#katherinecooke

[sagesiren]

Just checking in on Betty... shes been locked in the tunnel for a while now. Her protein bar must have run out. Im concerned for her 🤣

Betty’s protein bar actually contained an extremely powerful sleeping potion, and she’s got another week at least before she wakes up 😅 I don’t have the next chapter started yet, but here’s a little outtake from a previous chapter that never made it in, probably from around the time of the rooftop party, to hold us over while Peggy sleeps very soundly:

Peggy began to divide the time she spent with Steve into a few categories. There’s the time where she’s the apprentice, the time when she’s the trophy, the time when she’s the agent, and the times that are un-categorizable for how much they overlap.

[doctorhelena]

I was tagged by @katherinecooke, with whom I do have a lot in common, and some things not so much! :)

Dogs or cats? Dogs. I’m allergic to cats, but also I have to admit that I just like dogs better (although I would have nothing against cats if they didn’t make me so itchy and sneezy).

YouTube celebrities or normal celebrities? I don’t really follow either (I generally get my celebrity news by osmosis through people I follow on social media) but I am not sure I could actually name a YouTube celebrity, so I guess normal?

If you could choose to live anywhere, where would it be? Ideally, I’d like to live in a whole bunch of wildly different places around the world, for like, a year or two at a time. But, I do also really like where I live now (aside from the massive earthquake that’s supposed to arrive at some point, which I would prefer, in my ideal world, not to have looming).

Disney or Dreamworks? If I have to choose, Disney.

Favourite childhood TV show? I actually didn’t watch a lot of TV as a kid. There’s a big gap between Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood and my teenage obsession with Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although, now that I think of it, my sister and I were pretty into Square One TV, particularly their “Mathnet” segment. We may possibly have written Mathnet proto-fanfic?

The movie you’re looking forward to in 2020? Wonder Woman 1984, and Black Widow. (And maybe the live action Mulan? I’m not sure about that one, but I do really like the animated version.)

Favourite book you read in 2019? I - don’t know? I think I have quarantine brain. I wish the library would keep a record of books I’ve checked out so I could jog my memory of what I read last year!

Marvel or DC? Marvel, although there are definitely DC things I like too.

If you chose Marvel, favourite member of the X-Men? I think I saw one of the X-Men movies, a long time ago? Okay, either Professor Xavier because I love Patrick Stewart, or Wolverine because he’s Canadian. 😛 

Night or day? I like both, but I’m definitely a night person.

Favorite Pokémon? Pikachu? (who is also the only one whose name I know...)

Top 5 bands/artists? Gah, I’m so bad at picking favourites. Off the top of my head, five bands/artists I feel like listening to right now: Leonard Cohen, The Be Good Tanyas, The Barenaked Ladies, Liz Phair, Sarah McLachlan.

Top 10 books? I'm taking the pressure off myself and, rather than trying to figure out my top 10, I’m just listing the first 10 books I really like that come to mind (and cheating with series :)

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

The Martian by Andy Weir

The Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis

The Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy Sayers

Caravan by Dorothy Gilman (and her Mrs. Pollifax series)

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Top 4 movies? Four I could watch over and over again are A League of Their Own, Galaxy Quest, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Love, Actually

US or Europe? I don’t live in either!

Tumblr or Twitter? Tumblr

Favourite vacation destination? I want to go everywhere! But I do really love the week every summer my kids and I usually spend unplugged at Mom and Kids camp.

Favourite YouTuber? Whoever it was that put up all those episodes of The Crocodile Hunter my kids have been devouring this month? ;) (yeah, I know that’s not the intent of the question)

Favourite author? I love so many for different reasons. I don’t know how on earth I would pick just one.

Tea or coffee?  Tea. I like the smell of coffee, but I’ve never learned to like the taste (although, I can usually manage to choke it down if it’s an Irish Coffee. ;)

OTP? Currently, Peggy Carter / Steve Rogers. But I have a List. :)

Do you play an instrument or sing? I can sort of play the piano - I took organ lessons as a kid, and have improved my piano skills since my own kids started taking lessons and I started piggybacking along. :) I played the clarinet for 7 years in school, and occasionally I dig it out (I can still play it, but I have next to no embouchure endurance). I also play the guitar, although I mostly just finger-pick chords to sing along to (but I can play a few other things like Blackbird by the Beatles). And finally, I sing alto in an early music chamber choir (although, not right now!)

Tagging @teaandatale, @thesokovianaccords, @invidiosa, @buckywiththegoodhair86, @fanfic-bookworm, and @rixdottir

[roboticonography]

Loving all the two!steves in all day every day. But isnt there another double!steve fic in there somewhere waiting to come out??? 😁

Listen. One thing (or in this case one thing and another, similar thing) at a time.

[indiefic]

Haha have you enjoyed seeing Chris in Red sea diving resort by any chance?

I have no idea what you’re talking about.

[littlereyofsunlight]

Tagged by @katherinecooke and @sweethoneysempai

Name: Jen

Star Sign: Pisces

Height: 5’4ish

Put your music player on shuffle, what are the first four songs that pop up?

1. Anchors Aweigh - Michael Penn (Girls Vol. 3 Soundtrack)

2. Shout (Pts. 1 & 2) - The Isley Brothers

3. Back to Before - Ragtime OBC album (RIP Marin Mazzie)

4. The Blacker the Berry - Kendrick Lamar

you guys, I have a large music collection, shuffle is always the weirdest fucking thing

have you ever had a song or poem written about you? possibly? this one ex was a writer but never shared shit

when was the last time you played guitar? senior year of high school, but the guitar is still sitting behind the chair i am sitting in this moment. keep hope alive

what’s a sound you hate and a sound you love? my neighbor yells “lucy i’m home” when he comes into the entryway of our (small) apartment building. my cat purrs SO LOUD sometimes.

Believe in ghosts? undecided

how about aliens? they haven’t visited us 

do you drive? god i miss driving

what was the last book you read? Tessa Dare’s The Governess Game

do you like the smell of gasoline? only sparingly

what’s the worst injury you’ve ever had? I broke my hand and lost a layer of skin on it in a water tubing accident

do you have any obsessions right now?  my credit score? (we’re buying a house)

do you tend to hold grudges against people who’ve wronged you? only until I speak to that person again (wrong my friends? DIFFERENT STORY)

in a relationship? well lemme tell you I would never buy a fucking house alone, it is the pits

tagging @obscure-tv-reference, @roboticonography, @thoroughlyartsycraftsy, @doctorhelena, @steggyisimmortal, @beautifulwhensarcastic, anyone else who wants to do it

[roboticonography]

Just seen you are open to fic prompts, so in relation to my message the other day, how about Steve returning the stones to 1970s and bumping into peggy who absolutely knows what hes doing as shes been living with steve since the 50s??

You got it! (Disclaimer: I have not put much thought into how this would be possible, in the interests of Good Times and Soft Emotions.)

The Tesseract is the trickiest of all the stones to return, which is why Steve tells himself he’s leaving it until last. In addition to avoiding his past self, he also has to avoid Tony, and Howard, and…

And anyone else who might potentially remember the face that graced a hundred thousand war bonds posters.

He waits until late at night, and poses as a custodian, complete with coveralls, mop, and bucket. No one looks twice at the janitor. (He’d like to think he’s getting better at this whole low profile thing.)

He deliberately avoids going down the hallway where Peggy’s office is.

The picture of his old self on her desk was a revelation he still hasn’t quite processed. But it doesn’t change the fact that she’s married to someone else. He knows Peggy well enough that she would never settle. If she’s found that kind of happiness, the last thing he’d ever want to do is trouble the waters.

He manages to get the cube back in its vault with minimal fuss, and is just about to activate his quantum suit when a voice behind him says, “Steve?”

It feels like he’s moving in slow motion as he turns, white-hot panic drilling down his spine.

It’s her.

She’s wearing a tan overcoat over a navy dress with white trim, hands in her pockets. Her hair is shorter, with a few strands of silver at the temples–but she still wears her signature red lipstick, and he can tell, even from here, that her perfume is the same.

“Oh.” It’s all he can say at first, and then: “Shit.”

She chuckles, and he’s fascinated by the new smile lines around her eyes, her mouth. He hopes it means that she laughs often, and hard.

“Hello,” she says, warmly. She doesn’t look surprised to see him.

“Hi. I-I don’t–”

She holds up a hand for silence, and gets it.

“I know you’ve travelled a very long way to be here,” she tells him. “And I know you can’t stay. But I wanted to see you.”

Steve wonders whether he’s having some kind of break with reality. Quantum psychosis. He looks at her helplessly.

She steps into his orbit, offers him her hand. 

And honestly, that’s enough, to be able to hold her hand the way he should have when he had the chance. But instead of reaching for it, he gathers her up and crushes her to his chest, tucking his face against her shoulder.

She’s warm in his arms, warm and solid and alive, and for just a moment, that’s enough too.

Her collar is damp against his cheek. “Sorry,” he says, his voice hoarse.

“Oh, my darling,” she murmurs, stroking the back of his neck consolingly. “I know it’s hard to believe just now, but it really will be all right.”

[indiefic]

One of the soldiers shot something. Peggy felt it whiz past her ear. She turned & looked at Steve. They both stared at the small dart sticking out of his left shoulder. Peggy was still staring at Steve when she felt Sgt Whitman’s hand clamp down hard on her wrist. Instinctively, she winced, knowing what was going to happen. Predictably, Sgt Whitman wrenched her toward him, pulling her away from Steve.   And Steve promptly lost his goddamn mind. The bellow of incoherent rage sent shivers...

from Midnight Oil, Weaponized Aphrodisiacs, and Other Ignoramus Inventions

This one is a little bittersweet for me.  I really wish I would have waited to write this story.  I mean, it’s essentially a sexpollen story, which is not ground breaking.  But if I would have waited, it could have been so much better.

A little information on me.  I started writing Steggy pieces at the very end of July 2015.  And when I start writing in a new (to me) fandom, I generally don’t read anything in that fandom until I really feel like I have a handle on the characters and how I’m going to write them.

Because of that, I feel like my early pieces, including this one (and also, the first chapters of Through Dangers Untold, etc) are uneven.  I think the story works okay.  But I don’t feel like my viewpoints of the characters had really firmed up yet.  

In some sense, I did exactly what I wanted to do with this story.  I wanted a situation where Steve was out of his mind for some reason, and incredibly violent.  And then Peggy shows up.  And even out of his mind, there is no way Steve would ever harm her.  So Peggy’s safe.  But then ... weaponized aphrodesiacs because ... WHY NOT?  So yeah, Peggy gets to scale Steve the way she always wanted, and take him for a hell of a ride.  Steve is super growly and possessive in ways he would never be if he wasn’t drugged.

But ... the characterization could have been a lot better.  And the story overall could have been a lot more polished, if I had written it when I had a better handle on the characters.

But it was fun to write.

Thanks for the ask!

From the DVD Commentary Meme

[indiefic]

“This party’s boring,” Peggy says flatly.  She reaches over and takes Steve’s beer, draining it in three long swallows.  Sam arches an eyebrow, but doesn’t say anything as Steve winces.  Peggy hands the empty bottle back to him.  “I’m going to find someone to play with.”     Steve forces himself not to watch as she walks away.  Sam looks at him and shakes his head.  “You are so fucked, man.”

Oh boy.  This one is from Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

The title sort of says it all.  There were plans, and none of them worked out the way anyone anticipated.

Steve and Peggy planned to be together.  But then he went in the ice and she disappeared, assumed dead.

So when Steve woke up, he tried to make a new life.  He was lost and lonely.  He fell into a relationship on accident, and before he knew it, ended up with a family.  He has a wife who loves him (even though he doesn’t love her back the way he knows she deserves), and he has a son who is the center of his universe.

And then … Peggy and Bucky show up.  They’re both Hydra operatives.  Peggy is a lot like Wanda, only more.  There are tons of repercussions from her powers, and the way they have altered her mind over the years.  She’s spent decades as this sponge, unintentionally soaking up the personalities (for lack of a better word) of the people around her.  So she’s terrible.  Really. She’s cruel and powerful and dangerous, and her only interest in life is getting what she wants.

Meanwhile, Steve is still so lost.  And his marriage is falling apart.  And he’s finding it harder and harder every day to keep all the balls in the air.  He wants to do The Right Thing (tm), but he’s lonely and depressed and has nowhere to turn.

Steve and Peggy get caught up in a pretty torrid affair.  Steve hates what he’s doing, but I think it’s the first time he’s felt excited about anything since he was defrosted.  Which is pretty much what’s happening in the quote above.  Steve is in way over his head, and everybody can see the impending doom.

Eventually Steve’s marriage completely falls apart.

... and then Peggy ends up sort of being “reset”.  She’s horrified by the things she did.  And now there’s the added element of shame for Steve.  Because he knew, at the time, that what he was doing was wrong, but he did it anyway.  Because he loves Peggy.  He always will.  And while Peggy definitely wasn’t herself, she, much like Bucky, still did all those things.  It’s on her.

Where the story sits right now, Peggy is trying to find a way back to herself.  Steve is trying to pick up the pieces of the life he just blew up.  And everyone is very sad.

This story, far more than any of my others, is the one that receives negative comments.  It’s pretty typical for commenters to let me know that they hate all of the characters.  Which ..

I mean, don’t get me started on the etiquette of fic commenting in general.

I know why people find the characters unlikable.  And some people have wanted to take certain characters to task, or vilify them.

Personally, I don’t think any of the characters are villains.  Like the title says, the best laid plans ...  None of them wanted to end up where they currently are.  They had a lot of choices taken away, and then they made some really bad choices of their own.  But life is messy.  People do blow up their lives.  Good people do make really terrible choices.  But ultimately it will be about how they pick up the pieces and move forward.

... if I ever finish writing it :P

Thanks for the ask!

From the DVD Commentary Meme