#steve has died so many times during the upside down shit but death looks at his big old puppy eyes and says welp back you go now

[sailing-through-hawkins]

death says hello

✧ written for 'charm' ✧ word count: 548 ✧ rated: T ✧ cw: major character death (temporary) ✧ tags: supernatural vibes ✧ @steddiemicrofic (• ▽ •; )⁠✧

With a sigh, Death glides through the veils to meet their latest soul, gasping when they see -

“Steven! You keep coming by like this and a girl’s gonna get ideas.”

“And I thought you’d be happy to see me.” Steve bows with a smile.

Death sniffs, breaking out into a grin when Steve looks back up. “That charm of yours is going to get you in trouble someday.”

Steve sobers up at that. "Think we’re in trouble now," he rubs the back of his neck. "I don’t think I can keep them away from you this time.”

Death stills. Oh, the poor thing. “There is something impeding on the horizon,” they say, as kindly as they can. “This trouble seems to be the closest way to me than what you’ve all faced before.”

“Please,” Steve begs, eyes sunken in, skin pale, already becoming the apparition Death has allowed him to walk away from being so many times already. “Can’t you help us?”

“I’m afraid not,” says Death, stroking a hand through Steve’s hair. “You know I’ve been breaking the rules for you enough as is. That uniform of yours was far too convincing the last time.”

“The one thing Scoops was good for,” Steve grins, his eyes going soft. “Well, other than Robin of course.”

“Oh yes, you mentioned her before! How is she?”

“She’s good! She’s – she was scared. I didn’t – ha.” Steve shakes his head. “I was asleep this time, wasn’t I? The bat bites.”

“The venom went unchecked,” they pet his shoulder apologetically. “Too long, too much stress. I am sorry to always have to meet you in such painful circumstances.”

“What – what about Eddie?” Steve asks, out of nowhere. Death blinks, in as much as they can. “Have you – met him yet?”

“Eddie? I’m afraid I haven’t found anyone recently by that name.”

“You – you haven’t?!” And Steve’s eyes light up and his soul glows and oh, Death just knows they’ll let him out of their grasp once more. “How - that means – he’s still alive! We have to – we have to go back and save him!

“Please,” Steve begs them once again. “Let me go back and save them.”

“Steven,” Death sighs with a smile. “You know you never remember our little conversations when you go back.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” he pleads with his righteous eyes. “I have to – Eddie might get to meet you later instead. Maybe – maybe this time we’ll make it.”

Death takes Steve’s hand, cold as their own. They stare into his eyes and he looks back unwaveringly. With another sigh, they say, “You won’t remember this. But you’ll have a feeling. You’ll be desperate to save him, with no good reason why.”

“Never needed a good reason before,” he jokes and Death laughs. They press a kiss, in as much as they can, to his forehead, a little piece of themselves to keep an eye on him. His eyes flutter shut and he smiles. “Thank you.”

“You better be grey the next time, you hear?” Death glides him over back to the Life he had. They pat his back cheekily. “And bring this boyfriend of yours over.”

“I promise.” Steve says and breathes Life again.

⁠✧ dedicated to @unamusing-s because we were crying about this one together also thank you so much mickala for double checking this one for me⁠ ✧

[missingexaltation]

Further 'Steve plays D&D' shenanigans.

He plays in what the party call 'baby's first campaign', the off tangent, more chaotic and lighter campaign that Eddie's running.

He doesn't play properly, because he has zero interest in D&D at all. Eddie lets him get away with it, which everyone else finds unfair, but 'tough shit kiddies, DM's word is law'.

Steve's only character requirement is that he always has 'the bag thing' (aka the bag of holding) and mostly uses it as a weapon. Annoying NPCs, enemies or fellow party members? In the bag they go, and in the bag they suffocate. Only worthy enemies get to be killed by his sword.

He doesn't remember character names or races, instead giving them a nickname and number. (ie frog guy 1, frog dude 2). Jeff and Lucas pick up on this immediately and join in.

At first he doesn't know which of his dice to use and when. Eddie gets used to just handing him the right one...so now Steve automatically holds his hand out whenever he needs to roll. (It's much quicker.)

Once everyone knows that he and Eddie are dating, he openly and blatantly tries to negotiate re-rolls for kisses during their smoke/snack breaks (and sometimes things written down on scrap paper that makes Eddie's eyes go wide). It works most of the time, and the kids hate it, even though it works in their favour.

Steve and Eddie clash only once, when Steve's first character dies early on. Eddie hands him another character sheet, very similar, and Steve immediately names him the same name. Eddie tells him no. Steve argues for a while before looking him right in the eye and changes just the first letter of his name instead (ie Rob instead of Bob).

Steve has zero connection to his character. It's just a fun game to him, but the others take it way, way more seriously. Open the booby trapped chest? Sure, Steve will do it. Drink the potential poison? Why not! Eddie will just give him a new character if it goes wrong. There's no actual consequences, unlike the Upside Down stuff.

Everything is a NAT roll to Steve, not just 20 and 1. Nat 4, Nat 8, the whole lot. Dustin hates it so damn much.

He tries to get as many NPCs to join their party as he can, mainly so Eddie can be 'part of their team' too, instead of 'just playing the bad guys'. Eddie tells him that's not how it works, but Steve's insistent.

In combat Steve WILL waste his potions of healing if one of the party annoyed him recently. Gareth was once rolling death saves, and Steve ignored him to heal a non fatal wound on NPC #24 instead. Gareth nearly walked out, but Will took pity on him and healed him on his turn.

It's a completely different atmosphere to the 'serious' campaign, but that's what makes it more fun. Even though Steve's main goal is to annoy the rest of Hellfire and prove that their nerdy game is supposed to be fun, they don't seem to actually mind.

In fact, they love it when Steve argues back with Eddie. None of them will do it, but the DM threats just don't work on Steve. He had to roll disadvantage all night? He rolls shit anyway. Threats to kill his character off? Steve doesn't care.

And on the other hand, flattery, flirting and outright bribery works so well on Eddie that it's kind of pathetic. Steve knows that Eddie wants him there and takes full advantage to get what the party wants.

Eddie refuses to let him join the main campaign because of it.

[lesbianrobin]

What are your thoughts on stancy in S2? More specifically the Halloween party scene?

Alright, so. St*ncy overall is... a very rough part of S2. To this day, I can’t understand why the fuck they chose to handle it the way they did. The whole thing makes Nancy look bad, it makes Jonathan look kind of bad too, and it absolutely beats Steve to an emotional pulp. This post is going to be so long I’m so sorry dklnckn...

It’s canon that Nancy wanted Jonathan the entire time that she was dating Steve. Almost a full year! Steve is planning his future around Nancy, talking about how he wouldn’t mind not going to college if it meant he could be around for her senior year. It’s clear that Steve thinks he and Nancy are in it for the long haul, which is reasonable considering that they’ve 1. Been together for a year and 2. Fought a monster together. Steve loves her, and he thinks that she loves him too. 

He goes to dinner with Barb’s parents for her every week, even though he doesn’t know them and barely knew Barb, even though he’s incredibly uncomfortable, but he does it to support her. When she has a rough moment in the library because of her grief, he pulls her into a private space, reminds her that talking about it in public could literally get them killed, holds her and comforts her, and then basically tells her that he knows it’s stupid to go to a Halloween party and act like normal teenagers when they know what they know, but it’s all they really can do, and he thinks they might as well try to be normal. He’s not belittling her feelings. He’s not ignoring her trauma. He’s just focused on making sure they don’t attract government attention and on trying to enjoy their lives as best as they can. 

Now, the party comes in. Nancy is being kinda shitty to Steve before she gets drunk. Billy and some other guys come up to Steve and start insulting him about the whole “King Steve” thing and how he’s a loser now, and Nancy just... walks away. She doesn’t even try to pull Steve away, tell them to knock it off, anything. Steve’s getting bullied, and she just leaves. Fine, whatever. Steve’s a big boy, she doesn’t have to try and fight his battles. Then he follows her over to the punch bowl, realizes that she’s chugging that shit like it’s going out of style, and he’s like “Hey, slow down.” Nancy, still sober, says something along the lines of (can’t remember exact words) “You wanted to get drunk like stupid teenagers!” before chugging down her cup of punch. 

This is why I brought up the dinners with Barb’s parents. Steve’s been doing this thing for Nancy every single week for a year. He’s kind to Barb’s parents, he does his best to make conversation and be polite, even when Nancy isn’t around. Then, he asks her to go to one party with him (that she wanted to go to as well, indicated by the fact that she enthusiastically pleaded with Jonathan to come and the fact that she and Steve had been working on their costumes for a long time). She responds by throwing his words back in his face, intentionally getting drunk at least partially to spite him. What the fuck?

Nancy’s grieving. She’s a teenager. She feels guilty about Barb’s death and blames Steve for it as well as herself, and she tries to suppress these feelings until she just can’t anymore. I understand that. All of this stuff honestly makes for an interesting plot! However, it falls apart the second she goes off with Jonathan, and it stops being the story of a girl struggling with complex survivor’s guilt and starts being the story of a girl who dated a boy she never loved for a full year while harboring feelings for someone else.

Steve and Nancy have an argument outside of the gym. He’s bitchy, tells her to go ask her other boyfriend what happened last night, and asks her to prove that she didn’t mean their love was “bullshit” by telling him she loves him. She can’t say it, and he tells her that she thinks she’s bullshit. Did they break up? I personally think it’s a bad argument and not a breakup, seeing as nobody actually said “we’re over” or anything, but you could argue that Nancy interpreted it as a breakup if you’d like to be charitable. However, I’m pretty sure that later on at Murray’s, Nancy and Jonathan refer to Steve as her boyfriend, so... Nancy cheats on Steve. Perhaps the cheating would be understandable as a result of her suppressed trauma and emotions surrounding Barb and Steve and everything, a moment of weakness, EXCEPT for the fact that she confirmed to Jonathan the night before that she waited for him and has essentially liked him the entire time. That, in my opinion, pushes it from “mistake made as a result of heightened emotions after a bad fight” to “opportunity taken that she’s wanted for a long time.” It’s a fucked-up writing decision that makes Nancy and Jonathan both look bad, as not only do they both know Nancy has a boyfriend, they also both literally owe said boyfriend their lives, and they still choose to sleep together.

The whole “thing” with J*ncy is shared trauma, right? They have the matching scars. Shared trauma, that’s “the real shit” according to Murray. But... what trauma do they share, exactly, that isn’t also shared by Steve? Steve was just as much “as fault” for Barb’s death as Nancy (of course neither of them were remotely responsible, but they were both there and they both had sex while Barb was dying out back in the pool, so). Steve fought the Demogorgon with them. Steve actually stood in front of both of them and held the Demogorgon off, protecting them! Is the “shared trauma” meant to be losing someone to the Upside Down? Will survived, but even if you do count him as a “loss,” then Joyce, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all share that trauma, too. 

None of that really even matters, because the concept of shared trauma as the basis of a relationship is a mess that the show literally dismantles themselves in the form of, you guessed it, St*ncy!

Steve and Nancy both know about the Upside Down. Steve and Nancy both ignorantly had sex as Barb died, and now have to live with that knowledge. Nancy lost her best friend, and Steve has to wake up and go to sleep right next to the place Barb died every single day. They both fought the Demogorgon. They were both told by the government that they absolutely cannot tell anyone about what happened, and they will most likely be killed if they do. This shared trauma is what makes Nancy lash out at Steve, it’s what makes her get wasted, it’s what makes her blame him for Barb’s death, and it’s presumably what prevents her from loving him even though she clearly wants to (why else stay with him for a year?). So why should we, the viewers, accept that J*ncy’s shared trauma will provide the basis for a healthy relationship when the very same thing caused St*ncy to crumble?

So Nancy and Jonathan sleep together. They come back, Steve can tell what happened, and he says that it’s fine. I think that we’re supposed to take this as character development, or something? When he first thinks that Nancy has cheated on him with Jonathan, he responds by publicly shaming them and insulting Jonathan, but now, when Nancy ACTUALLY cheats on him, he takes it lying down, says that it’s fine when it clearly isn’t, and... this is a good thing?

We already know Steve is a better person now. We knew it back in S1, when he cleaned off the movie theater sign, went to Jonathan’s house to apologize, and then literally risked his own life to save Nancy and Jonathan! We knew it when he went to dinner at the Hollands’ with Nancy. We knew it when he ignored Billy’s jabs during basketball and at the party and let the insults roll off his back instead of allowing himself to be goaded into a fight. We knew it when he went to Nancy’s house with flowers to apologize, when he helped Dustin look for Dart, when he fought off the Demodogs, etc, etc.

I’m getting off topic, but my point is that St*ncy is a mess in S2 for a lot of reasons, but the way it ends is the worst part. Steve, for whom infidelity is a big fucking deal due to his parents’ strained relationship as a result of his own father’s cheating, gets cheated on by Nancy. Nancy never properly apologizes to him. They never really talk about it. Steve says it’s fine, his heart is broken, and Nancy and Jonathan are happily in love and never have to own up to the fact that their relationship began as infidelity.

The whole S2 St*ncy narrative essentially functions to grind Steve’s heart into the dirt while making Nancy and Jonathan, protagonists who we are presumably intended to like and root for, seem like terrible people. I have so many more thoughts about St*ncy, but most of those are already up in some other posts, so this is it, I guess! Thanks for asking!

[persephonesfill]

i’ll never make it alone

a/n: part 2 to oh! darling, although it’s not necessary to read that fic in order to read this one. already posted on ao3, just felt like posting it here too bc i crave validation

summary: Tony and Steve bond over a sleepless night.

rating: T, just for a few swears and mental health

warning(s): mainly hints of characters exhibiting PTSD and panic attacks, but hopefully nothing too triggering

The tower was too quiet. Steve never thought he’d miss the roar of train cars passing through Brooklyn or hearing the daily hustle and bustle of the city. New York had been the city that never slept, even in Steve’s day. 

Sleeping through the war had been easier than sleeping in the tower, he decided, staring up at the stark white ceiling from the comfort of his bed. Trains to tanks. Hustle and bustle to screams and moans. The war had taught him to fear the quiet moments. There had been no respites or breaks for them, and if things were going too well, it was only going to go to shit later. It had been a fact of life then, and Steve believed in it now. 

Goosebumps sprouted like weeds on his arms as the air conditioning kicked on. He tried to ignore it, he really did, but ever since coming out of the ice, he had a hard time staying warm. Steve wasn’t anemic by any means, and yet, even the slightest breeze could set him off. 

“Hey, JARVIS?” he asked, the words sounding clumsy in his mouth. 

“Yes, Captain Rogers?” came a smooth, distinctly British voice, which, according to Tony, was not in the ceiling. 

“Could you turn the air off in my room? Please?”

The AI sounded puzzled. “Are you sure, sir? It’s quite warm out.” 

“Please,” Steve repeated. His stomach twisted into a knot. What if JARVIS said no? How would he be able to explain anything to a being who had never known real life and the anguish that came with it?

“...As you wish, sir.”

The air went off with one swift whoosh. 

Steve inhaled and closed his eyes. A super-soldier could survive off of less sleep than the average human, but that didn’t mean he liked being sleep-deprived. But the air had already worked its magic. When Steve closed his eyes, all he saw was black water glinting like glass in the sun; An icy abyss calling his name. Cold crept into his lungs, frost coated his skin, and there was that familiar burn only ice could give you, engulfing his blood—

His eyes shot open. The beat of his heart echoed in his ears, sounding too close and too loud. Sleep was going to be a long way off. Throwing his blankets back, Steve sat up and sighed. 

“Just one night,” he said to no one in particular. “I just want one night.”

“If you’d like, Captain,” JARVIS said, startling Steve. He didn’t know that the AI could speak unprompted. “Sir is currently in the communal kitchen if you want company.” 

“Sir?” His brows furrowed. “Stark?” His panic momentarily forgotten, Steve slid out of bed completely, not really sure where he was going. A session in the gym with one of Stark’s super-soldier grade punching bags sounded swell, but if Stark was in the kitchen, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to seek him out and talk about...something. 

He and the tower’s resident genius were on their way to becoming friends. Maybe. Possibly. They were close to becoming whatever came before friends. Most of Steve’s friends hadn’t insulted him and offered him a place to sleep free of charge in the same breath. But Tony Stark was a genius; maybe being eccentric was a requirement. 

“What’s he doing up at—“Steve glanced at the clock, “two in the morning?” 

“Sir believes that sleep, and I quote, is ‘for the weak.’” 

Steve snorted, his mouth turning into an unwitting smile. Eccentric, indeed. 

Mind made up, Steve made his way to the kitchen, a blanket wrapped securely around his shoulders. The air was still going full blast outside of his room. Steve gritted his teeth and pulled the blanket tighter around him. “I’m never running out of shields,” he thought.

The elevator ride to the communal kitchen was over all too quickly, and Steve was greeted to the sight of Tony fluttering from counter to counter. Oddly enough, Tony didn’t look out of place in the kitchen, despite having heard many, many horror stories of his past attempts at cooking. 

“Hey, Tony,” Steve said in greeting, hovering on the edge of the threshold. 

Tony paused mid-flurry and gave him the smallest of smiles. There was something fragile about it that had the edge of broken glass. 

“Hey, Steve,” Tony said, nodding at him. “Nice blanket.”

The blanket had been a gag gift, courtesy of Natasha, of course, of Steve in his full USO regalia. 

“I had it custom made,” she had said with a smirk, which for Natasha, might as well have been her beaming with pride.

“Thanks,” Steve said, and the conversation died just as soon as it had begun.

Tony started to fidget in place, the silence growing unbearable. Despite living together for three months now, awkwardness still clouded their interactions outside of the battlefield. 

“Um,” Steve began. “What are you doing up?” 

A shadow passed over Tony’s face, but as quickly as it had appeared, Tony broke out into a grin, and it was gone. “Innovation doesn’t have a curfew, Rogers. Don’t tell me a sketch has never kept you up?”

Steve blinked. “You know that I draw?”

“Of course I do,” Tony said, resuming his motions around the kitchen. “You leave your sketchbooks all over the tower.” 

His cheeks burned. “Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to inconvenience you.” 

“Please, you? Inconvenience me? You’re talking to the king of inconveniences. Besides,” Tony shrugged as he measured out a few tablespoons of what looked like fresh ground coffee. “You’re good.” 

“Thanks,” he said. He was getting all kinds of compliments tonight. “I was in art school before…”

“Everything,” Tony finished.

“Everything,” Steve agreed. 

A silence fell over them again. Tony dumped the coffee grounds into a silver Moka pot and set it on the stove.

“You know why I’m up,” Tony said, leaning back against the counter. “But what about you? What’s keeping you awake?” 

Steve weighed his options. He could tell Tony the truth, tell him that his brain was fucked, tell him how he couldn’t stand the cold without picturing himself plunging to his death.

Or, he could lie. 

“It’s too quiet,” he blurted out. “The tower,” he gestured around them. “It’s...quiet.” That was close enough to the truth, at least. 

Tony, thankfully, didn’t laugh at him. “I thought soundproofing the walls would be a good idea. Don’t know too many people who enjoy city life for the noise.” 

“I grew up by the tracks,” Steve found himself saying. “It wasn’t the best neighborhood, but it was one of the only places that would rent out to the Irish.” 

That was one of the strangest parts of the future. In Steve’s time, the Irish, along with the Italians and the Jewish had been second-class citizens. A step of above people of color, in the eyes of bigots, but only just. All of them had been an afterthought in the collective consciousness of WASP America. 

“I knew that,” Tony said, his voice going low. The Moka pot bubbled away on the stovetop, the rich smell of coffee, hitting Steve’s nose. 

“You seem to know an awful lot about me,” Steve said. 

“Your buddy, Howard, thought tales about his old war pals were appropriate bedtime stories for a child.” 

Steve frowned. A bitter note had seeped into their conversation that always occurred whenever Howard was brought up in Tony’s presence. Steve may have known the man during the war, but that didn’t mean he was the same man who Tony had called “Father”. During the war, Howard had always been loud. Flashy. The most conspicuous person in the room. 

“That man wouldn’t know the meaning of subtlety if it whacked him over the head with a frying pan,” he remembered Peggy saying, her crimson lips pursed in distaste as Howard chatted up an SSR secretary.

“Why a frying pan?” Steve had mused. 

“They’re sturdy, for one,” she had said, matter-of-factly. “And quite hard to miss.” 

Steve remembered the secretary had slapped Howard upside his head after one too many risqué remarks. In hindsight, Peggy was right, not that Steve ever doubted her. A frying pan would have been just as, if not more, sufficient.

That man had apparently settled down and raised a child who was staring at him with something dark and dangerous pooling in his eyes. Steve would have to tread carefully. 

“As smart as he was, he didn’t have much sense, did he?” he said with all the caution of someone approaching a stray animal.

Tony’s posture lost some of its rigidity. “No. He didn’t.”

Silence again. If someone asked him, he couldn’t tell them why, but at that moment, Steve wanted to hear what Tony had to say. About anything. About everything. 

“Stop lurking in the shadows like a creep,” Tony said. “Unless you’re trying to do a Fury impersonation, then by all means continue. You’re missing the eyepatch, though.”

Steve huffed, but even he couldn’t hide his amusement. The thought of Fury sitting in the dark with a fuzzy blanket draped over him instead of his usual leather duster made for a decidedly less intimidating picture. And if Tony was joking around, then the danger of mentioning Howard had passed. Steve entered the kitchen completely and took a seat at the island right across from where Tony stood. 

“You’re drinking coffee at two in the morning?” he said, arching a brow as Tony took the now whistling Moka pot off the burner. 

“Not coffee,” Tony corrected. “Marocchino,” he said, placing a can of cocoa powder onto the counter. 

“Still has caffeine,” Steve said, mainly because Tony was so easy to rile up. 

“‘Still has caffeine’,” Tony mocked, his voice going up a pitch. “That’s what you sound like. Don’t you chastise me, Rogers.”

Steve chuckled, raising his hands in surrender. “My apologies,” he said. “Must be an important project.”

“All of my projects are important,” Tony said. He pulled a glass out from under the island, paused as if he were pondering something, then pulled out a second glass. 

Steve drank in every sure movement of Tony’s as he dusted both glasses in cocoa powder, and carefully poured the steaming espresso and milk into each cup. He sprinkled more cocoa over the top of each glass with a flourish before pushing one towards Steve. 

“Drink up, Cap.”

Steve gingerly grabbed the cup and blew at the steam. 

Tony held his glass in front of him. “Toast?”

“What are we toasting?” 

“To sleepless nights,” Tony said, sounding perhaps more serious than Steve had ever heard him. “And the things that keep us up.” 

As Tony looked at him with those dark eyes of his, his glass aloft, he realized this wasn’t Tony Stark, CEO. Tony Stark, son of a legend. Not even Tony Stark, Avenger. This was Tony Stark without a mask.

“To sleepless nights,” Steve echoed. Their glasses met with the lightest of clinks. Steve’s fingers brushed against Tony’s as he pulled his drink away. It was nothing, really. Barely a glance. And yet a light jolt zipped through his fingertips and left him feeling unsettled. 

If Tony had also been shocked, he made no mention of it, instead downing his espresso with gusto. Steve watched the bob of Tony’s throat, feeling hot beneath the collar. The coffee was already getting to him, and he hadn’t even taken a sip yet. 

Steve took his espresso like a shot. The coffee surged through him, driving away the cold that had settled into his bones. The cocoa was sweet and creamy on his tongue. Of course, Tony wouldn’t waste money on the cheap imitation stuff made with powdered milk. 

“Was it as good for you as it was for me?” Tony asked, his eyes twinkling. 

Steve burst out laughing, maybe the first genuine laugh he’d managed since coming out of the ice. At that moment, ice and the cold were the furthest things from his mind. 

“Even better,” he said, perhaps too earnestly, but that was between him and God. “I wouldn’t mind a refill.” 

Tony’s answering smile was blinding. His eyes were all crinkled in the corners, the way they did whenever Tony was truly happy. Not that Steve spent a lot of time memorizing Tony’s smiles. 

The tension from earlier had (hopefully) disappeared for good. 

“He should always smile like that,” Steve thought. Tony’s smile could drive a blizzard away. 

They sat there for the rest of the night until the sun crept over the horizon, flooding the kitchen with light and something warm and golden had curled in Steve’s chest.

[like-a-bag-of-potatoes]

Hunted - Chapter Three

A/N: This series is a military AU that will feature characters from Marvel and Supernatural. This will be a rollercoaster and I will try to warn accordingly for every chapter. Also, I want to throw out there that feedback is the fastest way to my heart. And last but not least, a shout out to my girl @thorne93​ for betaing all of this (and yelling at me), and to my girl @superapplepie​ for letting me test this story out on her, you guys are the best.  

THIS SERIES WAS PREVIOUSLY POSTED TO @sebs-potato

Flashbacks are italics. 

Warnings: Angst. 

Characters: Julia Smith (OFC), Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Steve Rogers, Thor Odinson, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, Tony Stark

Wordcount: 2372

Series Summary: 

Julia Smith has spent her entire adult life serving her country, but now she lives her life as an inactive marine in New York city. She’s trying hard to find her footing as a civilian, but she can’t shake the restlessness that has settled in her bones. One day she gets an anonymous note with information about a friend’s suicide, and the chase for information begins.

Her first stop is her old comrade, James Barnes, and together they set out to reunite their old squad, to gather intel, and to solve a mystery. The deeper they dig, the more dangerous it gets, and it does not take long before they understand that they’re being hunted. Now it’s a race against the clock. Can they get to the bottom of this and find out who’s hunting them before they lose anymore men?

The squad is united again for one last mission, and it’s gonna be one hell of a ride.

May 5th 2018, Sam Wilson’s funeral, West Virginia:

A soft knock sounded on Bucky’s hotel room door. For a second he just stood there, immobile as his eyes locked on the blue jacket that was splayed out on the meticulously made bed. It took another knock to pull him out of his trance like state and get him to open the door. 

Julia stood on the other side of the door, her hazel eyes as blank and empty as Bucky’s. He didn't say anything, didn't even invite her in, instead he just let the door stay open as he turned away from her and walked back into his room. The sun shone through the thin white curtains, filling the small space with light. Bucky looked very handsome in his Blue Dress uniform, but today Julia wished none of them had to wear it. 

“We need to get going, Buck,” she said in a soft voice. 

“I'm just…” he said, but his voice trailed off there. She knew what he meant though, it had taken her a good while to get dressed today too. 

She walked over to the bed and carefully picked up his jacket before holding it out for him. A hint of appreciation flashed across his face before he turned around and let her help him put the jacket on. “Are you ready for this?” she asked carefully as she straightened out the shoulders, letting her hands linger there for a moment longer than she needed too. 

“As ready as I'll ever be,” he countered, his long fingers working on the many buttons. 

“Yeah,” she said in agreement, her eyes stung with tears as she thought about the day that lay before them, and the comrade they would have to say goodbye to. “Wilson would probably crack some sort of joke to lighten the mood right about now.” 

A huff of air left Bucky’s mouth before a fond smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “You’re right. And it would probably be something about you in a skirt,” he said with amusement, motioning towards Jules in her uniform. 

“Very true,” she agreed. 

***

Sergeant Wilson’s funeral was beautiful. Lots of kind words and funny anecdotes were shared through speeches from his friends and family. It was reassuring to them all to learn that Sam Wilson the civilian wasn't much different than Sam Wilson the soldier. They all got to say their goodbyes to their fallen comrade, and Steve had taken the podium to offer gratitude for Sam's service, both on behalf of the country and on behalf of the squad. 

Later on, when they all had had an opportunity to get changed out of their uniforms again, they met up at a small, hole in the wall pub, that was Wilson’s favorite watering hole. It was good to be together again, even though the circumstances could be better. 

Julia let her eyes take in the faces around the table. On her right sat Steve, the man who had officially welcomed her to Camp Lehigh after she passed all the tests. Then there was Dean, the ever flirty, but kind hearted mechanic of their squad, and his little brother Sammy, or doc, who had joined their squad after their medic fell in combat. There was Thor and Clint, the dynamic overwatch duo, the spotter and the sniper. A seat was left open for Wilson, a shot glass placed upside down on the table in front of the vacant chair to honor him. Then there was Bucky, and of course Julia. Seven people sat around the table, trying to end the day a bit better than it started, trying to fill the void which the empty chair had left in their souls. 

“So, Jules. How’s bartending going?” Thor asked, the squad playing catch up to keep track of how everyone was doing. 

“I got fired,” she said, downing a shot of vodka. “My boss wasn't too happy with me when I broke a guy’s nose,” she explained with a shrug. 

“You did what?” Clint asked with laughter in his voice. 

“He grabbed my ass, okay?” she defended. “I gave him fair warning before I elbowed him in the nose.” 

All eyes flitted over to Dean as Thor spoke up. “Sound familiar, Winchester?” he said with a chuckle. 

“Hey, I learned my lesson,” Dean defended, throwing his hands up. 

“Oh, there's a story there,” Sam piped in. “Tell me,” he demanded with amusement. 

“I don't think we need to go down that road,” Dean said before taking a huge gulp of his whiskey. 

“Why? Still embarrassed?” Steve taunted. 

“My pride is permanently damaged, alright?” the eldest Winchester said with a very dramatic voice. 

“I need to know this story,” Sam pressed, and all of a sudden all eyes were on Julia again. 

“Alright, Sammy,” she said with a smile before taking a sip of her beer. “It was during my first deployment with the squad. We had two days left and we were celebrating that all of us were going home with all limbs intact after a string of successful missions. Wilson had gotten his hands on some locally brewed vodka-” a collective shudder went around the table as they all remember the taste of the god awful booze- “It was nasty as fuck, but it got the job done. After about half a bottle, your brother comes up to me-” 

“Again, Wilson’s idea,” Dean pointed out. 

“Anyway… Dean comes up to me and places his hand on my ass before he invited me back to the tent for what he called a private celebration.” 

“Tell your brother how that worked out for you, Winchester,” Clint ordered, a wide grin on his face. 

“It didn't. I believe her exact words were ‘if you don't get your hand off my ass, I will tear it off and beat you to death with it’.” 

“Damn straight,” Jules said, reaching over and clinking her glass against Dean’s, shooting him a wink. 

“I remember Dean telling us he was gonna make a move,” Thor commented. “Everyone told him not to, except for Wilson who, of course, urged him on.” 

“Yeah… pretty sure he just wanted to see me get my ass kicked by a girl,” Dean said as he raised his glass, waiting for the others to do the same. “To Sergeant Wilson, the world is a less interesting place without you,” he said. 

“To Wilson,” the others said in unison, raising their glasses in salute to their fallen brother before emptying them. 

***

May 19th 2018, Clint Barton’s farm: 

Bucky and Julia made their way down the dirt road towards Hawkeye’s farm, the motorcycle undoubtedly making their arrival known. The farm was placed in the middle of nowhere, no civilization for miles and miles around it, just like Clint wanted it. Julia couldn't help but smile as the white townhouse came into view, green frames around the many windows, and a large tree with a swing hanging from it cast a shadow over their front porch. 

She had been here once before, her and Bucky had traveled up here to break the news when Natasha had died, given hers and Clint’s relationship it didn't seem right to do it over the phone. 

Clint stood on the grass in front of the house alongside his wife, Lexi, as Bucky pulled the bike to a stop and shut off the engine. An uneasy feeling settled in him as soon as he saw his two friends’ faces, the memory of the last time they were here was still fresh in his mind. Lexi reached down and laced fingers with her husband, knowing that whatever came next wasn’t gonna be good. 

Julia and Bucky dismounted the bike and put their helmets on the ground before making their way over to the two of them. This place was so peaceful, the only sounds that could be heard was birds chirping in the trees and a faint buzz of a river nearby, it didn't feel good for them to come here and disrupt the peace, but Hawkeye needed to be briefed.

Bucky went up and gave Clint a quick hug before hugging Lexi, then Julia did the same. 

“I'm always happy to see you guys, but something tells me this isn't a social visit,” Clint said knowingly. 

“Can we talk?” Julia asked. 

“I'll go get y’all some refreshments,” Lexi said, understanding that this conversation wasn't for her ears. 

“Thanks, babe,” Clint said as he kissed her cheek. “What's going on?” he asked as soon as she was out of earshot, a serious expression on his face. 

Julia filled him in on everything she knew, all from Sam and Natasha, to the note she got and finally about Donna and the hit list she had found. “We’re being targeted,” she finished. 

“Shit,” was all he could think of to say. “So what's next?” 

“You need to get your family out of here and into hiding,” Bucky said in a gravelly tone. “We’re gonna try and find out what's going on, but in the meantime I think we should all be looking over our shoulders.” 

“We could also use all the help we can get,” Julia said. 

“Don't get me wrong, I'd trust you both with my life. Hell, I've done that a million times, but this is all a bit much to swallow,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“I know, but we wouldn't be here if this wasn't real,” Julia countered. “If you don't want to help, that's fine, but you and your family need to go into hiding until we figure this out.” 

Something drew Hawkeye’s attention from his comrades and to a nearby hilltop, it wasn't much, but he swore he saw a blinking light. “GET DOWN!” he yelled, the three of them throwing themselves to the ground instantly. A bullet came soaring through the air and hit the ground two feet behind Clint, if he had been standing it would have gone straight through his head. 

All three of them got back on their feet, keeping low as they made their way into the house. “Take the kids into the basement,” Clint ordered his wife who looked terrified, but did as she was told. The trapdoor in the kitchen floor hid a steep set of stairs into what was a fully stocked safe room. Lexi and the kids had barely shut the hatch as the second bullet came crashing through the window. 

“Attic.” Clint took lead as the three of them climbed the stairs, keeping their heads low and bodies away from the windows. They climbed a ladder to the dusty attic where Clint had a sniper rifle setup in front of the small window there. He handed Jules his binoculars before he took his position in front of the gun. “South-west hilltop,” he said to Jules. “I need the exact distance and wind.” 

This was not Julia’s expertise, but she had been through training on this as well at some point. She scanned the hilltop, the digital scope giving her distances and such, but there were no one up there. “They’re gone,” she said. 

Before the words had left her mouth, Clint got back up, he knew they were gone too. “That bullet would have gone straight through my head,” he said knowingly. “I'm in.” 

***

“These are the coordinates to a hunting cabin, it's off the grid, deep in the woods, and can in no way be traced back to me,” Clint said as he handed a yellow post-it note to Bucky. “You guys go there, get set up, and I'll be there as soon as my family is safe.” 

“Where are you taking them?” Julia asked, concern in her hazel eyes. 

“Gonna keep that to myself,” he said, shooting them a wink. “I'll grab some untraceable phones on my way back, but other than that, the cabin should be fully stocked. I'll be there by sundown tomorrow.”  

And with that they parted ways, Clint in his car with his family, Jules and Bucky on his bike. 

It was the middle of the night and pitch black when the bike pulled up in front of the small cabin. Somewhere in the distance they could hear an owl hooting, some crickets were chirping in the grass, but other than that, it was dead quiet. 

“One of us should keep guard,” Bucky said as they opened the front door and stepped inside. It was a tidy space, but bore signs of not being used much over the past year's, they noticed a thin layer of dust covering every surface as Bucky shone his flashlight through the room. 

“You've been driving all day, I'll take first watch,” Julia stated simply. “Don't argue me on this, go get some shut eye, and I'll wake you in four hours,” she added when Bucky was about to protest. 

He shone the light at her, taking in her form for a second before he agreed, her face telling him that there would be absolutely no arguing with her. “Fine. Night vision goggles are in my duffle,” he said as he dropped the bag to the ground. 

Julia had already started rearranging the little kitchen, making room for a chair in front of the window that would give her the best overlook. “Thanks,” she said as he handed her the goggles and a bottle of water. 

“I'll be on the couch,” he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards the sofa. 

“Hey, James?” Julia said softly as he was walking away from her. 

There it was again, his real name spoken with so much emotion, he didn't say anything though, just turned his head so he could see her. Or at least her outline in the darkness.

 “I'm sorry you got dragged into all of this. I had no idea what this was when I came to you.” 

“I know. You’re not at fault here.” He sat down on the couch and untied his shoes before he kicked them off and laid down. “We’re gonna get to the bottom of this,” he assured just as he closed his eyes, only then realizing how truly exhausted he was.

It had been a very long day. 

If you want a tag, send me an ASK.

Tags: @capandbucylvr  @buchanansebba​

[imaginetrahs]

ST3 really messed me up last night but there are some things that I feel should have been touched on so here I go:

Billy and Max’s relationship should have had a development scene. Obviously after max told billy to leave her and her friends alone they kind of had a sort of bonding period and we should’ve got that development instead of the Billy and Karen scenes 🙄

Billy and Karen shouldn’t have happened at all in any way AT ALL and I’m so glad that he told her to leave him alone but I still feel as if those scenes weren’t need because they really didn’t do anything for the plot of the show. I’m also glad that Karen came to her senses and thought about her family and not just her hormones because she must have forgot that Billy is a TEENAGER who is around the age of her oldest two children 😕 sis was ready to catch a case over some teenage dick smh

I don’t care what anyone says Mike and Elevens relationship is cute af 🤷🏽‍♀️ along with Max and Lucas. Yes Mike and El kissed a lot but they’re young and really like each other and in the honeymoon phase ALONG with Max and Lucas. So they’ll fight and argue over stupid shit but in the end their friendship is more important (if that makes sense) idrk where I’m going with this one but they’re cute and leave them alone

MAX AND EL ARE THE FRIENDSHIP I DIDNT KNOW I NEEDED. I really loved that Max helped El find who SHE was and who everyone wanted her to be. El’s not just Mikes girlfriend, shes not just Hoppers adopted/daughter, she’s not the groups secret weapon, she’s not the girl with powers, and she’s definitely not the girl who was abused as a child. Eleven is just a teenage girl trying to find herself in a world with monsters and shit and for Max to come around and help her find herself was really what El and all of us needed

Will Byers and Dustin Henderson just needed their friends and they weren’t there for them. After all the shIT WILL HAS BEEN THROUGH HE DESERVED JUST ONE FUCKING GAME OF D&D, he deserved it. When Dustin needed his friends to believe that his girlfriend was real they didn’t until they needed her to save the world smh. THEY DESERVED BETTER.

Will Byers had a breakdown and I was here for it. Not in a bad way. I think he needed to let off that steam because of everything from his friends being more worried about their girlfriends to the MF being back to Mikes comment about him not liking girls. Which I don’t think Mike should’ve thrown that back in face ESPECIALLY if he was the only person that knew. Lucas to the time to TRY and apologize but MIKE DIDNT?

Joyce and Hopper are a dynamic duo. Joyce deserves happiness and to not have every love interest killed off. This move will be good for her and the kids even though I feel like they’re going to come back at some point.

Hopper was so accepting of death, which I guess you kind of have to be when it’s right ther but ugh it was still so sad. He and Joyce will never get to have that date on Friday at 7 at Enzo’s 😪.

Steve Harrington and Robin. A beautiful pairing although they had me fools when I thought there was a possible love relationship going to happen

ALEXI DIDNT DESERVE TO DIE

I don’t care what anyone says about this either because I believe they Billy truely deserved better. This season really showed us a different side of him and for him to get redemption at the END of the season is fucked up😪. Because like I said earlier he and Max obviously had to bond over the 2 year time period and I’m pretty sure during that time there was some sort of affection between them and I don’t think El should’ve been the only one to bring that out of him. HOWEVER we did see a broken piece of him during the sauna scene towards Max, but I guess 🤷🏽‍♀️ (I’m not excusing anything he’s done cause it was all shitty af)

Eleven, 011, Jane Hopper. All she wanted was a family and a home and when she finally got it, it was ripped away from her. And then she lost her powers 😪 there was a point in time where I really didn’t think she was going to make to the end because she was just so tired and she kept pushing herself to keep everyone safe.

ERICA SINCLAIR a true icon 👏🏽 she had so many iconic lines: “isn’t it time you died” “you can’t spell America without Erica” “Commence Opperation Child Endangerment” “nerds” plus her whole speech about communism. A true icon

Maxine Mayfield, Max, Mad Max. I’ll never get over how hurt she was about Billy which goes to show that had gotten closer and we should’ve been able to see it because although they ‘hated’ each other they were still siblings and loved each other without admitting it

Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers. Really we should call Nancy: Nancy Byers because come on, it’s gonna happen 🤗. I didn’t really like the whole working for the newspaper scenes, I don’t think they did anything for the season but I guess if you look at it from a being involved type view it all works out. Many and her moms heart-to-heart was really nice because none of the other parents, except Joyce and Hopper, are around to comfort their children and be around them to ask about their days.

Can we talk about the last episode. Jeez oh man, I cried like a baby. Like a really long ugly cry from Billy’s redemption scene all the way to the Byers and El leaving. What really fucked me up was when El started reading the letter and Hopper did the voice over. It was so sad because he never got to have that talk with her and I know he really wanted to. That letter is really the last heart felt thing she has left from Hopper and it makes it worse when we don’t know who is actually in Russia

But let’s talks about that. WHO TF IS IN RUSSIA???? I’ve seen some people say Billy and others say Hopper but really it can be either one here’s why. When Joyce turned the keys Hopper was on the other side of the magnetic force field and could have got transported to the Russian lab like how El got zapped to the upside down at the end of season 1. It could be Billy because he was used by the MF and I don’t think it’s done with him just like that because if that was the case Will wouldn’t be connected to it 🙂. So maybe after billy ‘died’ the Russians came back and took him and he woke up in Russia. AND where did they get the demogorgon from which leads to believe that a little sliver of the gate is still open somehow because how are they keeping it alive out of its habitat aside from feeding it people. It’s just a theory.

I think that’s about it. All in all the season was pretty great and I- I’m just still broken over these deaths.

when I see MF I read it a mother fucker instead of Mind Flayer and that says something 😗

[cksmart-world]

The completely unnecessary news analysis

by Christopher Smart

May 19, 2020

IT'S THE TESTING, STUPID

OK, this whole thing with testing is getting ridiculous. One day you can test negative and the very next day you could be positive. So what good is that? And another thing, the more testing we do, the more cases of Covid 19 we have. So, it's simple isn't it, just don't do so many tests. The official death toll is said to be over 90,000 in this country. But we know that's way too high. How could so many people be dead? It's actually a lot less and if we stop the stupid testing, we'll have even fewer deaths. As the White House now tells us, Operation Pumpkin will yield a vaccine by Halloween and we can all go trick-or-treating safely right before RE-ELECTION DAY. And everyone who wants, can get vaccinated except in blue states. This whole coronavirus thing has been blown way out of proportion and its time to get America back to work and continue the greatest economy that ever existed in history — except for the last three years of Obama. And those bastards in the Obama administration left the cupboard bare, except for that 69-page playbook on how to deal with pandemics and the Global Health Security and Biodefense office, which had to be eliminated. Anyway, don't listen to guys like Dr. Anthony Fauci, they're only scientists and know nothing about politics.

FUN THINGS TO DO WHILE SELF-ISOLATING

-Pretend your living room is a dancehall and do the western swing to Choo Choo Ch'Boogie by Asleep At The Wheel.

-Pretend your sofa is an airplane, dress up in an Elvis suit and parachute into Vegas singing “Only Fools Rush In.”

-Recreate the Death Valley Marathon in an empty lot wearing only shorts, a hijab and a camelback  canteen while singing, “I've been through the desert on a horse with no name... ”

-Drink three cups of strong coffee and ride your bicycle around the block (wearing a mask, of course) pretending that you're Lance Armstrong doping in the Tour de France.

-Line up six dining chairs in three rows of two and put on “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, while pretending you're a safari driver in the Serengeti, pointing to your kid's stuffed animals and warning passengers, “No pee breaks because you'll be eaten by lions or teddy bears.” (Wilson and the band loved this one, especially after a few beers.)

-And finally, pretend your sofa is a Bugatti and dress up like Isadora Duncan and accidentally strangle yourself when your long scarfs get caught in the spokes. (Editor's note: don't really strangle yourself to death.)

-Next week, we'll have a fun list of things you can do while locked down with your kids.

INSPECTORS GENERAL SUCK

Inspectors general are a pain in the ass. They find stuff that doesn't work or people who are ripping stuff off and report it. It's always bitch, bitch, bitch. And so President Trump had a good idea: fire the bastards. White House aides opened a file called “Fire the Bastards Project.” On April 3, Trump shit-canned Michael Atkinson who declared as credible a complaint that Trump pressured the president of Ukraine to get dirt on Joe Biden. They should have hung him for treason. Then on April 6, Trump sent Glen Fine packing. He was supposed to oversee $2 trillion in spending Congress allotted to mitigate coronavirus impacts. But the president didn't want old Glen Fine sticking his nose where it don't belong. And, of course, the president had to dump HHS Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm after she had the temerity to report that hospitals were struggling to keep up with the onslaught of coronavirus patients. Stupid woman. And then, the president had to boot Steve Linick, the State Department IG, because he was snooping around in Secretary Mike Pompeo's dirty laundry. What a pervert. It's like this: What you don't know can't hurt you — and it helps at election time, too.

DID BODY SNATCHERS INVADE FOX ?

The new U.S. Space Force has identified alien intruders that seek to upend American politics. Insiders say new evidence indicates that aliens most likely invaded the bodies of Sean Hannity, Laura Ingram and Jeanine Pirro. Smart Bomb's sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because President Trump loves Fox and would go batshit if the theory proves to be true. Here are the facts: Some of the so-called “Fox hosts” are broadcasting from home during the pandemic and one evening, Jeanine Pirro got absolutely shit-faced and then went on air. New findings suggest that when androids imbibe they may give away valuable intel and Pirro had blurted out, “I must be quart low.” Analysts believe she was referring to hydraulic fluid that is necessary for android mobility. The artificial intelligence, or AI, that runs their mouths is separate and programmed with special software. It all looks to be a Mandalorian plot to destroy the Neo-Trump movement from within by making it's most famous purveyors appear completely insane. Some investigators, however, believe the plot may not have succeeded because some Americans think the androids are right: There is a vast left-wing conspiracy to create a virus, pretend 90,000 have died and make them wear masks to the beach. So much for advanced intelligence.

Post script — Swimsuit season is upon us and the latest fashion trend for women is the trikini. That's right, ladies, you can now get face masks to match the rest of your string bikinis. In fact, depending on the style, the face mask may cover more skin than the rest of the outfit. And think of it, you can strut your stuff and no one will recognize you. At this point we're dangerously close to being labeled sexist, so we'll change the subject. Now the question becomes, do you need face masks for golfing, cycling or Rollerblading? With enough social distancing, maybe not. We know President Trump doesn't wear a mask when he goes Rollerblading in shorts and knee socks at the Trump Skate Park. But we digress. Summer vacation time is almost here and American families must decide how to take a Covid 19-safe vacation. Disneyland is not the best option. And the beaches may be too crowded, whether or not you've got the latest trikini. Camping would be safe except every other American has the same idea. And it's a definite ixnay on a Princess Cruise with 3,000 would-be virus carriers on a floating petri dish. But here's an idea from the Smart Bomb travel desk: volunteer sheepherding on the Falkland Islands. Yes, it's windswept and rainy and it will be winter down there 670 miles east of the southern tip of Argentina. But it does have an upside. There will be no coronavirus and no price-gouging. Think of all the fun you and the kids would have herding those woolies around the island. It's something they could tell their kids about. And the best part: No news from the United States. Totally Trump-free. We knew we could convince you.

Alright Wilson, wake up the band and take us out of here with a little something to get us in vacation escape mode:

Everybody's talking at me I don't hear a word they're saying Only the echoes of my mind  

People stopping, staring I can't see their faces Only the shadows of their eyes

I'm going where the sun keeps shining Through the pouring rain Going where the weather suits my clothes

Banking off of the northeast winds Sailing on a summer breeze And skipping over the ocean like a stone

(Everybody's Talkin, Harry Nilsson)

[fandoms-for-a-college-dude]

The Pitch of Harry Potter and the First Avenger

Exposition

- Grindelwald is still the Dark Lord Dumbledore fought, he just wasn’t involved with any muggles and it was a Wizard only war in the 1800s, and looks more similar to Voldemort’s rise in Canon

- Voldemort uses Muggles as his catspaws ala Grindelwald, he manufactures WW1

- Prophecy is same

- Voldemort is ‘defeated’ in 1918 by Lily’s sacrifice

- Harry is younger than in canon, only 3 months old at his parents death

- He is abused by puritanical Dursley’s, worse than in cannon(probably)

- Philosophers Stone takes place in 1929

- Events proceed as in canon

- Voldemort is resurrected in 1933 (GoF) and co-opts Hitler

- Canon proceeds, +1 year of Voldemort consolidating, Dumbledore dies a year later and uses said time to actually help train Harry.

- Horcrux Hunt is more of an Order effort, (Mad-Eye in charge?) and takes many years

- Call it early/mid 1941 when last Horcrux is destroyed

- Voldemort is killed by Harry later that same year (historical turning point in war) but the muggle front proceeds as history/MCU canon

- Harry is 23

- Harry is MOD

Plot Begins

- Wizarding world is rejoicing, Harry doesn’t, people are still dying by the thousands

- So he goes to interim Minister Kingsley, asks for an introduction to Churchill

- Churchill wants to ignore the young man telling him that he is an asset that he can’t refuse, but he stills and gnaws at his cigar and looks at the serious looking black man standing to the side who he has been informed is the Minister for Magic and sees the respect being paid to this Harry Potter.

- And so he puts him through training with the SSR.

- The reports aren’t glowing, Colonel Philips hasn’t been effusive in his life and he’s not going to start with a Brit who looked like a wolf on the edge of starvation moving through the obstacle course. But Churchill can read between the lines and it seems like it was worth listening to the wizards.

- Harry is exercising every day for the first time in his life and his magic, greatly increased now that he is the MoD, leaps to its masters will.

- Harry refuses the serum, but stays with the SSR. He’s now helping train the new candidates while they keep trying to pressure him into the serum

- Meets Peggy in spring 1942

- Fast Friends

- Definitely work spouses

- Steve is recruited and Harry sees the look in her eyes and starts teasing her mercilessly

- He’s right next to Erskine telling the Colonel he’s a bloody idiot if he thinks about choosing anyone but Rodgers

- His smugness knows no bounds when the dummy grenade is jumped on.

- When Peggy touches Steve’s pec post serum, she can hear Harry’s laughter from the stairs on his way down from observation.

- Harry doesn’t know how not to be involved in war, or at least around soldiers

- When it looks like Steve is about to be shunted around and ignored, Harry steps in and makes sure it doesn’t happen

- Steve goes to war earlier, Harry by his side.

- Two man wrecking crew

- When Steve hears about Bucky’s unit being captured, it’s not even a question that Harry will be going with him.

- Steve knows Harry is hiding something at this point, but they’ve saved each other’s ass enough times now that it doesn’t matter

- The Howling Commandos are born

- Realizes he’s not aging, typical MoD scene (1944)

- Gives up his “life” to save Bucky sometime in 1944/5?

- Winter Soldier never exists

- Cap still goes into the ice, Death stops Harry from helping him, saying that this is a Fated©️ moment and he can’t do anything

1946-2008

- Sorry, but Tony’s parents are still killed, just not in a way that causes the Avengers to blow apart, due to Bucky fever

- Bucky and Peggy co-found SHIELD

- Other than that ?¿?¿?¿?¿

- What the hell does Harry do for the intervening ~70 years? Up to you!

It’s kinda crazy how the timeline works out kinda well for this. The only major change comes from the War on Voldemort needing to last longer to stretch it out to 1941, which isn’t necessary, but I just like the idea of the turning point in the war coinciding with Voldemort’s death. Axis Powers start to not be as effective due to Riddle not pulling strings anymore. Also I feel like the worst Dark Lord in modern history should have a longer run than like 3 years

You could play with all kinds of cool relationships in this.

- Harry and Peggy being non-romantic BFFs and Steve being really confused about their relationship

- (Not my thing, but you could set them up as an OT3, better than Bucky IMO because lifelong bros are hard to come by and god knows we need more non sexual friendships in our lives)

- Steve looking up to Harry as someone who’s already been through a war and is still a good man

- Harry and Erskine being buddies and Erskine being pissed off Harry won’t become the Super Soldier, and then Steve turns up and Abraham is like “Move Along Brit, this is the guy”

- Steve is doubting that it shouldn’t be Harry and Harry has to smack him upside the head

- Harry pushing Starks buttons with his lack of knowledge about all things science and technology

- Natalie Dormer isn’t kissing Steve because Harry is turning on the British charm every time he sees her

- “Good god man, for the last time, Agent Carter and I are not involved, stop using me as a bloody excuse to put off asking her to dinner!”

Harry as a Person

- He’s a soldier, a general, and kinda fucked up never having lived for himself all that much

- Dumbledore was a bit more comfortable starting Harry in training after Voldemort’s return given the times

- He’s 23 at Voldemort’s defeat and while he knows that he probably needs a rest, he knows that way too many people are still dying for him to just go on vacation.

- Ron and Hermione died? Disagreed with his decision to rejoin the war so soon?

- Ginny? Does training earlier change his pairings during school/war? Does a Harry with a more scholastic mindset attract different people? (I’m a sucker for Daphne.) Why didn’t Harry’s relationship with whoever work out? What were wizarding relationships like in the UK in the 40s? Maybe he just devoted himself to the fight and ignored that whole aspect. Maybe Harry flirted his way through school and war because he knew he could’t have anything serious, and now that he doesn’t have a Voldemort shaped shadow trailing him around, he is useless and terrified at taking it anywhere past a fling

- Harry has seen some shit. He’s no greenhorn, he has been training and fighting for 8 years by ‘41 and when things get serious, he doesn’t care to act like anything other than the veteran he has become

- At the same time, his prophecy is over. A weight has been lifted and he might still be at war, but it isn’t HIS war, not anymore. He can keep calm through gunfire because if he dies, the war isn’t over. The Commandos aren’t his soldiers, they’re Steve’s. He doesn’t realize how much Steve relies on him for more than just tactical advise

- 5’11”-6’1”

- From Wiry to Athletic through training and large calorie meals in army

- His reflexes are as good as Steve’s, but he’s not as strong, but still stronger than a human should be

[thiscrimsonsoul]

What did the mun think of Endgame? I was, sadly, very disappointed... They ignored Loki, Vision, Heimdall... Thor's depression and ptsd... no comment. They gave Tony a family just to kill him and including IW, they killed the two main women of each team (Gamora and Natasha) in the exact same way, same music, only to add that "Girl Power" moment later. Wanda fights a Thanos who didn't take anything from her. Whilst fighting this Thanos, they weren't the Avengers; they were the preventers!

{out of parikash}  So… I had a lot of problems with Endgame, but not as many as you might think or the ones you might think. This is gonna all be random, so let’s just get started, haha.

First of all, yeeeeah, I agree with you. No mention of those characters at all. Or Pietro after Ultron. So it struck me upside the head like a two-by-four to realize that some people seriously dislike or even hate Wanda because they think Pietro and Vision died and she didn’t care. Like… the fact that Pietro and Vision were never mentioned again in the MCU after their deaths (unless you count two seconds of his name on a baby’s shirt for Pietro and one indirect and possibly not even a reference to him at Tony’s funeral for Vision) are taken by some people as IC insensitivity from Wanda. Like… they think SHE doesn’t care. And that just like… hurts. Because she does, she cares a shit ton. See… I never ever took that as IC, or even real, haha. My brain automatically filled in like well okay… she does mention them, they do have funerals, she does cry for them… it just happened off camera between movies or during downtime where we didn’t get to see. That was 100% what I always assumed. So to learn that some people actually blame Wanda IC for not reacting at all to their deaths after their movies ended… that really shows the gross mishandling of their characters that MCU has engaged in, in my opinion. Yes, I went there. XD So yeah… I loved the way they handled Natasha’s and Tony’s deaths, but other characters also deserved such attention.

The portrayal of Thor’s depression and PTSD was… absolutely disgusting to me. I’m just gonna lay it out there. My heart broke for him, and he’s not even a favorite character of mine. To have a character break down that much and have it be perceived by other characters as annoying, crass, gross, funny, pathetic, or somehow negligent on his part and placing blame on him… was just… a slap in the face to anyone who has ever been broken down by trauma or grief in their lives. It sent the message that, if you react this way to trauma in your life, you’re lazy, no one will like you, you’ll be a failure, you’ll be a walking joke. And that is really not forgivable, Disney. Like honestly. What the flying fucking pancake. I would never treat any character I have ever written anywhere the way they did Thor. Boo. Not cool. Not acceptable.

Okay… Tony and Natasha’s deaths… here is where I’m going to lose followers haha. Let’s take Tony first.  I… was… never a fan of Tony until after Endgame, and I really didn’t understand him until I recently watched the first Iron Man movie. Yes… I haven’t seen 2 or 3. Yes… I didn’t watch any of them until after Endgame. I had no interest. I didn’t like the man at all. It wasn’t until Endgame that his death made me rethink him. His death, the way he interacted with Morgan, his message at the end… they all made me stop and go hmm a bit. In watching Iron Man, I suddenly realized that he had a very similar personality to and functioned mentally in the same way as a character I created over a decade ago. That character was also loud, crass, ran at the mouth, jokes that were funny, overly defensive, a little off, drank too much, the whole shebang… and it was because he had been traumatized during a war. Other characters around him accepted and understood that he was this way and why he was this way, and they gave him a lot more leeway and understanding than they would someone who had not been traumatized. To still other characters looking in, it was confusing as to why this totally abrasive asshole was being given all these free passes by his friends. Anyway, my point was that as soon as I realized that Tony was at his core the same type of character, I suddenly understood him a lot better, and that helped me to like him more.

In writing Wanda, that made me consider the nightmare/premonition she conjured in his mind in a different light. If you remember in Ultron, right after he wakes from his dream, Wanda is there and she looks… surprised. It’s canon that she saw all their nightmares, Lizzie said it so I buy it, haha. I have actually used her mulling over what she saw in Tony’s head as the bass for IronWitch (which I know is an extremely controversial ship, but somehow I make it work… off Tumblr though, I don’t need that kind of anti-ship hate on her blog), because Wanda was expecting something far more selfish and petty from Tony than what she got. And she doesn’t just see visions, she experiences what they’re thinking and feeling too. So she felt a lot of unselfish things from him that day that really confused her. The man who murdered her parents because he doesn’t care who he kills or he’s so rich that he doesn’t care who he sells his weapons to… which is who she thought he was… wouldn’t have had the kind of vision that he had. It changed her opinion of him, and I headcanon that that’s why she was able to tolerate him a lot more easily than Pietro.

Anyway, my tangent in going into this was that… his death actually made me, a late-comer to the movie-verse of Marvel, really examine his character and the core of his values and soul. In a good way, heh. I thought his death was good. BEFORE YOU KILL ME LET ME EXPLAIN, HAHA. I don’t mean I’m glad he died, because I’m not. That sucked, Morgan’s sad face sucked, everything about that sucked, haha. But… the way in which he died, the sacrifice he made, the way in which he was loved and honored afterward… I liked that. From a writer’s point of view, it felt like a very honorable and virtuous ending for a character who always had strived to be such and felt like he fell short. Well that time, he hit the bar, heh. I liked it. BUT I WILL COME BACK TO THIS ONCE I’M DONE WITH NATASHA SO HOLD THIS THOUGHT, haha.

Natasha… Okay, just like Tony, I didn’t overly like her until she died, haha, but whereas with Tony it was because I had misunderstood the character, with Natasha it was more a case of her completely flying under my radar. Bitch had been making me like her for umpteen number of movies and I hadn’t ever REALIZED it until she went and DIED on me and then I realized I LOVED her. XDDD I shit you not, I was literally like oh no I think I liked that character that just died, haha. It was a weird feeling. But not necessarily bad. What was bad, was the fact that it didn’t need to happen. I mean… was there a problem with just reversing our own timeline and grabbing the stones before Thanos snapped? I feel like there was a reason why we couldn’t’ do that, so I’ll let that one go, but even so… could we not have gone back to maybe when Thanos got the soul stone and taken it from him? Or I mean, my point is there were other options. Of course that would have screwed Gamora fans, haha, but I’m sure there was another way of getting that stone. But… that aside… new paragraph because long…

…as with Tony, I thought her death was well done. It was an emotional, honorable, brave way for again… a character who had often thought she wasn’t good enough or that she had too much red in her ledger. Well it all got erased at that point. It was a great venue, I thought, to showcase her and Clint’s relationship (which incidentally, have you ever seen a more beautiful display of platonic love in a really valid way before? Just ugh, it was amazing), to show how much they loved each other and how much that they were equally willing to sacrifice to set things right. Their commitment to saving the world regardless of what it meant for them was incredibly profound, poignant, and I thought the whole scene was really well done. If she had to die, I think it was a good death deserving of everything else we saw from her up until that point.

If… she had to die. If… Tony had to die. Here’s… where I start to get pissed off, haha. As I said, I feel like there were ways around Natasha dying. And with Tony… I mean… again, it was for an IronWitch thing… but I wrote a little ficlet off Tumblr about Wanda continuing to power the arc reactor herself after Tony did the snap. Now… granted… she couldn’t hold it forever and eventually got tired and distracted by her emotions and Tony ended up dying anyway and it was super sad, BUT… lol… the point was… I believe Wanda could do that. I believe Carol could’ve done that. Or, hey, you’re telling me they couldn’t find any kind of a temporary power source to fuel the arc reactor until they can fix or replace it? how many freaking times did Tony almost die from removal or failure of the arc reactor in Iron Man alone??? I’m not buying this, Marvel! Okay, maybe he died of a combination of the reactor failing and that he got fried by the power going through his arm and torso and head. Okay, that I buy. HOWEVER… HOW MANY OTHER CHARACTERS DID THEY BRING BACK IN SUCH RIDICULOUS WAYS BEFORE TONY AND NATASHA, AND YOU’RE TELLING ME THEY’VE GOT NOTHING THIS TIME? Some seriously ri-DONK-culous shit has happened in order to bring characters back in the MCU. I don’t buy for a second that there’s no way to do it. I just don’t. I personally can’t think of a way to do it, short of just grabbing another Tony and Nat from another reality into this one, haha, but I’m sure one of those giant brains at MCU could have thought of something.

Okay I ranted about Tony and Natasha enough. Now on to Steve. First, let me expression  my deepest sympathies to Captain America fans everywhere. They did him so wrong. I mean oh my holy gracious gravy pants, what the hell even was that?! First of all, in my opinion, someone who would selfishly go back in time to get what they want from a woman who otherwise had moved on and had a family and a life of her own and passed away already peacefully… was not worthy to wield Thor’s hammer. Worthy… to me… means… some kind of higher justice or morality that extends beyond self and into the greater good. There was nothing good about what Steve chose to do. It was selfish, it was really inconsiderate to this woman he claimed to love, and so much for all that junk about not being able to alter too much in the past or in alternate timelines, we have to just do pointed things and get out. Well Steve completely altered HIS OWN TIMELINE. Like. So why can’t  we go grab a mind stone somewhere for Vision? Huh? Why can’t we yoink a Nat or a Tony into this timeline? Why couldn’t we have brought back Pietro? For someone who was supposed to lead, keep order within, and direct prudently a team of people who have all lost and suffered and regretted things… he basically just said to them well nuts to what you want but Imma get what I want so see ya suckers. It was such a shitty thing to do and honestly I pretend like it didn’t even happen. Because no. Steve up until that point through umpteen number of movies would never have done what he did at the end of Endgame. He would have wanted to. He would have thought about it. But he would not have done it. That’s what makes him worthy. He doesn’t do what he wants, he does what serves the greater good, or truth, or justice. MCU dropped the vibranium shield on that one big time.

Okay all morality and character development that got trashed aside… sending Steve back to his timeline would have… changed… a lot more… than him just growing old? He wouldn’t have been encased in ice. Wouldn’t have been found decades later as a young capable person to help out with all the events of later movies. Civil War would never have happened. Lots of things wouldn’t have happened or would have happened differently because Steve would not have even been there. By all rights, when he came back old, everyone else there but Bucky should have been like… who the hell is this guy? They would not have had the history with him anymore. Am I wrong on this? I would love someone’s opinion because this really bugs me that they let this big of a plot hole go.

Now about Wanda... I do understand why that had to be set up that way, but as her mun, I can’t tell you how infuriating and heartbreaking it is getting inside her head at the moment at which Thanos casually tells here “I don’t even know who you are.” Like… here is a girl full of pain and grief and rage who has been so wronged by this guy… and he’s like… who dafuq even r u? At that moment she must have felt like exploding. Her feelings and pain were completely invalidated in that moment. Just… ugh, so painful for her. BUT THEN… MCU ROBS HER OF THE CHANCE TO KILL HIM. Wanda had Thanos. She was going to kill him and basically win things for everyone. But nope. We can’t have a woman do it, we gotta save that honor for Tony, heh. No offense to Tony, it’s just irritating to me heh. LET HER DO THIS, MCU. WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? LET WANDA BE THE STRONG VENGEFUL WOMAN SHE IS AND KICK THIS PURPLE RAISIN’S ASS. It was like they felt they had to do the fans a service of having that confrontational moment but then decided no okay lol but we have a better ending for Thanos so bye bye Wanda. That’s honestly what it felt like and I really hated it.

Aaaaand I have ranted ENOUGH about this, haha. I’m so sorry, I kindof let loose lol. Hope I answered all your questions though!