based on my last drabble...

tony has only had one pet in his entire life, when he was a kid. when it died, howard made him feel guilty for it, and he also shamed tony for crying (this actually happens in the comics, howard calls him a sissy).

so years later, when peter brings home a stray cat, tony initially refuses to take care of it. just like he was likely afraid of hurting peter, he's also scared he might kill another pet. with peter's insistence, tony allows the cat to stay one night.

peter says the cat reminds him of tony. and indeed, the cat can be grumpy and a little shit. but he's very cuddly and he loves peter.

in the end, tony allows himself to love this cat. and in a way, himself as well.

When They Know (You're the One)

(Summary: There's a moment, one distinct moment, when you know you're going to spend the rest of your life with someone. This is the Avengers (plus Loki and Bucky) having those moments.

Reader Insert, inspired by an imagine I have long since lost the link too. Open to writing a part two for the other characters.

Notes:  Hey all! This is something I've pretty much sat on for a year, but the convincing of two best friends has pushed me to post it. Basically, it's just a quick bite of little moments with each Avenger, with a reader insert. Yes, it was slightly self indulgent. Hope y'all enjoy.

Read on AO3

Steve

It was how you welcomed him home.

He comes back to your shared floor in the tower after a day of meetings. He was tired, and wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and wait for you to come back from your training with Wanda. He paused when he heard music softly playing. Glenn Miller’s "Moonlight Serenade" drifted around the corner, pulling Steve into the living room. His guard dropped when he saw you curled up on the couch in one of his sweatshirts, book in hand. Regina, your cat, and Doger, his dog, were laying at your feet.

Steve was always captivated by your beauty, but in this moment, with your attention completely held by the book in your hand, thinking no one is watching you, is when he found you the most stunning. Before he could clear his throat to let you know he was here, you glance up at him. A breathtaking smile broke out across your face as you got up to welcome Steve home. It was in that moment, he knew that he would never let you go.

Tony

It was in your careless beauty after an event.The two of you were in his room, lounging on his bed, after the monthly Avengers Gala that Stark Industries held. Every month, the Avengers and Stark Industries held a fundraising Gala to help different organizations in need. It had been your idea; being the Avengers PR person, you had proposed the idea after seeing the growing interest the public had in seeing the “real life superheroes” more, but still being unsure of the Avengers after New York and Sokovia. The galas let the general public mingle with the elite, all while the Avengers mingled with both. (You had started to notice how much the heroes spent less and less time with the elite and more with the general public (especially Steve and Bucky)).

You were wearing one of Tony’s button ups and a pair of pajama shorts. A champagne bottle rested against your leg as you grabbed for another slice of pizza. Tony laughed at you; you were always hungry after the galas. He reached for a slice too. He glanced up at you as you took a bite, just staring for a moment. Your hair was in an imperfect bun, wet strands falling around your face from where you missed a few pieces after your shower. There was a smudge of black under each eye from leftover makeup. As you wiped some sauce from the side of your mouth, Tony could see where your fingernail polish had started to chip. You noticed his staring. “What, playboy? Do I have something on my face?” He laughed at the nickname. Any other time, he would have sassed back. But the whiskey that had been coursing through his veins finally reached his head. Or maybe it was your beauty. Maybe it was a combination of the two that made him say, “No. I just realized I’m going to marry you someday.” You rolled your eyes at him, laughing. You thought he was joking. But Tony knew the truth, and that’s all that mattered; for now.

Clint

It was how you interacted with his kids, and how you could read him.

He had just come back from a mission. He and Nat had gotten banged around, nothing serious, but he knew his ribs were going to be hurting for a few days. He heard laughter the moment he stepped off the elevator to your shared floor. His smile grew when he saw you and his kids in the process of building a blanket fort, you standing carefully on a leaning chair to get the blanket on a high hook. Lila hid her face behind her hands as you made a show of “almost” falling, before doing a flip and landing perfectly. Little Nathaniel clapped his hands as the three cheered. The four of you took a step back to admire your work. The three kids all come in close to you, Nate hugging your leg. Your hand came down to play with his hair. You all talk quietly about what to add. Clint’s heart clinches at the sight. While his and Laura’s split was mutual, and they still cared for one another, it had been hard, for both them and the kids. To see you interact well with the three people that made up a big portion of his world, and them to do the same with you… Clint really couldn’t ask for more.

He caught the repetitive tapping of your fingers on your leg. “Take your time. Love you.”

Natasha

You learned Russian for her.

Any time she came into the room when it was just you and Bucky, the two of you would stop talking and a red hue would cover your cheeks. It didn’t take a spy to know you were hiding something. At first, Nat had a fleeting thought that you might be cheating on her, but she knew you, and knew Buck, and knew that that wasn’t the case. So she let the secret go for the time being; well, that’s a lie. She actually decided to turn it into a game and see if she could find out what it was that you were keeping from her. But sneaking up on the Winter Soldier proved to be difficult, considering most of her skills she had learned were from him.

She thought she had figured out a way to catch you. She was thinking through her plan while making her coffee that morning when your arms snaked around her waist. She smiled as you rested your head on her shoulder, placing a kiss on the bare skin. “Доброе утро Любовь. Спать хорошо?” you asked.

“конечно, ты был следующим -” Natasha froze as she processed what just happened. She spun in your arms to face you. “That’s what you and Barnes have been doing?”

“Yes. Were you going to say because I was next to you?”

“Yes. Why are you learning Russian?”

You rolled your eyes. “Because of you, silly. Your Russian, are you not? And while most of your Russian adventures are in your past and not really you anymore, they and Russia are still a part of you. I love every part of you and want to know every part of you, so I asked Bucky it he would be willing to--”

Natasha cut off the rest of your explanation by placing a kiss on your lips. If there were tears on her checks, neither of you mentioned it.

(Translation:  Доброе утро Любовь. Спать хорошо? - Good morning, love. Sleep well?конечно, ты был следующим. - Of course, you were next -- Done with Google. I'm sorry if they are incorrect. Please let me know if they are so I can fix it.)

Thor

You didn’t treat his brother like a villain.

None of the team was thrilled when Thor announced that Loki would be coming to live with him on Earth. But considering the alternative was for Loki to be executed, Thor convinced them to allow Loki to stay in the tower. But of course there were rules. Loki and Thor accepted these; Loki just wanted to leave the place that never felt like a home to him, and felt even less so now, no matter what his mother did to try and help. Thor was excited to see you once again, to be able to be with you once again, but he worried about how you would react to Loki. You had been badly injured when the Chatiri attacked. Thor loved both you and his brother; he wanted, no, needed you two to get along.

When the time came for Loki to move in, all the Avengers were waiting in the teleportation room. The alarm alerted you to the brothers incoming arrival. You all shielded your eyes as the Bifrost opened. The blinding light cleared, leaving the polar opposite sons of Odin in its place. Everyone stayed still for a moment. You rolled your eyes at all of them before throwing yourself at Thor. He caught you with a laugh, spinning you around.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Maybe I should have chosen execution.”

You sensed the movement of the team tensing and gripping their weapons. Placing a kiss on Thor’s cheek, you walked over to Loki. You knew he recognized you from when he fought against you during the Chatiri invasion; you also knew it wasn’t his fault. Hardly any of the New York Attack was Loki’s fault, directly. Knowing that, you placed your hands over both of the bracelets on his wrist, said a small incantation, and melted them away. You felt and saw Loki’s magic return to him. His eyes were swirling with questions. All you said to him was, “No one, not a single being, deserve to be cut off from something that makes them whole.”

Thor had tears in his eyes. He had been trying to convince others that his brother wasn’t the enemy, and here was the woman that he loved, showing that she believed that too.

Bruce

You loved him despite his inner demon.

Bruce Banner had felt ever since his… accident, that he was very much two different people. You once joked he was a modern day Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tony thought it was hysterical, Bruce not so much). Despite his green friend always being just under Bruce’s skin, you never once feared him. The Hulk and Bruce were one person, and that was something you accepted very early on; Bruce knew he loved you then.

But the moment he knew he would spend forever with you was when you didn’t shy away from his true inner demon. Not the green one, but the one that was very human. The self doubt that he was nothing and only ever became something because of a gamma radiation explosion. The anxiety that he would one day lose control and destroy everything that he held dear. The depression that came from every so-called mistake he thought he had made in his scientific career. The depression that manifests in self isolation so no other mistake could be made, or at least no one was there to be hurt when they were made. He was certain that these monsters would be the ones to push you away from him; they would be the ones that would make you run away screaming.

You never once left his side, though. You calmed the anxiety attacks; you silenced the dark thoughts in his mind. You were his voice in every moment that he needed you. You were his protector, and he would do everything in his power to keep you.

Loki

You saw through the illusion.

Loki moved into the tower not long after everything that happened with the Battle of Sokovia, which was when you joined the team. He was brought to Earth to atone for his sins; Odin thought it poetic to banish his son to the place where he caused destruction.

Besides Bucky (shared trauma in brainwashing and all), you were the first one to accept Loki as he was. A connection flowed easily between you, bonding over books and similar battle styles; you both favored knives and daggers. One night, you two were in the living room of the comunal floor. Loki and you had only been dating for a few months, but your friendship led to a strong bond already. You were reading; Loki had been too, though he was now asleep, head resting in your lap. Your hand stilled in his hair as he started to fidget. Twitching and moaning, you recognized the signs of his nightmares immediately. Your gentle coasting to awake still startled him. A moment on the couch, the next on the floor staring into red eyes surrounded by a blue tinged face. As quickly as it was there, Loki was his blue-eyed, pale skinned self, helping you from the ground.

“Apologies, my love. I do not know what came over me.” He ran his hands through his hair.

You rolled your eyes. “Bullshit. Are you okay?” You reached out for him.

He smiled softly before turning away from you. “Yes, yes, I’m fine, love.”

“Loki, you are not--”

“I said I’m fine, Y/N,” he interrupted. He started to walk away.

“Wha- No, wait.” He didn’t stop. “Loki of Asgard, you stop right now and look at me, damnit!” He stopped, but didn’t turn. “Loki. Please. You can pretend with the team, with your brother even. But don’t lie to me. You’re not fine, not have you been for a long time. Look at me.” While you spoke, you walked closed to him. You reached out to place a hand on the back of his shoulder.

He caught your wrist, half turning to look at you. “You see through the illusions.”

It wasn’t a question. You still answered. “Yes, I do.” You used your captured hand to turn his face to you. “You may be the God of Mischief, but your lies have never worked on me.” You whipped a tear from his cheek.

He’d never admit it to you, but his heart clenched and he was at a momentary loss for words. All he could think to say, as he pulled you into his arms, was, “I know not how I got so fortunate to have you in my life, but I thank whoever it was that allowed it.” You just hugged him tighter.

Bucky

It was how you celebrated his 37th birthday.

Bucky had a doopy smile on his face as he read one of the texts from you; he and Steve were disembarking from one of Stark’s planes. Bucky brought his head up at the sound of laughter. “What, punk?” Bucky shoved Steve’s shoulder.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Nothing. Tell y/n hi from me, jerk.”

Bucky shot back that he would as he headed straight to the garage.

When he did get home, a wonderful aruma tickled his nose while Janet Blair’s “You’d be so Nice to Come Home To” floated to his ears. Dropping his bag by the door, he rounded the island. All of his weariness from the mission vanished once he saw you. Your hair was pinned up and you wore a y/f/c swing dress. He caught the reflection of your makeup; simple, with eyeliner your top lids, just a kiss of it on the lower, massacre gracing your lashes, and a red perfetingly complementing your skin coating your lips. When you faced Bucky, he had to grip the island slightly for support. You looked just like the dames he knew growing up. But unlike all of them, you were his, and you took his breath away.

“Buck! I didn’t hear you come in,” you exclaimed.

He reached out to you; you willingly stepped into his arms. Bucky placed a kiss on your lips, humming as he pulled away. “You look stunning, doll. What’s the occasion?” He started swaying you to the music.

You laughed. “You are, you dork. Or did you forget you turned a whole century while you are on this mission?”

“Ouch, doll. You really know how to make a man feel loved. I’m only 37,” he tried reasoning as he dipped you.

“Is that so? Then why does your birth certificate say you were born in 1917?” Bucky raised an eyebrow at you. “Fine, happy 37th birthday, even though you were born 100 years ago. Do you want some cake? I made this one special.” You began biting the side of your lip.

“Sure, babe. I’d love some.” Bucky gave you once last peck before letting you go.

You went to the cake, cutting two slices. Bucky saw you fidget slightly as you set them pieces down on the island. Not sure as to why you’d be so nervous (you’d made him chocolate cake before, it was his favorite), he picked up his fork and took a big bite. The explosion of flavor in his mouth caused him to pause for a moment before he kept chewing. Unsure if his senses were playing tricks on him, he took another small bite. Nope, that tasted exactly like-- “Is this my mother’s recipe?” Disbelief clouded his voice. You nodded your head. “And her icing?” You nodded again.

“It wasn’t easy to replicate, or even find the recipe, but this birthday is a big deal so I thought--” you were cut off by Bucky pulling you to him and crashing his lips to yours. You could taste the chocolate on his lips.

real name: Anthony Edward Stark (usually)

single or taken:  That varies wildly by verse but he’s often taken.

abilities or powers: Consistent across the board is his sheer intelligence and his ability to create things. How these manifest sometimes varies wildly from verse to verse.

eye colour:  Golden Brown

hair colour: Usually dark brown, sometimes black or red tinted depending on specific verses.

family members: This varies by verse, but in his default it follows his MCU family connections which means his AI babies, his spouse, and his kiddo. Kiddos? He adopts kids a lot.

pets: Not really a pet person but one version of him has a pet octopus.

hobbies/activities: Sewing, music, driving, parkour, dancing. There’s more but those are big ones.

animal that represents them:  Verse dependent but both Ospreys and Lynx. He’s definitely a cat.

worst habits:  Not caring for his physical needs unless absolutely required. Hiding food around. Going passive in the face of disapproval from loved ones. Blaming himself for things he wasn’t at fault for.

role models: Howard Stark, Edwin Jarvis, Ana Jarvis, Maria Stark. Depressingly, also Obadiah Stane.

sexual orientation:  Ace who likes romance.

thoughts on marriage/kids:  Tony is compelled to create life. He just is. Even at the height of his most self destructive verses he makes beings that could count as children, and he wants to be with someone, though the way he goes about it and who he chooses aren’t always remotely good for him.

style preferences:  It depends what he’s doing honestly, but he’s a sharp dresser pretty much all the time if he’s going anywhere specific. He knows what makes him look good.

approach to friendships:  You have become his friend. No, you don’t get a choice about it.

thoughts on pie:  Pie is alright, though he can’t figure out how they work. Pi, on the other hand. Yes. 

favourite place to spend time at: He has a tendency to climb things, but his favorite place to go is always whatever workspace he has. He’ll live there, given half a chance. He didn’t like that about Pepper’s house.

swim in the lake or in the ocean: No.

their type:  Tony loves competence. It’s ridiculous how easy it is to get his attention if you’re determined, intelligent, and unwilling to take no for an answer to keep his focus on you in some way or another. This isn’t always the case, but often.

camping or indoors:  Indoors. Tony’s never gotten the hang of camping.

Tagged by: @the-blackest-spider

Tagging: @astarklandscape @ironxkid @artificiallyimplantedmemories

Steve x Tony @shieldslinger​ / send me a ship and-

Who asks the other on dates:  lbh with each other here, these are the kind of assholes that have an actual date night.  sometimes they even make it to it and do date things.  but also let's be honest with the fact they've been going on dates for years and were too dumb to realize it.  museums?  burgers and a movie?  you know they've done it, you know it was a date, and you know they had literally no idea.  because they're dumbasses. Who is the bigger cuddler:  with all the unnecessary touching that went on with them from like literally steve's first day out of the ice and you come into my home and ask that question?  as touchy as they were before (those sweet, sweet shoulder squeezes of validation) you know it's worse now.  movie night's probably a nightmare just because you know it's either bc tony's draped some part of himself on steve, or they're jammed so close together you couldn't squeeze a sheet of paper between them, or...listen.  when two tactile people love each other very much, they're probably really gross and annoyingly handsy, and i don't mean in the...gropey kind of way, they're just touchy.  all the time.  must toch.  plus they have a shitton of issues, which probably doesn't help in that either but eh. Who initiates holding hands more often:  there's a theme here, you know that right.  there's a theme here, because it's a theme in canon, and it's tony offering a hand up to steve.  like it's a thing, you know it, i know it, so if you don't think tony's needy hand holder in this relationship, you'd be wrong.  it's sad, he gets this weird little thrill at even being able to do that, and on the one hand...you gotta feel bad for him.  he'd take whatever steve gives him and tell himself that's enough and he's content with it, because it's steve.  but knowing steve's okay with it?  a religious experience.

Who remembers anniversaries:  well, it's not steve rogers, i can tell you that.  and you know what, that's okay, and that's fair, and tony loves him anyway.  he might be the man with a plan, but he's useless with a planner.  he gets caught up in things, it's fine, tony remembers for the both of them, it's why he has friday.  what i'm saying is the only one who really remembers any important dates at all is friday. Who is more possessive:  i don't know that...you could really classify either of them that way?  overly protective, sure.  clucky with mother hen tendencies, the both of them, yeah.  taking what they can of each other's time, even if it's just to be able to say good night and good morning, absolutely.  but i don't think...with who they are as people, they really can't be. Who gets more jealous:  which goes back to being possessive, right, like tony has a little jealous streak but it doesn't manifest blatantly as one.  two, they're public figures so...there's not a lot of room for jealousy there.  like captain america and iron man might be characters they play (which are still them, i know i've talked about it but bear with me, it's an idealized version of them, separate from the inner selves) but they're public, you know, they're superheroes, and there's an expectation you share each other with the job.  and with the people you save.  with the world, really.  i think it's more about taking what time they do have as steve and tony more than anything else. Who is more protective:  this is a joke, right?  this is a joke.  these two idiots would throw themselves in front of each other over and over and over again if you let them.  that said, tony's moreso.  and i'll tell you why.  everything he's done?  all the bad?  the times he's sold his soul?  was to keep steve - and their loved ones - safe.  or happy, in a situation where there was really nothing they could do.  every time.  or i'll go one better.  tony will absolutely trade his own life for steve's in the blink of an eye, because he's always believed between the two of them steve's the better man.  he's done it.  willingly.  without a second thought once he's made the decision to do it.  he probably has a "sacrifing myself for the greater good and especially steve" face.  i'd like to lie and say that he understands if something happened to him how badly it would hurt steve but...if it came down to a choice of tony dying if it meant steve would live, he'd trade himself in a heartbeat.  that's uh.  something he's working on (he's not). Who is more likely to cheat:  this really is a joke.  steve "my middle name is noble" rogers and tony "has been in love with steve rogers for years" stark.  like tony would never, ever, ever say it, but this is it.  i don't mean in some fatalistic way, and i mean he fully believes he has an expiration date so he wouldn't say anything anyway, but this is it.  steve's always been The One.  his Person.  never would happen, not in a million fucking years. Who initiates sexy times the most:  you would think the answer is anthony edward stark and in most cases you'd be right, but steve rogers is not most cases, it is steve rogers and the rules don't apply to him.  by which i mean surprisingly steve is the proactive one here, and i think it's because tony is...he is hesitant.  it's weird, he's pushy with his forms of affection and then he backs off in this arena but i would argue he's getting better about it, and that the only reason he is like that is because he doesn't...he's very careful with steve, really, he's still walking on eggshells a little.  give him time, the tables will turn, he'll be pouncing steve from dark corners like an overgrown house cat with the 3am zoomies and a need to fight. Who dislikes PDA the most:  they're not, you know, public yet.  so it's not like this is really a thing outside of their friends circle, and even then, like.  i'm willing to bet literally nothing has changed in the slightest except you might walk in on them smoochin.  oh, the huge manatee.  tbf, for some people it might be (clint, looking directly at you) considering who wants to see their parents doing that but you know.  tough tiddy.  anyway, they’re just...not really the type. Who kills the spider:  listen they know some spiders who are very good people, and it's not nice to talk about premeditated murder.  there is a strict catch and release program in place and by that i mean tony will absolutely release said spiders back with their people.  except nat, because she's scary. Who asks the the other to marry them:  steve's joked around about that once.  once.  and tony did not take it well with his past history of failed relationships.  not out of a fear of committment, are you kidding me, this is tony who makes being married a personality trait.  but because he thinks he's a jinx.  i can tell you one thing, it won't be him that asks, if they ever get around to doing something more official than cohabitating.  shaking up.  whatever you want to call it.  not unless it's a jokey thing that gets taken seriously (which would change his tune embarrassingly fast).  he's gunshy at this point.  he's been engaged a few times and it's telling that he doesn't have like three divorces under his belt.  and also they're still feeling out the new them, which is fine, it's good they're doing that.  but he'd say yes in a heartbeat. Who buys the other flowers or gifts:  the answer you're looking for is tony stark.  it is tony stark who does this, thank you.  it could be big things, like, i don't know, a mansion (hello, 890 5th avenue).  training robots for the gym that...no one needs to know the price tag on that steve's going systematically tear apart.  training scenarios for the danger room he's spent three days straight coding and putting together.  new uniforms.  or it could be little things like a book steve's been meaning to get and read or his favorite bagel or...either way.  it's just who tony is, he can't help it.  if he has it, he gives it.  honestly i feel like at some point steve's just learned to roll with it because there's no stopping it.  he's been doing it forever, since day one (hey guys, remember the cray mainframe?), but now he's signed up for no complaining so you know.  that's on him. Who would bring up possibly having kids:  said like it hasn't already happened.  it's steve, by the way.  it's 1000% steve and he's already done it and tony's giving ten million reasons why he shouldn't when he knows he's going to say yes, and so what i'm really getting at here is they need to start thinking nursery colors for the mansion, because they're not fooling anyone.  and they're gonna be amazing parents and that kid is gonna be the most spoiled, loved, protected baby ever.  she hit the jackpot and doesn't even know it.  this is also the only superfamily content i am here for.  just a dumbass, a himbo, and a superbaby.  also consider.  all the cute.  knitted things.  i demand cute knitted things, it's not up for debate. Who is more nervous to meet the parents:  that's...not an issue, for one thing.  for another, like.  literally their entire friends group are...all...the same people.  lbr there was literally a betting pool in place and i wonder who won.  it keeps me up at night, wondering who cashed in on tony and steve no longer being quite as big of a pair of dumbasses as they have been.  part of me hopes it was peter parker, i worry about you, spooder-min. Who sleeps on the couch when the other is angry:  tony uh.  will stay in his lab if they have a row but i can promise you he doesn't sleep much.  if at all.  it's part and parcel with the tony stark experience in this case.  he'll stay in his hidey hole and be sad because steve's mad at him, but won't do anything about it at first, just stay and be sad.  because he's sad.  and also Feeling An Emotion is hard and they don't know how to use their words. Who tries to make up first after arguments:  i'd argue 70% of the time it's probably tony.  like, they're both stubborn, we know that.  they both dig in their heels and think they're right, the other's wrong, and they're being stupid about it.  and about some things they're just literally never going to agree but don't know how to agree to disagree.  tony gets set in a rut and won't consider a deviation from what he's already decided is going to happen.  steve gets mulish and refuses to listen to another point of view.  they butt heads.  but honestly, at this point, at the end of the day (if he can stop sulking), after everything that's happened?  you know, at this point it's obvious that when they argue and stay mad, bad things tend to happen.  tony doesn't even have memories of the worst of it but he knows he took it badly, let's be real here (i say, like badly's not a hilarious understatement).  he may not apologize in a way that says he's wrong, but he may do it for helping escalate a fight.  bc, you know, blah blah, not half as good as anything as i am doing it next to you, blah blah, azure eyes, blah blah, good morning beloved. Who tells the other they love them more often:  honestly, now that those big scary words are out there, and there's no takebacksies in having said it, they've both been pretty free with them.  making up for lost time, i guess.  i think they have different tones, though.  tony's as free with those with steve as he's ever been with anything else.  he gives them...often?  and with no expectation of anything in return.  because that's how he's always been with steve.  and from steve like...a lot of time it seems like...as much as he says it?  it's a reassurance more than anything (because we know how tony is).  sometimes tony even lets himself believe it without second guessing himself.

Seriously Hurt 

Summary: This time when Wade Wilson breaks into the Avenger’s Tower it isn’t just to piss Tony off, it’s to save the readers life. As the team, especially Tony, learns more about the reader they reach a crossroads. Can a person’s past be forgiven? Is it who you are now and not who you were then, that matters? Do people deserve a second chance? Bucky seems to think so. 

Word Count: 2708

Authors note: This will be a mini-series! I’m so excited!! If you want to be tagged either comment below, or go to my ask! 

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Tony rolled his eyes as he watched Wade enter the room. This was the third time Wade had broken into the tower, despite the top of the line security system that he himself had programmed.

“Well aren’t you the gift that keeps on giving”. Wade was unfazed by Tony’s sarcasm, besides he knew Tony secretly love their little game of cat and mouse. Stepping to the side Wade revealed the true reason for his visit.

He looked to Tony, “Don’t get your panties in a twist R2D2, I ain’t here for me today”. As Wade nudged your side you knew this was your turn to talk. Now, not only was Tony looking at you but both Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes.

“I’m (y/n), and don’t worry I’m not nearly as much of a dick as Wade is”, you said before turning to wink at Wade. The room remained silent, everyone trying to understand where you fit in all of this.

Tony sipped from his coffee, “If he’s holding you against your will blink twice”. It was kinda strange to have all eyes on you, especially the eyes of such impressive people. You felt almost like an animal on display.

Wade began to double over in fake laughter, “Wow I didn’t know robots could make jokes! As much as I’d love to continue comedy hour, I’m going to cut to the chase here. I have a bad guy to fuck up, think the love child of Bin Laden and whoever made the ‘What does the Fox say’ song, and I need to know (y/n) here is safe”.

It was entertaining to see everyone try not to smile at Wade’s jokes, but fail miserably. As much as people loved to say that Wade was a lot of handle, it seemed as though they secretly felt that he was a lot better than most.

Placing down his mug Tony joked,“So I’m now a bed and breakfast? Stark’s Suites?”. You watched as Steve Rogers placed down the newspaper he’d been reading, obviously annoyed. He began to reason with Tony, “We can keep her safe Tony, why not?”.

The man you knew as the Winter Soldier began to smirk, “and besides she already told as us she’s not as much of a dick as Wade”. You began to smile yourself, they were being so welcoming to you.

Tony was still weary, “And why can’t she accompany your ‘lovely’ ass?”. Wade refrained from making a joke, even though Tony had kinda set himself up there. Instead he explained, “Because she’s what the twisted fuck wants, and I ain’t gonna allow that”.

It was a long story, and if it was told by Wade, it was even longer. He loved being dramatic. A picture is worth a thousand words, so you figured that showing would be better than telling.

You closed your eyes and slowly summoned your powers. Feeling a little dramatic yourself you decided to give them all a show. You began to feel the electricity in the tips of your fingers.

The men hadn’t yet realized, but you were changing the very makeup of the air around you. If you wanted you could make it thunder, you could engulf the room in flames, or you could make the room crumble to brick and ash with the snap of your fingers.

In order to not destroy the very place you were hoping to hide out in, you settled on your manipulation abilities. When you can change the manifestations of energy down to an atomic level, controlling minds is a piece of cake.

With only your mind you pulled Tony forward until he stood a few feet in front of you, conjured up an electrical current, and surrounded him in circle of electricity. Steve and Bucky both tensed, until they realized that Tony looked as calm as ever.

You’d placed him under a trance, in his mind he was on the most peaceful beach the world had to offer drinking mimosas with Pepper. For effect you slowly began to turn the electricity into flames, allowing them to flow downward from the top of the circle you’d created.

It was strangely beautiful, as the flames flowed like water, and it was like nothing anyone in the room had seen before. The men watched in amazement as you turned what looked like lighting into fire, and then let it fade completely before the flames could reach the floor.

With the flick of your wrist Tony awoke, “Okay.. F.R.I.D.A.Y. run back the security footage of the last minute please”. Tony projected a screen from his wrist, and watched your little show.

For a moment his mouth hung open, you’d rendered the man who always had something sarcastic to say, speechless. While he’d been out cold he’d had the most vivid dreams, but in reality you're engulfed him in a ring of fire and electricity that was nearly as high as the ceiling.

He turned to you, “You play with elements as if they’re nothing….I can see why someone would want to take advantage of that”. It was true, when they wrong people knew what you were capable of it had the potential to be catastrophic.

“Control the party in your pants, just let me know whether she’ll be safe here or not.”. As much as Wade loved to joke around, he was honestly concerned about your well being. He’d wanted you as far away from the fight as possible.

Of course Tony knew he was going to let you stay the moment after Wade first asked, but true to his nature he liked to bush buttons. He smirked, “With her Jedi mind-tricks, I don't think I have a choice”.

That was Tony’s version of a warm welcome. Immediately Wade pulled you into a hug, “Alright dickhead, give daddypool a nice goodbye hug”. And that was Wade’s version of a heartfelt goodbye.

Much to his dismay you kissed his cheek, “Tell Domino I say hi, and to make sure your uglyass doesn’t die on me. If you’re gone, who’s gonna scare the kids on halloween?”. You could hear Bucky try to stifle a laugh, and it cut through the tension of the moment.

Wade began to make his exit, “We could always show the kiddos what you look like before your morning coffee, that’s enough to make Trump crawl back to the hellhole he came from with his tail between his legs”.

That time it was Steve trying to hold back a laugh. Letting out a sigh you put on a smile and tried to pretend that Wade wasn’t about to get himself possibly killed..and all for you. Tony surprisingly came to your rescue, “Steve and I have a debriefing to attend, but Bucky can show you to your room”.

You gripped the straps of your backpack a little harder, “I was expecting a couch, knowing you a couch that costs more than both my kidneys, but a couch”. Tony smirked once again, he was really liking your sense of humor.

He placed his now empty coffee mug in the sink, “You’ve spent the past couple of months living with Wade Wilson, I think you deserve an actual bed”. Knowing went to quit, you simply nodded your head and thanked him.

Steve got up from the table, “It was nice meeting you (y/n), if you need anything don’t be afraid to ask”. So they weren’t just rumors, Steve Rogers was an actual angel sent down from heaven itself.

“And if you ever need any marshmallows toasted, I’m your girl”.

This time Steve didn’t hold back his laughter, and you realized that he was even more beautiful than people said. You could feel that the way everyone had been treating you was genuine and it made a world of a difference.

Once Steve and Tony left the kitchen, it was just you and Bucky. For a moment you just stood there unsure of what to say or do. It had finally settled in that Wade was off to go fight and you were left with strangers, kind and generous strangers, but strangers nonetheless.

Bucky got up from the table, “Why don’t I show you your room so you can put your things down, and then if you’re up for it we can have some real breakfast. No pressure”. You let out a sigh, that did sound like a good offer.

“Only if there’s waffles involved, yes pressure” you teased. Bucky smiled and you felt your heart begin to flutter. Between both him and Steve you’d have a heart attack by the end of the day.

Bucky began to lead you out of the kitchen, “There’s a reason waffles and win both begin with a ‘w’ doll”. Slowly but surely you felt yourself getting more comfortable. You couldn’t tell if you were flirting, or doll was 40’s slang for dude, but it was definitely distracting you.

As you walked through the tower you felt like you were in the most luxury maze the world had to offer. Everything looked too expensive to ever breath on, but it somehow managed to also feel cozy.

Suddenly becoming an avenger sounded more and more appealing. After what felt like forever, Bucky stopped in front of a room labeled “Little Witch”. Slowly he opened the door, “It used to be Wanda’s but her and Vision moved out”.

You’d heard about Wanda before, and in all honesty she’d sounded kickass. Her room was the perfect mixture of cozy and minimalistic. There was a tv, artwork on the walls, a guitar, a beautiful bed, and a desk.

“Well this sure beats sharing a bed with someone who snores like a fighter jet”.

While you weren’t completely lying, you knew that in reality you’d miss the company of sleeping next to Wade. He was the only one who could make your nightmares vanish with one bad joke.

Bucky walked toward the window, “How long have you and Wade known each other?”. It was half curiosity, and half wondering if he’d been flirting with a taken woman. He watched as you laughed to yourself.

You began to reminisce, “Too long...but not that long..everything after the lab just feels like a whole new world”. Bucky wasn’t sure if he’d heard you correctly. Had you both been more connected than he’d thought?

Reading your body language he could tell that you’d felt as though you've shared too much and let something big slip. So maybe he had heard you correctly. Anyways, he’d never pry, he’d experienced enough of people poking and prodding to ever do it himself.

Trying to switch subjects you placed your bag down onto your new bed and asked, “So I was promised waffles?”. Bucky let things smoothly transition, and internally you let out a sigh of relief. He grinned, “You’re looking at the best waffle maker in all of Brooklyn”.

Bucky was going to cook you breakfast? Maybe you’d really went to the fight with Wade, died, and gone to heaven. You could feel your stomach beginning to grumble with the mention of food, “Wow, I didn’t know I was in the presence of such royalty”.

Teasingly he bowed, “It’s okay doll, I’m not holding my diamond-encrusted spatula so how were you supposed to know?”. To have the conversation flow so smoothly calmed your nerves.

You’d been afraid that the avengers were as uptight as Wade joked. Humor, especially the self-deprecating kind, was the key to handling all the complete and utter bullshit life threw your way.

If there was anything you’d learned from Wade it was that jokes were like a liferaft in a sea of despair.  Either you can let sadness swallow you whole, or laugh in its face. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth trying.

“Well your highness, however shall I repay you for my ungracious naivety?”.

Bucky grinned, were you flirting with him in old english? He found you surprisingly intoxicating. He tried to look regal, “Hmm since it was an honest mistake, and clearly not out of malice, I believe all would be forgiven over a movie ”.

You both were back out into the hallway now, “A movie?”. Was he already asking you on a date? For the first time in a long time you felt butterflies in your stomach. Bucky continued to lead you back toward the kitchen, “Preferably Disney”.

Although the world knew him as a trained assassin, his closest friends knew him as a huge disney fan. Bucky secretly blamed Steve for it, but the movies were so good that he couldn’t truly complain.

You jumped up and sat on the kitchen counter, “Lilo and Stitch?”. Bucky had begun to get the various ingredients from the fridge, and as his back was now to you, you couldn’t see his smile.

“Good choice”.

The kitchen was filled with laughter, the both of you enjoying how it felt to get along so effortlessly. It was rare that Bucky could feel comfortable around someone he’d just met, let alone really begin to like them.

You watched as he began to make the mix from scratch. You were amazed, “Wow so you’re not just a pretty face”. It was somewhat forward of you, but you were testing the waters. Bucky took the bait, “Just you wait and see doll”.

He’d matched your forwardness, and thus you both knew how interested the other was. Plus, now you knew doll was the same thing as babygirl or princess. But it sounded a lot better leaving his lips, as if he knew exactly how to drive a girl wild.

“I’m starting to think you’re a huge flirt and that whole cold and aloof assassin vibe is just a front”.

Bucky’s smirk grew. He enjoyed your teasing, “Oh doll, you should’ve seen me back in the day”. As he reminisced he started to laugh softly to himself. It was nice to feel like that part of his life wasn’t so far away for once.

Flirting with you had rekindled something deep within himself. You watched in delight as he finally poured the mix into the maker. Your stomach was louder than Wade’s snoring by now.

“If that waffle tastes as good as it smells, then I can only imagine how much of a lady killer you were”.

With the sound of footsteps you were both awoken from your little love trance. Sam hadn’t meant to ruin the moment, but he’d needed to find Bucky. He apologized, “Sorry, but Steve said he needs both of us in the conference room asap”.

Bucky turned to you, “Guess I’ll need a raincheck on that movie then (y/n)”. You nodded your head and smiled, trying to ignore how much you hated the thought of Bucky already leaving.

Sam looked truly sad, “It was nice to meet you (y/n)”. You told him the same and allowed him to leave the kitchen with Bucky. Although you were now alone, at least the waffles would be done in a minute or so.

With a sigh you tried to pull yourself up and remind yourself how great of a start this had already been. Bucky was more wonderful than you could’ve imagined, and he seemed to really like you too.

As much as this situation sucked, it seemed like the beginning of something good. Maybe the universe had finally felt bad for constantly handing you the shit- end of the stick, maybe for once things were about to change for the better.

“Steve, we can’t keep her here and you know that. She was in Pierce’s back pocket and in case you’ve forgotten that was the man who infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. in the name of HYDRA”.

Steve sighed, he wished that Tony had never done that digging because it had changed everything. It had revealed that you had some skeletons in your closet, some big ones, and that you possibly weren’t as innocent as you seemed.

They had reached a crossroads and were left wondering if you were just another Hydra assassin, or just an innocent person caught in the crossfire. Things were about to get serious, and some people were about to get seriously hurt.

if you enjoyed this fic please leave a comment! Or reblog! It lets me know that I should keep doing what I’m doing! Thanks for reading!! 

Name Changing (8)

FANDOM - MARVEL MCU, X-MEN, DEADPOOL

PAIRING - BUCKY X READER (female reader, no physical descriptions)

WARNINGS - ALL OF THEM, SMUT, VIOLENCE ANGST

DESCRIPTION -  Sequel to Name Calling

After merging with your bloodthirsty alternate personality things start getting a little dicey. You’ve got two decades worth of anger to sort through, a feral mutation to figure out how to live with, a biological father who you hate trying to teach you control and if your wedding planner suggests teal for the bridesmaids again you might just eat her liver.

Luckily you have Bucky Barnes by your side, helping you figure things out. What Bucky doesn’t know is that you have found an outlet for the uncontrollable rage, one that absolutely nobody can know about. If your friends and family knew that you were out slaughtering people in the dead of night while they slept, they might be a little annoyed. Wade Wilson is happy to keep your secret though, so long as you keep bribing him with Mexican food.

For as long as you could remember, all you had wanted was to be good. Now you’re seeing the temptation in the darkness.

Chapter Eight - Doctor Doctor, I Think I’m a Killer!

The next week was a whirlwind of activity and you barely had time to breath. The next meeting with the wedding planner went a lot more smoothly for some reason and you eventually found out that while you were away, Darcy had taken Erlo to the planning appointments.

The Bridesmaids were wearing Stark Red like you had requested, The Grooms-men were wearing blue, the church (after a hefty donation from Tony) was booked, your dress was awaiting the final alterations, the caterers were booked, the flowers were ordered, the guest-list was finalised... Or so you thought...

“Kit Kat, last chance to invite him.” Tony prompted when he cornered you in the kitchen.

“Why? Why would I invite him?” You demanded.

“He’s your father.”

“No, You’re my father. He was a sperm doner.” You snarled.

“I thought you were getting along with him better?” Tony asked.

“Just because I can work with him, doesn’t mean I want him at my wedding.” You hissed.

“Alright kid, calm down and quit hissing at me like a feral cat. You’re inviting the rest of the X-Men, you can’t not invite him.” Tony admonished you.

“Why are you pushing this? You don’t like him either.” You grouched.

“Because he is your father, even if I’m much better at it. And one day, maybe, just maybe, you’ll realise that you don’t hate him and you’ll regret that he wasn’t there.”

It took all of your self control not to snarl at Tony again.

“I don’t want him there. End of story.” You said, slamming the coffee pot down so hard it shattered.

You and Tony froze and looked at it.

“I’ll clean that up.” You whispered.

“Uh yeah, you will. And fine, invite literally everyone at Xavier’s except your biological father... that won’t be awkward. Especially since Remy RSVP’d yes...” He said, rolling his eyes.

You ignored him and started sweeping up the broken glass, trying to breathe through the anger. Not only was wedding planning was getting to you, you were waking up every night from nightmares about falling and indescribable pain.

Bucky was almost as exhausted as you but he was holding the both of you together, taking over as much of the wedding stuff as he could so you could spend the days at the school, helping Ryan adjust.

The young boy was skittish and nervous, always looking around like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop and everything to go wrong. His mutation was powerful and amazing, he had to the power of manifestation, something that lay in the realm of telekinesis. Whatever he pictured, happened. On the plane he had been picturing escaping, freedom and had inadvertently blown the plane doors off.

Two nights this week so far he’d been too scared to be left alone and you’d stayed at the school so you could be close by, which when your nightmares came was awkward.

It was Logan’s face you saw when your eyes snapped open and he looked concerned. You looked away in shame that he had seen you so vulnerable and come to wake you up.

“You good?” Logan’s gruff voice asked you.

You took a deep breath and turned round to glare at him coldly. You bit your tongue, he had just woken you up from the nightmare and you didn’t want to start a fight in the middle of the night so you nodded at him. If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. Your eyes flicked to the clock on the bedside. 4:37am. You were supposed to be up soon anyway, you had to stick with Ryan for his first day of classes. Logan saw you check the clock and deduced what you were thinking easily.

“I’ll put coffee on.” He grunted at you and left without waiting for a response, closing the door to the spare room and leaving you in solitude.

Your jaw clenched automatically as you violently tore the spare clothes Jean had given you out of the wardrobe and pulled them on before creeping downstairs as quietly as you could.

When you got to the kitchen you stopped dead with a almost comical look of confusion on your face.

“What the bloody hell are you doing?” You asked.

Logan looked up from the pan he was currently manning, trademark cigar hanging from his mouth and the ash from it precariously close to dropping into the pan.

“Making breakfast, .” He muttered, flicking the cigar ash into the sink and looking up at you.

“You Avengers eat that sort of thing right?” He asked sarcastically.

You rolled your eyes and shook your head in exasperation

Logan stayed silent, choosing to focus instead on pushing the bacon around the pan. The sounds of it sizzling were the only sounds in the kitchen as you sighed heavily and tried to think of something to say. You didn’t hate your father anymore exactly but you didn’t exactly know what to say around him either and the feeling was mutual.

You went to pour yourself a cup of coffee and paused, a cup was already poured for you. Your eyes flicked up to Logan who was watching you, a challenge on his face. You suddenly felt exhausted, what had it come to between you that a cup of damn coffee was such a big thing? Your shoulders tensed up as you clenched the mug in your fist and brought it to your lips. Logan’s eyes watched her carefully as you drank and you forced a friendly grin as you sat down.

“Thanks.” You said.

“You’re welcome.”

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

“I don’t know how to act around him, I don’t know whether I hate him or I want his approval.” You admitted, throwing yourself dramatically onto the green sofa.

“It’s natural to seek approval from a father figure but understandable that you also feel anger at the father who abandoned you.” Doc Samson reasoned.

“He didn’t abandon me.” You responded.

“Logically you know that, do your emotions know that though?”

You didn’t grace him with an actual answer, just grumbled at him.

“Alright, let’s talk about something else. How have your murderous tendancies been?” He said, changing the topic to a no less pleasent one.

“I haven’t killed anyone since I chucked a dude out of a plane.” You said proudly, preening.

God, how were you proud of yourself for not killing someone in w whole week?

“And how has your mood been?” He pressed.

“Awful. I can feel the anger in me building and building, every little thing annoys me and I find myself justifying things in my mind that aren’t justifiable. Like killing the caterer would be totally fine so long as nobody knew it was me.”

“The longer you go without killing the more your morals loosen. Are you worried that if you keep shoving your darker impulses away that Vernichtung will be reborn?” He asked.

Well if that wasn’t hitting the nail on the head you didn’t know what was.

“It’s how she was born in the first place, now I’m merged with her all that darkness is my responsibility but I still have the good in me. The good seems further and further away every day.” You told him, grabbing a box of kleenex and tossing it in the air and catching it.

“Letting it out in controlled bursts, unleasing on criminals and villians... It seems like a win/win strategy so why are you resisting?” He asked you.

“Because it’s getting harder and harder to hide it. I can’t keep dissapearing, sooner or later someone’s going to figure out that the mysterious killer who accompanies Deadpool on the same nights I’m with him is me.” You said.

“Well it seems to me that all you need is a better cover story.” He suggested.

You narrowed your eyes at him.

“Are you really sanctioning murder and lying to my loved ones?” You asked him.

“Nobody can tie me back to you, that’s why we meet in this empty building and not my office. So I’m free to reccomend what is best for you, not what I’m supposed to reccomend. You are not normal, it would be stupid of me to treat you like you were. I’m sanctioning you letting out your darkness on those who deserve it before you hurt your loved ones, and lying is often just another word for protecting.”

“So you think I should find a better way to hide my bloody hobbies so I can go about my killing ways without arousing suspicion?” You clarified.

“I do.”

“Ok, I’ll work on it.”

“Now, your wedding is in a few days and you’ll be in Vegas for your hen party before that. Don’t you think you should see your friend Deadpool tonight?”

“Yeah, best go on a little murder spree before I end up Deathwaving half the wedding party...” You agreed.

“Excellent, well then I shall see you again after your honeymoon.” He said, standing up.

“You sure you can’t come to the wedding?” You asked his as you left.

“I’m afriad not, I have plans with my brother this weekend.” He said with a mischevios smirk.  

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

You: I need to see you tonight.

Daddypool: GREAT! Cause I have a wedding present for you...

You: If it’s another tasteful nude, I don’t want it. (Though I do think the strateically placed daffodils were a nice touch.)

Deadpool: I told you, I meant to send it to Cap not you.

You: So that’s why he was screaming. What’s the present then?

Deadpool: Not a what, a who. A very naughty boy who needs punished and it’s not me.

“Hello Kitten.” Someone whispered in your ear and in a very unherolike display of bravery you shrieked and threw your phone in the air, twisting round to glare at a smirking Loki with your hand clasped to your heart.

“Stop doing that!” You yelled at him.

He chuckled at you as you picked up your phone off the ground.

“What do you want?” You snapped at him.

“I need a favour dear kitten, I have plans this evening that I would prefer remain unknown. I need you to say you are with me if anyone asks.” He told you.

You started to question him but stopped, this was perfect. You and Loki could be each other Alibi’s.

“Alright, I’ll do it. Try not to do anything too diabolical though.” You said.

He just smirked at you and you hoped you weren’t making a mistake. You ddin’t think whatever he was doing would be too bad though... It was Loki and he was a good person deep down, he’d never betray you.

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

Aight, I'm just gonna say it... Loki is a great therapist.

SO BEGINS THE WEDDING SHENNANGINS! I'd love to hear your hopes, fears and theories for what's going to go down over the course of these chapters. We've got Vegas for the hen party, that'll go well right? Will the ceremony go off without a hitch? Will there be drama amongst the fluff at the reception? Where will they Honeymoon? Just how much smut can I write?

@nerdandproud-86 @harrison-shot-first @thejourneyneverendsx @thelostallycat @inquisitor-selvala @the-corruptor @iovher @kendrawr-kitkat @phoenix-whiskey-tears @the–real-wombat @buckitybarnes @fairislesheets @angieptt @meganjonezzzz @dugan365 @fluffeh-kitty @memanda17  @krystallynx @theonelittleone @piscesbarnes @free-as-fishes @tarastudiesalot @captainamericasbeard @dropthepizza346 @jaynnanadrews @likes-to-smell-books @drdorkus @life-wanderer @metalarmlover  @animegirlgeeky @jsmith509 @chipilerendi @nerdy-bookworm-1998 @ericasabe @gravedollie666 @madlykpopfan @l0kisbitch @mywinterwolf @sassysweetstories @life-wanderer @jessieray98 @littledeadrottinghood @myfandomlife-blog @spnrvt @dahkness @sexyvixen7 @dilaila95

Paranormal vacation part 2

Starker fanfiction.

French girl trying to be spooky in English.

Tony rotated on his feet. There was a shadow outside, around five meters away. It looked human. Peter retreated. The thing went in their direction. Rapidly. Tony closed the window roughly. The shadow disappeared.

"This... This isn't a cat !

- I'll go outside. You stay in.

- No no no I'm coming with you."

They both turned on their phones lights and went outside. Peter walked a feet behind Tony. When Tony broke a branch, Peter shouted.

"Shh, stay quiet. Here, come."

Tony gave him his hand. They looked where the shadow was and all around the house. There was no sign of anyone. They went back inside the house, still holding hands.

"It's late. We must be hallucinating. Or see something that was further.

- Yeah... You're right..."

Peter nodded. Their fingers were laced together. Their chest were touching.

"Mr Stark..."

This time, they were looking straight in the eyes. Peter licked his lips with Tony watching his mouth. The younger's breath was warm and trembling. After long second hesitating, Tony kissed Peter's cheek.

"Time to go to bed, he whispered in his ear."

Peter nodded again. They went to bed in silence.

Tony lay on his back. He closed his eyes. His heartbeat was high. Too much feelings in only one night.

A shout woke him up in surs. He stood immediately and ran to Peter's room. The kid was sitting on his bed, shaking. His window slammed violently. There was the same repugnant smell than before.

"What's happening ? Are you hurt ?

- No... I ... I heard... Holy shit..."

Tony closed the window and sat next to his pupil. Peter took off his wet t-shirt.

"I heard a voice. It was calling me. It said "Peter". Then it grabbed my wristles. It felt so real...

- Hush now."

Tony hugged him.

"Please stay Mr Stark. Please. I need you.

- I'm not going anywhere. You can rest now. I'll protect you. I swear."

Tony barely blinked until Peter was asleep. He stayed awake all night. Nothing strange happened. He finally slept when the sun was sweeping the floor.

When he opened his eyes, Peter wasn't around. Tony straightened and ran through the house to find Peter cooking peacefully.

"Is everything alright Mr Stark ?

- Yes, everything's fine. I didn't see you upstairs."

Peter nodded. He was appreciating Tony's naked legs and torso with a shy smile.

"I... I did a brunch. It's already noon so ...

- You're perfect. I'll go change and I'll be back."

They ate outside, in silence. Peter looked up and down so many times that Tony sighed.

"Is it a problem ?

- No ! No problem sir !

- You keep looking at me like you want to tell me something, so speak.

- I... I am sorry. For last night I... You don't seem to have sleep a lot and it is all my fault.

- I don't care, you don't need to be sorry."

Peter opened his mouth and closed it right after. He bit his lips. Tony was way too sleepy to try to read his face.

"I told you you can speak.

- Well, it's quite embarrassing."

Tony felt an electricity ticking under his skin. His brain worked at full speed. Did he speak in his sleep ? Did he have a boner ? Did he unconsciously touch the boy ?

"Spit it out now.

- Can you sleep with me tonight ?"

Tony laughed with relief. Peter blushed and scowled.

"You don't have to, if you think it is nuts. I just sleep better when you're around. No need to make fun of me.

- I wasn't making fun of you. I can sleep in your room as many times as you want."

Peter smiled.

"Thank you Mr Stark ! "

The younger man relaxed immediately.

"So what should we do today ?

- I wanted to visit Oban, a city near this place. But I think working in the lab could be a good option too. I'm tired.

- Ok ! What should we work on ?

- Well, we used the ark system here as a generator. We must find a structure that can handle the energy for bigger places. Like the tower. Or a city.

- Let's do that."

They worked all day, burning with passion. Their technology was the futur, they were sure of it. In Tony's mind, the equation was simple : being independent of fossil energies meant no more war for the countries which owned it, meant maybe avoiding a nuclear war. Their generator could save lifes. Millions of them.

In his earlier carrier, Tony used to build weapons. Of course, his society thrived. Until the day his best friend, Rhody, lost the fonction of his legs because of him. The "enemies" had taken his weapons against their compatriots and allies.

Tony decided to visit the fighting countries. He met several persons, kids, urged to fight. His guns were used by eight years old child. He couldn't bear it.

After this, he chose to make Earth a better place. To forgive his sins, while helping humanity. This epiphany led him to the scientific contest where he met his heir. He understood that as a sign that he stepped in the right direction.

At 11pm, Tony put music. Peter discovered many songs while they were working.

At 2am, Peter fell asleep on his desk. At 3, Tony noticed. He approached the kid to wake him up when the smell came back. There was no window in the cave.

"It has to come from the ground, Tony whispered for himself."

He fixed Peter's perfect face a few minutes before gently shaking his shoulder. Peter had an hard time opening his eyes.

"We should go to sleep sweetheart, Tony mumbled."

They went upstairs. Peter stretched and undressed before laying on the bed. He looked at Tony who hasn't move a muscle.

"You're still ok to sleep here?

- Of course."

Tony undressed too, he went to bed with only his boxer on. He didn't think the situation would make him so unconfortable.

Tony was on his back, focused on the roof. The smell had decreased, but was still there. He heard Peter moving a little, then stop. The young genius did it again. And again. He arrived against Tony's shoulder. Tony opened his arm automatically, and Peter stalled his head on his chest. Stark could feel his whole body against his.

"Goodnight Mr Stark.

- Good night Pete'."

"Mr Stark... Mr Stark please... Wake up"

Tony opened his eyes. Peter was laying close to him, whispering his name. The smell filled the entire room.

"What is happening ?

- Shh... Listen. Can you hear that ?"

Tony yawned and tried to focus on the sounds around him. First, he heard the wood wracking. It was getting closer to the room's door. The footsteps stopped in front of the door. For a minute, all that Tony could hear was Peter's hot breath near his neck.

A white noise began suddenly, like an old television.

"What the fuck... Whispered Tony."

A light human form appeared, standing in front of them. Its finger pointed at a shaking Peter. It was moving slowly to them. Tony hugged Peter closer.

The footsteps restarted. Something was slamming the door. Tony looked quickly at the door to see the handle moving violently.

"Go away... I said go away ! He yelled firmly."

At the end of the order, the sound of his voice was echoing alone in the room. The light was gone too.

"We must leave this place now, and burn it."

Peter looked at him with tears in his eyes. He seemed shaken.

"We can't...

- What do you mean ? Have you see this thing ?!

- It was ... I'm sure of it... It was aunt May."

Tony was perplexed.

"That was a freaking ghost ! Or a spirit ! I don't mean to be rude Peter, but it just can't be your aunt May !

- I swear ! I recognized her ! She was pointing me !

- There is no way it was ...

- Well I don't know !"

Peter straightened.

"Maybe we're on an old Indian graveyard and it opened the gate between life and death, or we are the seven's full moon of an antic Maya calendar, or she was secretly Scottish but this was May !

- Even if she was, she doesn't seem to want you some good Peter !

- It may not be easy to communicate with living forms, maybe we misunderstood the signs ! For all I know, it could be the last chance I have to say goodbye to my last family member ! We have to stay !"

Tony sat on the bed and took Peter's hand.

"This is crazy Peter. When we watched an horror movie, you told me "why didn't they run?!" Well this is the exact same circonstances.

- Mr Stark... Please."

How could he refuse anything to those wet brown eyes ?

"We'll talk about it in the morning. You try to sleep. I'll watch over you. Come here."

He lay down on the bed and took Peter in his arms. He hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead.

After twenty quiet minutes, Peter whispered against Tony's chest.

"You smell so good Mr Stark..."

Tony was nearly happy to be so scared. His body didn't react fully to the sensual but sleepy sentence.

"Thanks kid. You sleep, now."

Tony had never expected his first night sleeping with Peter to be this terrifying.

They were eating breakfast in the day light when Peter initiated the conversation that was burning on their tongues.

"About tonight... First, I'ld like to thank you for not forcing me to leave or... Burning the house."

Tony chuckled, drinking his coffee.

"I think... Yes, I think this thing, whatever it is, is trying to communicate with us. Maybe it is in pain. It could be just asking for help in a strange way. Plus, I'm pretty sure I saw May last night. I came to one conclusion."

Internally, Tony hoped Peter was about to say they should leave asap.

"We should establish a communication with it."

The older man blew, but didn't disagree. Peter's eyes were shining with determination.

"And how could we do that exactly ? Use an ouija ?

- I was thinking about calling a paranormal specialist.

- And you've already checked on the internet to find one.

- Of course I did. His name is Dr Strange. He is very well recommended by several persons with occult manifestations.

- Is there any way I can convince you not to call this man ?

- No way sir."

Damn, he loved this young man so hard.

Whatever you haven't answered out of 1-10, 16-19 for Kyra off the sidestep ask meme?

Questions here (x)

1. what is their secret identity? do they have any nicknames? what is the meaning behind them?

Kyra Kithairon, also known fondly as “Bitch” (Jed @smuteczekbiczo​) and Ky-a-Bye. She gets “Bitch” from Jed for being a bit of one (“The world’s a bitch and now so am I” “For once, in your life, try to win a conversation by not quoting Catwoman”), since they aren’t initially on good terms (this is what happens when you try to declaw a cat, Jedrick). Ky-a-bye she gets from Julia, for always vanishing and for the most common word out of Kyra’s mouth being “bye” before Julia got her to sit still long enough for longer conversation.

2. what is their sexual/romantic orientation and gender?

Kyra’s bisexual and a demigirl! Kyra’s got a lot of issues revolving around her gender, having been pressured into traditional feminine imaging for manipulation purposes. She’s been figuring out what of it she likes and what of it makes her skin crawl since, piecing together her gender. It makes her feel better to label herself as a demigirl for that reason, giving herself an opening to communicate that sort of feeling better right off the bat.

3. what is their villain name? why did they choose it?

Kyra’s villain name is Macavity, chosen for the TS Eliot poem! She chose it because she was angling to be a cat burglar from the get go and thought it was very fitting that she declare that openly via the usage of Macavity.

4. what does their villain armor look like? what is their typical style of dress?

The way I’ve been describing the Macavity suit is “the result of Catwoman blackmailing Tony Stark for a personalized Iron Woman suit”.

It’s matte black, with gentle charcoal low-lights and electric lavender highlights. The eyes glow purple softly, like cat eyes reflecting light in darkness. There are retracting claws in the gloves, though the left glove is bigger and bulkier due to the nanovores. 

Dr. Mortum talked Kyra into adding a cape, which goes just down to under Kyra’s ass in the suit (not a full cape, but something of a half-cape. Something akin to this look x). It’s the same matte black as the suit and adds a softer appearance to Macavity. The suit has telepathic boosters, part of which is housed within cat-ear like apparatuses on the helmet (they also house part of the secure com units in the helmet). There’s also the jump-jets, which Macavity uses when speeding along rooftops around the city. But when she’s dealing with verticality in spaces she has to be silent, I headcanon that there’s an extensive grapnel system in the armor that’s similar to Black Cat’s from Marvel’s Spider-Man. Said grapnel system can sometimes double as a whip.

Kyra’s typical style of dress is that “she was born in leather jackets, she’ll die in leather jackets (probably, maybe)”. This is from the first gift she was ever given was one of Julia’s old leather jackets (which Kyra lightly swam in, being a lanky fuck, with Julia being a beefcake). Kyra typically wears a brown leather jacket, a long sleeve t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and black ankle boots with low heels.

5. what is their zodiac sign?

Kyra’s self-assigned birthday is June 22nd, because she’s such a bleeding heart Cancer that I couldn’t not give her my own birthday.

6. what is their mbti type?

INFJ who tries really hard (too hard) to be INTJ.

7. what is their dnd alignment?

Flips between Lawful Good and Chaotic Good like nobody’s business. Like, normally has Resting Chaotic Good Face, but there’s moments where she springs right past Neutral Good right into Lawful Good (especially when civilians are in the picture).

8. are they more calculating or more sincere in their interactions with others?

Kyra hates how sincere she is in interactions with others. It’s unsafe, but she just cannot help herself in how sincere she is. But she’d hate herself more if she was more manipulative.

9. how honest are they?

Kyra’s as honest as she feels safe being. If she feels safe with a person, like one hundred percent safe, she’s an open book with very few secrets. But if she doesn’t feel safe with you for reasons (Julia: bad Re-Gene opinions and difficulty not charging into things, Chen: doesn’t know where he rests on the Lawful Good-Lawful Stupid line, Herald: unsure if he’s in love with her-her or an idea of her, Argent: “what even is your deal???”, Dr. Mortum: “you’re definitely lusting after Bruce, you’re a mad scientist for hire, I don’t even know how I can begin to trust you with more than I have”, Mia: “...my story would make you pretty famous if it didn’t make you super disappeared”, Anathema: didn’t have enough time to figure out how true the cheerful/joking mask was), she’s gonna keep some secrets.

10. are they a leader or a follower?

Kyra’s a cat, is how I’d answer this one. There’s times where she leads, blazing her own path and hissing at people who tell her otherwise, metaphorically (and rarely, literally) knocking things off desks for telling her what to do. But there’s also times where she’ll step back, let someone else lead because she knows she’s out of her depth or that she’s not in any actual position to lead or just doesn’t feel like it.

16. what is their best virtue?

Kyra’s best virtue is her patience. It can sometimes manifest as an over-patience or hesitation though.

17. what is their ultimate goal?

To reveal the truth in such a way that it tears down everything that was built by those who hurt her and are hurting so many other people with their lies and their facades. 

18. what is their greatest fear?

Hm. The idea that her personality, her “humanity”, the little things that make her her are fake. Pre-programmed. The like of cats, the touches of kindness, the empathy, the puns, the nicknames, petting dogs when their owners aren’t watching, the way the scar on her left hand itches whenever she’s stressed: that all of that is fake.

19. what scarred them the most about the heartbreak incident?

Remembering that she is an outsider who will truly never fully fit in. That those who know her know a constructed image of her, not dissimilar to the image built by those who hurt her for themselves. That if the people she cared about knew, that they’d leave her in an instant.

none of this is righteous anger (part v)

Previous installments here: [archiveofourown.org/works/18655771/chapters/44241928]

By the time they rustle out of bed, the sun is low on the horizon, reams of red and gold reaching from behind the mountains to streak across the sodden land. Tony crawls into his trousers and heads out to feed the animals and Steve follows, scooping his wet clothes from the floor and carrying the whole mess outside. He stands at the line that hangs near the kitchen door,  his bare feet sinking into the scrubby grass, the mud, his body bared to the evening air, shaking out his good suit and his best shirt and pinning them up for the wind to blow good and dry.

“Well,” he says to himself, chest filled with the cream of contentment, “can’t ride home like this, can I, naked as a jaybird. Guess I got no choice but to stay.”

He looks out over the land, the small cluster of buildings and fences that mark the heart of Tony’s property. It’s wild land, no doubt about it, the frontier barely held back; he’d wondered before why a man like Stark, one who seemed to thrive so much on the company of others, didn’t live in the heart of town. If the rumors were right, he could’ve bought up most of the place and still had half a fortune to see him through the lean years. Heck, the first night that Steve had met him, he’d bought drinks for the whole saloon with a grin and a casual flick of his wrist--but he’d stayed on the stool next to the new sheriff instead of making the rounds, rolling his eyes at Steve’s teetotalling while sipping at what the bartender’s smirk told Steve were high-dollar spirits, rose bushes blooming bright on his cheeks.

“You know who that is, right?” Bucky had said to him as they made their way back to the jail, the tiny desk and shaky chair that served as the whole sheriff’s office.

“Who?”

“That guy who was yammering at you all night.”

“He said his name was Stark.”

“Mmm. That’s his name. It doesn’t mean anything to you?”

Steve squinted over in the darkness, the easy hush of the street. “No. Should it?”

“I heard his name a lot in Texas,” Bucky said. “Around Houston, mostly. He used to be a hell of a shark. Real good at cards, even better at talking rich folks out of their money.”

“Is that was he does here? Swindle?”

Bucky chuckled and shuffled up the step from the sidewalk, reached for the door. “Nobody knows what he does out here, boss. He lives by himself, oh, five clicks or so to the west. Long as I’ve been here, never seen him near a card table, not once.”

Steve followed him in and made for the oil lamp, fumbled for a match. “So he’s not a crook? Is that what you’re saying?”

A sigh, the creak of a buckle. The gentle thud of Bucky’s gun belt on the desk. “I’m saying he’s the kind of man that everybody knows and nobody does. That’s what I don’t like. The not knowing.”

There’d been rumors over the years, little stories here and there of a funny land deal up near the Idaho territories; of Stark being seen outside a house in Helena for women of ill-repute; of money moving in and out of the man’s account like whitewater; of trouble out east in Bismarck while Tony had been down there visiting. Nothing solid, nothing so much like a crime, but it was enough to get Steve’s attention, to ensure that Stark, when he was in town, was never far from the sheriff’s eye.

“Rogers,” Tony had said to him once, idling over to his table near the end of the bar, “if I were a different sort of man, your constant presence might give me ideas.”

Steve’d felt his ears redden. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not here for you.”

Tony had raised an eyebrow, a dark, elegant arch. “Really? Then you must be waiting for one of the girls. Who’s your favorite?”

“My favorite--?”

“One of the redheads, I’ll bet. I can see you liking the exotic types. Am I right?”

The words had come out louder than he’d meant them to. “I’m not here to partake in any female company, Stark!”

Tony had eyed him, a slow, dirty blink that stopped Steve’s blood in its tracks. “Aren’t you, then?” Stark said.  “Tsk. Too damn bad. You’d make a pretty picture with one of them in your lap.”

They’d crossed swords every time they’d met after that: Tony mocking and Steve trying to stay righteous and all of it building into a bundle of frustration and a deep-rooted anger that Steve couldn’t quite understand, didn’t want to--especially when it manifested itself in unsettled dreams that he crawled out of sticky, his hand on his cock and his mind in a daze and the first light of the morning worming through his window shade.

It was only when Tony had pushed him, demanded, when he’d driven Steve to the brink and opened his mouth and let him take that first, furious kiss that any of it had made any damned sense. And now here he was, less than a week later, standing naked on the man’s land as the sun went down on one chapter of his life and the moon stretched her silver arms to mark the start of another.

He’s so lost in his thoughts, on the kiss of the evening’s sweet breeze, that he didn’t hear Tony slip up behind him, that he jumped a little when cool hands palmed the lines of his ribs.

“Hi,” Tony says.

Steve leans back, reaches up to lace his fingers through Tony’s. “Hey.”

“You fixing to become part of the scenery, hmm? Not that I’m objecting. You’d make a damned pretty tree.”

“I didn’t realize how beautiful it was out here. Guess I let my mind wander.”

“Your mind can wander plenty, but I’d prefer if the rest of you didn’t.” Tony kisses the base of his shoulder, his undershirt a nice scratch against the stretch of Steve’s back. “I like having you here.”

The light is all shadows now, shadows lined in slivers of silver, and Steve can feel himself stiffening, his cock filling as Tony touches him out here in front of the sky and the land and God, those slim fingers brushing his nipples, his hips moving gently against the meat of Steve’s ass.

“Especially,” Tony says, “because you’re in a frankly criminal state of undress.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.” A quick, hard pinch, perfect. “It’s giving me all kinds of ideas.”

Which is how they end up in the kitchen, the door flung wide open, breathing the smell of the rain and the night, Steve’s muddy feet on the floor and Tony in his lap, panting, riding Steve’s cock, slow, slow, slow, revelling in every inch. Their bodies are folded in moonlight, strung together like vines, and Steve can’t take his eyes off Tony’s face.

He’s already come once, Tony has; head back and hands desperate as Steve lapped at the head and licked at his balls until Tony begged and then Steve had let him slide in tight and deep until he’d cried out, shaky, a torn ribbon caught by the wind and poured himself down the well of Steve’s throat but he’s hard again, Tony is, with Steve tucked him inside him, hard and slick with sweat and making these soft, gorgeous sounds, moving in boneless time with Steve’s hips, and Lord help him, Steve never wants this to end.

“Steve.” The word breaking, beautiful.

“Baby.”

Tony whimpers and he clamps down, his body the sweetest sort of vise. “Steve. Steve. Please.”

And then what can he do but tuck his beard against Tony’s neck and palm the plush swell of Tony’s ass and come like he’s dying, a hard punch of rapture that makes him lose everything except the feel of Tony’s skin, the soothing press of his hands, the low, murmured words that Steve can’t quite hear over the roar of his heart.

Their mouths move together, sleepy, Steve’s hands sliding up the plains of Tony’s back, Tony arching like a long, wiry cat, and they don’t have to talk anymore, do they? No, Steve thinks. Not tonight. Not tonight.

~~~

“I’m gonna pay Barton back,” Tony says in the morning, keeping his eyes on the eggs in the pan. “I’m not going to personally hand him a check or anything, but I’ll see he gets his money back.”

Steve’s arms wind around his waist and squeeze none too gently. “Good. That’s real good.”

“Yeah, well, you say that, but I have a feeling this is as much about making me eat crow in public as it is about Barton getting whole. My uncharacteristic if anonymous generosity might not persuade him to settle down.”

He feels Steve’s breath on his cheek, sweet bitter from tooth powder and coffee. “I’m sure I can contribute something to the effort if need be.”

“You don’t need to--”

“Do not,” the sheriff says in a voice like a cell slamming shut. “Do not finish that sentence, Stark.”

“Ok,” Tony says with a grin. “Ok ok ok. How about, if I need your help, I’ll ask?”

Steve hums, lets it catch as a kiss on Tony’s cheek. “Better. Much better.”

He rides off before the sun is proper up, his horse dancing eagerly at the promise of a run. His suit looks like hell. The damn thing’s not even really dry; when Tony kisses him, one last kiss before Steve hops in the saddle, his shirt comes away wet.

“You need some new clothes,” Tony says. It isn’t easy; his throat’s tight.

“Do I? Why?” Steve reaches down and brushes Tony’s hair from his forehead. Smiles. “You’ll just tear them off me anyway.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. You’ll tear them off for me.”

Steve’s eyes are twin sparks. Tony sees his grip go tight on the reigns. “If it gets your hands on me faster,” Steve says, sandpaper, “then you’re damn right I will. Every stitch.”

He rides off without a promise of tomorrow, without another day set when they’ll next meet because they don’t need one. It’s inevitable. As sure as the fall of the moon in the west.

“I love him, don't I?” Tony says to himself, to the sheriff’s back, to the pound of his horse’s hooves through the earth. “God help me. I do.”

I really want Tony to be Bi, but with all the misunderstandings and stigmas around it. Like Bucky is the first time he's ever been in a public relationship with a guy, and most reporters are saying that he's just experimenting, or that all his other relationships are lies because he's gay.

Hello, this is my first prompt fill for ITAB. My name is James and I hope I can fill some of that sweet, fluffy and angsty WinterIron need we all have.

Content Warning: swearing, biphobia/bimisia. (I use the terms -misia/-misic as they mean “hatred for” instead of -phobia/-phobic.)

"Tony Stark is gay!"

"The Tony Stark Experiment.Is being gay the new trend?"

"Stark and Barnes - How longwill it last?"

"Potts relationship fake?Exclusive interview with Pepper Potts. How does she deal with TonyStark newest fling being a man?"

"Did she- ?"

"No, the interview is fuckingpatched from three other ones, but can you believe this shit?"Tony crawled back onto the bed after he had just read the latestheadlines on the tablet, he pointedly left the thing on the dresseracross the room as if the piece of technology had personally offendedhim.

"I can't believe you're stillreading that shit," Bucky said and continued to tap away on hisown tablet, playing the newest mobile game he'd been obsessing over -something with cats for sure.

"First, I am not gay."

"I know."

"Second, how long will itlast? We never had a scandal or a fight, public or otherwise sincewe've been together and they just up and assume we're breaking upjust because?" Tony's expressive sigh conveyed about five morequestion marks at the end of the sentence and Bucky huffed inunderstanding.

"And why for fucks sake wouldmy relationship with Pep be fake? We loved each other and we broke upwith mutual understanding and we are /still/ friends, not somethingthat can be said for most hetero couples that break up. Please putthe tablet down, Bucky."

Finally Bucky lowered the tabletand turned to Tony, his gaze affectionate with a hint of amusementaround his lips. The name always worked, pet names were alwaysplayful, of the top of his head, and particular creative ones earnedTony one of those brilliant smiles, but none of them got him theattention like a simple 'Bucky', because of all the names Tony usedfor his boyfriend, his actual name was the rarest of them all.

"Why are you so upset, Tony?It's been weeks now with these headlines popping up all the time, whyare they getting to you today?"

"I am blaming this on yourhistory with memory problems but today is our one month anniversaryand they are /still/ at it." Seeing Bucky's panicked expressionhe quickly added, "Don't worry, if I wanted to do somethingspecial I would have told you." He patted Bucky's thigh thencurled up next to him. "Why can't people just accept thatbisexuality is a thing? I'm not straight, I'm not gay, I'm bi."

(Read more follows)

"I accept that, doll."

"I know, and I love you forthat, cupcake." Tony stretched and wriggled his head intoBucky's lap underneath the tablet that the other man still hadn't putdown. He had to run out of energy on that damn game eventually.

"There has to be a way to getthe point across." Tony mused. "Can you put that down?"He swatted at Bucky's right hand. "I need your hand on my headfor thinking scritches, please." Despite Tony's best efforts togive Bucky every possibility to use his metal hand on electronicdevices as well - from special gloves to a scratch resistant tabletwith special touch sensors - Bucky always refused to use his lefthand saying it didn't feel right. It was a little mean asking forhead scratches that Bucky also could only do with his right hand,unless Tony preferred bald spots over his well-groomed hair, but Tonyfelt neglected next to the tablet that held his boyfriend'sattention.

Bucky chuckled but put the tabletaway then ran his flesh hand through Tony's hair, drawing softcircles over his scalp with just the right amount of fingernailsadded to give Tony goosebumps. "What are you thinking about?"

"I need something obvious.Something in their faces that says, I'm Tony Stark and I'm bisexual!"

"You could just give a pressconference?"

"Nah, been there, done that.It's an old hat at this point."

They both fell silent for amoment, Bucky massaging calming circles and other shapes on Tony'shead, when Bucky spoke again it was hesitant and quiet, a mannerismfrom his early rescue days Bucky had mostly cast off. Something heonly slipped into when he was uncertain of people's reaction. "Youknow, if it helps, I could get a sticker or something...for my arm? So people can see when I fight? They always focus on my arm. For..forsupport? The flag I mean, the bisexuality flag." Bucky wasstumbling over his words and Tony couldn't get up fast enough to wraphis arms around him and press a kiss to his lips.

"That is the sweetest thing,Sunshine!" Tony mumbled against Bucky's lips, then gave him aproper hug nuzzling his face into Bucky's neck. "You're thebest! I'll get you a flag sticker." After a moment of shockBucky returned the hug.

"I'll wear the flag proudlyfor you."

Suddenly an idea struck Tony."Flag! That's it! You're a genius!" He plastered thedumbstruck Bucky with kisses before jumping up and out of the bed.

"That'll show them! Ha!"

"I don't understand."Bucky said meekly and Tony stopped in the door way, looking over hisshoulder.

"Don't worry, honey bun, Ijust had the best idea for the coming-out of the century!"

----

As it turned out grand ideas needmore than a couple of hours time to manifest and so Tony draggedBucky up into an adjacent skyscraper with a good view of the AvengersTower - officially still Stark Tower - exactly a week later. It wasearly in the morning on a clear spring day, perfect for the bigrevelation. Bucky and Tony had talked about it during the week, andthe rest of the team had also been informed after Bucky had insistedthat they know about a possible onslaught of reporters trying to runin the doors of the tower desperate for an interview. Theconstruction work on the tower could have hardly been overlookedanyway.

"What are you waiting for?"Bucky was sipping a hot tea from his personal red and silver to-gocup, it was still a bit chilly in the mornings, he was also wearingthe fluffy scarf Bruce had knitted him and he couldn't have lookedmore adorable if he had tried - in Tony's opinion at least.

"Just savoring the moment ofpeace before the panic." Tony smirked. He had brought his phoneand tablet, which he both pulled out. He set the tablet up on thebanister, JARVIS was already tracking possible reactions to hislittle stunt and he wanted to keep an eye on them. On his phone hehad a big red button displayed, evil mastermind style. "Anyobjections?" He grinned at Bucky, his thumb hovering over thedisplay.

"Hell no, you show them, babydoll." Bucky wrapped his right arm around Tony, pulling thesmaller man closer to him and putting a soft kiss on Tony's temple.

Tony pushed the button.

And then wished he had put on someepic music because watching half the front facade of the Towersuddenly change color and form a picture was simply amazing. Thetransparent screens all worked in tandem to display the messagenobody could ignore now. The colors pink and blue were proudlydisplayed on the front side of the tower, a small strip of purpledividing the two colors. On them the words:

Tony Stark

is

Bi.

And of course there was a giantpicture of Tony's face on it as well. Bucky had helped pick one.

His first idea had been to use areal flag but he had decided against it for many practical reasonsnot the least of which was that half the tower's floors would losetheir windows on one side, the transparent screens were a bettersolution and could be used for other messages as well after Tony tookthis one down. He had planned on leaving it up for a week and healready had a few ideas how to use his new advertising space in thefuture.

Seconds after the giant coming-outmessage had rippled into place the tablet started going wild. Thefirst tweets were coming in, pictures were spreading like wildfireand Tony was sure a couple of bi-misic heads exploded already.

"It's even prettier in real,"Bucky commented.

"Well, yeah, it's me afterall."

----

The tower was on lock down theentire day. Tony thought the message was pretty clear and didn't needany clarification, so he spent the day with Bucky and the rest of theteam, relaxing and ignoring the media uproar that was going on. He'ddeal with it eventually but not right now, he wanted to let it sinkin first.

In the evening he joined Bucky intheir bed and draped himself over his boyfriend, purring into Bucky'sear. Bucky's tablet was already turned off on the bedside table andso Tony was sure to get all of his mobile-game addicted boyfriend'sattention.

Bucky chuckled and wrapped hisarms around Tony, one warm and soft, the other hard and barely roomtemperature.

"Just checked a few newssites, doll, if you ignore the bigoted assholes I think you did agreat job of getting bisexuality better known today, I'm really proudof you."

"Couldn't have done itwithout you, sunshine, and I've got something for you."

"Huh?" Bucky sat up inthe bed, giving Tony a puzzled look.

Tony pressed a kiss to Bucky's jawbefore rolling to the side of the bed and fishing out a small flatbox from underneath, he settled into Bucky's lap and pressed the caseinto his hands.

"Open it," he couldn'thold back a grin.

"You know I haven't reallydone anything-"

Tony poked Bucky in the stomach."Open it~!" He whined.

"Okay, okay." Buckypopped open the latches on the box and opened it so painfully slowlythat Tony was starting to vibrate from the tension.

Inside was a collection ofstar-shaped stickers in all the different colors of the rainbow.Literally and figuratively, Tony had taken every queer flag he couldfind and had made them into stickers, segmented just right so theycould go over the engraved red star on Bucky's shoulder.

Bucky's mouth was hanging open,his eyes wide, Tony wasn't sure if he had just broken his boyfriendwith the gift and so he scrambled to explain.

"You mentioned putting asticker on your arm to show support and I thought this would be agood way to do it and now you can choose which one, or do one a weekor even each day. I mean, you don't have to do the bisexual one justfor me. You can do the rainbow flag for Pride or - " Tony pusheda few of the stickers aside to find a particular one. "Do yourown more subtle coming out, if you want, not that I wouldn't put agiant version of your face on the side of the tower, your facedeserves it to be honest, but I figured that's not really your style-hrmpf!" Tony was shut up by Bucky's mouth on his own and he sankinto the kiss, glad to have made the right decision.

After a breathless moment Buckybroke the kiss and pulled off his shirt. "Help me put it on."And Tony was only too happy to oblige.

Slowly and carefully to assure asmooth appearance he applied the flag for asexuality to Bucky's arm.

Tropes!

My brother and I are discussing how to put out tropey indulgent media out there while still making original content that is aware of its environment. 

We were looking at tropes and stupidities that we never get tired of in movies/books/games and why we still kind of want them in our content. For example, I can’t get enough of Enemies to Lovers and the bro loves the Jerk with a Heart of Gold Trope. How do you incorporate that into new original ways to stories that still feature a socially conscious voice?

You cannot slap on traits of that trope and expect it to work. You cannot frame the shortcomings of the trope as ideal and you cannot gloss over the ramifications of the trope. Discard what is harmful, take what you love, and run with it. 

EDUCATE YOURSELF, really though, figure out the shortcomings of this trope. Where does it fail? Where does it succeed? I know that my Enemies to Lovers falls through A LOT! How many times do you find  they’re battling each other and clearly the writers weren’t aware of the rules of said trope and they end up being ultimately flat and abusive? The Byronic Hero being the other one people get wrong A LOT. How do you tread that line with elements that can easily run into abusive and violent (or fucking stupid for that matter)? Same for the Jerk with a Heart of Gold  trope, which done properly is great. How many of us have fallen prey to any character who cracks wise and makes bad decisions but ultimately loves and cares? If done badly it treads into dismissive/belittling/abusive 

To give examples of two shortcomings and two successes with these tropes I’ll offer up:

Byronic Hero:

Good: Mr Rochester 

Bad: Literally any bad YA love interest

“Byronic heroes are charismatic characters with strong passions and ideals, but who are nonetheless deeply flawed individuals who may act in ways which are socially reprehensible because he's definitely contrary to his mainstream society. A Byronic hero is on his own side and has his own set of beliefs which he will not bow nor change for anyone. A Byronic hero is a character whose internal conflicts are heavily romanticized and who himself ponders and wrestles with his struggles and beliefs. Some are portrayed with a suggestion of dark crimes or tragedies in their past.” THE LITERAL BYRONIC HERO TROPE PAGE

I feel like that biblical paragraph sums up the Byronic Hero. Where lets say Rochester and Frankenstein or their modern equivalents never have their behaviour or actions framed as good, we still find ourselves engaging with them. It’s indulgent in its admission. It has to be your bag, and it’s that you have to be here for. You have to like engaging with a character that has done bad things but still has enough emotional relatability that instills fascination. 

What is not fascinating/enjoying/attractive is watching bad YA that frames these bad qualities as ideal or go as far as to fetishize them. For instance, the possessive boyfriend angle ‘cause it’s hot is one of my PET PEEVES. YOU WILL ALWAYS GET MORE TRACTION WITH FRAMING THEM AS BAD THAN HAVING THEM DO CREEPY SHIT AND BANKING ON US EMOTIONALLY ENGAGING WITH THEM POSITIVELY. (Looking at you Tiger’s Curse)

You have to be aware where the trope works and where it doesn’t. The authors of bad YA have the intent to make them conflicted/tragic/flawed but don’t really want to examine what made those byronic heroes enjoyable. Instead they take surface attributes and slap them on. Byronic Hero is hiding a wife in the attic (BAD and framed as such)! Bad YA Love Interest is demeaning and patronizing to flirt (BAD and framed as good!) Challenges God and Nature and is NOW A FATHER (Not So Great Frankenstein and not framed as such) . Bad YA Love Interest is physically possessive because that is what this demographic finds sexy (BAd and framed as Good)

Here is an alternative! YA Love interest does bad shit and its not framed as anything good! The protag can react with more autonomy than :Oh that’s hot and my reader’s will think so too! The protag can be dismissive, angry, or shitty right back! No one is absolved! But you can still engage with them on a more nuanced level. You can suddenly make connections with the Byronic Hero because you understand their fear or their conflict, rather have it be a lazy flashback to explain why your bad YA Love Interest is being shitty. 

How to be indulgent: Make your awful characters awful and frame them as such! IF you’re able to create a subtle character that warrants the trope then clearly they have what it takes to be engaging! 

The Jerk with a Heart of Gold trope:

Good: Iron Man (I know people with debate this but we like him in this house so go with it) 

Bad: Any sitcom husband ever

“A person you would expect to be a big Jerkass has some redeeming qualities behind their tough demeanor. Occasionally, they'll try to make it a Hidden Heart of Gold.” - The Jerk with a Heart of Gold TV Tropes Page. 

Awareness is a big factor in incorporating this trope into new ideas and new content because I don’t think this one is ever going away. It obviously manifests in different capacities and genres. But I chose the above examples because they’re familiar, and can be played for drama and laughs. 

Tony Stark is a good iteration Jerk with a Heart of Gold because his actions aren’t framed as harmless or irrelevant. He is a hot mess, he says it himself. He makes bad decision after bad decision and endangers himself and others in the process. Why does he still have a heart of gold? He still gets the “save the cat moment” and he is given time to show his conflict and reasoning as relatable.  He creates Ultron, sides with the UN in Civil War (I still see a lot of his motivation as valid which to each their own when it comes to that movie). He does so out of guilt and the desperate need to hold himself accountable. Being the only person on the avengers who fights by ways of inventions he has understood the consequences of bringing this technology in the world and stepping up an arms race. And yet he continues to fight. To an audience we see his shortcomings as an individual. And yet we feel for him. He is framed with a more subtle dialogue, he is flawed, he tries to be heroic, but he has no clue what he’s doing, and continues anyways.        

I bring Sitcom Husband up because so often show writers will create Sitcom Husband with harmful and toxic male coded traits in mind. They are:

Callous, lazy, clueless, domineering, stupid, always wrong, uglier than their partner, enforce toxic gendered norms, homophobic, transphobic, and/or racist? 

You are not framing your Sitcom Husband’s actions as shitty and bad and worthy of changing. They are being framed as commonplace, expected, and normal. These are not just “jerk” things to do, they are emblematic of larger social issues that many sitcom writers shouldn’t be allowed to tackle. There is the opportunity to have characters that evolve and change but they aren’t allowed because they represent you, the male viewer, and you are shitty and unable of changing. And to all the other genders out there: this is your lot and life, this is how people will treat you. 

Flawed Superhero sides with the UN (Not Ideal but Framed with Good intentions). Sitcom Husband cant remember anything relevant about children’s lives (NOT GREAT but framed as commonplace instead emblematic of a larger issue).

To give an example of Sitcom dads who don’t hit this bad note: Bob from Bob’s Burgers is great, he’s tired of his family’s Shenanigans, but loves them and would do anything for them. An example of Jerk with a Heart of Gold that doesn’t have his shitty actions framed as okay but is still likeable (sounds a bit Byronic Heroish but he’s not trust me). 

The Lens:

Gender

The Byronic Hero and the Jerkass with a Heart of Gold are very gender laden tropes as well. The moment you apply these tropes to people who are not cis men, they transform in meaning, and not to mention, there are BARELY ANY OF THEM. Just trying to find villains who are just cis women with proper writing is a task in 2018. These terms get applied to men and their definitions are validated by their interaction with heroines or other men. 

The failed Byronic Hero is aimed at “female audiences”. It’s a tangled snare of a male content creators guessing at what “women” want and women who have fetishized and internalized the failures of this trope. All come to the conclusion that “chicks dig bad boys”. Not to be that person, but it also vastly misunderstands the appeal that Byronic Heroes have for all genders. It is extremely difficult to create new content that pays homage to this trope without hitting the pitfalls of most media. 

The failed Jerk with a Heart of Goal is aimed at a gender dichotomous audience. It’s a snub of content creators of what they think, you, man or woman, are. The faults are framed as inevitable manifestations of gender and yet still excusable because these jerk related tendencies are just part of being man or a woman, and not a vast social system that favours few and marginalizes many. This extends to race and sexuality as well. Your jerkishness is thanks to your identity, and therefore, unchangeable. 

Race

From a race perspective? They’re all white. We are at a point in Western Media, at the very least, where diversity is becoming an increasing demand. But with media content creators still being part of an out of touch racial group, it’s difficult to see any character, let alone anyone with the discussed tropes represented. We are at the point where your diversity, if a larger role, is going to be portrayed as perfect. This is a major issue I take with creating poc, and woc characters, not to mention characters of different gender and sexual identities. There aren’t enough diverse content creators to get us past this block of creators making them perfect because they don’t know how to make a human character who is also of color. 

This makes the Jerkass with a Heart of Gold impossible to tackle. We are starting to see more fleshed out characters nowadays. It is still a fairly recent sensation to HAVE A SELECTION to chose from.

I would love it if Byronic Heroes and Jerks With A Heart of Gold came in color. We are meant to watch white guys do bad shit and engage with the conflict of their character. And as a mixed race women it is definitely a weird place to sit when one does enjoy tropes like that. IT’s even more unsettling when we can’t extend that empathetic engagement  to men of color, or woc, or god forbid, trans people. (let everyone have a byronic hero honestly)

And in a world of hate crimes and deplorable race relations, what is the relevancy of this trope? What is the relevancy of this trope in a visual mass media already saturated with badly written YA Love Interest or Not So Deep Byronic Heroes?

I’m not an expert, but as a  consumer of books/tv/movies/etc I don’t think fiction is the root of all mankind’s evil and I don’t think fading this trope out of visual mass media is going to get rid of it. I, personally, think we need more content creators of color, of different gender identities, and different sexualities reinterpreting Jerk Ass with a Heart of Gold and the Byronic Hero.

Gender Binary and Sexuality

I chose these two tropes because they’re traditionally VERY gender related. And I mention this to clarify that the market is aimed at a gender binary: straight girl or straight boy. Gays, Bis, Non Binary, Gender fluid, or trans folk, for example, are left out of the equation of: what do they want to see in media?

I do know that for as long as evil has existed there has always been a very clear coding as to what the villain’s sexuality might be. It’s clearly deplorable how literally the only representation a huge marginalized community get will be in the form of a morally or sexually debauched villain. Which is why I will never forgive LeFou being made gay (you couldn’t have picked any other character from your 600000 other features Disney?). 

Also as a Cis woman, I don’t feel like I can do an accurate run down of how indulgent tropes fail or succeed with a LGBT lens. I have a base idea of WHAT NOT TO DO but I would rather see other people talk about it! 

 So PLEASE! Add to this discussion! I would love to hear about which tropes you love but where media fails you and in what capacity! Or where they’ve gone right! 

But as someone who loves their tropey enemies-to-lovers and villains I will keep returning to them in my media consumption and I be subject to paying them homage when the time is appropriate! 

That being said! I had no clue this would get so long.

I just wanted to let you know that I LOVED your recent drabbles!! Also... I absolutely do not want to make it seem like I'm telling you to write something, but I saw your tags on the Victuuri Superhero AU one talking about the idea you'd come up with involving Yuri as "Shadowkat," and I am DYING to know more about that idea of yours, it sounds so good!

omg ok so @farashasilver​ and i were talking about a superhero au and basically

yurio is shadowkat, a superhero with cat-like abilities 

super agile and flexible

the ability to blend in with shadows

can jump off tall buildings and land on his feet no problem

these powers begin manifesting when he’s going through puberty 

”mila. mila i’m DYING” 

“that’s puberty, yura” 

“PUBERTY DOES NOT GIVE YOU RETRACTABLE CLAWS YOU HAG”

turns out the reason yurio got these powers was because of medical experiments done on him as a kid

he was dying of a mysterious childhood sickness and his grandpa nikolai once worked for nikiforov tech and he begged viktor (or rather, at the time, viktor’s guardian yakov -- who later is just viktor’s alfred pennyworth i guess) to save him

viktor did ofc and yurio recovered well but then puberty and BAM superpowers as delayed-action side effects lol

“wait you mean to say not everyone suddenly gets the ability to bend their arm backwards during puberty?”

“PUT THAT ARM BACK PLISETSKY THAT’S SO GROSS”

nikiforov tech keeps tabs on yurio medically through sending doctors to check on him once in a while but once the powers start manifesting viktor swoops in personally and is like how about you learn some responsibility for those powers yura

“excuse me i am SHADOWKAT,” says yurio

“uhhuh,” says viktor, giving him a super high tech suit with training wheels ala tony stark in spiderman: homecoming

yurio doesn’t hate viktor so much as be perpetually exasperated by him like you are perpetually exasperated by an eccentric rich “uncle” whose idea of being a good guardian essentially amounts to giving small children high tech weapons to teach them responsibility 

oh and also he’s engaged to local goody-two-shoes superhero yuuri katsuki who once stopped a speeding train with his bare hands and then said (and yurio is just so Done about this) that anyone could have done that

and viktor is completely gaga for the fact that yuuri is super strong and has seemingly endless stamina 😏😏😏

also, like, viktor used to come from the tony stark school of “throw money at your depression in the hopes of making it go away” so having someone like yuuri in his life is making things a loooot more bearable

also also yuuri is pretty much bottled sunshine with a great ass so

yurio will never admit he’s actually kinda happy about how happy yuuri makes viktor because he is shadowkat, goddammit

“you’re not allowed to tell the world you’re shadowkat until at least your eighteenth birthday,” says viktor

yurio flips him the bird. “can i at least tell my friends”

viktor rolls his eyes. “you already told them haven’t you”

yurio also has a crush on this seemingly dark broody senior at his school, otabek altin, who lowkey looks like he doesn’t give anyone the time of day

(especially not loudmouth jj leroy who is asb president, of course, and his cute band geek girlfriend isabella yang)

(that’s at least 80% of the reason why he likes otabek)

turns out otabek altin just is trying to work up the nerve to ask edgy sophomore yuri plisetsky to homecoming but that’s no one’s business

also yurio might have saved his life as shadowkat once or twice

they probably have a spiderman/mary jane thing going on 

anyway yurio and yuuri (and viktor with his high tech superhero gadgets ala batman and iron man i guess) gotta save new york from a new terrible threat

which may or may not be originating from another Edgy Teen who had gotten exposed to the same medical treatments as yurio but… fell through the cracks

also stan lee cameos as a uhhhhh idk figure skating commentator

( hopefully ) quick rundown of my muses & their powers, maybe even ranked by most likely to fuck your shit up to smol bean don’t hurt me

thor - MCU CANON - literal god. okay, an alien that humans revered as a god. brings many thunders, but that’s not the part you gotta worry about. i mean, it’s thor. you know who thor is. playable at any point in mcu canon.

tony stark - MCU CANON - human but built himself his first robotic suit of armor out of scraps from his own company’s weapons. once called the most famous mass murderer in the history of america, but he’s changed now. just wants to protecc, but does it in a bad way. his armors have significantly advanced now, they’re made of nanotech. ooh, ahhh. soft for one girl and one woman, but there’s plenty of time to play with before pep put a ring on it.

bobby drake a.k.a. iceman - XMCU/616 CANON - omega-level mutant with cryokinesis & related powers, can even send his consciousness through ice or water and form and reform from water vapor, thus lending him an almost-invulnerability; weak to dry environments with v little moisture in the air, but also his own self-doubt and fear of harming ppl w/ his powers

pamela isley a.k.a. poison ivy - DC CANON - resident angry plant lady. humans are bad, they keep fucking her over. plants are much better. hot af, but like all pretty things, don’t touch. literally has a poison kiss. can manufacture toxins in her body like it’s child’s play. also magic spores that make everyone go ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ and then they dead. ultimate femme fatale meets environmental terrorist. but also can feed you apples and shit if you’re nice.

dalton jaynes - WITCH OC - thinks he’s completely human but he’s not, comes from a long line of male witches who are dreamwalkers but he also has some swanky electricity/computer magic ( such as being able to tap into the internet as a second brain almost & instantly translate languages he’s never even heard before ); currently his powers are awakening still so he’s low on this list, but if given the right guidance, could easily be on par with bobby’s level of power

kieran jaynes - WITCH/JURASSIC WORLD OC - knows he’s a witch and a dreamwalker and has been learning magic & training his skills from a very young age. oh, he’s dalton’s long lost cousin & they just found each other since dalton’s dad cut off communication with their family ( probably to save him from the magic & the slightly greedy, ambitious, elitist family. ) has been known to use nightmare magic to give himself an edge over a rival, but generally a charming guy otherwise. plays in a band. also works at jurassic world as a gallimimus handler. not as much power potential as dalton, but his is almost fully manifested.

victor zsasz - GOTHAM CANON - human, we think. possibly weird alien dna. jk, he’s human. he’s just an extraordinarily good hitman / bodyguard / enforcer of criminal empires. great guy to have on your side if you have dirty work to do, veeeeeeery bad guy to face if you pissed off someone in high places. might invite you out for a milkshake before you die though.

seth gecko - FDTD CANON - completely human, but he works out -flex- ok but srsly he’s a pretty damn good shot and he’s a skilled thief & conman with little regard for anyone standing in his way

stella woods - WEREWOLF OC - seems like she’s pretty human, a raging lesbian ( she doesn’t do labels though ) rebel child just doing her thing as a successful fashion photographer. except she’s also a werewolf and her senses go from ‘gee you have excellent senses!’ to ‘100000′ when that moon turns into a glaring pearl in the sky. hates it, hates herself for it, starts going a little batshit when the moon starts waxing full again. could fuck you up when she’s wolfy, but definitely doesn’t want to. unless you’re a misogynist.

                                                 by request only

roderick douglas - KELPIE OC - a kelpie with an extremely high level of intelligence & adaptability, so much so that he learned how to consume only the souls of his victim in order to avoid detection in the modern age. also his power shifted from his native waters in scotland to the hudson river after some asshole captured him & brought him to new york for a world’s fair. basically he’s an evolutionary marvel. but if you fuck with his silver bridle/necklace if he’s in human form, he’s fucked so that’s a thing.

hæilvi aflasdottir - WITCH OC - 1209 yr old witch & good bean, is kind of an ‘ancient’ norse priestess basically except not many ppl practice norse paganism anymore so she basically raises her plant babies & sails in her boats. but uh, if she needed to, she can lay the hurt on. she won’t like it, but she’s not a pacifist & if you’ve given her a reason to fight you, RUN. her biggest weakness is prob that she’s got dyslexia and has difficulties with spells sometimes & there’s not really anyone around to teach her/refresh her knowledge the way she learns best

tamandani fatsani - RAVAGER OC - alien evolved from cats on a planet called nadiiru. sharp claws, sharp teeth, heightened senses & quick reflexes. can totally see in low lighting & yes her pupils reflect demon light in the dark. ok but she’s also very morally gray & lives to steal. she’s a ravager.

lucille sharpe - CRIMSON PEAK CANON - completely human but severely mentally ill. prone to violence, has basically lost everything good in her life except for her brother who is also her lover, so she ain’t even care if she gotta fuck ur shit up. p.s. don’t drink the tea. p.p.s. did i mention she has a scientific curiosity in anatomy & biology & also how poisons work on the human body?

vanessa styles/gecko - FDTD CANON - also completely human, does not work out but she’s got some fair good guns herself. also a good shot, also can be ruthless, especially if your name is kate or you’re trying to steal her man

roman hayes - HUNTER OC - more or less human but he’s got some supernatural tingly senses. he’s a twin & unfortunately always been pretty sickly and fragile, but he tries okay. oh, and he’s also recovering from brain cancer that killed him a couple yrs ago ( long story short his bro basically enslaved himself to Death & became a reaper to bring him back )

nathan ingram - PERSON OF INTEREST CANON - completely human, software engineer ( tends to walk while his buddy runs ), alcoholic & if it’s in his survivor verse, he’s pretty seriously maimed by the explosion & suffers from breathing issues & general deterioration of his joints anyways

                                                  moved to separate blogs

loki ( of no surname ) - MCU CANON - um, a lot of magic, literally hundreds of years spent studying magic of various types with an emphasis in illusory magic & combat magic; weakest in healing magic, his magic does not seem to ‘bend’ to it very well; natural-born shapeshifter ( but limited to species/forms that ‘suit’ him )

ari niceta - ASSASSIN OC - human but a nice human, kinda. you see, he’s a hitman-in-training, an apprentice, a little pup growing up to be a wolf. he’s got good reflexes and good instincts to match, and an intuitive touch with weapons that only gets better with training. the fact that he’s genial makes him a good candidate for safeguarding vulnerable prisoners, but that doesn’t mean he can’t and won’t kill when the order is given.

Essential Avengers: Avengers #164: To Fall By Treachery!

October, 1977

Oh hey look!

Whirlwind, Living Laser, and Power Man Not That One! Apparently the theme of this iteration of the Lethal Legion is The Worst.

Then again, the previous version was run by Grim Reaper. So maybe every version of the Lethal Legion is just terrible.

What even qualifies these guys to be the Lethal Legion? Sure, two of them were in the previous incarnation but I don’t think Grim Reaper okayed any franchising. The man is very particular about intellectual property.

Not much to say about the cover. A cool enough battle scene with the Lethal Legion kicking the Avengers’ collective asses. Except for the POV person.

Maybe the Avengers would be doing better if Hank Pym had stayed Ant-Man. Because lets be honest: Ant-Man? Kicks ass. Yellowjacket? Largely ineffectual.

Anyway, lets begin.

WITH FANSERVICE.

He’s single, ladies and gentlemen.

Anyway again, with a filler the previous issue, the Avengers have finally gotten some quiet days to relax, heal, and clean up from the previous several catastrophes.

Now the Avengers can finally look into what is even the deal with Wonder Man. He was raised as a zombie due to the Grim Reaper’s scheming but regained his own memories somehow. During the Grim Reaper’s attack, Wonder Man revealed that he wasn’t quiet human anymore, with eyes that crackled with energy. Ultron’s encephalo-ray had only a temporary effect on him due to this.

So whats the deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal??

Well. He’s become a creature of living energy. His cells are like miniature fusion reactors more than living tissue. Even though his body seems to simulate normal life-signs and functions, he has a totally unique physiology (for now).

He probably wasn’t even dead those years he was dead! Confusing, I know. But perhaps it would be better to say that he was dormant and... metamorphosing. Like a beautiful ionic butterfly.

These answers come from a scientific huddle between Tony Stark, Beast, Black Panther, Yellowjacket, and Alice the lady biochemist.

Her last name is apparently Nugent and she becomes Doctor Spectrum at some point. The things one learns when one just wants to know if a character has a last name.

Anyway, Beast was part of this scientific mosh-pit but he cuts out early, feeling superfluous. Why would Tony Stark even call in a lady bio-chemist? Doesn’t he know that Beast worked in a bio-lab and also is currently insecure about his usefulness to the team?

Doesn’t help that because Beast was too busy making jokes, Black Panther got to all the best exposition before he could.

So basically Beast is feeling underappreciated and useless.

This kind of goes back a ways. Not only has Beast felt useless on the team due to being knocked out or kidnapped or whatever so many times, he also feels like everyone is judging him by his cover and forgetting what he can do. Told to carry heavy things. Yelled at for joking. Disregarded when actual science stuff happens.

Things have gotten so bad he actually misses Patsy, where before he seemed to resent her presence.

I miss Patsy too.

Anyway, can anything break Beast out of this funk? Maybe a dozen hot dogs with mustard.

Except no. The cart guy runs when he sees a blue gorilla man in a trenchcoat very politely attempting to engage in commerce.

WILL NOTHING BREAK BEAST OUT OF HIS- wait what’s happening.

A mob of women has spontaneously manifested to fangirl over Beast. Just clamoring and trying to touch his fur and he has the biggest shit eating grin.

I guess these girls don’t hate and fear mutants. Although its my theory that the Marvel universe is just full of furries because Tigra faced a very similar response in issue #215 when she was on the Avengers roster.

People in the Marvel U just love people with a full-body fur coat.

And are rudely handsy and slut shamey. For shame, the Marvel public.

ANYWAY. Believe it or not, Beast getting his esteem back via effusive female appreciation actually ties into the plot.

A mysterious monocle man with an N ring drives by the growing crowd and hopes that Beast doesn’t recognize him. OH IF ONLY HE DIDN’T HAVE TO DRIVE HIMSELF LIKE SOME KIND OF PROLE.

But, yeah, no, Galactus could run by and Beast wouldn’t notice it right now. You’re good, monocle guy. Well, not morally. You know what I mean.

Monocle man heads to the docks to meet up with... POWER MAN (no not that one).

But the original. The cheap knockoff version of Wonder Man. Eric Josten. He who did a crime and destroyed the Avengers just because he was smitten with Enchantress. And then quit crime because she abandoned him. And then recrimed because Black Widow told him to. And also was in the first Lethal Legion even though there were no morally dubious ladies to tell him to. That Power Man.

Wanna know something hilarious? Between then and now, Luke Cage beat the shit out of Josten for possession of the Power Man name. And Luke Cage doesn’t even really like the name. Perhaps beating up Eric Josten was reward enough.

Eric Josten doesn’t like being reminded that he lost his own, uninspired name and hucks a crate weighing tons at Mysterious Monocle Man, or Count Nefaria for short.

Count Nefaria would be dead and this story would be a lot shorter had he not been smart enough to hide behind a hologram.

He offers to increase Josten’s power should he agree to be in his employ and dang but Josten is impressed by this dude not getting crushed by a crate. He’s in.

Count Nefaria sets him his first task: breaking two others out of prison. We can guess who because they are on the cover.

SEVERAL DAYS LATER, the Whizzer is relevant to this book again.

He’s listening to the news, as old people are wont to do, and not being retired very well. For example, he reads about a prison break and wonders if the Avengers will need help corralling the escapees. And hears about a bank robbery that the police are helpless to stop and immediately springs into action, getting into costume and racing towards the door.

And nearly kills Scarlet Witch.

She was coming to visit his old man self because at this point, he’s still her dad. And to avoid running over her, he slams himself into a wall. ... I know people prefer Magneto as the twins’ dad but are we absolutely sure that this man isn’t Quicksilver’s dad?

Anyway, Wanda starts yelling at him for almost dying again. Whats he doing risking having another heart attack and going out to fight bank robbers? You’re retired, the Whizzer! Tony Stark gave you a nice, undisclosed job and you have a nice home and at least one child who visits! Relax and enjoy your retirement!

And then she steals the bank robbery all for herself.

Also, we finally get the retcon for that time Scarlet Witch flew with Wanda wishing she still had that experimental flying belt she was testing for Stark. Everyone get that? EXPERIMENTAL FLYING BELT. But it didn’t work so we’ll never see it again.

Plot hole filled.

At the bank robbery, the obvious suspects are bank robbering. Living Laser, Whirlwind, and Villain Formerly Known As Power Man. But they are bank robbering on Count Nefaria’s orders.

Hmm... why would a richie rich hire supervillains to rob a bank? Or drive his own car?

But no time to wonder about that. This is an Avengers book so lets see some Avengers. Lets see some Avengers entering the scene by smacking Living Laser in the face with a shield.

Because if there’s one constant its that Living Laser definitely deserves to get hit in the face with a shield.

Although. I’m not sure whats wrong with Hank Pym here. He’s all standing not shrunk but telling Cap he’ll totally shrink on command but why wouldn’t he already be shrunk? Wasp is already shrunk. She knows where its at.

So this is a fight.

Power Man charges forward and WHAM!s Cap before he can get his shield back.

Weirdly, Cap doesn’t recognize him. Despite Power Man embarrassing the kooky quartet and being the impetus behind Cap rage-quitting the team like a Hawkeye.

... So maybe that’s why he doesn’t recognize him. On purpose.

Apparently Hank did finish those power-ups to his and Jan’s powerset he promised to do before he got amnesia because he and Wasp are faster than ever.

Nearby, Black Panther squares up against Whirlwind because... ...? I guess he probably has the best reflexes on the team. Or maybe they have a grudge match because of that one time they fought in a garage.

Anyway, Whirlwind puts the spin cycle on Black Panther.

Geez. Its like when a cat grabs the pull cord for a ceiling fan.

Cap breaks off to catch him which loses the Avengers the advantage since Living Laser is able to recover.

Remember, he once took over a South American country. He was a big deal in his intro issues and a significantly less of a big deal anytime else.

Free of distractions and standing in front of the Perez store, Living Laser prepares to atomize both Cap and the Panther when suddenly Scarlet Witch enters the fight and is MVP again.

I’m digging that she’s consistently so competent recently.

She causes a water main to break, geysering Living Laser up into the air, and causing thousands in property damage that Tony Stark will probably have to pay for.

Huh. Its not clear whether this is her upgraded control of nature powerset or the probability manipulation one. It could go either way.

With Scarlet Witch evening and perhaps bamboozling the odds, Power Man convinces the other two that its time to go. Living Laser melts the street into tar to slow the Avengers’ pursuit.

So the Avengers don’t even bother. Cap decides its too risky for Yellowjacket and Wasp to pursue alone. There will be another chance to get those goofs.

In the meantime, he reflects that the team has been falling short of its rep lately. A subject which he has a lot of bitter, unspoken words about.

Meanwhile, in a secret laboratory, Nefaria has wind blowing his cape indoors. Perhaps small vents set near the floor.

Anyway, there are some scientists. And they are working on something called Project N because of course Count Nefaria would have a Project N.

These scientists were in Nefaria’s employ when last he showed up and tried to blackmail the world with a Doomsmith Command System because the obvious step up from weirdly squeamish Not-Mafia leader was Obvious Bond Villain.

He was stopped by the X-Men but Thunderbird died stupidly and pointlessly, punching a jet to death.

The scientists quit when Nefaria couldn’t pay them, having gone bankrupt on his Obvious Bond Villain scheme but now he has bank robbery money to get them their back pay so they’ll finish the project for him.

One of the scientists even helped design the machine Zemo used to create Wonder Man and later Power Man.

And speaking of Power Man, those three idiots Nefaria duped into working for him are the ideal subjects for the project.

DUN DUN DUN?

Oh and once the Lethal Legion has exhausted their usefulness and Nefaria has sent them off to their doom, he will enjoy “dismissing” the scientists. A phrasing that none of them decide is at all ominous nor do they draw a connection between themselves and the other lackies that Nefaria just said he was going to get rid of.

I mean, look at this. Look at how the lettering changes for that line. He is definitely going to kill them and is only being slightly subtle about it.

Whats that thing about the difference between Intelligence and Wisdom as DnD concepts again?

Meanwhile upstairs, the Lethal Legion squabble. Because most villains dislike each other. I think its a matter of big personalities.

For example, Living Laser is complaining that bank robbing is beneath him. And fair enough. His MO tends to lean more towards pointless destruction and coups. Whirlwind doesn’t like to work for anyone else. Plus, this mansion is dusty and there are no servants so Whirldwind correctly deduces that Nefaria has gone broke and is using the three of them to steal him some quick, easy cash.

But Power Man believes that Nefaria is going to boost their powers and doesn’t think the other two should be so high and mighty when he had to break them out of jail.

Before this verbal spat can escalate, Nefaria calls them down to the lab to totally increase their powers swearsies.

The next day, the Avengers sit around and gossip.

Even though Iron Man is the Avengers Chairman he’s been awfully absent lately. Sure, his employer (how did anyone ever fall for this?) Tony Stark has been having troubles but that’s no excuse! The Avengers need their leader in this trying time!

And Captain America intends to discuss that very subject! Once they have quorum. DEMOCRACY!

Beast finally shows up and brings them up to quorum. He’s been missing for two days but hey, bright side, he’s in a lot better mood.

Captain America: “Beast! Where have you been for the past two days?”

Beast: “Well... I promised Barb, Sue, Melanie and Paty I wouldn’t tell -- but it was a gas!”

Has Beast just come back from an orgy? He’s gone for two days, in the company of several women who presumably were the ones who were groping him on the street, and he smugly insinuates that he’s not going to kiss and tell.

(Fun? Fact: Paty is a reference to Paty Greer, a Marvel artist and Head of Production. That’s, uh, an interesting way to cameo a coworker.)

I can’t believe that this is where Beast’s insecurity plotline was heading. Or rather, I could because I’ve read these issues before, but if I hadn’t I can’t believe that this is where Beast’s insecurity plotline was heading.

I’m not even mad.

Oh anyway suddenly a car is thrown in through the window.

The Lethal Legion have returned for a rematch.

Cap tells the Avengers to hang back until they can be sure that the injured Wasp is okay then they can attack as a group. TEAM WORK, y’know?

But Power Man inadvertently activates Wonder Man’s McFly button by calling the Avengers cowards for not immediately leaping at people who threw a car at them.

I mean, he couldn’t have known that Wonder Man has been dealing with a fear of death, not eased by learning he didn’t even actually die the first time.

Actually, that’s what has Wonder Man so nettled in this particular instance. Power Man went through the same process he did but he didn’t pay the same price Wonder Man did. He didn’t die. He didn’t become some inhuman (but not Inhuman) thing. So fuck you Power Man, you can’t be as strong as Wonder Man because you haven’t earned-

WHUMP!

Yeah. Wonder Man that wasn’t the most brilliant move right there.

Of course, one setback and Wonder Man’s confidence shatters and he’s hesitating in battle again. Of course freezing up in the midst of three supervillains is REALLY ILL-ADVISED.

So despite Cap’s tactical plan going to blork he figures heck with it, charge anyway.

And having draped an unconscious Wasp over his arm and declared that medically there’s nothing more he can do for her, Yellowjacket leaves her and joins in. Also, calls dibs on Power Man. Because that’s how superheroics work.

Usually superheroes also stop crimes instead of waiting for people to attack them at home but the Avengers flipped the script.

Beast leaps at Whirlwind and clings to his back. And manages to hold on despite the spin cycle! Good job Beast!

But then Power Man just peels him right off Whirlwind and punches him into the horizon. If this comic weren’t a coward, he would have made the Team Rocket twinkle.

At least now he’ll be air dried after running through the wash.

Power Man then goes looking to finish off Wonder Man. Professional rivalry or some such? But Yellowjacket intercepts him because he’s got Dibs. And he also enhanced his supersuit by integrating his disruptor gun into the suit powered by his shoulder wing vibrations.

See, now the giant shoulder wings aren’t completely pointless!

Actually, I think he uses them to fly? But I like to think it was mostly ornamentation. Like some nice rims on your car? Because the Yellowjacket suit was originally designed when Hank was going through a chemical induced disassociative middle life crisis episode?

But So Last Season strikes so soon and while Yellowjacket’s disruptor blast hurts Power Man when he thought nothing could hurt him, it isn’t enough to stop him.

It is enough to make him really peeved so now Yellowjacket goes crush, okay? And next, Luke Cage!

And then Power Man’s muscles go all rubbery and he falls over with the slab he was hoisting falling on top of him.

Wonder Man is a bit bummed. He should have been able to take him out from the start. What kind of hero was he that he couldn’t beat up everything forever the first try?

The Avengers really need a therapist on staff. I think being able to talk to someone about these things would help instead of just bottling it up. Or Wonder Man can do what Beast did to improve his esteem.

Anyway, Living Laser and Whirlwind also find themselves with superpower performance problems and Black Panther and Scarlet Witch take them out easily.

Black Panther is not afraid of flipping off a gift horse though and claims that he totally could have beaten Living Laser either way. I mean, probably. That’s his function as a hero in these books. To win, either way, eventually.

And more of Scarlet Witch’s power confusion. I don’t think hurling a bench at someone is really tapping into natural power but also what probability are you altering so a bench just launches itself across a street?

Seconds later, Beast shows up. That is an amazing rate of speed. He was tossed into the horizon! He really booked!

Anyway, despite what Black Panther said earlier, now he’s saying they were cheated of their victory against the Lethal Legion. The Lethal Legion were someone’s dupe and sent them here to be defeated. And beating up villains gift-wrapped for you doesn’t count as a win in Black Panther’s book, no sir.

Perhaps things change later but this kind of cements these thing villains as goofuses. Power Man was already there, having lost his name to Luke Cage. Living Laser was pretty much there too. Despite stealing the Serpent Crown, his second big outing against the Avengers left him an afterthought to his stolen superpowered tyke bomb. And Whirlwind got shot in the nipple once by Yellowjacket. So, okay, maybe they were always goofuses. But this cemented it by making them patsies too.

Oh and the Avengers don’t have to wait long for the other shoe to drop as a giant shock wave makes a sine wave out of the street, tossing the Avengers hither and yon.

BU-THOOM!

The non-secret mastermind of this whole thing shows his face. Again. To the Avengers. We’ve seen him before in this issue and they’ve seen him before a LOOOOOOOONG time ago, back when he believed in the silliest of plans and not personally murdering people.

And like an RPG boss or a pokemon, Nefaria has evolved into a stronger form: EVIL SUPERMAN.

I mean, we’ll get into it more later but basically evil Superman. One of Marvel’s many.

I like his cape askew. Its distinctive but also ludicrously pretentious. That and the giant N on the belt makes this pretty peak Nefaria.

Oh and he’s totally going to kill the Avengers. Yeah. He no longer has qualms about dirtying his hands. With murder blood.

I’ll have further Nefaria thoughts at the end of this story.

Next time: EVIL SUPERMAN

Captain America: Civil War

Jen and I have been on a great run of martial arts/action movies over the past few weeks… The Raid (1 and 2), John Wick (1 and 2), Blade (1, not 2), Hard Boiled, (re-watching) The Matrix; the one thing they have in common is great action throughout.

Why am I bringing up these brutal action movies when discussing a fantasy comic book movie? Well the most important factor of the action in all these movies is that it is realistic/relatable. No matter how fantastical the rest of the movie gets (usually in the sequel instalments), the action is always realistically performed. Realism in action shows the audience that there are real stakes and worries the audience into thinking the protagonist could get into serious harm. It is exhilarating to see hard and intense action scenes being performed by capable actors/stunt-people, and lets every hit feel real, as if each punch or kick is its own plot point in the story of the characters moving the film forward.

Basically, realism = relatability ; as an audience, we understand what the human body is reasonably capable of, in the same way we can read emotionality to understand the stakes of a drama, we feel the intensity with which a character physically fights against their obstacles to overcome. When the audience is fully immersed in the belief of that reality, an action movie is successfully doing its job.

That brings me to Captain America: Civil War; the previous movie, The Winter Soldier, set the standard for street-level action for the MCU. It was hard, fast, brutal and, most importantly, realistic (mostly!). Great scenes as Nick Fury’s car chase (still the best action scene in the MCU) or the fight in the streets of DC against the Winter Soldier, sold the violence as consequential and destructive without going outside the realms of realism created immense tension for the audience. I consider it a legitimately great film for that reason.

Unfortunately, Civil War’s overall success is more muddled.

I’ll start with the good… the action scenes set in Berlin during the first and second acts were the real highpoint of the movie for me. Right from the moment Steve Rogers finds Bucky at his apartment hideout, through the stairway battle, down to running and driving through the streets of Berlin. The stakes and the story have been set, and that is underlined by the realistic and heavy action (a few building-to-building jumps and Vibranium laced cat-suits aside). The inter-twining of high stakes story and realistic action places us in the moment with the characters.

However, for me, the real action highpoint of the movie is the fight scene at the beginning of the second act where the reprogrammed is confronted by a number of the avengers as he makes his escape from captivity. It only lasts just over a minute, but the action is more brutal and better choreographed than at any other point in the movie. Yes, there are a few too many cuts to see a lot of the hits land, you can tell which actors are better trained for action choreography by how long the cuts are in their relative action moments, and maybe there is a bit too much shaky cam to make up for this. But, you can see the desperation on each characters faces (helped immensely by them all being in street clothes) as the situation spirals out of control.

This desperation manifests in the action, the intelligent character-based actions of Tony Stark using his technology to get the upper hand on Bucky, the great moment when Stark re-directs Bucky’s gunshot and the look of relief on his face and subsequent beatdown, Sharon Carter’s karate-style kicks being swiftly followed by Natasha’s more acrobatic form, and lastly T-Challa’s athletic beatdown tries and fails to stop Bucky’s brutal street-fighter style. This moment shines because it wraps up story stakes, characterisation and realism in a well-choreographed action scene, literally the height of the show-don’t-tell philosophy. It is easily the best moment in the Captain America movie, and it doesn’t even feature Captain America!

So, on the other side of this scale is the airport fight. Now, don’t get me wrong, it is a very well-done slice of fan service, but that is all that it is… By putting the street level characters back in their super suits and adding the more comic-booky characters into the scene (Spiderman, Antman, Scarlet Witch and especially Vision, being the worst offenders) the realism, and therefore relatability, is lost. It is a lot harder to relate to action scenes that feature a giant man and a god-like being with a laser beam in his head. This effect reduces the stakes and removes the audience further from the action. We have to be told more often that things are bad rather than seeing it through action.

The three-way battle between Cap’n, Iron Man and Bucky at the end of the movie improves as it removes the super-powered characters and is more closely tied to the core story, but after the highs in the first half of the movie, and the bloat of the airport battle, this one is a bit of an anti-climax. To the movie’s credit, this fight makes up for this by leaning harder on the emotionality of the story moment, but in my humble opinion, it is not enough.

This also speaks to the overall problem of this movie, there is just too much going on. The success of the previous Captain America movie (and a lot of the other stand-alone movies) is that only a few select characters are taken along into the story, allowing for both plot points and character moments to breathe and co-exist. In this movie, the sheer amount of characters and plot (and fan service) we must get through leads to the bloated airport battle and incredible tonal whiplash throughout the movie.

This also doesn’t help with the introductions of the new characters of Black Panther and Spiderman, who are kind of to periphery. Black Panther’s participation in the story is both more effective and appreciated than Spiderman’s. As much as I like Spiderman, I would have preferred he’d been left out of this one for later, in favour of Black Panther’s greater inclusion in the story.

With the impending Infinity war movies on the horizon, the chances of seeing much more realistic and relatable street-level action in the MCU is highly in doubt. At least we still have this movie, The Winter Soldier and the fantastic Netflix shows (especially Daredevil season 1, most of season 2 and Jessica Jones; Luke Cage was a bit more heightened than either of those, and I haven’t even watched Iron Fist yet) to keep us action fans satisfied, even if they aren’t always as effective as they could be…

 The Super-Marvel-O-Score                We gave Captain America: Civil War 81/100 upon initial viewing, but I would possibly rate it a bit lower than that these days…

  Next Time                           Next time… things get real… strange with Doctor Strange, but not nearly strange enough…

  Stray Thoughts                                    

-          I was pleasantly surprised to discover the first Raid movie was a huge influence for the action in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I think this is plain to see.

 -          By the way, all those movies I mentioned up top should be on any self-respecting action fans movie list, if you haven’t seen them all, you should (asap!).

 -          Spiderman gets some great lines in the airport fight, [while fighting Falcon] "You have the right to remain silent! ", but its Ant-Man who steals the show… "It's your conscience. We don't talk a lot these days."  and "Something just flew in me!"

 -          Baron Zemo gets a lot of truck for being a weak villain, but I like the intensely personal motivations he has as an antagonist. Again, in relatability terms, he is a villain who we can identify with as someone who has suffered the consequences of disaster. It would have been great if we could’ve seen this moment set-up in the Avengers movie and if more time could have been given to seeing his perspective. But at least he isn’t some crazy person/monster looking for a magic stone or something…

 -           It was a good idea for the writers/directors to remove Thor and Hulk from proceedings, realism is out the window when these guys are around…

 -          Easily, the runner-up to the best fight scene in the MCU is the hallway fight from Daredevil season 1, just beautiful brutality…