#machi replies

[machi-kun]

Steve and Tony are the ones to go to Vormir, and there’s no fight in the end. Tony is the one that has to go, because the recipient of the Soul Stone has to lose something they love and Tony tells Steve, “Since I don’t love you anymore, it won’t work if you go”

It does matter if that’s true or not, Steve’s broken enough by this to not be able to to counter him. Maybe Steve insists they try letting Steve go anyway, but he’s so shattered he doesn’t see the nano armor incasing and trapping him until it’s to late.

Steve would definitely try to sacrifice himself despite anything Tony had to say, but Tony trapping him in the armor to stop him while he flings himself over the cliff is also 100% in character and I love it and hate it

[machi-kun]

Post CACW Werewolf AU where after Siberia Tony, the Packleader’s mate, severs his matebond while the others are in exile & tries to move the fuck on cus he hears them all loud & clear thanks. Steve of course takes it very badly & in this case the rest of the team also feels it because they are a pack & the secondary leader cutting them all off? Yeah they feel that. See they all knew things were messed up & strained but in this world they have full knowledge of how shattered thing are right away

Ignore that last ask if werewolves aren’t your thing at all! Have a good one!

OOOOOHH FRIEND, werewolves are definitely my thing, and good god, did you read my mind? did you sneak into my WIP folder and read through my notes, because I have an old fic with a prompt very, very similar to this that I unfortunately never got to write! I doubt I will, actually, because when I wrote it a little bit it never felt quite right, but I sure have some thoughts and ideas for it!!!

In my mind, that bond comes with a vaguely telepathic connection - mates can feel each other's emotions from afar, so they can find each other when in distress. Now picture this: during the fight in Siberia, they're both in severe distress so their bond is genuinely hurting them, and between punches and hits and feeling their hearts in absolute agony, what difference would it make if that pain just keep going, kept throbbing in their chests for hours after its over, days after its over, weeks, even?

And then one day, Steve wakes up numb.

He thinks it's because Tony got his letter. He thinks he read it and Steve's words have eased his pain. For a single day, he feels relief. He feels hope, even. His bond with Tony had been strained for so long - he can't even tell the numbness is a bad sign, because he's just so relieved he's feeling something other than pain. He wonders if Tony can feel his relief, if he'll start to feel happier over the next few days, maybe Steve will start feeling some longing or hope coming back to him from the other side of the bond too.

And then, the rest of the team comes to him, worried sick. They are the ones who tell him the numbness is not normal, that Tony is gone, they don't know how, but he's gone. Did he die? He couldn't have died, right? But why isn't he there anymore, where is Tony?

When Steve finds out Tony has broken their bond, he's heartbroken. Maybe he finds out on the news, because Tony never calls. Tony can't even send him hatred over the bond anymore, because the bond is not there.

And maybe later, somehow, he finds out Tony didn't even have to go to a doctor to sever the bond. Maybe Rhodes will tell him, when Steve comes back to the Compound when Thanos comes, that the bond just shattered on its own. Thorn apart by grief. Like Steve had died in that bunker.

He didn't. But Tony's love for him did.

[machi-kun]

Who is more epically, cosmically in love? Steve/Tony with their decades and multiverses of narrative foil, OTP-ness, friends to enemies to lovers. Or! Phoenix Wright/Miles Edgeworth and just how…them. like so so in love my god.

OH FRIEND, THAT'S TOUGH, because Steve and Tony legit have their love just out there, spanning across multiple universes and timelines, and it's so difficult to top that! Nevermind what's canon and what's not, I don't care about that, but it really is undeniable that their chemistry is so intense even in universes they're not completely at ease, they're still so fundamentally linked to each other. Hard to be more epically in love than that!

WrightWorth is so good though! They're still so incredibly in love, it's actually kind of absurd how the games kept making them more and more absurdly taken with each other as time went on LKFSDLKSHDJHG Like, no one is admitting it, but it's just so ridiculously obvious??? And the shenanigans they get themselves into to help each other? They're dumbasses, I love them!

I think it's just nice that you can find so many ships that seem so incredibly in love, but still, they're different in small little aspects that makes the whole experience new! To me WrightWorth is a lot lighter than SteveTony, definitely, so you can have ships for all kinds of moods! That's a really enjoyable thing about fandom

[machi-kun]

K, so. The Avengers get a dating sim game made of them. Officially sanctioned? bootleg? Doesn’t matter it’s here and Steve gets “secretly” OBSESSED with it because he can’t? seem to end up with Tony. Was getting with Tony digitally the only reason he picked up the game in the first place? Pshaw, no! But maybe it’s a challenge now to do it without finding a walkthru or help no backseat gaming!

And it’s not like it’s a bug or anything, there is a Tony route, multiple ones even! But Steve somehow keeps fricking it up lol. Clint got the MARRIAGE route with Tony on the first go and for some unrelated reason Clint also had to do extra drills during training that week, weird.

Is it funnier if Steve and Tony ARE or AREN’T together during this episode?

OH MY GOD, THATS A GREAT IDEA FRIEND!!!

Bootleg is funnier, definitely, so let's go with that! Though the idea of trying to officially sanction an Avengers Dating Sim is hilarious too - bootleg brings in the added spice of them having no idea what to expect from it! And ridiculous gameplay thanks to the misconceptions the public might have about their private lives!

And it's definitely funnier if they aren't together because Steve would be using it as tips to get the man of your dreams, but way worse! And each time he fails to get the marriage route he despairs a little more, because there's only so many outfit options he can pick for the Date event and none of them seem to work! He won't ask Clint how he did it because that would be admitting he's even playing it, and he can't have that.

Unbeknownst to him, Tony is playing it too. He cheated, got all the answers of every route right away through Jarvis, and yet he's still playing anyway because he just wants to have the pleasure to see the game unfold for himself.

Therefore, Tony knows there's a "True Ending" to the game, where the MC actually ends up with Fury or something because that's how the internet is, but they're all going to pretend they don't know that 😂😂😂

[machi-kun]

Hello! Do have any fav soft headcannons for tony and rhodey (platonic or otherwise)?? :)

I DO! I love Tony and Rhodey’s relationship so much, and mostly my headcanons for them are very domestic, because I just love how at ease they are with each other, you know?

everyone thinks Tony is the touchy-feely one - they’re wrong. by the time they meet, Tony is already very wary of strangers, and even if he learns to be flirty, physical touch is still something Tony craves but isn’t sure how to ask for. And Rhodey knows. Rhodey has always been charismatic, he grew up with strong hugs and hearty pats on shoulders and backs, and he’s not afraid of touching Tony at any point in time, to ruffle his hair, to slap his arm, to give him that hug Tony so desperately wants. James Rhodes is extremely physically affectionate and I will not hear otherwise. 

Rhodey is not a fan of Star Wars, and he and Tony fight about it constantly. They actually don’t care all that much, because they’ve done it so many times, but they’ve been doing it for years now and it’s just a habit. Everyone knows this and it drives them insane, because they know it’s either just brotherly banter or some kind of convoluted foreplay and no one can figure out which is it. 

Tony can play piano and sing, but here’s a little secret - Rhodey can sing too. Or at least, his mother tried to make him join the choir when he was younger, and Rhodey is the kind of son who would do anything to keep his mom happy - so he gave it a try. Tony’s better though, and Rhodey has told him that on more than one occasion - it makes Tony extremely embarrassed. 

There’s one incident of their time on MIT that everyone believes is Tony’s fault, and it’s not. It’s 100% Rhodey’s. It may or may not involve one of Howard Stark’s very expensive cars, but you can’t prove that. 

Tony has offered to make Rhodey his own AI so many times, and Rhodey adamantly refuses, because Tony is the biggest, nosiest bastard. He uses Rhodey’s credentials to snoop around classified files - you really think he wouldn't use Rhodey’s AI to do some other kind of unnecessary meddling? No, thank you. JARVIS is cool though, Rhodey loves JARVIS, he just doesn’t want to carry something like JARVIS in his pocket all the time, because Tony will send him shitty memes while Rhodey’s busy in a recon mission or something.

Tony eats pineapple on pizza, Rhodey doesn’t. You can imagine how this goes.

You wanna know how Tony got so good at designing gym equipment for the Avengers? Rhodey. And not because of the military - Rhodey has always been super active and sporty, and they share a common interest for martial arts, though Rhodey picked up boxing and Tony picked up Wing Chun. Every time they have a chance to spend a few days together, work set aside, they have a match. They were supposed to be tallying the points, but they’ve stopped doing so like eight years ago, and it’s useless to try to guess who has more wins. They’ll still insist they’re winning anyway. 

Remember when I said Rhodey once did something with Howard Stark’s car? That’s because Rhodey has always been very strict about Tony not buying him unnecessary stuff, but if there’s one thing Tony knows gets under Rhodey’s skin is cars. Tony likes them too, but not nearly as much as Rhodey, and some of the cars Tony has in his collection aren’t even for him, they’re for Rhodey. The only reason why they’re not in Rhodey’s home is because Rhodey keeps pretending he doesn’t like the cars all that much, but he definitely does. 

I JUST LOVE THEM A LOT, YOU KNOW

[machi-kun]

Hi Machi! Just need to ask if TF is still going on or if it has been abandoned. Also, I've been thinking, I'd like to hear your opinion: do you think Steve sees Tony as fragile? Not like, his mind or his purpose, but in a straightforward way, his mortal body is not comparable with Thor's or Steve's and he is not properly trained as Natasha and Clint, so you think Steve, because of this, sees him like something breakable somehow?

Hi friend, how are you? Don't worry, TF is not abandoned, I definitely plan on getting back to it - my year has been extremely, unexpectedly busy, and I'm taking some time to step back and work on a few other things before jumping back into it. TF is very time-consuming and difficult to write, more than any other project I currently have going on (and believe me, I have many), so for my own sake, I needed to put it on hold for a little while.

But abandoned? Not at all. I really miss it, actually - I hope I can get back to it sooner rather than later!

And that's an interesting question you've just made, hmmm. I don't think so - Steve has grown up as a person with a fragile constitution, and he knows first-hand that a person with a weak body can and will compensate their lack of physical force with resilience no matter what, if that's what they wish to do. And more than that, he's a soldier - worrying too much about the fragility of the bodies of the people who are going to war with you is a dangerous mental trap to fall into. It's one thing to worry about a civilian, but Tony is not a civilian; He's a soldier in his own way, much like Steve is, and Steve definitely sees the strength it's required to fulfill that role, supersoldier or not.

[machi-kun]

Hey 👋🏽 i was wondering if you had any thoughts n analysis on the chopping wood scene from age of ultron like about Steve and Tony’s dialogue and behaviours ?

If I have any thoughts? Friend, I always do KSDHFKJSDHGFKJSDGH

First of all, this is a very weird place for Steve in particular. Tony is entering a constant spiral of self-doubt (AIN’T HE ALWAYS) but around AoU, remember that he’s a) feeling extremely guilty about the murder-robot, b) feeling extremely guilty about the Maximoff twins, c) he and Pepper seem to be on a break again, so Tony is having a rough time all around, but that’s not dragging his character to an unknown extreme. He acts pretty much like we would expect - with guilt, but with intense desire to right his wrongs, and this lull their having at the Barton’s farm is exactly the moment where Tony self-reflects on those insecurities and chooses to move on anyway. 

Steve though. This is a very curious moment to pay attention to Steve. Let’s see: He’s conducting a secret search for Bucky and how much of that he’s told the others is completely up to debate, but we know for sure he hasn’t told Tony about his parents, so sometimes my teammates don’t tell me things is a... Bold accusation, should I say. And that should tell you more or less what is going on with him after the “SHIELD is HYDRA” and him getting his first taste of going 100% off the grid and acting on his own and getting affirmation that this is what he should always do. 

CW is the point where this mindset of his fully forms, but it’s been building up since TWS. During AoU, it’s beginning to show, if you really know how to look. 

So they’re chopping wood - and there’s no reason for both of them to do it, and no reason for Steve to chop so much of it, Steve is just working out his frustration and Tony is using the task as an excuse to get a chance to talk to Steve alone, knowing Steve is holding back some words; and he’s right, because he needs to poke Steve with a well-aimed jab (seems like you got away with [Wanda’s attack] alright) to actually get Steve to talk. It’s fascinating, really, how much they know how to push each other’s buttons despite the MCU doing such a bad work at making them friends. But they know exactly what makes the other tick, and they’re not afraid to use it. 

The thing about the “dark side” conversation is what gets me, though. Steve is not unaware that he has a dark side, but he says it with a very strong conviction that Tony hasn’t seen it yet. So despite him throwing his teammates’ secrecy on Tony’s face, and despite him hiding the information about Tony’s parents from him, these are still things Steve considers not dark enough for Tony have seen a glimpse of what he can truly be. It’s very intriguing to think of what Steve really considers to be the line he should cross for him to go fully dark side, and how exactly he processes these less than favorable actions not into bad things, but into necessary or warranted things.

If you’ve read SoB, you know my theory on that: Steve’s mind is full of rigid ideas about his identity as a soldier, and as a person whose moral code has reached a level of unyieldingness so strong it’s actually bad for him. This fits into that. For him, his teammates decisions of keeping secrets are bad, because he can’t lead a mission where his soldiers have missions of their own, but at the same time, when he keeps a secret, it’s because he has decided it’s better, or kinder, or safer. And he sees no double standard in that, because as the leader, he sees himself in the appropriate place to make those sorts of decisions. So what is the line for him? Violence. Everything else he can rationalize, but violence he cannot. That’s why Siberia is such an important moment. It’s his dark side finally coming loose. He’s not there yet in AoU, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t begun to build up towards that.

They’re not as far apart in AoU as they are in CW, but the gap between them is slowly becoming wider, because they’re both pulling away emotionally from each other and from the team, though Steve is doing it at a much faster speed. That’s why they are frustrated and angry and curt - they feel the gap getting broader and it makes them uneasy, but neither knows enough about what’s going on with the other to stop it. This conversation is probably when they really begin to feel it - because Tony is bothered by Steve’s iron grip in his emotions and righteousness, and he won’t consider Tony’s anxieties about other alien attacks, and Steve is bothered by Tony’s unwillingness to settle into a dynamic Steve has deemed the best one, and though he’s ashamed for Ultron, Steve knows Tony won’t stop trying to reach further, even when Steve deems it’s unnecessary.

[machi-kun]

What is your opinion on ABO fics? I love them but I saw some fandom twitter drama talking about how it is problematic and based on gender stereotypes but I feel like it’s just fiction so doesn’t really matter? I’d love to get your thoughts on it!

OH BOY, hear me out.

I love a/b/o fics, and I’m not ashamed of it. I totally understand why some people don’t, and as always, I respect people’s opinions and I’m fine with it, but I’ll use this as an opportunity to express an opinion:

To me, fiction is a safe space to explore real life issues without the repercussions or danger of real life experiences. I understand that the mention of certain gender stereotypes or gender-based experiences might make people uncomfortable, and I will definitely not force anyone to read something that might trigger them, but at the same time - why not use fiction as a way to think through real life issues? The idea that something is “problematic” but because it happens to include an exploration of an actual real life issue in a safe environment is absurd to me. I want to read about issues. I want to read about uncomfortable things. How else would you grow, if you don’t face what you think you know? 

The fact that a/b/o is prevalent with m/m ships is not a coincidence either - lots and lots of people who are out there writing fics are afab, and have all sorts of issues associated with their gender, but still have a deep-seated desire to unveil the details of that gender and it’s effects on society. That’s how we are. We are curious by nature. Even about the awful things. It’s also why some people will only read bdsm fics when it’s about m/m, why people will read non-con when it’s m/m but never in any other case. It happens in so many genres and tropes for afab people, a/b/o just so happens to be the one that gets picked on. 

I’m not saying I don’t know why. There are a lot of tropes associated to it that are weird, I am aware. But it is definitely not the only one!

Also, may I point out, some of the best worldbuilding I have ever seen in my life has been in a/b/o fics. I’m an avid reader and I jump through fandoms so often - I’ve seen people explore the basic premise of a/b/o in ways most people can’t even imagine. I suppose it’s hard when you’re a person that mainly reads one fandom, and that one fandom decided to latch onto tropes you don’t like, so you think that’s all there is to it - but there isn’t. One of the most fascinating things about fanworks to me is to see how certain fandoms simply decide to accept certain tropes as gospel truth, and completely ignore others just because they don’t vibe with it. The same trope in two different fandoms can look completely different, and that’s what I like about it! And with a/b/o in particular - most tropes like coffee shop au, soulmates, you name it, people have developed a formula, and it’s rare to find something that surprises you, but a/b/o has surprised me more times than I can count, and sometimes, it still does. People are still finding ways to make it something new and unique, and for someone who has been reading fics for as long as I have, that means a whole lot. 

As someone who has seen worse, I tell you - read your a/b/o fic. And really, don’t trust twitter to know what’s really good for you or not 😂