#catapult stripes.... much to think about

[cocksley-and-catapult]

release the pics of them as pathetic sniveling babies the public needs to see

[agustdiv1ne]

❆.*.•°◞8:02 p.m. — huening kai

genre: jack frost!kai, fantasy, fluff, a sprinkle of angst (brief description of frostbite/hypothermia)

wc: 1.4k

the tips of your fingers are turning a deep, inky blue.

the sight should concern you, and yet you cannot find it in yourself to care. your muscles refuse to function, as if having a mind of their own, rendering you unable to lift yourself from the snow surrounding your body, to find your way out of this damned forest. bones frozen over, you exhale, watching with glazed over eyes as your breath creates a fog in the air. much akin to the rest of your body, you are unable to feel your lips.

you are tired, so very tired. stars twinkle above you — glittering, joyful, taunting. get up, get up, get up. chase after us.

perhaps a small nap would be of help, then you can find your way out, following the stars all the while — you simply must regain some energy first. close your eyes and rest, and when you wake, everything will be okay.

“close your eyes,” a sharp, icy voice whispers within your mind. “give in to me.”

finding no reason to rebel, your eyes flutter to a close. everthing will be fine. you will soon wake and trace your steps back to the edge of the forest. tendrils of sleep curl around your mind, pulling tighter and tighter as you begin to slip into unconscious. you tiptoe on the edge of dreams when the rapid crunch of snow underneath boots catapults you back into reality. the sounds grows louder before it stops next to your ear. your eyes open a crack, blurry vision taking in the stranger. you catch a streak of fair blonde hair, a worried voice floating through your ears, before your eyes close once more. at last, darkness whisks you away.

you are unsure how long you remain unconscious, but when you do finally wake, death no longer sinks its talons into your chest. your entire form is bathed in a delicious warmth, and when your eyes blink open, you find a fireplace crackling with orange flames before your eyes. a blanket has been wrapped around your body, a small pillow cushioning your head from the hard floor. unfurling your limbs from their curled up state, you sit up. you look around with a frown pulling at your brows, noting the onyx sky outside through a nearby window. it is still nighttime — you mustn't have been asleep for too long.

the front door clicks open, a blast of cold mixing with the warmth of the room. a man who seems to be near your age quickly shuts the door before his gaze meets yours. physically, he is slightly intimidating — long-legged and a bit broad, the thinness of his striped sweater unable to hide his wide shoulders. you should be concerned about being alone with a man in his cabin seemingly in the middle of the woods, but the relieved expression his features melt into when he realizes you have awoken soothes your apprehension.

“you’re awake! i am glad,” he says as his lips curl into a gentle smile. in that moment, you find yourself thinking that he’s pretty, with strong yet kind features that further relax the tension in your muscles. “you had me worried.”

“i—” you start before hesitating for a moment. “thank you. for helping me.”

he hums, giving you a wide berth as he makes his way over to a dark wooden table, sitting down in a rickety chair that squeaks as he adjusts his long limbs. he leans forward, elbows resting on his knees. his thin sweater and slacks concern you; how could he have gone outside in such thin clothing and remain so unfazed?

“why were you in the forest? at night, nonetheless.”

you pause for a moment before you respond, heat spreading across your cheeks. “i...got lost.”

his brows furrow at that, but he doesn't press any further, shifting so that he leans against the back of the chair, chestnut-hued eyes still trained on you, studying you. his icy blonde hair brings out the natural flush of his cheeks. you shake the thought away. he is beautiful, yes, but he is a stranger to you. untrustworthy.

“how are your hands?” he questions, playing with his own in his lap, fidgeting in his seat.

your hands! the cold had all but taken them when he had found you, but as they emerge from under the blanket, the frostbitten tips of your fingers have somehow returned to their normal state. your jaw drops, mouth parted. this isn't possible. this should not be possible. no, no, no.

“h-how?” you panic, rubbing at the skin. “how did you—”

“my powers- i mean, i created a salve that can reverse the effects of frostbite,” he says, but the first part of his sentence is not lost on you. you have heard many stories of this forest, of the creatures that lurk within the shadows. he couldn’t be...

“your powers?” you squeak, backing yourself against the wall next to the fireplace. “y-you—”

he remains on the chair. a beat of silence. two, three.

“my name is kai,” he begins, and though he does not receive anything but a fearful stare in return, he continues. “i have resided in this forest for my entire life. most humans refer to me as ‘jack frost,’ though i am simply a myth to them.”

he allows you to simmer with that information, fixing you with a neutral expression. it makes some semblance of sense now; there's something different about him, in his aura. you are unsure how you have not noticed before, but his ears come to a point, unlike any human.

“i wish not to hurt you,” he finally says when he senses your body relax slightly. “however, the forest is dangerous at night, so it would be best if you remained here until morning. i will guide you out.”

you inhale deeply, weighing your options. you could stay, sleep in warmth with a seemingly benevolent mythical being protecting you — or you could take your chances in the pitch black, ice-cold woods, unaware of what could be watching, waiting to pounce on a vulnerable little human like yourself.

easily, you choose the former.

“i see. thank you again for your kindness,” you say with a lethargic smile. sleep seems to weigh your eyelids down now that your safety is essentially guaranteed. his presence screams sincerity, comfort, and, ironically, warmth. something inside of you tells you to trust him, and against your better judgment, your name tumbles from your lips.

“well, it is nice to become acquainted with such a respectful human,” he says, and you wonder what that could mean. you ponder what other humans had done to him to elicit such a response. “i do have a spare bedroom, but you may sleep out here if you would like.”

“a bed would be wonderful.” you nod, attempting to get up, but your limbs betray you. you collapse back to the ground. the man — kai — winces, but does not act to help you. you see him eye the fire next to you as you finally stand.

“heat...makes me weak. i apologize,” he says as you move towards him. his hand wraps around your wrist, fingers cold, guiding you down a hallway until you reach the door towards the end of the hall. you say nothing.

“i will leave you alone,” he says, the hand around your wrist dropping to his side as he opens the door for you. “if you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask me. i will be next door.”

you are unsure what comes over you as you lean up to press a chaste kiss to his cheek. you pull back with a grateful smile, cheeks hot as you realize what you have done. “thank you, kai. i shall see you in the morning.”

a ruby red blush stains his cheeks, and he stutters out a brief good night before he's slipping into his room and slamming the door shut. you giggle a little — how odd; you, of all people, causing an immortal being's face to flush. quietly, you close your own door, dropping onto the bed to snuggle into the soft sheets. sleep arrives without delay, your eyelids drooping more and more as snow falls outside of the window next to the bed. you watch in wonder as frost begins to cover the expanse of the glass pane, your eyes blinking open a final time to find the entire window coated in ice.

among the fern-like patterns that riddle the window, a heart is tucked into the center.

masterlist

© to agustdiv1ne. do not copy, repost, steal, and/or translate.

[jbaileyfansite]

Interview with Style Magazine (2024)

British actor Jonathan Bailey became a hot commodity after the smash success of Netflix romance drama Bridgerton, the early 19th-century Regency-era series that catapulted him and his fellow cast members from obscurity into household names when it debuted in 2020.

While most people know him as his character Lord Anthony, aka Viscount Bridgerton, it’s his role in American drama series Fellow Travelers that cemented his status as a bona fide leading man and truly revealed his acting chops.

Bailey’s searing portrayal of a gay activist alongside Matt Bomer in the Showtime series has won Bailey a Critics’ Choice Award and plenty of accolades, from the LGBTQ+ community – Bailey is openly gay – and beyond.

Spanning almost five decades, from the Lavender Scare and McCarthyism of the 50s to the heartbreaking Aids crisis of the 80s, shown through the lives of two male lovers, the mini series is a beautiful love story as well as a remarkable history lesson. (The Lavender Scare was a mass dismissal of homosexuals from government institutions that paralleled the anti-communist campaign of senator Joseph McCarthy.)

Bailey, who is getting ready to embark on the promotional tour of Bridgerton season three, which debuts in May and June in two parts, was recently in Shanghai for the opening of “Crafted World”, an exhibition held by Spanish luxury label Loewe to showcase its history and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of creative director Jonathan Anderson, a fellow Brit and friend of Bailey’s.

On the night of the opening event, after Anderson gave Bailey a tour of the exhibition, we managed to grab the actor for a very quick chat.

Clad in a striped nautical jumper paired with army green trousers and paint-splattered shoes, all from Loewe, Bailey was extremely friendly and excited to share this moment with Anderson and the Loewe family.

Tell me about this trip to China.

It’s my first time here and I’m really upset to leave so soon. I managed to tour Shanghai today and you can just feel inspired being in the city.

What did you like the most about the exhibition?

Jonathan [Anderson]’s eye for collaboration is just next level. I’ve known him for a while and going back to see all his outfits in one room is like a montage of the last 10 years. My first Loewe show was in 2022, and I think his humble approach to understanding craft and collaboration, as well as what it really means to make something with your hands in a very fundamental way, is something that he stays true to. This adds a very special, celebratory and nourishing quality within Loewe as a brand.

Finally, how did it feel to work on a project like Fellow Travelers?

It’s something I’ll be eternally proud of. It’s such an important story; I learned so much. You sort of feel guilty and ashamed that you don’t know about that history. Then you remember that it’s been left out of the history books and, if you can through your work, you can shine a light on stories that haven’t been told and mean so much to so many people.

Source

[hondagirll]

#44 for Ted/Rebecca 🥰

#44 - is that my shirt?

(I did change one word of the prompt. I hope you don't mind especially because I am certain this scenario has already been written a million times but I don't care. I wrote it anyways)

Ted enters her office whistling, carrying a long white box under his right arm and a familiar pink box in his left hand.

"Morning, boss!" He says cheerfully, setting both items down on her desk with a flourish. Rebecca closes her laptop and pushes it to the side, instantly alert. It's been a year and a half since she first met Ted Lasso. A year and a half since he had catapulted over the strong fortress she had built around herself, decimating it down to nothing more than a pile of rubble and stones with his kindness and integrity. She and Ted are friends now, legitimate and proper friends who get dinner and drinks together. Friends who have long talks after losses and wins. Friends who occasionally meet up for Sunday lunch at the pub provided by Mae. They are friends but ‘Biscuits with the Boss’ notwithstanding, they aren't the type of friends who regularly give each other gifts.

Rebecca looks down at the unfamiliar white box sitting in front of her and then up at Ted. He is still smiling. The box is large, about the size of a small jumper and it doesn’t have any emblems or logos printed on the outside to help her identify the contents. She picks the box up, surprised by its lightness.

"What is it?" She finally asks, tapping the lid with a manicured fingernail. Ted merely sits down in the chair across from her and shakes his head.

“Now come on. The surprise will be ruined if I tell ya. Open it up!”

Rebecca rolls her eyes but obeys. Ted sounds very similar to her goddaughter on Christmas Day, full of enthusiasm and good will towards everyone on earth. She sets the box down on her desk and gently removes the lid. Whatever is inside is covered by light pink gift paper, each section neatly folded over each other to the extent she cannot see what is underneath. She lifts the sections of paper out one by one until she finally reaches the bottom and finds herself staring at a familiar blue and red striped pattern. She pulls the item out of the box and holds it up in front of her.

It’s a team jersey, the A.F.C Richmond logo displayed prominently on the chest.

“Thanks Ted,” Rebecca works hard to keep the disappointment out of her voice. He was so eager to have her open the present that she was expecting more than a simple jersey. Instantly she feels ashamed. How is Ted supposed to know she already has five Richmond jersey’s hanging up in her wardrobe at home? Along with matching hats, scarves and gloves. He cannot be expected to memorize every article of clothing she owns, especially on game days when he is busy managing the team. She doesn't want to offend him, she would die before causing Ted any more pain than she already has so she pastes a smile on her face, determined to lie through her teeth if necessary.

(She will wear this bloody jersey every day of the week if that will make him happy)

“Turn it over,” coaxes Ted from behind the wall of knitted polyester and cotton and Rebecca obliges. She turns the jersey over and her body instantly freezes at the sight.

For there, on the back of the jersey, above the number one is a name printed in big, block lettering.

WELTON

“Is that my name?” Rebecca asks in disbelief, lowering the jersey just enough to look over the top at Ted. His body is vibrating so much with excitement that his bottom is nearly halfway out of his seat. He nods, hair flopping into his eyes and he brushes it back with his hand.

“Yup! I thought you might want your own this year so I asked Higgins to order a custom one. Do you like it?”

His voice rises on the last part, his tone high pitched as if he is worried she wouldn’t but Rebecca smiles at him and nods, warmth blossoming quickly throughout her chest as she looks back down at the jersey.

“It’s perfect, Ted. Thank you.” She touches her name on the back, her fingers tracing the letters. This is more than a simple gift. It is a statement that she belongs, that she is one of Richmond's very own. “I never- well, I never thought to ask. I mean, no one ever thought to give me one before.”

“No need to ask.” Ted cannot stop smiling. It's highly endearing. “You’re the boss. It’s only right you get one. I’m glad you like it. Higgins was a bit skeptical but I knew you’d love it.”

“I do. Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Where's yours?”

Ted winks at her, nose wrinkling in delight. "Since you asked...."

He stands up and removes his jacket, revealing the Richmond jersey he is sporting underneath. He spins and points behind him to where it says LASSO across his upper back.

“What do ya think, boss?” he said, still peering over his shoulder at her. “Should we go and grab Keeley for a little photo op?"

“Absolutely.”

(Later that evening Rebecca is at home curled up on the sofa, a pair of slippers on her feet and a glass of wine in her hand when she gets a text from Keeley. She has sent Rebecca a picture of her and Ted from their impromptu photo session.Their backs are to the camera, but this particular shot must have been taken in between sessions when they were not prepared because Ted's body is turned too much towards Rebecca, half the words on his jersey are out of frame. He is caught mid-sentence, his mouth is partially open while Rebecca has one hand raised to her eyes, blocking out the sun as she leans her head down towards Ted, listening intently. The picture is zoomed in on their faces; under his visor Ted's eyes are crinkled up in amusement, the lines around his mouth deeper than normal while Rebecca is grinning widely, all of her teeth exposed. Immediately Rebecca is struck by how comfortable and relaxed they look together, as if they are not carrying around all the heavy burdens and vast expectations of the League on their backs. They look young, carefree. It's not an image the public is used to seeing from the assertive and confident female owner and their bumbling Yankee coach which is probably why Rebecca doesn't recognize it from any of the photos Keeley had already posted to the team's Instagram and web page. This one is too personal, too intimate to share with the world and she’s grateful to Keeley for recognizing that. Underneath the photo Keeley has sent another text to Rebecca, this message containing only one word.

Friends.

Rebecca smiles and immediately saves the photo to her phone. She repeats the word in her head, twisting it around on her tongue as she taps out a response to Keeley.

Friends. Her and Ted... friends.

For now)

Yes.

.

.

.

.

.

[dornish-queen]

Pedro Pascal - La Vanguardia

With Javier Peña's mustache as his hallmark, the 'Narcos' and 'Game of Thrones' actor is filming in Budapest with Nicolas Cage and Paco León

Pascal, cultured, seductive and reflective, repeats as Loewe's ambassador for its Solo Mercurio perfume and is a model for 'Magazine Lifestyle'

SYLVIA MARTI   12/13/2020 06:00

 Casual striped jacket, tousled hair, exquisite punctuality, and a room in Budapest. There is something about this man, generous in smiles and answers, great talkative, attractive without clichés. Pedro Pascal, 45 years old and face success. He shot The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in the Hungarian capital with Nicolas Cage and Paco León, who apparently encouraged the show a lot; We see him without seeing him in the Star Wars universe as a galactic bounty hunter in The Mandalorian and he is Maxwell Lord, the eighties villain of Wonder Woman 1984 , perhaps the only blockbuster that, if nothing goes wrong, will make us happy Christmas.

Session in Budapest The Chilean actor shoots 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' in the Hungarian capital with Nicolas Cage and Paco León

(full article and photos under the cut)

Chilean by birth, his family left the country fleeing the Pinochet dictatorship when he was a baby. Brief passage through Denmark and new life in San Antonio (Texas). Normal when speaking in your mother tongue some words in English slip through. Think before answering a question without losing spontaneity or being afraid of silence. An art. 

There is still Javier Peña's mustache, which catapulted him to fame from Narcos , and you can recognize that little point of joyous irony of Prince Oberyn Martell, who almost ended the Mountain in Game of Thrones . Two roles that have opened doors that he has managed to keep safe from slamming doors and have allowed him to skip the toll of stereotyped roles. Today Pascal, well trained in theater and loved by the cameras, can do whatever he wants. Even dedicating a Saturday to star in a fashion shoot and speak exclusively for Lifetsyle Magazine .

"Nobody knows me but everyone thinks they know me," he said when he debuted as the face of Solo Loewe perfume. Introduce yourself with four words.”

I do not define myself only by them, but I am contradictory, faithful, loyal, sensitive and, at times, a bit geek.

What would surprise me about you if you knew him better?

That although I live life and enjoy family, friends and social connections a lot, I have a lonely point. I like having my space and the option of staying a day at home in a relaxed and cocoon plan .

“Even though I live life and really enjoy family, friends and social connections, I have a lonely point.”

With Covid-19, many of us are already a little tired of staying at home ...

Yes, now that I don't have much choice to go out, I'm afraid of not being able to go back to the theater, to a party, to a dinner with many people ... I really regret those times that, instead of going out, I stayed at home.

Which character has left the most impression on you?

I miss Peña, from Narcos . It was my first leading role, the first time I had time to develop the character, create his energy, his style ... They gave me a lot of freedom to shape it, even if it was based on a real person. I was able to work on it, make it my own, create the tone, invent and deepen.

Do you easily get rid of them when filming is over?

When I was younger I was very clear that they had to be left at work, that the character had to be separated from the person. I thought that with age it would get easier and easier but, surprisingly, the opposite happens to me: it gets harder and harder. Energy cannot always be organized the way we would like and I have to admit that I take some of my characters home with me.

Have you incorporated any of their phrases into your life?

Maxwell Lord has a very attractive in Wonder Woman 1984 : "Everything is fine, but it could be better."

Very eighties. Like the one Gordon Gekko said on Wall Street (1987): "If you want a friend, buy yourself a dog." Have we advanced or are we already for the fourth pet?

We have come a long way. I am very inspired by young people, their strength to face in an original way that win, win and win system that reached a monstrous level in the eighties. Today's young people go deeper into the need to respect a planet in which we all live together and the obligation to take care of it.

“Young people inspire me, they deepen the need to respect a planet and the obligation to care for it.”

I see you optimistic ...

I am a realistic and hard-working optimist. My first impression is that the glass is half empty, I have to find arguments to see it half full.

Is it true that you drew the comic strips to interact with them as a method to immerse yourself in your character in 'Wonder Woman 1984'?

I made a book with images from the eighties and sixties, comic book drawings, papers, erasers, colored pencils, markers and vignettes to better understand what it was to be a man of that decade, how his attitude was forged ... It was a way to focus to live up to what Patty (Jenkins, the director) asked for, which was a lot, and not lose sight of it. I'm a horrible cartoonist, but I had to do something practical to study, understand, and develop the character.

What does a script or a role have to have to get their attention?

Sense of humor. Even if it is a drama, a hero, a villain ... Humor immediately hooks me.

A good shield to go through life ...

The best. It is the most important thing to survive.

Do you remember the last time you laughed out loud?

Paco León immediately came to mind. When he's on set, here in Budapest, we are all happier and we laugh a lot. The entire production loves it. It has made filming more fun.

“When Paco León is on set, here in Budapest, we are all happier and we laugh a lot”

 What fascinates you most about the Star Wars universe?

Nostalgia, the huge audience it has, the ability to reach so many people. It reflects our childlike imagination without limits. Create more and more worlds with all kinds of people and species. He is capable of casting the universe

What is your definition of success?

Have a healthy relationship with yourself. Nothing matters if you don't love yourself.

What would you have done if you had not succeeded as an actor? Did you have a plan B?

No. Perhaps the only thing that could have been useful to others is acting as a literature teacher, as a counselor or advisor for people who need help ... I am a bit of a therapist with my friends. And it must work, because they come back. I have a lot of common sense.

What is elegance to you? Has your relationship with Loewe influenced the way you dress?

In that of elegance I am a student, I am learning. I wear what is comfortable but I also have very finite taste and, when motivated, I really like to express myself with style. And when it comes to style, Loewe is on top of everything.

Something material that would save from a fire.

A book. I always have one on hand. Now I am rereading The Magic Mountain , by Thomas Mann. Literature is one of my passions. It is an extension of life. The problem would be to choose only one, there are so many! My identity is made by inspirations from authors, actors, dancers, the art world, the sea ... There is no self without the influence of all the things that inspire me.

“The sea is what I like the most in life. I have respect, curiosity and love for him on a religious level.”

The sea…

It's what I like the most in life. I have respect, curiosity and love for him on a religious level.

If he gets lost, I know where to look for him.

On a boat in the middle of the sea, on an island, on the beach in Chile ... Everything related to water. One of the first smells I remember, although I don't know if it's too attractive, is the chlorine in the pool.

What is your fastest way to disconnect?

Losing your mobile phone. I fell down the stairs in Dubrovnik and at first it was like, "Oh noooo." But then I thought, "Well, a week without him." I had a certain feeling of liberation. Not having to be aware of e-mails, messages ... I find it very strong that people communicate even through a direct message from Instagram. I refuse.

Now that you quote them, how are you getting along with the networks? (He has 1.5 million followers on Intagram)

I am quite active, I use it when I have a good time, but also to express myself and to give my opinion.

“I will say goodbye to the year with a kiss and raising the middle finger. He has treated me well but the collective suffering and fear this year….”

What is your favorite word?

Oxymoron. I like its meaning and its sound

Who would you like to shut up, as you did in the first Loewe Solo ad?

Personally, I would love to shut up that heavy, bad voice, the imp that we all have in our heads. That it's nice to have him and that, and I know he will never go away, but it would be nice if he shut up sometimes. Collectively I think we would all like to shut up one person.

Trump?

I suppose.

What have you learned from this rare year?

That you cannot live without human contact. For me the deep and simple connections with my friends and family is the only thing that matters.

How will you fire him?

With a kiss and raising the middle finger. He has treated me very well but the collective suffering and fear this year….

*article translated with google chrome. Source of article*

[readerbookclub]

One Year Later, May’s Booklist

Hurray! It’s been a year since the book club first started. Time really does fly. And why not celebrate this birthday by looking back on some of the books we’ve read together? This month’s book list is made up of novels by author’s whose works we read throughout the past year. Let’s revisit some old favourites, shall we? 

In May 2020, when the world felt like it was going to end and so many of us had more time than we could spend, this book club read its first book. Neil Gaiman’s, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, kept us occupied during that frightening time. So our first pick for this list is:

Stardust, by Neil Gaiman:

Life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall—named after the imposing stone barrier which separates the town from a grassy meadow. Here, young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the beautiful Victoria Forester and for the coveted prize of her hand, Tristran vows to retrieve a fallen star and deliver it to his beloved. It is an oath that sends him over the ancient wall and into a world that is dangerous and strange beyond imagining...

June was when many of our members first joined us (hey Ann, hey Rey, hey Lani! love ya!). Together we read The Starless Sea, a book that enchanted some, and frustrated others. Now we take a look at Morgenstern’s other novel:

The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern:

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

In August, when many of us still couldn’t leave our houses, we read A Gentleman in Moscow and met Count Alexander, a man under house arrest. He taught us a lot about finding beauty and purpose, even when everything seems hopeless. In this list, we take another trip into the wonderful imagination of Amor Towles:

Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles:

On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar with her boardinghouse roommate stretching three dollars as far as it will go when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a tempered smile, happens to sit at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a yearlong journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool toward the upper echelons of New York society and the executive suites of Condé Nast—rarefied environs where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve. Wooed in turn by a shy, principled multi-millionaire, and an irrepressible Upper East Side ne'er-do-well, befriended by a single-minded widow who is ahead of her time, and challenged by an imperious mentor, Katey experiences firsthand the poise secured by wealth and station and the failed aspirations that reside just below the surface. Even as she waits for circumstances to bring Tinker back into her life, she begins to realize how our most promising choices inevitably lay the groundwork for our regrets.

In November, while I was procrastinating studying for my entrance exam, we embarked on a whirlwind journey that unfolded over twenty years. Journey Under the Midnight Sun was a story that started with one murder, then spiralled into a world of crime and deception. Now we take a lot at another one of Higashino’s novels:

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store, by Keigo Higashino:

When three delinquents hole up in an abandoned general store after their most recent robbery, to their great surprise, a letter drops through the mail slot in the store's shutter. This seemingly simple request for advice sets the trio on a journey of discovery as, over the course of a single night, they step into the role of the kindhearted former shopkeeper who devoted his waning years to offering thoughtful counsel to his correspondents. Through the lens of time, they share insight with those seeking guidance, and by morning, none of their lives will ever be the same.

In February, we read This is How You Lose the Time War, a book that led to our most lively and active discussion yet. It was then we welcomed many new voices into our book club, and we’re very happy to have them. Whether you loved the novel or just felt confused, I think we can all agree that it was something unique and different. Now, we take a look at another of Gladstone’s sci-fi books:

Empress of Forever, by Max Gladstone

A wildly successful innovator to rival Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, Vivian Liao is prone to radical thinking, quick decision-making, and reckless action. On the eve of her greatest achievement, she tries to outrun people who are trying to steal her success. In the chilly darkness of a Boston server farm, Viv sets her ultimate plan into motion. A terrifying instant later, Vivian Liao is catapulted through space and time to a far future where she confronts a destiny stranger and more deadly than she could ever imagine. The end of time is ruled by an ancient, powerful Empress who blesses or blasts entire planets with a single thought. Rebellion is literally impossible to consider--until Vivian Liao arrives. Trapped between the Pride―a ravening horde of sentient machines―and a fanatical sect of warrior monks who call themselves the Mirrorfaith, Viv must rally a strange group of allies to confront the Empress and find a way back to the world and life she left behind.

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[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Destiny

Ch 2- Touche, Kiddo.

Chapter Summary: Tony and Natasha take Katie back to the first of several key points of impact in her life- the day Tony returned from Afghanistan…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings:  Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: So these chapters contain flashbacks of sorts- but they’re not flashbacks as Katie is watching the events unfold in front of her-a “Time heist” of sorts. However, to keep it clear and hopefully not confusing, the events she is watching are depicted in itallics instead of me trying to keep calling her 2010 v 2030 Katie…

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Destiny Masterlist // Main Masterlist

You’re dead.” Katie spluttered, looking at Tony.

“Yeah, so they tell me.” He mused, taking a look around, observing his surroundings. “Which is kind of a bummer.” “So what the fuck is this?” She swallowed, shaking her head. “Am I dreaming? Having some kind of mental breakdown hallucination? Or are you a ghost? And where the fuck have you been for the past seven years, asshole?”

“I wasn’t needed.” Tony shrugged. “But, this is your party so to speak. I can be whatever you want to be if it makes you feel better. I mean, you did have strange dreams at times when you were younger. I distinctly recall one about a giant white rabbit chasing you through the streets of London with an ice cream cone as a hat.” “I was high when I fell asleep.” Katie shrugged, then she gave a moan. “What am I doing talking to you? This is insane, I need to wake up.” She closed her eyes, pinched herself, yelping at the pain. When she opened them, she saw Tony leaning against the tree trunk, one knee bent as his shoe pressed flat against the trunk behind him, arms folded. “Yeah, sorry Kiddo. Still here.” “This is all inside my head.” Katie took a deep breath “This is all inside my head, this isn’t real.” “What was it that Dumblebee dude said? You know the Wizard from Harry Potter?” Tony clicked the fingers on his right hand, pointing at Katie as she rolled her eyes.

“Dumbledor."

“Whatever, the point is what he said. You know, that quote you loved ‘Of Course this is happening inside your head, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real?’ You can’t have forgotten, you had it stencilled on the wall in your apartment.”

“I haven’t, trust me.” Katie said softly. “It’s Jamie’s favourite too. He has it above his bed, Steve did it for him along with a painting of the Hogwarts Castle"

“Wow, he read them all already?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “He’s smart.” Katie smiled. “A real bookworm, and an artist. Announced the other day he wants to write and illustrate kid’s books now, not be a Baseball player anymore. Steve insists there’s time for him to come to his senses but…” 

"Cap still with the giddy optimism huh?" Tony arched an eyebrow and she felt her eye begin to prick, and that familiar stinging sensation associated with trying to stave off tears filled the upper inside of her nose and she looked at Tony before she rushed forward and he stood up straight. At the last minute, before she threw herself at him she stopped dead and reached out with a shaky hand, her palm pressing against the pin striped material of his waistcoat. He was solid, warm, she could feel his heart beating. 

“I-“ she looked up at him, the tears once more pouring from her eyes, “I don’t want this to be in my head."

Tony smiled, his own eyes brimming with tears as Katie slid her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. She breathed in his familiar cologne, a smell she hadn’t forgotten but one that hadn’t filled her senses in a long time. His hands gently rubbed at her back as he held her close, one hand creeping upwards where it rest on the back of her hair as he dropped a kiss to her head. His familiar fatherly-brotherly touch was seeping into her bones, quelling the deep, dark aching she’d been feeling since, well, she couldn’t remember. Steve was her home, her safe place, her rock, there was no denying that, but Tony was her childhood pillar of strength. He was the man that had band aided her knees and palms, tucked her in, fought the monsters under her bed and for that reason, he would always be a source of comfort and strength.

Even if this was just some whacked out hallucination.

And then, she felt another emotion. An emotion she remembered feeling before many a times watching Steve catapult himself off buildings, bridges, hanging off helicopters before dropping into rivers. It was anger. Anger at the self-sacrificing nature that drove her soldier to act first and think later, but she was feeling it here at her brother. Unable to quell it she pulled back and her right hand laid a stinging slap to Tony’s left cheek. His head snapped to the right and he gave an angry yell.

“Jesus Kiddo! What the fuck was that for?” “For dying, dickwad!” She yelled, the tears falling down her face. “You died and you left me!” “It wasn’t like I had a choice.” Tony sighed, dropping his head. “This was always the end I was going to get, not the end I wanted but…”

“She took it well then.” A voice drawled and Katie stiffened in her brothers’ arms, and looked up at him, eyes wide as she turned slowly to see another familiar face looking back at her, green eyes sparkling, red hair shining in the stray rays of sunlight that crept into the thicket as it fell forward around her face and shoulders over the top of a black leather jacket with a bounce Katie hadn’t seen for years.

“Nat,” she swallowed, wiping her eyes, “you look-”

“Yeah, better.” Natasha shrugged, “Whatever this is, it took us back to a time before it all went to shit. I think this was my hair in 2015 or 16…” “Leipzig you looked like that.” Tony mused as Katie stepped away from him, to scan Natasha up and down. “I, on the other hand, I’m not sure. But I look good so…” “Modest as always.” Katie grumbled as she stopped in front of Natasha, before they embraced as well.

How’s my little man?” Natasha asked and Katie smiled.

“Not so little anymore. He’s like up to here now.”  She held her hand up to a point at the top of her rib-cage. “Growing like a weed and he looks just like Steve.”

“Yeah, we actually know.” Tony cut in. “We know about all five of them, she’s just making conversation. I gotta say, I’m kinda liking the fact Emmy hooked up with Parker. They'll make cute babies"

"Oh God, don't. Steve's already freaking out about them wanting to move in together." Katie laughed and Tony grinned before he pondered something.

"Henry, that wasn't after Hank Pym was it?" He asked and Katie shook her head.

"It was a name Steve liked. I picked his middle. And it was the other way for Flossie."

Natasha snorted. “I gotta say you gave Aurora a perfect name. After a princess.” “The Star Spangled Diva." Katie shook her head before she grinned. “She’s awesome, they all are.” “She’s a Stark that's for sure.” Tony smiled proudly.

“Steve says that. Says she looks like me and has your attitude. Drives him insane.” Tony smirked. “Good to know. Been dead seven years and still bugging the crap out of Spangles.” He nodded, clapping his hand together, rubbing his palms against one another in glee.

Katie looked at her brother for a moment before she shook her head. “Okay, so is this the part where the two of you give me some kind of pep talk, you know about the kids and my outburst before or…” “Well, we could.” Tony wrinkled his nose, “but you always responded better to visuals, so we’re gonna show you.” “Tony I have no desire to see any of that again.” She shook her head. “I already know I fucked up.” “We’re not here about the fact you cussed out Jamie.” Nat said gently

Katie frowned. “Then what is this?”

“We’re more concerned with the fact you don’t seem to understand how much you matter to everyone.” The red head continued. “What was it you said before? Something along the lines of not seeing the point of being in their lives?”

Katie looked down at her feet.

“You’re human, Kiddo.” Tony said “Humans are flawed. They fuck up. Some of us less than others, granted.” Katie raised her head, cocking an eyebrow at Tony. “You’re such a conceited bastard.” “True.” Tony nodded, “But all things considered I think I have a right to be. I mean my best achievement is stood right in front of me.” He shrugged. “I’d like to include Moo in that but, well Pep’s done the hard work there really, bringing her up. You on the other hand, well that was all me.” He stepped forward and took both her hands. “And I’m smug as fuck about it, because you’re an amazing woman Kiddo, you just need reminding of that fact so we can get you over this sudden lack of self-worth you seem to be displaying.” Katie shook her head, tears forming in her eyes, “Tone…” “It’s true.” He shrugged, letting go of her hands. “But, you’ll see for yourself. Come on.”

He turned and started walking up the path towards the Memorial Gardens and Katie watched him before she turned to Natasha. Nat nodded her head towards Tony’s back and with a shrug Katie turned to follow him.

“Might as well see what whacked out journey my subconscious has planned.” She muttered to herself, following her brother as he walked ahead of her slightly. As they emerged from the thicket of trees, Katie noticed the Gardens were completely empty and it was eerily quiet. Eventually, Tony stopped by an orange Audi and Katie shook her head.

“What?” Tony asked. “I liked this colour.”

Natasha walked passed Katie and opened the door, folding the seat forward so she could slip into the back. Katie watched Tony as he settled in the driver’s side before she took another look around. The sun was starting to set, sending streaks of lilac and burnt red across the sky, and with another deep breath she climbed in and shut the door. Tony fired the engine and the familiar sounds of AC/DCs Back in Black hit her ears. Despite herself she gave a smile, glancing out of the window as Tony drove the car forward, the music filled her senses.

Suddenly, she frowned. Her head flicking to look out of the window to her side before she turned back to the windscreen as she recognised her surroundings which seemed to have changed when she blinked. “How…”

“We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.” Tony looked at her as she turned her head to meet his eyes.

“No, we’re in fucking California!” She practically exploded. “How? That’s not possible!”

“Neither is seeing dead people but you’re managing that just fine.” Natasha drawled. Katie ran her hands over her face letting out a groan.

“I’m tripping. I have to be. Did someone spike my coffee before?”

Tony smirked as he pulled the car off the road onto the Military air base and drew up behind a row of blacked out SUVs, each flanked by an armed guard.

“Wait,” Katie leaned forward, looking at three familiar figures waiting on the tarmac as a huge C17 taxied towards them. “This, this is the day you came back from Afghanistan.”

Tony nodded as Katie opened the door and climbed out. She took a few steps forward stopping in front of the car bonnet. Natasha stood by her left, Tony by her right as she watched the aircraft come to a stop.

“Come on.” Tony strode forwards. “You know how I like to make an entrance, be kind of cool for me to actually watch it for once.” They weaved their way through the line of SUVs and Katie paused, stopping. Curiously, she cocked her head to one side and waved her hand in front of one of the guard’s faces. He didn’t even blink.

“They can’t see you.” Natasha informed. “Think of it as being like A Christmas Carol…”

Kate looked at her, before she took a deep breath. “So not quite a Time Heist?”

Nat smirked and nodded. “Almost, but not quite, no.”

“Fucking hell.” Katie shook her head and turned to make her way over to Tony who was now stood just behind Pepper.

“God her ass looks great.” He mumbled. Katie gave a snort as she stopped behind her 2010 self.

“Was I really that skinny?” She muttered, taking in her frame. Her waist was ridiculously tiny, emphasised by the sharp, black tailored suit she wore, her hair pinned back into a bun. She moved round to the side, taking in her profile. Her eyes were shining, her jaw tense as she held back the tears. “Mind you, I don’t think I ate properly for the entire time you were gone.” “You’re not exactly fat now.” Tony scoffed. Katie ignored him, her eyes still fixed on herself. As she watched, 2010 Katie turned to Pepper who looked at her, the pair of them sharing a smile as Katie extended her hand, Pepper taking it, squeezing her fingers.

The tars of happiness trickled down her face, as the ramp on the aircraft carrier opened to reveal her brother. His hair was longer, he looked thinner but he was alive and all things considered he looked pretty good. Dressed in a sharp grey suit, brown shirt and a brown tie sporting white polka dots. His face was a little bruised but his goatee was well groomed and he still wore that determined, arrogant look she knew so well. As Rhodey helped him down the ramp, he waved away the gurney that was being wheeled towards him and unable to stand it any longer, Katie shot forward. Tony was barely at the bottom before she flung herself at him, not caring that his arm was a sling.

“Hey, Kiddo.” He said softly as she buried her face into his neck.

“You fucking asshole!” She sobbed. “Next time, you ride with Rhodey, you got that?”

“Trust me, there will be no next time.” He chuckled as she pulled back and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Afghanistan is a shit hole.”

“It was you know.” Tony mumbled and Katie turned her head away from watching her past reunion with her brother to look at him. “But there was one thing that kept me going in that hell hole. And that was getting back to you. I couldn’t leave you. Not after what happened to Mom and Dad.” Katie swallowed and turned back to see herself and her brother walking towards Pepper, her hand linked in his as they stopped.

“Your eyes are red.” Tony looked at Pepper. “A few tears for your long-lost boss?”

“Tears of joy.” Pepper smiled back. “I hate job hunting.” “Yeah, vacation's over.” Tony said simply, and he headed past Pepper towards Happy. Katie watched as the two men embraced and she turned to Pepper.

“Twenty bucks says the first place he goes is for a cheeseburger.”

“You know me, knew me, whatever, so well.” Tony looped an arm round Katie as they watched their 2010 selves climb into the car and set off.

“I didn’t even try and convince you otherwise.” She sighed, looking at him. “I knew you’d refuse to go to the hospital. I didn’t see the immediate press-conference coming though. That was certainly a curve ball.”

“Yeah, it was an interesting one for us too at SHIELD.” Nat mused. “As soon as Fury got the call about how you’d escaped and that you’d called said conference he dispatched Coulson.”

“God.” Katie blew out a breath. “This was like twenty years ago now. I was so young, a baby.”

“Well, now you don’t look a day over forty-six.” Tony said, patting her shoulder. She glared at him and he chuckled “Come on.”

Katie cast her eyes once more at the tail of the Rolls which was heading over the airfield tarmac and the three of them walked back to Tony’s Audi.

**** “Higher Daddy!” Harry giggled as Steve pushed him on the swing lazily with one arm, all the time keeping one eye on Rori who was currently with Jamie, the pair of them hanging off the climbing frame upside down whilst Stark sat at the bottom, barking at them. Whilst all his kids seemed to have inherited some of the serum’s benefits in that they were rarely sick and on the whole pretty robust, they were still fifty-percent ‘normal’ for want of a better word, and Steve’s heart was constantly in his mouth when they did stuff like that. To his horror, he watched Rori pull herself up and then tuck herself into a ball, flipping herself backwards off the frame, landing on her feet.

“That’s how to stick a landing.” She looked at Jamie, her tongue poking out at him before she trotted back over to her Dad ignoring her brother’s shout of “loser…” as she headed off.

“Can you not do that?” Steve sighed exasperatedly as she stopped by his side.

“Do what?” She looked up at him, her green eyes frowning a little. “Throw yourself off stuff.” “Momma says you did it all the time.” Rori looked at him “She said you threw yourself out of an elevator with her on your back.” “That, that was different.” He finished lamely.

“How?” “Because I had no choice.” “Why didn’t you just push the button to take the elevator down?” Rori looked at him like he was an idiot and he groaned.

“Rori, just, oh, I dunno, go and play on the slide or something. And by that I mean slide down it, not jump off it.”

“Hey Dad?” Jamie appeared by his side and Steve looked down at him. “You wanna play catch?”

“Why don’t you play with Stark?” Steve suggested. “I need to keep an eye on Harry and Flossie, buddy.”

“Stark just runs off with the ball. He never brings it back.”

“Well, try teaching him.” “I have.” Jamie whined.

“Jamie, don’t start.” Steve looked at him sternly “You’re skating on thin ice as it is. I’ll bring you out to play ball just the two of us one night next week, I promise.” “I’ll play.” Rori offered. Steve could see Jamie was considering his options before he shrugged.

“Okay.”

The two of them headed off towards the small sandlot to the side of the park, Steve watching as he continued to push Harry in the swing, his gaze then turning to Florence who was asleep in the stroller. Eventually, Harry got bored and wanted to play on the slide so Steve lifted him out and they made their way over, Harry’s hand wrapped around Steve’s as he pushed Florence with the other. He watched Harry as he climbed the steps and then moved to the bottom of the slide, crouching as the little boy whizzed down laughing, Steve smiled as he caught him and tossed him into the air slightly.

“Again!” Harry demanded. Steve let him down and he repeated the motion a few times before Steve checked his watch. It was getting a little late, granted it was a Saturday but he didn’t want to deal with the fall out of them all being over tired and cranky over dinner. There had been enough tantrums and tears today.

“Kids, think we should head back.” He said as he approached the older two. Jamie looked at him, about to protest and Steve glared at him.

“What did I say before?”

Jamie took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, Dad.”

Together they walked back, Jamie and Rori a little ahead as Steve kept pace with Harry. They took the path through one of the green parks that led to their road and Rori stopped at a bank of wild flowers.

“Hey, can we pick some for Momma?” She asked, turning to look at Steve. “The blue ones are pretty.”

Steve smiled. “I think that’s a great idea.”

“Make momma happy?” Harry asked, looking up and Steve nodded.

“Yeah, yeah it will.”

Steve watched as Jamie and Rori headed off to a patch to the left to pick a few and Steve crouched down consulting with Harry as to which ones he wanted to get. He helped him pick a few before he turned back to see Jamie and Rori clutching handfuls each.

“You leave any for the bees?” He quipped and Rori looked at him.

“There are looooads.” She gestured with her hands, giving an eye roll that was ridiculously comparable to those of her mother.

“Well that’s me told.” Steve arched an eyebrow. “Okay, give them here.”

He took them gently, adding them to Harry’s and he laid them on the little shelf at the bottom of the stroller before the five of them made their way back home.

**** Tony parked the Audi haphazardly in a space outside the Stark Industries HQ main building.

“Nice parking.” Katie quipped.

“It’s our company, I own this parking lot. Well I did. And besides, like you keep saying, this isn’t real so what does it matter?” He asked as the three of them exited the car. Katie glanced over to where Obadiah Stane was waiting with the press and their employees, laughing loudly and generally acting like the big shot.

“Dick.” She mumbled. “I never liked him.”

“Yeah, I know. You told me a lot. And it turns out you were right about him.” Tony shrugged. “Who knew?”

She snorted and Natasha gave a chuckle. “I’ll leave you two to this one.” She said gently, leaning against the car, folding her arms. Katie looked at her, before she turned and followed Tony as he strode forward, watching as the Rolls pulled up. The people stood round the turning circle all started to applause and when the car stopped and Obadiah strode forwards, arms open.

“Look at this!” He opened the door, presenting Tony to everyone and pulling him into a hug “We were going to meet at the hospital.”

“No, I'm fine.” Tony said, turning to Happy who offered him the Burger King bag from which Tony pulled another cheeseburger.

“Look at you!” Obadiah chuckled “You had to have a burger, yeah?”

“Which reminds me,” Katie nudged Pepper as they walked around the back of the car, “you owe me a twenty.” Pepper snorted and shook her head, “come on.”

Katie and Pepper headed inside, following Tony and Obadiah who were chatting away, the cameras flashing as they walked through the cool, marble clad reception area of HQ where the podium that the press conferences were held from stood to the side. Katie and Pepper stopped, Katie taking a breath as she watched Tony walking through the group of people, speaking to various until a voice by her side made her jump.

“Miss Potts, may I speak to you for a moment?”

Katie turned to see an unassuming man, with short dark hair and a kind face dressed in a black suit, a Visitor Tag attached to his breast pocket. She looked at him for a second before her attention turned back to Tony who was busy talking to a woman in a red suit.

“I’m not part of the press conference,” Pepper spoke to the man, “but it’s about to begin right now.”

“I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” The man spoke and that got Katie’s attention. She turned to look at him, smiling.

“That's quite a mouthful.” She grinned and Agent Coulson gave her a smile.

“I know. We're working on it.” He smiled as Pepper took the business card he was holding. Katie arched an eyebrow and smiled, once more turning her eyes back to her brother.

“You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA...” Pepper continued and Coulson cut her off gently.

“We're a separate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape.”

Katie turned to him, frowning and wondering exactly how they knew about it. Reading her facial expression, Coulson shrugged slightly and Pepper nodded. “I'll put something in the book, shall I?”

“Thank you.”

Katie was about to quiz him more when she heard Tony calling for her. She looked at her brother and he gestured with his head.

“Excuse me.” She strode forward and Tony put an arm round her shoulder.

“I need to speak to you, before I talk to the world.”

“God, I remember this like it was yesterday.” Katie turned to Tony as they followed in the wake of themselves, everyone parting as Tony steered his sister towards the little break out room at the back, which housed the coffee and vending machines.

“Yup.” Tony said as they ducked inside the room with themselves. “It was a pretty life defining moment. For me anyway…”

“It was for both of us.” Katie watched as 2010 Tony clicked he door shut. “This is where it all began. Iron Man, SHIELD, all of it.”

Tony smiled and they both turned their heads to watch their past selves.

“I’m shutting down the Weapons Manufacturing.” Tony said and Katie frowned.

“What? Why?”

“I saw out there what our weapons are being used for.” Tony shook his head. “I don’t know how those terrorists got hold of them, because I sure as hell didn’t approve any bids to that particular group, did the Commercial Department negotiate them without me, using your delegated authority?”

“Of course not!”  Katie replied indignantly “What do you take me for? They must have been traded on the black market…”

“And that is exactly my point!” Tony nodded at her. “We can’t police it all. So I want to shut it down. Focus our efforts elsewhere.”

“What happened to you out there Tone?” Katie considered her brother for a moment and he took a deep breath.

“For the first time I met my Jiminy Cricket.” He shrugged. “Tony Stark doesn’t want to be the most famous mass murderer in the history of America anymore.”

Katie frowned. “That Vanity Fair article. You read it?”

“Of course I read it, it was about me.” He shrugged “The reporter…erm..”

“Everhart?” Katie looked at him. “You forgot her name after you banged her as well?”

“Whatever, that’s not important.” Tony waved her off “But Kiddo, all those lives we’ve saved by advancing medical technology and the starvation prevented from intelli-crops, she mentioned none of that.”

“Because that doesn’t sell papers.” Katie shook her head “Whereas dubbing us Merchants of Death does.”

“War profiteering she called it. And she was right.” Tony implored “You know, Dad always said that peace means…”

“Having a bigger stick than the other guy, yeah, you told me” Katie looked at her brother.

“And it’s a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks.” Tony shook his head. “But what if no one was selling the sticks?”

Katie took a deep breath. “People would then just make their own sticks, and they’d be harder to police.”

“But what if I told you I had a pretty big assed stick of my own to stop that? The biggest stick anyone could have.”

“I’m not-” Katie sighed, rubbing at her temple. “Tony you’ve lost me”

“I wouldn’t have escaped if it hadn’t been for my cell mate out there. He saved my life,” Tony tapped his chest, “not only did he build an electromagnet to keep a bunch of shrapnel from shredding my heart, he sacrificed himself so I could escape. His last words were an instruction, not to waste my life, Kiddo, and I have no intention of doing so anymore.” He looked down at his feet taking a deep breath before he raised his head to meet her gaze. “I don’t want my legacy, our legacy, to be about how many deaths we may or may not have been indirectly responsible for.”

“You really did have an epiphany didn’t you?” Katie looked at him, not a shred of sarcasm in her voice.

“It was my moment of clarity” Tony nodded “And I have a permanent reminder, as you know already.”

He moved his arm gently, wincing as he did so, loosening his tie a little and undoing the top few buttons on his shirt. He gently parted it and Katie gave a gasp at the small circle of light in the middle of his chest.

“This thing powered a suit I made. A metal suit. I shrunk the Arc reactor down in a damned cave, and that’s what’s now keeping the shrapnel in place, but it powered a heavy assed suit for fifteen minutes. Just think of all the good we could do with it with it. Renewable technology, medical equipment, maybe some other form of potential peace keeping initiative with a slightly smaller metal suit.”

“Is this the big stick you were talking about?” Katie asked, arching her eyebrow. “A metal suit.”

Tony took a deep breath. “In a fashion, yes. It could remove the need for other sticks so to speak.”

Katie took a deep breath before she stepped forward and began to do his shirt back up for him, not saying a word as she mulled over what he had said. The fact they traded weapons had been something she tried not to think about, justifying it in her mind as a means to an end- if they didn’t someone else would. But if you were to remove that completely…

She re-knotted his tie and slid it up to his collar before she straightened it and stood back, rolling her eyes as Tony loosened it once more.

“I need you to trust me on this, Kiddo.” He said softly and she looked at him, her eyes searching his. There wasn’t a single ounce of doubt there, quit the contrary. This was obviously something he vehemently believed in. And for that reason, she decided to back him.

“Okay.” She nodded “We’ll shut it down.”

Katie watched as her 2010 self and brother embraced, turning to Tony. “You have no idea how much of a head fuck that was” she said as they followed themselves out of the room.

“Oh, believe me I do.” Tony said, as they stood at the back of the room, watching as Obadiah greeted the press, 2010 Katie walking up to stand beside him.

Tony sat down in front of the podium. “Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?” He asked, fishing the cheeseburger out of his pocket “Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can... a little less formal and...” Tony took a bite of the cheeseburger as Katie glanced at Obi, giving a shrug, before she sat to Tony’s left.

“Good to see you.” Tony looked at Obi who smiled.

“Good to see you.” He said, reaching out and touching Tony’s shoulder.

“I never got to say goodbye to Dad.” Tony looked around. He glanced at Katie, “we never got to say goodbye to our father.” He swallowed his food and placed the half eaten burger on the floor as he considered his words. “There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts.”

Katie glanced at the floor as Tony paused for a second.

“Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels.” He once more turned to Katie who gently placed her hand on his back, giving a small rub over his suit jacket. Taking a deep breath he looked out over the room. “I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that we had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.”

Out of the corner of her eye, as the members of the press began to call Tony’s name, Katie saw Obadiah shift slightly, frowning a little at what Tony had just said.

“Hey,Ben.” Tony nodded to one of the reporters.

“What happened over there?”

“I had my eyes opened.” Tony stood and moved behind the podium, Katie watching his every move. “I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up.”

He glanced down at Katie and she gave him a small nod.

“And that is why, effective immediately, me and my sister are shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International”

The room erupted in commotion, everyone standing and talking at the same time. Katie took her position by her brother as Tony simply continued speaking

“…until such a time as we can decide what the future of the company will be.”

Obadiah placed his hand over Tony’s shoulder, trying to cut in a little and mentioned something about selling a lot of newspapers but Tony ignored him

“…what direction it should take, one that we’re comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well.”

At that he turned to Katie and the two of them left the stage, Tony’s arm looped around her shoulder as he dropped a kiss to her temple.

Obadiah continued to speak as Katie turned to Tony, watching themselves as they left the room.

“Wanna go watch the follow up fireworks?” he grinned and she gave a chuckle.

“Why not, we’re here. May as well.”

They walked out to see their past selves climbing into Happy’s car and Natasha straightened up as they headed to the Audi.

“Have fun?” She drawled and Katie looked at her and shrugged.

“I suppose I never really understood the significance of that moment. Like I said to Tony in there, this is what kicked it all off. How Iron Man was born.”

Natasha looked at Tony, giving him a little nod “You were right to bring here her then.” “Just like I said.” He shrugged as he opened the door to the Audi, gesturing to it with his head “Now, get in Losers, we’re going Arc Reactor viewing.”

Katie rolled her eyes at Natasha as the two of them climbed into the car and Tony followed the Rolls that was working its way across the Stark Industries site. Eventually it stopped outside the large, glass fronted building which housed the Arc Reactor that powered the plant. The three of them exited and followed 2010 Tony and Katie inside.

“So this is a larger version of what was in your chest.” Natasha looked up at the huge power source, giving it the once over.

“Yup.” Tony nodded. “Pretty cool huh.”

Natasha gave a hmmm of agreement as Katie’s eyes strayed to herself as she stood with Tony, the two of them stood side by side, looking up at it.

“Not sure Obi is gonna be happy.” She turned to look at Tony who shrugged, his eyes not leaving the Arc Reactor.

“I don’t much care.” He shrugged. “We’ve bowed to him and the board for far too long.” “Well, that’s kind of the point of a board.” She looked at him.

“Yeah, but the two of us make the majority, as you know.” Tony shrugged. “Look, Kiddo, this is the right thing to do, we just gotta ride out the bow of this shit storm for a while.”

“That’s a mixed metaphor.” Katie snorted and Tony grinned. At that point the doors to the building opened and they turned to see Obadiah stood, cigar in his mouth, hands on his hips.

“Well, that..uh...that went well.”

“Did we just paint a target on the back of our heads?” Tony asked reaching up to undo his tie.

“Your heads? What about my head?” Obi asked walking behind them, pacing slightly. “What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?”

“Uh, optimistically, forty points.” Katie offered as Tony whipped off his tie.

“At minimum.” Obadiah nodded.

“Yup.” Tony agreed, hanging his tie over his jacket which was draped on the railings around the reactor.

“Tony, we're a weapons manufacturer.” Obadiah said softly, looking at him.

“Obi, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy.” Tony turned to face him.

“That's what we do. We're iron mongers. We make weapons.”

“It’s our name on the side of the building.” Katie chipped in and Obadiah sighed.

“What we do keeps the world from falling into chaos.”

“Not based on what I saw.” Tony shook his head. “We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better. We're gonna do something else” “Like what?” Obadiah asked “You want us to make baby bottles?”

“Tony thinks we should take another look into arc reactor technology.” Katie spoke, clearing her throat. “And I agree.

“Ah, come on.” Obi looked at her, then shook his head, waving his hands towards the item in question “The arc reactor, that's a publicity stunt! Guys’ come on. We built that thing to shut the hippies up!”

“It works.” Katie said simply and Tony smiled, catching her eye for a second as Obi scoffed.

“Yeah, as a science project. The arc was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it.” He shook his head once more pacing behind the siblings, neither of who turned to face him “Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?”

Obadiah’s tone was almost sarcastic and Katie understood instantly that he knew about the one in Tony’s chest. From the smile on her brother’s face he’d also reached the same conclusion.

“Maybe.” Tony said, his smile growing bigger as he looked up at the larger arc once more before he turned to Katie, his smile growing bigger. She gave him one of her own as they both turned to look at Obi.

“Huh? Am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in that in what? Thirty years.”

“That's what they say.” Tony said, narrowing his eyes as Obadiah looked straight at him. Katie snorted.

“Obi, could you have a lousier poker face?” She rolled her eyes.

“Just tell me, who told you?” Tony looked at him.

“Never mind who told me.” Obi pointed towards his chest. “Show me”

“It's Rhodey or Pepper.” Tony continued

“I want to see it.” Obadiah continued.

“Okay, Rhodey…” Tony undid his sling and looking around he began to undo his shirt to show Obadiah the reactor in his chest. The older man looked at it for a moment, glancing to the larger arc before he chuckled a little

“Okay.” He said as he began to button Tony's shirt back up, the same way Katie had earlier.

“Okay? It works.” Tony looked at him.

Obadiah sighed, giving a smile and looped his arm around Tony’s shoulder. “Listen to me, Tony. We're a team.” He gestured to Katie. “The three of us, do you understand? There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I.”

“I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay?” Tony looked at him. “But if I had...”

“Tony. Tony, no more of this "ready, fire, aim" business. You understand me?”

“Wasn’t that another one of Dad's line?” Katie asked and Tony looked at her, nodding.

“You two have gotta let me handle this.” Obi looked at them. “We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're going to have to take a lot of heat.” He said as Katie helped Tony back into his jacket. “I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low.”

Katie, Tony and Natasha watched the other figures leave the building and Katie sighed, her eyes flicking back up to the arc reactor.

“You know, that was a great trip down memory lane and everything Tone, but you’re gonna have to help me out here as to how, exactly, that’s supposed to relate to my apparent sudden lack of self-worth.”

“You backed my decision.” Tony stated simply. “You were one hundred percent behind me when I said I wanted to shut down the weapons manufacturing.”

“I know, but…” “If you hadn’t been, Tony would never have done it.”  Natasha shrugged

“Red’s right, you were always my sanity check. Despite what you may have thought to the contrary, I trusted your opinions, Kiddo. Every key decision I made with SI was done with you by my side.” “That’s not true.”

“It is.” Tony pressed. “Think about it for a second. The Charities, the deals, the partnerships, the take overs, the Arc Reactor, not one single big thing I did with that company, with our company, was done without you. Even when you disagreed I took that into consideration and modified stuff so that it was more in-line with what you suggested or thought.” Katie swallowed, shaking her head slightly, lost for words. Eventually she took a deep breath and looked at her brother. “I didn’t realise. I always thought you did that simply because you needed my vote on stuff to make a majority…”

“Well you thought wrong.” He shrugged “But I’ll forgive you. The world only has space for one Stark genius.” “Good job you’re dead then.” She shot back and he looked at her, his eyebrow arching slightly, an incredulous smirk on his face as Natasha snorted.

“Touche, Kiddo. Touche.”

 **Original Posting**

[mythgirlimagines]

As the creation of two calming waves crashing together, a calm ocean breeze is quickly birthed through them. And that calm ocean breeze is commonly known as Myth Anon, Former Ultimate Swimmer!

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BACKSTORY

Born to two happy owners of a beach house on a scenic and heart-rending beach, Myth knew how to swim, before she could even crawl, much like her older sisters before her. Upon entering middle school, she was encouraged to enter her school’s swim team and quickly became the star of the team. However, because she only likes to swim for fun, inner peace, and poetic inspiration, Myth eventually quit competing, but still managed to get enough coverage from the media to gain her Ultimate status. In her adult years, she is currently working part-time alongside her sisters at her parents’ beach house, and is currently studying to become a marine biologist, which she (unsurprisingly) turns out to be both very passionate and a veritable expert about.

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RELATIONSHIPS

Wyre Anon, Former Ultimate Detective

Wyre and Myth have been only the best of friends ever since they were children and have met one faithful day on the beach. Although Wyre is also known for their criminal sketchworks and their skills as a physical enforcer/bodyguard, it’s Wyre‘s skills as a homicide detective that made Wyre gain their Ultimate status, that is still going strong (and even stronger) in their adult years. For the eternally scatterbrained and innocent swimmer, Wyre is usually around to watch over both her and her belongings and to prevent weirdos from trying anything funny with their friend. Myth really appreciates Wyre’s help in finding misplaced items and she just loves walking across the beach with them all the time.

Outfit: A brown overcoat and a light green and yellow striped vest and a black tie over a white button-up shirt, pants that match their overcoat, darker brown leather gloves and loafers.

Anon Scar, Ultimate Programmer

Famous for creating one of the first ever instances of self-sufficient, self-teaching, and ultimately benevolent AI (known by the code name “D-3M-0N”), Scar is also a big name in online role-playing groups, where she is known as “Mother-Board, the Master Technomancer”, a ruler of a tech-based science-fiction realm who is in charge of all the high-end technology in it. On particularly busy and sleepless nights, she can even be caught acting as Mother-Board herself. Because Myth lived in a tech-less beach house, she is absolutely clueless in the ways of modern technology, and that is where heroic Scar swoops in and tries her best to teach the swimmer the way of the computer.

Outfit: Messier hair that is done up in two messy side buns, a purple hoodie worn hood-up with black and white striped sleeves, a ruffled purple skirt, black and white striped stockings and purple boots, the mask from her original design.

Fusion Anon, Ultimate Affluent Progeny

Despite only striking it rich very recently, Fusion’s business acumen helped expand his father’s failed company into a multi-million dollar industry and it also ensured that his noveau-riche parents’ finances would stay with them for a long time. He may get constantly underestimated by equally influential but longer-running business magnates, due to his situation and age. When not performing business operations, he loves gorging himself on lavish buffets and learning all he can from the massive library installed in his house. Upon entering the Kibo-Con, he began showering his fellow con-mates with lavish gifts. Needless to say, Myth really appreciated the life-sized plush walrus.

Outfit: Hair tied into a ponytail, a blue overcoat (that has a pocket watch in his right lapel) over a white button-up shirt, a pink vest, and a yellow and red striped tie, white gloves, pants that match his overcoat and the glasses and loafers from his original design.

Fusion Anon II, Ultimate Moral Compass

Fusion II attended a school with a rather high rate of delinquency, and, by the time she left for Hope’s Peak, all instances of delinquency have diminished in an instant. Claiming that she became a public moral committee because “you can‘t break the law, if you are the law” and ”I just want power”, Fusion II wishes to rise to the top of the corporate ladder and become like the rich magnates that she idolised so much, all to prove to her classmates that she is so much more than just a mousy little overachiever. Myth may not understand the moral compass’s dreams and ideals, but anyone who praises Myth’s mindset and thought process (read: actually unread sarcasm) must be a good person in her book.

Outfit: Fake reading glasses, a grey blazer over a white button-up shirt and a light blue and dark blue striped tie, a red armband indicating her position, a long skirt that matches her tie, black stockings and brown Mary Janes.

Just Anon, Ultimate Fanfiction Author

With a sparse and sporadic uploading schedule, Janon’s (or as he is known online, ”JustInThisForFun”) fans and followers commonly refer to the times he actually bothers to upload one of his fica as “Random-Time Rapture”, for you could never really predict when he will upload a fic, but anyone who reads his fanfiction would know that they are veritable masterpieces that can almost match the quality of the original works. Despite their differing temperaments, Myth and Janon love to relax together and introduce entirely new ways of relaxing to each other. Myth’s suggestions of relaxing on a particularly warm rock and lying face-up in the Con’s fountain are Janon’s two new favorite relaxation methods.

Outfit: Same outfit as the original, but with a bandolier of pens and other writing supplies.

Sparkle Anon, Former Ultimate Baseball Player

Considered a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to both Little and Major League Baseball, Sparkle catapulted her all-girl’s softball team (called The Shimmering Meteors) into stardom, with both her skills in the sport and her bombastic and dramatic personality, when on the diamond. Despite both being pioneers in women’s athletics, Sparkle and Myth‘s personalities and philosophies couldn’t be any more different, much to the confusion of the two girls. While the loud yet intelligent Sparkle plays mainly for the glory and thrill of competition, the calm yet ditzy Myth only swims for fun and for poetic inspiration. Sparkle and Myth just can’t comprehend each other’s athletic philosophies and motives.

Outfit: Hair in a bobcut, orange and pink sports jacket with her team’s logo on the back (and matching hat on her head) over a black and white baseball uniform, black cleats and a sparkly pink bandana around her neck.

Egg Anon, Former Ultimate Idol, and Wet Sock Anon, Former Ultimate Fashionista

With their twin as their loyal costume designer in tow, Egg takes in to the stage with such cursed songs as, “Deodorant Push-Pop” and “Discord DM Detonator”, which have garnered quite the cult following online, and quickly became one of the most infamous idols in show business, thanks to their song’s subject matter, as well as being one of the few ever NB idols. Egg and Wet Sock regularly love to antagonise Myth, but thanks to her ditzy and unaware nature, any and all cursed comments uttered by the twins would either be unintentionally ignored, giggled at and agreed to, or even getting used in one of Myth’s poems much to the ire of the duo who live off of attention, positive or otherwise.

Egg’s Outfit: A garishly covered fedora, a t-shirt with a cursed meme on the front, green and red striped upside-down pants, pink crocs.

Wet Sock’s Outfit: Hair over one of their eyes, pink eyeshadow, a black hoodie with white fluff, tight jeans, white and black converses.

Curious Anon, Jr. Ultimate Clairvoyant

Raised in a family that are all experts in supernatural powers, Curious stands out amongst the rest of their family with their clairvoyance powers being far above that of any other ancestor before them. This caused the fortune-telling booth that was passed down from Curious’s parents to them to skyrocket in popularity, and earn Curious a free spot in the Hope’s Peak Middle School roster as the “Jr. Ultimate Clairvoyant”. As a lover of the spiritual herself, Myth found herself fascinated by Curious’s powers, and Curious was all too happy to show off and teach the awestruck swimmer all about their powers. But than again, one could ask Curious to do anything, and they’d do it without hesitation.

Outfit: A green and off-white kimono with a red obi, brown prayer beads around their neck, white socks and brown geta sandals.

Anon Nerd, Former Ultimate Soldier

Born and raised in a territory that was eventually wracked by the spoils of war, Nerd was drafted into his cruel nation’s army, thanks to a combination of his natural anger-induced strength and his natural talent in piloting, repairing and even inventing war weapons and machinery. All the time spent combating both potential and certain threats made him constantly hostile and quick to anger, even in his adult years, when the war was long over. Taking sympathy on her fellow chaperone, Myth decided to teach Nerd all sorts of relaxation techniques (that mostly just involve wading or lying in water), but to no avail, for Nerd has feelings for someone that he would much rather blast with his scouter (read: Myth).

Outfit: A black suit of armor with built-in-weapons and the scouter from his original design.

Eldritch Anon, Ultimate Novelist

Under the pen name “R.C. Wells” (because he doesn’t want evil corporate executives to trace his location), Eldritch particularly specialises in dystopian novels that seek to expose the real world for the apocalyptic wasteland that it‘ll become, if the sheep (read: his audience) remain oblivious to all the horrors of the world they’re living in. Despite Eldritch’s blatant dislike and constant insulting of his audience, he only has the best of intentions for the world, and he thinks that the written word is the best way to combat against the propaganda in the media. Needless to say, Myth‘s relaxation tactics doesn’t exactly sit well with the constantly-worried novelist, so he avoids her like the plague.

Outfit: Reading glasses, a pencil behind his ear, a brown overcoat over a white dress shirt and a red tie, dark brown pants and matching shoes.

Dream Anon, Ultimate Gambler

Despite what her age and her childish personality would suggest, Dream is a veritable genius, when it comes to turning the odds to her favor, and winning boatloads of money at the gambling tables and betting on sports. Dream is infamously referred to, by her foes, as “Lady Luck’s Lovechild”, for her seemingly supernatural ability to make luck fall into her favor and guarantee her automatic wins, against otherwise dangerous odds. Just like with Curious, Myth found herself fascinated with Dream’s supernatural luck-changing powers and likes to sneak under the gambling tables and watch Dream gamble to uncover her secret, much to the embarrassment of the gambler.

Outfit: A grey and white fedora and pantsuit with card suit-themed buttons, a pink undershirt and heels.

Iris Anon, Jr. Ultimate Martial Artist

As current heiress to the Ryuseitai Martial Art’s Dojo, despite what her clumsiness and regular slip-ups suggest, Iris is regarded by martial artists everywhere as a prodigy in combat, who is able to take down foes that are at least a foot taller than her. Iris is also quite the excellent instructor, teaching her elementary-aged students all about mindfulness and positive thinking, which helps breed a brand new generation of strong martial artists. Because of their shared interest in mindfulness and odd philosophies, Iris gets along very well with Myth, who has a similar nature to her, and they have regular meditation sessions underneath a waterfall hidden in the forest behind the Kibo-Con.

Outfit: Hair tied into two Sailor-Moon-esque buns, a pink gi with a big purple star on the front and back, pink sandals, bandages all over her body, the hoodie from her original design tied around her waist.

Purple Anon, Ultimate Lucky Student

Being from one of the more wealthy families in her neighbourhood, Purple was signed up to Hope’s Peak’s annual Lucky Student raffle by her parents, and her supernatural luck meant that she was the lucky girl selected to attend. Because Purple was sheltered a lot, she is very timid and regularly speaks in old-fashioned and archaic terms. Because of a majority of these qualities, Myth and Purple get along very well, thanks to their shared interest in writing poetry, and Myth’s fascination with both Purple’s supernatural luck powers and her odd mode of speech, which sounds much like her own. Whenever they get together, hardly anyone can tell what the two girls are saying.

Outfit: The original outfit, but without the beret and a four-leaf-clover pinned to her sweater.

Watch as this oddball swimmer either befriends or baffles the people around her!

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PERSONALITY

Needless to say, Swimmer!Myth is one hard-to-read swimmer, for she has quite the odd thought process and an equally eccentric vocabulary, often speaking in odd poetic terms about water or marine life, and always searches for inspiration for her poetry. Swimmer!Myth also has a strong love for the supernatural, and can usually be seen learning about and getting in touch with her calm and spiritual side, if she’s not swimming or lying back-up in shallow bodies of water. Swimmer!Myth also gets easily distracted, and regularly wanders off, requiring a buddy to help ground her back to Earth (read: Detective!Wyre). Swimmer!Myth is also heavily empathetic, and, in spite of being an athlete, actually hates competition, which is why she dropped out of being an Olympic-level competitive swimmer years ago, and she really treasures her loved ones.

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APPEARANCE

Swimmmer!Myth has long and wavy brown hair with a French braid tieback, that she can put up in a ponytail while swimming, and blue swimming goggles on her head. Swimmer!Myth swims practically all the time, and her simplistic outfit reflects that perfectly. She wears a pink, blue, and purple wetsuit with blue frills on her sides, a pink translucent shawl and a seashell necklace around her neck, along with purple flip-flops on her feet.

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Now that I’m finished with this AU, I’d love to hear your opinions on the talentswap! In the meantime, look out for more content made by your’s truly!

-Fusion Anon

[maxbegone]

Some lighthearted fics for your evening! 

Love and Pancakes  by lastchancecafe 

One day you’ll wake up at 11:30 on a Sunday with the love of your life and you’ll make some coffee and pancakes and it’ll be alright.

Or 5 times the boys don't eat pancakes- and one time they do.

Getting washed away in you by @yourbuttervoicedbeau

Patrick wakes with a start, his heart beating a million miles a minute. It’s very late, or very early, depending on how you look at it, but either way it’s definitely not a good time to be catapulted into consciousness by a bad dream.

a falling star fell from your  heart (and landed in my eyes) by singsongsung

A small voice says, “Uncle David?” and he takes a step to the left, which gives him a view of his niece, who’s standing next to the organic applesauce, her head tilted inquisitively.

“Hey, Bea,” he says, abandoning his half-completed display. Beatrice is wearing a charming seersucker dress patterned with white and sapphire stripes, which makes her eyes - Alexis’ eyes - stand out in her little face… and a pair of aggressively pink high tops with velcro straps and Paw Patrol characters on their sides. David stifles a sigh before it escapes. At least his sister tries.

She smiles up at him. “I like the birds on your sweater.”

David & Beatrice have a heart-to-heart.

peaceful quite... by @language-of-love

Patrick keeps the world at bay for David for a little while during a late night thunderstorm...

Dear Jurisprudence by @creativelapses

They’ve never talked about Ray this much in bed before. David doesn’t think he likes it.

Petrichor by @unfolded73

After the events of 6x02, David and Stevie talk.

[enigma-im]

Crocodile Rock

Rating: Explicit Relationship: Lizard Man X Female!Human Warning: sexual drought, minor stalking, kidnapping, sex on a mountain, Oral, monster sex, loss of control, scenting, ovulation

Word count: 3660

A monster prowling the streets of a suburban neighborhood. A girl in a bit of a dry spell is driving him crazy.

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One would think that going most of your life without sex would make going a few months without it easy. I'd imagine the metaphor for food would make sense. If you never had spaghetti before you can't crave it, you can want it but not really desire it. I also just compared sex to spaghetti, I really need to get laid.

I believe the last time I was intimate, not even had sex, with someone was almost a year ago. It is fine for the most part, hardly noticed it till recently. Work has kept me busy so it wasn’t a great loss. Now that I have more free time all I crave is the touch of another. Reading hasn’t done me any favors either. Its been a mess of a time.

As I spiral in the depth of frustration I have been noticing the presence of someone watching me. It was easy to brush off at first but once I started seeing strange things do I become worried. In the morning when I'd walk to my car to go to work id catch a pair of glowing eyes in the woods opposite my house. The first time I assumed it was the neighbors' house lights, boy was I wrong. When I come back home and rechecked I saw there were no lights. Next came the sightings and talk around the area. People caught sight of a huge man walking about. Other added on saying it wasn’t a man but a monster, having scales and sharp teeth. I hardly believed any of that until I caught sight of him when looking at my backyard.

I stood in the kitchen and looked out the window at my poorly kept yard. It desperately needed a trim and grooming. I wonder who will be doing that cause its definitely not me. As I was about to walk away with my fresh cup of cocoa I see a shadow move under the trees. I squint and lean against the sink to get a better look. It was big, that was easy enough to decipher. It stepped over my fence and walked towards the back porch. Once it was close enough, the motion sensors caught it. We both stood frozen after that.

Tall was my immediate thought. Big, hulking, scaled, were my next ones. This… thing… looks like a lizard to simplify things. It was covered in dark green and brown scales and had some spikes coming out the back of its head. Before I could detail more it ran out of the yard and into the dark.

"Well fuck me," I grumble in shock. I didn’t particularly know how else to react after seeing that. Big damn lizard in my yard heading to my back door. It felt like watching one of the lost tape videos on YouTube. That creepy feeling crawling up your spine that may turn into a flight or fight response. I shivered at the time, standing in the kitchen for an uncomfortable amount of time.

It's about two weeks after the incident that I am heading back home from work. The day was harsh and aggravating. Not sure why I scheduled a date for today. Just because its Friday, doesn’t mean I'm not tired. still, my sexual drought hasn’t done much for my growing stress around the mystery in the neighborhood. I think I've caught it out the corner of my eye often after seeing him. Always lurking in the woods like some stalker. It's unnerving but I can't help to an awful fantasy of being watched while gratifying myself at night. I won't lie and say I've never thought about it, opening my windows so the lizard man could catch an eyeful. Of course, I haven't don’t it but I feel its only a matter of time.

I make it home with phantom pains in my stomach. Always around ovulation do I get these little pains, about a 2/10 on the scale but still noticeable. Fingers crossed that my date goes well so I won't have to come home and use the detachable shower head to get some peace. I pull into the driveway and shuffle about collecting all my things in the car. I open up the door as I shove my phone into my pocket. Before I could slam the door shut I hear a loud snap in the woods. It wasn’t like a twig being stepped on but more of a branch being broken. The sound echoes over the mountain and bounces off the trees. The noise sending a chill down my spine.

"ok," I grumble in comfort. I quickly shut the door and speed walk to the front door. As I grab the handle I pause. A crawling feeling runs up my spine. I freeze like a deer caught in headlights. A primal feeling of fright gripping my brain. I can't put my finger on it or even explain the reasoning until a puff of air pushes against the back of my neck. I stop breathing.

Out the corner of my eye, I see a large hand slowly reach out and press against the door. On the other side, I see another hand grab mine and gently take it off the handle. Taking in small gasps of air, I do as it says. The heat of the thing behind me increases as it crowds me to the door. I look up at the glass and try to make out the reflection. I gulp when I realize what it is.

I watch him lean down toward my neck and inhale a greedy breath, letting it out in a pleasing growl. I find myself whimpering right after. His hand still holding mine trails up my arm, stopping at my elbow. Slowly, he traces his nails over to my stomach, flattening his hand to cover almost all of me. He pets his thumb just under my bra and releases another growl.

In a flash, his hand tightens and pulls me back. He grabs me and twists me so he can throw me stomach first over his shoulder. I cough as the breath is punched out of me. We twist and in a dizzying speed, he runs away from my house. My chest bounces against his back as he runs us into the woods. Tree passes us in blurring speed till we stop at a short sharp incline of the mountain. Keeping a strong hold he grips the rock and catapults himself upwards.

He climbs up to a flat space high up over the neighborhood. He walks over to a clear space surrounded by trees, stopping and settling me in the flattened grass. I rest on my back feeling like a dog showing its stomach as I get a good look at him. His features are sharp and aggressive. His eyes are extremely dilated, or his pupils are always that big. His teeth are bared in a snarl and a bit of drool dribbles out the corner of his mouth. I don’t know how to interrupts this, is he going to eat me?

"Please," I whimper while trying to sit up. He growls as he quickly presses his hand to my chest, forcing me back down into the dirt. I follow with minimal complaint, too scared to deny him. The man lowers himself with me, settling on his hand so he can press his face close. Startling me he presses his nose to my neck and sucks in another deep inhale, releasing a deep breath with a rumbling purr. His tongue slithers out and licks up around my collar. I accidentally cry out at the warm press of his mouth. He seems to startle as well, jumping back with a gasp. He looks down at me for a moment before he shakes his head vigorously, seeming to clear his mind.  

I yelp when he grabs at my pants, jerking at them. I jump up but he makes me fall back as he jerks again. Quickly he rips my bottoms down and tosses them aside. His palms glide up over my thighs, parting them as he nears my crotch. I keen in protest, trying to buck away with a flush face. Our eyes meet as he settles on his stomach. He sneers with a growl, gripping my legs tightly in command. Stay still. I settle in panic, resting on my back with a strange mix of anticipation.

His fingers settle in the cleft of my thigh, massaging gently as his breath ghosts over me. I clench my fist to my sides, refusing to look. I yelp when his tongue runs a slow stripe up my crotch. He grunts loudly as his head rest against my pelvis. I feel a dribble of drool splash onto my hip as he shakes his head slowly, perhaps overwhelmed with the experience. Without warning he licks again, dipping inside before sliding his full length up and over my clit. I choke on my breath, clenching my stomach with a white jolt pierces up my spine. He wastes no time going for thirds, taking his time to taste everything he can.

I can't ignore the sharp pulses of arousal drenching over me. I have never cared for slow but he is making it work. Feels like he is worshiping the experience, worshiping me. His tongue invades me and I can't stop the soft moan escaping my lips. He groans along with me, vibrating my thighs as he does. His fingers dig into my skin, no doubt leaving marks. He laps at me like a dog before using his lips to suck on my cunt. The scales on his chin rub over my rear and entrance, the sensation is different but not unwelcomed. I feel myself bucking against him and ignoring any previous protest I had. I let my body enjoy his assaults, even going as far as to watch him.

"Yes, fuck," I sit upon my elbows, my head dropping to my shoulder. His eyes meet mine with an intoxicating amount of enjoyment. Glad we are both on the same page. His eyes roll back as he adjusts his hold, shoving his tongue inside. His fingers then glide around to finger at my clit. "Ah, yes, please," I cry out. I watch as he drinks from me, rolling my hips into him as I near my end. I whimper out pleads, falling back onto my back as I arch into him.

"Please, please, please," I chant. His growls push me over the edge, bucking and squirming into him as I cum. He licks up everything I offer as I dig my fingers into the dirt. My fist ripping up the grass as I cry out.

As I fall he sits up and watches. I roll my head back and forth against the ground, whispering thank you. He is the first person to give me an orgasm in nearly a year. That thought should be sobering but all I can think is, he is kind of cute. For a giant lizard, he did great, better than most, if not all, my exes.

Once I come down I sit up and look at him. He isn't looking up at me, well he is looking down. Motion catches my eye and I look down at his hand wrapped around his cock, and what a cock it is indeed. He is hung like a soda can, thick as all hell. His hand is teasing along his length as he eyes my crotch. He passes a quick glance up at me, his look seems debauched if not predatory. I quirk a brow at him as I try to stray off a smile. I kind of want him inside me, I won't lie. I didn’t imagine I was this desperate for sex but here I lie, ready to plead for him.

I look from him to his crotch, spreading my legs a bit as I lick my lips. This breaks his last strand of control as he grabs at me. He clutches my hips and slides me so his tip rests against my entrance. With no preamble, he bucks forward with a loud growl. Not ready for him to go full hilt I fall back to the dirt with a clenched yelp.

"Jesus," I huff. He takes no time wildly thrusting into me. His hips clapping at mine, leaving my thoughts scattered. Sweet fuck I might die. His cock stretches me like no other. His claws piercing my skin a bit as he slams in and out. Wanting to see what's happening I sit upon my elbows again.

I watch his hips roll, ending with a sharp snap. His stomach muscles pull taunt then flow with his movements. I'm in rapture watching his motions, feeling the effects of his actions. Sitting on my elbows I watch his thick cock pound quickly into me. His cock pulling out swiftly before bucking forward. My face clenches up as I think too much on it, feeling him rub against my walls. I want to look up at him, see what this creature's face looks like when taking me so quick and hard. Yet I can't bring myself to look away from this erotic sight. I hardly notice this keening sound coming from my throat, I also hardly care.

"Fuck, please," I cry as I fall back into the dirt. His grunt and growls echo up the mountain. With a quick squeeze to my hips, he falls forwards on to his hands, hovering over me with a sneer. His bucking picks up pace, slapping against my hips with loud claps. He bares his teeth down at me, his eye nearly clenching shut. The sight is anything but ghastly. His monstrous snarling with his beast-like thrust is all the more arousing.

"Fuck-," I try to whine out a name but nothing comes to mind. The acknowledgment that this beast is using me like a sex toy hits hard. I don’t know anything about him, except how well he can eat a girl out. The taboo of fucking some strange monster in the woods is erotic, like some over the top romance novel. I can't help but squeeze around him with a fluttering of tension. He clenches his eyes close and stutters in his thrust. Soon he falls forward onto his forearms, hanging his head near my neck. I can hear his panting breath and grunts clearer now.

"Heath," I hear him huff out. I lazily swing my head to the side, eyeing him confused. He watches with a side-eye. I can't help but squeeze again when I notice that I'm bouncing with him. "Heath," he growls again.

"Heath," I mumble out around heavy breaths. As he hears me he drops his forehead to the ground and bucks harder into my hips. I choke on a gasp as it feels like his cock is in my stomach. "Fuck, Heath," I growl out between clenched teeth. I find myself reaching out for something sturdy, grabbing at his biceps near my shoulders. As I call his name again he grunts and groans. His noises sound delightful next to my ear. I squeeze around him as I listen, fighting off my nearing peak just to prolong this experience.

I can feel everything. The way the head of his cock leads the way deep inside me. The sensation of his scales rubbing against my hands and thighs. I can feel the air puffing from his heavy panting, brushing my hair slightly. I hold on to every sensation until I can't take it anymore. "Heath, shit- you-… Fuck," I try to speak. My brain seemingly mush as I cry out, hearing my whines echo over the mountains. No doubt startling some of the residences below.

Quickly everything turns white. My hearing becomes a ringing as I suddenly stop screaming. My mouth opens in a silent yell. My insides clench around his impressive length, making him stutter in his thrust. I clench his arms with a vice grip, listening to his short whines as he frantically pounds into me. He takes all he can get before slamming once more. He stills, his breath caught in his throat. I feel his hot load jet into me, coating my insides with his seed. Giving just one final buck we both lay silent. His face buried to my neck and my hands gripping him tightly.

Neither of us moves, still coming back into our own and catching our breaths. I relax my hold and tilt my head back with a content sigh. That was amazing.

Heath startles me by pressing his face to my neck. Licking a short stripe up to my ear. I can feel his chest rumble with a soft purr. His satisfied behavior is pleasing in an almost primal way. I trail my hands up his arms, over his shoulders, and down to his chest. I press my palm to him, feeling his vibrations.

"Jesus, you have been driving me insane all week. I tried taking myself in my hand but it didn’t work, your cunt was the perfect cure," he growls out next to my ear. It's startling, if not embarrassing, to finally hear his voice. Well, hear it in a full sentence anyway.

What he says is still a bit concerning, "I've been driving you crazy?"

"Yes, your scent was too potent. My little sexually frustrated female, practically screaming for my cock," he rubs his nose to my cheek, licking and kissing as he does.

I push his head away while trying to bite down on my smile, "I was not, you big brute." he finally sits up, cocking an eyebrow down at me.

"Right, shall we make a repeat performance than? I will have you begging in the dirt in seconds," his smug face is both charming and annoying.

"Cocky aren't we?"

"Only when I'm right," he grins. He settles back on his forearms, pressing gentle kisses around my face. It’s a strange contrast to his previous domineering actions. Despite my denial, he did have me screaming into the dirt like some kind of whore. I won't lie and say it was unpleasant or unwanted but I will say it would have been nice to know his name beforehand. Not everyone can say that they found out someone's name when it was growled into their ear while that someone's big cock was rearranging their organs. That would be weird if it was a common thing, be concerned about today's way of life if that were the case.

Without warning, Heath grabs my hips and tilts us sideways. He is on his back, cradling me to his front. Letting out a content sigh that ruffles my hair, he closes his eyes. I rest my palms to his chest a bit perplexed. Is he going to sleep? What a typical man. With a roll of my eyes, I rest my chin on his sternum, just observing this strange beast. As I too begin to fall captive to the grips of sleep I remember my plans for tonight. Instead of catching some comforting rest, I begin to rouse with questions.

"Now what?"

His eyes peak open, "Now what?"

"I need to get back home, I have a date tonight I need to get cleaned up for," I clarify. It seems wrong to go out after being thoroughly fucked on the plateau of a mountain but I can't imagine this is going to form into something more. A taboo rendezvous that won't result in a committed relationship.  

He still surprises me by saying, "Date? Not anymore."

I regard him confused, "hmm?"

"No man is taking you away, I will state my intent right now. I will have you again, and again, and again because you are mine," his fingers dig into my naked hips. A growl rumbling from his chest into mine. I'm not put off by the idea, far from it, but I won't make it easy for him.

"I don’t remember agreeing to that," I answer in a cheek to tongue way.

"You agreed when you took my cock," he counters with a wicked smirk.

"I feel there wasn’t much say in that. Didn’t exactly ask," I pretend to ponder.

"Why would I need to when you were begging so beautifully? I couldn’t prolong our torture by asking. Also, I don’t think I could have arranged enough words into a coherent sentence with your arousal surrounding my nose," he sits up and rubs his face into my neck. I can feel his sharp teeth grazing along my collar. It was a fair point, not a good one but a pleasing one.

"I'll let it slide, this time. I expect to be properly courted, don’t need some brute coming in and just staking his claim," I submit, not without my own demands. He stops his assault and leans back with an annoyed look.

"You are exhausting," he thumps his head back to the ground.

"Maybe you shouldn’t have thought with your prick before your brain then," I poke to the top of his head.

"What can I say, he made a good choice," he chuckles.

"I can agree with that," I answer as I rest my cheek to his chest, tracing some of his scales with my finger.

"Then we agree, you are mine," he asks with a large grin. I look up at him, my lips quirking at his full toothy smile.

"As long as you are mine," I shoot back.

"I was yours the minute I got to taste your cunt," his smile goes from playful to teasing. His fingers trailing down to cup my ass.

"Brute and vulgar," I can't help but laugh.

"Shut up, you love it," he purrs. His hands grope and squeeze my rear, his tongue lapping along my neck. If he keeps this up I may be partial to another round.

I grin like a fool, "perhaps."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is almost exactly how a dream of mine went. only difference is i woke up before he said anything. Bruh was hella hung, miss him.

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[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Destiny

Ch 2- Touche, Kiddo.

Co-Created with @icanfeelastormbrewing​

Chapter Summary: Tony and Natasha take Katie back to the first of several key points of impact in her life- the day Tony returned from Afghanistan…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings:  Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: So these chapters contain flashbacks of sorts- but they’re not flashbacks as Katie is watching the events unfold in front of her-a “Time heist” of sorts. However, to keep it clear and hopefully not confusing, the events she is watching are depicted in itallics instead of me trying to keep calling her 2010 v 2030 Katie…

Please let me know what you think- comments and re-blogs muchly appreciated.

You’re dead.” Katie spluttered, looking at Tony.

“Yeah, so they tell me.” He mused, taking a look around, observing his surroundings. “Which is kind of a bummer…” “So what the fuck is this?” she asked. “Am I dreaming? Having some kind of mental breakdown hallucination? Are you a ghost? If so where the fuck have you been for the past 7 years, asshole?”

“I wasn’t needed.” Tony shrugged “But, this is your party so to speak. I can be whatever you want to be if it makes you feel better. I mean, you did have strange dreams at times when you were younger. I distinctly recall one about a giant white rabbit chasing you through the streets of London with an ice cream cone as a hat.” “I was high when I fell asleep.” Katie shrugged, then she gave a moan “What am I doing talking to you? This is insane…I need to wake up.” She closed her eyes, pinched herself, yelping at the pain. When she opened them she saw Tony leaning against the tree trunk, one knee bent as his shoe pressed flat against the trunk behind him, arms folded. “Yeah, sorry Kiddo. Still here.” “This is all inside my head.” Katie took a deep breath “This is all inside my head, this isn’t real.” “What was it that Dumblebee dude said? You know the Wizard from Harry Potter?” Tony clicked the fingers on his right hand, pointing at Katie as she rolled her eyes.

“Dumbledor…"

“Whatever, the point is what he said. You know, that quote you loved ‘Of Course this is happening inside your head, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real?’. You can’t have forgotten, you had it stencilled on the wall in your apartment.”

“I haven’t, trust me.” Katie said softly “It’s Jamie’s favourite too. He has it above his bed, Steve did it for him along with a painting of the Hogwarts Castle"

“Wow, he read them all already?” Tony raised an eyebrow “He’s 10.” “He’s smart.” Katie smiled “A real bookworm, and an artist. Announced the other day he wants to write and illustrate kid’s books now, not be a Baseball player anymore. Steve insists there’s time for him to come to his senses but…” 

"Cap still with the giddy optimism huh?" Tony arched an eyebrow and she felt her eye begin to prick with tears, and that familiar stinging sensation associated with trying to stave off the tears filled the upper inside of her nose and she looked at Tony before she rushed forward and he stood up straight. At the last minute, before she threw herself at him she stopped dead and reached out with a shaky hand, her palm pressing against the pin striped material of his waistcoat. He was solid, warm, she could feel his heart beating. 

“I…” she looked up at him, the tears once more pouring from her eyes “I don’t want this to be in my head."

Tony smiled, his own eyes brimming with tears as Katie slid her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. She breathed in his familiar cologne, a smell she hadn’t forgotten but one that hadn’t filled her senses in a long time. His hands gently rubbed at her back as he held her close, one hand creeping upwards where it rest on the back of her hair as he dropped a kiss to her head. His familiar fatherly-brotherly touch was seeping into her bones, quelling the deep, dark aching she’d been feeling since…well, she couldn’t remember. Steve was her home, her safe place, her rock, there was no denying that, but Tony was her childhood pillar of strength. He was the man that had band aided her knees and palms, tucked her in, fought the monsters under her bed and for that reason, he would always be a source of comfort and strength.

Even if this was just some whacked out hallucination.

And then, she felt another emotion. An emotion she remembered feeling before many a times watching Steve catapult himself off buildings, bridges, hanging off helicopters before dropping into rivers. It was anger. Anger at the self-sacrificing nature that drove her soldier to act first and think later...but she was feeling it here at her brother. Unable to quell it she pulled back and her right hand laid a stinging slap to Tony’s left cheek. His head snapped to the right and he gave an angry yell.

“Jesus Kiddo…what the fuck was that for?” “For dying, dickwad!” she yelled, the tears falling down her face. “You died and you left me...” “It wasn’t like I had a choice.” He sighed, dropping his head “This was always the end I was going to get, not the end I wanted but…”

“She took it well then.” Another familiar voice drawled and Katie stiffened in her brothers’ arms, and looked up at him, eyes wide as she turned slowly to see a familiar face looking back at her. Green eyes sparkling, red hair shining in the stray rays of sunlight that crept into the thicket as it fell forward around her face and shoulders over the top of her black leather jacket with a bounce Katie hadn’t seen for years.

“Nat…” she swallowed, wiping her eyes “You look…”

“Yeah, better.” She shrugged, “Whatever this is, it took us back to a time before it all went to shit. I think this was my hair in 2015 or 16…” “Leipzig you looked like that.” Tony mused as Katie stepped away from him, to scan Natasha up and down. “I, on the other hand, I’m not sure. But I look good so…” “Modest as always.” Katie grumbled as she stopped in front of Natasha, before they embraced as well. “How’s my little man?”

“Not so little anymore.” Katie shrugged “He’s like up to here now…”  she held her hand up to a point in the mjddle of her rib-cage “…and he looks just like Steve.”

“Yeah we actually know.” Tony cut in “We know about all 5 of them, she’s just making conversation. I gotta say, I’m kinda liking the fact Emmy hooked up with Parker. They'll make cute babies"

"Oh God, don't. Steve's already freaking out about them wanting to move in together." Katie laughed and Tony grinned.

"Henry...that wasn't after Hank Pym was it?" He asked and Katie shook her head.

"It was a name Steve liked. I picked his middle. And it was the other way for Flossie..."

Natasha snorted “I gotta say you gave Aurora a perfect name. After a princess...” “The Star Spangled Diva." Katie shook her head before she grinned “She’s ace.” “She’s a Stark that's for sure.” Tony smiled proudly.

“Steve says that. Says she looks like me and has your attitude. Drives him insane.” Tony smirked “Good to know. Been dead 7 years and still bugging the crap out of Spangles.” He nodded, clapping his hand together, rubbing his palms against one another in glee.

Katie looked at her brother for a moment before she shook her head. “Ok, so is this the part where the two of you give me some kind of pep talk, you know about the kids and my outburst before or…” “Well, we could.” Tony said, “But you always responded better to visuals, so we’re gonna show you.” “Tony I have no desire to see any of that again.” She shook her head “I already know I fucked up.” “We’re not here about the fact you cussed out Jamie.” Nat said gently

Katie frowned “Then what is this?”

“We’re more concerned with the fact you don’t seem to understand how much you matter to everyone.” The red head continued “What was it you said before? Something along the lines of not seeing the point of being in their lives?”

Katie looked down at her feet.

“You’re human kiddo.” Tony said “Humans are flawed. They fuck up...some of us less than others, granted.” Katie raised her head, cocking an eyebrow at Tony “You’re such a conceited bastard.” “True.” Tony nodded, “But all things considered I think I have a right to be. I mean my best achievement is stood right in front of me.” He shrugged “I’d like to include Moo in that but, well Pep’s done the hard work there really, bringing her up. You on the other hand, well that was all me.” he stepped forward and took both her hands “And I’m smug as fuck about it, because you’re an amazing woman Kiddo, you just need reminding of that fact so we can get you over this sudden lack of self-worth you seem to be displaying.” Katie shook her head, tears forming in her eyes “Tone…” “It’s true.” He shrugged, letting go of her hands “But, you’ll see for yourself. Come on.”

He turned and started walking up the path towards the Memorial Gardens and Katie watched him before she turned to Natasha. Nat nodded her head towards Tony’s back and with a shrug Katie turned to follow him.

“Might as well see what whacked out journey my subconscious has planned.” She muttered to herself, following her brother as he walked ahead of her slightly. As they emerged from the thicket of trees, Katie noticed the Gardens were completely empty and it was eerily quiet. Eventually Tony stopped by an orange Audi and Katie shook her head.

“What?” Tony asked “I liked this colour.”

Natasha walked passed Katie and opened the door, folding the seat forward so she could slip into the back. Katie watched Tony as he settled in the driver’s side before she took another look around. The sun was starting to set, sending streaks of lilac and burnt red across the sky before she climbed in and shut the door. Tony fired the engine and the familiar sounds of AC/DCs Back in Black hit her ears. Despite herself she gave a smile, glancing out of the window as Tony drove the car forward, the music filled her senses.

Suddenly, she frowned. Her head flicking to look out of the window to her side before she turned back to the windscreen as she recognised her surroundings which seemed to have changed when she blinked. “How…”

“We’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy…” Tony said, looking at her as she turned her head to meet his eyes.

“No, we’re in fucking California!” she practically exploded “How? That’s not possible!”

“Neither is seeing dead people but you’re managing that just fine.” Natasha drawled. Katie ran her hands over her face letting out a groan.

“I’m tripping…I have to be. Did someone spike my coffee before?”

Tony smirked as he pulled the car off the road onto the Military air base and drew up behind a row of blacked out SUVs, each flanked by an armed guard.

“Wait…” she leaned forward, looking at 3 familiar figures waiting on the tarmac as a huge C17 taxied towards them. “This…this is the day you came back from Afghanistan.”

Tony nodded as Katie opened the door to the car and climbed out. She took a few steps forward stopping in front of the car bonnet. Natasha stood by her left, Tony by her right as she watched the aircraft come to a stop.

“Come on…” Tony said, striding forwards “You know how I like to make an entrance, be kind of cool for me to actually watch it for once.” They weaved their way through the line of SUVs and Katie paused, stopping. Curiously, she cocked her head to one side and waved her hand in front of one of the guard’s faces. He didn’t even blink.

“They can’t see you.” Natasha said, “Think of it as being like A Christmas Carol…”

Kate looked at her, before she took a deep breath “So not quite a Time heist?”

Nat smirked and nodded “Almost, but not quite, no.”

“Fucking hell.” Katie shook her head and turned to make her way over to Tony who was now stood just behind Pepper.

“God her ass looks great.” He mumbled. Katie gave a snort as she stopped behind her 2010 self.

“Was I really that skinny?” she muttered, taking in her frame. Her waist was ridiculously tiny, emphasised by the sharp, black tailored suit she wore, her hair pinned back into a bun. She moved round to the side, taking in her profile. Her eyes were shining, her jaw tensing as she held back the tears. “Mind you, I don’t think I ate properly for the entire time you were gone…” “You’re not exactly fat now” Tony scoffed. She ignored him, her eyes still fixed on herself. As she watched, 2010 Katie turned to Pepper who looked at her, the pair of them sharing a smile as Katie extended her hand, Pepper taking it, squeezing her fingers.

The tars of happiness trickled down her face, as the ramp on the aircraft carrier opened to reveal her brother. His hair was longer, he looked thinner but he was alive and all things considered he looked pretty good. Dressed in a sharp grey suit, brown shirt and a brown tie sporting white polka dots. His face was a little bruised but his goatee was well groomed and he still wore that determined, arrogant look she knew so well As Rhodey helped him down the ramp, he waved away the gurney that was being wheeled towards him and unable to stand it any longer, Katie shot forward. Tony was barely at the bottom before she flung herself at him, not caring that his arm was a sling.

“Hey Kiddo.” he said softly as she buried her face into his neck.

“You fucking asshole!” she sobbed “next time, you ride with Rhodey, you got that?”

“Trust me, there will be no next time.” he chuckled as she pulled back and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Afghanistan is a shit hole.”

“It was you know…” Tony mumbled and Katie turned her head away from watching her past reunion with her brother to look at him. “But there was one thing that kept me going in that hell hole. And that was getting back to you. I couldn’t leave you. Not after what happened to Mom and Dad.” Katie swallowed and turned back to see herself and her brother walking towards Pepper, her hand linked in his as they stopped.

“Your eyes are red.” Tony looked at Pepper “A few tears for your long-lost boss?”

“Tears of joy” Pepper smiled back “I hate job hunting.” “Yeah, vacation's over.” Tony said simply, and he headed past Pepper towards Happy. Katie watched as the two men embraced and she turned to Pepper.

“Twenty bucks says the first place he goes is for a cheeseburger.”

“You know me…knew me…whatever, so well.” Tony looped an arm round Katie as they watched their 2010 selves climb into the car and set off.

“I didn’t even try and convince you otherwise.” She sighed, looking at him “I knew you’d refuse to go to the hospital. I didn’t see the immediate press-conference coming though, that was a curve ball.”

“That was an interesting one for us too at SHIELD.” Nat said, “As soon as Fury got the call about how you’d escaped and that you’d called one he dispatched Coulson.”

“God…” Katie shook her head “This was like 20 years ago now. I was so young, a baby…”

“Well, now you don’t look a day over 46…” Tony said, patting her shoulder.

She glared at him and he chuckled “Come on…” Tony said, patting her shoulder.

Katie cast her eyes once more at the tail of the Rolls which was heading over the airfield tarmac and the three of them walked back to Tony’s Audi.

**** “Higher Daddy!” Harry giggled as Steve pushed him on the swing lazily with one arm, all the time keeping one eye on Rori who was currently with Jamie, the pair of them hanging off the climbing frame upside down whilst Stark sat at the bottom, barking at them. Whilst all his kids seemed to have inherited some of the serum’s benefits in that they were rarely sick and on the whole pretty robust, they were still fifty-percent ‘normal’ for want of a better word, and his heart was constantly in his mouth when they did stuff like that. To his horror he watched, Rori pulled herself up and then tucker herself into a ball and flipping herself backwards off the frame, landing on her feet.

“That’s how to stick a landing.” She looked at Jamie, her tongue poking out at him before she trotted back over to her dad ignoring her brother’s shout of “loser…” as she headed off.

“Can you not do that?” Steve sighed exasperatedly as she stopped by his side.

“Do what?” she looked up at him, her green eyes frowning a little. “Throw yourself off stuff.” “Momma says you did it all the time.” Rori looked at him “She said you threw yourself out of an elevator with her on your back.” “That…that was different.” He finished lamely.

“How?” “Because I had no choice.” “Why didn’t you just push the button to take the elevator down?” Rori looked at him like he was an idiot and he groaned.

“Rori, just…oh, I dunno, go and play on the slide or something. And by that I mean slide down it, not jump off it.”

“Hey Dad?” Jamie appeared by his side and Steve looked down at him “You wanna play catch?”

“Why don’t you play with Stark?” Steve said “I need to keep an eye on Harry and Flossie buddy.”

“Stark just runs off with the ball. He never brings it back.”

“Well, try teaching him.” “I have.” Jamie whined.

“Jamie, don’t start.” Steve said sternly “You’re skating on thin ice as it is.” “I’ll play.” Rori offered. Steve could see Jamie was considering his options before he shrugged.

“Ok.”

The two of them headed off towards the small sandlot to the side of the park, Steve watching as he continued to push Harry in the swing, his gaze then turning to Florence who was asleep in the stroller. Eventually Harry got bored and wanted to play on the slide so Steve lifted him out and they made their way over, Harry’s hand wrapped around Steve’s as he pushed Florence with the other. He watched Harry as he climbed the steps and then moved to the bottom of the slide, crouching as the little boy whizzed down laughing, Steve smiled as he caught him and tossed him into the air slightly.

“Again!” he demanded. Steve let him down and he repeated the motion a few times before Steve checked his watch. It was getting a little late, granted it was a Saturday but he didn’t want to deal with the fall out of them all being over tired and cranky over dinner. Katie had dealt with enough tantrums and tears today.

“Kids, think we should head back.” He said as he approached the older two. Jamie looked at him, about to protest and Steve glared at him.

“What did I say before?” he asked firmly. Jamie took a deep breath and nodded.

“Ok Dad.”

Together they walked back, Jamie and Rori a little ahead as Steve kept pace with Harry. They took the path through one of the green parks that led to their road and Rori stopped at a bank of wild flowers.

“Hey, can we pick some for Momma?” she asked, turning to look at Steve. “The blue ones are pretty.”

Steve smiled “I think that’s a great idea.”

“Make momma smile?” Harry asked, looking up and Steve nodded.

“Yeah, yeah it will.”

He watched as Jamie and Rori headed off to a patch to the left to pick a few and Steve crouched down consulting with Harry as to which ones he wanted to get. He helped him pick a few before he turned back to see Jamie and Rori clutching handfuls each.

“You leave any for the bees?” He quipped and Rori looked at him.

“There are looooads…” she said gesturing with her hands, giving an eye roll that was ridiculously comparable to those of her mother.

“Well that’s me told.” Steve arched an eyebrow. “Ok, give them here.”

He took them gently, adding them to Harry’s and he laid them on the little shelf at the bottom of the stroller before the 5 of them made their way back home.

**** Tony parked the Audi haphazardly in a space outside the Stark Industries HQ main building.

“Nice parking.” Katie quipped.

“It’s out company, I own this parking lot. Well I did. And besides, like you keep saying, this isn’t real so what does it matter?” he asked as the three of them exited the car. Katie glanced over to where Obadiah Stane was waiting with the press and their employees, laughing loudly and generally acting like the big shot.

“Dick.” She mumbled. “I never liked him.”

“Yeah, I know. You told me a lot. And it turns out you were right about him.” Tony shrugged. “Who knew?”

She snorted and Natasha gave a chuckle. “I’ll leave you two to this one.” She said gently, leaning against the car, folding her arms. Katie looked at her, before she turned and followed Tony as he strode forward, watching as the Rolls pulled up. The people stood round the turning circle all started to applause and when the car stopped and Obadiah strode forwards, arms open.

“Look at this!” He opened the door, presenting Tony to everyone and pulling him into a hug “We were going to meet at the hospital.”

“No, I'm fine.” Tony said, turning to Happy who offered him the Burger King bag from which Tony pulled another cheeseburger.

“Look at you!” Obadiah chuckled “You had to have a burger, yeah?”

“Which reminds me…” Katie nudged Pepper as they walked around the back of the car “You owe me twenty.” Pepper snorted and shook her head, “Come on.”

Katie and Pepper headed inside, following Tony and Obadiah who were chatting away, the cameras flashing as they walked through the cool, marble clad reception are of HQ where the podium that the press conferences were held from stood to the side. Katie and Pepper stopped, Katie taking a breath as she watched Tony walking through the group of people, speaking to various until a voice by her side made her jump.

“Miss Potts, may I speak to you for a moment?”

Katie turned to see an unassuming man, with short dark hair and a kind face dressed in a black suit, a Visitor Tag attached to his breast pocket. She looked at him for a second before her attention turned back to Tony who was busy talking to a woman in a red suit.

“I’m not part of the press conference…” Pepper spoke to the man “But it’s about to begin right now”

“I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” The man spoke and that got Katie’s attention. She turned to look at him, smiling.

“That's quite a mouthful.” She grinned and Agent Coulson gave her a smile.

“I know. We're working on it.” He smiled as Pepper took the business card he was holding. Katie arched an eyebrow and smiled, once more turning her eyes back to her brother.

“You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA...” Pepper continued and Coulson cut her off gently.

“We're a separate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape.”

Katie turned to him, frowning and wondering exactly how they knew about it. Reading her facial expression, Coulson shrugged slightly and Pepper nodded. “I'll put something in the book, shall I?”

“Thank you.”

Katie was about to quiz him more when she heard Tony calling for her. She looked at her brother and he gestured with his head.

“Excuse me…” She strode forward and Tony put an arm round her shoulder.

“I need to speak to you.” He said “Before I talk to the world.”

“God, I remember this like it was yesterday.” Katie turned to Tony as they followed in the wake of themselves, everyone parting as Tony steered his sister towards the little break out room towards the back, which housed the coffee and vending machines.

“Yup…” Tony said as they ducked inside the room with themselves “It was a pretty life defining moment. For me anyway…”

“It was for both of us.” She said, watching as 2010 Tony clicked he door shut “This is where it all began. Iron Man, SHIELD…all of it.”

Tony smiled and they both turned their heads to watch their past selves.

“I’m shutting down the Weapons Manufacturing.” Tony said and Katie frowned.

“What? Why?”

“I saw out there what our weapons are being used for.” Tony shook his head “I don’t know how those terrorists got hold of them, because I sure as hell didn’t approve any bids to that particular group, did the Commercial Department negotiate them without me using your delegated authority?”

“Of course not!” she replied indignantly “What do you take me for? They must have been traded on the black market…”

“And that is exactly my point!” Tony said, nodding at her “We can’t police it all. So I want to shut it down. Focus our efforts elsewhere”

“What happened to you out there Tone?” Katie considered her brother for a moment and he took a deep breath.

“For the first time I met my Jiminy Cricket…”he looked at her “Tony Stark doesn’t want to be the most famous mass murderer in the history of America anymore.”

Katie frowned. “That Vanity Fair article. You read it?”

“Of course I read it, it was about me.” He shrugged “The reporter…erm..”

“Everhart?” Katie looked at him “You forgot her name after you banged her as well?”

“Whatever that’s not important.” Tony waved her off “But Kiddo,all those lives we’ve saved by advancing medical technology and the starvation prevented from intelli-crops, she mentioned none of that.”

“Because that doesn’t sell papers.” Katie shook us head “Whereas dubbing us Merchants of Death does.”

“War profiteering she called it. And she was right.” Tony implored “You know, Dad always said that peace means…”

“Having a bigger stick than the other guy, yeah, you told me” Katie looked at her brother.

“And it’s a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks.” Tony shook his head. “But what if no one was selling the sticks?”

Katie took a deep breath “People would then just make their own sticks, and they’d be harder to police.”

“But what if I told you I had a pretty big assed stick of my own? The biggest stick anyone could have.”

“I’m not…” Katie sighed, rubbing at her temple “Tony you’ve lost me”

“I wouldn’t have escaped if it hadn’t been for my cell mate out there. He saved my life” Tony tapped his chest “Not only did he build an electromagnet to keep a bunch of shrapnel from shredding my heart, he sacrificed himself soI could escape. His last words were an instruction, not to waste my life Kiddo, and I have no intention of doing so anymore.” He looked down at his feet taking a deep breath before he raised his head to meet her gaze “I don’t want my legacy, our legacy, to be about how many deaths we may or may not have been indirectly responsible for.”

“You really did have an epiphany didn’t you?” Katie looked at him, not a shred of sarcasm in her voice.

“It was my moment of clarity” Tony nodded “And I have a permanent reminder, as you know already from the calls and briefings….”

He moved his arm gently, wincing as he did so, loosening his tie a little and undoing the top few buttons on his shirt. He gently parted it and Katie gave a gasp at the small circle of light in the middle of his chest.

“This thing powered a suit I made. A metal suit. I shrunk the Arc reactor down in a damned cave, and that’s what’s now keeping the shrapnel in place…but it powered a heavy assed suit for 15 minutes. Just think of all the good we could do with it with it. Renewable technology, medical equipment…maybe some other form of potential peace keeping initiative with a slightly smaller metal suit.”

“Is this the big stick you were talking about?” Katie asked, arching her eyebrow. “A metal suit.”

Tony took a deep breath “In a fashion, yes. It could remove the need for…other sticks so to speak.”

Katie took a deep breath before she stepped forward and began to do his shirt back up for him, not saying a word as she mulled over what he had said. The fact they traded weapons had been something she tried not to think about, justifying it in her mind as a means to an end- if they didn’t someone else would. But remove that completely…

She re-knotted his tie and slid it up to his collar before she straightened it and stood back, rolling her eyes as Tony loosened it once more.

“I need you to trust me on this Kiddo.” He said softly and she looked at him, her eyes searching his. There wasn’t a single ounce of doubt there, quit the contrary. This was obviously something he vehemently believed in. And for that reason, she decided to back him.

“Ok.” She nodded “We’ll shut it down.”

Katie watched as her 2010 self and brother embraced, turning to Tony “You have no idea how much of a head fuck that was” she said as they followed themselves out of the room.

“Oh, believe me I do.” Tony said, as they stood at the back of the room, watching as Obadiah greeted the press, 2010 Katie walking up to stand besides him.

Tony sat down in front of the podium. “Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?” He asked, fishing the cheeseburger out of his pocket “Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can... a little less formal and...” Tony took a bite of the cheeseburger as Katie glanced at Obi, giving a shrug, before she sat to Tony’s left.

“Good to see you.” Tony looked at Obi who smiled.

“Good to see you.” He said, reaching out and touching Tony’s shoulder.

“I never got to say goodbye to Dad.” Tony said, looking around. He glanced at Katie, “We never got to say goodbye to our father.” He swallowed his food and placed the half eaten burger on the floor as he considered his words “There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts.”

Katie glanced at the floor as Tony paused for a second.

“Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels.” He once more turned to Katie who gently placed her hand on his back, giving a small rub over his suit jacket. Taking a deep breath he looked out over the room “I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that we had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.”

Out of the corner of her eye, as the members of the press began to call Tony’s name, Katie saw Obadiah shift slightly, frowning a little at what Tony had just said.

“Hey Ben…” Tony nodded to one of the reporters.

“What happened over there?”

“I had my eyes opened.” Tony stood and moved behind the podium, Katie watching his every move. “I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up.”

He glanced down at Katie and she gave him a small nod.

“And that is why, effective immediately, me and my sister are shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International”

The room erupted in commotion, everyone standing and talking at the same time. Katie took her position by her brother as Tony simply continued speaking

“…until such a time as we can decide what the future of the company will be.”

Obadiah placed his hand over Tony’s shoulder, trying to cut in a little and mentioned something about selling a lot of newspapers but Tony ignored him

“…what direction it should take, one that we’re comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well.”

At that he turned to Katie and the two of them left the stage, Tony’s arm looped around her shoulder as he dropped a kiss to her temple.

Obadiah continued to speak as Katie turned to Tony, watching themselves as they left the room.

��Wanna go watch the follow up fireworks?” he grinned and she gave a chuckle.

“Why not, we’re here…we may as well.”

They walked out to see their past selves climbing into Happy’s car and Natasha straightened up as they headed to the Audi.

“Have fun?” she drawled and Katie looked at her and shrugged.

“I suppose I never really understood the significance of that moment. Like I said to Tony in there, this is what kicked it all off. How Iron Man was born.”

Natasha looked at Tony, giving him a little nod “You were right to bring here her then.” “Just like I said.” He shrugged as he opened the door to the Audi, gesturing to it with his head “Now, get in Losers, we’re going Arc Reactor viewing.”

Katie rolled her eyes at Natasha as the 2 of them climbed into the car and Tony followed the Rolls that was working its way across the Stark Industries site. Eventually it stopped outside the large, glass fronted building which housed the Arc Reactor that powered the plant. The three of them exited and followed 2010 Tony and Katie inside.

“So this is a larger version of what was in your chest.” Natasha looked up at the huge power source, giving it the once over.

“Yup.” Tony nodded, “Pretty cool huh.”

Natasha gave a hmmm of agreement as Katie’s eyes strayed to herself as she stood with Tony, the two of them stood side by side, looking up at it.

“Not sure Obi is gonna be happy.” She turned to look at Tony who shrugged, his eyes not leaving the Arc Reactor.

“I don’t much care.” He shrugged “We’ve bowed to him and the board for far too long…” “Well, that’s kind of the point of a board” she looked at him.

“Yeah, but the two of us make the majority, as you know.” Tony shrugged. “Look, Kiddo, this is the right thing to do…we just gotta ride out the bow of this shit storm for while.”

“That’s…a mixed metaphor.” Katie snorted and Tony grinned. At that point the doors to the building opened and they turned to see Obadiah stood, cigar in his mouth, hands on his hips.

“Well, that..uh... That went well.”

“Did we just paint a target on the back of our heads?” Tony asked reaching up to undo his tie.

“Your heads? What about my head?” Obi asked walking behind them, pacing slightly. “What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?”

“Uh, optimistically, 40 points.” Katie offered as Tony whipped off his tie.

“At minimum.” Obadiah nodded.

“Yup” Tony agreed, hanging his tie over his jacket which was draped on the railings around the reactor.

“Tony, Katie, we're a weapons manufacturer.” Obadiah said softly, looking at him.

“Obi, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy.” Tony turned to face him.

“That's what we do. We're iron mongers. We make weapons.”

“It’s our name on the side of the building.” Katie chipped in and Obadiah shook his head.

“What we do keeps the world from falling into chaos.”

“Not based on what I saw.” Tony shook his head “We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better. We're gonna do something else” “Like what?” Obadiah asked “You want us to make baby bottles?”

“Tony thinks we should take another look into arc reactor technology.” Katie said “And I agree.

“Ah, come on.” Obi looked at her, then shook his head, waving his hands towards the item in question “The arc reactor, that's a publicity stunt! Guys’ come on. We built that thing to shut the hippies up”

“It works.” Katie said simply and Tony smiled, catching her eye for a second as Obi scoffed.

“Yeah, as a science project. The arc was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it.” He shook his head once more pacing behind the siblings, neither of who turned to face him “Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?”

Obadiah’s tone was almost sarcastic and Katie understood instantly that he knew about the one in Tony’s chest. From the smile on her brother’s face he’d also reached the same conclusion.

“Maybe.” Tony said, his smile growing bigger as he looked up at the larger arc once more before he turned to Katie, his smile growing bigger. She gave him one of her own as they both turned to look at Obi.

“Huh? Am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in that in what? Thirty years.”

“That's what they say.” Tony said, narrowing his eyes as Obadiah looked straight at him. Katie snorted.

“Obi, could you have a lousier poker face?” she rolled her eyes.

“Just tell me, who told you?” Tony looked at him.

“Never mind who told me…” Obi pointed towards his chest “Show me”

“It's Rhodey or Pepper.” Tony continued

“I want to see it.” Obadiah continued.

“Okay, Rhodey…” Tony undid his sling and looking around he began to undo his shirt to show Obadiah the reactor in his chest. The older man looked at it for a moment, glancing to the larger arc before he chuckled a little

“Okay…” he said as he began to button Tony's shirt back up, the same way Katie had earlier.

“Okay? It works…” Tony looked at him.

Obadiah sighed, giving a smile and looped his arm around Tony’s shoulder. “Listen to me, Tony. We're a team.” He gestured to Katie “The three of us, do you understand? There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I.”

“I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay?” Tony looked at him “But if I had...”

“Tony. Tony, no more of this "ready, fire, aim" business. You understand me?”

“Wasn’t that another one of Dad's line?” Katie asked and Tony looked at her, nodding.

“You two have gotta let me handle this.” Obi looked at them “We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're going to have to take a lot of heat.” He said as Katie helped Tony back into his jacket. “I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low.”

Katie, Tony and Natasha watched the other figures leave the building and Katie sighed, her eyes flicking back up to the arc reactor.

“You know, that was a great trip down memory lane and everything Tone, but you’re gonna have to help me out here as to how, exactly, that’s supposed to relate to my apparent sudden lack of self-worth…”

“You backed my decision.” Tony said simply “You were one hundred percent behind me when I said I wanted to shut down the weapons manufacturing.”

“I know, but…” “If you hadn’t been, Tony would never have done it.”  Natasha shrugged

“Red’s right, you were always my sanity check. Despite what you may have thought to the contrary, I trusted your opinions Kiddo. Every key decision I made with SI was done with you by my side.” “That’s not true.”

“It is.” Tony pressed “Think about it for a second. The Charities, the deals, the partnerships, the take overs, the Arc Reactor...not one single big thing I did with that company, with our company, was done without you. Even when you disagreed I took that into consideration and modified stuff so that it was more in-line with what you suggested or thought.” Katie swallowed, shaking her head slightly, lost for words. Eventually she took a deep breath and looked at her brother “I didn’t realise. I always thought you did that simply because you needed my vote on stuff to make a majority…”

“Well you thought wrong.” He shrugged “But I’ll forgive you. The world only has space for one Stark genius.” “Good job you’re dead then.” She shot back and he looked at her, his eyebrow arching slightly, an incredulous smirk on his face as Natasha snorted.

“Touche, Kiddo. Touche.”

[kiraraneko]

CATS as reviewed by a furry

Apparently this is a movie review blog now lmao (listen I just have some Opinions™ I feel like writing down lately) You’ve already heard from a hundred sources about the terrible CGI and bad quality of the film overall, so I’m going to focus more on the characters themselves and how they’ve been translated from stage to film. As someone whose been a fan of CATS since childhood AND is active in the furry community, I hope this will be different from the other reviews. (YES THERE ARE SPOILERS)

Let’s just start this off by saying - everyone who keeps comparing this film to “furry porn” clearly is not familiar with furry porn, because the alleged “hornyness” of the actor portrayals is pretty in-line with the stage play. The only reason this movie comes off as so much more sexual is because the bad fur CGI doesn’t keep your brain from knowing these people are all basically nude. The stage play costumes feature fur tufts and limb wraps that work to somewhat hide the human silhouettes, whereas (even with some characters in coats and accessories) everyone’s fur in the movie is so skin-tight they end up being unmistakably human, so every sway and hip-thrust comes off as slightly disturbing in an uncanny way instead of feline and graceful.

Victoria the White Cat Now here’s where I’ll admit to my blatant bias - Victoria has always been my favorite cat (other than Rum Tum). Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Ever wonder why my fursona is a white cat? (Jumpcut to me as an 8 year old wearing a scarf around my waist, pretending to be Victoria). Her role in the play is small but she’s elegant, beautiful, and an incredibly talented dancer, and I always idolized her for that. So, you can imagine I was pretty delighted to find that she plays the role of “main character” in the film. Now in the play, the cats explain to the audience about who and what they are, with Munkustrap (the grey tabby) serving as a kind of narrator/translator and leader. Since you can’t exactly address a stage audience in a movie, Victoria fills that role of the “questioning onlooker”, which I feel fits her character very well considering she’s both a younger/newer cat to the Jellicle scene and she was the first to accept Grizabella, which connects her nicely to the entire story (both in the play and the movie). What I was markedly less jazzed about was the addition of her own song in the movie. I think it was a nice attempt to expand her role, but as an extension to Memories, I found Beautiful Ghosts to be frankly kind of boring and unnecessary. She’s essentially saying to Grizabella “I was just abandoned and I don’t have anything, at least you have good memories to look back on” which to me, came off as belittling to Grizabella with a dash of “poor me” for Victoria. However, the reprise version with Old Deuteronomy I actually ended up liking much more. It is less condescending when two old cats are singing to one another, versus a kitten who has their whole life ahead of them lecturing Grizabella about a past she knows nothing about. One last thing I’ll note about Victoria is her slight re-design in the movie - she’s been given some light striping patterning as opposed to being a pure white cat. This doesn’t bother me at all as I assume when it comes to lighting and rendering, pure white fur would have been too distracting on screen. Jennyanydots / The Gumbie Cat I’ll just come right out and say that this segment was probably the worst translation from the play in the entire movie, and it happens early in the film, so you’re already questioning what the hell the rest of the movie is going to be like. In the play, she’s a slow-paced and motherly type cat that only becomes energetic at night, when she sheds her fur to reveal a vibrant coat and goes to work teaching vermin of the house good manners and skills like crocheting (as opposed to hunting them, like other cats would do). In the movie, she’s flitting about the kitchen like a hyperactive rabbit, rampantly consumes some of the insects she’s painstakingly coached, and whines about wishing to leave her household. If this butchering of her character weren’t enough, they actually included the fur-shedding bit in an incredibly disturbing skin-unzipping sequence where she steps out of her cat skin to reveal a sparkly dress underneath. Characters in the CATS play occasionally do wear some clothing accessories, but this movie does not know the meaning of subtlety, and various characters are wearing fullbody clothes which even further breaks any illusion of these characters being cats. It just constantly wants to remind you that these are human people in unitards jumping around on a greenscreen. Rum Tum Tugger Undoubtedly a fan favorite, Rum Tum is the rockstar cat who swoons all the kittens and makes a general ruckus, with stylistic influences of Mick Jagger and Elvis. To say the least, I thought his part in the movie was fine, but certainly doesn’t quite have the punch to it that the stage play does. The movie has him breaking into a 50′s style diner while milk is liberally poured for all the younger cats. Both his character and that of the Gumbie cat’s are diminished further as she makes fun of his singing and dance moves - which may have been a funny addition, if it weren’t for her alleging his show-offiishness to a recent neutering. This joke just went a little too far in my opinion, and really detracted from the rest of Rum Tum’s performance. Bustopher Jones A very charming and gentlemanly cat, Bustopher’s sequence started well and then just got really weird. His song prominently describes his love of fine dining, his cheerful demeanor, and his well-groomed fur. The last of which was directly contradicted in the movie, as he rolled around in actual garbage making an utter mess of himself. He’s shown gorging himself through the entire segment with increasing fervor, until it’s just a bit too much to bear witness to. At one point, he’s meant to trapeze into a trash can, but the cat who jumps on the other end of the catapult is markedly smaller, and nothing happens. This is actually quite a funny moment, until once again, the joke goes a little too far and Bustopher comments being “sensitive about his weight”. This is just.. a bizarre comment considering he’s sung an entire song about being charmingly large and we’ve just watched him unabashedly stuff his face for five solid minutes. Applying human weight-shaming to the ideals of a cat is just completely unnecessary, awkward, and contradictory to his character. It changes him from an indulgent but experienced chap into something to be pitied. Asparagus / Gus the Theatre Cat Possibly my favorite segment of the movie, this is the only part I actually teared up at. As a child, I always thought Gus was a very boring character with a boring part, but watching as an adult I can understand and appreciate him much better. Sir Ian McKellen did an absolutely phenomenal job of channeling the frail, endearing, proud character of Gus (despite the wonky camera work of the scene). This might be the only part of the movie that matched, or perhaps even exceeded the stage play version, and I don’t think it’s any surprise that it also happens to be the most subdued sequence, relying almost entirely on character acting and line delivery, instead of fancy effects cluttering up the screen (as this musical should be). The end of his storytelling features some “lightning strikes” for emphasis, created by what I imagine would be a simple shadow stencil, and it added some genuine atmosphere to the idea of Gus as a performer with simple stage effects. It was a nice subtle touch, and I only wish the rest of the movie could have been more like that. I found his line condemning “modern productions” to be more poignant than ever before, and it makes you wonder if this movie suddenly became painfully self-aware.  Also I just want to throw this in: Before Gus’s song, there’s an unintentionally hilarious shot of Mr. Mistoffelees walking up on him drinking milk from a dish, except Gus is mostly in shadow with his cat features obscured and is standing fully upright, so he just appears to be a hobo man lapping at a dish, like someone legit just walked up on Ian McKellen being a complete fucking weirdo.  Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer This segment was another one that just didn’t come across quite right. These two are mischievous partners in crime, causing mayhem and stealing treasures. The '98 film version characterizes them as playful and upbeat, delighting in trouble-making, but they don’t seem to be quite experienced or clever enough to get away 100% of the time. The 2019 version came off as almost.. sinister to me. They coerce Victoria into stealing, frame her, and then leave her to what could nearly be her death, all while sort of talking through their lines with a cold inflection. This is supposed to take after the original “languid” London version, but they don’t play off each other very well and you don’t get a sense of the fun, amusing partnership they’re supposed to have. It’s mostly just watching them destroy several rooms of a house and then leaving Victoria to her fate like utter assholes. I don’t really have anything more to say on these two, it was just kind of bland and forgetful and leaves you disliking them instead of enjoying watching them have a fun romp. Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat I would give Skimbleshanks the award for “most baffling redesign”. As mentioned earlier, this movie takes cats-wearing-clothing to an uncanny level, and this is certainly the uncanny-est. While the play version has him in a cute waistcoat and arm warmers with elbow patches to give a “train conductor” vibe, the movie has him in full bright red overalls, with other reviews calling him “gay nightclub Mario”, lmao! As much as I wanted to enjoy this number, the sight of him was just too weird to look past.  The tap dancing during his skit was a fitting addition to his character - he is quite bouncy and light on his feet, so I thought it suited him very well and really liked that part. His song picks up after that, with all the cats dancing on the rail and there’s more weird camera work, at one point zooming out so ridiculously far it’s actually jarring. The rest of his song was okay, a CGI greenscreen that can do anything you want unfortunately just isn’t as creative and inspiring as watching actors build a train engine representation out of junkyard scraps on an actual stage.  Magical Mr. Mistoffelees The movie really took some liberties with this character, and I’m still on the fence about whether it was a good choice or not. In the play, Mistoffelees is a magician cat, performing tricks through his segment (including the most complex dance routine of any character) while other cats usually sing about his feats (in the ‘98 film, it’s Rum Tum). They went for the younger, unsure version of Mistoffelees in this new movie, and doubled up on it by turning him into something of a comedic-relief character. He doesn’t quite have a handle on his magic, and he trips up on his words and his feet several times through the movie. This would have been fine if his musical number hadn’t been such a let down. This is supposed to be his grand moment, but his “magic” ends up being underwhelming and the chorus repeats for SO long you’re practically begging for it to end. Where “Oh! Well, I never! Was there ever a cat so clever as Magical Mr Mistoffelees?” was once a cheerful and upbeat line, it will certainly become a droning echo in your mind after watching this movie. The added plot of his implied attraction to Victoria I also found kind of weird, though I’ll admit that might just be my personal tastes. I always liked Mistoffelees being a more aloof kind of cat.  Grizabella / The Glamour Cat Alright buckle in, I’ve got some strong opinions about this one. Grizabella is undeniably the star of CATS - she’s an incredibly emotional character, visually intriguing, and her performance in the musical is nothing short of heartbreaking. She was referred to as “the Glamour Cat” in her prime, but it has turned into an almost mocking title as the other cats reject and shun her. We never really know why, but it can be implied she may have been cold and elitist to the other cats who once adored her, or had some other tragic and sudden fall from grace. Despite Jennifer Hudson putting in a damn good effort to play the role of this character, the movie itself let her down. The CATS play and the Jellicle ball which it centers around, while being a musical, is foremost a ball in which cats perform for the honor of being chosen. The dancing is just as important as the singing, and Grizabella’s character is heavily communicated by her posture. She’s hunched, stiff and limping, reaching out for others to accept her, and at one point even attempts to mimic some of the other cat’s dance moves before slinking away in shame. The 2019 movie paradoxically chooses to use extremely tight face-shots for just about every character routine. It is frustrating and claustrophobic to watch a movie where cats who are supposed to be expressing their character through movement are shown from only the shoulders up, just standing there singing into a camera - and this frustration is paramount at the Grizabella sequences.  Jennifer Hudson, singing her absolute heart out with tears pouring down her face, is still emotionally lacking because of the terrible cinematography refusing to show her doing any actual acting. I was so distracted by the mucus running down her face that I couldn’t even connect with her. I thought the costuming of Grizabella was very well done, but you barely got to see any of it. Overall a very disappointing performance, because Hudson was doing all the right things, and it could have been great if the movie had met her even halfway. Macavity the Mystery Cat Played by the incredible Idris Elba, Macavity underwent some heavy changes and expansion in this new movie. He’s the main antagonist of the play, and most of his antics like committing serious crimes and alluding the police are sung about as rumors but doesn’t himself sing, and actually doesn’t have any speaking lines in the play, adding to his mysterious character. When he eventually appears, he battles with Munkustrap and steals Deuteronomy (who is brought back by Mistoffelees). Macavity is usually depicted with vibrant clashing colors, wild hair, and uses quick threatening movements, while the Idris Elba version rein-visioned him as extremely sleek, black-furred, and sly and cunning, often emerging from the shadows to tempt other cats with their vices. He is given numerous speaking lines, and his villainy is expanded on as he kidnaps the other cats in an attempt to be the chosen Jellicle. I actually quite like this interpretation of the character, and it makes him a little more relatable instead of the vicious enigma he is in the play.  Something of note is just how literally the new movie took the rumors of Macavity’s powers. His abilities, which were muted and used sparingly in the play, were used constantly and without hesitation in this movie. He spends most of his time teleporting other characters and creating illusions, but then uses trickery to try and win the Jellicle ball, and fails to demonstrate his power of levitation when it really matters. So whether he does or doesn’t have real powers seems to be.. situational to say the least. Another thing I want to point out is just how uncomfortably sudden Macavity’s reveal is. He spends most of the movie in the shadows hidden under an oversized coat and hat, and then suddenly appears at the Jellicle ball without any disguise on whatsoever. Idris Elba is a damn fine looking dude, and you can clearly see his very human-shaped abs beneath his sleek Macavity fur, which is so close to his actual skintone that I’ve seen him described as “extra naked” and it’s pretty accurate. You just really aren’t prepared for this moment when it happens. Growltiger This guy is a rough and rowdy pirate-esque character with a dramatic love life. His segment was cut from the ‘98 film, so seeing the play in person is just about the only way to experience it. Because of this, it’s probable that many people may not even be aware of this character, so I was pretty excited to hear that he would be featured in the 2019 movie. Growltiger is quite overdue for his time in the mainstream spotlight. Turns out, unfortunately, Growltiger's Last Stand is not what you get. His appearance in the movie is more or less a cameo with a short introduction, and the rest of the time he’s serving as Macavity‘s henchman in the background. This is based on the 2015 revival of him as a dock worker, but I feel it was a weak representation of his character, and really wish he’d been shown in a better light. The movie cuts out pretty much every fight scene, and Growltiger‘s would have been dramatic and fun to watch, especially after Gus’s reminiscing. Instead, he was kind of lazily thrown into a river by Gus, who previously bragged about playing the role of Growltiger on stage, which is kind of an interesting juxtaposition if you don’t think about it too hard. Old Deuteronomy A surprising change was the decision to make Deuteronomy female, played by Judi Dench. I love old grandpa Deuteronomy, but this didn’t really bother me. Deuteronomy is a wise, beloved leader of the Jellicles and there’s not really anything integral about the character that says they couldn’t be female. Deuteronomy carries himself with dignity, but isn’t afraid to dance along with the songs of the other more lively cats, and Judi Dench certainly has an air of authority and respect about her. The character’s songs are reflective and thought-provoking, but once again, the 2019 movie fails to make any of these sequences actually entertaining. The absolute worst part of the entire movie comes at the very end, when Deuteronomy makes horrific, unblinking eye contact with the camera, and slowly talks her way through the Ad-Dressing of Cats. This is absolutely bewildering considering how the movie deliberately sets up Victoria as a main character in place of the audience, only to completely chuck that out the window of a moving car just to break the 4th wall in the most uncomfortable way possible and directly address the audience anyway. What is even the point? I can’t imagine there’s a single person that would watch that and be okay with it. The Ad-Dressing of Cats is supposed to be a cute, fun little recap of everything the cats supposedly taught you, but this movie made it feel like a lecturing stare-down. Other notes The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles was cut entirely from the movie, which is fine because it isn’t integral to the story or anything, considering it was also cut from the stage play when I saw it live. I kind of shudder to think of how The Great Rumpus Cat would have been interpreted in this movie, so I think we were all probably spared some indignities.  While this movie was watchable and certainly an interesting take on the play, it creatively added very little and only succeeded in making me desperately want to go watch the ‘98 musical. I thought at least this movie would be a fun soundtrack to view, but many of the songs just didn’t have the punchiness, joy, charm, or energy that I’m used to. There were parts of it that I liked enough to say this isn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but that’s not exactly a glowing review. From the perspective of a theatre fan and a furry: If I want to see CATS, I’m most certainly going to choose the filmed musical over this new movie any day.  I’m infinitely more charmed by the graceful 80′s style dancers of the play than I am by the uncanny valley, painfully human cat-people of the new movie (and honestly I haven’t seen a single piece of fanart for it, so that really tells you all you need to know).

[theplaid-wearingmoose]

Relax~Hiccup x Reader smut for star-mum~

Hey so I just read "Don't Tell Hiccup" and also your announcement saying you'll be writing Hiccup fics aaaand uhm maybe we could get a fic elaborating on how the reader "helped" a stressed Hiccup in "Don't Tell Hiccup"?

Your name: submit What is this?

You’d been home pretty much all day. It grew dark and you heard Toothless land just outside the front door. It slammed shut just as you made it down the stairs. Hiccup gave you a weary smile as he slumped into the closest chair. You started to walk over to him. You scratched Toothless on the head as he passed you, making his way up to the rafters of the house. Hiccup held his hand out to you as you neared him. You placed your hand in his and smiled as he brought it to his lips, brushing them over the top of your hand softly. “You look like death, Hiccup. You want something to eat?” You asked, bending down to kiss the top of his head. He shook his head and turned to kiss you. “No thanks, I’m not very hungry. Just tired and frustrated.” He answered. You moved behind him and began to run your fingers through his long hair. You smiled to yourself as he let out a low hum. “That actually feels really good.” He sighed. “You wanna talk about today?” You asked, continuing to stroke his hair. He leaned his head back into your touch and looked up at you with tired eyes.

“All I know is, if Snotlout and the twins come to me with one more idea for a yak catapult, I’m gonna dive off Toothless.” You burst into laughter, Hiccup quickly joining you. “A yak catapult? Why in the name of Thor would we need one of those?” You laughed. Hiccup only shrugged and laid his head back against you. You resumed stroking his hair for a few minutes as you watched him. You could tell he was still frustrated. He wouldn’t be able to rest properly unless you got him to de-stress. That’s when you got an idea..

“You’re so tense, Hiccup. You need to relax.” You said, softly. You slowly moved your hands down the sides of his neck, down to his shoulders. You could feel the knots in the muscle and gently squeezed. Hiccup’s eyes fluttered closed as you began to massage his shoulders. “Wow..you’re so good at that.” He breathed. A dreamy smile spread across his face as you squeezed and rubbed the tenseness out his muscles. Your felt a sense of accomplishment when you pressed your thumbs into a particularly sensitive spot on his back and he let out a grateful moan. You giggled to yourself and lowered your head next to his ear. “Enjoying yourself, My Chief?” You asked in a sultry voice, pressing a tender kiss to his neck. Hiccup’s only response was a breathy “uh huh” and quick nod. Grinning, you stood up straight and dropped your hands from his shoulders.

He sat up and looked at you with pleading eyes as you walked around in front of him. You grinned mischievously and kept your eyes on his as you sank to your knees in front of him. “W-what are you doing?” He stammered. You run your hands up his thighs, feeling the hard muscle from years of dragon riding. “Let me help you relax, My Chief.” You responded, the seductive tone of your voice causing Hiccup to swallow hard. You quickly undid the buckles of his pants and pulled them down. His cock was already hardening. Holding his gaze, you wrapped your hand around him and slowly licked a long stripe up his cock. Hiccup let out a sharp gasp as you began to stroke him slowly. When he was fully hard, you teased the tip of his cock with your tongue, flicking it lightly. Hiccup whined and gave you another pleading look, begging you to just take him in your mouth already. You gave him a teasing smirk before obliging.

His head fell back, his mouth dropped open, and his eyes fluttered closed at the feeling of your warm mouth around him. You bobbed your head up and down, using your hand for what you couldn’t fit down your throat. You felt Hiccup’s hands on your head, gripping your hair and lightly scratching at your scalp. His moans grew louder, filling the house as you sucked faster. You hummed around him, the vibrations making him arch his back in his seat. His breaths began to quicken and you could tell he was close. You had planned to finish him off like that but it seemed Hiccup had decided otherwise. He cupped your face in his hands and gently pushed you back, releasing his cock from your mouth with a pop! You looked at him with a questioning expression. His chest rose and fell fast as he breathed heavily. “I don’t... wanna finish... just yet.” He panted. He leaned forward, extending his hands to pull you up from the floor. You stood and let him pull off the skirt you had been wearing. You stepped out of it before he pulled you onto his lap. “Ride me, Y/N” He begged, his voice already growing hoarse. You grinned and started to grind back forth on him. You grew more and more wet as his hard cock rubbed against your clit. You felt his hands come around to grab your ass, making you moan. Hiccup began to leave kisses up and down your neck as you rocked against him. He moaned your name softly, squeezing your ass tightly in his hands. “ Please Y/N, I think you’ve teased me enough.” He’d said please but the tone of his voice and the low growl at the end told you he wouldn’t put up with much more teasing from you, no matter how tired he was.

“As you wish, My Chief.” You replied. You lifted your hips up enough to line his cock up with your entrance. The two of you moaned together as you sank down onto him. You remained still for a minute, letting yourself adjust to his size. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and bounced on him slowly. You whimpered as he filled you all the way. You dug your nails into his shoulders as you lifted up and let yourself drop back down. The sound of your moans combined with the slapping of skin was all that could be heard in the house. Hiccup kept his eyes on you, watching the pleasure show itself on your face. You looked so beautiful like this. The determination to please him plus your own arousal made for an exquisite expression. Hiccup didn’t think he’d seen anything so perfect. He nearly came when you moaned his name loudly. “Oh gods yes...Hiccup!” You cried out. His hands gripped your waist tightly. “Faster, Y/N....faster!” He moaned. You moved your hips harder and faster, alternating between circling them and bouncing up and down as fast as you could.

Hiccup’s grip on your hips would surely result in bruises. He leaned back in the chair and thrust his hips up to meet you. You screamed his name as you felt your orgasm approaching. “Fuck! Hiccup..I’m so close!” Your words seemed to motivate him and he started to pound up into you faster. His newfound energy quickly brought you to the edge. You dragged your nails down his back, your orgasm making you clench around him tightly. You kept bouncing yourself on his cock, determined to get him to finish. Your eyes met his, the look of ecstasy spreading across his face. You bit your bottom lip, whimpering from sensitivity. Hiccup guided your hips back and forth, his mouth falling open as he neared his own orgasm. The breathy moans falling from his lips were so sexy, you figured you could listen to them forever. Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut and you knew he was close. You leaned forward and kissed him hard. “Cum for me, My Chief.” You murmured in his ear. Hiccup moaned loudly and wrapped his arms tightly around you. He buried his face between your breasts and let out a sharp gasp as you felt his warm cum spill inside you.

The two of you stilled, holding each other like that for who knows how long. Both of you were drenched in sweat but you didn’t really mind. It was now quiet in the house. Only the sound of your heavy breathing could be heard. You were certain some of the village had heard you but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. Hiccup slowly lifted his head up off your chest and looked into your eyes. His hand came up to the back of your head and pulled you down into a kiss.

When you pulled apart from each other, Hiccup gave you a tired smile. “Thank you, my lady.” He muttered, sleepily. “I really needed that.” You smiled kindly at him and kissed him once more. “I could tell. Glad I could help.” Hiccup let out a tired chuckle and gently patted your ass. “I’m either going to be very well rested in the morning or completely dead.” You giggled and climbed off his lap, your legs a little shaky. “C’mon Chief. Let’s get you to bed then.” You extended your hand out to him and led him upstairs where the two of you quickly fell asleep in each other’s arms.

[ichigopanhpff]

BNHA Fic: Blink! Ch. 21

Read Ch. 20 | Masterlist

SPOILER ALERT: This dives into the Redemption Arc and the spar where Midoriya finds something new about his quirk.

With the commotion calmed down three days later, classes resumed as is for the heroes in training. Ren popped by the Support Department after class to pick up her bangles. It took Hatsumei a lot longer to figure out the schematics since it’s not one of her creations. She had to do a lot of research and tweaking based on the upgrades Ren wanted. Loosely grasping her now crimson red with chrome gray striped bangles, her hands shook with excitement in wanting to try them out.

And tonight was a solo training session with Bakugou. He was already in his winter gym uniform and looked irritated upon entering Void.

“Something the matter, Bakkun?”

“Stupid Deku and his–” He immediately stopped and held his tongue, realizing he almost let slip of their secret.

“His…?”

“Idiot asked me to spar and decided last minute he wasn’t up for it,” he covered up. She gave him a suspicious hum of her voice and didn’t press him on it. Adjusting the bangles on her wrist, Ren flexed her hands and stretched them out.

“You got your weapon back?” Bakugou asked while stretching his legs.

“Two point oh beta, baby,” she boasted and flashed the new accessories at him with a toothy grin. “Made some adjustments from the original, but I won’t use all of them tonight.”

“What, you think I’m not good enough for you to use it?” the spiky ash blond boy spoke with a tone of offense.

“Now, now,” she soothed. “You never reveal all your cards in poker, right?”

“I’ve never played,” he flatly answered and crossed his arms.

Ren tapped her bangles together and it formed her usual T-batons. Testing the weight of it, she threw one at Bakugou and caught it successfully. His eyes then widened a bit after feeling it in his hands.

“This has gotta be, what, 11-12 kilograms?” he estimated. “You fight with this?”

“I asked Hatsume to up the weight capacity on it from 4.5 kg so I can hit harder aerial attacks, but not lag my speed when I use my quirk.”

“So you can use gravity and fall momentum to up the damage for you,” he figured out. “Surprisingly clever, even for someone like you.”

“Was that an insulting compliment coming from the great Lord Explosion Murder?” Ren taunted, holding her hand up to her ear. Sero and Kaminari mentioned in passing about their hero names.

“Shut up, dumb ass.” He smirked and threw one of the batons back at her, to which she caught effortlessly. “We gonna do this?”

“Tonight’ll be good practice for you to fight against weapons.”

Ren twirled her baton a few times to get the feel for it and got into position. She put the ends together to form the staff.

Bakugou readied himself by popping off a few explosions in his palm. His opponent launched herself at him as he barely managed to get his guard up on time; his right arm trembling from the impact of her staff. Shaking it off, he knew he had to get a leg up on her in the offensive before she strikes again. Not letting him get the advantage, she lunged at him and the two were locked in close quarter combat, exchanging blows.

As long as they’ve started this sparring deal, the ash blond spiky boy noticed she’s begun to take more of the initiative to get the first hit thanks to his and half-and-half’s constant drilling. Her old hit-and-run style annoyed him to no end only because he couldn’t get a clean hit on her. But when he did, oh boy, did he feel good about it. Not only did she have good reflexes and awareness, she had a foresight advantage over him based on her maneuverability.

In short, Bakugou couldn’t helped but be impressed by Ren.

She was strong.

And a tough opponent to take down.

With Ren coming at him again with another attack, he timed his Stun Grenade in hopes of throwing her rhythm off, only to see her vault above him in an instant with the help of her staff. Smirking from above, she used the smoke from his attack as camouflage and suddenly felt his legs swept from below him with something solid upon the gray veil dissipating. Falling straight on his back with a thud, the R.A. shifted her knee to his chest with one end of her staff pointed at his face. She looked down at him with a triumphant smirk.

“You really know how to make a girl sweat,” she panted out and got off of him.

Bakugou, not wanting to let this chance go to waste, grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her down on the floor. Knocking the wind out of her from her stomach, he managed to pin her down both her wrists with his knee putting moderate pressure on the small of her back in one swift move. Her staff rolled away from reach.

He leaned in dangerously close to her from behind, catching a whiff of the faint green apple shampoo mixed in with perspiration. Dark crimson eyes stared deeply at her side profile.

He softly spoke into the shell of her ear, “If you’re gonna get me down like that, at least finish the job.”

Releasing her from his grip, he got off and reached his hand down for her to grab. Accepting the gesture, Bakugou pulled Ren up with a bit too much strength and ended up having her directly onto his body for cushioning. She could practically feel every developed muscle on his chest. They were definitely much more chiseled than Todoroki’s.

“If you’re gonna cop a feel, at least treat me to some food first,” he teased, prompting her to quickly get off of him with a look that made her press her lips thinly into a line and lightly blushed. Deciding to distract herself from his commentary, she walked off to pick up her weapon to revert them back.

Ren glanced over at her sweaty sparring partner curiously. Feeling her eyes on him, he looked at her in confusion.

“What?”

“Can you… make explosions anywhere else on your body?” 

“My quirk can only be activated in the palms of my hands.” He looked down at his left land. “Which is why I have storage items with my hero costume when I need that extra firepower.”

“Oh. I was thinking if you were able to ignite the other sweat glands in your body, your X-Catapult attack would be so much more overwhelming,” Ren thought aloud, remembering when he tried out the new move on her during one of their spars. “Maybe Support can build you an item, like a jet pack to up your mobility?”

“You’re yammerin’ on like target-eyed tech geek,” he noted with a cocked eyebrow.

“Well,” she shoved her hands into her pockets. “I did originally apply to U.A. for Support and General Studies.”

“Huh?” Bakugou’s ears perked up like he was hard of hearing. This person, who he acknowledged as strong wasn’t gunning for the hero course from the start? “You’re joking, right?”

“I was in a different mindset at the time,” she lightly chuckled with an embarrassed expression and scratched her nose bridge. “I thought my quirk would be applied more practically there. But Aizawa-sensei and a few of the examiners got me in the hero’s course through their recommendations based on my exam performance.”

“Because you tried beating up three pro-heroes when were a bratty kid?”

Ren let out a hearty laugh at the memory and lightly shrugged.

“Maybe they saw potential. Who knows?”

Rotating her right shoulder to get rid of a knot, she tapped her bangles again and they formed into T-batons again. She turned her head with a curl of her lips, as if she was planning something devilish.

“Go again?”

“We’re just getting started.”

After another hour of sparring, the two exited the Void and ended up back in Ren’s room. Feeling the cool air hit the sweat of their skin, visible goosebumps could be seen forming on her arm.

“Head downstairs first.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Unless you wanna go together and have the whole class see us all sweaty from doing god knows what,” Ren joked. “I’m sure your buddies will get a kick outta makin’ fun of–”

“Shaddap!” He growled out in frustration and threw her door open with his cheeks tinted pink.

Changing and washing her face, she headed downstairs to see 1-A mingling with 1-B in the common area. She could see Todoroki talking with Midoriya about something in the dining area and Bakugou was already helping himself to dinner.

Ren mingled with the groups without effort, with the exception of Monoma trying to goad her with his insults, to which she immediately shut down with Dark Ren’s threat of “being quite proud to be around strong first years” and wondered if he wanted to see a one-on-one Plus Ultra session with her fists.

Snow greeted the U.A. campus for the first time for winter. Several students of 1-A were super excited to play in it while others preferred to hang in the warmth of the common area. Today was also the last day of the provisional classes for Bakugou and Todoroki. Ren left motivational post-it notes on their respective dorm doors in the morning before heading down for breakfast. With some free time on her hands, she played sous chef to Sato with a cake, smiling to herself. While the pastry was baking off in the oven, she killed some time by working on her knitting.

“Oh, a new one?” Kirishima perked up with excitement. “What are you making this time?”

“A simple scarf...” she replied while keeping up with what stitch she led with in the current row for the moss stitch. “But this pattern’s pretty tricky. I have to remember what stitch I lead off to alternate.”

“I never expected senpai to be so domestic given her temper,” Mineta commented aloud after coming back in from the snow, only to have his footsteps stop midway from a thick aluminum needle sticking up in his path.

“Wanna try that again, Mineta-kun?” she calmly spoke with dark intentions. “Or shall I string your balls outside to a tree and see how quickly hypothermia sets in for you.”

About another hour passed by before the two newly licensed heroes returned, with All-Might behind them. A shout of congratulations were directed at the two, with Bakugou being his usual self-boasting punk. Ren peeked her head up and ran up to the suited teacher. The two exchanged hugs and engaged in conversation about Melissa and David, briefly touching base on what was going on with them currently.

Staying a little longer than he intended to, All-Might said good night to the students and she rejoined them. The cake Sato and Ren baked cooled down just enough for them to decorate it to celebrate the two failures in finally passing the provisional exam.

As everyone ate, the two mentioned fighting a group villains en route back to dorms, much to no surprise to everyone. Kaminari jokingly remarked Bakugou’s presence attracts trouble, to which the latter threatened to blow his ass to Mars. With the cake ingested and everyone relaxed, the resident alien emerged with a soft black bag in her hands.

“Now that everyone is here!” Ashido loudly announced. “It’s time to pick your Secret Santa!”

“And we decided the budget for the present should not exceed 5,000 yen!” Iida dictated. “Please keep in mind of what you buy is appropriate for students! And you must keep the name to yourself.”

“Okay, now line up and grab your name!” the pink girl gleefully hopped around as 1-A grabbed a piece of paper out of the bag. When it was Ren’s turn, Ashido leaned into her ear and said, “Senpai, there’s something I wanna talk to you about after this.”

She turned up with a curious gaze while Ashido’s had one of ulterior motives. She got her paper and walked away to open it.

It was… not a name she was expecting. Such is the nature of the Secret Santa.

With the names drawn and the celebration finished, Ren headed to Ashido’s room as requested. She happily greeted her senior and invited her in. It was a very surprising shade of shocking pink and animal print.

To her surprise, Jiro, Hagakure, Yaoyorozu and Asui were already there and settled in.

“I call this meeting to start!” Ashido announced happily.

“Where’s Ochaco-chan?” Ren asked.

“Well that’s the thing...” Yao-momo started. “It’s kind of about her.”

“Did something happen?” she asked with a tone of concern and sat on the floor with the group.

“We wanna set her up with Midoriya-kun!” Hagakure revealed.

“And we know he has a thing for her too,” Ashido added. “With the way he blushes when she talks to him.”

“I think… he does that with any girl he talks to,” Ren casually remarked. “He’s a bashful boy.”

“Not with Ochaco-chan,” Asui pointed out. “He always seems… different with her. I genuinely think he respects and likes her, ribbit.”

Ren let out an uncomfortable groan and moved her mouth to one side out of concern, commenting, “I usually let stuff like this happen naturally. Dunno how I feel about setting them up...”

“If we let them take it at their pace, it’ll never happen,” Ashido reasoned with an exasperated tone and rolled her eyes. “We’re just here to... push it along, is all.”

“Fair point. What do you intend to do?”

“All you need to do is get mistletoe,” the pink girl responded with a devious grin. “We’ll take care of the rest.”

“’Take care’ how, exactly?” their resident advisor asked out of absolute interest.

“Our plan is to set up a bunch of games for everyone to play and pair them up ‘coincidentally’,” Jiro proposed.

“That… sounds like a terrible plan. Even shojo manga have better tropes than this.”

“Well, what do you have in mind?!” Ashido blurted out from annoyance. “You talk like you know how to go about this.”

“Ren-senpai is the only one out of all of us who’s had romantic experience,” Yaoyorozu reasoned.

“I dunno how true that statement is, but you can’t make it so obvious you’re trying to set them up. They’ll catch on quickly,” Ren indicated. “You have to let some chaos in there and get their feelings riled up so they realize their own for one another.”

“Damn, that’s a really good point,” Ashido remarked with admiration and cupped her chin. “What do you propose?”

“You let me take care of that,” the pink-haired girl briskly replied with a playful smirk. “I have a bit of a reputation of causing pandemonium.”

“As expected of Ren-Ren,” Jiro happily blurted out. “Can we get any ideas?”

“It’s up to me to know and for you to find out,” she teased paired with a smirk and winked at the earphone jack girl.

“Ohh, I never thought Ren-senpai could be so devilish!” Ashido declared with excitement.

–

With the holidays and the end of the semester around the corner, the teachers were cramming in harder lectures and plus ultra level quirk training. In their mindset, time was not on their side, considering they have zero intel as to what the League of Villains were planning. At the same time, they are still kids and should enjoy whatever peace they can enjoy. Things like that was always a delicate balancing act in U.A.

Catching wind of Todoroki and Bakugou’s heroic efforts 30 minutes after getting their provisional licenses, TV casters came by the Alliance Dorm to interview the two boys. It was basically them being their usual selves: shouting and stoic. The class couldn’t help but look on helplessly at this disaster, considering this was the third do-over. The newscast also interviewed Ren with her recent take down of the quirk boosted villain when she was in Musutafu with the bi-colored haired boy. The pink haired girl calmly answered their questions with enough detail they couldn’t follow up with anything.

In the end, they cut Bakugou completely out by the time it aired, to which the hot-headed blond ground his teeth in anger. Given the disaster of the interview, U.A. decided to turn it into a teachable moment; Mount Lady was invited in as a guest lecturer in teaching the young heroes the fine art of dealing with the media.

With a rare free day between everything, Ren managed to run out to buy decorations for the party with Ashido, Iida and Yaoyorozu. As much as Ashido wanted to buy up all the mistletoe at the party supply shop, Ren managed to convince her one was enough to draw away suspicion and stay within budget. Returning back to the dorms, the resident advisor ran an English tutoring session with 1-A; Present Mic had been increasing the difficulty of his lessons and the students are struggling with grammar and certain usage of phrases.

After study group was over, it was time for her extra sparring sessions; tonight was with Kirishima. The roaring red head was happy to join in to take a break from hitting the books. Tonight’s training consisted of him hardening different parts of his body as he’s being attacked to increase his reflexes and timing in activating his quirk. Ren struck the redhead in several part of his body with her staff and increased the speed as time went on to test him. As time went on, Kirishima couldn’t keep up with her speed and got beaten down.

“You’re activating it based on anticipation rather than instinct,” Ren huffed out and wiped some sweat off her forehead with her arm. “Hardening at this point should feel natural.”

“I know! It’s just… !” He growled out with frustration and slammed his fist on the ground with a dull thud. “My brain knows where you’re moving, but my body reacts too late!”

“In the words of Bruce Lee: ‘Don’t think, feel,’” she advised. “Try reading my movements and predict it from there.”

Repeating her actions from before, the spiky redheaded boy put his full concentration into each of his maneuvers, trying to sense a pattern from Ren. As she sped up, he managed to keep up with her longer than he did the first time around.

“Good!” She encouraged as she increased the frequency and strength of her attacks. “You’re keeping up!”

Gradually, her attacks got quicker and harder, testing his proficiency in changing his limbs to the Unbreakable form. As he got impatient in getting beat down, Kirishima attempted to use Red Counter on Ren, only to have her back away the moment he tried to strike.

“Excellent...” She smirked and withdrew her weapon. “I’ll make you a sturdy shield just yet.”

Her sparring partner panted heavily and squatted down to recover his energy with sweat rolling down his gleaming muscular body. His body heat exuded out in the form of steam.

“Man...” he gasped between breaths. “I never realized how much stamina this takes outta me just hardening certain parts to just guard. If this was a real fight, I would’ve been done for already.”

“Not with me, you won’t,” she firmly stated with a hand on her hip. “We’re just getting started. This is your first step in surpassing Crimson Riot, Kiri-kun.”

His inspired red eyes looked up to meet hers as an overwhelming flood of pride bloomed in his chest.

“Osu!” he shouted with oozing adrenaline.

Reverting her staff back to her bangles, she rolled her shoulders and cricked her neck while she walked to the far end of the room to continue their sparring.

“Kiri-kun, can I...try something on you?” she asked quickly.

“Y-Yeah! Of course!” the boy perked up and got up off of the floor.

Ren turned around and tapped her accessories together twice and formed something different this time.

“You can’t tell anyone about this, okay?” she stated in a serious tone. “It’s a prototype right now.”

[writeinspiration]

There are a lot of differences between self-published authors and those working with a publishing house, but when it comes to book marketing, we’re all in the same boat. At a time when many authors find their marketing stipend barely covers the basics, writers of every stripe need to know how to market their own work effectively. If you have some money to splash around, you have a few options (such as marketing services and book trailers), but if your funds are limited, you need to know about guerrilla marketing.

That’s why, in this two-part article, I’ll be taking a look at exactly that. Here in part 1, we’ll talk about what guerrilla marketing is and how it works, while in part 2, we’ll look at the tips and specific techniques you can employ as a guerrilla marketer. So, apply your camouflage, keep low, and let’s get started.

What is guerrilla marketing?

A guerrilla fighter is someone fighting a lopsided war with limited equipment and little backup from any larger organization. Self-publishing authors are definitely guerrillas entering the fight for readers, but authors working with publishing houses can also find that they’re handed limited resources and left to sort things out for themselves.

Guerrilla marketing is all about doing a lot with a little, and for authors that means an approach built on two core concepts:

Spending time and effort instead of money,

Choosing tactics that offer maximum reward for limited input.

When it comes to the first concept, there isn’t much to say that we didn’t cover in Nobody Beats The Triangle, But You Can Be Prepared For It: you can use time and effort to make up for a small budget, but you have to plan ahead to do so well. Of course, time and effort are limited, and that’s where we come to the second core concept.

Guerrilla marketing uses sparse resources to incredible effect.CLICK TO TWEET

It’s not enough to just plug away at your marketing. You can only do so much, and at a certain level, money can achieve a reach that one person’s maximum effort just can’t. That means that you need to be pouring the resources you do have into the actions that will give you the biggest reward. For example, getting forty random people to read your book is nothing compared to putting it in the hands of one prominent book blogger. Likewise, a marketing campaign targeted at a group likely to be interested in your subject matter has far more value than a bigger campaign with a more general focus.

In this way, it’s not enough to keep working and hope for the best; you have to work smart and hard, and neither really works without the other. But that assumes that guerrilla marketing works at all, so the question is… does it?

What guerrilla marketing does

Marketing doesn’t work quite how many people think, especially at different levels. For the biggest sellers, advertising isn’t about persuading someone to buy a product. When Coke advertise, they’re usually not trying to make you think Coke is a good product; they’re already big enough that they achieved that, so their advertising is geared more towards remaining ubiquitous. The big sellers just need to keep reminding customers that they exist – that they’re available for whoever wants them. Then, whenever the customer goes to buy that type of product, it’s their brand that comes to mind. Get big enough and potential customers don’t think ‘I want a soda’, they think ‘I want a Coke’.

This may sound specific to a certain type of product, but it’s also true for fiction. At this point, J.K. Rowling doesn’t need to advertise how good her work is. The brand is so big that it’s more effective to simply focus on telling people there’s something new under its umbrella (and if they can also attract potential new readers, that’s a good secondary goal). Rowling sold a huge number of scripts for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, even though it’s a medium with which many readers have no familiarity. As long as she keeps up a stream of new ‘products’ and the standard doesn’t dip enough to drive away her base, her marketing only ever has to say ‘remember me?’ This is why so many book adverts for established authors are along the lines of ‘The NEW book by X’; the brand is big enough that it’s doing the selling for them.

Different products rely on different types of marketing, and self-published authors shouldn’t be using the same tactics as bestsellers.CLICK TO TWEET

That’s not what guerrilla marketing is about, and it’s not something you’re going to be able to achieve on your own. Likewise, guerrilla marketing isn’t – and stick with me here – about finding individual readers.

This is the domain of mid-size marketing; people see your advert and they know your book is for sale, maybe they’ll buy it. This is the type of marketing where it’s worth putting billboards in train stations – with enough money, widespread marketing brings in enough readers to pay for itself.

This type of marketing isn’t usually that effective for books (unless they have a specific, unique role that lodges in people’s heads), and it’s not really feasible for guerrilla marketers. It’s hard for one person to advertise their book so widely that the number of readers they get back justifies the effort.

Instead, guerrilla marketing is effective as a cumulative effort. It doesn’t just net individual readers (though, again, that’s a good secondary goal), it creates an environment in which your book is being discussed. Ideally, it turns the people who encounter the marketing directly into your salespeople.

In marketing his book The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature, the titular author held a reading in a train station bathroom. The aim wasn’t to advertise to the few people who attended, but rather to create the type of story that news outlets would be hungry to report, and report they did. Pollack reached a huge audience with his work, communicating its irreverent nature and setting it up as a talking point; a level of marketing success far in excess of his budget or even time commitment.

Modern marketing has more than one audience, and the first isn’t always the biggest.CLICK TO TWEET

A less creative example might be a carefully calculated competition. Offer an interesting prize, extend the competition long enough to get people talking about it (and your work), and you reach a host of people for the cost of rewarding one. Ideally, you’ll also have a compelling website to direct them to and be collecting the email addresses of entrants to form a mailing list. Maybe your prize, or the conditions of the competition, are even unique enough to get you some press.

This is where guerrilla marketing works; carefully considered, meticulously executed moves that make the most of your time, money, and effort. I’ll get on to exactly how you can apply that logic in part 2 of this article, but for now, let’s close by looking at a case study of great guerrilla marketing in action.

The success of Masquerade

In 1979, Kit Williams published Masquerade, a book of art that tells the story of a hare delivering a splendid necklace to the sun. Concerned that people didn’t focus on the details in art books, and challenged by publisher Tom Maschler to do something new, Williams created a book that was also a treasure hunt. With the release of the book, Williams declared that he had also created the golden necklace from the story, and that the book contained all the information anyone could need to find it.

The story of the treasure hunt itself, and how the book worked as a set of clues, is fascinating (and skillfully related here), but suffice to say that Williams’ announcement was a staggering piece of guerrilla marketing. Williams couldn’t have foreseen the interest that would be aroused or how long the story would remain in the public consciousness, with news reports (and thus more advertising) breaking out whenever someone had a wild theory. Indeed, even the controversy surrounding how the treasure hunt was eventually resolved catapulted it back into public consciousness. For his time, effort, and skill, Williams sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide, and books (like Bamber Gascoigne’s Quest for the Golden Hare) have even been written about the process itself.

Creativity doesn’t have to stop with the book itself – artistic marketing is both possible and effective.CLICK TO TWEET

In the computer age, this type of marketing is even more effective. Since fans can now communicate across great distance, ‘game’ marketing can create communities and arouse huge interest for comparatively little input, as was the case with Alex Hirsch’s Gravity Falls: Journal 3, which relied on a variety of code-breaking and treasure-hunting activities to create a vocal, close-knit community of fans. (Something I talked about in Want A Cult Following? Hide Secrets In Your Writing.)

With blogs, Youtube channels, and even major news outlets hungry for content, the right piece of guerrilla marketing can be an absolute game changer.

Guerrilla warfare

So, that’s why you should consider guerrilla marketing and the logic behind some of the most successful tactics in the marketplace. Next, check out Everything You Need To Know About Guerrilla Book Marketing – Part 2, in which we’ll dive into how you can design and carry out your own successful guerrilla marketing.

What’s the hardest part of marketing our book, and how have you worked around marketing constraints in the past? Let me know in the comments below, and check out our extensive marketing archive for more great advice.

[whatthefoucault]

A Chronological List of Works by me, whatthefoucault: the Everything Edition

So it turns out I’ve actually written a very good number of words.  Almost all of the superhero things I’ve written fall into the same timeline/continuity, which I like to call Earth-212, adjacent to a few canons and then sort of also has a life of its own. I wasn’t sure how best to organise this, but here’s an attempt at placing all of these works into a vague chronological order, though almost all of them can be read independently and the reading order doesn’t really matter. Largely stucky, with some other Cap Fam shenanigans, and also a lot of entries for frostmaster and other Revengers business, some Hawkeyes, and various others. Heed the tags in each fic, but bear in mind I’m here for softness, recovery, finding one’s place in the world, and that’s largely what I’m here to write about.  If this list of everything-in-chronological-order is overwhelming and you want to get more specific, here’s:

Cap Fam

Revengers

Miscellaneous

The Stargazer’s Field Guide To Constellations

By the time Bucky happened upon him, doubled over on the front steps of the library, Steve was already as green as a plate of creamed spinach.

And My Heart Beats So That I Can Hardly Speak

Steve doesn't dance, but this was a special occasion.

(A Few Inches Too Far) Underneath The Mistletoe

It was purely by chance that Steve happened upon a scruffy little sprig of discarded mistletoe on their way back from dinner with the Barnes family.

So Take It From Me, Captain America

"Ok, Captain America PSA number four, take one, and... action."

Sextown, U.S.A.

The message was vague on details, but the urgency in Wade’s voice told Steve it was serious, and that he should come alone.

“Help me, Steve Rogers,” he pleaded. “You’re my only hope.”

Steve had to admit that that got to him.

(It would be three months before Steve would see Star Wars for the first time. Needless to say, he was not amused when he did.)

... In which two supersoldiers form a very special bond across several time zones, many states, and more all-you-can-eat breakfast than anyone should ever eat in their life.

Advanced Seminar In Postmodern Cultural Analysis, Lesson Five

In which Steve Rogers and his very good friend Wade Wilson hang out.

The Sand And The Sea

Clint and Kate have not talked about that thing that happened.

Bring Your Silver Arrows

After that thing that happened with Kate, Clint's going through some stuff.

Continental Breakfast Not Included

Sam had definitely asked for separate beds, but they had been driving since before sunrise, and it was almost midnight.

This Is Going To Make For An Interesting Expenses Claim Form

The scene before him as he rushed to the bathroom door, one pant leg still flapping awkwardly underfoot, would have to anyone else been highly out of the ordinary, but they were superheroes, after all.

The Season For Plums

One day, a man went to the market to buy plums. 

Notes From A Dirty Attic

I don't know what I'm doing.

My name is Bucky. I come from Brooklyn. I died in the war.

Particle-Wave Duality

While Bucky is napping, Steve reads to him.

Blackout Nights And Tight Spaces

It was cold, then sleep, but it was different this time. He was dreaming.

Caprine Management

In which Steve meets Bucky's new friends.

Everyone’s A Winner

Little did the Grandmaster know, when he settled in by the pool, that his evening was about to become much more interesting.

The Art Of The Co-Operative Endgame

The Grandmaster surveyed the board as Loki prepared to make his move, and - oh, this was interesting, he thought - there was a very good chance indeed that Loki might actually win.

Moonshakes

"Hey Scrappy," said the Grandmaster, "what do you think of the new guy, uhh, Loki?"

Gamalost

In which the Grandmaster has found the right companion with whom to share one of his very favourite things.

or

When Loki falls out of the sky and into the Grandmaster’s lap, he gets everything he hopes for and more. The more comes in the form of cheese. A lot of cheese.

Two Seat Sofa, Hensta Light Brown

"So..." Steve hesitated to finish the question, "are we dating?"

(In which Steve and Bucky come home.)

I Guess That This Must Be The Place

He closed his eyes, and prayed his words would project over the distance, somehow:

Count down from a hundred, and then come and find me, my sunshine.

... in which the Grandmaster embarks on an intergalactic road trip in search of his love.

A Constellation Of Sunlight, Beneath The Cherry Tree

It was well into the night when they lay together, but it was not until the morning that they made love.

Rugbrød, Fløtemysost, og Molter

There were some things the Grandmaster needed to know about Loki, and it seemed, from the shift she felt in her bones as she awoke, that this was the morning to address them.

No Less Than Three Kinds of Cheese

The sun was out and the park was beautiful, but it was still too cold for a picnic.

Sugaring

Every morning, Steve sets out from the little cabin to tend to their maple trees. 

Solskinnsboller

The fact that no bakery in the entire staggering metropolis he currently called home had ever so much as heard of solskinnsboller was tragic, but Loki was nothing if not resourceful. He would just have to make them himself.

Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs

"What was my grandma's name?" asked Bucky, apropos of nothing.

Syzygy

It was cloudy enough that most people chose to forego the beach that Tuesday, but such things would not deter the Grandmaster and Loki from a day out.

American Globs

Objectively, he knew everything was fine. He knew they were fireworks, and that they were beautiful, and back in the day, he and Steve used to sit under the stars together and watch them light up the sky with wonder and delight.

But time had passed since then.

It’s Like Right Now

Nat and Sam visit a street food market.

Me And My Baby Gonna Touch That Leather

"I think we should fuck," said Bucky, as Steve began climbing back under the duvet.

Say The Magic Word

"Hey, if you're going past the kitchen, do you think you could get me another coffee?"

Two Brooklynites and One Big Apple

“You did good out there today,” Captain America said, brushing a layer of detritus from his unfathomably broad shoulder. “I’ll see you around.”

“Not if I see you first,” replied Miles, fingergunning with one hand as he sent a web rope fwipping off into the distance with the other, catapulting himself away at tremendous speed.

… in which two superheroes battle with bad guys, embark on community art lessons, and a friendship forms along the way.

The Nemophilists

“Conspicuous,” said Steve, apropos of nothing. Bucky was putting away the last of the clean dishes.

“Conspicuous?” asked Bucky, nesting the heatproof glass bowl precariously in a short stack of significantly smaller cereal bowls.

“Yeah,” said Steve, scooping last of the leftovers into a container that, it turned out, was a tablespoon too small. “I’m.”

Nemophilist: (n.) One who is fond of the forest.

The Shape Of A Snake In A Defensive Coil

In which Loki's not very well, and the Grandmaster volunteers a solution.

Long Hair Problems, And How To Outsmart Them

“So I guess we’re not getting up early to line up for brunch?”

The End Of A Century

This is the story of a sister and her brother.

As the shadow of the war fades and gives way to new conflicts, Becca Barnes battles the constraints of the twentieth century: an education, a marriage, a career, with the ghosts of her youth never far from her memory. As the twenty-first century barrels on through its awkward teenage phase, Bucky Barnes builds a new life, with new friends, and a burgeoning relationship with his lifelong companion Steve, the erstwhile Captain America, as they struggle to find their place in the world. The last time Becca saw her brother was on the eve of war; neither of them expected, some seventy-something years, a hip replacement, and one new arm later, to be reunited.

This is a story about family.

And Our Dreams Are Making Us Nice Stories

Steve had been adamant that a party was unnecessary; however, his friends had insisted, bundling into his little Brooklyn apartment with pizzas and a selection of local microbrews and seven-layer taco dip and two dozen supermarket cupcakes emblazoned with the most neon buttercream he had ever seen piped into the stripes of little American flags.

A Ghost That The Others Can’t See

"What'd you tell her about me?"

"Only the good stuff."

From the Mighty Forest of Vacherin to the Belegen Fields

When it came to special events, the Grandmaster did not do understated.

The Littlest Balsam In Brooklyn

In which Bucky and Steve get a tree.

When Life Gives You Limoncello

In which Bucky has baked a pie. 

Blessings

At last, the shape of life after everything had begun to come into focus. Bucky and Steve consider the next steps, and some friends come to visit.

Kinugoshi

When the Grandmaster had suggested somewhere special for lunch, Loki was not expecting a small, four-table restaurant in an unremarkable suburb of Kyoto, but there they were.

Stargazing

"You know what? Let's get out of the city," Steve suggested after dinner.

(In which Steve has a very quiet birthday.)

The Mighty Hrothgar

"Uhh, I dunno about this place, stardust," the Grandmaster said to Loki, his tone hushed. "I've introduced myself to, like, five dogs, and none of them have said a word. Why don't they like me?"

The Fundamentals of Sciurine Linguistics

Sam Wilson was sure about three things: the words Captain America were enough to nab a table for two at the most popular noodle bar in the East Village on short notice, everyone loved a good noodle bar, and ramen was up there with corn on the cob and chicken wings as the worst possible food choice for a first date.

Eight Evenings In The Kitchen

The Barnes-Rogers Hanukkristmas season was always going to be one spent almost exclusively in the kitchen.

Light Showers And A Gentle Breeze

They had been under no illusions that there would be a guarantee of snow, but nothing could have quite prepared them for the abundant, relentless sprinkle of rain.

In which Bucky and Steve go somewhere quiet for Christmas.

Nine And Three-Quarters

"I don't get it, stardust," puzzled the Grandmaster. "It was supposed to be right here. Between Platforms 9 and 10."

Strollin’

"Hot dogs?" asked Steve.

"Hot dogs," agreed Bucky.

The Greatest Thing

In which the Grandmaster plays an early afternoon slot at his very first Midgardian jazz festival.

On A Quiet Morning In The Last Forest In Brooklyn

“We said we wanted to keep the guest list short,” protested Steve. “Just close family, and close friends. Nothing expensive, nothing... tacky.”

“As if you’re one to complain about tacky,” countered Tony. “I got my invitation by group text. Who does that?”

...in which Bucky and Steve get married.

The Witches Of Føroyar

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, nestled in a little cottage just beyond the rocky shores of a tiny, windswept island, lived two very special people indeed. The green witch drew his power from the moon and the stars and the deep, dark night sky; while the gold witch shone with the power of the sun, dazzling and bright. They loved the island and the mountains and the stormy sea, but most of all, they loved each other very much.