#don’t know what stephen could possibly be a spy about though

[haec-quoque-est-res]

(slaps stack of twenty aubrey/maturin novels) this bad boy can fit so much american college d1 ncaa swimming au material in it

[tales-of-magic-and-chaos]

And there was only one bed

Based on the prompt "vacation home + there was only one bed" submitted by the adorable @lokistrk on Twitter! (yes vacation home somehow turned into hotel room kdkslxnlsjxs)

"YOU HAVE TO BE SHITTING ME."

Stephen sighed, watching Tony's dismayed face. Despite the situation, he had to admit his devastated look was quite comical.

Before he could answer, though, another voice made itself heard behind Tony.

"May I know why Anthony is screaming his head off and, more important, why are you two in MY room?"

Stephen scoffed.

"it's more like MY room. I was here first. I'm the one who should ask you this question." As if to prove his words, he showed with a gesture of his arm his belongings already magically tidied in the large wardrobe.

Tony seemed to wake up from his consternation.

"I already said to you, it's MY room. FRIDAY checked for me and everything, there's no mistake.", he said, shaking his head. "Besided, I don't know if you two managed to enter by magic or whatever but I'm the one with the pass for the room."

Loki raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"I'm curious to know how you obtained this", Loki waved his hand, making his pass appear. "Because I'm obviously the one with the true pass."

Stephen made a few steps in their direction, starting to get frankly annoyed. He showed them a third pass.

"I really don't know what game you two are playing but it's starting to get on my nerves." He pointed the door. "So you two douchebag better get the fuck out of here and find someone to help you find your room if you're not capable to do it by yourself!"

Loki raised his hands, ready to fight.

"I beg your pardon?! It's clearly you two who should get out of there, I'm not idiotic like you to confound my hotel room for someone else's!"

With a snap of his fingers he emptied the wardrobe and put Stephen's possessions back in the suitcase. Immediately, Stephen responded by putting back his belongings where they were.

"Don't touch my stuff, it's MY room, idiot!"

"What the hell, Harry Potter? It's mine!"

"No mine, nitwit!"

"No mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Asshole!"

"Douchebag!"

"You complete moron!"

"You dipstick!"

After a long moment, where they kept exchanging witty, clever and very relevant arguments, Tony finally stopped, raising his hand in sign of peace.

"Ok, ok. Calm down, Gandalf and Saruman. I'll definitely prove it's my room so we can settle this ridiculous argument.", he looked at the two sorcerers watching him suspiciously. "FRIDAY? Can you tell us whose room it is?"

"Yes, Boss." The voice made a short pause. "The room 107 is marked as Mr. Laufeyson," Loki grinned and was going to let out a victorious exclamation when the AI continued. "..., Mr. Stark and Mr. Strange's room on the hotel's registers."

"... What?"

"This hotel room is reserved for Mr. Strange, Mr. Laufeyson and you, Sir."

Stephen shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't believe it, how is this possible?! We were not even informed!"

Loki groaned, this situation was starting to be seriously irritating.

"Who was the stupid incompetent in charge of reserving for the stay?! I think I'll need to have a little discussion with this imbecile."

"For once I agree with you. I have a few things I would like to tell them as well.", approved Stephen.

Tony gulped.

"Guys… It's Natasha who was in charge of reserving the rooms."

"..."

"Oh."

And then there was silence.

A thick and awkward silence.

"You know what... After all, it's a large room."

"Yeah, a very large room. There's enough space for the three of us, no need to make a fuss about it."

"Agree, it's not that important, really, it's not necessary to bother the Agent Romanoff for such silly details."

"Yep. She definitely has other things more important to consider. And it's a nice room, great decoration..."

"Indeed."

After another uncomfortable silence, shorter this time though, Tony stretched his arms.

"Anyway! I'm warning you, I'm sleeping in the middle, I don't care if you fall from the bed!"

Loki frowned.

"No way. It's obviously me who should sleep in the middle"

"Oh, and why so, princess?", asked Tony with arms akimbo.

"Because, I'm obviously the one whose sleep is the most important and you two are too-"

Once again, Stephen sighed. He couldn't believe he had to put up with such morons. It was going to be a very long stay.

"Loki, get the fuck away from me, you're fucking COLD."

"You get away from me, second-class wizard! You're taking the whole space!"

"Nonsense! You're the one spreading yourself out as if you were alone."

Tony turned around, annoyed.

"Can't you two SHUT THE FUCK UP. There's people trying to sleep!"

"Don't stick your oar in, asshole. I remind you you're the one taking the whole fucking blanket!"

"So what?! I'm cold!"

"YOU HAVE THE SIZE OF A SMURF FOR GOD'S SAKE."

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

"Pssst. Hey… are you sleeping?"

"Shut the fuck up, Stark."

"So that's a no."

"..."

"I'm going to fucking kill you two."

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

"WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A SNAKE IN THE BED OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE."

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

"Hey, who's sleeping on my left?"

"Tony… You're the one the most on the left…."

"We're both on your right."

"..."

"WHAT-"

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

"..."

"..."

"Is he… Is he floating while sleeping?!"

"Honestly, don't ask me…"

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

"I have no idea whose foot it is, but if the person could move it from my face, IT WOULD BE NICE."

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

"Is this the good time to warn you I sometimes speak during my sleep?"

"So you REALLY NEVER SHUT UP?!"

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

"HOLY FUCK YOU FUCKING SOMNAMBULIST ASSHOLE, I NEARLY DIED FROM SURPRISE."

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

"Does the Cloak sleep too?"

"... I won't even bother answering this."

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

"... Why is there someone on the ceiling?"

"Hm? Don't worry, it's only Peter."

"HOW-"

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

"Why… Why is there a damn KNIFE under the pillow?!"

Clint couldn't stop laughing.

"I can't believe you actually put these three together in the same room! You're really devilish."

Natasha simply smirked, satisfied. She took another sip from his cup of tea, quietly listening and observing everyone's reaction.

"I must admit I'm surprised we didn't see them throw a tantrum… I was prepared for a scene, a true storm or at least something… But they didn't seem to react at all.", said Steve, shaking his head in disbelief.

Sam chuckled.

"If you want my opinion, they were too scared by Natasha to dare say anything."

"Maybe… Or perhaps, they were not that displeased with the situation..", suggested the Russian spy, hiding a knowing smile behind her cup.

"Still…" Bruce seemed worried. "It's past 11 am. They should already be out of bed now…"

Steve put his hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"Do you want us to go verify if they're alright?"

Bruce nodded.

"Yeah. Let's do this."

"So? You can see something?"

"How did you manage to enter without the pass…"

"Bold of you to assume I can't open any closed door."

"Shh! I'm trying to hear if they're here…"

Clint opened the door wider, discreetly entering, followed by the others.

"I don't see anything, maybe they're not-…"

"They're not what? Oh-"

The group of curious simply stared at them, dumbstruck, for a few minutes.

"Well… Seems like they got along well finally."

These certainly were the best holidays Loki, Tony and Stephen ever had.

Of course, it had no link with the fact they were sharing the same room and bed.

Of course, it had no link with the fact they woke up tenderly cuddled and snuggled to each other every morning.

Of course, it had no link with the fact they hadn't slept this well in a very, very, very long time.

Of course, it had no link with the fact they kept sleeping together even after these holidays.

And, of course, it was pure coincidence if Natasha later received a box of his favorite rare tea, several new suits perfect for fighting and a whole set of prized daggers. Pure coincidence.

As much of a coincidence as the rooms' repartition.

[upslapmeal]

Spyfall Pt. 1

BANGER OF AN OPENER ok let’s get into them reactions

cold open!

I missed cold opens in s11

why have the fam been missing for periods of time back at home when they literally time travel

the Doctor still having bad memories of trying to get Rose back to the exact moment she left?

is this the first time we’ve seen the doctor fiddling with the internal bits of the TARDIS from the outside like this?

water slides! rainforest floor!

‘in 5 seconds: die’ I mean that’s just another day with a satnav

‘I’d be a great spy, I’d just blend in’ ah but Graham what about the other key spy components: running away from explosions and smoothly ordering cocktails

Stephen Fry!

'you actually do exist’ cue Graham starting to doubt the possibility of his own existence

'they’re not toys Graham’ 'no they’re not and if you say other wise I will shoot you with my laser shoe’ ACTUAL CHILDREN lmao

so uh. VOR is Google right? or Amazon?

is this ep trying to seek forgiveness for Kerblam

(which I did enjoy but is a bit yikes when you start to think about it)

‘UNIT! even Torchwood!’ 

the emphasis on even since somehow that welsh disaster gang managed to get stuff done occasionally

also RIP UNIT and Torchwood I mean after London’s many alien invasions you’d have thought they’d have at least kept someone keeping an eye on the whole alien thing

does Thirteen have 2 phones? or was she just borrowing Yaz’s iphone?

well RIP Stephen Fry

the entire time the Aussie agents were searching outside the house all I could think was why did the Doctor land the TARDIS so far from the house!! it’s just out there! how will they get away if they have to!

'I’d be a great brother in law' 

Yaz!! she’s been light alien absorbed!

love how genuinely tense this ep is

and I love the design of that weird forest-y place Yaz was sent

alien and terrifyingly isolated

'I thought I was dead’ 'I’m never gonna let that happen to you’ uh. this will be their second series as companions so let’s hope that’s not some nice early foreshadowing :)))

'we’ve tried to ask but she just changes the subject’ ok glad it’s looking as though the Doctor’s purposely been hiding her past

ooh that tantalising shelf of info

O seems very familiar and I can’t remember if the time he met the Doctor was in the show

WAIT no he was Waris Hussein in An Adventure In Space And Time that’s where I know him from

'there’s no match’ Doc why are you using a laptop to do this surely the TARDIS will get jealous

love the bond-esque score, nice work Akinola

'blend in’ your time has come Graham bc that’s something the Doctor has never been good at

Thirteen being threatening yess

imagine Thirteen getting shot and full on regenerating mid chase

I mean it would be useful in terms of being undercover and not being recognised

…

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT!! WHATT!!!!!!!! W H A T

it’s the Master?????? 

did we have any idea this was coming???? I feel as though they’ve kept this very well hidden since I’ve not seen anyone mention the Master may be back this series

BETRAYED BY WARIS HUSSEIN

shrunken O in the matchbox is very The Faceless Ones

especially combined with them being on a plane

now I just want to know how long the Master just had to pretend to be an agent

I mean they’ve done the long term thing back when they were Harold Saxon but still

and yeah ok people are saying this ruins Missy’s arc but guys

it’s the Master

this character is 90% pure evil schemes did we really expect that arc to stick?

my one complaint about the ep? A SEVERE LACK OF SCRONCH

glad we don’t have to wait a full week for Spyfall 2 Electric Boogaloo, are we thinking those 4 morse code beeps in the trailer = the Master’s drum beats?

[dan-loves-writing]

Story Ideas/Headcannons.

I’m fed up of looking at the Parkner tag every hour to see if there’s new posts so I decided to give y’all some random ass shit I think of, including Parkner headcannons and story ideas I’ll never write.

So please- if you have any Parkner, or even Harley or Peter, headcannons, don’t be afraid to hit me up and I’ll happily share my ideas and what I think of. Also if you send me a story ideas... I might write about it :^)

Harley getting kidnapped for fun to see what place is the nicest and which kidnappers are the kindest, it becomes a sort of running joke that being kidnapped is Harley’s hobby and saving Harley is Peter’s hobby.

Peter. Can’t. Flirt. Fairly sure we all know Harley would be one hell of a flirt right? So whenever Harley is being flirtatious towards Peter, Peter just stops working? You get me?

Stephen doesn’t like Harley because let’s be real here, Stephen loves Peter to bits and Harley isn’t the best influence on Peter’s totally innocent brain. Also once Harley threw a printer and Stephen because he thought Stephen asked for a printer. Change my mind.

Story idea: Harley’s a selective mute, it happened when his dad left and his mum became completely distraught, not to mention Harley couldn’t think of his little sister, Abbie, having to hear the heartbreak in his voice anytime he spoke, so he just didn’t.

Harley can ride horses, it started when he was younger and he learned how to ride by riding cows because his family could never afford a horse. It wasn’t until Harley got a job as a mechanic when he started to learn how to ride by taking lessons at a barn close to his home town.

Peter needs glasses, that’s it. That’s the head cannon. I really don’t know what you were expecting from me to be honest.

Baking helps calm Peter down and despite his Aunt not being able to bake, or really cook, Peter listens to the stories May tells about Ben being able to cook/bake and on Peter’s 16th birthday, May gave him Ben’s old recipe book that Peter still likes to bake from to this day.

Harley likes to act like Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen even though he can’t cook for shit.

Peter would be the type of trainer to let Pokémon move freely outside of the pokéball, he’d also help nurse really sick Pokémon back to health, his own personal Pokémon is an Eevee who is still yet to evolve but if she was to evolve, I’m guessing she’d either be me a Sylvion or an espeon-

Harley has one of the strongest Pokémon teams, having some of the highest level Pokémon out of the top competitors. Although Harley doesn’t fight anymore, almost all of his time is devoted to experimenting and testing to see how to make Pokémon more comfortable. I’m not too sure on what Harley’s personal Pokémon would be, my first initial thoughts were a Pikachu or possibly a Charmander-

Harley putting stomp sensor lights into Peter’s Spiderman feet and dying of laughter anytime Peter lands because his feet just g l o w

Harley has full mental breakdowns whenever Peter is away on missions, once Peter came back to Harley sitting in the closet of their apartment in a big bird costume.

Nat and Clint 100% started to turn Harley into a spy because Harley reminds Nat of Clint and Clint looks at Harley as a little brother. Also Harley now definitely knows Russian.

The idea for Ironlad came about when Harley learned that Peter was Spiderman and didn’t want Peter fighting crime alone, therefore Harley built the Ironlad suit and keeps it a secret so whenever Peter seems to be in trouble, Ironlad just swoops in and helps Peter and disappears before Peter can say anything. I really want to write about this one

Peter has a way with animals, it’s just something about animals that seems to attract them to Peter. If there’s an animal needing calmed, Peter is the person to go to.

I honestly can’t remember anymore at this point :^)

Also if anyone wants to be added to my police department Parkner fic, just HMU :))))

[ladyherenya]

Books read in June

I didn’t read everything I had planned. I was distracted reading other things and now I have to decide which library books I will return unread.

Part of me is stubbornly convinced I should retain my eleven-year-old self’s ability to borrow armfuls of books and read all of them at least once before the return date. Which is ridiculous. Back then I had fewer responsibilities and read shorter books. And having too many books to read is a better problem to have than running out of books.

Favourite cover(s): Thorn, Battle Born and White Eagles.

Reread: All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

Still reading: Descendent of the Crane by Joan He and Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King.

Next up: Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, and The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein.

One day I’ll get back to posting other things on Tumblr but for now, it’s just book reviews.

(Longer reviews and ratings on LibraryThing and Dreamwidth.)

*

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Stephen Briggs): The wizards of Unseen University play football. This is humorous, clever, sharply observant about people -- very much what I’ve come to expect from Pratchett. I enjoyed it a lot. 

Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai: Katrina is horrified when a conversation she has with a man in a café is overheard, twisted into a romance, documented on Twitter -- and goes viral. Her bodyguard offers his family’s farm as a safe retreat. I enjoyed reading this and liked how it’s romance about a woman dealing with panic attacks, but by the final act, its priorities had diverged somewhat from mine. It wanted to get to its happily-ever ending, whereas I thought it had raised interesting issues worthy of further exploration and slower, more complex solutions. I wanted a happy ending, too, but wanted more story first.

Blame It On Paris by Laura Florand: I’ve read a few of Florand’s romances and even though the descriptions of Paris and chocolate shops were lovely and vivid, as stories they were not really my thing. But I loved her memoir, which is very funny. During her year in Paris, Laura isn’t looking to give up her independence, travelling or career plans for romance. But then her friends talk her into asking out the French waiter she admires. Getting to know Sebastien allows Laura to see France from a different perspective, and challenges her assumptions about serious relationships, her (American) culture and her own family.

Stepping From the Shadows by Patricia A. McKillip: A story about growing from childhood into adulthood. Published in 1982 as McKillip’s “first book for adults”, I can see why this is now out-of-print. It is strange, even by McKillip’s standards for strangeness. In merging the mundane with the magical, the mythical, it attempts something rather interesting and thoughtful, but it isn’t quite successful. However, the descriptions of places are wonderfully vivid, the narrator’s emotions are conveyed with intensity, and there were moments that felt like catching a fleeting glimpse of myself of a mirror. I didn’t always like it, but I’m glad I got to read it all the same.

True to Your Service by Sandra Antonelli: Kitt is sent on a mission to the Netherlands and his boss insists that Mae accompany him. This spy-thriller is, like At Your Service and Forever in Your Service, a bit too violent for me. However, I liked that Mae and Kitt talk about their reactions to distressing events with each other. In fact, the two of them are constantly discussing their thoughts and feelings about what’s happening, including the way Kitt’s job collides with their personal relationship. I really like the way their relationship is an on-going conversation.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer:

Cress (narrated by Rebecca Soler): Following on from Cinder and Scarlet. Cress, born without the Lunar gift for manipulation, has spent years living alone in a satellite orbiting Earth, using her tech skills under the orders of the Lunar thaumaturge Sybil and dreaming of escape. I really enjoyed this. I like how it wove in elements from “Rapunzel”, and dealt with Cress’s perception of herself as a damsel in distress, a girl in need of rescuing.  There is an increasing focus on teamwork and friendship -- this means we see the characters from different perspectives, and we also see different sides to them. 

Winter (narrated by Rebecca Soler): Princess Winter, step-daughter of Queen Levana, is determined that she will never use her Lunar gift to manipulate others -- even though refraining makes her a bit crazy. Meanwhile Cinder and her friends plot to overthrow the queen. This is tense and entertaining, and the narrator does a wonderful job of bringing all the characters to life. I love that the gang are so accepting of each other’s weird quirks and that the romances are given time to develop. I love their teamwork, banter and perseverance. The focus is on the characters’ relationships and the action, and both are excellent.

Thorn by Intisar Khanani: Fifteen year old Princess Alyrra is sent to marry the prince from another kingdom but en route is forced into swapping places with her lady-in-waiting. This retelling of “The Goose Girl” is riveting. I instantly cared about Alyrra, and appreciated how thoughtfully and effectively the story walks a line between darkness and hope -- between fear and trust, sadness and joy. Alyrra’s new life has dangers and difficulties, but also positive things -- satisfaction in her work, a supportive found-family. She becomes increasingly aware of injustice around her, but her story is shaped by her choices -- to be kind, to seek justice and bring change.

The Physicians of Vilnoc, a novella in the World of the Five Gods by Lois McMaster Bujold: Penric and Desdemona are summoned to deal with an outbreak of a mysterious disease. This could easily be an intense story and, oddly enough, it isn’t. Given the current state of the world, I’m glad Bujold didn’t go with the dark, harrowing possibilities and instead wrote about Pen investigating how the disease is transmitted while treating as many patients as he can. Still a stressful experience for Pen, but I was confident his worst fears wouldn’t transpire. And it was satisfying to get a better understanding regarding the best way for Pen and Des to use their knowledge and skills.

Hamster Princess: Ratpunzel by Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher): Like Of Mice and Magic, this is another entertaining twist on a fairytale. When Harriet helps her friend Wilbur to find a stolen hydra egg, they come across someone else in need of help -- a rat with a very long tail.

Battle Born by Amie Kaufman: A satisfying conclusion to Ice Wolves and Scorch Dragons, with a couple of unexpected developments and a lot of expected emphasis on wolves, dragons and humans working together. I liked the realism of this. Anders and his sister Rayna have both cool shapeshifting abilities and special status arising from their parentage. But their success depends upon the support of resourceful friends and wise, trustworthy adults. They save the day, not because they know all the answers but because they bring people together. This trilogy is one I wish I could send back in time for my eleven year old self.

Time of Our Lives by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka: Two teenagers cross paths while touring East Coast colleges. There’s a lot I found interesting: Fitz’s fascination with words; Juniper’s enthusiasm and passion for the college-choosing process; the way they challenge each other; their intense family situations; and the glimpses of university life. However, I ended up feeling oddly annoyed. I was drawn into the story because Fitz and Juniper’s perspectives and motives were so very real and understandable, but something about some of their later choices and thoughts seemed too pat. Like the level of realism slipped slightly because the authors wanted to get their Message For The Teens across.

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord: Two teenagers, two business Twitter accounts and one very public argument about grilled cheese. Pepper and Jack see each other in class and cross paths training at the pool, but they don’t realise that they’re at war on Twitter nor pseudonymously chatting on a school-based app, like something out of You’ve Got Mail. This was a lot of fun -- super cute and full of Pepper’s passion for baking, Jack’s passion for his family’s deli, complicated-but-ultimately-supportive family relationships, and references to internet culture. I like how the story explores the strengths, the pressures and the problems of social media.

Text, Don’t Call: an illustrated guide to the introverted life by INFJoe by  Aaron T. Caycedo-Kimura: The text offers a basic explanation of introversion. It might be a decent introduction for someone new to the topic, but I found it a bit too basic to be interesting. However, the illustrations were great! Very funny and often relatable, and in one or two cases, usefully thought-provoking.

White Eagles by Elizabeth Wein: When Germany invades Poland, eighteen year old Kristina of the Polish Air Force has a chance to escape with her aeroplane ‐‐ and an unexpected stowaway. Her journey allows for a fascinating bird's-eye view of Europe in 1939 and of the challenges posed by such a trip. This novella-sized story is aimed to be both accessible and interesting to reluctant or dyslexia readers. It has moments where I, personally, would have liked more detail but I've worked with struggling readers and I think it's so awesome this sort of thing exists.

[ebaeschnbliah]

CHANGING  OF  THE  GUARD

________________________________________________________________

A metaphorical reading of Sherlock BBC, The Sign of Three (and beyond)

The beginning of Sherlock BBC, The Sign of Three, really leaves no doubt what the theme of its story is about. When the eye of the camera zooms slowly in on Speedy’s and the famous black door with the number 221 in Baker Street, it seems to take it’s path right through a literal wood of pointy, black spears. Fences built of iron spears that guard the place..

It starts with a row of spears in the forground. When those get blurry, even more spears from midfield move into focus. Finally the camera reveals spears also in the background. That makes three levels of spears, one might say.

Three levels of spears stand like guardians in front of 221b Baker Street. Could those three levels symbolize the three stabbing victims of The Sign of Three? After all, each one of the three characters is depicted as guard, as protector ... and each one of them gets stabbed. 

TBC below the cut ...

Stephen Bainbridge 

He is a Private in the Household Guard of the Queen. The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. The current regiment is known as the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards … ’Every foot soldier bears the mark’  (Soo Lin, TBB). How surprising is it that the ‘East’ zooms in on Bainbridge before he gets stabbed by Jonathan Small? 

Also … the gesture of the woman is interesting. Two Vs make a W (or a M … depends on the turning). It also lets me think of Culverton Smith’s W-gesture in TLD, in the short clip with the man disguised as cock (x).

Modern Grenadier Guardsmen wear a cap badge of a "grenade fired proper" with seventeen flames (x). Foot soldiers linked to exploding grenades … what a lovely coincidence, especially regarding the ‘passions’ grenade from TFP. :)

When the changing of the guards takes place, Bainbridge is already wounded and slowly dying. He got stabbed before the changing.

The name Stephen is of Greek origin and means ‘crown’ and ‘that which surrounds’. Saint Stephen was stoned to death and is regarded as the very first Christian martyr. 

Another little detail caught my attention as well. Just a word used twice to describe a person. 

SHERLOCK: “Elite Guard.” JOHN: Forty enlisted men and officers. SHERLOCK: Why this particular Grenadier? Curious.

And in TRF Sherlock sais:

SHERLOCK: This little boy; this particular little boy ... who reads all of those spy books. What would he do? JOHN: He’d leave a sign?

Max Bruhl left a sign. Stephen Bainbridge wrote a note. Not much of a difference, I think.

Guardsmen   Max and Claudette

 James Sholto

He is a retired Major of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers and Captain John Watson’s old commanding officer. A decorated war hero but not to everyone. Something went wrong when he led a team of new recruits into battle. ‘They all died’ (just like AGRA). Major Sholto, badly wounded, was the only survivor. Press and families gave him hell. Deaththreats and hate almost turned him into a recluse, into a most unsociable man, who spends his retirement way out in the middle of nowhere.

I’m quite sure this has been mentioned before, the 5th Northumberland Regiment on Foot (’foot soldiers’ too) still uses their ancient badge … St George killing the dragon (x)   Every quiver of his beating heart

‘He destroyed us all’  …  somehow these words sound very similar to the one Sherlock uses in TFP, in a situation where he considers himself to be a soldier: ‘Five minutes. It took her just five minutes to do all of this to us. Well, not on my watch.’ 

As mentioned above, Mary’s dialogue in TST matches the description about the incident with Sholto’s recruits almost identically …  ‘something went wrong’/’but it went wrong’ … ‘I was the only one who made it our’/’they all died; he was the only survivor’. And Mary considered AGRA to be her family ... ‘we were family’. 

Major John Sholto is an original character from ACDs novel The Sign of Four. His sons are called Thaddeus and Bartholomew. The renaming of the Major’s first name - from John to James - must have been a deliberate choice. A choice which is reflected in the skip code of TEH ‘John or James Watson … saint or sinner ... James or John’, as well as in John Watson’s middle name … Hamish (Scottish for James).

Major Sholto’s room number is ‘two oh seven’. This reminds me of the ‘double oh seven’ codeword for the ‘flight of the dead’ in ASIB. Two and double …. both means 2. Sure, the number on the door reads 207 but then, it happens several times in this story, that things told and things shown are sometimes not quite the same or vis versa. 

When the wedding guests leave the church and the reception takes place, Sholto is already wounded and slowly dying. He has been stabbed before.

Sherlock investigates the cases of both guardians

Bainbridge’s note reaches him sometime during the wedding preparations. John and Sherlock arrive just in time to save Private Bainbridge’s life. The case though remains unsolved.

Without knowing it at the time, Sherlock investigates Sholto’s case during John’s stag night. They call the investigation of the ghost-man the ‘Mayfly Man’ case. It remains also unsolved.

Sherlock includes both unsolved cases into his best man speech at John’s wedding and here at last, all the puzzle pieces fall into place and Sherlock is able to solve both cases, which are closely related. As a consequence Major Sholto’s life can be saved as well. 

The person responsible for the attempts to kill Private Bainbridge and Major Sholto is:

Jonathan Small

‘Brilliant, ruthless, almost certainly a monomaniac - though, in fairness, his photographs are actually quite good’ … that’s how Sherlock describes the killer. Small’s motive is revenge. He is convinced that Major Sholto is responsible for the death of Small’s brother Peter, who had been among the killed recruits. It seems that Private Bainbridge merely had the misfortune and got randomly chosen for the rehearsal of Sholto’s murder. But ... why this particular 'foot soldier’? (I’ll come back to that question later)

Jonathan Small grins like Jim Moriarty and wears a checkered shirt like John. He is a brilliant, ruthless monomaniac and obviously also a womaniizer who has no problems to woo half a dozen women, almost at the same time, into telling him well-kept secrets. Basically … a perfect blend of Jim Moriarty and traditional John ‘three continents’ Watson. 

Like Major Sholto, Jonathan Small too is an original character from ACDs novel The Sign of Four. His name has not been changed. Only together with his female and not-canon counterpart Janine, Mary’s bridesmaid, who seems to be a lovely blend of Irene and Jim, the name chosen for the antagonist of this episode, appears to gain a special significance. 

Janine - deiminutive of Jeanne, female form of John … ‘little Johnny’

Jonathan - diminutives are Jon, Jonni ... though not related to ‘John’ regarding the meaning of the name, it can still be heard as … ‘little Jonny’  (’You can talk, Johnny-boy. Go ahead.‘ Jim, TGG)

None other than ‘little Jo(h)nny’ (the H makes the difference) is responsible for the almost murder of Private Bainbridge and Major Sholto, the first two stabbing victims of this episode. 

‘Little Johnny’ also happens to be another word for penis … the ‘meat dagger’.

Who’s the third ‘victim’ then?

Mary Elizabeth Morstan

She is a character full of surprises who starts as a simple nurse who marries John Watson in TSOT. Among Sherlock’s deduction-word-cloud in TEH the term ‘guardian’ can be found and only one episode after the ‘wedding’, Sherlock outs her as facade … his very own facade, because the Empty Houses in Leinster Gardens, on whose front walls Mary’s face is projected, are Sherlock’s property. 

Mary Elizabeth Morstan isn’t her real name either. It’s the name of a stillborn child from a gravestone in Chiswick Cementry. This connects her character to the other stillborn child of this story ... Rachel Wilson, the pink lady’s daughter from ASIP. The initials A.G.R.A. stand for Mary’s true name, she tells later … but soon this turns out to be incorrect as well. A.G.R.A. was a group of four undercover agents who worked for the British Government. Prior to her ‘retirement’ Mary had been a member of that group. Sherlock describes her as ‘super-agent with a terrifying skill set’. Based on the current status, her two first names are Rosamund Mary … the family name is still unknown (if there even is one). 

Why should Mary be the third stabbing victim?

Readers of my theories will probably know that I’m playing for a long time now with a mind palace scenario which stretches from the beginning, most likely in PILOT (or even before) to the end of S4 (x). Back then I wondered ...

Is it really so farfetched to consider the possibility that Sherlock tries to deduce and solve the mysteries and problems of his own live - and his falling in love with John - at first in his mind? Before he comes out?

Over decades - since ACD - the story of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson has been told by the famous 'unreliable narrator’. Could it be that this time - with Sherlock BBC - the world will get the true story? Finally told by Sherlock himself? By looking right into his heart and mind and soul? By showing how his brilliant mind works? How his heart and soul expand and grow?

Would TPTB do such a thing? Stay in Sherlock’s mind over the span of multiple episodes? Follow his train of thought … show his evolution … in such a way? I don’t know. But it sounds thrilling to me. (Nov 2016)

Based on those early ideas I gradually came to the conclusion that Sherlock BBC tells the story of how Sherlock Holmes deduced his own persona. He does this the same way he investigates his criminal cases … by setting up scenarios in his mind and repeating those until he has found the correct solution (The Stage is set). Investigating his own case - the pink one - in such a way, would mean that all the characters which appear on Sherlock’s ‘mind stage’ represent different aspects of himself. Some of them may be based on real life persons, most of them are probably entirely created by Sherlock’s imagination. I like to compaire this process to a ‘mind journey’ or to a long (dramatic) dialogue, Sherlock holds with himself. This propably doesn’t happen during a dream or in a state of coma, as I thought back in 2016. A lot of time and thinking has gone by since then. Nowadays I presume that a conscious thinking process would fit better with the literal character Sherlock Holmes, whose deductions are always built on facts, science, reason and logic. It would be rather OOC that a man like Holmes would base an important, life changing decision on anything else than his razor sharp mind. Anyway, it’s just one of many theories.

Mary now … ever since I noticed the lot of similarities this character shares with Sherlock (x) my view on her started to change considerably. To me she isn’t the woman anymore who comes between Sherlock and John but instead the facade Sherlock Holmes created and married to his traditional, eternal friendship with John Watson for the sole purpose, to hide his romantic feelings and his sexual desire for the friend behind this protective wall. Mary is Sherlock’s facade, his guardian, his firewall … because:

John can’t ever know that I lied to him. It would break him and I would lose him forever – and I will never let that happen. Please … understand. There is nothing in this world that I would not do to stop that happening.

In my opinion, these are Sherlock’s own words and they express his fear of what might happen to the uinque friendship he shares with John, if the friend ever discovers the true nature of his feelings for him. Sherlock would do anything to stop that happening, even if this means that he has to incarcerate his emotions inside a high-security facility, behind elephant glass and chain his sexuality with iron bonds to a wall in a padded cell, like a hound from hell.  

The ‘meat dagger’ incident

Sherlock tells the wedding guests - Major Sholto sits among them - about the unsolved Bainbridge case and asks if any of them has got a theory how that guard might have been stabbed. What kind of murderer can walk through walls, which weapon can vanish? Molly’s fiancé Tom (both characters are mirrors for John and Sherlock) assumes it could be a case of ‘attempted suicice by meat dagger’ ... something that would have been self administered. 

A lot has been written since then about the ‘meat dagger’ as a metaphor for 'penis’ …. for ‘little Johnny’.  :)

Sherlock sees only one feature of interest in the whole case … while he tried to solve the mystery, the eternal friend saved the life of the guard. And just the same happens a little while later with Major Sholto, the other guardian. It turns out that both men - both guardians - have been stabbed by the same killer … Jonathan Small … little Jonny, the meat dagger ....

There’s only one other character in this episode who has been stabbed unknowingly as well. That’s Mary. And in her case it’s indeed … ‘stabbed by meat dagger’ because Sherlock deduces her pregnancy by the end of the episode. Or expressed in computer language:  the firewall has been penetrated by the virus.

The ‘father’ might be John or David, Mary’s ex. It doesn’t matter if one views the story metaphorically where all characters represent aspects of Sherlock himself. Going by his looks, David is clearly a mirror for John, while his history regarding the constant online observation of Mary, connects him to Mycroft, the brain. David seems to be a ‘blended’ mirror like Jonathan Small (John/Jim) or Janine (Irene/Jim). A mirror who represents the ongoing interest of the brain in the feelings hidden behind the facade. 

When Sherlock marries John and Mary, he puts a guardian in front of his true feelings for the friend. He tries to ‘downgrade’ those feelings. And yet, Sherlock allows three ‘social ancounters a year’ but ‘always in John’s - the traditional friendship’s presence’. That sounds very much like the ‘calculated risk’ Mycroft takes with Eurus. Both ‘brothers’ seem to be ‘love-addicts’ in need of a fix, once in a while … when the burden of ‘holding oneself to a higher standard’, of ‘keeping oneself right’ gets too heavy … or too boring. In that case it could propably happen that one takes the frustration out on the wall … then the wall has it coming …  :)

The moment of revelation

When Sherlock is blinded by the flashlight of ‘little Jo(h)nni’s’ camera, he suddenly realizes that the cases of Bainbridge and Sholto are connected. That the stabber has to be the same person. It’s the moment when the first domino piece falls and knocks over the next, and the next, and the next …. leading to a chain reaction of revelations at the end of which Sherlock knows without any doubt that his new facade had been penetrated again … this time though by a ‘kill shot’. He’d been hit by AMO (the perfect ammonition), fired by the crack shot that is his eternal friend. The seed of love has been laid without Sherlock noticing the ‘chink in his armour’ through which Cupid’s arrow hit home. Now love has taken root behind his facade and is growing. 

The name chosen for that love is Rosamund - Rose of the world, as the dialogue in TST confirms. There’s a real rose of that name - Rosa Mundi - an old rose depicted in a work of Sandro Botticelli “Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child”. This rose is also known by the synonym ‘rosa versicolor’ - which means ‘rose of many or changing colours ... iridiscent’.

The word iridescence is derived in part from the Greek word ἶρις îris , meaning rainbow, It is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. (X)

Sherlock - the ‘virgin’ he is called in ASIB by Jim and Irene - announces the pregnancy of Mary (I still wonder if this means that he is the 'Gabriel’ of A.G.R.A. - the angel who announces virgin Mary’s pregnancy). And during the stag night, John is labeled with ‘Madonna’. Another name for Virgin Mary. This turns the eternal friend also into the ‘virgin’, just like Sherlock and Mary. Another ‘sign of three’ one could say. 

Three virgins - three novices - who will now start a new journey on a way they have never travelled before. Sherlock will finally encounter romantic love and accept it ‘it is what it is’, the facade will ‘get retired in a pretty permanent sort of way’ as the brain blatantly puts it in TST and the traditional ‘eternal’ friendship will have to change into a romantic-sexuell relationship. A morphing together of friendship and sex - John and James - would be a quite logical consequence, I guess.

In TST the little baby is christened with the name Rosamund, a name that can be traced back to ‘rainbow’ … Rosie for short.  And rosy=pink!

‘Oh, what a night! ... I was never gonna be the same … I felt a rush like a rollin' ball of thunder spinnin' my head around n' takin' my body under’ 

No wonder this song has been chosen by the creators to accompany this scene. Overwhelmed by emotions - surprise, confusion, amazement, shock, joy, panic, uncertainty, concern, fear - Sherlock isn’t able anymore to carry on with this ‘wedding’ .... with this renewed ‘changing of the guard’. He walks away alone into the night. The case is solved. Sherlock is aware of what happened. Now he has to deal with the consequences. Should he really replace his guardian again or should he finally stop pretending, stop lying, drop the facade and confess his deepest secret?

Because if you tell them and they decide they’d rather not know, you can’t take it back. You can’t unsay it. Once you’ve opened your heart, you can’t close it again.

This confrontation, Sherlock fights with himself, becomes the centrepiece of the following episode (HLV) where Sherlock is completely torn into. One half of his being, still protected by the facade, is at war with the ... ‘other one’, the slowly increasing emotional side of him. But somewhere deep inside his mind he probably knows already that this is a war ‘he must lose’. And so Sherlock has to go deeper ...

TAB doesn’t only take Sherlock back to his literal roots. In this episode Sherlock investigates again two of the main threads of the story and ties them together through the ‘bride’ … FALL and HOUND. Mary, the facade, feels already ‘left behind’ and John, who represents Sherlock’s now fully acknowledged, tender feelings, directed at his friend ... ‘does grow up so fast’. The episode ends with Sherlock, who throws himself into a torrent of water=emotions and follows Jim Moriarty, Mr Sex, down the Reichenbach Fall … right into the emotional rollercoaster that is Series Four. 

Like the investigation in TAB, this series runs backwards as well. TST repeats the events of S2 and S3 while TLD zooms in on S1. I persume this happens because Sherlock applies an ability he describes to Dr. Watson as ... ‘reasoning backwards’:

“In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practise it much. In the every-day affairs of life it is more useful to reason forwards, and so the other comes to be neglected. There are fifty who can reason synthetically for one who can reason analytically…Let me see if I can make it clearer. Most people, if you describe a train of events to them, will tell you what the result would be. They can put those events together in their minds, and argue from them that something will come to pass. There are few people, however, who, if you told them a result, would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were which led up to that result. This power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning backwards, or analytically.”  (ACD  A Study in Scarlet, Conclusion) 

There’s one important change though, which will alter everything. Sherlock now adds baby Rosie, the pink seed of love, the AMO-factor, to his equation. As a consequence his mask, his facade - that what ‘thatched’ and guarded him - crumbles and falls. And Sherlock accepts the change … It is what it is. 

Then, in TFP, the third episode of S4, Sherlock puts the results of his deductions under the sharp lens of his emotional core, for the ultimate experiment … the final distillation … to produce at last a clear solution. Still missing is the chemical reaction that should follow the application of that solution, one might say. :)

Back to the three ‘guardians’

My husband is three people

During the wedding preparations, John tries to interst Sherlock for this curious case. John says the sentence ‘my husband is three people’ twice, interupted only by this short dialogue:

SHERLOCK: Major James Sholto. Who he? MARY: Oh, John’s old commanding officer. 

Taking John’s words ‘my husband is three people’ literally, then he is talking about his own husband … which will soon be Mary. Husband, not wife, because Mary represents an aspect of Sherlock, his facade, his cover ... his ‘thatch’. As mentioned above, when Sherlock marries John to Mary, he puts a guardian in front of his true feelings for the friend … one could also say …. he places a commander at their/his side. And this is exactly what Mary does in later episodes. She decides who mowes the lawn, chooses the name of the baby and that it is her to take John home and not vis versa. 

Husbands can be equated with facades, with commanders, with guards. All of them serve as protectors and defenders of Sherlock’s true feelings for the friend. 

Who could have been the first ‘husband’ … the first facade, the first guardian?

Neither of us were the first

This is what Mary tells Sherlock, while John welcomes his ‘privious’ commander. Is she really talking about sexuell experiences of her brand-new husband with another man, just to taunt Sherlock? Viewing the Mary-character as an aspect of Sherlock himself and not as a real wife that comes between two men, I heavily doubt this. Applying a metaphorical reading to the story, wouldn’t it be much more likely that this conversation is about their - Mary’s and Sholto’s - assigned profession. Neither of us were the first … guardian.

Mary is the husband to be, the most recently chosen facade, John’s new commanding officer, an undercover agent of the government.

Major James Sholto is John’s old commanding officer, Sherlock’s previous facade, which turned out to be not strong enough. 

The only other guard in this story is Stephen Bainbridge, Private in the Household Guard of the Queen. The foot soldier named after Saint Stephen, the first martyrer. 

And isn’t there somthing strikingly similar regarding those three guards as well as a noticeable increase in drama and strength, which so often happens when sequences are repeated on Sherlock’s mind stage?

Private Bainbridge guards the Queens Palace. The ‘East’ zoomes in on him, then he get’s stabbed by ‘little Jonny’ - the meat dagger - without noticing it. A changing of the guard takes place. Bainbridge almost dies beneath a shower of water.

Major Sholto guards the Queens country. He fights on a battlefield in the East beneath a burning hot sun. Something goes wrong and all the recruits under his command die. Badly wounded himself, Sholto has to leave the service and change into retirement. He gets stabbed by ‘little Jonny’ - the meat dagger - and almost dies.

Mary secretly works for Mycroft, the government, the ‘queen’ -  as an undercover ‘super-agent with a terrifying skill set’. Her last operation took place in the East. Something went wrong and a lot of people died. It first looked as if Mary had been the only surviver (like Sholto). She marries ‘Johnny-boy’ Watson, gets stabbed by his meat dagger, becomes pregnant and …. dies not long after ‘PINK-RAINBOW-ROSIES’ birth.

The Sign of Three is about the ‘changing of the guard’. It takes place inside Sherlock’s head. But the marriage of John and Mary, that Sherlock arranges so heartbreakingly beautiful (and so strikingly yellow), turns out to be utterly pointless. Because the bride, the husband, the new commander, the facade is already pregnant ... had been stabbed before the wedding ... before the changing of the guard. 

The Yellow Face connection

This isn’t new. It has been discussed before in this interesting meta  About Yellow Face  by @darlingtonsubstitution  (sadly the part below the cut is gone) from 2017. As mentioned in the comments there, the creators of Sherlock BBC once refered to their favourite ACD stories. Yellow Face was among them but ... they wouldn’t be able to adapt it, because of the sensitive content, they said. This isn’t quite true though, it seems. On the contrary, the colour yellow features most prominently in Sherlock BBC … and not just the colour itself. 

It starts with Sherlock’s and John’s first date at Angelo’s. The whole scene is drenched in yellow. PILOT even more than ASIP.

A secret code of ancient cyphers, sprayed in yellow paint, leads to the Yellow Dragon Circus. 

Golden cats and big ‘yellow’ felines - lions - roam the story. 

Yellow is the colour of the smiley face on the wall of the 221b living room. 

There’s an assassin who carries a yellow ladder and a yellow tool case with a gun in it. 

A bright yellow mask has been placed inside a box, alongside a train, a phone, nicotin patches and a note. 

The main colour of the wedding ... bright yellow. It’s the wedding that leads Sherlock to the revelation ... to his love deduction. 

A canary trainer, a trainer of yellow birds, turns out to be the killer. 

Norbury, the case of the Yellow Face from canon, plays a vital role in TST 

The finish of a race is marked with a bright yellow band that floats slowly to the ground while a ‘confessing’ serial killer, who is a mirror for John, passes as winner, signaling a W with his fingers, while the fingers from the ‘East’,, next to Private Bainbridge, signal a double V.

Yellow is the colour of the sun, of fire, flames and explosions.

Yellowbeard ….

But one of the most important links to Yellow Face is the following one:

JOHN: Mary, I may not be a very good man, but I think I’m a bit better than you give me credit for, most of the time. (Sherlock BBC, TST) 'I am not a very good man, Effie, but I think that I am a better one than you have given me credit for being.'  (Grant Munro, The Adventure of the Yellow Face)

This piece of dialogue connects John to Grant Munro, the husband of Effie, the woman who hides her secret child from a previous marriage behind a yellow mask. She doesn’t do it out of some dark or sinister motive as Sherlock Holmes is convinced at first. Her former marriage had been legal and she'd loved her late husband dearly. Lucy, her little girl, can truly be called a child of love. But Effie fears to reveal Lucy, because the girl is ‘different' and the mother is anxious to lose the man she loves now, because of this. She is torn into between the love for her child and the love for her husband.

She (Effie) drew a large silver locket from her bosom. 'You have never seen this open.'

'I understood that it did not open.'

She touched a spring, and the front hinged back. There was a portrait within of a man, strikingly handsome and intelligent, but bearing unmistakable signs upon his features of his African descent.  (ACD, The Yellow Face)

ACDs Yellow Face is a case without crime, without any devious betrayal. Instead, it’s about love and the fear to lose  love, because at that time in ACDs story, it’s about a love not accepted by many. 

'That is John Hebron, of Atlanta,' said the Lady (Effie), 'and a nobler man never walked the earth. I cut myself off from my race in order to wed him; but never once while he lived did I for one instant regret it. It was our misfortune that our only child took after his people rather than mine.   (ACD, The Yellow Face)

In ACDs Yellow Face, the ‘first husband’ is of ‘African descent’ … just like Private Bainbridge, who is the ‘first guardian’ - the first of the three ‘identical husbands’ - in Sherlock BBC, The Sign of Three. He is the one who represents Sherlock’s earliest facade … the guardian of the Queen’s Palace.

Just like @darlingtonsubstitution presumed more than two years ago, I’m now more convinced than ever, that Moffat and Gatiss did adapt ACDs Yellow Face and they not only included it in Sherlock BBC, they made it into the main theme of their story (beside ‘hound’, ‘fall’ and ‘scarlet/pink’). In their version though, the focus shifts from ‘unacceptable’ skin-colour to ‘unacceptable’ sexuality. 

Sherlock BBCs baby ... Rosie ... Sherlock’s baby ... represents love. And this love is pink and has been given a name that can be traced back to ‘Rainbow’. The Sign of Three tells the story of the ‘changing of the guards’ and how Sherlock finally discovers the AMO-factor that will alter his life completely.

When I discoverd Sherlock BBC for the first time (back in 2011) I was thrilled by that fascinating crime drama and its two charismatic leads. Now, after 13 episodes, it has grown into so much more than just an excellent crime drama among others. The way I read it, Sherlock BBC is a wonderful and stunning story about equality. Inside Sherlock’s mind, the great detective doesn’t only solve the greatest secret of his life. No, the actors Sherlock chooses to represent the different aspects of his persona, are as diverse as the colours of the rainbow. They are old and young, male and female, beautiful and ugly, strong and weak, rich and poor. Neither gender, sexuality nor the shade of skin colour or from which corner on this planet someone comes, is of any importance. Anyone can be a part of this Sherlock Holmes. That’s what makes this adaptation so absolutely unique to me. Sherlock himself becomes the rainbow of his own story. 

Thanks for reading to anyone who is still there. :))))  I leave you to your own deductions. And thanks @callie-ariane​ for your invaluable scripts.

December, 2019

________________________________________________________________

Episode spanning metaphorical reading of Sherlock BBC: 

From PILOT to TGG  ….      About the meaning of S1 

From ASIB to TEH  ….  The big question - what is the meaning of Reichenbach

[unadulteratedfandomtrash]

Loki Laufeyson x Reader ~ Rest Assured [Pt. 10]

[My Marvel Masterlist]   [Previous Part]

A/N: Sooooo.... Plans have changed and now there will be more than ten chapters because this segment ended up being much longer than anticipated. I’m sorry it took this long for me to write and post this chapter!

Also, the time difference between now and the previous chapter is mentioned in the dialogue, but for those of you who want to know before reading this, it has been two Midgardian years.

Word Count: 2359

“Well, that should conclude today’s session. Have you experienced any negative reactions or symptoms since my last visit two nights ago? Lightheadedness? Headaches?”

“No, she has not,” Loki answers from the threshold of the room, stepping in with a sly smirk on his face, “and, as my wife, she would be wise to inform me if otherwise, right, darling?”

“Spying on us again?” An amused smirk stretches across (Y/n)’s lips. She gestures for her husband to take a seat beside her on the bed, her head immediately resting upon his shoulder. “You both know as well as I do that I have been feeling just fine, so quit worrying so much over nothing. All that fretting will turn you two into wrinkly old fellows before I even get a chance to become a mother.”

A pregnant silence leaves the God of Mischief and Sorcerer Supreme staring awkwardly at a random corner of the room. Their constant badgering comes with good intentions, but (Y/n)’s teasing brings up the fact that maybe, just maybe, they truly are worrying over non-existent health issues that she has long since overcome.

“Now, if you two don’t mind, I would like to rest.”

With a quick nod of acknowledgement, Stephen bids the two Asgardians a good night before exiting, the door automatically closing behind him thanks to JARVIS. Loki and (Y/n) remain unmoving in the darkness of their shared chambers, both unsure of their next move.

Deciding to break the silence, Loki clears his throat softly while glancing over at his wife. “You wish to conceive children in the future?”

“Of course,” (Y/n) answers quickly, though her voice can barely be heard. “Why would you ask such a thing? Of course I wish to have children with you, though I have no demands on when it will happen. Is it not something you wish for, my love?”

“I have done nothing to prove myself worthy to potentially be a parent. If anything, my actions discredit me.”

“Oh, Loki, you have done no such thing.”

“What are you tal-”

“Let me finish,” she states, cupping Loki’s face; her firm grip pulls the black-haired god closer until there is no longer an empty gap between them. Pressing a chaste kiss to her husband’s lips, (Y/n) ensures his eyes meet her own as she explains, “I understand and am fully aware that several…previous events…have broken both legal and moral codes, but you’ve moved on from that. So long as you learn from those mistakes and never repeat them, that alone proves your worth.”

“Be that as it may, there are many others from numerous realms who will disagree with such a statement.” 

“Who says you have to listen to them?” (Y/n) has a point. Listening to others has never been Loki’s favorite thing to do, so why should he bother to stop now? Plus, he can never win an argument against his perceptive wife— (Y/n) knows best. “Ignore those who only express their hatred towards our lives; they do not deserve a second of our attention.”

Birds chirp happily as they glide throughout the morning sky, providing a serene view as (Y/n) gazes out the window from her seat on the couch, the book in her hands long forgotten as her mind wanders.

“Good afternoon, (Y/n),” Thor greets as he strides into the room. Despite the large smile on his face, the dark circles convey his weariness from having just returned from a mission with his fellow heroes. “I was informed you wish to speak to me as soon as possible.”

The God of Thunder’s entrance startles her from her thoughts. She closes her novel, setting it aside with the intention to continue reading later on, and stands to greet her brother-in-law, who pulls her into a tight hug. Her arms remain wrapped around Thor for a moment longer than anticipated, prompting to him question the reason he was summoned.

“Yes, but first, I must ask: How are you, Thor? You must be exhausted between all the assignments with your team and your continuous travels to and from Asgard. Surely you can ask for Heimdall to pass on messages instead of running back and forth between two worlds, or request for one of his messengers to assist you?”

“Though the many journeys have left me weary, it is my responsibility to inform the AllFather of Loki’s progress here on Midgard. I do not wish to burden Heimdall. He has many duties as it is. Now, what is it you wish to discuss, (Y/n)?”

(Y/n) returns to her seat on the couch, resting her hands in her lap as they fiddle around anxiously. Patting the cushion next to her, she gestures for Thor to sit beside her. The large blond does as he is asked, a worried frown taking over the cheerful grin on his face once he notices the young woman’s nervousness.

“It has been nearly two Midgardian years since my departure from Asgard…and though I do not wish to pressure Loki into agreeing unless the decision comes from his heart, I have given this decision a lot of thought: if and when the time is right, I wish to have a child with your brother.”

“That is wonderful, (Y/n)!”

“Yes, however, Loki's opinion on the matter differs drastically. Your brother believes his attack on Midgard, along with his upbringing and bloodline, dictates the future of his child, should he decide to have one.” 

“I do not understand…” Upon noticing Thor’s blank, lost expression, (Y/n) shuffles to sit closer to her confused brother-in-law. For several seconds, the young woman remains silent to gather her thoughts in order to clarify the situation.

“Thor… Loki is afraid. His hands are stained with blood and betrayal, his biological father was a manipulative, cruel individual who only ever brought death and despair to those near and far, and numerous realms do not take kindly to his existence,” she cautiously explains in a hushed whisper, afraid to catch the attention of any unwanted listeners. “Your brother believes he is unfit to father offspring, and I am quite sure you are aware of his hatred towards his heritage. He still struggles to accept himself; he sees himself as a monster.

“As the child grows older, they will bear the responsibilities of being Asgardian royalty, which is a formidable expectation alone, but Loki’s past will follow our family even after our passing; it is a part of our history. Asgardians are warriors. We often yearn for the thrilling rush of being on the battlefield. If they were to learn of Loki’s current situation, that alone would rile the citizens enough to start a war between the people and sovereign family. Loki’s child will only receive hatred just as he does.”

“Father has a plan,” Thor interrupts (Y/n)’s explanation. He understands his brother’s fears, and with the help of the Allfather, steps have already been taken to ease the citizens of Asgard into the idea of Loki’s return to the realm. “We had discussed this long before Loki was permitted to return to Midgard with you. The Allfather plans to slowly convince the people of Brother’s improvements. With you by his side, I am sure we will be able to persuade them in no time!”

“Stark, I require your assistance on a matter of great importance!” Thor storms into Tony’s lab with only his thunderous footsteps and booming voice providing the latter any hint of the Asgardian’s arrival. The sudden announcement piques Tony’s curiosity, but without any context, he remains silent to allow Thor to continue his train of thought. “(Y/n) approached me with her concerns over a personal issue she wished to discuss, but given that you claim yourself to be a genius, I shall ask for your assistance.”

An eyebrow raises at the mentioning of (Y/n). Since Thor mentioned her issue being personal, Tony is confused as to why he is being so open about the matter; if it were him, he would not want his brother-in-law going to someone else to talk about a private problem, but maybe this is different.

“Okaaayy…I need context here, buddy. What sort of godly problems call for my help?”

“Loki requires assistance in bearing a child wi-”

“SAY WHAT,” Tony shouts suddenly, hands dropping the tools that were once hovering cautiously over a new prototype gauntlet. Said prototype discharges without warning thanks to a soldering iron coincidentally falling onto the operating panel.

From across the room, Bruce is quick to duck beneath a nearby desk as debris rains down from the hole in the ceiling that Tony has now created, shooting a pointed look at his colleague once the dust settles.

“My bad,” he apologizes with a sheepish grin. “But in my defense, Point Break shouldn’t have sprung that sort of information on me without any warning. I really didn’t need to know that Reindeer Games and his wife are trying to make more trickster gods. In my tower at that.” 

“That is where you are wrong,” interjects Thor, “My brother fears his late attack on your planet, amongst many other issues, will affect his ability to produce children. I understand you possess plenty of experience with women, especially with your lover, so I would greatly appreciate it if you could lend your expertise to Loki.”

The God of Thunder’s statement leaves Tony sputtering out his coffee mid-sip, staring at the man in question in absolute disbelief.

“Excuse me?! What did you just say? Please tell me that I did not hear what I think I just heard. JARVIS, am I going crazy?”

“Well, according to an analytic scan I performed the other day, your br-”

“Y- Don’t actually answer that. I was being rhetorical.” Hunching over the table with his temple resting on three fingers, the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist loudly exhales as he takes his time to take in the words Thor had just spoken. 

He truly does want to help the blond god, but the topic is neither his or Thor’s business to be sticking their noses into. Everything should stay between the two gods concerned with matter. Tony is pretty sure that if he were to approach either of the two to talk about it, they would turn him away.

“Okay. I’ll humor you for a bit, blondie. Why should I help you? Correction: Why should I help Loki? Even though he’s staying in my tower, that doesn’t mean I actually like him.” 

“As you already know, (Y/n) belongs on Asgard. Though she is content with staying on Midgard, so long as Loki is by her side, her heart longs to reside in the realm she was born to live on, and the Allfather is well aware of this. He allowed for (Y/n) to follow us to Midgard in hopes that Loki will yield to his lengthy sentence. 

“Those two are heirs to the throne. Without them, Father has nobody to succeed him when the time comes, as I do not wish to rule Asgard as its king. Loki and (Y/n) are expected to birth an heir in order to secure the fate of Asgard, should tragedy befall on either of them.”

“Wait, why don’t you want to be a king? I would love to be born into the royal family of gods from another planet.”

“Being a ruler is a heavy burden I am unequipped to bear. My brother, alongside (Y/n), is far wiser than I will ever be. He may not act like it at times, but Loki is the perfect candidate for King. I am far happier with my role as the protector of my realm, not its ruler.”

“But a king has to protect too, ya’’ know,” Tony points out. “But that’s beside the point. We’re getting off topic! So, what’s the point of me talking to your brother?”

“My father has informed me that Asgard shall soon accept Loki with open arms. If the two were to become parents, the Allfather may permit an early return. I understand that you wish for my brother to vacate your tower, and I only wish for him to live in contentment, so by helping Loki, we shall all benefit.”

A pregnant silence fills the room as Tony mulls over the proposition. A hand strays from his side to his beard, absentmindedly playing with the strands that come in contact with his fingertips. 

No words can describe how much he yearns for Loki’s departure from Earth, he must consider his options. On one hand, if he does help the blond god with his family issues, Loki will no longer bother the Avengers, life in the tower will be peaceful, and everyone gets to live a happy life. However, on the other hand, Tony is willing to bet his entire fortune that the God of Mischief’s reaction to the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist’s interference with his personal matters will be anything but positive. Since the start of his sentence on Earth, Loki has been irritating towards every person who has stepped foot in the tower, yet he has never crossed any lines. If Tony provides his input, he fears more than just lines will be crossed.

He prepares to say no, to turn his back on the situation and let it pass without another thought, but movement outside the laboratory captures his attention. Beyond the frosted glass, the wealthy hero watches as the blurry figure of Doctor Strange puts a hand to (Y/n)’s head; she must have gone to him with concerns regarding her health, since Stephen has been studying Asgardian anatomy and physiology within the adjacent lab in order to treat the female Asgardian during her stay on Earth. Despite the strong urge to turn his back on Loki, Tony cannot find it in his heart to do the same with (Y/n). And so, with the guilt hanging over his conscience like the blade on a guillotine, a decision is made.

“Well, looks like I’ve got no other choice but yours. Lead the way, Point Break.”

[Next Part]

Tag List

@scienceofficersmith  @wecantgiggleitsafandom  @drstrangefictions  @tvdplusriverdale  @laxarnas   @tarynkauai                                                        

[allycat-writes]

New Rules (Stephen Strange x Female!Master of the Mystic Arts!Reader)

A/N: So, yes, I live and I’m still in love with Doctor Strange currently and celebrating the release of details for a sequel!!! Still sorta sorry but oh well, what are ya gonna do lol. So like? This is sort of like all of the Avengers being young and attending a school together for super-heroey stuff? Also, obviously based off the song New Rules by Dua Lipa. Y/N is obviously *Your Name*, Y/N/N is “Your Nickname*. And, as always, thank you to my platonic soulmate, the Roger Taylor to my Freddie Mercury for everything, @unknownauthor .

Warnings: Probably swearing. Adult themes (like mentions of smut stuff and pregnancy-scare mention)

You know the drill at this point. Likes are cool, reblog are literally motivation to write more!!!

(Not my GIF)

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

One, one, one, one, one

Talkin' in my sleep at night, makin' myself crazy (Out of my mind, out of my mind) Wrote it down and read it out, hopin' it would save me (Too many times, too many times)

My love, he makes me feel like nobody else, nobody else But my love, he doesn't love me, so I tell myself, I tell myself

“Hey, kiddo. Why the long face?” You looked up from your phone to find Carol Danvers standing in front of you, her green and black backpack slung over one shoulder carelessly. You winced.

“You realize I’m only three years younger than you, right?” You bit her lip, pausing. “I may have done something really, really dumb,” you admitted, with a sigh. Carol raised an eyebrow before sitting down next to you.

“How dumb are we talking here?” Carol asked, her voice soft. You looked around to make sure none of the others were within earshot before looking back to Carol.

“Like sleeping with my best friend dumb.” Carol let out a low whistle.

“Shit, kid. You slept with Strange?” You groaned, putting your head in your hands. Carol noticed Tony Stark glance your way, his eyebrows furrowing together in worry as he noticed your distress. Carol waved him off.

“Yeah, I did. Now what the fuck do I say to him? How do we go back?”

“Well, do you want to go back?” You sat up again.

“Of course I do! He’s my best friend. I don’t want things to be awkward between us.”

“If you want to just be friends, why did you sleep with him?”

“What other option do I have than to hope things go back to normal or lose my best friend?” You sighed, rolling your eyes.

“Trying to make a real relationship with him. Obviously you must be at least slightly attracted to him,” Carol pointed out, gently.

“Of course I am. Have you seen him?”

“Then why not try?”

“Have you seen me? I don’t think he’s ever even thought about an actual relationship with me. I’m surprised he even said yes. I don’t think he has the same feelings for me and what if I bring it up and I’m right? Then I really, truly lose my best friend.”

“Okay, first, you’re adorable. Why wouldn’t he like you?” You groaned. “What? You are. And there’s only one way to know for sure how he feels. And what do you mean ‘said yes’?”

“‘Adorable’. See? That’s not typically a great thing to be if you want people to take you seriously.” You tensed up slightly. “I may or may not have......possibly asked him to fuck me hard......because I was stressed out and tense and......needed the release.”

“Jesus Christ, Y/N/N. Then what are you going to do? Just ignore the elephant in the room? Keep sleeping with him?”

“I don’t know. Carol, what am I gonna do?” You sighed, laying your head on the older girl’s shoulder.

“I don’t know what to tell you. But I know someone who might,” Carol replied, with a half shrug. You lifted your head to curiously look at Carol. “Hey, Strange. How’s it going?” Stephen quirked an eyebrow as he walked past Carol.

“I’m still alive, so that’s something.” Stephen glanced at you over his shoulder for a moment before calling back, “Hey, Y/N/N. Spell practicing later?”

“You’re the boss, Sorcerer Supreme.”

One: Don't pick up the phone You know he's only callin' 'cause he's drunk and alone Two: Don't let him in You'll have to kick him out again Three: Don't be his friend You know you're gonna wake up in his bed in the morning And if you're under him, you ain't gettin' over him

You were laying upside down on your bed, a pencil between your lips as you squinted at the notes you had taken over one of your sources when you heard a knock at your open dorm room door. You glanced towards the door to find Carol leaning against the doorframe. “How was spell practice with the wizard?”

“Master of the Mystic Arts,” you corrected her, gesturing your friend into the room. Carol closed the door behind her and sat down on the carpeted floor, raising an eyebrow. “I think......I think we’re fuck buddies.”

“You didn’t.”

“......I really did,” you sighed, sitting up. You sat there for a moment before turning to face Carol again, tucking your legs underneath yourself. You tucked the pencil behind your ear.

“You’re already way too attached to him to survive this, Y/N.”

“Of fucking course I am. He’s my best friend. I......” you paused, turning to look over at the wall, “Shit. I think...... I think I’m in love with him.”

“Y/N/N, you have to end this. You’re gonna get yourself hurt. You have to break this off. Go back to being just friends while you still can. You know Stephen. He won’t mean to hurt you but we both know it will happen.”

“How though? I don’t know how I can be close to him and just not...not love him.”

“You might need to take a break from being his friend. Can’t you practice spellwork or whatever with Wong?”

“I mean I can but......he’s my best friend? How do I just......take a break from that? How do I avoid my best friend? I don’t want to hurt him and make him think I hate him or that I’m mad at him when he hasn’t done anything. I’m the one that fucked things up between us...”

“Make some rules up for yourself to follow. Just tell him you’re going to be a little AWOL for a while. You do have a ton of papers and exams to finish up, right?” You nodded, biting your lip. You sighed, flopping onto your back to stare at the ceiling.

I got new rules, I count 'em I got new rules, I count 'em I gotta tell them to myself I got new rules, I count 'em I gotta tell them to myself

I keep pushin' forwards, but he keeps pullin' me backwards (Nowhere to turn, no way) (Nowhere to turn, no) Now I'm standin' back from it, I finally see the pattern (I never learn, I never learn)

But my love, he doesn't love me, so I tell myself, I tell myself I do, I do, I do

“Hey, Miss- Sorry, Y/N. I don’t mean to, I don’t know, spy on you, but it’s just. The table keeps vibrating and I just...... Shouldn’t you answer your phone? I think someone needs to get a hold of you.” You looked up, pausing your music and taking your other earbud out.

“I’m really sorry, Peter. I hope this isn’t distracting you from your work,” you apologized with a sigh.

“Oh, no, you’re fine!! I know that MJ keeps texting me so my phone keeps vibrating so really, you’re okay! I just. I don’t know, figured I should say that? But really, it’s not bothering me!” You smiled at the boy.

“You’re a good kid, Peter Parker. You know that?” Peter smiled, opening his mouth to say something when you heard a heavy sigh behind you.

“He’s way too young for you, Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” You turned to find Tony Stark, his arms loaded with books.

“He’s not my type, Stark. And I wouldn’t ever date a minor, even one as sweet as Peter.” You rolled your eyes.

“Oh yeah, also. I’m pretty sure there’s some tension between you and your boyfriend so I’ll just warn you. He was at the front desk looking for you when I walked in, Sabrina” You grimaced, gathering up your belongings.

“Thanks, Tony. I really do appreciate it.” You slung your backpack over your shoulder and raised your hands to form a portal back to your room, sealing it shut behind yourself.

One: Don't pick up the phone You know he's only callin' 'cause he's drunk and alone Two: Don't let him in You'll have to kick him out again Three: Don't be his friend You know you're gonna wake up in his bed in the morning And if you're under him, you ain't gettin' over him

“You used magic in the library?” Wong asked, his expression disappointed as you walked into the room. You groaned, putting your workout bag on the ground.

“It was an emergency,” you muttered, grabbing a ponytail holder from your bag and securing your hair out of your way.

“I don’t think hiding from a friend is an emergency. And why am I not allowed to tell Strange that you’re practicing with me?”

“I don’t want him to think that I hate him and I’m avoiding him.”

“But you are apparently avoiding him.”

“I have like four papers to write and two exams to study for. Can we, I don’t know, actually get to practicing spellwork?” Wong rolled his eyes before he gestured for you to get into stance. You relaxed, squaring your shoulders before you moved into position.

I got new rules, I count 'em I got new rules, I count 'em I gotta tell them to myself I got new rules, I count 'em I gotta tell them to myself

Practice makes perfect I'm still tryna learn it by heart (I got new rules, I count 'em) Eat, sleep, and breathe it Rehearse and repeat it, 'cause I (I got new)

“Y/N, I know you said I have done nothing wrong but it definitely seems as if you are trying your hardest to avoid me. If that’s not the case, I apologize but I just,” Stephen sighed and you could feel your heart ache at the sound, “I miss you. So whenever, I don’t know, things calm down or you start to feel like yourself, I honestly don’t know what you’re going through but... I’ll be here. If you need anything. Maybe I’m not as patient a teacher as Wong but I promise I’ll work on it just...” he sighed again and you could almost hear him shaking his head at himself, “Get back to me when you can, alright?” You set your phone down on the grass beside your book.

“What am I going to do?” you whispered, your hand resting gently on your stomach.

“I don’t mean to intrude but... I’ve been sitting here for ten minutes and you’ve listened to that voicemail about...five times, no? Maybe you should just call him back? It is quite obvious that you miss him as much as he misses you. Or at the very least, I don’t think listening to the voicemail of a call you purposely avoided will help ease your pain.” You glanced over to see Wanda Maximoff studying you quietly, Loki laying next to her, flicking his fingers in boredom to draw green shapes in the air. “Sorry, I know we’ve never actually spoken to one another but it seems like your heart might actually be aching for this man.”

“It’s......complicated. I think I love this man and some stuff happened to make me realize I do actually seriously love him but I don’t think he feels the same way and I don’t want to get hurt,” you blurted out. Wanda smiled, gently.

“It already seems you are hurting. You might as well try and talk to him and find out if he returns your feelings before isolating yourself from him and causing both of you pain. You might also find it difficult to work together if you push him too far away.” You smiled.

“Thank you, Wanda. I definitely appreciate it. Maybe sometime we could practice fighting together? And maybe have Vision be referee or something,” you teased, causing Wanda’s fair skin to redden with color, a shy smile crossing her features. You picked your phone back up, typing up a quick text. Stephen, I’m sorry. Can you meet me at the library in ten minutes? I definitely think we need to talk.

“I will absolutely take you up on that, Y/N,” Wanda promised, smirking slightly.

One: Don't pick up the phone (yeah) You know he's only callin' 'cause he's drunk and alone (alone) Two: Don't let him in (uh-ooh) You'll have to kick him out again (again) Three: Don't be his friend You know you're gonna wake up in his bed in the morning And if you're under him, you ain't gettin' over him

You glanced at your watch again before turning towards the window to see the sky in shades of pink and purple as the sun set. You sighed, packing your things up before grabbing your phone. You dialed Carol’s number as you exited the library.

“Danvers.”

“Hey. I...” you started, your voice trailing off as you felt tears start welling in your eyes. “I don’t know what to do. I tried texting Stephen because I need to talk to him and I asked him to meet me and...” You tried to choke back a sob. “I think I’m pregnant. And he hates me and I don’t know what to do, I can’t do this on my own.”

“Whoa, hold up. You’re what?”

“I haven’t taken a test but I’m late and my stomach has been feeling weird and I don’t know what to do, Carol. What am I going to do? I can’t hide this from him. He’ll know,” you sobbed, covering your mouth with your hand to muffle your distress.

“You need to breathe. I’ll get a test for you and meet you back at your dorm, okay? I’ll wait with you. You don’t need to be alone right now, okay?” Carol replied, trying to soothe you. “Just portal back to your place and wait for me, okay?” Carol hung up and you tried to quiet your cries as you tried to calm down. After a few minutes, you were calm enough to form a portal to step through. You sealed it shut and laid on your bed, silent tears still streaming down your face. Ten minutes later, your door opened and Carol stepped in, a bag in her hand. “Oh honey,” she sighed as you silently took the bag and disappeared into your bathroom. Carol sat on the floor with you once you were done, both waiting impatiently. You glanced at the clock and sighed.

“Can you......can you check it?” you asked, your voice wavering. Carol nodded, squeezing your hand before she stood up. Carol laughed.

“Negative. It must just be the stress. You’re fine,” she replied, sitting back down to hug you. You laughed too, relaxing in your friend’s embrace. You froze again, tensing up.

“He still hates me though. What do I do?”

“Just sleep. You can worry about talking to him next time you see him. Just get some rest, Y/N/N, okay?” You nodded, slowly getting up to crawl into bed. You didn’t move as Carol threw the test away and left the room, locking the door on her way out.

I got new rules, I count 'em I got new rules, I count 'em (Whoa-ooh, whoa-ooh, whoa) I gotta tell them to myself I got new rules, I count 'em (Baby, you know I count 'em) I gotta tell them to myself

Don't let him in, don't let him in Don't, don't, don't, don't Don't be his friend, don't be his friend Don't, don't, don't, don't Don't let him in, don't let him in Don't, don't, don't, don't Don't be his friend, don't be his friend Don't, don't, don't, don't You're gettin' over him

You woke up the next morning to urgent knocks on your door and you rolled over to check the time. 8:15. Only one person you knew would be up and at your door that early. You threw the covers off, not bothering to change out of the clothes you fell asleep in or brush your hair or hide your puffy eyes. You opened the door, examining Stephen’s unkempt appearance. “I am so sorry I didn’t meet you yesterday. I had turned my phone off to study for my exam and I didn’t think you’d be texting me anytime soon.” You sighed, stepping aside to let him in the door. Stephen relaxed, moving into the room before he turned to face you again, his eyes locking on the puffy skin under your eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He started to reach out for you before he paused, holding his arms out awkwardly before he let his arms fall back to his sides before clearing his throat uncomfortably. “You said we needed to talk? Does that mean you’re done avoiding me?” You winced slightly.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t want to hurt you, I’m just......I’m afraid and way out of my comfort zone. But I do need to tell you something. And it could absolutely ruin our friendship. I don’t want to lose you, Stephen,” you started, taking a deep breath.

“I think any chance of a normal friendship went out the window when I agreed to......helping you relieve stress,” Stephen pointed out, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh, wow, thanks for that. Never would have figured that out on my own. What would I do without you?” you replied, your voice dripping with sarcasm. You sighed, looking away from Stephen.

“Just say it. You obviously have other places you would rather be so get on with it. It’s fine.” You opened your mouth to speak when he raised a hand. “You don’t even have to say it. Understood. We can go back to pretending nothing ever happened.” Your eyebrows furrowed together at the bitterness in his voice.

“Stephen, listen to me. I don’t want to go back to pretending like nothing happened. But I want......if we just go back to fucking and that’s all it is, a means to an end, then......I know I’m going to get hurt. What do you want?” Stephen blinked in surprise.

“You......you want more?” he asked, his mind racing to catch up.

“I do. But if you don’t want that, it will hurt. I’ll get hurt. I know I will—” Stephen smiled, stepping forward and pulling your face up to meet his, one trembling hand under your chin, pressing your lips together. After a minute, you both pulled away, your breathing both ragged.

“Does that answer your question, Y/N/N?” he murmured, his hand still gripping your chin lightly, your breath mingling together. You nodded, standing on your toes to kiss him again, wrapping your arms around his neck. Stephen smiled against your lips as your hand started playing with the hair at the base of his neck. After you broke apart for air, Stephen kissed your forehead, wrapping his arms around you.

“Wait, before...before anything else happens. I thought that I was...pregnant. I’m not, but I just...figured you should know.” He pulled away again to study your face before relaxing again.

“I care for you. More than you know.” You smiled, brushing a dark strand of hair off of Stephen’s forehead. “Can we please go back to practicing spellwork together? I miss my partner.” You laughed, nodding. Stephen smiled, kissing you soundly again.

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

Permanent Tag List:

@mezzomercury

@angeleyesmalek

[nellie-elizabeth]

Doctor Who: Spyfall, Part 1 (12x01)

We're back! Man, I missed these friends.

Cons:

This is only part one of the story, so I feel like some of the things I might have qualms about will be addressed. But I do want to say that last season, one of the most prevailing complaints about the show was how "safe" everything was. And here, we have some humanoid aliens that look like beams of light, we have the entire episode taking place on Earth, we have the familiar trappings of a spy movie, we have the return of a familiar villain... none of this was bad at all! But none of it felt particularly fresh or innovative, either.

Also, I know that Doctor Who is a show made nominally for children, but I still think the reveal that "O" is the Master was telegraphed a bit too much... I could have used a few more misdirects. I basically knew he was the bad guy from minute one.

Pros:

But this episode was, for the most part, quite fun! And I'm excited that it's a two-parter, because we got to exist in the mystery for a while, and really explore the different possibilities of what could be going on here. I like that we have MI6, and Stephen Fry, and a tech mogul with hidden allegiances, and fun spy gear, etc. etc. It was simply a fun story to hang out in for a while, and then of course it ends with a big twist that's going to catapult everything in a new direction for the second half.

I love having a Doctor with a whole group of companions, because we get to see them split up and try different relationship combinations. This episode includes a section where the Doctor and Graham are off in Australia meeting with "O", who turns out to be the Master in disguise. Graham doesn't have a ton to do here, acting more as an audience avatar and a sounding board as the Doctor solves mysteries and asks questions. But that's okay - I think it makes sense in a show with so many moving parts if certain characters take a backseat sometime. I'm sure Graham will get his due in other episodes.

While that's going on, Yaz and Ryan are off to spy on Daniel Barton, who turns out to be... part alien? In league with the spies invading Earth and apparently the whole Universe? Again, this is part one, and we don't get all of the answers we might want. But I like that we get to see this duo hanging out together. They banter about Yaz's sister fancying Ryan, they work together to gather information, and then shit goes wrong, and Yaz vanishes, leaving Ryan to run for it alone. Even with Yaz safe and returned, it's clear that her experience has frightened her. I loved that moment where Ryan promised to protect Yaz in future. It didn't feel condescending or paternalistic, honestly. It felt like Ryan understood that he had failed her in some way, even if it was out of his control. And he wants her to know that he's there for her, however he can be. I loved that, and hope we can explore it more in future.

Then there's the reveal of the Master. I honestly think it's awesome that as the Doctor changes and undergoes different character arcs, so does the Master. The last we saw Missy, there was something of a redemption arc going on. But it doesn't bother me that this version of the character isn't following up with that directly. Sure, it might be nice if there were slightly more cohesion across the years, between different show-runners, different Doctors, companions, etc. But really, you have to look at Doctor Who as a show that has periodic soft-reboots embedded into it. We haven't seen enough of this version of the Master to be able to make a judgment call, but I'm excited to see where this is going.

Just the inherent creepiness of the Master surreptitiously inserting himself into the Doctor's life and then lying low, waiting for the right moment... that's pretty twisted and fun. And this performance of a more ham-handed, manic Master reminds me of our earlier looks at the character, from the David Tennant days. And there was complexity there, that we got to explore and discover over time. Here's hoping that the same thing will happen here!

I could certainly go on, but I think I want to save the rest of my thoughts for after I've seen the second part of the story. I'm thrilled to have this show back on the air, though! It's been a while!

8/10

[disappearinginq]

Dear god the 'shippers' in the Magnum fandom are driving me mad. They're like rabid little zombies! I'm cool with Higgins. I'm even okay with the idea of Magnum and Higgins getting together, in like season 10 or so. But if we don't get a third season it'll be because the shippers are messing with the writer's heads and I just wanna drop kick some sense into them all! (Sorry, this is the only place I know where I can vent and not get jumped on for not loving 'teh Miggy' Urgh.

Ha! You’ve come to the right place. I realize that half of what I don’t like about her character is that her ‘badass self’ doesn’t have to change - but why does it always have to be at the expense of others? Like Batman doesn’t become less awesome because Wonder Woman is on the screen. The ‘ship wars’ ultimately destroyed Arrow - and those fans went after real life people and made their lives a living hell (just look up what they did to poor Katie Cassidy) or harped on Stephen Amell getting together with Emily Rickards off screen (despite Stephen being happily married to someone else), or how JohnLock shippers almost made Martin Freeman quit because of the atrocious things being said to his real life wife. I’m not sure why people feel the need to get shitty to one another personally over a fictional character, but...holy shit. Being goddamn psychos about it does nothing but push others further from liking a show (never mind the character). You want to endear me to Higgins? Come up with a plausible/non-romantic reason she’s as two faced as a double sided coin when it comes to interacting with Magnum. She’s lost a fiance? Boo-hoo. Magnum and his best friends were sold out to a terrorist organization who imprisoned and tortured them for over a year and a half, then she tried to kill him and possibly had a hand in the death of one of his best friends and he still manages to have compassion. Her mother had dementia? Wah wah. TC’s father has blown him off at every turn after spending TC’s younger years in prison after his mom up and left them, and ohhhhh looookkk....he’s STILL A HUMAN TEDDY BEAR. Rick was raised by ORGANIZED CRIME MEMBERS. HE WAS A SNIPER. Not just a sniper, but a SCOUT SNIPER. He had a more personal look than most when it came to combat, and guess what. Not only does he still volunteer to help build houses for disabled veterans, help his employees at every turn, his besties, but also manages to still be a cheerleader for everything that his friends accomplish. Is it fair to compare tragedies? No. But at the same time, they’re just making her look like she’s the one who lets every little thing be an excuse to be an ass - and then pout when she doesn’t get her way. Like...are the rabid shippers mad when we don’t like that because that’s the part they identify with?  

I also really wonder if there’s multiple writing teams. Because like Blood Brothers was straight up showing how they didn’t actually need her. And for anyone that actually knows how life rafts work, they kinda made her look extra dramatic trying to be relevant. Fun fact: nobody actually wants to have to do complex satellite recon and math to figure out where a life raft is, that’s why they have GPS installed. So that could’ve been all of 30 seconds - “I found the GPS transponder, it washed ashore on the island here.” She also comes off as either 1) especially heartless or 2) the writers confirm that she had absolutely nothing to do with anything in the Middle East during her time as an MI6 agent beyond rubbing elbows with diplomats. As soon as she says “we break the law for life or death”, anyone who has ever dealt with the shit show that is Afghanistan/Taliban knows she hasn’t got a clue - illegally fleeing Afghanistan is the only way out of it. And if Ahmed was returned to the Taliban, he would be lucky to be forced into the Taliban. It is much more likely that someone who is seen as friendly towards the West will be horrifically tortured and publicly executed (probably filmed too). And like throwback to the second episode of season 1 - she speaks Arabic. Arabic has like a million little offshoots and dialects and that’s what makes it interesting but also really difficult for translators (or you know, spies) to learn it well enough to blend. Typically though, Arabic is primarily spoken in countries we’re not in direct conflict with - like the UAE and as she mentioned Saudi Arabia (even if she got the prince’s name wrong, we’ll just assume that was a writer error). Which means her relations were diplomatic, not combat, so she has approximately no leg to stand on when throwing around ‘you should do it legally or not at all’ since in reality no, you cannot have a history of being a foreign spy and come retire here in the US, but also - rich, white, female of a country that if she ever gets deported back to isn’t going to behead her on YouTube after torturing her in a public square to serve as a reminder to others who think they could have a chance....well. You can draw your own conclusions on that one. 

Anyway. 

On that note, I actually am really trying to make the character understandable, at least in fanfic, but damn. It’s a goddamn mountain, lemme tell you. 

[elisaphoenix13]

(AT) Remembering The Departed P.2

Peter comes to with a terrified and pained sob and strong arms pull him up against another body and pushes his face into the other's collarbone. The teen almost pushed the person away until he got a whiff of tea leaves and incense, and instead pulled himself closer.

He was with Stephen. He didn't know how that was possible, he saw the man turn to dust before his very eyes, but then Peter had turned to dust in Tony's arms (that thought renewed his sobs) so maybe there was an afterlife. Maybe he was lucky enough to stay by the sorcerer's side.

Maybe he could see his parents again. Uncle Ben...Aunt May...

Peter sobs again for a completely different reason. How messed up was he to be thinking about them right now when Stephen was the one holding and soothing him? If this was the afterlife, Stephen was the one that came to him first. In a twisted way, he was more a mother than his actual biological mother that he barely remembered the face of and that was only because of the photo album Aunt May had gifted to him through Tony.

The photo album. He would never get a chance to fill it up with pictures of his little sister.

Peter's eyes widen and he pulls away from the comforting warmth just enough to look up at the sorcerer. "D-Diana. Do you think--?"

Stephen pulls him close again. "I really hope not."

"Are we dead?" The teens voice trembles.

"In a manner of speaking." The doctor admits. "We're in the soul stone."

Peter nuzzles Stephen's collarbone again and inhales deeply. The sorcerer's natural scent immediately soothing the arachnid's anxiety. He wasn't alone. In what he saw briefly of their surroundings, there was a vast expanse with nothing but orange as far as the eye could see, and a lone building in ruins. It would have been incredibly lonely and would have made him crazy from the emptiness.

"...turning into dust hurt." Peter mumbles.

Stephen frowns. "It didn't..." Blue eyes widen. "Your healing factor. Oh cub..."

"It's okay. I'm okay now."

"That's good to hear. Hey Strange, you don't happen to have a pack of cards or something do you?" Quill asks from behind the doctor.

Stephen turns his head and glares at Starlord. "Oh yes, I always carry a deck on my person."  Stephen says. His words dripping heavily with sarcasm.

"Wow...you are the nicer asshole." Quill says as he walks away to rejoin his teammates and Stephen returns his attention to the teen who tiredly rests his head against the sorcerer's chest.

"Is it normal to be tired?" Peter mumbles.

"It's to be expected. We may not need food and water but we will still need rest."

Stephen moves to his feet and Peter sluggishly stumbles to his own so the doctor can lead him and the space team toward the ruins. Once there, Stephen pulls Levi off of his shoulders and folds up the cloak to place under Peter's head when the boy lays back down again. With a sleepy thanks, the teen falls asleep and Stephen leans against the wall next to him.

Levi was heavier than usual on his shoulders, and he came to the conclusion that magic didn't work in the soul realm. He tested it out just in case and nothing had happened. Not a single spark. The all powerful Sorcerer Supreme was powerless and even though that frightened him, he wouldn't let it show. He still knew martial arts and he would use that in the small chance there was danger in the soul realm. Peter may be able to fend for himself, but that wouldn't stop Stephen from protecting him.

"Please don't touch him." The sorcerer says when Drax crouches down.

Of course Drax ignored the sorcerer so Stephen gave him a more physical warning by sending him backwards with a kick to his bare chest. When the buffer man stands and fixes the doctor with a glare, Stephen returns it tenfold with a Mama Bear glare and the entirety of the space team back away to another part of the ruins, leaving the Sorcerer to sit down beside the slumbering teen. He gently strokes brown curls as he loses himself in his thoughts, and is only briefly interrupted when Peter wakes long enough to lay his head in Stephen's lap and use the cloak as a blanket. He dropped back off to sleep once he got comfortable again and it made Stephen smile down at him fondly. When Peter asked if Diana had been snapped as well, Stephen really had no idea. All of those futures he saw never showed him his daughter and he had to assume it was because he never looked past the moment they would win the battle against Thanos. Granted, it probably should have shown if Tony was alone or not but it never did. 

He really hoped she survived. For all he knew, she was somewhere here in the soul realm, all alone, scared and crying--no. No. Stephen shakes his head and pushes down his Mama Bear side. It wouldn't help to stress himself out about something he had no evidence of. She could be alive and well, but Peter was here with him right now. Right now, Peter was more important.

"You think Dia will take over the photo album?" Peter asks quietly.

Stephen blinks at the unexpected words. "I thought you were sleeping?"

"Ground isn't very comfortable. I'm not tired enough not to care yet." Peter sits up and frowns when the cloak pools around his waist, and Stephen crosses his legs.

"Need something to do?"

"I spy something orange." Peter says blandly and the sorcerer chuckles before showing the boy a pack of cards he seemingly pulled from nowhere. "You actually have cards?!"

Peter takes the deck with both excitement and amusement and essentially lays across Stephen's lap to play a game of solitaire on the ground while the sorcerer meditated. It didn't take long for Quill and his two friends to notice Peter's new entertainment though so he resorted to relaxing when the other three joined Peter for card games. After berating the sorcerer for lying of course, but Stephen ignored him. Stephen knew they wouldn't be there for long, but he couldn't say anything for fear of messing up their winning timeline.

While they played cards, Stephen waited. He waited for the moment they would return and it came when he saw a flutter from the corner of his cloak. With a concealed gesture to test his magic again, he gathers all the cards, much to the surprise of the others, and returns them to their box before pocketing the deck. They quickly realized what was going on when Mantis turned to dust again, and Peter jumped to his feet in terror. Stephen stands calmly as the other men turn to dust as well, and gently grabs the teen's shoulders.

"It's okay."

The fear only went away slightly but Stephen understood why. Peter was now afraid of going through the pain again. To the sorcerer's minor relief though, Peter went first, and god he had a glimpse of what Tony must have gone through because it was awful to watch. He knew Peter would be okay, but that was going to be temporary since they were jumping straight into battle.

When Stephen dusted back to reality, he made sure the people with him knew what they were in for before he portaled them to the battlefield. Peter had found Tony first, and of course they ignored everything going on around them so the engineer could pull the boy into a crushing hug. Then, after they parted and returned to the battle, came Stephen's turn. Tony just landed in front of him, grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss before even thinking of asking if this battle was the win the sorcerer supreme saw.

"If I tell you, it won't happen."

Tony scoffs with a slight grin. "Welcome back anyway asshole."

Then he flew off again and the battle was their main focus. Peter got overwhelmed by Thanos's army, getting beat up until Steve helped him, Stephen focused his energy on keeping the water at bay, and Tony tried to be everywhere at once.

When Carol got hold of the Stark gauntlet, the engineer managed to pilfer the infinity stones off of the titan's gauntlet and get them to her. Then she snapped.

Thanos and his army turned to dust.

The Avengers could finally breathe.

When they were sure that the battle was truly over and they had everyone back, they went home. Battered and beaten, but alive and victorious.

Except Tony stopped Stephen when he started to open a portal to the tower. Instead he showed him a picture of a lake house, and the sorcerer lifts a brow before silently opening a portal to the lake house. All three heroes step through (Tony first) as their suits recede away from their bodies, into their bracelets and arc reactor, and tiredly make their way closer.

At least until a small body came peeling out of the house and jumped straight into Stephen's arms. He only managed to catch the body by instinct because of Peter's past shenanigans. Namely when he told Ned and MJ that Stephen would drop everything to catch him and proceeded to prove it to them

The sorcerer had made him clean up the broken mug and the spilled tea, but Peter grinned and said it was worth it.

When Stephen eventually looked down at his new burden, he was almost positive his eyes had bugged out of his head. A little girl with long brown curls and bright blue eyes smiled up at him and he knew in an instant who was holding. "D-Diana?"

Tony hides a pained wince with a grin when Peter stared at his sister. "Don't tell me you didn't see her in your millions of timelines, Stephanie." When his husband only continues to look at their daughter with his eyes misting over, Tony's smile falls. "You didn't?"

Stephen shakes his head and hugs Diana tightly, reaching out for just a second to pull Peter in and to look up at Tony. The billionaire understands immediately and steps forward into the family hug. They all stood there for a few minutes, basking in their whole family again, even if it was only a couple of days for Stephen and Peter. It was five for Tony, and a literal lifetime for Diana who soon grew restless and moved her head away from Stephen's neck to look at Peter.

"Peter?" She asks carefully.

The teen sniffs and wipes his eyes. "Yeah Dia?"

"Can you make me a web swing? Daddy said you made them for me when I was a baby."

Peter laughs and snatches the little girl from Stephen's arms and carries her like a football over to the nearest sturdy looking tree. "I'll do you one better! We'll make a web trampoline!"

Tony chuckles as the two kids move out of earshot. "So...your turn. You get the next five years."

Stephen chuckles. "Douchebag."

The engineer smiles and pulls the younger into a kiss. "I missed you Mama Bear."

"...who pulled you out of your slump? Don't try to deny it."

Tony groans. "Thumbelina....through a photo album and our princess."

Stephen smiles softly. "Who you raised well by the way."

"Yeah. I think I did ok. She's still alive."

Both men look toward their children when Diana squeals as she jumps on the web trampoline that Peter made between the side of the house and a couple of trees. The teen himself was, to their surprise, not bouncing but sitting in the middle of the web and watching his little sister. It didn't take much examination on their part to realize that Peter was exhausted, but desperately wanted to humor Diana so didn't complain.

Tony figured it was time to step in. "Dia! Let's leave the trampoline for tomorrow! We're all tired from saving the world! Especially Mommy and Peter. They technically haven't slept in five years."

Peter gives his father a grateful look and once Diana nods and gets off the large web with Peter's help, the family goes inside, eats a quick dinner, and all cuddle up in the master bedroom with a Disney movie on. Only this time, Diana clung to Stephen and Peter to Tony. The three males fell asleep within minutes, and Diana quietly finished the movie, asked FRIDAY to turn everything off afterwards, and fell asleep herself.

Comfortably snuggled between Stephen and Peter.

[mossflowermouse]

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been reading ‘When Christ and His Saints Slept’ by Sharon Penman, writing my thoughts down as I went. Currently writing a proper review of the book as a whole, but for now I’m posting those original bullet-point reactions. It got kind of long so this is part one of three. I’ve also gone back through and divided things up by chapter, because otherwise it’ll get really confusing. 

Below the cut, the civil war begins, everyone is picking sides (but not necessarily staying where they first choose), and I am emotional about the mess this has very quickly become for everyone involved.

Did a bit of reading up on this period – for historical fiction, I like to know more or less what will be covered, especially for Penman books since there's such close attention to detail (also because it can lead to some lovely dramatic irony, knowing how things will play out, and I don’t think of it as spoilers in the same way as other fiction). I’m now aware of the broad strokes – bits of the family tree, the ship sinking, some of the key events during the Anarchy. Also thanks to that one Horrible Histories song, I know Stephen becomes king but Maude is never crowned queen, and her son Henry succeeds Stephen.

I’ve read one other book by this author, ‘The Sunne in Splendour’, but fully expect this to be a completely different experience – I’d spent months studying and reading up on the Wars of the Roses before that, whereas here all the knowledge I have is from like half an hour of Googling, the family tree in the front of the book, things from a few Tumblr posts, and some other faintly-remembered facts about the earliest Plantagenets. I’m really looking forward to it, though, and fully expect to be destroyed with family drama, incredible historical accuracy, and the heartbreak of getting attached to these people while knowing the inevitable conclusion. Here goes.

Chapter I:

Oh no Stephen's got so many relatives on the White Ship 

William’s giving me Edmund of Rutland déjà vu – there seems to be a running theme of Penman’s books opening with the death of a 17-year-old noble sibling of one of the main characters. 

Oh no I got attached to William 

(HOW did I get attached to William, he was alive for like five pages)

Just finished reading the sinking of the White Ship, decided to research it a bit more. I really ought to stop being surprised by how much of the stuff in Penman's novels is real – in this case, Berold as the sole survivor and William's attempt to go back for his sister were the details I'd wondered about. In conclusion: already hooked.

[then I forgot to write anything for a while because the book was too gripping]

Chapter IV:

Ranulf is fairly prominent in these chapters - according to the character list, he seems to be the only notable fictional character. When reading The Sunne in Splendour, I didn't find out Veronique was made up until the author's note at the end, so comparing the experience of reading about those two will be interesting. I like him though. 

Note to self: look into William Rufus' death - Stephen and Ranulf's conversation about how Ranulf’s father took the throne has me intrigued.

Chapter V:

First impression of Geoffrey was that he was awful; a hundred pages in and he's done nothing to really change that. Currently resisting the temptation to Google and find out how much longer the characters and I have to deal with him.

I know Maude's not going to get the throne and it's making me sad because of her line about freedom. 

And then listing the people she trusts and Stephen's one of them...oh you poor dysfunctional family. And the worst part is, it really doesn't seem like he's going to take the throne for his own gain - he's going to think it's for the best for all of them and he cares about Maude and all their siblings and cousins will have to choose sides :(

And there it is.

Chapters VI and VII:

Stephen: what other choice does Maude have but to accept my kingship? ...well, according to Wikipedia, wage war against you for twenty years, Stephen.

Oh god even Robert's accepted Stephen as king, I was expecting him to side with Maude. He doesn't seem happy with it, though - maybe a change of heart later on? 

Ranulf's the only one so far who definitely seems to be on Maude's side.

Okay, yeah, less than half a page later and Robert's already explaining that his loyalty to Stephen is largely a waiting game.

Ranulf's going to get himself killed with his recklessness and open loyalty to Maude isn't he. And I can't even look him up to know for sure and prepare myself because he's fictional. Why. 

Oh no and Amabel just mentioned he's seventeen, that's absolutely a death flag as far as Penman characters are concerned (William in this one, Edmund of Rutland and Edouard of Westminster in TSiS come to mind).

Amabel's like "well what does Ranulf have to lose by supporting Maude" and while Robert replies by talking about his betrothal, I'm suddenly very worried that the real answer is "his life"

(Also, I appreciate that much of the book up to this point has been dedicated to the bonds between family members who will soon be on opposite sides of a civil war. This is going to hurt, but I do like being invested in characters.)

Annora :(

Awww, Maude and Ranulf (and poor Ranulf's looking back on his memories of Stephen)

First mention of Eleanor of Aquitaine!

Ugh, Geoffrey.

UGH, GEOFFREY

And first mention of William de Ypres!

Ranulf is still so optimistic and he's going to get his heart broken. 

And Ancel says Annora's married. Yup, I suspected she might not be as willing to wait as Ranulf, given the circumstances.

Hmm, Stephen's having difficulty with his court. 

Any reference to Robert as 'Gloucester' is making me instinctively like him more after TSiS. (Also, even besides that, the king's relative Gloucester being one of the most powerful nobles is something that keeps cropping up in medieval England. Although Robert's the Earl rather than Duke like later ones)

Chapters VIII and IX:

Robert and Amabel have decided to support Maude! Yes! Now I'm wondering if this will be permanent, though, because there's still 750 pages and like fifteen years of civil war to go. Something other than Geoffrey is going to have to go wrong for Maude for the war to continue that long, because Stephen's really not doing well here.

More traitors in Stephen's court (Miles and Brien) - I wasn't sure at first if it was just unfounded suspicion from Stephen and the other barons, but yeah, it seems they're loyal to Maude.

Matilda's taking a much more active role in the war - first the Dover siege, now the treaty with David of Scotland. I'm enjoying seeing her grow in confidence and discover what she’s able to achieve. Maybe it's not that things will go wrong for Maude, but instead a case of things starting to go right for Stephen and Matilda's side.

Meanwhile, Stephen's being peer pressured into becoming a harsher ruler (well, it's more that several of the nobles are pretty much ruling though him. And the Beaumonts aren't happy about Matilda's influence. Please give me all the court drama, this is good.)

(Also I keep reading Beaumont as Beaufort. The vague similarities between them don’t help. Noble family with even more questionable ambitions than the average noble family and whatnot)

u g h 

Poor Henry's having quite the turbulent childhood (though both Maude and Geoffrey love him, so at least there's that. Honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from Geoffrey, relieved he’s apparently a decent father. But considering everything else, the bar really is on the floor here.)

Maude, Robert, Ranulf and Rainald are so good. I've always got a soft spot for siblings who band together in a crisis (and because of TSIS, can't help but draw vague parallels between this lot and the later Plantagenet siblings)

Awww, Uncle Ranulf with Maude's kids 

Adeliza's offering to let them land at Arundel Castle - based on what's been said about the situation in England (and Maude's main difficulty being the crossing from Normandy, with nowhere to land safely), this could really be a turning point!

Chapter X:

Just met Adeliza and I like her already.

Robert and Amabel's farewell has me concerned that something's going to happen to one of them

Well that went wrong quickly (they arrived at Arundel Castle a week ago and Stephen's already besieging it)

...wait, how did Stephen find out they're here so quickly? (Possibilities I can think of: Robert was discovered en route to Bristol (please no), there's a spy somewhere in the castle, Adeliza and Stephen had this planned all along (would also be upsetting, I like the glimpse we've had of her friendship with Maude))

Okay, so it's not Adeliza. That's good. I'm worried about Robert though.

"His barons seemed to take turns standing as sentinels between Stephen and his better instincts." This is such a good line and it really sums up my thoughts on Stephen's position right now.

Aw, Stephen's still fond of Maude. I can't decide whether this is more heartwarming or tragic.

“...it was only when he was on his way back to the castle that the significance of the Bishop’s words penetrated. Stephen’s allies made a point of referring to Maude by the title she herself detested: Countess of Anjou. Her own supporters accorded her the rank she much preferred, that of empress. And so, Ranulf finally realized, had the Bishop.” wait what

So does this mean Henry's going to defect or????

I knew he was angry with Stephen about not becoming Archbishop but still. Maybe he's just being petty and this isn't a sign of an actual betrayal.

Robert :)

And Miles and Brien are openly supporting Maude!

...aaand time for war. And there's the chronicle the title's from!

[stark-raving-strange]

Slight of hands

This is a fill for a prompt by the lovely Amethyst-Noir

from this post

Hope it fills the bill!

Read on AO3 here

The first time Tony notices it, he lets it go.  The inscrutable Doctor Strange must have been too distracted to tend to the more mundane things of daily living.

They had been on an inter dimensional mission for over a day.  Was it just a day?.  Maybe just very long day.  They had returned to the Sanctum exhausted and hungry.  Well at least Tony was hungry. Famished  totally!

When the Italian pasta-a-plenty take out order had finally arrived Tony had quickly spread it out on the table grabbed a plastic fork and tucked in with single minded purpose.

Stephen had looked at the food with a blank expression before  assuming a meditative state  legs crossed, hovering near the table and hands resting together in his lap, (in what  Tony was told was the  Dhyana Mudra position).  Tony could see that  those hands were shaking quite noticeably despite the supportive hand positioning.  Stephen didn’t seem to be concerned at all and Tony continued eating in the companionable silence.

Stephen never did eat, not while tony was there anyway.

Following that evening, Tony started to think about Stephen and how many times he had actually seen him eat something more complicated than a donut.     He realized that it was not often.  Almost never to be honest.

Yes, there had been the occasional slice of pizza on movie nights, and popcorn maybe but beyond that he had to really scrape for any memory of food making it into Stephen’s mouth while anyone was around. Now, in retrospect Tony could  see the obvious pattern.  He had never once seen Stephen with a fork or a spoon in his hands. Stephen’s hands, of course, were at the center of it all.  Those amazingly magically adept hands that could pull miracles from thin air. Those heartbreakingly damaged, fragile and  constantly shaking hands.   Tony chided himself for not having noticed sooner.

Tony liked to think that he had come to know Stephen pretty well over the last year.   They had been through some world saving shit situations as well as minor conflicts of varied degrees. Some situations even absurdly humorous on occasion.   They worked surprisingly well as a team, despite their obvious similarities in what others had termed  “their huge dueling narcissistic egos”. That was somewhat true but neither in all honesty were actual narcissists.  They were undeniably top notch brains and could be arrogant at times. Sure.  They had also both been through significant amounts of life changing trauma. Admittedly, they were both snarky bastards but yet  they both undeniably cared for others over themselves.  They also both  shared a mile wide stubborn streak as well as  the bone deep need to be seen as in control and competent. Tony liked to think he understood where Strange was coming from. So Tony tried to place himself in Stephen’s position and with sudden clarity he  saw the heart of the problem.

He knew that confronting Stephen on the issue would just cause the sorcerer to withdraw and that was unacceptable.  Tony had become increasingly fond of the good Doctor.   Fond and maybe something a bit stronger. Maybe a lot stronger.  He needed the man to be around. Period.  

Tony also needed to make sure Stephen was well and taken care of.  The sorcerer could not afford to miss meals. He was already lean enough. Tony constantly had the compelling urge to feed him up.  He would gladly do it.  The problem that remained was how to go about taking care of the wizard without being completely obvious about it. He doubted Stephen would accept an offer to let Tony spoon feed him.   Though the thought of that being allowed to do that  caused a place in Tony’s chest get quite warm and shivery..  

Tony shook it off for the moment.  Focus Stark, focus.  So how to make a man who is super self conscious about appearing inept let himself be assisted with a simple task like eating.  A proud man who is apparently hyper aware of the potential discomfort and possible embarrassment that might come from trying to eat food in the traditional utensil bearing ways, when others could see. Tony could not force Stephen to change his behavior but Tony could alter his own and level the playing field a bit..

The next group night at the Avengers compound included dinner.  Tony had arranged a surprise meal made up of multicultural food items that by tradition demanded they eaten by hand.  There was not an eating utensils in sight.  He announced the night as  F’* OFF night  (or the Fingers only Food Foray...some such foolery).  He thought it was pretty amusing.

“Ok heroes this is a communal sharing feast so hope everyone washed your hands first,” Tony pointed to Peter  who was caught in mid reach for the stack of spring rolls. “You know that includes you too Underoos.” Peter’s  gasped indignation “Dude I did wash them, gross!.”  caused chuckles around the table. Tony smirked and continued “And for the vegetarians the green plated items are for you and the rest are for us omnivores.”

Stephen had taken his usual seat and smiled a pleased little smile  at the large  number of  green plates surrounding him. Tony noticed and again that odd warm feeling in his chest bloomed and thrummed.

The whole meal was fun.  No one thought twice about the whole thing.  Tony watched Stephen all through the night trying to not be  too obvious.   Stephen seemed to hesitate at the start but Tony smiled inwardly as the man reached out with trembling hands to retrieve a  stuffed mushroom and, with little effort in managing the shaking, was able to  pop it into his mouth.

Throughout the meal he spied Stephen eating more than he had ever seen him eat before.  The general good mood around the table was lovely.  Toward the end of the meal his really bad attempts at careful spying were noticed and he found himself smiling back  at Stephen’s thoughtful look.

Tony nodded and raised an empanada to him before taking a healthy bite.  Strange also nodded and lifted a small slice of bruschetta in salute.

From that night on Tony made sure the compound’s fridge was stocked with foods acceptably eaten by hand.  

When getting take out, it always included a majority of foods that were traditionally finger foods.

Tony liked to think that Stephen’s face was a little less gaunt these days and that those cheekbones were a little less sharp. The thought of Stephen being more comfortable eating around him was extremely pleasant.  The thought of Stephen maybe  trusting him was more than pleasant.   The thought of Stephen was just pleasant all around. If he were being honest.

Stephen had noticed the change.  Of course he had.  He was a brilliant and observant man.  Tony could often see the questions hovering behind those silver blue eyes but nothing about the new eating routine had been brought up or addressed.

Until it was.

It had been a long week and Tony found himself again at the Sanctum with Strange eating takeout.  It was from his favorite Iberian restaurant.

Stephen sat across from him and looked at the different foods all but one dish did not require a utensil to eat.  He suddenly frowned and looked up at Tony.

“I do appreciate what you have been doing, and please don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

“Don’t know whatcha talking about Houdini.”   Tony dipped his patata brava in the dipping sauce and took an exaggerated relishing bite.

Stephen sighed.  “Tony.  Just because my hands are shit at using forks and spoons doesn't mean that you have to give up on all non -finger foods.  I can deal with it,  I’m not a total pity case, I do manage to feed myself on a regular basis.“ There was no heat to Stephen’s words, only a quiet sad resignation.

“Hold on there right now!” Tony swallowed and looked up to meet Stephen’s gaze soberly.  “You, Doctor Stephen Vincent  Strange are definitely not a pity case or any foolish variation on that ridiculous notion.  I would never even joke about something like that.  You are one of the most powerful people I know if not the most powerful.  And I would hope that you know that  I have nothing but immense respect for you.”

Stephen straightened up with surprise at the sudden frank sincerity from the other man.

Tony gave Stephen a moment to let that sink in and then continued, “That being said, I think you are a bit of an idiot to feel embarrassed that your food might shake a bit while it on its way to your pie hole.” Tony gestured agitatedly at the table top.  “Damn it!  No one is judging you on your dining skills and you know what?  Fuck them if they are!   They would be the assholes then!”  

Stephen’s eyebrows raised at the force of that statement   “Tony-”

“No I'm serious Steph, you cannot neglect yourself out of some fear of looking weak in front of others, or at east you can’t and shouldn’t do that when it's just the two of us.”

“I don't-”

“No! Stop right there!  You cannot deny that you have gone hungry instead of eating in front of me.   I am saying it right now, clearly,  so there is no ambiguity.   I will not tolerate that behavior anymore.  I just can't.  I care about you Stephen, and  I trust you with my life.  I need you to  at least trust me with your fears of being seen as having a physical deficit.”   Tony took a deep breath trying to steady his suddenly volatile emotions.

Stephen now looked like a deer caught in the headlights.  If Tony hadn't been so worked up he might have laughed at the sight.

“I,”  Stephen started then seemed to try to gather his thoughts.  “I'm sorry Tony. You are right. I never meant to be that way especially toward you, please believe that.” he paused and sighed.   “My hands, or my loss of efficiency with them…”  He folded his hands on the tabletop. “ It’s complicated.”   He breathed out a huff of frustration.. “After the accident, It took me a very long time to come to terms with the fact that I was not ever  going to get them back, not they way it was before anyway.  Even when I had the means through magic to fix them, it was not going to happen and I knew it when I made the decision to continue to use magic instead.” “The frequent lack of control has been, yes, embarrassing.  I know that it is ridiculous and based in foolish pride but I have not been able to shake it.  Letting people see me struggle with a fork full of pata of all things  feels so humiliating.  I know it shouldn’t but it seems to be one of the last vestiges of my old ego that I have been unable to rise above.  I am sorry.  You have done nothing but try to make things more comfortable for me and I have been a jerk.’’

Tony reached slowly across the table and rested his hand upon Stephen's folded ones. They both were quiet each man focusing on the hands resting together.

“Look, I get it, I really do”.  Tony said quietly as he stroked Stephen’s   tremorous hands with his thumb, quietly noting the  feeling the raised scars and protrusions of the metal pins beneath the surface. Tony wished he could fix them.  “I just-, I want you to know that you don’t have to be afraid appearing ‘anything’ in front of me. I want the true you at all times.  The pretty and the not so pretty.” Tony smiled an almost sad smile.  “Honestly you know me, most days  I am a walking hot mess, and I absolutely do not fear that you will judge me for it. Or hold it against me.”  

Stephens head snapped up to look fiercely at tony. “I would never!”

“There it is, but I need to know this goes both ways.  I need to know that you think better of me than to think i would ever see you as somehow less than you are.’

Stephen moved one hand and brought it up to cover Tony’s and he cleared his throat suddenly tight with emotion.   “I do trust you tony.  I mean that without any reservation or hesitation.  I'm sorry if I made that a question or doubt for you.”

They sat there quietly for some time as they each seemed to need time to adjust to and acknowledge this sudden shift in their relationship.

Stephen was the first to break the silence and make a move. “ I think I would like to try some of that.”  he pointed to the one container of food that actually required a utensil for eating it.

Tony smiled sagely. ”Aah the   Zanahorias Aliñadas, marinated carrots,  fine choice Senor.”.       He pause slightly when a fork magically appeared in the container.   “Well there you go!  he handed it to Stephen.

Stephen smiled a small thank you and carefully held the container up and grasped the fork in his hand.  Tony casually ate another patata and spoke about admiringly of the place in Madrid that he loved to go for the real thing, as Stephen carefully and with concentration speared a carrot and brought it slowly and shakily but successfully  to his mouth.

He placed the container down as he chewed listening to Tony talk happily about tapas.

Two weeks later at 7:12 AM, Stephen stumbled through a portal  into Tony’s workshop.  He promptly collapsed in a heap the Cloak only prevented him not hitting the floor full force.

Tony was at his side in a flash lifting him up and carrying his limp form to  the nearby couch.

Stephen groaned and opened his eyes to see Tony.  “Hey” he said in a hoarse grunt.

“Hey you alright there?  What do you need?”  Tony glanced over his body, but saw no apparent injuries  “FRIDAY scan him what’s going on with our man here?”

“Already on it Boss,”  the AI responded and continued after a moment,.”Doctor Strange is stable, no notable injuries present, all functions appear in acceptable parameters but he is showing signs of physical exhaustion.  His blood sugar level is quite low and he is suffering from a moderate level dehydration.”

“Got it! Juice it is!”  Tony rushed to the fridge and poured a large mug of orange juice and made his way back to the sorcerer’s side in seconds. “Up you go magic man.” He helped the still groggy Stephen to sit up and positioned him to be supported by the arm of the couch.

“Ok, Stephen focus time, you need to drink this sweetheart!” Stephen looked up in surprise at the term of endearment and  smiled woozily in amusement.

“Oh shut up and drink!”   Tony rolled his eyes.  Then Tony faltered, suddenly unsure about how to present the cup, as Stephen’s hands were obviously shaking wildly with the poor state of his body. He hesitated both hands wrapped around the cup as he held it toward Stephen. Fortunately the decision was made for him. Stephen had reached out with both of his trembling hands and  grasped   Tony’s steady hands still around the cup and together they worked to stabilize and bring the cup to Stephen’s lips.

Tony was intent on making sure that the trembling hands were fully supported and that Stephen could drink easily

Tony was acutely aware of the privilege he was being granted.  And the level of trust and intimacy was sobering as well as elating.   They proceeded slowly and Stephen was able to finish the drink and tony took the mug and placed it aside.

He turned to meet Stephen’s eyes and they did not speak for a moment.

“Thank you,”   they both said in unison. But for different reasons.

Their exchanged smiles were radiant.

The unexpected but mutually initiated press of lips that followed,  was incandescent.

[ironstrange-is-the-endgame]

Tony Stark’s secret husband

read it on ao3

It’s not like they wanted to keep the secret, because they didn’t. They never spoke about going public with their wedding, and nobody but for tabloids ever asked either Stark or Stephen about their romantic lives so, again, Tony wouldn’t blame either himself or Stephen for keeping it between the two of them. 

It all started shortly after the battle of New York when Tony invited Bruce in Malibu to work on the data they took from the scepter and that they managed to save. “Is it that the Pollock Christie’s sold for ass-million dollars the last week?” Bruce asked him, because, of course, the man noticed the painting in the huge living room. Tony left it momentarily against Stephen’s piano because he still had to look for a place where to hang it, so he didn’t expect for Bruce or anyone who crossed his door not to notice it. “I didn’t know you were into action painting.” “I’m into everything, Brucie,” Tony said, smiling at him while on his way down to the workshop. “And while I prefer Boccioni, I really like Pollock and that’s a present.” Bruce jogged the few stairs that divided him from Tony. “And who is this from?” The man had never been too much curious about his life, so Tony suspected his intent was to make some conversation before going back to work. “Husband.” He just said, summoning a holographic project, and enjoying Bruce’s surprised expression for a while. “Husb… I didn’t know you were married,” Bruce’s surprise was honest, and Tony flashed him a sort of apologetic smile. “Yeah, I'd been in the last couple of years, by now. We preferred keeping it silent, though,” And, actually, they both were still surprised they managed to. Not that he was going to complain anytime soon. The truth was that Tony really loved Stephen and didn’t want the press between them, or paparazzi, or whatever.

—

Tony was trying to pay attention to whatever the holographic projection of the Secretary of State was saying, when his PA’s voice filled his office, bringing Nat to roll her eyes at the ceiling. He had no idea why the spy was there, she entered and smiled at him while he was halfway into the meeting, and when he silenced the Secretary’s boring voice to ask her why she was there, Nat turned the audio on again. Now, the Black Widow was looking at her mobile phone pretending not to pay attention to what they were saying. Tony envied her for not having a webcam on her while he pushed the

Interphone button. “Boss, there’s someone for you in the lobby.”

Stark nodded, even if he wasn’t sure about who might show up in the middle of a meeting. The first name that came in his mind was Rhodey’s, but he knew about that meeting and was the person who convinced his best friend to take part to it. “Who’s there?” He asked, reminding a moment later of what day that was. “Don’t answer, I think I know. Jarvis, did I forget my anniversary again?” “I wouldn’t say to forget, boss, I reserved a table in the restaurant where you had your first date, and the jet is ready,” The AI answered, and a part of Tony knew he pleaded him to do so the year before when he, indeed, spent the whole day in his workshop, forgetting entirely about his amazing husband. That, anyway, seemed enough for Nat to going back with her full attention to Tony, a questioning glance in her jade eyes.

“Speaking with you all is terribly funny, but I have to go. Agent Romanoff will update me tomorrow,” He said, to the men he was pretending to listen to, and he could feel goosebumps against his skin thank you so much to Nat’s murderous glances. Her fault for being around the anniversary of the day he married Stephen.

—

Tony looked at Bruce and Nat flirting nearby the bar while the music was blasting in the main room of his Penthouse. He smiled seeing Bruce checks turning a darker shade before going back speaking with Thor.His eyes were looking for someone else in the crowd even if Stephen texted him that he couldn’t make for the party because someone asked for his consultancy at the hospital.

“So, will we meet this famous husband of yours, tonight?” Thor asked him, smashing his huge hand against Tony’s shoulder and fuck, the man really needed to understand that humans were made of bones which weren’t made to bear the strength of a god.

He shook his head and brought the flute from which he was drinking again at his lips. All of the Avengers knew about Tony’s mysterious husband, by now, but none of them ever met him, which turned a god, a super soldier, two assassins and a man with poor angry control into a mass of curious teenagers. They also started to try to picture how Stephen could possibly look like which was the funniest thing ever to speak with both the doctor and Rhodey.

“I don’t think, he wanted to come, but he had an emergency at work,” Thor nodded, and then Tony decided to ask him about his girlfriend, just to change the subject and not give too many details about Stephen to the Asgardian.

It was funny, see the five of them trying to understand what kind of man could keep up with Tony Stark and listen to their hypothesis from time to time. What everyone agreed on, was that Tony’s spouse was rich and busy as fuck, which, according to Nat, that meant, he was probably some random billionaire which whom Stark co-worked. In the end, she gave up looking through that list. All of them were either too old, their marriages were public or both.

Clint tried to steal his mobile phone to track Stephen’s number, but he didn’t get further than unlock the thing. Anyway, Tony appreciated the effort.

The party was almost over when the doors of the elevator opened revealing Stephen and Christine. Both of them looked like they went through a tough night shift and Tony knew that it was possibly what happened to them. With a smile, he went straight to gather them. He could feel the, by now, almost empty room go silent for an instant and smirked the moment he heard Rhodey’s voice trying to keep everyone’s attention away from Tony and the newcomers.

Stark flashed both with a smile and pretended they both were just friends. Stephen winked at him. It was a sort of game between them: see how long it would have taken to the Avengers to, at least, suspect about Stephen being Tony’s husband.

“Guys,” Tony said, reaching his friends seated around Thor’s hammer. “Doctor Christine Palmer and Doctor Stephen Strange. I think you know them all, but just in case, the one with the drumsticks is Hawkeye.”

Clint’s middle finger rose along with everyone else’s laughs. A moment later, both Christine and Stephen were speaking with Bruce — not that Tony expected nothing different in the first place, they all were nerds — before someone suggested to try if Thor was the only one worthy to lift Mjöllnir.

And yes, maybe Tony took his good time to look at Stephen’s ass when Rhodey, that fucking traitor, said that all of them had to try. Maybe Strange wasn’t worthy to lift the hammer, but he was giving a hell worth show while trying.

—

The last place in the world where Tony wanted to be, right now, was one of the conference rooms of the US embassy in Berlin, trying to put some reason his Steve Rogers’s mind. He should have been by his husband’s side, trying to be there for Stephen, trying to save him from the verge of alcoholism and bankruptcy.

He knew Christine was with him but the woman tended to be too soft with her best friend while she could actually roast everyone she wished to. She told him to go and save the world, and Tony was really grateful to have her in their lives. But this didn’t change the fact that speaking with Rogers was the last thing he wanted to do, even more knowing that he kept his secret about Aunt Peggy’s death. Tony understood it was just because Steve was suffering too much, but, right now, it felt as if the super soldier tried to deny Tony his time to mourn.

It was possibly stupid but Peggy’s death and almost losing Stephen in that car crash made his mind wander in places where it didn’t allow his mind to go in the last times. At least since he synthesized the element which allowed him to survive.

He could feel Steve’s cerulean eyes on him, and the last thing Tony wanted was to argue with the man. He didn’t care either, while he was still sure that the only way to get the army out of the picture was for them to sign that goddamned accords. They weren’t perfect but allowed them to have a word in the decisional process, and Tony was sure that he or Nat could push some buttons and have more freedom, with the time. Rogers didn’t want to hear anything about that.

“What’s wrong, Tony?” Steve asked him, seating at the other side of the table. Tony knew they should speak about the Accords, but he wasn’t so eager to do that, and it seemed like Steve understood that.

He ran a hand between his hair and shook his head. “I just want to finish this shit and go back in the US.”

Steve nodded his eyes on Tony’s finger ring. “I’m sorry, about Peggy. I didn’t know you were close. I just really loved her, and I couldn’t think straight.”

Tony rose from the chair. Thinking about Peggy was too painful, at that moment. He clenched his hand while the other was on his eyes. “Just sign the Accords, Steve.”

He indicated to the pen case on the table and saw the moment Steve gave up and took one of the pens, a moment later, though, he asked him about Wanda. And, frankly, the girl who messed with his mind was the last person he wanted to speak about. He knew he couldn’t lie to Steve about that, but he also knew that the truth would have forced Tony not to leave German anytime soon.

He walked out of the room trying to suppress the urge to punch Steve and thanked his mobile which started to buzz in his pocket. Once he closed the call, though, he just wanted to destroy the thing: Christine and Stephen argued and he left, she tried to track him down but there was no news of him since he left New York and his mobile went offline. Tony knew he failed him. He promised Stephen he would have been at his side until his very last day and he left him when the doctor needed him the most. All of that for that stupid Accords and because of politics.

He tried to call Stephen again and simply pushed his head back against the wall at his backs. Nat found him there half an hour later.

“Tony? Are you fine?” She asked, receiving a shake of his head in return. He didn’t trust Natasha; he considered her as a friend but, at the same time, she was still a spy, and he couldn’t completely trust her. He needed to tell someone about Stephen, but he also knew he was better in keeping everything for himself, not to show the world what kind of shitty husband he was. He flashed Nat a smile which didn’t light his whiskey brown eyes and walked away. He had to speak with Ross and told him that Steve didn’t sign. He didn’t want to, but they both knew it was what Tony had to do.

—

Walking around the Penthouse was too painful because of all the memories of Stephen and him that Tony had of the place, so he moved at the Compound which was still too empty, but, at least, was a place were Stephen never spent his time.

Rhodey moved in as well, and even if Vision never had his own place, he was living there, and that was enough for Stark. Having people around him, to walk him out of the workshop or away from any screen on which he was trying to find where Stephen could have been.

Most of the times, that person was Vision, though that day was Rhodey.

“Tony, can you listen to me for a moment?” He asked him, the moment he walked inside the workshop. Stark had to keep himself from asking Friday why she let the man enter the room, but he also knew he was the one who gave his best friend the authorisation for that wing of the Compound.

He rose his eyes from the map of Stephen’s credit card latest movements and looked at Rhodes. “He is in New York,” He said, a hopeless whisper. “What if he had been there all this time? He’s avoiding me because I left when he needed me the most.”

“I think you should see this,” He answered, instead. Tony looked at the folder Jim was handling to him. He recognized Christine’s handwriting, and while he never blamed the woman for Stephen’s disappearing, it was the first time he hard of her in a long, long time. He opened the folder and took some pictures out of it, there were also papers written by the woman.

A glance to the words was enough for him to say that those were Stephen’s. Stephen who was asking for forgiveness, Stephen explaining to him what happened after the accident, Stephen telling him he loved him from the bottom of his heart.

And each of those words was piercing through his heart and remembering him how much he loved Stephen.

“Mr Stark, Mr Rhodes,” The voice reached him through every memory of Stephen kissed and words, while Peter entered the workshop which was starting to be too crowded. “Mr Stark, what’s wrong?”

He was too happy to lie to him. “My husband.” He just answered.

“Wow, he looks like a wizard,” Peter said, and Tony didn’t even pay attention to the pictures, too focused on Stephen’s words written in those letters. Now, looking at them without being mesmerized by his face, he could see that the kid was right: Stephen was dressed as a more fashionable Dumbledore.

—

Thanos was defeated, the Mad Titan, in the end, died, killed by the Avengers, all together, this time, and while Tony knew some things would have never gone back to normality between them all, they managed to win and to undo the Snap.

Bruce was at Tony’s side, helping him stand while his head felt so damned light, and the only thing Stark could do was waiting and see what would have happened after that he took Thanos’s glove which was now destroyed, burning his left hand.

The Stones were at his feet, and while he knew they must be secured sooner or later he couldn’t bear himself to do that right now, while everything in front of his dark eyes was blurred. Bruce’s holding tightened around his right arm. All of them were having a hard time to stay on their feet, but when Bucky’s silhouette appeared in front of them, Steve rushed to hug his friend. A moment later, also Sam, T’Challa, Wanda and a weird tree were standing in the middle of Times Square, along with a lot of people and aliens that the Snap made disappear into dust.

Tony’s eyes were flashing back and forth from Bruce’s face and then the people who were coming back until he felt a pair of arms around his waist. He didn’t need to look at the kid’s face to know who he was.

“Kid,” He said, and despite everything, despite the pain, despite his injuries and the tiredness of his entire body, despite the burning in his left arm, he felt alive for the first time in the past year or so. “You are here, you are fine!” He repeated. He wasn’t saying those words to Peter or, better, he was but was also aware of the fact that he was the one who needed them.

“I knew you could make it,” Someone else replied, and when Tony turned to meet the owner of that voice he knew he was smiling, despite everything. Stephen was there, in front of him, beautiful as the day of their wedding.

“Steph…” Tony said. He didn’t want their last conversation to be that sort of argument they had on the doughnut spaceship, and he would never forgive himself if those were the last words he shared with his husband, that and what he said a moment before the sorcerer tuned into dust.

Stephen nodded, steel blue eyes on Tony’s lips, and then he moved a step forward, closing the distance between them and kissing his husband madly.

“Oh, he must be the husband,” Clint said, receiving a small punch from Nat.

[iwritefanficsometimes]

Stephen Strange and the No Good Terrible Idea

Prompt: Tony taking care of Stephen after an interdimensional fight.

A/N: I don’t have the energy to write an interdimensional fight, so this is basically comfort with undepicted hurt. (Also, this is like, if Endgame rewound the timeline and everyone forgot it except Stephen and some others. So maybe Stephen knows Tony better than Tony knows Stephen.)

——

Tony expected the unexpected, it was in his job description, but he hadn’t expected a 6 foot tall wizard to collapse in his living room half dead and saying he didn’t actually need any help, just a place to lay low. Maybe he should have. He’d known about Strange coming onto the scene since dramatic fluctuations in cosmic energy had led him to a building in New York with a weird symbol containing wizards.

The portal closed before Tony could really freak out, so that was good. Stephen Strange bleeding all over his nice floors kind of canceled out that positive though.

“I know you’ve been watching the Sanctum, you know who I am. We’re under attack and I need somewhere to recover. I can’t go back to the Sanctum or they’ll find me. I just need a half hour on your couch.”

“You are covered in blood and weird green goo. You’re not going anywhere near my couch.”

Stephen groaned, and not in a good way. In a “might be dying” way.

Crap.

“Crap.” Tony enlisted FRIDAY to get some practicing doctors to their location as he tried to get a handle on Stephen’s injuries. “What happened, give me specifics. Is this green goo going to make me sprout extra legs if I touch it?”

Strange coughed a couple of times and, okay, that was a really wet cough and there was definitely a speck of blood on his lips from said cough. Gross. Okay.

“It won’t hurt you. Just don’t eat it and you’ll be fine.” Tony has no idea how a dying guy can be so sassy, but Tony also has no idea why said dying guy came to him for help, but those were investigations for another day.

“Damn. It looked really edible, you know, what with it being remnants from some kind of fight you haven’t given me any details about. I was really just gonna go for it.”

“I have internal injuries. Shut up and get some cloth to staunch the bleeding on the outside. I can’t afford to lose much more blood.”

Tony sighed and started unbuttoning his shirt, which had been halfway discarded already after a long day dealing with Stark Industries business. “For someone staining my mahogany floors with blood you sure are bossy.”

“If you’d prefer I stain your floor with my dead body then keep doing what you’re doing.”

Tony wrapped the sleeves of the around Stephen’s leg where the bleeding was worst and made a tourinquette. “Help is about three minutes out, can you make it till then?”

Stephen is quiet for a second then said, “Maybe. My mystical energy is more depleted than I thought. I can’t heal myself.”

Tony sucked his teeth. “Can you got to a hospital or is that too dangerous.”

“It’s really better I didn’t go outside.”

“Alright, med bay it is. Friday, get some staff here. Tell them the pay is triple overtime and it’s priority one.”

“On it Boss.”

“Great. Alright, Stephen, can you get up?”

“Not for long enough to get anywhere.”

Tony nodded and then looked around the room. “Alright, Friday, baby, how comfortable are you remote piloting an armor?”

“It should be well within my skill set, boss.”

“Great, get one down here and you and me will put Stephen on a couch and take him to medbay. By the time we get there the chopper should be here.”

“I thought I wasn’t allowed on your couch covered in green goo.” Stephen coughed and it was much uglier than the last one.

“Hush now, Wizard, the adults who aren’t bleeding internally are talking.”

“I’m technically only a few years old boss.”

“Hush, Friday, the humans are talking.”

Stephen huffed. “I’m sorry you have to deal with him.”

“He has certain admirable traits that make it worth the hassle.”

“Hey, rude!”

Stephen chuckled then coughed again. When it finally cleared he said, “hush, Tony, the rational people are talking.”

“Rude.” Tony grumbled as he and the armor pushed the couch closer to Stephen. “Alight, Fri, you get his legs and I’ll get him under the arms. Be as gentle as possible, watch the pressure sensors.”

“Sure thing.” She said as the armor took position in front of Stephen. Friday grasped his legs while Tony grabbed him under the arms and on three they lifted him onto the couch. Stephen groaned, but Tony had heard worse. They switched places to move the couch into the elevator, and by the time they arrived at the end bay Dr. Simmons was already prepping a station for surgery.

She took one look at the state of Strange and said, “I’m going to need at least two assistants.”

“They’re en route. I’m happy to assist how I can until they get here.”

“Alright, well you two move him to an operating table while I scrub in. Careful not to jostle him too much.”

“Define not too much.”

She glared back at him, “At all.”

Tony put his hands up in surrender and then gestured to Friday to take up her position at Strange’s feet. They put him on an operating table at the count of three and then talked them through getting Stepen hooked up to a heart monitor and a blood pressure cuff. Tony helped her finish getting ready and then stepped back to let the doctor do her work.

——

Four nurses in total responded to Tony’s distress call and 18 hours later Stephen Strange was no longer internally bleeding, was in possession of a dozen or so stitches and was very much alive, for which Tony received no gratitude.

“Where’s my sling ring?”

“The doctor had it removed for sanitary reasons, plus, your mystical reserves aren’t up to snuff yet, you shouldn’t be using it right now.”

“You don’t understand the fate of the universe-“

“Yeah yeah, sure. Wong filled me in. Nice guy. I stopped by the Sanctum to tell whoever was there what was up. He was here a few hours ago, he was hoping to see your astral form or something. I told him you were out cold, he didn’t listen.” Tony looked down at his watch, “he should be back in a couple more hours. Did you know that your Kamar Taj place gets an alert when someone breaks into the New York-“

“What about the fight! How did the fight go?” Stephen slammed his hand on the bed without thinking and winced at the pain of it.

“They won. Wong couldn’t find you so they were scouring the universe for you.”

“I put up a barrier to keep from being found with the last of my magic.”

“Yeah, he said something like that. So, why’d you come here?”

Stephen glared at Tony.

“That’s not an answer, magic man. I need concrete reasons, because see, your friend Wong said that there are three other places that you could have gone and you came here, to me. You, a doctor with doctor friends who could have helped you, came here, to an engineer without any certainty that I could or would help you, because we’ve never met. So what gives?”

“You’ve been spying on the Sanctum for months. You know who I am and you know how important I am. You wouldn’t have let me die.”

“It stands that I wouldn’t let anyone die that I could help, but you still chose to come here over going to an old doctor friend. So, I repeat. What gives?”

Stephen hesitated and Tony leaned back in his chair, watching and waiting. He was going to get a response if he had to drag it out of him. Finally Stephen sighed and rested his head all the way back. “Wong didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Never mind. Let’s just say you and I have had dealings in an alternate timeline. Maybe I don’t know you personally, but the you I’ve known has proved to be trustworthy. I was also banking on you having some technology you obviously haven’t developed yet, but I suppose this works too.”

Tony nods as he processes. “Alternate timeline?”

“Yes, where a giant purple maniac killed half the universe with the snap of his fingers. You changed the past to keep that future from coming to pass.”

“So no purple maniac.”

“No, you made sure of that.”

“And you helped me?”

“No.” Stephen stayed silent, but Tony had a feeling there was a lot more to the story than that. “I died with half the universe. I trusted you to take care of it, and you did.”

“If that timeline never came to pass, and you died, how do you know that I did anything?”

Stephen sighed again. “I looked into every possible future. And there were plenty of futures where you screwed up and everything went wrong, but there was one where you didn't. Where you and the remains of your team worked together to save the universe. And it worked. I saw it. If it hadn’t we wouldn’t be here.”

“Why don’t I remember that?”

“Because the version of you that existed in that timeline is gone. It’s complicated, how you avoided time paradoxes is beyond me, but you did. The only people who remember the alternate timelines are those who know enough about magic and time to look for it.”

“So you and Wong and your crew.”

“Basically.”

Now Tony sighed, “Okay, great. Well, since we’re apparently allies in an alternate timeline that never happened, why don’t you stay here and rest while I go anywhere else.”

“Tony.” Stephen called before Tony could get out the door. Tony paused against his better judgement. “That terrible fear you have, of what’s coming next, you’ve taken care of it already. It’s gone. It’s never coming. You beat it.”

“Yeah, after I let it win.”

“You can’t blame that on yourself.”

“Half the universe died.”

“The other half brought it back. You fixed it, Tony. You’re safe.”

Tony scoffed. Stephen tried to stop him from leaving again but Tony had had enough. It was too much to process. He needed some coffee.

Stephen sighed. Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea he’d ever had. He’d anticipated it going badly, but not this badly.

“You broke him.” Wong said from the door, take out in hand.

“Shut up, Wong.”

Wong didn’t shut up.

(AO3 link to come)

Prompt Me!

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Hold On Tight (7/?)

When Strange is called into the department, after you and Wong have finished your tea and your chat, he’s ready to be livid. He’s worked himself into a fine bluster but Wong cuts him off, “Stephen,” he says calmly, “You must respect the Archive. She’s a valuable asset to all of us. Even if she is still growing into her powers.” Stephen glares at you, “What business does a 21-year-old have being the source of all this?” he said gesturing at the manuscripts that you’d been making painstaking copies of. 

You laugh bitterly and Loki wants to reach for your hand but folds his together instead. “Well,” you say quietly, “It’s not as if I had any say in the matter, as you yourself pointed out in Greece.” Your eyes start to turn a pearlescent white and energy crackles slightly, book pages fluttering gently. “You will follow what I’ve asked,” you say your voice resonant. “You will do as I have instructed or you will not be permitted,” you say, “For the good of all. For the preservation of Ancient Knowledge, Wong has agreed to be responsible for you. If one tome goes missing, I have been given permission to take it back. By any means necessary. The preservation of this collection is my sacred duty given to my family by the goddess. I will not allow you to deter me from that task simply because you feel I am not fit. I am the Archive. I will not fail in my task.”

Stephen looks from you to Wong and sighs. “Fine, but I want my objections noted,” he said. “Write them down,” you say helpfully pushing a pen in his direction as your eyes turn back to their usual color and the energy disperses. Loki smirks and glances at Wong who is similarly quietly amused. Stephen stalks into the department, Wong gives you a wink and follows. He knows better than anyone that Strange has a lot to learn when it comes to manners in the Supernatural community. 

Loki bows slightly, “Will that be all?” he asks smoothly. You take a deep breath and exhale slowly, “Yes, thank you Loki.” The smile you give him is different today. Still kind but sweeter. Less professional and more personal. That pleases him and he’s still internally preening when he walks into his office. He sets his attention to the translation you gave him to do. A language not of Midgard and so out of your scope of knowledge, but he gets very little done. In his mind, he’s turning over the events of the night before. The passion and the desperate longing that he felt in you. At first, he had thought you frigid. A fussy academic with not desires. He’d thought it not surprising that you’d had a recent breakup and few romantic inclinations. But in the moments since, when he’s seen your passions aroused, angry or amorous, he knows better. Frigga would like you, he decides. She has a soft spot for broken baby birds and motherless children. Odin... Well, he thinks. It’s best if you do not fall into his hands. 

You bend your head over the vellum of the blank book you’re working in, carefully transcribing what you pull from your mind. It is an old spell book. Containing knowledge acquired by a Scottish Witch centuries ago. You can feel the magic. Her intents. She was a kind soul. So often, as you transcribe these old books, you feel a pang. She was long dead, killed in fire and agony for daring to defy the Catholic Church. Daring to heal with more than bloodletting and silly ineffective salves. You say a silent prayer to the Goddess for your gift and pray that in the afterlife, your actions bring this woman peace. That in some small way, this is justice served. Your mind cannot stray too far from the task at hand. It takes effort still to call forth what you want to record. You’re still learning how to focus in one individual piece of information in the constant influx of fluff and nonsense. 

Steve is writing a list of bands, Natasha is doing an equipment inventory, Bruce and Tony are recording data, Thor is writing a bawdy poem to amuse himself, Loki is translating, an intern is writing dirty texts to a receptionist... It never ends. You let it flow around you, pouring out the words of the Scottish Witch onto paper. Recording her pictures of plants as she had drawn them. To anyone else, it looks like you are asleep sitting up but for the movement of your hands. When Loki sticks his head in your office, at 3:30 when you still hadn’t brought him tea, he slips back out again quietly, unwilling to break your concentration. The serenity of it is rare. Often it is painful and you struggle to maintain any sort of focus for more than an hour or so. Wong sticks his head in the door shortly after to tell you that they are leaving and Stephen stops, staring. He’s never seen anything like this.

Your hands move with speed. Recording writing not your own as quickly as it comes to mind. The stack of Vellum under your free hand growing thicker by the minute. He wants to say it’s like watching a copier machine but somehow it isn’t that either. Your eyes are closed and your foot is tapping gently under the desk. He has questions but Wong merely gently moves him back and quietly shuts the door.

 Wong gestured him down the hall, “How?” Strange asked. Wong shrugged, “It is old magic, some of the oldest on Earth... Archives. Archives are a law unto themselves. When humanity first learned to write, to record events. They never considered those events might be lost. Until they were. So, magicians, wizards, gods... they compiled the sum total of all their knowledge. Compiled it and the goddess Seshat was tasked with finding one person to give it all to. She created the Archives when she gave the knowledge to her Daughter. The Archives are a living record of all that has been so that we might have a better future.” Stephen nodded, he’d heard all that before. But that did not explain how it worked. Or how you wielded so much power. 

Hours later when you had run out of things to write from your Scottish Witch, your eyes burned and your head ached. You needed to move. You stood slowly, rubbing the cramp from your hand with a groan and hobbled to the door, stiff from sitting in one position so long. You peek in Loki’s office with a soft smile, he’s still bent over his desk, translating. “Loki?” you ask softly. His head pops up, he’s ready to be irritated until he sees it’s you and his face softens a little, “Finally,” he grouses without any real heat, “You missed tea time, you know.” You wince, “Sorry,” you say, “I don’t really have a way to keep track of time when I’m that far in my head. Everything just kinda... stops.” Loki stands and rounds the desk, pulling you to him and kissing your forehead, “You’re back with me now, darling,” he said quietly. You look a little drained. Pale. Like you pushed too hard. Your lips are dry and too warm against his when he kisses you and your hands are clammy. He tuts gently, “I should have made you take a rest, and made you have tea with me.” 

You shake your head, “I just need a walk. Maybe some water. I’ll be okay.” He presses a cool hand to your neck and you lean into the touch. It was nice. Like walking into a cool room after a run in the heat. He frowns and tucks your hand into the crook of his elbow gently. He thought you needed a lie down in a dark room and several glasses of water. Possibly dinner and your hair played with until you relaxed. 

He walks with you and he’s pleased that the silence is companionable. Comfortable. You never do just want to fill the empty air with talk. Though, with the amount of “chatter” as you call it, in your head; the silence is probably more comfortable. In the commons, you help yourself to yogurt and some fruit before getting a glass of water and sitting at the table. Loki stays near you. He’d like to be touching you. Preferably while naked and making you say his name in bliss but he can be patient. For now. 

You seem better. Still pale and overtired but better. Loki goes to get his own snack and it isn’t until he turns at a small thud and flurry of movement, seeing you slumped over, blood flowing from your eyes and nose that he realizes things are not better. He cries out wordlessly and scoops you up, half running up to medical, cradling you as close to him as he can. Your body is burning, blazing hot. So hot you’re uncomfortable for him to even hold. He stammers out what happened in a panic as medical converges on him calmly. 

There’s surprisingly very little worry as they inject you with something to stop the bleeding and pack your body in ice to stop your brain from frying. Loki is pacing in the hall, still covered in your blood and trembling when Natasha comes around the corner, “You okay?” she asks him. “Do I look okay?” he snaps. She holds out a placating hand, “She’ll be okay,” the spy said calmly. Steve appears not long after, “What’d she do this time?” he asked. Natasha shook her head, “Probably just overwork. If it was a cursed book why’d have called in a witch.” Loki looks between them. You’re half dead and they’re treating this like another day at the office. “This has happened before?” he asked incredulously. Steve and Natasha both nod but it’s Natasha who speaks, “Not so much now but when she first became the Archive it was like once a week... The first time I saw it happen I was terrified. Just Mid conversation about School blood started pouring out of her face and she fell over onto the floor.” She shivered, “Coulson had to carry her. Neither Clint nor I could do it. We were shaking too hard.”

Loki watched as you started to come around slowly. “Fuck me, really?” he hears you say, “I liked this shirt.” Against his will, he snorted.