2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
Cosimo Galluzzi
Fai_Ryy
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
occasionally subtle
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
One Nice Bug Per Day
Cosmic Funnies
Game of Thrones Daily
🩵 avery cochrane 🩵
art blog(derogatory)
No title available
$LAYYYTER
@theartofmadeline
oozey mess
h
noise dept.
Jimmy Eat World
The Bright Sessions
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Canada
seen from Albania
seen from Canada
seen from Belgium
seen from Singapore
@milehighmechanic
! PINNED POST
independent, mcu grounded and headcanon developed tony stark rp blog. mutuals only, plot heavy, i love exploring new dynamics and AUs with tony at any point in (or outside of) his timeline. please read rules before interacting.
nat. she/her. 21+. UK.
[ RULES ] [ BIO ] [ VERSES ] [ THREADS ] [ MEMES ] [ GDoc ]
"you wanted to find out later?" her eyebrows crease, pretty clearly a ??? even in the armor. like she's looking at him not so much in disbelief but genuine puzzlement. what khaji ren would call a computational error. through scarab, again: << you wanted to go home wondering whether you could trust this anonymous stranger, then find out later that you already know me? >>
she can't imagine it would have built trust. but the chances of that are plummeting, anyway.
"it's fine if you hate me." she knows she did the right thing, helping out. she thinks she did the right thing by telling him, too. "i just wanted you to know, before—" alice shrugs. before it felt like a betrayal. "it's me going home that's time-sensitive, anyway. i'm a couple hours past due."
incredulity manages to slip through tony's expression. "believe me when i say i really hadn't put that much thought into it."
if anything, he'd been content to not know the anonymous stranger's secret identity, at least back when they were actually an anonymous stranger. it gave him plausible deniability. it's not like tony has any problem lying to the authorities, but if it's something he genuinely doesn't know, it's somewhat less likely to come back to bite him in the ass. ( wishful thinking, stark. )
at least he can be 97% sure alice doesn't want to kill him. that makes a change.
perhaps if alice stopped talking, tony's damaged pride or paranoia might be able to induce some kind of suspicion. as it is, this is getting up there in weirdest conversations he's ever had. and his dad came back from the dead.
"what is this, kindergarten? i don't hate you." his bemusement is a mirror of alice's own, at this point.
the trip had been planned to serve multiple purposes. she had annual meetings with clients to review contracts and renew them, or would meet with potential new clients. rushman translation's also had employee's located in europe that she would check in on in person. there is also, unfortunately, still the matter of her previous employers.
unfortunately, clint had an assignment already when she planned her trip to europe, so she'd invited antonio to accompany her, at least for the business meetings. she'd encouraged him to take the day for himself so that she wouldn't bore him with her shopping spree. it's not a fool proof excuse, she'd have to work in civillian attire instead of her catsuit, but it wouldn't be the first time.
so, she spends the day in the city, stepping in and out of boutiques with shopping bags around her wrist. natalia knows that she has a tail, but she leads them through the shopping district regardless with an easy smile and friendly greetings to shop owners. it's not until the sun is near setting that the confrontation happens.
the widow retrieves the information she's looking for, but knows that she'll need to find time to confirm it before she leaves for home. with a split lip, bruises starting to color her skin, and cut's peppering her skin, she heads back to the hotel room. natalia tosses her purse into the trash, and drops her wallet on another block.
the shopping bags, empty save for a scarf she'd purchased also get left behind before she makes it back to the hotel. she's tired, annoyed that she had to ruin a dress, and starving. she makes it inside finds an alcove where she can pause and breath for a moment before she intentionally breaks the heel to one of her shoes.
it also gives her to perfect viewpoint to see the surroundings, allows her to see antonio before he has a chance to notice her. shit, she'd been hoping to make it back to her room to get cleaned up before having to see him. instead she turns away from him, easily slipping into the role of natalie rushman, to upset that she'd lost her purse and ruined her heels trying to get away from a mugging, too shocked to realize that she's bleeding.
when she hears her name, natalia makes a show of looking up, startled. "i told you it's natalie," she reminds him, voice somehow both chiding and hollow. a blink, almost like she's reeling herself back in, realizing what he's asked. "no. i just --" a snif and her eyes begin to water "-- i want to go back to my room."
he frowns, hesitating--- but if he's honest, then unless she really is seriously injured, tony's perfectly happy to not have police or paramedics--- or worse, the press, hanging around here, getting in the way. not that he thinks they'd cause a problem, they'd just be annoying.
so he can be a good little employee and do what his boss says.
"i--- yeah, if you're sure…? let me help you." it's not like they're far from either of their rooms but he puts an arm out to steady her anyway, eyeing her broken shoe.
it's impressive that she got back here without anyone seeing her. even if nobody had recognised her, she's still a walking crime scene. well, tony supposes, if natalie rushman wasn't so slippery then they wouldn't have felt the need to send him here undercover.
and this is the sort of opportunity tony's been waiting for.
"what happened?" he demands, letting panic and concern colour his voice. he guides her down the hall towards her room. "where are your security?"
tony's fully aware that he's unlikely to get a real answer but interested to see what she says anyway. he's going to have to get in contact with SHIELD after this, he thinks, see if there are any agents in the city that can confirm or deny whatever she says.
@milehighmechanic said “hey, smartass.”
"--shit!" Tony's voice startles Valko, who had very much been in a flow state induced trance. When he jerks himself upright to look at Stark, he bangs his head against the hood of the car he'd invited Tony over to tinker on with him. Immediately after, he drops a wrench somewhere into the engine bay. "Shit!"
Frowning, his furred ears lay flat back as he rubs the sore spot between them.
"Well hello to you too."
He makes a show of folding his arms across his broad chest tetchily, but the sight of himself in the reflection of a different car's mirror shine cracks him up a moment later. How ridiculous he looks in the squashed reflection is suddenly hilarious.
"Get over here, will you? You're late." He hasn't even looked at the time; he'd lost track of it a while back, but if Tony's going to rib him, he'll give it back. "You out pulling some granny's cat out of a tree, or just sitting in an interview for a puff piece?"
Tony grins, large and shit-eating, leaning on the doorframe casually. He might be some kind of superhero, these days, a reformed character, but that doesn't mean he doesn't still take immense delight in getting a reaction out of people.
And it doesn't look like Valko hit his head that hard.
"Mm, nah," he answers, which isn't even an answer at all, meandering further into the room. His gaze is more on the car than Valko now, though it darts back towards the other man. He shrugs out of his jacket, draping it over whatever the nearest piece of furniture is. "I just didn't want to ruin my reputation."
His head tilts to the side, eyeing the work the other was doing critically. No, there's nothing wrong with what Valko's been doing, of course. Still, "You couldn't have waited until the professional arrived?"
@glacierfront moved from here
“Hasn’t yet,” she says, with a blossoming smile and an easy shrug. Okay, fine, so maybe she is keeping a secret. Maybe it’s even a big one! But, honestly, what would him knowing change? What, he’s going to realize they’re related and — you know, have a bigger change of heart than he already has? And what if she doesn’t want this to be easy? But she hasn’t stopped watching him. “What kind of secrets would bite you in the ass?” She tilts her head, considering. “You’re a major asshole? Oh wait – we know that one already.”
“It’s not exactly a secret if the whole world knows it,” he snips back.
“I don’t know, secrets like my dad’s best friend double dealing and literally selling me to terrorists? Secrets like my dad founding a super secret spy organisation?”
Yeah, maybe he’s a little bitter about secrets these days. It’s not like he doesn’t have enough of his own—- and maybe his dad had never intended for them to be secrets, maybe he’d just died before trusting Tony with anything. But his father had so many secrets…
Maybe Tony’s just starting to realise how lonely it is when you don’t trust anyone and nobody seems to trust you.
since he's still conscious and she needs him to freak out less, not more, she lets the helmet piece of her armor dissolve down to her neck. alice's face and expression underneath are both perfectly, ordinarily human, down to the wrinkle between her eyebrows.
okay, no family. damn.
she hopes it's just that he's (allegedly) from out of state. but seeing the spike of panic on his face, she doubts it.
as for the for the ambulance and a hospital visit, she assumes for his reluctance that he can't afford it. she just doesn't say that, because she's not fucking rude, unlike some people.
"uh... no? if you're concussed, you definitely should not sleep it off. which is the kind of thing an er doctor could tell you."
but alice has to admit... it's not his only option.
"but i guess. i might be able to tell." by i she means scarab. she doesn't sound thrilled about it. "i could do a brain scan." it would be the first time. she's only done surface-level bioscans with scarab before.
the figure's mask disappears ---- dissolves in a way that he can only stare at. that she's (apparently) a human in a suit is a relief, for sure, and is genuinely calming, but moreso is the distraction of that part of his brain that needs to know how the fuck that suit works. he KNOWS that kind of technology doesn't exist yet. tony's read all the papers on nanotechnology. he's worked with some of the greatest minds in physics. his dad is howard stark.
hallucination is definitely still on the table.
tony only half takes in what she says about concussion, eyes wide and paying far more attention to the suit than the human within. until----
"you can do a brain scan?" there's an incongruous mix of awe and disbelief there. something that would perhaps be excitement if not for the confusion ( and the quickly forming headache ) "how?"
@glacierfront moved from here
This isn’t working, Julie thinks, specifically about the tiger and the long hallway and just — Tony’s visible frustration — and the dreamscape hears it. She lurches toward, grabs Tony’s arm, pulls him forward. He’s going to fall off the cliff if he steps backward. Not ideal. She glances at their new terrain — the heat of the sun wavering visibly over the sand, jagged rocky cliffside, blue skies, the occasional tumbleweed, lack of tiger, a chasm that disappears into video game-like darkness, and says to Tony, like it’s somehow his fault: “Don’t you have, like, constant nightmares that wake you up all the time?”
He blinks and squints against the sudden brightness of sunlight, vertigo making him stumble as Julie tugs him forward with strength he’s sure she doesn’t have in real life. He stares into the chasm beside them, down into inky depths.
“This isn’t really how my nightmares go,” he retorts, and that’s at least half a lie, because while the landscape is different, the sand underfoot and the heat beating down on the back of his neck —— he has plenty of nightmares like that.
“For starters, you’re not normally in my nightmares.” The other half of the lie? Certainly if Julie’s normally in his nightmares, she’s either dead, or far out of reach somewhere. Not right in front of him, harassing him. That’s not terrifying, that’s every day.
Tony stares into the chasm beside them, down into inky depths. “Can’t we be somewhere that’s not… deadly?”
"oh, man. kind of?" time-sensitive, she means. "i gotta get home soon."
she can't just pop home to change outfits and come back. (and she can't imagine any location she could meet him at later that wouldn't immediately clue him in, anyway.) not because anyone is waiting up for her, worrying—though julie might be, if she's home—but because once she gets back, she's going to fall into bed and pass out.
(khaji ren could protest about whether she, strictly speaking, needs to; after all, it's kept her going for much longer, in much worse circumstances. but it doesn't.)
armoring down in public would be impulsive and risky, especially now that he's bringing up paparazzi.
so she does something else impulsive and risky.
she lets khaji ren wire her into his earpiece—directly into iron man's motherfucking iron man suit. because what could go wrong with that. it's just a phone call minus the phone, right?
<< look, whatever, i don't like lying. we've met. i'm your sister's roommate. >>
if he were wearing his helmet, his HUD would be flashing red with warnings as the unauthorised connection breaks through. as it is, FRIDAY doesn’t have a chance to say anything useful before it’s too late. tony jumps, visibly, as his earpiece crackles and there’s a voice in his ear that he doesn’t recognise.
no, he does recognise it. but by the time he recognises it, she’s already explained herself.
well, he was right about coincidences. what exactly were the chances of julie’s roommate being a superhero? definitely higher than they fucking should be.
they were meant to be having a conversation about trips into outer space, weren't they? goddammit.
his eyes are wide. shock plastered all over his face for a second before he dials it back. he had not been even close to putting two and two together.
"that's time sensitive? why couldn't you just tell me that later?"
yes, tony is definitely focusing on the important part of this revelation. don't worry, there's a thousand and one other questions he has that he's managed to bite back. emotions being held in an iron-tight grip.
Efren’s hands are behind his back, his palms and his claws pressed hard against the store’s siding. Hard enough that he’s sure he’s left little pinpricks in the cheap material, which is intentional: he wants to drain as much of the venom from his claws as he’s able before he continues on, and the pressure helps. Better to inject it into some cheap wood shingles than accidentally nick someone–or himself–and cause harm.
The channels in his claws never fully empty, but when he is satisfied that they are not being refilled as quickly as he can deplete them, he changes his posture. Awkwardly, he lets his hands hang at his sides, then tries crossing his arms over his chest, then swipes a knuckle at the sweat beading at his temple.
“Yeah…”
It feels weird to hear his name; it stirs memories he’s not exactly tried to push away, but has just been too busy trying to make it on his own to dwell on. Rhett, with an open hand extended to him despite what he’d done to the other young man’s father-figure, had been the last one to use it, just before they’d parted ways
“It’s– nice. To meet you too.”
He’s not sure he feels that way. He’s not sure what he feels, to be honest. But even he knows that’s what he’s expected to say in return. Even if he’s not sure Tony means it either, or that he wants him to mean it.
The guy is smiling though, broad and bright.
Efren tries–and fails–to mimic the expression, too conscious of his teeth to show them and too drained to pull the smile wide enough to raise his permanently sun-dappled cheeks.
“You don’t have to do that,” he assures Tony, reaching into his pocket to assure himself that the old gator’s leather wallet he’d lifted from a poacher’s camp was still there. “I have money.”
And he cannot see why he feels that he owes Efren anything after bailing him out of trouble.
Still, he takes a half step toward the doors they’d bolted from. The cashier has seen similar things happen around him before, but maybe never quite so intense on the inside of the store itself. And he wants to apologize to her, and to check in with her, now that he’s calmed down.
“You don’t– You don’t owe me.” Efren takes another step, then looks back at Tony. Frowning. “Why do you think you owe me?”
Efren sounds reluctant, his answering smile is definitely reluctant. More of a grimace than anything, but Tony can't exactly blame him. He looks exhausted. Guy's just been harassed and nearly assaulted. Tony's not put off by a little honest emotion. It makes a change from what he's used to.
"Uh----"
Faced with such a straight question Tony can only stare blankly at Efren.
Most people don't argue when Tony Stark says he owes them. Admittedly, it's not something he says often, because he's not stupid, he knows most of the people he hangs around with would only take advantage of that. Most of them already only hang around with him at all because they want his money or resources or connections.
"I don't know. Habit, I guess."
Tony scrubs at the back of his neck again, through dark hair starting to curl at the end in the heat.
"Normally when I get into trouble it's my own fault. Which I guess this still was, I was the one who provoked them, and y'know, that might come back to bite you in the ass more than it will me." He's still not sure what else he could have done instead. How was he supposed to get their attention off of Efren without riling them up?
( He's young still. Not as savvy as he will be one day. Doesn't mean that winding people up as a distraction technique ever stops being a major part of his arsenal. )
He takes a step forward, following Efren back around towards the front of the store. "Will the staff blame you for the, uh, scene? I can explain it was my fault. If that would help."
Tony Stark? Guilt Complex? More likely than you think.
@glacierfront moved from here
Thank God he added a little quip after that, because that almost seems like a real emotion! And Julie’s nose crinkles in a suspicious edge of disgust at the concept, but the floating life ring he threw out allows her to stay afloat, to not acknowledge it at all. Still, her expression is skeptical. “It is my only purpose. I probably don’t even have a job anymore. Guess I have to earn my keep by sending your ego to, like, hell.”
Well she definitely doesn’t have a job anymore, but that’s not the point.
He grins, in spite of Julie’s expression. Tony doesn’t normally get this lucky.
“Mm, between you and the munchkin I don’t think my ego stands a chance.” Dread in his voice at the thought of them teaming up, as if that exact scenario isn’t something he has been desperately wishing could occur for years now.
She doesn't laugh back, mirthlessly or otherwise. She just keeps considering him.
"I'm not looking to hitch a ride. I'm looking for help." After a long moment of staring like she's trying to measure his soul for a suit of armor like hers, her gaze finally turns to the ship. "Help goes both ways."
Thinking aloud, she asks, "What does it need?" Before the words leave her lips, scarab starts to feed her a nice, long list of problems it's picked up from a cursory scan. Yeah, no, not sea-worthy yet.
Alice is far from stuck on this station. That's the thing about wings. But it doesn't once occur to her just to fly away again.
"I'm good with tech. And I have a map."
Tony can only meet her gaze for so long before his eyes dart away. He can still feel her looking at him, assessing him? Studying him? That's fair, but it doesn't mean he has to like it. Does his best to ignore it as he kneels down to continue repairing the robot, assessing her in much the same way--- just without the intense gaze.
Good with tech sounds great, he could definitely do with another pair of hands. But the mention of a map---- now that has his heart leaping again, his gaze torn back from the robot to Alice.
Tony's been hitching rides chiefly based on money. Any choices about a particular direction have been based on sketchy, half-informed mathematical guesses and a good amount of hopes and prayers.
But a map!!
"You want to help me?" he tests, needing confirmation of what exactly she just said. Not exactly disbelief but---- he's been alone for a long time.
And then, in the same moment, "What do you need help with?" There's suspicion there, but not much. He just almost prefers it if she has an ulterior motive. When was the last time someone offered to help him without one?
@glacierfront moved from here
Are you? Julie searches for words. What would a normal person say in this situation? Like, what, holy shit, we might be related, or something? Hand over your wallet right now, and also include me in all your investments? I’m suing you for, I don’t know, uh, suspecting such an absurd thing? Also for the words knocked your mom up from beyond the grave coming out of your mouth? Tentatively and lightly she offers: “It seems like. Maybe this might be a big deal for you.”
Is he sorry?
He’s sorry that Julie’s having to sit here while Tony has some kind of internal crisis. He’s sorry that she had to find out like this. ( It could be worse. Tony’s found out far worse when under direct attack. )
But Julie’s words make his brain stop spiralling, makes him consider for a moment the other half of this. Sure, this whole thing means that there’s another secret of his father’s to uncover, some kind of mess he's got to clean up. But it also means that Julie is his sister.
Julie is his SISTER.
Tony thinks he might like that.
The lost, panicky feeling in his chest fades slightly. “Yeah,” he agrees. A pause. A strange tone to his voice. “I never had a sister before.”
its being emotional about tony hour
i will do inbox stuff at some point..... but in the meantime catch me on my scifi multi here
the muses who don't think they deserve love ... sentence starters
"You deserve better than me."
"I don't know how to be loved."
"You're not… going to hurt me?"
"Why do you want to be around me?"
"Why would you choose to stay near me?"
"I can't believe you're still sticking around."
"No one's ever cared about me like you do."
"You… actually want to know how I'm doing?"
"You're too nice. You shouldn't be nice to me. "
"Why aren't you scared of me? Everyone else is."
"You're the only person who gave me a chance, so thanks."
"I've done a lot of bad things… why don't you care about that?"
"You shouldn't love me. Bad things happen to people who love me."
"No, there's nothing I need from you. There's nothing In need from anyone!"
"Nobody's ever treated me this nicely before. It's weird. What do you want?"
"I'm just gonna hurt you eventually. I hurt everyone. That's what they told me."
"This is all really new to me. So, just give me some time to get used to being cared for, okay?"
"Why won't you leave me alone?! Why can't you just get it through your skull that I don't need anyone!"
she stops at the threshold of the kitchen, waiting to see if he'll follow. a glance over her shoulder makes her think he's deciding the same thing.
don't force it. advice her dad used to give her a hundred times a day, it felt like. you can't force it. people have to choose to stay, or they won't get what they need. you have to let people go; you don't know what they're going to.
even if she has a pretty good idea of what he's running from, right now.
his adrenaline hasn't dropped off. she feels like—it would be better, kinder to him, if he came with her outside, whatever else they do or don't talk about. but what she wants doesn't really matter. alice's head tilts, not quite a nod. nor does she acknowledge his exit line directly.
"i meant it, you know. we're gonna look out for you. you can be here whenever you want."
we’re gonna look out for you.
tony meets alice’s gaze, micro-expressions flickering across his eyes. guarded, confused, skeptic, uncomfortable. touched.
tony stark lives in a world populated by sharks who circle up as soon as they smell blood in the water. as always, a genuine expression of care is an equation that doesn’t add up. an unexpected variable in the middle of his calculation. but this isn’t nick fury ambushing him in a barn, stuffed full of ulterior motives and secrets and shared understandings. alice doesn’t know him.
he’s already unsettled. this might be the opposite end of the scale, but it’s still just as unsettling. he doesn’t have the slightest frame of reference to know if this is how people usually treat their friend’s siblings or if this is unique to alice. which isn’t to say that it’s not appreciated, but to cut a lot of introspection short: tony doesn’t trust easy.
but you have to start somewhere.
he hasn’t dropped her gaze. tony rubs his hand across his chest and nods once.
❛⠀you know i don't mind taking care of you, right ? ❜ he's impulsive with his words. not really the first time he's noticed it, and there were certainly enough incidents he'd racked up in rose hill that were a direct result of, as his mom's aptly called it, smart mouth. which his mom said she wouldn't have cared as much, if the kids he'd smart-mouthing to aren't twice his size. semantics, really. he's gotta fight his way out of a bully's attention some way, right ?
anyways. not the point.
point is, he really shouldn't have said that. it's— well, he does mean it, but given he's sort of kind of pretty much knows the guy like the back of his hand, because they're connected, harley really should've known better. he works his jaw. tries again.
❛⠀i mean, i'm not really doing anything except sometimes help you out of the chair or bully you to walk whatever required steps that you need, and sometimes help look after morgan who is really sweet anyway if you and pepper need to talk, which isn't much different than looking after my sister, but what i mean is— i ... yeah, i'm an asshole kid, but i'm, like, your padawan, y'know ? i'm your asshole kid. ❜
@milehighmechanic ♡'d starter call !
tony's not exactly an easy patient. he's not really a patient any more either, he's just not fully recovered. ( he's never going to fully recover. ) the inbetween state is starting to get on his nerves.
so yeah, he's been grumbly and probably more of an asshole than usual.
don't you have more important things to do? he's thought it more than once, since harley's been here, helping out. clearly he's been thinking it loudly enough that harley's felt it. the kid definitely knows him too well. tony's not sure that's a good thing.
"you're not wrong, kid." a pause, a frown, and because tony's gotten soft in his old age, he adds, "don't call yourself an asshole."
he sighs, trying not to wince as he stretches out, and finally looking over at harley. kid says that he doesn't mind, but tony does. calls himself his padawan, but what kind of apprenticeship is this? they should be mucking about in the workshop. building whatever stupidly brilliant idea harley has today. instead they're stuck doing physical therapy.
"it's not that i don't want you around." tony's not good at this.
