the end of summer days. 1872. steve/tony. ~20k. rated M.
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SUMMARY:
There's nothing like the sight of the end of a trail, reaching the mountain's summit and pulling your horse up short. Sliding down from the saddle and stepping forward to stare into the cacophony of wilderness, brush curling in the fading sun, fireflies dancing along the moss-heavy trunks.
There's nothing like two large, corn-yellow eyes blinking open, as the wilderness starts staring back.
Tony's a city man, but he's garnered an appreciation for this, ever since Steve's remains went missing and Tony tracked them here.
Ever since Steve came back from the dead as something oh so mightily inhuman.
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TAGS: monster!steve, monsterfucking, alcoholism cw, unreliable narrator, grief, red wolf, natasha barton, bruce banner, carol danvers, post-canon, nature, character death fallout, horror
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send me an ask with a fake title and i’ll tell you about the fic i would write to go with it!
My fav headcanon about Miraak back on Nirn after thousands of years is that he’s still scared shitless of Paarthurnax. Like imagine working under the dragon cult and knowing Alduin’s lieutenant as one of the most cruel masters ever, whose name literally means overlord ambition cruelty, then fast forward after getting out of Apocrypha and the LDB says “hey I wanna introduce you to my dad” and it’s him. Miraak watching with abject horror as the LDB sits peacefully under him and meditates. I think that’s funny.
With regard to the theory that Starscream is already the leader of the Decepticon movement, or at least the movement before the Decepticons became a thing, I hope for two outcomes. 1.) It actually shows him to be a good leader that people look up to, and one that actually has the sense to run a revolution. It's important because even tho Starscream is a seeker, it shows that bots on various levels of privilege are still impacted by the system, especially if they are outliers and speak out. And we know starscream will speak out and yell at everyone if he doesn't like the way things are going. Also...there has been, more or less, some fandom view on Starscream that his position of privilege doesn't really give him the right to speak on oppression or to actually exist as an oppressed person; at least that is some things I've seen. Especially when people have discussed his dynamic with other Decepticons. I think him being the Decepticon leader before Megatron would be interesting and would show how oppression in Cybertron harms everyone, and how even if he *is* or was an official Seeker, he is still ultimately hurt and oppressed by the system and wants to speak out.
2.) I really hope that he and Megatron get a long and that if they join forces/work together, it isn't built on betrayal or violence, but an actual mutual understanding. A lot of people have been leaning toward the idea that Megatron is going to take the leadership position from Starscream, which I mean in a way would be poetic justice lmao. But I also want Starscream to be portrayed as a competent, yet very militant and violent Decepticon leader that Megatron is inevitably going to be able to help, balance out, and then earn the respect of all the Decepticons and call himself the leader, along with Starscream. Alternatively, Starscream is leading the soon to be Decepticons and he and Megatron create the movement together. What I'm trying to say is that while it's the allure of their dynamic, it would be really cool to see them divert from trying to kill each other and actually forming the movement together or rather, Starscream being leader of the movement, Megatron earning his respect and the respect of the others, and then he is naturally able to be seen as a leader figure. It would be such a different twist and i'd love it.
Hiii, i love your stuff and kinda from a distance really look up at you for, in my perception, being able to express yourself without giving a fuck. Thats sick dude, Im so so afraid, of absolutely everything, its nice to think like i might grow into someone less apologetic of my existence. Nice to see people just being yknow
hey, thank you, this is really really nice. the secret that is probably not a secret is that i am also deeply afraid a lot of the time lmao -- but less than i used to be, and in ways that feel less stifling and self-suffocating, if that makes sense.
like, it used to be "i'm scared that if i express myself the way i want to, everyone will find me obnoxious, so let's just sand those edges down to be safe" -- now my fears are more like "now that i'm expressing myself in a way that feels natural and real, i'm afraid that it's all stupid/vapid/not worthwhile or meaningful" (<- specifically abt my art) or "i'm happy that i talk and act the way i want to now, but what if it makes me impossible to befriend," etc etc etc. which still feels bad and puts me in a funk a lot of the time but at least it's a fear that comes After/in reaction to doing stuff, rather than a fear that STOPS me from doing stuff, you know? like, it's evolved into a kind of fear that's less in my way.
anyway. i believe you'll experience something like this, because wanting to grow is the first step of growing. the fact that u hope or wish for something different means you're already on your way. to fewer fucks!! or at least distributing the fucks u give in a way that serves u better
the number of times i will go back into a fic to add or remove one single word or maybe move it to somewhere else in the same sentence can’t be healthy. i’m tormented by a mildly popular text post of mine going around that i am sure could be funnier with one fewer syllable, which i also added and removed 3 times in the drafts before posting. it’s not compulsive, it’s genuinely not harming me or preventing me from sharing my work, it’s just like somewhere in the intersection between perfectionism and an inability to let go i’m there ten days after posting wondering if an exclamation point instead of a period would meaningfully alter a reader’s experience, like a philosopher spending six years contemplating the nature of existence through a single grain of sand and okay, i started this post to make fun of myself but i just remembered that my linguistics tag is “language is my one true love” and writing is more like gardening than a race. something can be done when it’s done because there’s a print deadline or a hard frost or you have to put down the shears and see about the rest of your life, but in all other cases it’s just endless potential for noodling around in the dirt until you don’t feel like it anymore. there has never in history been a home garden in growing season where everything is done. i like to pet tomato leaves and maybe clicking “edit” on an old fic when i reread it to change three words and then change them right back is like that. i’m posting this one with no more fuss because i’m going inside to make tea.
stupid fucking titty window distracted me on my first few watches (don,xt talk to me ok) but he has his hand held behind his back here... clutching his chips for dear life.. hiding the way he's shaking.........
thinking about if dean and sam’s “we’ll play into your story and kill each other but you gotta bring the birds the people - cas - back” deal with chuck worked cas would have woken up to a world where dean is dead.
Asuka is a tragic figure, a figure of mystery, a wild card, all because the only thing she wants in life is peace and quiet for herself and to feel in control- yet her secret heritage that may be hidden from her for her own protection and the reality that life is unpredictable and will go on with or without you keep ruining that delusion, that vision of how the world is meant to work to her, and she suffers regardless of what she wants, what she does, and how little she understands anything
She was born into a family preaching peace and balance and order while being a creature of violence, and puts a dozen mental locks and excuses over this truth to justify giving into her impulse for fighting by pretending she's justice when she does it
She keeps trying to build a place of safety but she's using sand and life is a wave that destroys, yet she stubbornly persists rather than give up, not drowned to the point of self centered suicidal loathing like Jin- there's contrast, where Jin is cloaked in death Asuka stubbornly clings to life and humanity as a normal person in a terrifying world
She's not a fucking narrative clone for Jun's own purpose, Asuka's purpose must be determined by Asuka herself