strangeironaf

[strangeironaf]

A double drabble this time with no angst in sight!

“Is it too late to change my mind?” Tony asked, eyeing the portal with unexpected hesitance.

Stephen snorted. “If you’d wanted to change your mind, you should have left me at the metaphorical altar this morning.”

Tony sputtered. “Not about that. I’m very happy being Tony Strange.” 

Stephen couldn’t help but smile at the easy way Tony claimed Stephen’s name. Stephen hadn’t actually asked Tony to take his name, but… well, Tony knew Stephen well.

Tony didn’t notice the smile, too busy eyeing the portal. “I’m just doubting the wisdom of me living in a haunted house. That seems… unwise.”

Stephen laughed. “Tony, you’ve been sleeping in the sanctum for over a year.”

“I didn’t live there,” Tony muttered mulishly.

Stephen moved closer, wrapping his arms around Tony’s waist. “Is Tony Stark—“

“Tony Strange,” Tony corrected.

Stephen was going to get heartburn if Tony kept up with that. ”—Afraid of the big, bad sanctum?”

Tony sputtered. “No! That’s not what I was saying.”

“Sounds like what you’re saying,” Stephen teased. He pulled Tony closer and rested his chin on Tony’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Tony. I’ll keep you safe.”

“I hate you.” 

Tony might say that, but Stephen knew the truth.

[strangeironaf]

Silence

Kamar Taj.

Tony stared at the building in front of him. It looked entirely innocuous. Not like the place someone might run to if they were searching for miracle healing. But Tony had traced Stephen’s steps. He had found Johnathon Pangborn and his miracle healing. Had followed Stephen’s steps to Nepal. Had wandered the streets of Kathmandu. Had asked stranger after stranger until one had pointed him here.

Perhaps this wasn’t Kamar Taj at all. Perhaps this was nothing.

Maybe it was, though. Maybe Stephen lingered somewhere within, still as far out of reach as he’d been when Tony had walked into their apartment to find Stephen gone without so much as a note.

God, silence spoke volumes.

Tony stared at the door. Grief twisted through him as he realized that he wasn’t going to knock. That he had never been going to.

Say what people would about him, but he could take a hint.

Silence spoke volumes.

He chose to ignore it, sometimes. But he could still read a room with the best of them.

Stephen had left. Stephen had chosen this unknown miracle over Tony and their life. Stephen hadn’t said a word.

The silence spoke volumes.

A woman watched him from across the street.

Tony met her gaze, read in her eyes the weight of someone who saw too much. Was she from Kamar Taj, he wondered. Waiting for him to choose to knock or to walk away. Could she guess what had brought him here?

Would she let him in, if he asked?

For a long moment they just stared at each other.

He looked away first, back at the door that hid Stephen behind it. He could knock. Could try to find Stephen. Could try to get answers. Could try to heal this chasm that had opened between them.

But god, the silence spoke volumes.

Because Stephen didn’t want to be found. Stephen didn’t want to let Tony in. Stephen didn’t want to heal the gaping wound between them. Stephen didn’t want… didn’t want Tony.

Stephen had chosen.

Tony… Tony loved Stephen, loved him with a devotion that ached. He’d always feared that Stephen didn’t love him back the same way.

It turned out Tony had been right.

He stared at the door for one moment longer, just hoping. But there was nothing. 

Grief was rope around his neck, tightening and stealing his ability to breathe. He closed his eyes, blocked out the sight of the door that taunted him with the possibility that Stephen stood just on the other side.

It didn’t matter either way, though. Because he and Stephen…

Stephen had chosen.

Tony didn’t think he’d ever stood a chance at being the one Stephen chose.

He turned away. 

He never saw the door to Kamar Taj open.

The silence spoke volumes.

[strangeironaf]

golden hours <3

[strangeironaf]

Strange: How come we never hooked up?

Tony: You called me a whore…

Strange: Got a way with words, don’t I?

[strangeironaf]

“this ship isn’t canon” to YOU. I, however, am delusional

[strangeironaf]

Happy Sin Day :))

[strangeironaf]

Gota draw him serving CUNT

[strangeironaf]

Prompt #1292

The ghost of the Ancient One haunts Stephen, compelling him to become a Sorcerer.

Stephen discusses with his boyfriend, Tony, who believes Stephen is joking or hallucinating because of his workaholic tendencies. Stephen, on the other hand, believes he's seeing things and going mad due to stress.

In this timeline, TAO dies before Stephen becomes a sorcerer. This can lead to Stephen not being a sorcerer at all. However, the world needs him, so she does questionable things.

She intentionally scares Stephen suddenly so that he would drive off the cliff.

Suggested by Anonymous

[strangeironaf]

Prompt #1293

One interesting side effect of his medical career is that Stephen can fall asleep *anywhere*. Brutally long shifts and even longer surgeries as his career advanced had enabled him with a unique talent to sleep in whatever space was available- more than once, Wong had caught him asleep leaning against one of the bookshelves, looking for all the world as if he was simply reading.

For some reason, whenever he does it around the Avengers, Tony winds up taking care of him somehow?

Or, five times Stephen fell asleep in places he wasn't supposed to be + one time he fell asleep exactly where he's supposed to be

Suggested by Anonymous

[strangeironaf]

redone prompt

I skipped prompts on April 1 because I figured it would get lost amongst The Boopening. (And also I was chasing the 1000 boop badge. lol.) 

Today’s prompt is a post instead of an Ask reply because I decided to rewrite the prompt that I answered and then deleted on March 31. I’m glad I did! I like this version much, much better than the other one. 

The prompt:

@mystical-magician asked:

Ironstrange prompt: arranged marriage. Maybe with royalty au, maybe magical shenanigans, maybe it's canon background? Maybe something else completely.

-

Tony leads his new husband to the suite of rooms that has been prepared for them. He wishes he could follow, instead; the back of his neck is prickling like crazy, and the words of the negotiators who hammered out the marriage contract are echoing in his ears: The negotiations were too easy. They hardly asked for anything. They must want something else. Be wary of your new husband.

Tradition forbids armed guards on the marriage night. It will be only the third time in Tony’s life that he’s been outside the reach of his guards. It’s the perfect opportunity for Stephen Strange to murder him, if that’s what Kamar-Taj wants.

But when the suite doors close behind Strange, all he does is pull off the elaborate headdress his traditions call for and drop it and the heavy marriage robe on the floor, leaving him in a much lighter, royal blue tunic. “Thank the Vishanti,” he groans, taking a seat on one of the low settees in the suite’s receiving room. “Whoever made those so heavy when they have to be worn from dawn until dusk is a cruel man.” 

Tony is left dumbstruck for the first time he can remember. Strange looks up at him and takes on a sheepish expression. “I apologize, I know no one has explained anything to you. The Elders couldn’t decide whether or not it was permitted prior to the marriage, and ultimately they decided to err on the conservative side. But I can explain now.” He gestures to the other settee, placed perpendicular to the one he’d claimed. 

After a moment, Tony shrugs out of his own marriage robe and sits. “The negotiators did suspect something else was going on,” he says. “I take it they were right.”

“Yes, but nothing political.”

“I’m a prince and you’re The Ancient One’s prize protege,” Tony says dryly. “It’s political by definition.”

Strange snorts a little. “For you, maybe. Not for Kamar-Taj. We didn’t need any of the things we asked for in the negotiation. It just seemed like the done thing.”

Tony frowns. “Then what did you want?”

Strange looks slightly… embarrassed? “When a Sorcerer of Kamar-Taj attains the rank of Master, a spell is performed. It reveals their most ideal romantic partner. You’re mine.”

“Your most ideal romantic partner,” Tony repeats, staring. Strange nods. “This is… a love match?”

“Well, not yet,” Strange says, blushing slightly. “But unless something goes very wrong—and it can, this isn’t a guarantee—it will be.”

Tony can’t help it: he laughs so hard actual tears start leaking out of his eyes. Every time he thinks he’s going to stop, he looks up at Stephen’s bemused expression and starts laughing again. Eventually, he sucks in enough breath to gasp out, “They thought— They warned me you might— might try to kill me.”

After one gobsmacked moment, that sets Stephen laughing, too.

Not a bad way to start a marriage.

[strangeironaf]

[strangeironaf]

[strangeironaf]

Things fanfic is reputed for inserting into the source material:

Sex

Things fanfic actually inserts into the source material:

Sex

Holding hands

Bizarre misunderstandings

Meticulous descriptions of food and clothing

The author’s unaddressed traumas

Found family

Plausible explanations for existing plot holes

Additional plot holes

Exciting new frontiers in speculative physics, economics, chemistry, biology, zoology, psychology, theology, and/or ontology

Tax evasion

Gender

Very bad puns

[strangeironaf]

Doctor Strange's disability: a (much needed) chronological review

In view of recent ableism and drama on the other social hellsite involving Doctor Strange's disability, here's my response, based on *CANON* material. (link to the thread on said hellsite here)

Stephen disability is established since 1963, back in Strange Tales #115. The story is focused on a flashback which portrays his journey from the decay of his medical career because of a car accident to his path towards the mystic arts.

Note that, in this very same issue, the Ancient One never says he would heal Stephen's *hands*, but perhaps Stephen would find the cure within. In other words, Stephen was supposed to heal his heart and soul from arrogance and egoism through magic, not a physical cure.

Also note that there are limitations within every aspect of comic books' universes. In this case, we're talking about magic. Magic is not a miracle thing. It demands training and, most recently as established by v4, a cost (Doctor Strange v4 #4).

Another clue that "magic can heal anything because it's fantasy" is not a valid argument within Marvel's magic world, as seen in The Oath. Stephen had access to the Otkid's Elixir, which could heal any disease, but the formula was lost in order to save Wong's life.

One last example comes from Spider-Man Family #5 (2007), featuring Morbius and Spidey. It establishes that healing demands the exact same price when it comes to magic.

Long story short, it's clear that the magic side of Marvel does not offer a solution to diseases through magical miracles. So this argument is totally invalid ~within~ this established universe.

Now back to Doctor Strange... No, he isn't using magic to heal his hands unlike some misleading accounts are claiming. In fact, there are several panels which show that he's actually in constant pain. Here's some examples:

- Doctor Strange - Sorcerer Supreme #48 (1992).

- Captain Marvel v10 #6 (2019)

- Doctor Strange v4 #1 (2015)

He also struggles to hold a pen and write, relying on magic to do so, as seen in the Book of the Vishanti.

Then comes the stupid argument I saw.

"Oh, but Google says his hands are healed!" is not a gotcha moment you think it is. We had FOUR MAIN BOOKS after that (Surgeon Supreme, DODS, Strange v3 and current v6). Allow me to clarify the details in chronological order.

Stephen indeed made a "magic" gamble and healed his hands. That much is correct. But it's not all (panels from Doctor Strange v5 #19 - 2019).

Waid continued this storyline in a new book called Dr. Strange (Surgeon Supreme), which would portray Stephen's duality as the Sorcerer Supreme and a brilliant surgeon. Except the book was cancelled at issue #6 (2020), leaving the character in a kind of limbo. Now enter MacKay.

MacKay kept a little bit of the former storyline as seen in Death of the Doctor Strange #1 (2021). On top of that, his hands appeared healed. However, that lasted only until Kaecilius murdered Stephen and stole his hands.

Stephen's temporal duplicate used a regenerative spell to bring original Stephen back through Kaecilius' body and the stolen hands. In here, we can see that his hands are scarred just like after the car accident (DODS #5 - 2022). OG Stephen died a second time with scars as well.

Stephen is indeed seen writing in v6 but it's not clear if he's using magic or not. Besides, he's not working as a surgeon anymore. Moreover, MacKay considers Stephen disabled as seen in this recent issue of v6 (#7 - 2023): "My own connection to the aether, the magic of the world, the power of the Vishanti, the power of the Sorcerer Supreme... Gone. Without all of that? I am just an old man with useless hands and a blade in his stomach."

In conclusion,

As of CURRENT DOCTOR STRANGE RUN by Jed MacKay and Pasqual Ferry, in the year of our lord Vishanti, 2024, Stephen Strange is a disabled character and no magic or ableism will erase that. Thank you very much.

[strangeironaf]

That Peter and Stephen moment from NWH but Ironstrange headcanon :D

[strangeironaf]

2018 is the year of ironstrange babey

[strangeironaf]

And…. IronStrange (surprise, I know…): We’ve told all our friends we’re married, but no one believes us.

I really meant to do something funny for this, and then I started writing it and it turned out angsty instead. Sorry!

-

Back in the penthouse, Tony stopped and just stared into the distance for a moment. Distantly, he was aware of Stephen heading to the bar, followed by the sound of glass clinking. He came back to himself when Stephen brushed the whiskey glass against his hand.

“I thought I’d considered all the possible reactions to our relationship,” Tony said. “Somehow, it never occurred to me that unwavering disbelief was on the table.”

“Nor to me,” Stephen said.

Sighing, Tony took a seat on the couch and patted the spot next to him. Stephen sat as well and took a sip of his own drink. Tony swirled the glass absently. “Are we really such an odd couple?” he asked, turning so that he was more or less facing Stephen.

“I think it’s less our relationship in specific and more the general idea that either of us is capable of maintaining a successful marriage,” Stephen said, sinking down next to Tony. He rested one arm on the back of the couch, fingers brushing gently at the nape of Tony’s neck.

“That might be worse.” Tony thought about it for a minute. Presumed personal incompatibility versus a general misjudgment of his character in general. “Yup. It’s worse.” Stephen was silent, which meant he agreed but didn’t want to exacerbate Tony’s mood. Tony caught Stephen’s eye, suddenly uncertain. “You believe that I love you, right?”

“I don’t just believe it,” Stephen said. He set his glass aside and leaned forward to cup Tony’s face in both hands. “I know it. Just as surely as I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

No small amount of relief colored the kiss that followed.