge by boopboop on AO3 was the one that got me invested in the Steve/Tony dynamic, it was the fic with the highest kudos on AO3 at the time that I was reading Stucky. It’s a really great fic 11/10 definitely worth the read (I think you need an AO3 account though) but what kept me going wasn’t the ship I was supposed to be reading it for, it was the dynamic between Steve and Tony. For example: you get great scenes like Steve and Tony bickering like an old married couple over coffee at least four times and banter like this out of nowhere:

““I sent flowers?” Tony asks, trying like hell to play it cool. He gives her a desperate look that she ignores by default.

“Tony picked them,” Pepper says, determined as ever to ruin Tony’s reputation.

“He did, did he?” Steve asks knowingly.

Pepper leads them all into the wide social space inside. “He spent a lot of time trying to find your favorites.”

It’s dark enough to hide the fact that Tony’s ears are a little pink, even when someone has as sharp a vision as Steve does. That doesn’t stop him wanting to crawl back into his suit and hide. “Really? Do we have to tell him that?”

“He might think you don’t like him if I don’t,” Pepper says with a knowing smile flashed in Steve’s direction.

“I don’t,” Tony says firmly. “I tolerate him. Barely.”

“Uh huh.” Steve chuckles, his smile growing warm. “Right. I get it.””

and lines like this

“We - Nat and I - figured Rogers would come to you for help once he and Bucky made it out of Florida.”

“You did?” Tony asks, stunned. He can think of a dozen people Steve would have picked over him, even with the resources Tony has at his disposal.

Barton looks at him like he’s an idiot. “Yes,” he says, simple as that.

“And that brings you here why?”

“Because neither of you idiots have a single shred of self preservation between you,” Barton says bluntly. “That’s why you’re good for each other.”

and general power couple stuff

She hardly looks a day older than she had appeared in the recording they saw before leaving for London - but Tony knows that file was dated 1991. Her sharp features are paired with dark eyes and unnaturally pale skin, offset by a razor sharp, almost masculine suit. “Mr Stark,” she inclines her head, “Captain Rogers.”

She had been given no other identification in the videos, other than being addressed by Lukin as ‘Synthia’. Since they don’t want to give away how much information they have, Tony tips his head to one side and asks, “Should I know you? Have we met?”

“We have not, Mr Stark. Captain Rogers and I do have a shared acquaintance, however.”

“Don’t you dare talk about him,” Steve growls, tense at Tony’s side. The fact that he hasn’t rushed forward and unleashed that brewing violence is something of a shock. He’s practically shaking with his rage, every muscle in his body tense and strained.

Tony puts one hand on Steve’s arm, steadying him. “Look lady, I don’t know who you are but I’m tired of games. What do you want with us?”

She tilts her head, “Why not the pleasure of your company? You are Iron Man and Captain America after all. An unstoppable force. The two greatest superheroes of our time.”

even the goddamn villains ship it I was supposed to go into this fic and not come out the other side shipping steve and tony come on

there’s a reason that this is the only non-stevetony fic i’ve read in three years goddamnit

*clears throat*

But yeah that was the fic that got me interested in the possibilities surrounding the Steve/Tony dynamic. Then I started doing some research and came up with the canon content (like their respective love confessions in 616 and the actors fascination with the ship (shoot me I’m weak okay)), and it’s been a wild ride ever since.

If you’re interested in seeing their dynamic in action through a romantic lens, may I suggest Disrepair by Tippet for MCU and Belief Space by magicasen for 616. Neither have huge confessions of love or anything like that, Belief Space does have one kiss towards the end but the focus point is Steve and Tony’s dynamic during the incursion crisis in 616 and Steve’s POV remains largely platonic throughout the fic. Disrepair actually has no romantic connotations in it, as far as I remember, but it analyses the MCU dynamic in such a way that you start to see what I mean when I say that Steve and Tony’s relationship would be ten times more intriguing with a romantic element. Both fics are interesting character studies of both Steve and Tony and I would highly recommend reading them anyway. Also Belief Space is my favourite fic of all time, and does not get enough love goddamnit, so there’s that.

Anyway, I’ll finish your lovely ask by giving you what is frankly my stevetony song for Infinity War and the only song I listen to nowadays. It’s my fave. What else would it be in the month before Eurovision? It’s Bones by EQUINOX.

youtube

#ask #stevetony #otp: he loved you #answered #esc 2018

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todokori-kun · 7 years

Text

WELCOME BACK!

<3 I really missed you, and it’s so great to hear you had fun! (and omg yes so ready to see all those beautiful pics)

Yaaayyyy join me in MCU feels hell. And oooh, you have a ship for the fandom now! Like, Stoki’s still my favorite Steve pairing but Stony’s really cool too…you know I ship almost everything XD (also am I the only person who sorta hated almost everyone by the end of CW? Like, of course they’re still my favs and there are still some cinnamon rolls, but, come on. Why couldn’t you all just get along ;-;)

Speaking of Illumi, do you know that Hisoka/Illumi is an incredibly popular ship in the HxH fandom? Probably because both of them are so horrible that they have like 0 friends other than each other. Nobody else wants to hang out with these losers. (Chrollo tolerates Hisoka and the adults in Illumi’s family seem to spend enough time with him to give him orders, but that’s about it.) It’s a trash ship with two trashy people and tbh I love it XD

So continuing with the eye jokes, imagine. Hisoillu version of Helpless. Hisoillu version of Satisfied.

“Look into his eyes and the sky’s the limit”

“Intelligent eyes in a hunger-pang frame”

(I know you did thise one before but still) “But when I fantasize at night, it’s Illumi’s eyes”

just, I’m imagining animatics for this with the ‘camera’ zooming in on Illumi’s dead fish eyes every time the lyrics mention them. It’s hilarious and also mildly terrifying

(though I guess if we’re actually making a Hamilton AU Hisoka’s way more likely to do something like Say No To This…)

idk if I’d want to be a parent either really LOL. Kids are adorable but I don’t think I’ll ever be responsible enough to raise one…

If Ishida makes a plot twist or something about it being someone else pretending to be Hide I'm actually gonna get mad. Dude. Not only would that bring the Hide feels right back it’d just make absolutely no sense omg

(also you read the new chapter, right? So, let’s talk about Juuzou and that huge death flag)

I’ve heard of Soul Eater and considered reading it but it’s not really the kind of thing I’m into…artwork’s cute, though, and Death the Kid seems like an interesting guy so maybe someday XD

AGH I’M ACTUALLY SORTA JEALOUS BECAUSE WOW I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA HOW TO WATCH THAT LEGALLY HERE IN KOREA. (unless I ask my dad for help but he doesn’t like manga/anime at all, so…) But yes, I’m really happy Lizzy finally got her moment this time! Now anime-only fans can’t complain about her being a ‘shallow’ character so hopefully there’ll be less fighting over Lizzy in the Kuro fandom :D

FINALLY. Fellow Death Note fan <3333 Who’s your fav? Do you have any ships? Are you done with the anime??? :D (also do you know…you picked a really interesting time to join the DN fandom. The American live-action movie just came out and it sucks so freaking bad, like I haven’t even watched it yet and just from the reviews/clips, here’s what I got:

-They turned Misa into this Harley Quinn-type character. Only without any depth.

-Light/Misa is an actual canon ship, like, it’s not abusive or one-sided like it is in the anime/manga, it’s just…a thing. Light loves Misa. Misa loves Light. It’s like every cringey high school romance movie ever, only with more murder

-They freaking bent the Death Note rules just so Light could get away with all sorts of ridiculous stuff

-L cries, L rants, L is overly emotional

-Light tells L where he hid a page from his Death Note. Light doesn’t deny being Kira. Light shows Misa his Death Note when they like barely know each other and she’s still a complete stranger to him. Light acts like an idiot.

-Oh sure, he’s Kira, God of the New World, but he still cares about going to prom with his girlfriend and making stupid faces as they pose for pictures

-So much unnecessary gore. Heart attacks are Kira’s thing, Light isn’t that emotional about his kills, he doesn’t care as long as the 'villains’ are dead, so why???

-Apparently Rem does not exist. Sayu doesn't exist either. Light’s mom is dead (probably so he can angst over her)

-Light Turner. Light TURNER. Out of all the surnames they could have chosen…

-And now, for the most unforgivable sin:

How dare they not include the Potato Chip scene)

And then random things: JJ and Light have the same voice actor. Yurio and Mello (imo…have you met Mello yet?) could be long-lost twins.

Also:

I’ve fallen into Steven Universe hell and now I’m imagining so. Many. Gem AUs. Have you ever heard of SU?

(look:

1- don’t stress about the messages, and come on, I’d never get mad at you over something like this! You’re way too awesome.

2- I don’t really know what to say 'cause I’m bad at comforting people, but ugh, it sucks to hear that school’s tiring you out! Queen Luna’s gonna get through this, though. I mean, you’re great at so many things and you’re freaking smart and…this is awkward but maybe you understand Evans Language by now? XD Guess I’m just trying to say that I’m sure you’ll do great, and if you ever need someone to talk to I’m (almost) always free *hugs*

3- Um. So, other than tumblr, I think the only way I can talk with you right now is if we email each other? The email address I used this time is my real one (or rather, my dad’s, since I don’t have one of my own yet…) so maybe we can talk about this more through email and find a better way to contact each other? If that’s ok with you can you send me a message there?)

P.S:

I’ve started college and have no idea what I’m doing

*slams head against keyboard* guess who managed to get sick. It’s only been a week since school started. Whatever, I’m still going to school, but I woke up breathing like a fish on land, bc asthma. Yay.

I’m definitely gonna upload the pics today!!

Okay, but one thing I’m wondering about, is How? Not in a malicious way or anything, I’m genuinely curious to why you ship Stoki (and where it began). Was it that redemption fic you told me about or did you ship it before?

Tbh, I didn’t hate the characters in CW, I hated the situation. Because there’s so so much pointless conflict that could easily be solved if everyone sat down and talked like normal people. But nooo we have to go around attacking each other. ((ALSO CAP’S LETTER TO TONY, I AM DEAD))

I’ve already learned (and experienced) that shipping is a very weird and unusual thing, so I’ll be honest and say I’m not even surprised that ship exists. At least it has some basis XD

I’m actually tempted to go through the lyrics of the whole musical and find every single eye line there is, only to replace it w Illumi’s eyes.

Not only zooming in on the eyes, the word itself is louder than the rest XD man if only I could draw…

Tbh I’d say I’m responsible enough (HA, that’s more or less a lie), but I’m honestly way too irritated with the little ones to be able to have one of my own. My cousin recently celebrated her 3rd bday and I was stuck looking after her during the party, bc all the adults were talking among themselves and I swear to god, I haven’t moved that much since I had to run 2km for PE. Where do they get their energy. Not to mention the adults thought it would be a good idea to leave me w her, because I’d already drunk 3 glasses of wine (i was bored and not allowed to do anything other than stare at emptiness or look after a 3yo). Turns out my tolerance isn’t that bad after all.

Lol let’s be honest, Ishida would totally do that. He knows the fandom would riot and that’s the whole point.

All the death flags. Tbh I don’t know how I feel about it. It’s obvious that either Touka or Juuzou are probably gonna die and I wan’t neither (If I have to choose tho, I’d rather Juuzou survives.) Also Naki. HNNNNNNGH

I think you’d actually like the manga? It takes a pretty dark turn compared to the anime and deals with lots of mental issues (the whole theme of the later volumes is Madness). Also, lots of death XD Well, the artwork changes drastically, so which one are you talking about XD

The girl in the coat (left first pic, middle 2nd) is the same person for reference. Death the Kid was one of my first anime crushes. The guy has OCD and is a total badass.

MUHAHAHAHA I think someone uploaded the Lizzy fight to youtube so you can probably find it there, but I am in love. The animation is beautiful, so that’s also a huge plus. All in all, it was handled really well.

Death Note

So last I’ve watched is ep 25, aka the one WHERE L DIES. And i am not okay. I am nowhere near okay. Nope. Not at all.

Oh i’ve heard all about the adaptation. Tbh I find the whitewashing hilarious. Setting the movie in America removes so much of the series’s logic, so why? L being the way he is is probably my favourite mistake. They took the best character and ruined him completely. POTATO CHIP SCENE NOOOO But my question is: did everything go just according to the keikaku?

Have fun w SU! I’ve watched it for a while, but gave up at some point. I might pick it up again if I have the time ^^ Word of advice, watch out for the fandom, they’re among the most toxic ones I’ve ever encountered. One time, they almost drove an artist to suicide because she didn’t draw Rose ‘thick enough’. So yeah.

What did I do to deserve you as my friend TT^TT Thank you so so much, those words mean more than you can imagine.

Um. Looks like we’ll be staying here, because I never, ever check my mail, despite getting school assignments there, so yeah. If we used mail, you’d probably get a response every leap year.

How does the education system work in Korea? Like, at what age do you start going to which school?

Also, I’ve told you about Mystic Messenger? I think you’d like the newest update, because damn, it’s creeping me out. Also, it’s in Korean, so + ((My thoughts during the prologue of the new route: Nani the fuck))

#evans #submission

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poorquentyn · 8 years

Note

Bestie! So yesterday I was thinking a lot about "The Drowned Man" as a chapter, and considering whether I would rank it among the best of AFFC (certainly)/ASOIAF (probs?). But since you're infinitely better at themes and ironborn stuff than I am, I wanted to hear you wax about it 😊

Hey Nina The Stand summed it up nicely in this description of Euron’s true identity forerunner Randall Flagg:

When he walked into a meeting, the hysterical babble ceased–the backbiting, recriminations, accusations, the ideological rhetoric. For a moment there would be dead silence and they would start to turn to him and then turn away, as if he had come to them with some old and terrible engine of destruction cradled in his arms, something a thousand times worse than the plastic explosive made in the basement labs of renegade chemistry students or the black market arms obtained from some greedy army post supply sergeant. It seemed that he had come to them with a device gone rusty with blood and packed for centuries in the Cosmoline of screams but now ready again, carried to their meeting like some infernal gift, a birthday cake with nitroglycerine candles.

I’d probably call “The Drowned Man” the central chapter of AFFC, as Attewell argued RE Catelyn III ACOK. All the moods and ideas of the book are as one here: the comprehensive expression of the feast, the crows, and how we got ourselves to the point of watching the worst of said crows descending on said feast. That element of playing witness is very central to the chapter, because for all the political and metaphysical implications at play, “The Drowned Man” is ultimately rooted in our POV character.

Aeron Greyjoy’s story is a religiously-inflected gauntlet of nightmares, designed to pierce his external performance (the Voice of God) and his inner defenses (the fog of repression surrounding his abuser, rendered as desperate mantras and flashes of imagery). The chapter opens with Damphair acknowledging, well before Dragonbinder and Euron’s triumph, that his armor is down:

Only when his arms and legs were numb from the cold did Aeron Greyjoy struggle back to shore and don his robes again.

He had run before the Crow’s Eye as if he were still the weak thing he had been, but when the waves broke over his head they reminded once more that that man was dead. I was reborn from the sea, a harder man and stronger.

This follows directly not only on him fleeing the feast tent in “The Iron Captain,” but also on his solo ruminations in “The Prophet,” in which Euron functioned as an offstage catalyst to Aeron’s fearful inner journey, helping us understand them both. That earlier chapter is at heart about measuring the gap between Aeron’s public persona and his inner demons, come home to roost. He starts off as secure as he can be (on the surface, which is all he allows himself to access), sure in his god, sure in himself, sure that CPR constitutes a miracle; he’s demanding imperiously of nobles if they’ve been drowned properly, aware of his cultural cachet and seeking to increase it.

And then, his “mighty pillars” come crashing down, and he is a child again, listening to his bedroom door squeak open.

Aeron was almost at the door when the maester cleared his throat, and said, “Euron Crow’s Eye sits the Seastone Chair.”

The Damphair turned. The hall had suddenly grown colder. The Crow’s Eye is half a world away. Balon sent him off two years ago, and swore that it would be his life if he returned. “Tell me,” he said hoarsely.

So as with Arianne’s queenmaking in Dorne, while the kingsmoot is at one level a collective expression of cultural defiance and a self-conception as separate from mainland Westeros, it’s also a deeply personal, intra-familial maneuver. Arianne’s rebelling against what she believes to be her father’s betrayal, and Aeron’s taking refuge in tradition as a defense against his abuser’s return. The Dornish plot, for all its many aspects and resonances, boils down to Doran and Arianne facing each other down across a cyvasse board, and the Ironborn plot, while also a social and cultural interrogation, takes as its engine Aeron’s fear and hatred of Euron.

Perhaps consequently, the peace and strength Aeron finds in the sea is the fragile, flickering heart of his character (more than ever in “The Forsaken”). It is genuine and moving, despite the lack of actual divine communication.

No mortal man could frighten him, no more than the darkness could, nor the bones of his soul, the grey and grisly bones of his soul.

Memories are the bones of the soul: such a lovely weaving-together of the ethereal and the concrete! By repeatedly using the bones of Nagga’s Hill to symbolize Aeron’s internal struggle, GRRM links the overarching political ramifications of the Ironborn plot to the one-on-one confrontation of Aeron and Euron. His eye for the personal inside the large-scale movements of the plot is for me what makes all the new POVs in the Feastdance work so well; Cersei, Brienne, Asha, Arianne, Quentyn, and Jon Connington also have this kind of searingly intimate moment that draws you in so close it’s as if they’ve been POVs since book one.

And so the politics can begin, GRRM setting the scene in patient, exquisite fashion.

Dark clouds ran before the wind as the first light stole into the world. The black sky went grey as slate; the black sea turned grey-green; the black mountains of Great Wyk across the bay put on the blue-green hues of soldier pines. As color stole back into the world, a hundred banners lifted and began to flap. Aeron beheld the silver fish of Botley, the bloody moon of Wynch, the dark green trees of Orkwood. He saw warhorns and leviathans and scythes, and everywhere the krakens great and golden. Beneath them, thralls and salt wives begin to move about, stirring coals into new life and gutting fish for the captains and the kings to break their fasts. The dawnlight touched the stony strand, and he watched men wake from sleep, throwing aside their sealskin blankets as they called for their first horn of ale. Drink deep, he thought, for we have god’s work to do today.

The sea was stirring too. The waves grew larger as the wind rose, sending plumes of spray to crash against the longships. The Drowned God wakes, thought Aeron. He could hear his voice welling from the depths of the sea. I shall be with you here this day, my strong and faithful servant, the voice said. No godless man will sit my Seastone Chair.

It was there beneath the arch of Nagga’s ribs that his drowned men found him, standing tall and stern with his long black hair blowing in the wind. “Is it time?” Rus asked. Aeron gave a nod, and said, “It is. Go forth and sound the summons.”

In ASOS (oh man spoilers), a lot of powerful people died. AFFC is about the aftermath, examining how the survivors deal with death politically and personally, how the dead are both omnipresent and yet powerless to determine their legacy, and how all of this ultimately amounts to a rolled-out red carpet for the Others. In the specific case of the Ironborn, what we’re dealing with is the reckoning–or lack thereof–with the costs of Balon’s Old Way in the wake of the king’s death. We’ve already seen that dynamic at work in the first three chapters of this storyline, all of which comes to a head here…but before the Greyjoys, we get the other contestants, starting with our favorite candidate:

“The ironborn must have a king,” the priest insisted, after a long silence. “I ask again. Who shall be king over us?”

“I will,” came the answer from below.

At once a ragged cry of “Gylbert! Gylbert King!” went up. The captains gave way to let the claimant and his champions ascend the hill to stand at Aeron’s side beneath the ribs of Nagga. This would-be king was a tall spare lord with a melancholy visage, his lantern jaw shaved clean. His three champions took up their position two steps below him, bearing his sword and shield and banner. They shared a certain look with the tall lord, and Aeron took them for his sons. One unfurled his banner, a great black longship against a setting sun. “I am Gylbert Farwynd, Lord of the Lonely Light,” the lord told the kingsmoot.

Aeron knew some Farwynds, a queer folk who held lands on the westernmost shores of Great Wyk and the scattered isles beyond, rocks so small that most could support but a single household. Of those, the Lonely Light was the most distant, eight days’ sail to the northwest amongst rookeries of seals and sea lions and the boundless grey oceans. The Farwynds there were even queerer than the rest. Some said they were skinchangers, unholy creatures who could take on the forms of sea lions, walruses, even spotted whales, the wolves of the wild sea.

Lord Gylbert began to speak. He told of a wondrous land beyond the Sunset Sea, a land without winter or want, where death had no dominion. “Make me your king, and I shall lead you there,” he cried. “We will build ten thousand ships as Nymeria once did and take sail with all our people to the land beyond the sunset. There every man shall be a king and every wife a queen.”

His eyes, Aeron saw, were now grey, now blue, as changeable as the seas. Mad eyes, he thought, fool’s eyes. The vision he spoke of was doubtless a snare set by the Storm God to lure the ironborn to destruction. The offerings that his men spilled out before the kingsmoot included sealskins and walrus tusks, arm rings made of whalebone, warhorns banded in bronze. The captains looked and turned away, leaving lesser men to help themselves to the gifts. When the fool was done talking and his champions began to shout his name, only the Farwynds took up the cry, and not even all of them. Soon enough the cries of “Gylbert! Gylbert King!” faded away to silence. The gull screamed loudly above them, and landed atop one of Nagga’s ribs as the Lord of the Lonely Light made his way back down the hill.

Y’all know in your hearts he was telling the truth, too. But srsly, we said our piece on Gylbert Farwynd: he’s Good Euron, down to the eyes, creating a mirroring effect. The kingsmoot ends as it begins, with someone promising to elevate the Ironborn above this “dry and dismal vale.” But GRRM knows how to use contrasts as well as parallels—just look how he follows up Gylbert’s vision.

Aeron Damphair stepped forward once more. “I ask again. Who shall be king over us?”

“Me!” a deep voice boomed, and once more the crowd parted.

The speaker was borne up the hill in a carved driftwood chair carried on the shoulders of his grandsons. A great ruin of a man, twenty stones heavy and ninety years old, he was cloaked in a white bearskin. His own hair was snow white as well, and his huge beard covered him like a blanket from cheeks to thighs, so it was hard to tell where the beard ended and the pelt began. Though his grandsons were great strapping men, they struggled with his weight on the steep stone steps. Before the Grey King’s Hall they set him down, and three remained below him as his champions.

Sixty years ago, this one might well have won the favor of the moot, Aeron thought, but his hour is long past.

“Aye, me!” the man roared from where he sat, in a voice as huge as he was. “Why not? Who better? I am Erik Ironmaker, for them who’s blind. Erik the Just. Erik Anvil-Breaker. Show them my hammer, Thormor.” One of his champions lifted it up for all to see; a monstrous thing it was, its haft wrapped in old leather, its head a brick of steel as large as a loaf of bread. “I can’t count how many hands I’ve smashed to pulp with that hammer,” Erik said, “but might be some thief could tell you. I can’t say how many heads I’ve crushed against my anvil neither, but there’s some widows could. I could tell you all the deeds I’ve done in battle, but I’m eight-and-eighty and won’t live long enough to finish. If old is wise, no one is wiser than me. If big is strong, no one’s stronger. You want a king with heirs? I’ve more’n I can count. King Erik, aye, I like the sound o’ that. Come, say it with me. ERIK! ERIK ANVIL-BREAKER! ERIK KING!”

Erik Ironmaker, clearly the Tormund of the Ironborn, is thoroughly grounded in the “dry and dismal vale.” His platform is that he represents the masculine ideal of the Ironborn, full stop. But Asha spots the same problem as Aeron, and gives it voice:

“Erik!” Men moved aside to let her through. With one foot on the lowest step, she said, “Erik, stand up.”

A hush fell. The wind blew, waves broke against the shore, men murmured in each other’s ears.

Erik Ironmaker stared down at Asha Greyjoy. “Girl. Thrice-damned girl. What did you say?”

“Stand up, Erik,” she called. “Stand up and I’ll shout your name with all the rest. Stand up and I’ll be the first to follow you. You want a crown, aye. Stand up and take it.”

The aforementioned masculine ideal is past its sell-by date. Erik wants the crown as a symbol of a life well lived (by his standards), but Asha’s implicitly arguing that this is a debate about the future, not the past. (Of course, her platform has its own blind spots. More in a bit!)

Next up is Dunstan Drumm.

He climbed the hill on his own two legs, and on his hip rode Red Rain, his famous sword, forged of Valyrian steel in the days before the Doom. His champions were men of note: his sons Denys and Donnel, both stout fighters, and between them Andrik the Unsmiling, a giant of a man with arms as thick as trees. It spoke well of the Drumm that such a man would stand for him.

“Where is it written that our king must be a kraken?” Drumm began. “What right has Pyke to rule us? Great Wyk is the largest isle, Harlaw the richest, Old Wyk the most holy. When the black line was consumed by dragonfire, the ironborn gave the primacy to Vickon Greyjoy, aye … but as lord, not king.”

It was a good beginning. Aeron heard shouts of approval, but they dwindled as the old man began to tell of the glory of the Drumms. He spoke of Dale the Dread, Roryn the Reaver, the hundred sons of Gormond Drumm the Oldfather. He drew Red Rain and told them how Hilmar Drumm the Cunning had taken the blade from an armored knight with wits and a wooden cudgel. He spoke of ships long lost and battles eight hundred years forgotten, and the crowd grew restive. He spoke and spoke, and then he spoke still more.

And when Drumm’s chests were thrown open, the captains saw the niggard’s gifts he’d brought them. No throne was ever bought with bronze, the Damphair thought. The truth of that was plain to hear, as the cries of “Drumm! Drumm! Dunstan King!” died away.

On the one hand, he’s absolutely right that the Greyjoys owe their primacy to the very polity against which they’re leading rebellions. On the other, he gets bogged down and fails to offer an affirmative case for something better, reflected in his paltry offerings.

These candidates provide context for the main act: the three Greyjoy candidates. That Victarion has nothing to offer but this…

“You all know me. If you want sweet words, look elsewhere. I have no singer’s tongue. I have an axe, and I have these.” He raised his huge mailed hands up to show them, and Nute the Barber displayed his axe, a fearsome piece of steel. “I was a loyal brother,” Victarion went on. “When Balon was wed, it was me he sent to Harlaw to bring him back his bride. I led his longships into many a battle, and never lost but one. The first time Balon took a crown, it was me sailed into Lannisport to singe the lion’s tail. The second time, it was me he sent to skin the Young Wolf should he come howling home. All you’ll get from me is more of what you got from Balon. That’s all I have to say.”

…resonates with Erik Ironmaker’s pitch. Victarion is the status quo candidate. He’s this guy:

(gif by stevemcqueened.tumblr.com)

Something is rotten in the state of the Iron Islands, and Vic can’t identify it, let alone deal with it. Again, the personal and political are intertwined: deep down, Victarion Greyjoy knows he’s unhappy, but can’t conceive of what to do about it. “Balon 2.0” is enough for many of the captains and kings, but not a majority, because Balon’s failures are becoming harder and harder to ignore.

So how does Balon’s chosen heir respond?

“Nuncle says he’ll give you more of what my father gave you. Well, what was that? Gold and glory, some will say. Freedom, ever sweet. Aye, it’s so, he gave us that … and widows too, as Lord Blacktyde will tell you. How many of you had your homes put to the torch when Robert came? How many had daughters raped and despoiled? Burnt towns and broken castles, my father gave you that. Defeat was what he gave you. Nuncle here will give you more. Not me.”

“What will you give us?” asked Lucas Codd. “Knitting?”

“Aye, Lucas. I’ll knit us all a kingdom.” She tossed her dirk from hand to hand. “We need to take a lesson from the Young Wolf, who won every battle … and lost all.”

“A wolf is not a kraken,” Victarion objected. “What the kraken grasps it does not lose, be it longship or leviathan.”

“And what have we grasped, Nuncle? The north? What is that, but leagues and leagues of leagues and leagues, far from the sound of the sea? We have taken Moat Cailin, Deepwood Motte, Torrhen’s Square, even Winterfell. What do we have to show for it?” She beckoned, and her Black Wind men pushed forward, chests of oak and iron on their shoulders. “I give you the wealth of the Stony Shore,” Asha said as the first was upended. An avalanche of pebbles clattered forth, cascading down the steps; pebbles grey and black and white, worn smooth by the sea. “I give you the riches of Deepwood,” she said, as the second chest was opened. Pinecones came pouring out, to roll and bounce down into the crowd. “And last, the gold of Winterfell.” From the third chest came yellow turnips, round and hard and big as a man’s head. They landed amidst the pebbles and the pinecones. Asha stabbed one with her dirk. “Harmund Sharp,” she shouted, “your son Harrag died at Winterfell, for this.” She pulled the turnip off her blade and tossed it to him. “You have other sons, I think. If you’d trade their lives for turnips, shout my nuncle’s name!”

“And if I shout your name?” Harmund demanded. “What then?”

“Peace,” said Asha. “Land. Victory. I’ll give you Sea Dragon Point and the Stony Shore, black earth and tall trees and stones enough for every younger son to build a hall. We’ll have the northmen too … as friends, to stand with us against the Iron Throne. Your choice is simple. Crown me, for peace and victory. Or crown my nuncle, for more war and more defeat.” She sheathed her dirk again. “What will you have, ironmen?”

Asha comes the closest to Grandpa Quellon’s reformation, but she’s got a fatal blind spot regarding Balon’s wars and their effect on both the North and the Ironborn. The former are not going to accept the latter’s control of the Stony Shore, let alone forge an active alliance against the Iron Throne, especially after what Theon did at Winterfell. Asha doesn’t even stop to consider the Northern perspective on the Ironborn, the cost and consequences of her family’s actions in Stark territory—she just assumes she can create a lasting peace through hostages. But she can’t. The North wants Theon Turncloak’s people gone, which is why Stannis and the Boltons are both trying to win over Northerners by fighting Ironborn. Asha’s ADWD chapters are all about her facing this:

Asha smiled back. “Mormont women are all fighters too.”

The other woman’s smile faded. “What we are is what you made us. On Bear Island every child learns to fear krakens rising from the sea.”

The Old Way. Asha turned away, chains clinking faintly.

Of course, Asha’s also running up against the patriarchy, and many of the captains and kings associate giving up any conquest with a “craven’s peace.” So I’m not entirely blaming Asha here, as again she’s much closer to a sustainable path than her (kraken) uncles, but she fails to offer a sufficiently powerful counter-narrative, and so leaves the door open for Euron. In the moments before he begins his pitch, chaos reigns.

Men began to shove at one another. Someone flung a pinecone at Asha’s head. When she ducked, her makeshift crown fell off. For a moment it seemed to the priest as if he stood atop a giant anthill, with a thousand ants in a boil at his feet. Shouts of “Asha!” and “Victarion!” surged back and forth, and it seemed as though some savage storm was about to engulf them all.

That is the war; that is the feast; that is everything the Others need. So what better “savage storm” to interrupt this “squabbling over spoils” than the apocalypse?

Sharp as a swordthrust, the sound of a horn split the air.

Bright and baneful was its voice, a shivering hot scream that made a man’s bones seem to thrum within him. The cry lingered in the damp sea air: aaaaRREEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

All eyes turned toward the sound. It was one of Euron’s mongrels winding the call, a monstrous man with a shaved head. Rings of gold and jade and jet glistened on his arms, and on his broad chest was tattooed some bird of prey, talons dripping blood.

aaaaRRREEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

The horn he blew was shiny black and twisted, and taller than a man as he held it with both hands. It was bound about with bands of red gold and dark steel, incised with ancient Valyrian glyphs that seemed to glow redly as the sound swelled.

aaaaaaaRRREEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

It was a terrible sound, a wail of pain and fury that seemed to burn the ears. Aeron Damphair covered his, and prayed for the Drowned God to raise a mighty wave and smash the horn to silence, yet still the shriek went on and on. It is the horn of hell, he wanted to scream, though no man would have heard him. The cheeks of the tattooed man were so puffed out they looked about to burst, and the muscles in his chest twitched in a way that it made it seem as if the bird were about to rip free of hisflesh and take wing. And now the glyphs were burning brightly, every line and letter shimmering with white fire. On and on and on the sound went, echoing amongst the howling hills behind them and across the waters of Nagga’s Cradle to ring against the mountains of Great Wyk, on and on and on until it filled the whole wet world.

Such are the bones of Euron’s soul. This is what the inside of his skull looks like: an LSD-soaked portal to hell, driven by blood sacrifice and a keen understanding of the sweet spot between fear and awe. This horror-tinged passage is supposed to feel jarring, like something out of a completely different genre; Euron’s not really a part of the debate he just interrupted, but is rather out to hijack it for his own apocalyptic ends. (Remember: what is signaled by three horn blasts? “Others.”) Look at what he’s disrupting: a “giant anthill.” Damphair’s kingsmoot was made to be bulldozed; it’s a fragile gathering of fragments against the ruin. The weaknesses were there to be exploited…but of course, Euron has to put on his pirate suit to do so.

The Crow’s Eye stopped atop the steps, at the doors of the Grey King’s Hall, and turned his smiling eye upon the captains and the kings, but Aeron could feel his other eye as well, the one that he kept hidden.

“IRONMEN,” said Euron Greyjoy, “you have heard my horn. Now hear my words. I am Balon’s brother, Quellon’s eldest living son. Lord Vickon’s blood is in my veins, and the blood of the Old Kraken. Yet I have sailed farther than any of them. Only one living kraken has never known defeat Only one has never bent his knee. Only one has sailed to Asshai by the Shadow, and seen wonders and terrors beyond imagining …”

GRRM consistently uses the “smiling eye” as a microcosm of Euron’s public face, and the Crow’s Eye as a microcosm of the self he keeps hidden from his fellow Ironborn (other than Aeron). I’m the ultimate pirate, guys, nothing else to see here—just look at my eyepatch, and don’t worry about what I’m hiding underneath it. Indeed, Euron knows his audience well, constructing his argument patiently; only after establishing his Old Way bona fides can he then take the next step.

“My little brother would finish Balon’s war, and claim the north. My sweet niece would give us peace and pinecones.” His blue lips twisted in a smile. “Asha prefers victory to defeat. Victarion wants a kingdom, not a few scant yards of earth. From me, you shall have both.”

For all Euron’s skills, he only wins because both Vic and Asha’s platforms are riddled with flaws—and not only that, the flaws compound each other, allowing Euron to link them together rhetorically as insufficient. This resonates with the captains and kings because the Balon-Aeron-Victarion agenda has immense cultural appeal but has blatantly failed to deliver on its promises, while Asha’s platform would push the Ironborn in a better direction but isn’t convincing enough (emotionally or pragmatically) to be an effective rallying point. Euron, ever the postmodern magpie, steals the most appealing aspects of both and frames it as the ultimate Ironborn dream of conquest. My brothers’ dream has fallen miserably short in reality, and my niece is telling you stop dreaming. The former cannot defeat the greenlanders, the latter is telling you to admit that—in a way that won’t bring peace anyway! I will be the best of both worlds, doing what the former cannot and the latter wants to give up on. In short: Euron tells the Ironborn that they’re losers but can be winners if they follow and imitate him, whereas Victarion won’t admit they’re losers and Asha won’t let them win. It’s such a potent appeal to cultural self-conception and resentment that it even sways Damphair, if only for a moment:

“We are the ironborn, and once we were conquerors. Our writ ran everywhere the sound of the waves was heard. My brother would have you be content with the cold and dismal north, my niece with even less … but I shall give you Lannisport. Highgarden. The Arbor. Oldtown. The riverlands and the Reach, the kingswood and the rainwood, Dorne and the marches, the Mountains of the Moon and the Vale of Arryn, Tarth and the Stepstones. I say we take it all! I say, we take Westeros.” He glanced at the priest. “All for the greater glory of our Drowned God, to be sure.”

For half a heartbeat even Aeron was swept away by the boldness of his words. The priest had dreamed the same dream, when first he’d seen the red comet in the sky. We shall sweep over the green lands with fire and sword, root out the seven gods of the septons and the white trees of the northmen …

But the rest of the crowd, of course, sees only the “smiling eye.” Our POV knows better, and being in Aeron’s head primes us to see the cracks in Euron’s facade, the tears in his pirate suit. Only Aeron recognizes, at chapter’s end, that Euron is out to dethrone the gods.

Even a priest may doubt. Even a prophet may know terror. Aeron Damphair reached within himself for his god and discovered only silence. [Because that’s the name of Euron’s ship, you see] As a thousand voices shouted out his brother’s name, all he could hear was the scream of a rusted iron hinge.

Euron cares not for the Seastone Chair, nor even the Iron Throne, not really. So what is he in this for?

“Crow’s Eye, you call me. Well, who has a keener eye than the crow? After every battle the crows come in their hundreds and their thousands to feast upon the fallen. A crow can espy death from afar. And I say that all of Westeros is dying. Those who follow me will feast until the end of their days.”

There it is, right? AFFC summarized: “all of Westeros is dying.” The war has rendered Westeros a fit meal for Euron…and the Others. And indeed, the “anthill” of the kingsmoot is a perfect microcosm of that political impotence in the face of the abyss. That’s the message “The Drowned Man” communicates: we let Trump Euron happen. As I’ve argued before, the essence of great horror isn’t that the monsters are at the door. It’s that we’re going to let them in.

#aeron greyjoy #euron greyjoy #asha greyjoy #victarion greyjoy #asoiaf meta #gylbert farwynd #erik ironmaker #dunstan drumm #the ironborn #dragonbinder #a feast for crows

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johnchiarello · 7 years

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Wednesday

WEDNESDAY 6-21-17

Isaiah 41:10

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Did they sink our battleship? [I know it didn’t sink]

https://youtu.be/RWE5YGasCmw

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-Cc

.Prayer- confession

.Peter- James- John

.Conspiracy?

.Cop suicide

.Japan- China

.Russia- Syria

.Questions?

.Black man dead

James 1:27

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

San Antonio [News stuff]

https://youtu.be/xbEaVaDnWfs

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-Cd

.Georgia race

.CNN- media

.Why so sad?

.Cop on S.A. talk radio- very good job [really]

.National standards for Cops- Firefighters

.Corpus Christi homeless issues

.Solomon’s prayer [Kings 8]

.Race- corruption issues.

.A word from apostle Allen to the pastors of Corpus Christi [listen]

1Kings 8:50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:

The streets-

https://youtu.be/Ln-InmpxntI

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-Ce

.Sure enough you get to meet a homeless brother on this one [and his girlfriend who was camera shy]

Micah 6:8

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Back in Corpus- https://youtu.be/GilEdHDsHUU

http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-Cf

.Tacos or burgers- make up your mind!

.He never left Corpus

.Lesson from the Allman brothers band

.Purpose

.No- they did not kill Obama

.Addiction

.sobriety is not your identity

.We create obstacles in our mind

NEW- Today I talked on some news-world events.

The Philippine merchant ship that struck our war ship off the coast of Japan.

The U.S. military says it was about 2:30 am when the ship was hit.

The Japanese authorities say it was about 1:30 am.

Why is this something to look at?

The trajectory of the merchant ship shows them making a sharp turn- they purposefully went off course.

If our ship was hit at the later time- then the merchant ship did the sharp turn- to target our ship.

If the Japanese are right about the time- then the merchant ship did this turn to see what they hit.

I only mention this because often times governments lie- or hide things- you know- for the sake of the poor people who don't know how to handle truth.

This has happened many times over the years- and when the media actually do real investigative journalism- then we find out what happened.

The Russia- Syria situation.

The U.S. shot down a Syrian plane the other day- once again Russia warned us. Then we shot down a Russian drone yesterday.

I have talked about this issue before- and will just try and post that link.

But the media began to question why would Trump be giving such lenience to Russia by allowing them to fly over Syria.

I of course saw the dangerous bias in this question- but they hope the average public will not see it.

In short-

Russia is an ally to Assad- and the Syrian president has given them permission to fly in Syrian airspace.

The U.S. has actually been breaking the law by carrying out military operations in Syria-

As of today- there has been no declaration of war.

Yet- we fly planes- drop bombs- and many of these actions are in support of some groups in Syria- who are just like ISIS.

Yes- there are some rebel groups who we support- militarily- who are terrorists.

Russia has been saying that for years now.

So at times- the U.S. has been illegally bombing Syrians- backing up rebels- which is all illegal.

Yet the irresponsible U.S. media- with their non stop campaign about collusion with Russia- might just aid in a real hot war with Russia [see?- Trump going easy on Russia- to hide collusion type thing].

This is no joke- and to be honest- I think that's what this whole thing is heading towards.

And I made a few comments about the video of the cop shooting the Black man.

He was just found innocent- and last night the news showed new video of the shooting.

It was bad- the cop did indeed shoot the man- and the audio/video show the cop was at fault.

Why this video was not released until after the cops trial- who knows [I just read a report that the video was shown to the jury- if so- the jury allowed the cop to get away with murder].

FAKE NEWS?

I talked a bit about the Georgia race- and how the media were so anxious for the Democrat to win- the Democrats spent 30 million on this race- the most ever for a congressional race.

Ok- their guy lost- but I shared it not as a Republican [I am not one] but to show bias.

Now- fake news?

A study came out today- it is estimated that in the 2008 election about 5.5 MILLION non citizens voted- http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/19/noncitizen-illegal-vote-number-higher-than-estimat/

Huh?

The national media reported [months ago] that in the history of our country- there were only 3- yes folks- 3 people who voted illegally.

Ok- I knew they were wrong- because a few years ago we had a Democrat lady in Texas- who was caught on video- saying for non citizens to go vote.

We also had at least 3 people- in our local elections- that voted- who were non citizens.

But for the national media to have actually said 3- when the estimates for 2008 alone- are 5.5 million- well that's fake news.

And I have not heard one national news source correct the record.

I’m for the immigrant by the way- my position is the same as the Catholic church -you could say I’m pro sanctuary city.

Yet- I show you this so you can spot fake news when you see it.

And the Trump assassination play in New York [Shakespeare] as most of you know they are doing the play in the park- and in the play- they have Trump killed.

Ok- not so good- I’m not mad about it.

Then why mention it?

I also saw news reports- on so called ‘real news’ that said- more than once- that they also had Obama killed in the play [few years ago]- and nobody complained about that.

Even without looking- I knew they lied.

Sure enough- the news did lie about that.

No Obama like figure was ever killed in the play.

I could go on- but these are just a few.

If the media covered real things- in a real way- then it could help.

But they often do not.

I’m glad they released the video of the castile shooting because it shines light.

But in all these other things- they are fake news.

The public see this.

That's why the Democrat lost in Georgia.

They saw the coverage- they see thru this stuff.

On the last video [now- 2nd to last] I ran into some street guys in San Antonio-

Yes- my guys- whether they are Black- Mexican- White- these are the brothers I like working with.

Maybe the outraged media- who claim to be for the down and out-

Yes maybe they should actually go and meet the down and out.

But I’m afraid many of them see the Mexican community [Oops- Hispanic- but my Mexican friends call themselves Mexican]- the Black homeless- you know- those who sleep on the street right in front of their media empires-

Yes- I’m afraid they fear them- loathe them- and would probably call the cops on them.

Yes- it feels good to sit behind a typewriter [keyboard] and write non stop about the abuses in society-

To have a view that you are noble- above the ignorant masses.

But I’m afraid many of you [media] like to talk a good talk [or write] but actually would never walk it.

Yes- today was media critic day-

Tomorrow I’ll go back to teaching [Actually- I did do some teaching too]

Deuteronomy 11:24

Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

PAST POSTS- [News links- verses below]

https://ccoutreach87.com/russia-u-s-world-events/

https://ccoutreach87.com/christian-recovery-from-addiction-long-version/

Christian recovery from addictions. As you scroll down you will read my story in AA- as of this update I have 3 years- 6 months sober [7-2016]

TRADITIONS OF www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[I developed this short list for the purpose of having a format for Christian based bible studies/home groups. Feel free to copy- use- or even start your own group based on these principles- I wave the copy right to all this stuff. To be honest- I have never used a format in our meetings over the years, but for those who want to duplicate/start their own meetings- I find using a format helps. Zechariah 13:1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Zechariah 13:2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

Ezekiel 36:24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

Ezekiel 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. Ezekiel 36:28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. Ezekiel 36:30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Ezekiel 36:31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Ezekiel 36:32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

Ezekiel 36:33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.

As you scroll down there is lots to read. Those who click this page might be struggling with addiction. For a short/quick help- just read thru this top section regularly [print it if possible]. This will train your mind in a way. Also memorize the short verse I HATE VAIN THOUGHTS BUT THY LAW DO I LOVE. Repeat it 3 times every time you find your mind being tempted- or even if your are in the middle of acting out a particular sin- each time you say it 3 times in a row- no matter what- stop the addiction at that moment. At the start- you might have to do this many times a day [depending on the addiction] but over time it will train your mind to stop. PRAYERS [read together at the start of the meeting]

I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters- that I have sinned thru my own fault.

In my thoughts and in my words- in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.

And I ask Jesus Christ- and all my brothers and sisters- to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Our father who art in heaven- Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come- thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread- and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation- but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the glory and the power- now and forever- Amen.

CONFESSIONS [repeat 3 times each]

I hate vain thoughts- but thy law do I love.

Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts will be established.

3 PILLARS

[Readings from Peter, James and John- either read together- or have one person read one ‘pillar’ each. The bible refers to these 3 men as spiritual pillars of the church]

Gird up the loins of your mind and be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is being brought unto you at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul.

Those that have suffered in the flesh have ceased from sin- that they should no longer live the rest of their lives in the flesh to the lusts of men- but to the will of God.

Blessed is the man that endures temptation- for when he is tried- he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those that love him.

Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust- and enticed. And when lust has conceived it brings forth sin- and sin- when it is finished, brings forth death.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you- draw near unto God and he will draw near unto you. Cleanse your hands- ye sinners- and purify your hearts you double minded.

Be afflicted and mourn and weep- let you laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness- before that great and notable Day of the Lord.

Behold- a new commandment I give unto you- which thing is true in Him and in you- because the darkness has now passed- and the true light now shines.

Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin- but his word remains in him, and he cannot sin- because he is born of God.

This is how we know he hears us- because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

THURSDAY MORNING- [Sponsors- the danger of co-dependency]

We had a change of plans yesterday- Mike [my artist] stopped by around 9 am- he asked if I would do a meeting.

His friend saw him last night- and was suicidal.

Mike- who has been a friend for many years- but has just recently been in my meetings- told his friend that we do a sort of Christian based AA/NA meeting.

So- I grabbed a few guys and did a meeting here in the Bluff.

It went well- I talked about how Christ re-established our relationship with God- as our Father.

I spoke about the danger of co-dependence.

When I was in New Jersey last year for 3 months- I met some real good people in the NA meetings.

But during my year in AA- I saw things that from a Christian perspective- were not compatible with healthy living.

I did write about it- in a gracious way [it’s on my blog- under the section ‘Christian addiction recovery’.

But one of the things I never hit on was the teaching on Sponsors.

I wrote a book years ago- part of it dealt with the Shepherding/discipleship movement back in the 70’s.

This was a movement within the church that had ‘shepherds’ who were sort of like Sponsors in AA.

The problem with that movement was it created a co-dependency - people became too dependent on another person.

In scripture the concept of Sponsor- Mentor- is there- but the biblical view is- it’s only for a period of time.

There must be a breaking away from that relationship over time.

The Shepherding movement made the mistake of trying to control people- for life.

Jesus discipled his men for 3 years- then told them it was needful for him to leave.

At first- they didn’t want that- but he said ‘I go to prepare a place for you’

We often read that as ‘I’m going to get heaven ready for you’.

Actually- in context [it’s in John’s gospel] he was saying-

‘I go- to make room for you [here on earth]’

Sort of like ‘when I leave- the Spirit will come- and the works that I did- now you will do them’.

He had to leave- so they would grow in their own relationship with God.

In my meeting yesterday I spoke about how we- people- become co-dependent on girlfriends- sponsors- etc.

There must come a time where we move on.

In New Jersey- I met a guy at one of the meetings- don’t remember his name- but we talked a bit.

He told another person next to him ‘I have not only done the 12 steps- but 13’.

Now- he was nice- talking to some friends- The lady asked ‘what do you mean’.

You could tell he was hesitant to sound critical of NA- he must have been in it for around 20 years or so.

He was clean- doing well.

But he said he got a new sponsor a few years ago- and he made him do the steps all over- over a period of years.

He said he didn’t think he needed to- but he had to obey the sponsor- so he spent a few more years- doing something- that he felt was a waste- but if he didn’t do it- he was fearful that he was not obeying the sponsor.

I didn’t say anything- but of course I saw the same danger in this- that I actually had written about years before.

Any movement- or group- that creates this sort of co- dependency - can be dangerous.

So- we talked in our meeting about eventually moving beyond that initial relationship [I think Sponsors are ok- just at the start- maybe even a year- but over time it would be better to move on].

Stephen Covey- in his best seller ‘7 habits of highly effective people’ talked about 3 types- stages- of personal growth.

1- Independent

2- Co-dependent

3- Interdependent

Independent is the mindset of ‘I don’t need anyone else’.

Co-dependent is ‘I can’t live without you’.

Interdependent is ‘I don’t ‘need’ you to survive- to make it- but I see the value of our relationship- and we can go further together- as co-equals- than alone’.

I think that’s the proper view.

I have a friend who is dating a local girl.

Her ex-boyfriend is also my friend.

They are both at the street mission every week.

Then- her ex-husband now shows up [he got out of prison recently].

When she’s there- she has these 3 guys ‘fighting’ over her.

One actually stabbed the other one a few years ago- over this.

My closet friend [out of the 3] said ‘John- she just loves the attention- she wants us to fight over her’.

He was right.

Part of overcoming addictions- is also becoming interdependent.

Recognizing the value of others- but being mature enough to say ‘Brother/sponsor- I know you think I need to do this [whether it’s redoing the steps- over a few years- or whatever] - but I am maturing in this initial relationship- and I’m moving on’.

In my year in AA- I never had a sponsor- But boy was there pressure to get one- almost to the point of ‘we are waiting for you to re-lapse- so you will see your in rebellion’ [I was actually told this by a good friend].

This is a very important aspect- in my view- of becoming a well-rounded person.

Ok- that’s it- see you next week.

NEWS-

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/us/police-shooting-castile-trial-video.html

http://www.npr.org/2017/06/19/533432845/how-could-the-navy-destroyer-collision-happen

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/18/world/asia/path-ship-hit-uss-fitzgerald.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/19/world/middleeast/russia-syria.html

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/19/middleeast/syrian-warplane-shot-down-russia-condemns/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/20/politics/us-syria-shoots-down-pro-regime-drone/index.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/19/noncitizen-illegal-vote-number-higher-than-estimat/

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/out-state-interests-spent-26-2-million-georgia-special-election-n774366

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks

https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg

https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87

https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts

https://vimeo.com/user37400385

https://www.pinterest.com/ccoutreach87/

https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo

http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/

https://medium.com/@johnchiarello

http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/

Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Thanks- John.#

#bibloe #religion #social justice

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readbookywooks · 8 years

Text

PRINCE CORIN

"MY dear sister and very good Lady," said King Edmund, "you must now show your courage. For I tell you plainly we are in no small danger." "What is it, Edmund asked the Queen. "It is this," said Edmund. "I do not think we shall find it easy to leave Tashbaan. While the Prince had hope that you would take him, we were honoured guests. But by the Lion's Mane, I think that as soon as he has your flat denial we shall be no better than prisoners." One of the Dwarfs gave a low whistle. "I warned your Majesties, I warned you," said Sallowpad the Raven. "Easily in but not easily out, as the lobster said in the lobster pot!" "I have been with the Prince this morning," continued Edmund. "He is little used (more's the pity) to having his will crossed. And he is very chafed at your long delays and doubtful answers. This morning he pressed very hard to know your mind. I put it aside-meaning at the same time to diminish his hopes - with some light common jests about women's fancies, and hinted that his suit was likely to be cold. He grew angry and dangerous. There was a sort of threatening, though still veiled under a show of courtesy, in every word he spoke." "Yes," said Tumnus. "And when I supped with the Grand Vizier last night, it was the same. He asked me how I like Tashbaan. And I (for I could not tell him I hated every stone of it and I would not lie) told him that now, when high summer was coming on, my heart turned to the cool woods and dewy slopes of Narnia. He gave a smile that meant no good and said, 'There is nothing to hinder you from dancing there again, little goatfoot; always provided you leave us in exchange a bride for our prince.'" "Do you mean he would make me his wife by force?" exclaimed Susan. "That's my fear, Susan," said Edmund: "Wife: or slave which is worse." "But how can he? Does the Tisroc think our brother the High King would suffer such an outrage?" "Sire," said Peridan to the King. "They would not be so mad. Do they think there are no swords and spears in Narnia?" "Alas," said Edmund. "My guess is that the Tisroc has very small fear of Narnia. We are a little land. And little lands on the borders of a great empire were always hateful to the lords of the great empire. He longs to blot them out, gobble them up. When first he suffered the Prince to come to Cair Paravel as your lover, sister, it may be that he was only seeking an occasion against us. Most likely he hopes to make one mouthful of Narnia and Archenland both." "Let him try," said the second Dwarf. "At sea we are as big as he is. And if he assaults us by land, he has the desert to cross." "True, friend," said Edmund. "But is the desert a sure defence? What does Sallowpad say?" "I know that desert well," said the Raven. "For I have flown above it far and wide in my younger days," (you may be sure that Shasta pricked up his ears at this point). "And this is certain; that if the Tisroc goes by the great oasis he can never lead a great army across it into Archenland. For though they could reach the oasis by the end of their first day's march, yet the springs there would be too little for the thirst of all those soldiers and their beasts. But there is another way." Shasta listened more attentively still. "He that would find that way," said the Raven, "must start from the Tombs of the Ancient Kings and ride northwest so that the double peak of Mount Pire is always straight ahead of him. And so, in a day's riding or a little more, he shall come to the head of a stony valley, which is so narrow that a man might be within a furlong of it a thousand times and never know that it was there. And looking down this valley he will see neither grass nor water nor anything else good. But if he rides on down it he will come to a river and can ride by the water all the way into Archenland." "And do the Calormenes know of this Western way?" asked the Queen. "Friends, friends," said Edmund, "what is the use of all this discourse? We are not asking whether Narnia or Calormen would win if war arose between them. We are asking how to save the honour of the Queen and our own lives out of this devilish city. For though my brother, Peter the High King, defeated the Tisroc a dozen times over, yet long before that day our throats would be cut and the Queen's grace would be the wife, or more likely, the slave, of this prince." "We have our weapons, King," said the first Dwarf. "And this is a reasonably defensible house." "As to that," said the King, "I do not doubt that every one of us would sell our lives dearly in the gate and they would not come at the Queen but over our dead bodies. Yet we should be merely rats fighting in a trap when all's said." "Very true," croaked the Raven. "These last stands in a house make good stories, but nothing ever came of them. After their first few repulses the enemy always set the house on fire." "I am the cause of all this," said Susan, bursting into tears. "Oh, if only I had never left Cair Paravel. Our last happy day was before those ambassadors came from Calormen. The Moles were planting an orchard for us . . . oh . . . oh." And she buried her face in her hands and sobbed. "Courage, Su, courage," said Edmund. "Remember-but what is the matter with you, Master Tumnus?" For the Faun was holding both his horns with his hands as if he were trying to keep his head on by them and writhing to and fro as if he had a pain in his inside. "Don't speak to me, don't speak to me," said Tumnus. "I'm thinking. I'm thinking so that I can hardly breathe. Wait, wait, do wait." There was a moment's puzzled silence and then the Faun looked up, drew a long breath, mopped its forehead and said: "The only difficulty is how to get down to our ship-with some stores, too-without being seen and stopped." "Yes," said a Dwarf dryly. "Just as the beggar's only difficulty about riding is that he has no horse." "Wait, wait," said Mr Tumnus impatiently. "All we need is some pretext for going down to our ship today and taking stuff on board." "Yes," said King Edmund doubtfully. "Well, then," said the Faun, "how would it be if your majesties bade the Prince to a great banquet to be held on board our own galleon, the Spendour Hyaline, tomorrow night? And let the message be worded as graciously as the Queen can contrive without pledging her honour: so as to give the Prince a hope that she is weakening." "This is very good counsel, Sire," croaked the Raven. "And then," continued Tumnus excitedly, "everyone will expect us to be going down to the ship all day, making preparations for our guests. And let some of us go to the bazaars and spend every minim we have at the fruiterers and the sweetmeat sellers and the wine merchants, just as we would if we were really giving a feast. And let us order magicians and jugglers and dancing girls and flute players, all to be on board tomorrow night." "I see, I see," said King Edmund, rubbing his hands. "And then," said Tumnus, "we'll all be on board tonight. And as soon as it is quite dark-" "Up sails and out oars-!" said the King. "And so to sea," cried Tumnus, leaping up and beginning to dance. "And our nose Northward," said the first Dwarf. "Running for home! Hurrah for Narnia and the North!" said the other. "And the Prince waking next morning and finding his birds flown!" said Peridan, clapping his hands. "Oh Master Tumnus, dear Master Tumnus," said the Queen, catching his hands and swinging with him as he danced. "You have saved us all." "The Prince will chase us," said another lord, whose name Shasta had not heard. "That's the least of my fears," said Edmund. "I have seen all the shipping in the river and there's no tall ship of war nor swift galley there. I wish he may chase us! For the Splendour Hyaline could sink anything he has to send after her - if we were overtaken at all." "Sire," said the Raven. "You shall hear no better plot than the Faun's though we sat in council for seven days. And now, as we birds say, nests before eggs. Which is as much as to say, let us all take our food and then at once be about our business." Everyone arose at this and the doors were opened and the lords and the creatures stood aside for the King and Queen to go out first. Shasta wondered what he ought to do, but Mr Tumnus said, "Lie there, your Highness, and I will bring you up a little feast to yourself in a few moments. There is no need for you to move until we are all ready to embark." Shasta laid his head down again on the pillows and soon he was alone in the room. "This is perfectly dreadful," thought Shasta. It never came into his head to tell these Narnians the whole truth and ask for their help. Having been brought up by a hard, closefisted man like Arsheesh, he had a fixed habit of never telling grown-ups anything if he could help it: he thought they would always spoil or stop whatever you were trying to do. And he thought that even if the Narnian King might be friendly to the two horses, because they were Talking Beasts of Narnia, he would hate Aravis, because she was a Calormene, and either sell her for a slave or send her back to her father. As for himself, "I simply dn't tell them I'm not Prince Corin now," thought Shasta. "I've heard all their plans. If they knew I wasn't one of themselves, they'd never let me out of this house alive. They'd be afraid I'd betray them to the Tisroc. They'd kill me. And if the real Corin turns up, it'll all come out, and they will!" He had, you see, no idea of how noble and free-born people behave. "What am I to do? What am I to do?" he kept saying to himself. "What-hullo, here comes that goaty little creature again." The Faun trotted in, half dancing, with a tray in its hands which was nearly as large as itself. This he set on an inlaid table beside Shasta's sofa, and sat down himself on the carpeted floor with his goaty legs crossed. "Now, princeling," he said. "Make a good dinner. It will be your last meal in Tashbaan." It was a fine meal after the Calormene fashion. I don't know whether you would have liked it or not, but Shasta did. There were lobsters, and salad, and snipe stuffed with almonds and truffles, and a complicated dish made of chickenlivers and rice and raisins and nuts, and there were cool melons and gooseberry fools and mulberry fools, and every kind of nice thing that can be made with ice. There was also a little flagon of the sort of wine that is called "white" though it is really yellow. While Shasta was eating, the good little Faun, who thought he was still dazed with sunstroke, kept talking to him about the fine times he would have when they all got home; about his good old father King Lune of Archenland and the little castle where he lived on the southern slopes of the pass. "And don't forget," said Mr Tumnus, "that you are promised your first suit of armour and your first war horse on your next birthday. And then your Highness will begin to learn how to tilt and joust. And in a few years, if all goes well, King Peter has promised your royal father that he himself will make you Knight at Cair Paravel. And in the meantime there will be plenty of comings and goings between Narnia and Archenland across the neck of the mountains. And of course you remember you have promised to come for a whole week to stay with me for the Summer Festival, and there'll be bonfires and all-night dances of Fauns and Dryads in the heart of the woods and, who knows?-we might see Aslan himself!" When the meal was over the Faun told Shasta to stay quietly where he was. "And it wouldn't do you any harm to have a little sleep," he added. "I'll call you in plenty of time to get on board. And then, Home. Narnia and the North!" Shasta had so enjoyed his dinner and all the things Tumnus had been telling him that when he was left alone his thoughts took a different turn. He only hoped now that the real Prince Corin would not turn up until it was too late and that he would be taken away to Narnia by ship. I am afraid he did not think at all of what might happen to the real Corin when he was left behind in Tashbaan. He was a little worried about Aravis and Bree waiting for him at the Tombs. But then he said to himself, "Well, how can I help it?" and, "Anyway, that Aravis thinks she's too good to go about with me, so she can jolly well go alone," and at the same time he couldn't help feeling that it would be much nicer going to Narnia by sea than toiling across the desert. When he had thought all this he did what I expect you would have done if you had been up very early and had a long walk and a great deal of excitement and then a very good meal, and were lying on a sofa in a cool room with no noise in it except when a bee came buzzing in through the wide open windows. He fell asleep. What woke him was a loud crash. He jumped up off the sofa, staring. He saw at once from the mere look of the room - the lights and shadows all looked different - that he must have slept for several hours. He saw also what had made the crash: a costly porcelain vase which had been standing on the window-sill lay on - the floor broken into about thirty pieces. But he hardly noticed all these things. What he did notice was two hands gripping the window-sill from outside. They gripped harder and harder (getting white at the knuckles) and then up came a head and a pair of shoulders. A moment later there was a boy of Shasta's own age sitting astride the sill with one leg hanging down inside the room. Shasta had never seen his own face in a looking-glass. Even if he had, he might not have realized that the other boy was (at ordinary times) almost exactly like himself. At the moment this boy was not particularly like anyone for he had the finest black eye you ever saw, and a tooth missing, and his clothes (which must have been splendid ones when he put them on) were torn and dirty, and there was both blood and mud on his face. "Who are you?" said the boy in a whisper. "Are you Prince Corin?" said Shasta. "Yes, of course," said the other. "But who are you?" "I'm nobody, nobody in particular, I mean," said Shasta. "King Edmund caught me in the street and mistook me for you. I suppose we must look like one another. Can I get out the way you've got in?" "Yes, if you're any good at climbing," said Corin. "But why are you in such a hurry? I say: we ought to be able to get some fun out of this being mistaken for one another." "No, no," said Shasta. "We must change places at once. It'll be simply frightful if Mr Tumnus comes back and finds us both here. I've had to pretend to be you. And you're starting tonight - secretly. And where were you all this time?" "A boy in the street made a beastly joke about Queen Susan," said Prince Corin, "so I knocked him down. He ran howling into a house and his big brother came out. So I knocked the big brother down. Then they all followed me until we ran into three old men with spears who are called the Watch. So I fought the Watch and they knocked me down. It was getting dark by now. Then the Watch took me along to lock me up somewhere. So I asked them if they'd like a stoup of wine and they said they didn't mind if they did. Then I took them to a wine shop and got them some and they all sat down and drank till they feel asleep. I thought it was time for me to be off so I came out quietly and then I found the first boy - the one who had started all the trouble - still hanging about. So I knocked him down again. After that I climbed up a pipe on to the roof of a house and lay quiet till it began to get light this morning. Ever since that I've been finding my way back. I say, is there anything to drink?" "No, I drank it," said Shasta. "And now, show me how you got in. There's not a minute to lose. You'd better lie down on the sofa and pretend-but I forgot. It'll be no good with all those bruises and black eye. You'll just have to tell them the truth, once I'm safely away." "What else did you think I'd be telling them?" asked the Prince with a rather angry look. "And who are you?" "There's no time," said Shasta in a frantic whisper. "I'm a Narnian, I believe; something Northern anyway. But I've been brought up all my life in Calormen. And I'm escaping: across the desert; with a talking Horse called Bree. And now, quick! How do I get away?" "Look," said Corin. "Drop from this window on to the roof of the verandah. But you must do it lightly, on your toes, or someone will hear you. Then along to your left and you can get up to the top of that wall if you're any good at all as a climber. Then along the wall to the corner. Drop onto the rubbish heap you will find outside, and there you are." "Thanks," said Shasta, who was already sitting on the sill. The two boys were looking into each other's faces and suddenly found that they were friends. "Good-bye," said Corin. "And good luck. I do hope you get safe away." "Good-bye," said Shasta. "I say, you have been having some adventures." "Nothing to yours," said the Prince. "Now drop; lightlyI say," he added as Shasta dropped. "I hope we meet in Archenland. Go to my father King Lune and tell him you're a friend of mine. Look out! I hear someone coming."

#HorseandhisBoy

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