Valorem

20+ she/her

[kweporkwpor]

Me too

[asharkapologist]

George Lucas be sneaking in the queer representation 2002 would allow with that guy who also checks him out

Also I can’t tell if he’s trying to mind trick them, trying to dismiss them without the Force, or just acknowledging them but if he was trying to get them to pay him no mind it didn’t work lol

[phoenixystix]

What gets me about the Piper and Percy one-sided beef is that it’s a bad look for Piper’s character—not because she isn’t allowed to dislike Percy, because actually I think this dynamic could have been cool—but because she is wrong about him in exactly the same way he’s been misunderstood and underestimated for his entire life. Even more egregious that this is coming from Piper, of all characters, who is literally supernaturally gifted with the ability to read people.

It is already a questionable narrative choice because it made Piper look bad to a lot of readers—Percy is absolutely beloved, so it alienates Piper from a good chunk of the fanbase. But I think it could have worked had she been accurate in her assessment of Percy’s character, or at least it could have been interesting and defensible narratively (yes, there were always going to be readers who just hated her for not liking Percy and there’s no way around that. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t serve the narrative well). Percy is a very likable character, and although he is truly my favorite character (in anything, ever), we must admit that he is partly so likable because he’s the narrative’s favorite (at least, you know, before his author started openly resenting him lol). And it could have been interesting to see him from a different perspective that exposes more of his flaws, or perhaps views them as genuine flaws rather than endearing traits.

But the reason Piper knocks Percy is actually just because she thinks he looks less impressive than Jason, and that he looks like a troublemaker.

I’ll address the “unimpressive” part first. Yes, it’s annoying if you love Percy, but it’s also bad writing, because it hits with a “we’ve heard this song before.” Because we have! Percy’s story was a zero-to-hero tale. UNLIKE Jason, unlike Thalia, unlike even Luke, Percy is not a character looked to as a de-facto leader. When he first gets to camp, he has bursts of impressive potential, but he is inconsistent. Nobody knows what to make of him, and “the only thing [he] really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn’t the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.” The campers are explicitly said to be “watching” him and sizing him up. They are expecting more from him, and “the way they stared at [him] made [him] uncomfortable. [He] felt like they were expecting [him] to do a flip or something.” Clarisse targets him because she wants to prove her superiority and dispel the myth that he is “‘Big Three’ material.” He is practically laughed out the door of Cabin Eleven on his first introduction. After getting claimed, he’s ostracized and seen as an inconvenience who brought strife to the rest of the camp. He earns respect through the quest, but we have to rinse and repeat this next summer because of his association with Tyson. And then we rinse and repeat this AGAIN in book 3 because Thalia is older, cooler, a better fighter, has known Grover and Annabeth longer than Percy, and her dad is Zeus. Thalia gets chosen for the quest—Percy gets overlooked, again, and has to sneak onto it, again.

And then we have to consider what he’s like outside of camp—bullied in school, abandoned by the school system and never had a teacher before Chiron believe in him and actually strived to rise to Chiron’s expectations because he was so starved for encouragement, plays basketball in the corner at school dances, never had a single real friend before Grover, insecure about his financial situation, growing up with an overworked single mom and an abusive stepdad who verbally degrades him and makes his life miserable at every turn. Percy is a kid who doesn’t have friends to invite to his birthday party—canonically.

The shift into revered hero really only happens in Book 4, and I think the subtext of it strongly implies that puberty hit him hard that year because all of a sudden he has three different love interests (and one not-so-secret admirer in Nico), and he is blatantly unaccustomed to it because that’s never how it has been for him before. In book 2 he is saying no girl at his school would be caught dead calling his name, [heavily implied that] he is the mocked because Annabeth is out of his league, and then Circe makes him stand in front of a magical body-dysmorphia mirror and dwell on all the things he doesn’t like about himself (imagine ritualistically humiliating a 13-y/o kid in this way as an adult woman. Federal prison. Death penalty!) and in Book 3 he is lamenting that Annabeth is taller than him, and saying he feels uncomfortable talking to Bianca because he gets nervous talking to girls (patently untrue, there are many girls he does not get nervous talking to—but realistic for him to narrate because although he is close with Annabeth, he is more aware of her romantically now and therefore less comfortable with her, and I would argue he mentions it in this scene because he thinks Bianca is attractive and she’s close to his age whereas girls like Thalia, Clarisse, Zoe etc are not ever viewed that way by him). So it truly makes sense when in Book 4, he is absolutely dumbfounded by Calypso’s confession and completely at a loss for how to interact with Annabeth now that she’s made her feelings clear.

In his “hero” career, the shift also happens in Book 4—he has grown as a fighter and is even complimented on this by Luke, he achieves some of his most impressive stunts in this book and shows off his skills in the battle arena, and he’s used by Chiron as a reinforcement to send to the toughest parts of the battle. And the summer after that, because he’s one of the best fighters, he is used all the time on combat missions, like the one with Beckendorf at the start of Book 5. And I really don’t think I have to explain what happened in Book 5, lol.

So. No, Percy wasn’t just granted the revered-hero status because he looks the part—he earned it, with blood, sweat, and tears (literally). And Piper’s commentary on him is that after hearing all about his exploits, he doesn’t look the part. As if we don’t have like four-and-a-half books that already told us that, made all the more familiar by the fact that Percy is his own harshest critic. The other narrators in HOO is see a side of Percy he doesn’t often see in himself—the side we only get glimpses of, such as Rachel’s painting of him killing Anteus or Percy admitting (reluctantly) that he’s slicing through an entire army and laughing at the exhilaration of it. They also sometimes notice a sadness or an anger or an intimidation factor that Percy is often not aware of in himself. Piper, on the contrary, sees only the most surface-level thing, even though she is supposedly so good at reading people that she can interpret Annabeth and Chiron’s silent conversations after only knowing them for a day. So it reads like she’s just being a hater—and I do actually think that’s the correct interpretation of this moment, considering she’s explicitly comparing him to her boyfriend. And honestly, if Piper was just being a hater, then fine—I can accept that her attachment to her own boyfriend overrides her gifts, and that’s all very human and tells you something about Piper’s character.

But what REALLY frustrates me is the “troublemaker” assessment. Again, this is a girl who is good at reading people. A girl who has been bullied in school, and befriended Leo, who has also been bullied in school and abandoned by the institutional school system, sent to a place for kids that nobody wants to deal with. A girl who has ALSO been overlooked by authority figures and gotten into a lot of trouble for misunderstandings. And she is judging Percy and saying she would “[steer] clear [of him]” because she has enough trouble in her life. What annoys me is not so much that she’d avoid him, but that SHE IS WRONG in exactly the way that most of Percy’s authority figures have been wrong about him for his entire life! He is branded as a troublemaker, when he is actually a good kid that falls victim to unfair circumstances. How many times has he been in the wrong place at the wrong time, when he was actually trying to save innocent lives? This is a kid who had a nationwide manhunt started for him at the age of 12 by his abusive stepdad because he seemed like a juvenile delinquent, and guess what, he wasn’t! So it’s super corny to me to hear Piper say this—again, we know from BOOK ONE that Percy’s features have a “brooding look that had always gotten me branded a rebel.” And Piper—again, the character supposedly supernaturally gifted at reading people—falls for it and informs the reader that she would avoid him for that.

Knowing the context (as the average PJO reader ought to), Piper’s opinion comes across as judgmental and shallow. And to be honest, I think that may have been the source for at least some of the outrage—that this just feels wrong and we didn’t appreciate the tone of it, even if maybe people didn’t know why it bothered them so much. Because the reader knows that Piper is wrong. It provokes that same kind of feeling of frustration at the injustice that Percy has to continually endure throughout most of PJO for things that are outside of his control. And I have to say, Piper being a rich kid who intentionally acts out for attention and notably does NOT have the learning disabilities that Percy and MOST demigods do, being the one to mislabel Percy in this way, adds… a layer to this whole interaction that strikes me as icky. I do patently believe this was not the intention of Piper’s assessment, because she does explain that she would avoid him because she had “enough trouble in her life”---as in, she’s not thinking she’s better than Percy, she’s thinking she’s too much like him. But that kind of falls flat considering that she’s wrongfully judging him based on his appearance and that her reasoning doesn’t make sense considering her friendship with Leo. And then she doubles down on the assessment by saying that “she could definitely see why Percy needed Annabeth in his life. If anybody could keep a guy like that under control, it was Annabeth.” This quote reads as so blatantly derogatory to me that it totally overrides any attempt at making it seem like Piper is not being judgmental and condescending here.

This is made more explicit in their exchange with Bacchus, because, in an effort to hype up Piper’s diplomatic skills, Rick has her act shocked at how brazenly Percy speaks towards Bacchus. Sure, it makes sense for her to be taken aback—most people are by how Percy speaks to the gods. But the tone in this passage is that Piper is babysitting Percy (emphasis mine): “Piper had been watching with horrified fascination, the way she might watch a car wreck in progress. Now she realized Percy was not making things better, and Annabeth wasn’t around to rein him in. Piper figured her friend would never forgive her if she brought Percy back transformed into a sea mammal.”

But Piper is completely ignorant to the context behind this exchange. Percy has known Mr. D for five years. He has earned his reluctant respect, has had multiple one-on-one conversations with him, has been called the correct name by Dionysus, has been personally requested to keep his son safe in the war. Dionysus voted yes to make Percy immortal last summer. Meanwhile, Piper has never met Bacchus OR Dionysus. Out of the three people in this scene, she is the MOST ignorant, and yet we’re supposed to accept that she’s the authority. And what is even worse, is that Piper doesn’t realize what Percy already knows: Bacchus literally is too lazy to turn Percy into a dolphin and he’s not making a real threat. Percy knows that because he has tested the boundaries before (and when it became clear that Mr. D was no longer joking, it scared him enough to stop talking). So it’s just not convincing that Percy is in real danger in this exchange or that he needed Piper’s help. What’s more: Bacchus never had any intention of helping them, and Piper is just too slow to realize this, and she will subsequently admit that he was totally unhelpful! And the hilariously ironic cherry on top: later in the book, Percy is the one who successfully recruits Bacchus! It makes her come across as extremely arrogant to think that she would be more equipped at negotiating with a god than Percy, who has much, MUCH more experience doing this than Piper does.

Now, I think that this is a writing problem. Because fine, maybe we could use this moment to confront Piper’s arrogance and the fact that she completely underestimated Percy—but that doesn’t happen. But better yet, we could have used this moment to actually further both of their characterizations, with Piper realizing why Percy has earned so much respect (including from someone like Annabeth, who Piper CLEARLY immensely respects), and perhaps touching on her ever-present feelings of insecurity about not being good enough at diplomacy and feeling totally useless. It doesn’t make sense for Piper to think she’s better than Percy! It simply does not make sense for a character who is chronically self-doubting in their skills! And the reason it doesn’t make sense is because it’s just the author trying to convince us that Piper is just as necessary to the plot as Percy is. It’s even more annoying when Piper’s “diplomacy skills” are just flattering Bacchus’ ego and manipulating him to get what she wants, which is not remotely unique to Piper’s character. Percy and Annabeth do this literally all the time, and will continue to do it in the rest of the HOO series.

And it’s all just so frustrating and honestly kind of sad. Because there was potential for a whole lot of interesting tension between Percy and Piper. Percy resents spoiled rich kids who act out for attention and he’s so used to encountering them that he would peg Piper as one right off the bat. Consider this quote from the beginning of TLT: “The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.” PIPER IS LITERALLY ONE OF THESE KIDS! You’re telling me that the kid who immediately understood that the Hermes cabin was full of neglected kids waiting for calls that would never come, who reminded him of the kids he went to school with—wouldn’t notice that quality in Piper right away? Because he would. But I actually think Percy has grown a lot and confronted some of these feelings of inadequacy around socioeconomic status, primarily through his friendship with Rachel, and he is able to see through the resentment and insecurity to recognize that the parental neglect Rachel suffers is a real problem, despite her being wildly privileged. And this journey started in TLT, where Percy realizes that he’s a far cry from having a “family of nobodies”—actually he, too, has one of the MOST famous and MOST powerful beings in the entire world for a dad, and that his dad doesn’t care about him (if you recall—he had chosen to think his father was dead, because that was less painful to believe, despite the fact that Sally intentionally never said that). And he empathized with the neglect that demigods receive from their incredibly powerful parents: “I thought about some of the kids I’d seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I’d known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn’t have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.” And perhaps more on the nose: “I started to understand Luke’s bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes. So okay, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn’t they call once in a while, or thunder, or something? Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn’t my dad, whoever he was, make a phone appear?” (I still think Percy accepts the bare minimum from Poseidon because it is simply less painful for him that way so I definitely don’t think he’s healed, but enough to have compassion for other abandoned kids, certainly). 

Percy could have really seen Piper in a way that Piper is used to seeing other people. I truly do think Percy as written in PJO would immediately see Piper’s choices in chopping off her hair and intentionally styling herself in weird clothing for what it really is: insecurity masking as confidence, acting out against her parents, and struggling to find her identity separate from her parents. (Percy is really, REALLY good at picking up on these things in PJO. And he ought to be, because he developed it as a survival skill growing up with Gabe and getting bullied.)

Piper’s writing has serious problems with it, many of which have been discussed in great length and that I don’t think I need to explain here. The only thing I’ll bring up, because I think it’s uniquely related to the Piper/Percy dynamic: it is not sufficiently addressed that Piper is accused of stealing things for fun/attention when she doesn’t actually steal things, and how her race might play a role in that narrative. It is not as simple as Piper being stereotyped by the narrative as a kleptomaniac—because Piper really isn’t and she really didn’t steal the BMW, the dealer gave it to her. But the narrative doesn’t really care about exonerating her. And to make matters much worse, there is not much meaningful reflection about her charmspeak being used for coercion, and how, although she didn’t understand what she was doing, she still got the car by manipulating the dealer with magic. And I bring this up simply to demonstrate that had we gotten to the bottom of Piper’s relationship with her parents and her issues with her own identity, then at least this problem could have been reconciled in a much more nuanced way. And I think that her relationship with Percy is fairly low-hanging fruit for how this could have been explored better, because Piper actually quite similar to Percy in that they’re both ‘kids troubled by unfair circumstances and not because they want to cause trouble,” even though on the surface her antics make her seem like she’s more like Matt Sloan (the bully from SOM who stole his daddy’s care and took it for a joyride).

Anyway. TL;DR: Rick did Piper dirty by writing that she thinks Percy is unimpressive and a troublemaker who needs to be reined in from shooting off at the mouth. And it actually botches her characterization, because she’s supposed to be good at reading people, and she gets a lot wrong about Percy. Because she’s wrong, it makes her seem judgmental and condescending, and given that Percy is one of the most accomplished demigods of literally all time and Piper is just learning the ropes, she comes across as very arrogant in a way that is not consistent with the rest of her characterization.

[wondlas]

padmes queen voice being artificially lowered in post to sound like the origin for Vader's low pitch and accent is crazy it makes me crazy that he was in that suit learning how to be a person again in a medical torture device & was like i guess i will mimic my dead wife's intonation she used in her stint as child queen to legitimise myself as the emperor's freaky cyborg wizard sonwife

[wondlas]

i keep thinking about it because im reading the prequel novelisations and im still on phantom menace reading the inner thoughts of this fucking 9 year old with a sweet crush on an older girl the way many average 9 year olds do and its making me SAD because anakin's listening to her and sabe doing the Queen Voice and whether its a conscious choice or not that poor kid has like 15 years before it's back to slavery and no more im a person & my name is anakin you have to be his monster you have to wield authority you have fucked up not only your entire life but an entire religious order too and you have to learn fast how to be an entirely new creature to anything you have been before. its fucking unbearable if i think about it too long. padme hasnt even been gone that long and the small amount of free will vader has left goes to imitating the way Queen Amidala spoke because that's the first thing vader can think of when creating a new persona that sounds imposing and powerful. and then i look back at the page and its just 9 year old anakin innocently watching padme & the handmaidens doing the Queen Voice. should we all kill ourselves

[jetskiithejester]

Fic Recs: 616 Getting Together – Canon Flashpoints

I was recently asked what my favourite points in canon are for Steve and Tony to get together – and what a question!

Getting together is easily one of my top tropes, and I love seeing it cemented in a particular time in canon.

To make sure this list isn't too long, I have given myself the following rules. The fic must:

Be set in a particular time in canon, not just a nebulous "the eighties" or "when they still lived at the mansion" (not a dig, I frequently write like this myself)

Include a get together with a happy ending (asker's preference)

Not rely on a convenient trope that borders on deus ex machina to smush them together (so no sex pollen, time travel or time loop – I love these but they don't match the spirit of the request)

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, so I have probably missed out several classics! There are also canon events that I wish were written about more, some are already in my own list of things I want to write: Armor Wars, the apology from Tony to Steve post Galactic Storm (Captain America #401), some of the lesser known team-ups. And final caveat: I have read some comics, but I won't pretend that I've read all of them.

Listed chronologically-ish. Given that it's comics.

Early Canon / Volume 1

My Home in Your Time by @starkparade

Before Tony knows it, he's head over heels in love with Steve. Which isn't surprising, it's just a lot more complicated to want to be in a relationship with someone now. Even if he could tell Steve that he is Iron Man, there's still the stupid chestplate. Steve seems to be keeping him at arm's length anyway, and Tony can't figure out why.

Steve wakes up in the 21st century, and all he wants is to go home to his time. That's until he falls in love with Tony Stark. Unfortunately, he can't tell him how he feels. Tony deserves someone who can give him everything he wants. And that someone can't be Steve, considering he lost all erectile function as a side effect of the serum.

Set around Captain America: Man Out of Time canon which places Steve's defrosting in modern times – can't get them together any earlier than this!

Sort It Out (The Random Nomad RomCom Story) by @navaan

After he discovers that a high ranking government official is the leader of the terrorist organization known as the Secret Empire, Steve Rogers decides to give up being Captain America. (Captain America Vol. 1 #180). Now he tries to find out what else to do with himself.

Picking up a new hero identity and keeping in touch with the man he's had a bit of a crush on since he met him, leaves a lot to work out.

Fabulous fic that has a lot of fun with the canon in question!

And When the Sky Was Opened by, er, @jetskiithejester

Steve broods as the rain lashes the windows of Avengers Mansion. He knows something in his life has got to change.

Iron Man helps him figure out his options.

My fix for Captain America V1 #228, where canonically Iron Man takes an already brooding Cap outside in the rain to brood more. That doesn't work for me.

The Ninth Step by @sineala

Steve hasn't seen Tony since he was rescuing him, drunk, from a burning building. But Tony's sober now, he's at Steve's door, and he wants to make amends. Though maybe "want" isn't exactly the right word for it.

Post second drinking arc. It's pre-slash, but we know exactly where this is going. I wish we had got a glimmer of this in canon. Instead we got Armor Wars which I also love but GOOD GRIEF.

Volume 3

Down the Rabbit Hole and Straight to Wonderland by @navaan

Tony is caught in Ty Stone's Dream Vision – and it's full of innuendo and… Steves.

Or the story where Ty sends Tony down the rabbit hole of too much innuendo and objectification and he ends up with a lot of hot Steve's who inappropriate proposition him to make him stay. ♥

Based on the Iron Man Vol. 3 arc "Remote Control"

Why We Need to Talk by @navaan

After the Red Zone incident, Steve's sure he and Tony need to talk. But as always with them too many things are going down at the same time.

This really engages with how crazy the canon is at this point (and the nature of comics). Post Red Zone is a very good time for declarations of feelings.

The One Who Won’t Get Away by @navaan

They go through stages and Steve realizes that he means a lot to Tony - but even more importantly he learns to sort out why Tony is so important to him.

Grapples with V3 canon, culminating with post- Red Zone getting together.

Post Avengers Disassembled

The Past is Gone (But Something Might Be Found to Take its Place) by destroythemeek

With his apartment and life in shambles, Steve Rogers needed somewhere to stay. (Immediately post-Avengers Disassembled)

This might be the oldest fic I've read in the fandom. It's one of the few that deals with the double whammy that Wanda and the Rachel LMD do to Steve's psyche.

not gruesome, just human by @isozyme

“I need to crash on someone’s couch for a while. Your couch. I need to crash on your couch,” Tony says.

Steve’s mouth opens. If he asks why Tony’s going to bolt, he can feel the certainty of it under his sternum. He doesn’t have a sternum anymore, just a tangle of metal under his skin. Too many things have punched through it to get to his heart. There hasn’t been enough bone left to reconstruct anything made of flesh in a long time.

“There’s borscht on the stove,” Steve says.

Sometimes we need to see them get together instead of falling apart on their own.

Orbiter Dictum by schmevil

Steve is at the sink, washing the few dishes that pizza for two generates, when he realizes that Tony is in love with him.

Set in early V5 Captain America, New Avengers not formed yet. Steve's depressed but it doesn't stop him from realising a couple of things.

New Avengers

If You Want A Life Of Action by runningondreams

Steve wants to start up the Avengers again, and it’s not like Tony can tell him no. There's a lot to do after the Raft breakout, after all: The new team needs work, villains need catching and there’s a missing superhero to find. And that’s not even counting his work on the armor, his projects for SI, or making sure Steve doesn’t disappear to sulk endlessly in his apartment. When they start trying to add romance to the mix it’s really a miracle things go so well for so long.

Really taps into the insanity of this time in canon. Plot keeps happening to them!

Civil War

the same conversation by @dirigibleplumbing

Steve agrees to meet Tony in the ruins of Avengers Mansion. He’s not sure what he’s expecting, but it’s not this: Steve’s armor overrides still work. And after he uses them, Tony assumes that Steve is here to kill him. And it seems like—despite the new perspective this information gives Steve—they’re still cycling through the same arguments as ever.

Perfect title for this amazing Casualties of War fic that leaves you feeling hopeful.

Moving to the Sun by @sineala

When Steve agreed to meet Tony at the mansion to talk, he never imagined that Tony would abandon Registration and join him. He never imagined that Tony would end up in bed with him, either.

Casualties of War is one of those moments where I love to see it tip into something else. And this one is wonderful.

I read a lot of Civil War fan fic. A lot of it is sad, or bittersweet. I could have sworn I had more to recommend but apparently not!

Volume 4

Wonders of the World (The Keep Me Safe from Harm Remix) by @sineala

Steve, America's top cop, meets Tony, in the middle of launching Resilient, in a hotel room in Seattle. There, Steve finds unexpected comfort in Tony's presence. It wasn't supposed to be an assignation. But then, a snowstorm wasn't supposed to strand them together, either.

Set before Steve finds out about the Illuminati and Fear Itself. They're snowed in.

These Cold Nights by Captain_Al

Not long after the Serpent's attack, Steve and Tony find themselves stranded together in Chicago during a snow storm. With all of the fall out from the attack still hanging over them, the snowstorm could be the least of their worries.

Post Fear Itself, Steve and Tony take comfort in each other. They're snowed in. Yes.

Peace of Mind by @sineala

Steve has picked up his shield again, left the Secret Avengers, and rejoined the main Avengers team at Tony's side. He is, in fact, literally at Tony's side, as he finds Tony suffering from a migraine and takes care of him. After their many disagreements, Steve is grateful for the chance for the two of them to be friends again, with no secrets between them. But if there aren't secrets anymore, then how in the world did Steve not know Tony has gotten migraines since childhood?

Post Infinity Gem stuff, post Fear Itself. Steve's struggling with what went down while he was America's Top Cop, finds solace in this hurt/comfort fic.

The Single Biggest Problem With Communication by @blossomsinthemist

In the wake of Steve's return from the dead and the end of Norman Osborn's reign of terror, the superhero community is recovering--Steve has taken on a new role and Tony is trying to put his life back together. Things are still awkward between them, but they're determined to put things to rights. But when a discussion about their feelings leads to further misunderstandings, they discover that might be more difficult than either of them realized. Set in the early Heroic Age after the end of Dark Reign, this is a get-together story about crossed wires--and second chances.

Writing this post reminded me I urgently need to reread this!

Too perfect not to end the world by @navaan

After Tony comes back from Mandarin City Steve had too much time to think about him and things between them. And it's time for things between them to change.

Post Fear Itself and some Matt Fraction comics you absolutely cannot force me to read.

I Could Be Your Bad Boy by @sadisticsparkle

Steve needs information.

Batroc has that information. His only request? A blowjob.

Thank God Steve's good pal Tony Stark is mission control and can give very, very good instructions.

One Night In Madripoor! Okay, you might need to squint for the getting together, but it's so on. Tony should send Batroc flowers. Okay, maybe that would be inappropriate.

We’re not broken, so please come home by IronSwordStarShield

“What I’m saying is,” Tony says when he catches her puzzled look. “I don’t know what could happen. Just because we don’t want to talk to each other now doesn’t mean that’s how it’s going to be forever. Who knows. Something might happen that’ll get us talking and we’ll be back at where we were. Maybe even better friends.”

Tony’s words are like a ray of sunshine breaking through the storm clouds. In fact, a particular part of his statement sparks an idea. If the whole issue because Tony and Steve can be solved if they talk, then maybe all someone has to do is create a situation where they can talk, right?

--

Kamala has a plan. It is called “Operation Make Tony and Steve Friends Again" and it'll work. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully…

An All-New All Different Avengers fic! While the author admits it's not that canon compliant, this is a wonderful time in canon for reconciliation and getting together for the first time. There is a LOT of talking in this one, it takes them time. It absolutely hinges on them making up first.

Volume 5

The Fall and the Rise by @sineala

After the Great Society incursion, the Illuminati refuse to destroy another world. When the next incursion looms, they go to await their deaths in peace. Tony ends up on the doorstep of the last man who ever wanted to see him. At least he's going to die at Steve's side.

An unlikely set up for a get together. And yet...

Volume 8

Spill into my hands by @viudanegraaa

As always, a flirt. “It’s nice to see you, Tony,” he said. Tony smiled. “You, too, Cap,” he said.

(Thor, Steve, and Tony agree to restart the Avengers. All is going well until there's a misunderstanding and Steve has to come to terms with the feelings he has for Tony and what they'll mean for them, and the team, going forward.)

Getting the team back together is such a great point for them to get together, I can never resist it!

When Trouble Came by @sineala

After the defeat of the Progenitor, Tony is surprised to find that Steve has changed his mind and would now like to take him up on his offer to relax in the hot springs. Steve, more depressed than Tony has ever seen him, would like to compare notes on their respective judgments and find out how Tony's been doing in his newly-sober life. He'd also like to reveal a few long-held secrets about his feelings for Tony -- and there's more than one surprise here.

Big talk about All The Canon. But firmly set post AXE Judgement Day.

West Coast Avengers Vol. 4

Properly Losing It in the Stars by @rivalshell

The West Coast Avengers are back in action, revived by Tony and Rhodey! This time, though, they're going for something a bit different - rehabilitating former villains! Their most controversial recruit? A splinter of Ultron who genuinely wants to be good.

It's... not going well. The Kobik and Hydra-created Captain America, now going by the name Flag-Smasher, is running around causing havoc, and one of Ultron's counterparts isn't doing him any favors with the superhero community by starting a creepy religious cult and preying on LA's unhoused population.

When Tony calls in asking Steve for a favor right after Sharon breaks it off with him for the final time, he gladly flies out west to support Tony in his efforts to do something they both agree on.

Steve keeps his feelings on all of it buried in journals and notebooks - always has, always will. When his new journal goes missing, what began as a supportive visit quickly spirals into confronting years and years of buried feelings threatening to boil over.

Very recent canon! What if Steve was also there on the west coast? And having a light menty b?

[husborth-deactivated20241109]

reasons i understand darth vader implicitly

people at my job make me homicidal, too, and if i could strangle people by twitching my brain cells, i would

[eldritchdemigodskywalkers]

#we simp for Anakin bc we've all wanted to yeet our managers down a space chute lbr (via @aceyjujube)

[protectdamianwayne]

[ramen8008]

Wonder Woman: Batman, we could make good use of Nightwing with this. Would you call him?

Dick, who's filling in for Bruce as Batman: I'll call him

---

Hal: you've gained some muscles

Jason, dressed as Nightwing: I started working out

Hal: Damn. What's the routine cause I just saw you last week and you look completely different.

Jason: steroids

Dick, as batman: *chokes on coffee*

---

Superman: We might need someone who's good with guns, hm... Hey Nightwing you're in contact with redhood, right? Could you have him come?

Jason, as Nightwing: ... I don't see why not

---

Wonder woman: this security is an issue we need someone who can hack this system long enough for us to get pass

Superman: hey hood, any chance you can give red robin a call?

Tim, with 5 inches of padding, as redhood: on it

---

Hal: isn't robin usually with you all?

Flash: yeah we could use him with this one

Superman: Red Robin, would you call in Robin for us?

Damian, in red robin costume: he's dead

[themoonking]

really weird to me when people frame padme getting with anakin as her "choosing" him "over" obi wan (and specifically usually framing this as the "wrong choice" or at least one that doesn't make sense to them personally).

my brother in christ this was not a choice. there is no love triangle here. obi wan was never an option; he was not on padme's radar as a romantic prospect at all. she barely interacted with him in tpm and aotc, he openly rejects her opinion/desires regarding the assassin investigation, and he lowkey straight up dislikes her as he has a baseline dislike/distrust of all politicians. he berates anakin, who is padme's friend, right in front of her (and even if they weren't friends him doing this clearly makes everyone in the scene uncomfortable). meanwhile, she has a preestablished positive relationship with anakin, he listens to and supports what she wants to do regarding the assassin investigation, and he's clearly interested in her. and then they have an isolated romantic getaway where they frolic in a field together.

she also thinks he's hot and cute and charming lmao! you might find obi wan more physically attractive or charming than anakin, but that clearly isn't true for padme, nor is it true for plenty of people irl.

to padme, the "choice" is between a tall beautiful controversially younger angel man who waits on her hand and foot and a decade-older dedicated monk who actively dislikes her. why on gods green earth are we acting like obi wan is the obvious choice here.

padme definitely respects obi wan, and has a generally positive view of him because of his role saving her planet in tpm. but for the most part her positive regard for him is a byproduct of her love for anakin, especially by rots. she cares for anakin, and anakin cares for obi wan, therefore padme also cares for obi wan. but she wasn't interested in him romantically nor are they super close or besties like some people pretend.

[frantic-fandom-girl]

RTTE is so quoteable. I mean we got “Friends, my yak bladder runneth over” and “I'm gonna go outside and scream into the ocean until that vision is ripped from my brain” all in the same episode and somehow those two sentences aren’t related

[v-a-l]

The chicken is not amused

[frantic-fandom-girl]

RTTE is so quoteable. I mean we got “Friends, my yak bladder runneth over” and “I'm gonna go outside and scream into the ocean until that vision is ripped from my brain” all in the same episode and somehow those two sentences aren’t related

[chronologyxxx]

i hate this stupid ass narrative about anakin being some kind of problem child that poor obi-wan had to constantly blush for and fix his problems and whatnot. have you even seen that kid in tpm?? little boy just got brought to tears by a group of grown ass men, and now he's apologizing to qui-gon for causing trouble. little bro did like, nothing wrong, he didn't even ask to be in this situation. but he tries to be quiet and apologizes, he wants to help and doesn't want to be a burden😭

like in general every time i see this idiotic "obi-wan was too soft on anakin and let him get away with everything, and that led to him becoming greedy and selfish and falling to the dark side" i go crazy, because have you even watched those dumb movies? obi-wan scolding anakin for promising padme to find whoever is trying to kill her, even though that's literally what she wants; obi-wan jumping out of a window and then scolding anakin for doing the same; in aotc obi-wan can't go a single scene without expressing his disapproval to anakin over every little thing, and even when anakin does everything right, he's still like, "yeah, i'm not sure my young padawan learner can be given missions, he'll definitely fail or do something stupid"

[anishenanigans]

rlly fascinating phenomenon to me is when a character is extremely popular, and that popularity seems understandable enough because they've got something interesting going on, and then you look at the fandom and realize 99% of their fans don't actually care about engaging with any of the things that make them interesting and instead seem to be fans of an imaginary milquetoast version that exists solely for ship and/or angst content and is so far removed from the canon character they might as well be an unrelated OC at this point

[runraerun]

how it feels watching Star Trek for the first time.

[soryntea]

How cute is this omg you guys

[bluemoonscape]

Anakin was almost the most normal Master in the Disaster Lineage because you have Yoda who had probably taught so many students atp that he was like a Mormon mom with Dooku like “idk just do your fucking schoolwork and then just be home by 4 AM. whatever” which led to a lack of emotional connection and resentment over Yoda’s longevity and perceived complacency in an aging Order. So Dooku wanted to break away from traditional Jedi ideals but was also never taught how to connect as more than student and teacher so he got Qui-Gon and kind of panicked and went hey you know what bonds people? Talking about intellectual revolution. So Qui-Gon was taught with the constant contradiction of everyone around him being like hey this is how you should be doing this and then having his Master turn around and go WRONGGGG LOLOL!!! and watching his Master descend into QAnon conspiracy theories and then Qui-Gon decides “ok well I will take what I can get from this whole freedom of thought thing and leave the QAnon aspect behind.” Except then Qui-Gon turned into the Order’s weedsmoking libmaxxing opposite to Dooku’s right wing xenophobic tendencies. So he then turned around, got his own Padawan, and proceeded to alienate that Padawan with his white cis male leftism. So you get centrist “my opinion is ☝️ that I wholly support the Council’s opinion” Obi-Wan who became this way because he desperately desired an older man to guide him in a queer sort of way and that older man said “ew.” Where he then finds himself the older man to a younger man’s queer fantasies and is like woahhhh wait I didn’t think I was gonna be the older man in this scenario! so it gets awkward and Anakin’s sexual frustration leads to a more appropriate outlet of political frustration over Obi-Wan’s centrism. And then Anakin gets Ahsoka and is completely normal. Just entirely normal. No power struggle. No daily political debates at dinner. They’re 19 and 14 respectively so all they talk about is the new space xbox. It works perfectly. Anakin isn’t even a leading cause in Ahsoka leaving the Order. And then he realizes he has a son later in life and the dormant crazy obsessive boymom in him jumps out like BAHHHHHH and he becomes weirder about Luke than all of the former Masters were about their students combined. He was SO close.

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Star Wars Wednesday

(Part 1: In which, instead of dueling Luke at Cloud City, Vader actually uses his head for two seconds and decides to talk instead.)

Padme, something wonderful has happened.

Darth Vader stood frozen at the top of the stairs, transfixed by the sight of the small figure making his way into the carbon freeze chamber. Against all his doubts, all his fears, the boy had found him. His son. Their son. 

The orange glow of the chamber’s inner workings blended annoyingly with the lenses of his mask, obscuring much of the boy’s expression. But oh, he could feel it, even from his place on the high ground. The boy -- Luke, his Luke! -- was afraid. But more than he was afraid, he was angry. His aggressive intentions hovered above him, hissing into the air with sharp notes. And the Force responded eagerly to the measure, ready to move in harmony as soon as Luke gave the word.

“The Force is with you, young Skywalker,” Vader said by way of greeting. Look how you’ve grown was not appropriate for the moment, nor was At last, I have found you. But how he had grown! This was a far cry from the desperate teenager who had attacked him on Cymoon-1. Someone -- someone -- had taught him new skills. But even with this new training- 

“But you are not a Jedi yet.”

Do not begin a fight you cannot hope to win, my son.

Do not risk yourself needlessly.

[[MORE]]

Luke hid his fear admirably. He stifled it. Shunted it away to his survival instincts and continued his approach. The closer he got to the stairs, the more clearly Vader could see him. Surely it was not his imagination? No, Luke had grown since the last time they had been face to face. He had lost some of the softness in his face, and his shoulders were certainly broader than they had been on Cymoon. And now here he stood, caught between boyhood and manhood -- and caught between two Orders that had been fighting for his family’s loyalty for longer than he’d been alive.

When the boy ignited his lightsaber -- My old lightsaber -- and raised it into a basic stance, Vader was sorely tempted to respond in kind. It was so different from their first encounter! Luke knew more of the blade now. He could see it in his eyes. How he longed to test his son’s skill! No matter of life and death, no stakes, merely a spar for the simple pleasure of sparring with his son.

But he had no time. 

“Put it away, son.” Darth Vader folded his hands behind his back and took one step to the side. “It is not worth the possibility of injuring you.”

Anger flared, jagged and staccato from the boy. “Don’t,” he hissed between his teeth, “Call me son.”

Ah, my son, my betrayed, innocent son. You have been far too trusting. 

“Very well. Luke, then.” Vader shifted to stand one step below, putting him closer to Luke’s level. “Put away your weapon. I mean you no harm.”

A harsh sound escaped Luke. Scoff and snarl and nearly a sob all at once. “No harm?” he repeated incredulously, “Do you really think I’m going to fall for that? After what you did to my friends?”

Ah, so very like his father. And his mother. His loyalty to those who had earned his trust eclipsed even common sense at times. But then, he had counted on that. Vader had the presence of mind to be grateful that he had not allowed the Princess to be harmed. That might have threatened his chances. If the girl was truly as protective of Luke as she seemed, then having her aboard the Executor alongside Luke would ensure their cooperation.

“The methods I resorted to were...unpleasant,” he said with a conciliatory tilt of his head. “But I could find no other way to draw you to me.”

Unintended, a note of humor colored his words. “You have become quite the accomplished escape artist, young one!”

Luke’s hands shook, almost unnoticeable. He was unsettled by this strangely peaceful Lord of the Sith. There was a soft haze of confusion just beginning to overshadow his conviction, and the anger was dulling to wariness. Perfect.

“You...you hurt them!” Luke spat. His eyes widened a moment later. Horror swirled in them, chased by disgust. “You hurt them because of me?!” 

Vader took another step down. “I have no specific grievance against those you keep company with.”

“But you do with me,” the boy finished for him. He gritted his teeth. “So they were what, collateral damage?” He raised his blade again. “Someday, you’re not going to be able to treat people like things anymore, Vader. Someday, somebody’s going to put an end to you.”

Ah, look at him. Look at him, Padme. He sounds just like you. 

“Hm. And I assume that you mean today to be that day?” Vader turned. “If that is so, then why have you not attacked me yet?”

Luke swiveled quickly to keep up, and nearly lost his footing. “I’m not stupid. You’re trying to distract me.”

“The jakreb learns to listen before it runs,” Vader quoted, amused.

Startled to hear Huttese coming from someone like Darth Vader, Luke jolted noticeably. “The dragon who moves too soon is a dragon who starves,” he countered. “I know what you’re doing.”

“I highly doubt that you do.”

Rat-a-tat-tat Luke’s rising temper shook the cables and rattled against the ceiling like a drumbeat.

“You want me to drop my guard, so you can kill me. Just like you did to Ben!” he accused.

He turned his blade to a more horizontal guard and stepped up to the high ground. 

A wise move, if an unnecessary one.

“Luke.” Vader shook his head and continued to descend the staircase. “Obi-wan allowed himself to be killed. What his motives could have been, I do not know. He told himself and everyone around him such pretty lies that I am no longer certain that even he knew what his motivations were. But I assure you that whatever he did, he did so deliberately.”

It only took a few seconds for Luke to follow him. “To give us time to escape. So we could destroy your Death Star! Worked out pretty well, Vader.”

Keep following, little one. Don’t stop. 

“Indeed?” Vader turned his helmet as if glancing over his shoulder at Luke, and stepped off the edge of the platform. He landed with a heavy thud, and waited until Luke had scrambled to the edge to look for him before stepping into one of the maintenance tunnels.

“That is a topic for speculation, I believe. But for all the times your “Ben” betrayed me, it is fitting that in his final moments he unwittingly revealed you to me. Returning what he stole all those years ago.”

Confusion. Rage. Fear.

Vader smiled beneath his mask and continued down the maintenance tunnel. He did not wait for Luke. The boy would come of his own accord, or not at all. This was too important for him to ignore. 

He reached out, taking greater care than he ever had before, and brushed against his son’s mind. Can you hear me, little one? I am calling you, as I have been calling for you for so long…

He stopped, frozen mid-step. A tiny light, soft as birdsong, had touched his thoughts for just an instant. Instinctive. Unconscious. The reflexive curl of an infant’s fingers around an adult’s.

Luke knew.

Perhaps he didn’t know that he knew yet, but the truth was there, buried in his heart.

It was the same clumsy touch, feather-light and unrestrained, that he used to sense as he lay beside Padme each night, projecting love and peace and calm to their unborn baby. 

Padme, something wonderful has happened.

He remembers. 

[mmeiram]

went a bit insane while talking abt star wars in class so i had to draw some anidala fluff to purge out the unhinged from me!!

btw comms are still open…. hire me! or tip me! that would be lovely, have a great day! <3

comms//tip jar