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theawkwardterrier · 1 year

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2022 fic roundup

Buffyverse

A Full and Stumbling Heart

MCU

Things Found at the End of the World

speak low to me, speak love to me (and soon)

The Limits of Dreaming

The Real Heroes

Best Laid Family Plans

What Can Be Found Beneath

things left behind and the things that are ahead: 1971

A Surprise Delivery

Opening Hearts*

Sacrifices*

Memorials*

(might not be our time yet) that doesn’t mean I ever love you any less

Outlander

Here's All the Melting Thrill (And Here's the Kindling Fire)

Each Step Closer (On Our Way Together)

Measure and Man

Days' Break

Inherent and Inherited

Nighttime Guardian*

Missed Moments*

Family History**

Lost and Found*

The First Step Toward Home*

Love in All Seasons*

Watcher’s Wants*

The Sweetness of Home*

Affection (in Context)**

A Different Kind of Customer*

Better to Have Loved*

One Track Mind**

Telling Tales*

Pierce My Heart*

Heal the Healer**

Good Fraser Names*

Unintended Inheritances*

By Example**

Choices and Chances*

Caring Hands**

Muscle Memory

* drabble

** Laird's Room 'verse

1. Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d predicted?:

As I’ve said in past years, I’ve stopped finding it beneficial to predict these things (it just seems like pressure to me) but I suppose about what I would have expected, trending toward more? It was certainly a bit of a surprise that I managed to roust myself for both all of Steggy week and Steggy Secret Santa, that I wrote a bunch of Outlander oneshots plus went in once again for a lengthy chapter fic, and that I got back into weekly drabbles.

2. What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?:

Fergus as a character and Fergus/Marsali as a pairing! I was particularly inspired by that one episode and it just took off from there.

3. What’s your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?

I like a bunch of the drabbles, and I’m extremely proud of Muscle Memory, but I think the pacing is very good on speak low to me, speak love to me (and soon) - it does exactly what it needs to without overstaying its welcome or getting saccharine.

4. Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I wrote a lot when I didn’t want to or just felt obligated to do so, and very honestly even though I can vividly remember the terrible, slogging feeling of it and pinpoint the places where I was feeling it especially strongly, I don’t see it reflected so much in the work itself, and I can’t quite tell if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I also once again started posting a chapterfic without having finished, but I think that I’ve managed to get a good handle on my timing so I don’t catch up with myself or feel too pressured; I did also learn that having someone to share the story with and talk things over about it keeps me from feeling like I need to start posting simply to have it out there for someone else to see.

(Also, not so much a writing risk as a plotting one: having a bit of an eleventh hour twist when things seem to be settling into fluff 😬)

Oh, and randomly making video accounts of my writing, which was weird and only interesting to me 😅

5. Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?

Put the last touches on Muscle Memory and finish posting, get one or both of the Outlander fics I’ve started working on finished and posted, and make my writing more about what I want and what feels fulfilling to me rather than wanting accolades or interaction.

6. From my past year of writing, what was…

Story Most Underappreciated by the Universe:

I think Measure and Man is actually written really well as well as a very good character study, even if it’s not really J/C or strongly shippy at all. I also have a bit of a fondness for The Real Heroes – it's both outsider POV and kid POV, which I love, plus I just think it’s fun! – which suffers from similar problems, not to mention being narrated by an OC.

Most Fun:

Probably A Surprise Delivery. I think the pacing is pretty off (I spend a long time on the beginning and too little on the middle and end, so you can kinda tell it was written on a deadline), but the premise and some of the touches are quite a good time.

Most Disappointing:

God, I really wanted Best Laid Family Plans to come out better because I’d had the idea in my head for a while, but the execution turned out not great, firstly because it’s hard to plausibly pull off without them seeming stupid, but also because I didn’t spend enough time writing about their family life to make it seem like a worthwhile investment. Plus the tone was supposed to be kinda light and funny, and it got bogged down by some sentiment by the end.

Most Sexy:

Ya girl is back with on the page sex scenes in Muscle Memory! I actually think both the real and imagined fingering is quite sexy even before you get to the reunion sex.

Hardest to Write:

I mean, it’s not surprising (oneshot girl here!) but Muscle Memory. Chapterfic is just so LONG and you have to spend SO MUCH TIME on it!

Most Unintentionally Telling:

This is a boring answer, but a fic that’s about loving someone even as they might not remember your experiences together? Also I’ve been thinking about my own future with parenthood and that clearly pulled into A Full and Stumbling Heart (plus a bit of Best Laid Family Plans – and what does it say that I also listed that as “most disappointing”?)

Choice Lines:

I struggle with this one because I really like my own writing very much and I don’t want to go wild, so I’ll just say that I’m quite fond of this from Measure and Man:

On those nights he used to turn over and press his nose to Marsali’s neck as she mumbled in her sleep and nestled against him. He would take in the scent of her - flour and grass and work, milk just edging sour - until he could sleep again, but these days even that is too tenuous, too insubstantial for what he needs. Because the memory presses, the thought presses, the very idea of Henri-Christian, of any of his children, ever, ever knowing that smell, knowing the meaning of it such that it can still wake them up lifetimes later—

#fic memes #fic roundup

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monsteronth3hill · 2 years

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Get yourself a coffee or tea babes…this is going to be a long one.

Don’t get me wrong…Sharon Carter is so much more than a love interest for Steve, and the whole “cap virgin” shaming in She-Hulk is really gross to me for several reasons.

HOWEVER…the fact that Sharon wasn’t even presented as an option or mentioned by either Bruce or Jen in relation to Steve is infuriating to me, because it just goes to show that Marvel is actively burying her character and original place in the MCU.

Let’s be clear, I know this sounds hypocritical; I would probably be pissed if she was mentioned as a potential “conquest” for Cap because

A.) Knowing marvel, she would probably be made into the butt of a joke and

B.) Again, Sharon is more than just a love interest!!

BUT it just irks me endlessly that once again, Sharon is being erased from Steve’s story in favor of Pe*gy. For anyone wondering why I’m dragging Granny’s old dusty ass into this, just watch the She-Hulk credits. There is an illustration where Jen is presenting potential sexual partners that Steve might’ve had, and there’s a big picture of Pe*gy on her board.

I guess you could argue that the top right picture is supposed to be Sharon, but like…they didn’t even give her a face, when both of the other women have clear features. And if that IS the case……genuinely wtf. Are you so scared of tarnishing the oh-so precious Steggy that you can’t even show Pe*gy and Sharon in the same context?

And you can’t say “Well, no one knew about Sharon and Cap’s kiss, so how would Jen and Bruce even know about her?” because at this point, everyone in the MCU just magically knows everything about everyone because: writing (Was the battle against Thanos televised?! Somehow Carol and the Guardians have entire fandoms despite never publicly being superheroes?? Did Stephen go public with his decision to give up the time stone?).

This whole post is probably pointless, and I’m sure some will see it as a reach. But I’m tired of the MCU retroactively shitting on Sharon to prop up another character, and I’m just tired of the MCU in general. I think we need a break tbh.

Bonus: Tbh, I’m surprised (and grateful) that the She-Hulk writers didn’t have Bruce admit Steve somehow magically did have sex with Pe*gy in the main timeline in a blatant attempt to legitimize that crappy ship…because let’s be real, they would totally do that.

Bonus Bonus: what the fuck is Steve’s status in the MCU? Is he dead? Is he faking his death? Not that I want Endgame “Steve” to come back anytime soon, but the murkiness of his current whereabouts are very annoying as a viewer. She-Hulk and Spider-Man: FFH confirm that he is dead (at least to the public), whereas TFATWS sullied the waters and cast doubt on that?

#sharon carter #anti mcu #pro sharon carter

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3pirouette · 2 years

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Fic: The Prices We're Willing to Pay (Prologue & 1/?)

Title: The Prices We’re Willing to Pay By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette Spoilers: AU of the Infinity Saga and Phase 4. Disclaimer: They're not mine. Distribution: AO3 Anyone else please ask first :)

Story Summary: Inspired by Multiverse of Madness. What if it had all gone differently, and Peggy had nothing left to lose?

A/N: Yes, this may be another WIP. (I KNOW, I know…) For Steggy Week Day 6: What If…? I wrote this right after I saw Multiverse of Madness. I can’t get this idea out of my head. When I do write it, it will be short scenes from each movie/important continuity spots with a lot of space for either the reader to fill in their own thoughts or for me to go back and add scenes in afterwards. “Dates” are signified by what movie in the order we’re looking at an AU of…

~*~

Prologue: What Have you Lost? (Multiverse of Madness)

She turned, livid. “How dare you, Strange!”

“The Peggy Carter I knew…”

She shook her head, eyes wild. “That woman is gone. That life is gone. I have given ev—” Her chest heaved with emotion and she took a deep, shuddering breath. “I have given everything for this universe. My family, my friends. Steve and I fought—”

“And don’t you think he’d—”

“I don’t care!” She bellowed, the blue flare of power rising from her fingers as her feet left the ground. “I don’t care,” she whispered, lowering herself. “You don’t know what it was like, losing our whole lives to try to destroy Hydra only to find out it had never really been gone. To find out the horrors we fought so hard against had taken hold here in the future. To lose everything and still fight and then…” Tears fell from her lashes, her chin wavered but she continued. “You don’t know what it was like, feeling his lips on mine one second then feeling their absence as he ran to the edge of that cliff.” She stepped towards him, her eyes boring into his. When I woke up with that stone in my hand and my husband gone, I had nothing left to lose.”

He stood tall against her. “You enslaved a town!”

“I gave myself what I deserved!” Her anger radiated off of her in waves, crackling through the air like fire. “I gave everything for this universe! And I’ve never gotten a single thing back.” The laugh that fell from her lips surprised them both, but she kept chuckling until she was nearly manic. “How am I supposed to live off of hope and getting a pat on the back for doing good?” She doubled over, tears spilling from her lashes. “How- how was I supposed to stop him?”

“Creating a child, creating a fake life out of thin air—”

“It was real!” She bit out, standing up with a sneer on her face. “I couldn’t throw myself off that cliff because that child was real. Then, there, in that moment I was carrying Steve’s child.” She didn’t stop even though Strange sunk back, surprised and full of sadness for her. “Our baby was real right until the moment Thanos came back and bombarded us with explosions.” Her voice softened. “There was so much blood. I didn’t realize what had happened right away. Not for days, really. I didn’t know the pain wasn’t just from being thrown around trying to save humanity.” Her tears fell heavy now as she stepped back. “I lost everything saving humanity. Everything.”

Strange took a slow breath. “I’m sorry for that, Peggy, I truly am.” He held out a hand. “None of us have gotten through this without loss.”

She looked at him and his hand for a long second, even thought about taking it, but she’d come so far, and she wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass her by. Her smile was twisted as he felt his feet lift off the ground and he struggled against invisible bonds. “And what have you lost, Sorcerer Supreme?”

~*~

Chapter 1: The Hero Origin Story (Captain America: The First Avenger, part 1)

“Perhaps you’d be more comfortable—”

Erskine’s words died on his lips as they noticed the commotion in the viewing area, as MPs rushed the area, and the Generals rallied to fight a man in a suit.

There wasn’t time for a plan or ideas, no time to even think before the shots started to bounce wildly off machinery. By instinct only, Peggy turned, pushing Steve in front of her and to the relative shielding of the pod he was destined for in just a few minutes.

Breathless, he tried to switch their positions so that his back was the one exposed, but he only managed to struggle them sideways in the little pod. “Agent Carter,” he huffed out, unsure what he was going to follow it up with.

“Stay down!” She ordered, pressing his head against the padded bed and turning to pull her gun from her hip.

Before she could pull it out, an explosion rocked the facility, tumbling them back in the pod. They gripped each other tight as the brightness of the explosion faded, the pod closing in on them.

“What’s happening?” Erskine weakly called out.

“It’s damaged!” Stark’s voice was likewise scratchy. “Was there anyone in there?”

Peggy, groggy from the tumble back, shook her head and tried to bang on the glass, the space tight but not unmanageable. “We’re in here!”

“Hold tight,” Stark yelled.

“You ok?” Steve asked, wiggling in her arms.

“Fine. You?”

He didn’t get to answer. Another explosion bounced the whole apparatus and power surged through the cords. Needles that had been meant for Steve’s arms pressed in, preprogrammed to spill their precious elixir the moment the touched flesh. Instead of the meat of the biceps, the rows of needles found their spines and one thigh each of Steve and Peggy as they laid sideways. They both jolted at the sensation, surprised and scared.

Peggy’s breath shook, and she wasn’t sure if she was holding harder to Steve, he was grasping tighter, or they’d both simply latched on for dear life to the other as the bright light of the vita rays started to bounce around in the pod.

“Turn it off!” They heard Erskine shout.

Stark sounded nearly as panicked as they felt. “I can’t. It’s not responding!”

“Pull the plug!”

“That could kill them, too!”

It felt hot, like a million suns burning her skin, like a million needles in every inch of flesh, like her bones wanted to explode from her body. Suddenly, it felt like there wasn’t enough space, like there wasn’t enough air. She held tight to Steve, eyes pressed closed against the light.

She’d been prepared to die in this war, but she never thought it’s be like this.

The light and heat melted away, but it still felt too tight, too small.

She could feel Steve breathing against her, but somehow, they’d shifted and her head was cradled against his chest. She blinked her eyes open and couldn’t see a thing, but felt the rocking and grunting of the men outside trying to pry the doors open.

Steve’s voice was breathy and tired. “Agent Carter?”

“Call me Peggy,” she whispered, realizing this his chest was no longer the bony, frail thing she’d hugged to her to save him, but rather quite large and rumbling under her cheek. “If we manage to survive this, I think you can call me Peggy.”

“We’re… we’re gonna be ok.” He didn’t sound nearly as convinced as he wanted to be, she was sure.

Her hands shifted a little, taking in the muscle at his hips that hadn’t been there before, spanning inches that didn’t exist before. “You’re larger,” she whispered.

His hand ran over her arm, and she flexed under the tickling sensation. “I think we both are.”

Her breaths were finally slowing, and she began to relax in his arms, the yelling of the men outside less and less of a worry. “That why it seems so small in here?”

“Guess so.” He shifted under her. “This… this is going to sound weird.”

She laughed a bit. “Try me. I highly doubt anything you say right now would surprise me.”

“I can smell you.”

“You’ve surprised me.”

“No, no I…” She could feel the heat travel up his skin as he stuttered. “I haven’t been able to smell much of anything since I was ten, and you… you smell nice.” His chest moved against her. “I can take a deep breath, too, without coughing.”

She smiled against his chest. “I’m glad something worked, then.”

Without preamble, the pod tipped again. The doors tilted open with a creek and Peggy and Steve spilled out to the floor. They both looked up, surprised at the fire and ash around them.

Erskine and Stark looked down at them, just as amazed.

“It worked?” Stark asked, pulling off his goggles.

Erskine smiled. “It worked.”

“Peggy…” Steve mumbled, reaching out. She turned and looked at him just as he looked down and saw his own arm.

He was enormous, busting at the seams of his clothes, and as she reached out, she heard the own cloth of her shirt tear. She looked down at where her arm had bust through the fabric, the ripple of her bicep showing through.

“Bloody Nora.”

#SteggyWeek22 #Steggy Fic #AU #What If...? AU #3p's fic

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cblgblog · 1 year

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Hey, so I remember you addressing whether or not Marcus and McFeely actually intended Steve to be Peggy’s husband all along. But I was wondering if you knew of any interviews where they actually share that progress? Like, I just happened upon a civil war interview where they state Peggy as Steve’s ideal person romantically as well as behaviorally, but also stated that she was someone Steve only kissed once (in defense of Sharon). Any idea what changed, steggy expert?

I mean, you said expert, not me. All I have are my own thoughts, mostly. But it’s nice to be called an expert at something, so thanks for that.

I’m very hit and miss with interviews, btw, I probably catch maybe a quarter of everything that comes out, depending what part of the fandom we’re talking about, so bear that in mind. That said, here’s a short post EG interview where the M’s talk about it some, and how it’s very much their interpretation of it, not necessarily everyone’s.

And here is possibly the interview you mention. If it’s not the same, it seems similar.

With that, I feel like context is important. Yes they said that she was a woman he had kissed once but they said that in reference to how he might consider Sharon related or not related to himself. Because the antis will take something like that and say that they were admitting Peggy wasn’t that important to him, since they only kissed once. Which isn’t the point they were making. The point was to combat people calling Staron incest—which it never was, that was histrionic nonsense, this fandom simply has no chill. There’s a world of difference between something that’s weird in the eyes of some people and incest, and that’s the point he was making.

Honestly, even if the writers always pictured Steve as the husband—and I don’t have any reason to disbelieve them there—they wrote CW how they did. Doesn’t mean they were in charge of all—or any, really—of the decisions that were made. The Russos or Kevin the overlord, someone had a different idea of how things were going to play out, at least while CW was being made, or Staron wouldn’t have come into play at all. Something clearly changed with the people driving the ship. When or how specifically they made the official turn, and who was responsible for it ultimately? Not sure, I’ve never read anything that goes in depth with it, but my default answer is that everything is ultimately down to Kevin the overlord, since he’s the man on top of the trash pile.

If anyone has more/better info than me, feel free to tag in here. Like I said, my encyclopedic knowledge of official answers is sadly lacking.

#steggy #pro steggy

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sersi · 2 years

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hello elysia, i just wanted to say, as someone else who weathered the post-endgame anti-steve clown circus (which has continued far longer than it should've but lemme not rant) and suffered psychic damage from the worst takes possible, i am SO thankful for the steve content you've provided. like i'm not that into steggy but the care you put into your sets is so amazing and you illustrate the importance of their relationship in a way that fandom seems to either not get or willfully misunderstand. thank you so much for all you do and i hope you have an amazing rest of your day/night <3

Hiiiiiiiiii 🙋🏽‍♀️. This is honestly one of the nicest, most mentally rewarding asks I've ever gotten. And it is also got stuck/forgotten in my inbox because I was like “Oh I don’t have time to answer this properly right now”, mentally filed it as a Thing to Do Later, and then didn’t look at my inbox for a week.

So, that said, I’ve been stanning Steve for a literal decade and have been Through It™ multiple times because of him. Civil War era had me eagerly awaiting the day I would follow Chris out of the MCU and while that obviously didn’t happen, having already spent most of 2015 - 2018 engaging in increasingly aggressive curation of my online fandom experience really impacted my post-Endgame experience. It’s why I wasted no time in blacklisting aggressively. And why I was kind of already primed to communicate my love for Steve and his arc and some of the characters around him through gifset. I’ve seen so many wonky characterizations of Steve and his arc over the years that, rather than writing 1000 words about why I like some aspect of Steve’s arc only get told that something that definitely happened in canon didn’t actually happen, I prefer to have my visual Here It Is Happening In Canon references right there, in 268px or 540px widths.

I obviously don’t expect everyone to agree with or like my readings of canon--our taste in media is deeply personal and I absolutely get why Steve’s Endgame ending was never going to work for some people. But Steve is my favorite character EVER. I have thought about that man so much, for so long. I have, at one point or another, shipped almost all his popular ships. As a multishipper, I even have slightly different, not always fully compatible, readings of canon for my different Steve ships. So, one of the things that really bugged me back during peak Endgame discourse (and inspired/drove more than a few gifsets) was this notion that none of this had been set up in canon or that no one who liked the ending understood Steve’s character or his arc. Thankfully things have calmed down a ton since then, but, both with Steve and with my Other Faves, I still tend to put a ton of thought into how best to communicate the ideas behind my sets because, while impossible to fully control for, it is always my hope that my intentions (and love involved in the making of these sets) will be clear enough to break through whatever more fandom popular preconceptions people might have 🤷🏽‍♀️.

#and at a bare minimum i hope that the love involved will be apparent enough that people will realize they should Angry Yell in a new post #elysia's inbox

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rosie-dear-rosie · 3 years

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Dude, I don’t know how to tell you this but . . .

Stucky is also a white romance

#I don’t even like steggy but really man?#peggy carter #anti stucky #marvel #bucky barnes

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ashasdramadrawer · 3 years

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What If rant

What If has just been weird.

It really IS bad fanfic. While I dislike how Mary Sue is a meaningless phrase- it sounds like they used Captain Carter as a sort of Possession Sue: she’s an author avatar and we’re seeing how she could do So Much Better than Steve. Including saving the universe, demanding her happy ending, etc. Peggy is a frustrating character in how she’s basically a sort of ‘not like the other girls’ character that happens when you’re in high school, absorbed a lot of misogyny from the people around you, are not performing femininity as well as others and are being punished for it by society. You hit that stage and have absolutely not no theory of mind- the ability to understand that other girls have just as much of an inner life as you do, and that they struggle with the same things. And yeah, some are bullies and assholes, but wanting to be one of the boys does not make you inherently better.

Now, here’s the thing- all comic book characters are wish fulfillment to a certain extent. There’s no reason that we can’t have a character like Carter- except that we sorta do. Her name is Captain Marvel. And she’s being ignored.

I think part of that issue is because Brie Lawson pissed off the dudebros. And she’s got more upcoming movies. So they probably don’t feel they have to promote her as much. But there are plenty of other female characters the What If stories could focus on instead of trying to literally have a woman possess Captain America and do the whole ‘backwards and in high heels thing’. If they’re going to do it, they didn’t have to make her a tank. She was a spy. She should still have a spy’s ethos. She was never Steve Rogers, she didn’t come from his background, and worldview is always influenced by things like race, class and gender.

But there’s more to how boring What If has been.

They’ve taken no risks whatsoever. The role swap AU is a staple of fanfic, and been done so much better by fanfic writers. Starlord T’Challa is cute and we enjoyed it. But some things, like a redeemed Thanos, was just weird. The story refuses to acknowledge that Thanos was just WRONG and bad and failed his test of character (come on, that was what the soul stone should have been- the person you love the most is yourself. The willingness to sacrifice YOURSELF is like storytelling 101 here) and should not have even gotten the soul stone at all.

The zombie plot was basic, same with the story of Hank Pym killing the Avengers. All of them involved manpain and were pretty ridiculous. Peggy becoming Captain Carter was more of the same. Party Thor was funny but again, nothing groundbreaking or new. And all we have with Peggy as Cap is an attempt to reinforce the steggy ship by literally rubbing off all of the so-called romantic parts of their story from TFA and replacing it with stucky scenes.

And that? That’s fanfic 101. You pop off a trait from a character you don’t like but think is cool and give it to someone else. Iron Man with Cap’s shield, Cap in Iron Man’s armor, Iron Man somehow being better than Shuri when it comes to smarts. But all it does, instead of trying explore a character, is try to prop them up by hurting other characters.

It’s not asking the question “What If”. It’s trying to replace a character by importing the coolness of another and plastering it onto another.

I date myself but... my head is pasted on yay

I saw this on twitter last night, but someone brought up a good point. Disney doesn’t really want Sam Wilson as Cap, with all the uncomfortable implications and stories that comes with it. Peggy as Cap is safer, nostalgic, and lets them keep a white person in that role. And it really freaks me out.

#mcu salt

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rogersstevie · 3 years

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it really is wild bc pre endgame i never really saw anti steggy or anti peggy commentary and i didn't have any negative feelings towards either, in fact i loved both, i still like peggy, just moreso in the context of agent carter than anything else

like i never really had given any thought to the bit in catws about zola being recruited by shield and pretty much every fic i read framed hydra's infiltration as something terrible that happened to what peggy created and then once i started seeing some posts that got into the issues with peggy's character post endgame, that was mentioned and it's like oh yeah that really was on her, she was in charge, she made that choice even if it's not explicitly said

and how insane that she invited zola into her organization, the man who experimented on the supposed "love of her life's" best friend??? where is the fucking morality there like. y'all really think it would've been a good thing for steve to abandon his whole ass life for someone who would do that? i sure don't

#agent carter season 3 where she has to explain why the fuck she did that #anti peggy carter #anti steggy

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masterthespianduchovny · 3 years

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As much as I understand the need for queer representation, queer shipping around mlm ships tend to be misogynistic as fuck. Doubly so if one of the male characters has a canon female love interest. They have to shit on her and "punish" her for interfering with a ship that isn't canon and was never going to be canon.

And that's important to note because, within the last few years, fans of these ships frame these relationships as barriers to their preferred ship or they get mad that there isn't an open ended to pretend these two characters ended up together.

As if this is somehow the fault of the female characters and not the writers. Most importantly, it overlooks the fact that, more times than not, these character sexualities were considered and there is a vague outline of where they might end up. It's unfortunate that queerness isn't often considered, actually very little, but it's not okay to engage in misogynistic rhetoric all because your mlm ship didn't happen.

From my own personal experience, a prime example is Steggy.

Steve is framed as straight. Maybe there's a chance that his bi--idk. But the MCU has always positioned him as being into women with the subtext that he'll end up with a woman. Yet, because he ended up with Peggy, she's constantly attacked and doesn't "deserve" him because she didn't know him as long as Bucky. She's been called all sorts of derogatory things, slandered, criticized for random bullshit, etc. Reduced to just her reproductive parts, having ageist remarks leveled at her, and so forth.

Most of this didn't exist before Endgame, but after Endgame, the attacks are non stop. People are triggered whenever she comes her. All because Cap chose her over someone he wasn't even interested in. All because fans shipped him and Bucky together and the MCU didn't bend to their will.

Another example: Darvey. Harvey and Donna from Suits.

No one has to like a character, but usually, the way certain fans rip into Donna usually ends up with it being a Marvey shipper. They'll contort truth, ignore details, and color her in the worst possible light to prove how she's bad for Harvey, yet ignore all of Harvey's bullshit to prove how he and Mike are MFEO.

Let's be clear: I don't fucking care if people ship non canon ships or think two other characters, whether or not they're the same gender, are better together. However, When you're being misogynistic and sexist to upload your OTP, you can rightly fuck off. It's so easy to ship what you like without bringing that bullshit into it.

Tragically, many of these critics are women who have massive internalized misogyny, but believe they are being progressive, inclusive, and ship without prejudice. If you're tearing women down to uplift any ship, even if it's queer, that's not progressive and feeds into the patriarchy.

It's okay to prefer something else, it's not okay to feed into a pre-existing, harmful, and sexist narrative.

And it's really bothersome because these same people call themselves trying to validate the LBGTQ community, many of these shippers are straight (which this opinion is based on various discourses and criticisms of how gay characters are written in these stories and dialogue surrounding them) and ironically end up invalidating Bi, Pan, and NB people.

Some of these ships are due to these characters being hot, which is fine.

Other times it's due to chemistry, which is also fine.

But as another person argued years ago, one of the reasons why mlm shipping is so popular and prevalent is because male dynamics are actually fleshed out and explored meaningfully. This leads to wanting to ship characters who have real relationships, conflicts, and history with each other no matter how small or large.

However, the issue comes in for some because it's not canon. These meaningful relationships aren't romantic and many women tend to want some romance included, which isn't a bad thing. But when you know the romance will never happen, it's easy to get upset about that. And they know people who ship canon pairings have that over them, which is infuriating.

Which is understandable.

Regardless, diminishing, trivializing, and insulting women is not okay, esp when some of these women have the relationships with men that are usually reserved for male dynamics.

Donna and Harvey have a long, complicated relationship that is based on a professional dynamic, friendship, and romantic yearning. This was established in the first season and didn't come out of nowhere, yet people either ignore that, play it as one sided, go on and on about why they couldn't be just friends (they never were), and hilariously, refer to it as fan service.

Peggy and Steve develop a friendship of sorts, are supportive of one another, genuinely are in love with each other, and have worked alongside each other is criticized because Peggy didn't know Steve as long as Bucky. Appalling things are said about her.

Thing is: these aren't the only fandoms that do this. Trust and believe, whenever there is a major male pairing, if any woman is canonically paired with ether one of them, she's being attacked and called gross things. That's not okay even in the name of representation. If you genuinely hate this female character because of who she is and not because of her gender, I get that. However, a lot of it is gender based and it's quite obvious when reading these criticisms.

Wanting better and more representation doesn't excuse or justify shitty behavior.

Lastly, people factor in compulsive heterosexuality regarding their criticisms of various straight pairings. That's a validate take, however, we need to be honest about our issues with certain pairings rather than piling on undeserved hate towards female characters, and then have nuanced conversations about what this means in context to that specific series.

No. You're not going to have these conversations with show runners, writers, and actors. I get this. But some of you need to stop harassing others and acting like assholes because they don't support your pairing (which they don't have to). If you believe Steve is bisexual, then stop fucking harassing people who ship him with Peggy. If deep, meaningful relationships are important, then stop undermining them to push a ship. And stop turning women into fucking mascots in your fanfic and fan art to prop up your ship--that shit is so dehumanizing. Often times, when these shippers don't hate the women, they only exist to say, "when will these two silly kids get together?" OR "I'mg lad you two silly kids finally got together."

Turning a woman into a mascot isn't any better than harming her or killing her to fuel a man's story--even if the man is gay.

Ironically, I'm less likely to see this from wlw ships or ships that has more queer support and than het support.

Quite interesting.

#steggy #peggy carter #steve rogers #captain america #misogyny #sexism #fandom bullshit #darvey #donna paulsen #harvey specter #suits #shipping

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samwontshare · 3 years

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Okay so I rewatched parts of Endgame to write a Sambucky fic. I haven’t seen this movie since the theaters and then S8 ep 3 Game of Thrones destroyed my life.

-The fact that The Snap took Hawkeye’s entire family way outsides the odds proves how much the universe just hates Hawkeye.

-I forgot how much I fucking love Nebula. I want more Nebula and Rhodey. Bucky and Nebula would get on, too. Disabled superheroes club unite.

-I did like the beginning of Endgame. Everyone was just so wrecked and they played it so well. Thanos living his best life in his cottage. That was great.

-I still genuinely do not understand why Steve looks at Peggy’s picture when he’s talking about bringing everyone back from the Snap because he ‘doesn’t know what he’ll do otherwise.’ Like does she represent everyone he’s lost, like Sam and Bucky, his closest connections that are actually dead from the Snap? It doesn’t make sense.

-Is that Steve running a support group because he asked himself, “What would Sam do?”

-This was actually the best scene dealing w the fallout of the Snap. The MCU was definitely not ready to address the full scope of what The Blip means and you see that lack of follow through in every movie/series post Endgame.

-Steve Rogers: “You gotta move on.” UNLESS

-“...Thanos should’ve killed all of us.” I think this is the reason Steve goes back in time, honestly. The Snap just broke him. Without Sam and Bucky, with the enormity of this failure, Steve just lost his ability to cope. Steve has always needed someone to save him from himself but they’re gone. Even though they get most people back, they still lost Tony and Nat and 5 years. Steve can’t win. And Steve Rogers cannot cope with losing. So he rewrites a history where he wins. I don’t even think it’s about not being able to get over Peggy (though they did try to shoehorn that in hard), it was about Steve needing to be in control of his life again.

-It’s one of those situations where I can understand the character’s individual choice, but from a storytelling and narrative perspective, it doesn’t make sense with the story they were telling in the Captain America movies and it’s deeply unsatisfying and confusing. It leaves so many questions and potential consequences. I wasn’t even in this fandom at the time and had zero opinions on any ships, and I was like “this makes no sense.” It still doesn’t. But you know what good for Steggy shippers, ya’ll really won. Stucky fandom, as someone who had to watch Game of Thrones S8 wreck my fandom life, I feel you. My deepest sympathies.

Anyway I skipped to the end after the support group scene. Dammit here we go:

Had to watch the final battle. Cause I had to hear Sam say on your left.

I still lowkey ship Tony/Strange

What you don’t see in the finale battle is where Sam and Bucky keep saving each other. That happened.

The backflips they had to go through to explain why Carol Danvers doesn’t end this movie in 5 minutes. Lol

Tony Stark takes no prisoners. RIP coerced alien soldiers. I have a hard time believing they couldn’t have saved Tony between a portal to Wakanda and magic but fine heroic moving death it is.

Sam didn’t have to go that hard and put a hand on Bucky’s shoulder. But he did.

Okay the finale scene with Sam, Steve and Bucky. The whole reason I watched this lol. So it looks like they’re at the wreck of the Avengers compound. It’s unclear how much time passes between final battle, funeral, old man Steve and the stones. I still theorize Sam and Bucky get arrested after this because they’re fugitives and need to be pardoned.

It’s clear Steve told Bucky and fans were right about this for ages, but why not tell Sam??????? Like seriously wtf??? Couldn’t have said HEY Sam any interest in becoming the new Captain America??? 😂

That last look Steve shares with Bucky; right in my fucking heart.

So when Steve leaves he has no shield because it was destroyed by Thanos. When Steve comes back, he brings a shield to Sam. This seems to confirm the separate branch theory. The shield Sam has comes from a different timeline. Which means Steve came from a different timeline, maybe using the same tech. So it’s possible he rescued Bucky from HYDRA and he, Peggy and Bucky lived a great polyamorous life in that verse. Aw.

But that begs the question of how Steve got the shield in a different timeline. Like WHAT. Did he go find it in the Arctic? Did he convince Wakanda to make another one somehow? Like wtf? Again this ending makes no sense.

Poor Sam. He seriously has to deal with one last mindfuck, losing his best friend that he gave up everything for, and Sam being stalwart and true, just rolls with it. At least Bucky knew. Bucky had the chance to go back with Steve (but for a million reasons Bucky could never go back, that’s what this fic is going to be about lol). But Sam is just left to deal with one more loss.

Can we talk about how Bucky 100% supported Sam getting the shield from the start. Bucky was READY for Cap Sam Wilson. Bucky was like nope this shit is written.

You can see that imposter syndrome revving up to 1000% on Sam’s face. And he turns to Bucky for confirmation this is really happening.

I think this also explains why Bucky is so defensive about the shield. It really is the only thing left of his past. It’s his only tie to the Howling Commandos, to Steve, to the person he was before HYDRA took everything. And the only hope he has in staying behind is the certainty that Sam will be Cap, and that’s the hope that makes him stay. The thin vague tie to Sam and the possibility of their future. So for Sam to reject the shield, oof, I bet that felt like a rejection of Bucky himself. Because Bucky stays for Sam.

(None of this explains why Bucky then ghosts Sam. That is the biggest mystery but there are many delicious possibilities. It’s also possible that Bucky didn’t really ghost Sam - we know his flip phone is just something he has for show. He could be talking to Sam on his smart phone. And they had another falling out.)

Dear God the emotion in Sam’s face as he processes that he’s being given the shield. Cue existential crisis!!!!!

And on to TFATWS.

#endgame #sam wilson #bucky barnes #steve rogers #sambucky adjacent #I can’t handle watching Nat die again #kind of anti endgame #it’s a mixed bag #don’t make me watch the whole thing again I don’t wanna be pissed #Kat rambles about Endgame

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3pirouette · 2 years

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A Red, White, and Blue Christmas (12/?)

By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette

Disclaimer: They’re not mine.

Distribution: AO3 Anyone else please ask first :)

Story Summary: White Christmas AU. Peggy is pulled from Project Rebirth, setting off a chain of events that leaves Steve and Bucky unharmed at the end of the War, but never having met. Until, that is, their paths cross as professional performers. Steggy Secret Santa gift for @roboticonography

Chapter 11: We Seem to be Getting a Little Mixed Up

Chapter Summary: And it gets more tangled.

Chapter A/N: I wrote this so fast after I figured out the last chapter, so I know I’m on the right track. This one gets fun. Though, I guess that depends on your definition of “fun.”

Updates will continue to be slow as I have limited time to work on this, but we are a lot closer to the end than the beginning.

~*~

The Colonel pulled his jeep to a stop at the station the next morning. “You’re sure about this, Carter?”

She’d spent the rest of the day avoiding everyone as she tried to sort out her feelings and emotions, and this was the only solution she could come up with as she dodged Angie and Bucky and especially Steve. She’d gone to bed early and slept in late to avoid having to talk to Angie again, and had her bag packed by the time rehearsal had started again. “As sure as I’ve ever been, I’m afraid.” She pulled a letter from her pocket after stepping from the jeep. “Give this to Angie, would you?”

He took the letter and stared at it. “I’m an asshole,” he started, not censoring his words in front of her, he knew she’d heard far worse come out of his own mouth plenty of times before. “I’m too gruff and I’m coarse and I’m not suited to owning an inn or being anywhere near showbusiness.” He looked up, eyes sincere. “But if this is about what I said to you and Rogers, well… I know you both pretty well and…” He shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but if there were ever two stubborn, pain in the ass, hard-headed idiots that were made for each other, it would probably be you two.” He groaned, looking down at his hands. “I think I just missed having someone to yell at.”

Peggy couldn’t help the laugh that fell from her lips. “I’ll take those descriptors as the compliments I know they are, sir.”

He smiled, just a little corner of a smile. “Get back in the car, would you?”

She felt her stomach roll at the thought of what lay before this sweet man. “Perhaps, you shouldn’t go to the show, sir.”

His smile turned hard, and he looked her over. “What do you know, Carter?”

She didn’t let her eyes waver from his gaze. “They’re showbusiness men, sir. They may have been soldiers before, but they’re showmen now. Don’t get caught in the crossfire.” The train whistle blew, pulling her attention for a second. “I have to go, but…” She leaned forward, impulsively, kissing his cheek. “Take care, Colonel.”

Chester Philips shook his head, putting his jeep back into gear as she hurried away, not even giving him the chance to rebut her assessment. “I’m gonna figure out what that skinny idiot did,” he muttered as he pulled away. “He always was the biggest pain in my ass.” He chuckled to himself as he pulled back on to the road. “She wasn’t far behind, though. Damn kids probably are some dumb kind of star-crossed soulmates.”

Phillips’s car turned on to the road just as Steve stepped out of the small station, conductor leading and making notes as they moved towards the tracks. “I really appreciate you helping us like this.”

“We’ll do our best to keep it quiet, Mister Rogers.” The conductor smiled up at him, finishing the last of his notes. “That’s three trains all together: one from New York, one from Philly, and one from Boston. I’ll get it all squared away with the traffic manager in the morning.”

The whistle blew again, and the “All Aboard” rang out loudly from the conductor as he moved to his post. Steve turned, ready to make his way back into the ticketing office to get his fare for the next day to New York squared away when he saw her. He watched, almost disbelieving, as Peggy handed her bag off and presented her ticket. It took longer than he was proud of to get his feet moving, and he must have called her name because she stopped and turned, hand gripping the rail as she stepped into the train car.

He couldn’t help his disappointment, watching as her face fell when she saw him, but he moved closer to her anyway, the noise of the train getting ready to depart almost too loud around them. “Peggy, where are you going?”

She looked past him. She wasn’t sure she could really look at him anymore. “New York. I’ve got a job.”

His brow knit tight. He was confused and concerned and a little lost. He’d spent most of the day before looking for her so they could hash it all out. “A job? You’ve got a job here.”

The clunk of the breaks disengaging sounded and Peggy finally looked right at him, eyes meeting his. She took his hand, shaking it. “Good bye, Steve. Good luck with the show.”

Later, on the train to New York, he’d think it was malice in her eyes. Later, he’d remember she’d said ‘good luck’ instead of ‘break a leg’ and wonder if she just forgotten the old superstitions or was really wishing him a bad time of it. Later, he’d wonder if there was sadness in her eyes, too. Now, he couldn’t think about any of that, he just wanted her to stay so they could figure out whatever all of this was, so they could just take a deep breath and talk about it. He’d never been good with women, not by a long shot, but he’d never been this confused about how he’d managed to put one off before, either.

“Peggy, if it was something I said,” he started, holding her hand tight in his and stepping forward as the train started to inch out of the station, “I’m sorry. Whatever it was, we can get to the bottom of it and fix it.”

“Goodbye.” Peggy pulled back, but he still gripped her hand.

“I didn’t mean it. I put my foot in my mouth all the time, just ask Buck, and—”

“Goodbye, Steve.” He let her pull her hand free, and she gripped the rail next to her tight as the train picked up speed.

He couldn’t hide the frown on his face as he jogged another few feet, “I was just so caught up in all of this, I…” He took a deep breath, slowing as the train picked up speed, Peggy moving farther and farther away from him. He knew she couldn’t hear him, but he asked the wind the question anyway, “What did I do?”

~*~

Bucky took Angie’s hand tight and spun her across the stage as the band practiced below them. “What do you mean she slept in?”

Angie switched hands, kicked high, and leaned away, waiting until he tugged her back in the choreography to answer as they rehearsed their number, only slightly breathless. “I mean she slept in. Went to bed early, slept in late, still under the covers when I left.”

He wrapped her in his arms and dipped her low. “I know I don’t know her that well,” he pulled her back up and slid away, “but, that doesn’t seem like her.”

Angie looked over her shoulder at him. “It ain’t.” She bounded back and jumped into his arms as the band brought the number to an exciting finish. “I’m worried.”

Bucky set her down, nodding towards Will and the band leader as he led Angie off stage so the next act could get their time with the band. “And she didn’t say anything?”

“Oh, she said plenty, and if she were some silly girl with a penchant for getting her heart broken, yeah, what she said would make sense.” Angie stopped at her small dressing table in the wings, setting her hip on it and crossing her arms as she talked to him. “But she ain’t. Peg’s the smartest, most rational woman I’ve ever met. It’s not like her to go to pieces like this.”

“Maybe it’s…” Buck stopped and shook his head.

“No, what? Any idea is better than no idea.”

“Do ya think, being around so many people from the service and her past…” He shrugged. “Lotsa guys can’t handle talking about the war. Maybe it’s no different for her.” He leaned his hands on the table, dropping his head. “Maybe all this talk about the ‘good old days’ and picking music from back then and this whole thing,” he swung his arm out, eyes darkening, “Hell, even just meeting me and Steve… Maybe it just brought up stuff she didn’t want to deal with.”

Angie leaned against him as she nibbled at her thumbnail. “Could be.” She took a deep breath, looking over at him from under her lashes, then let all come tumbling out. “I may have also, kinda, not on purpose… told her we were engaged.”

He swallowed slowly, eyes blinking furiously. “You… what?”

She pushed away from the desk, pacing, arms waving. “She was all over the place! Inconsolable! And she just kept saying she was worried about our future…”

“Contracts!” Bucky stopped her and turned her back to him, shaking her shoulders just a bit. “Why didn’t you just tell her about the contracts!”

“Well, I did, but she seemed… I don’t know, Bucky!” She pulled from his hands and resumed her pacing. “It wasn’t enough, and it sounded like she didn’t want to join the show and I needed something to get her to think she was okay to be out on her own and make decisions without me!”

He just watched her pace, still flabbergasted. “Engaged?”

“What?” she turned, offended. “Like it would really be that bad?”

His hands shot up as he took a step back, stuttering. “Now- n-now- don’t get any ideas, Angie. I’m not the marrying kind. I’m not even your type, ya said that when we first met!”

Angie nearly pounced, stepping up to him and pressing her hands to his chest. “It would just be an engagement!”

Bucky pried her hands off of him, eyes panicked. “I ain’t the engaging kind, either!”

Angie’s emotions turned, her smile drooping and eyes suddenly looking sad. “Would it be all that terrible, being fake engaged to me for a few days?”

“Well, no…” He turned her hands in his, holding them gently. “I do like you.”

“Of course, you do,” Angie started smiling again, looking out from under her lashes at him. “And you find me funny, and fun to be with…”

“Well, yeah, I mean…”

“And I’m not exactly repulsive.”

Bucky wasn’t proud of the way his voice cracked. “Of course not.”

Angie pulled away. “I panicked,” she admitted. “If you can stomach to play along…”

Bucky cleared his throat, looking out at the stage where Will was directing a set-change. “You don’t think this will make it worse? What if she is feeling bad about everything and now here you come, all happy and engaged and—”

“Well, it’s too late now.” She picked up her brush and played with the bristles, frowning. “We just gotta patch up what we can.”

“Come on,” Bucky tuned them towards the backstage stairs. “We’ll find Steve and we’ll get everything sorted out.”

They’d barely made it to the lobby before Jarvis managed to pop out, hand extended. “Miss Martinelli?” She looked up as he held out an envelope for her. “Mr. Phillips said to give this to you, Miss Carter gave it to him at the station.”

“The station?” she asked, taking it and opening it quickly.

He nodded, looking over at Bucky, eyes raking disapprovingly. “And Mister Phillips is looking for Mister Rogers, should you see him first.”

Bucky’s brow furrowed as the man stepped back to the desk, sharing a dark look with his wife behind it. “Steve was going to the station this morning, they should have run right into one another.”

“Oh, no.” Angie muttered, reading the letter.

He tried to read over her shoulder. “What is it?”

“Oh, shit. Shit on a shingle,” Angie cursed, turning to hand the letter to him. “You were right.”

“Angie,” Bucky read the letter out loud, “Seems you’re right, time has come to break up the act. I’m so happy for you. James--” He shook his head, “Why’s she gotta call me that?” he looked back down at the letter, “--is a great guy and you’re going to be very happy with him, performing on all of the big stages you’ve always wanted to play on. I’ve taken a job at the Stork Club in New York—”

Angie twisted her hands together, bouncing with anxiety. “Oh, I messed up so big.”

“Messed up what?” Steve’s voice floated through the room as he came in through the porch doors.

“Peggy’s gone,” Bucky supplied sharply, showing him the letter.

Steve shook his head. “Yeah, I know, I saw her getting on the train.”

“Did she say why, though?” Angie looked up at him, hopeful.

“No,” he shook his head, frustrated. “Just said she had a new job and—”

Mister Jarvis’ voice was soft, but cut through the room and caught them off guard. “Why, I can’t imagine her staying after…”

Steve moved cautiously, eyeing the man. “What?”

Jarvis turned back to the desk quickly, trying for all the world to look like he hadn’t been listening when they all knew he had. “No, nothing.”

“Whatever you know isn’t nothing.”

Ana flicked her intense eyes from Jarvis to Steve, her gaze sharp and intimidating. “He means to say after what you’re planning.”

“Darling, I don’t think--” Jarvis tried to stop her, leaning forward quietly, but Ana had other plans.

She rounded the desk swiftly, the sweet woman now a tornado as she moved into their space. “Oh no, Edwin, these boys are getting a piece of my mind. How dare you!” She pointed up into their faces as Angie looked on, “How dare you even think of something so rude and unfeeling! What do you mean to bring cameras here and embarrass the Colonel on live television?”

Steve’s double-take was almost comical as he and Bucky stuttered out half questions and talked over each other to try to get her to explain what she was talking about.

“You heard me!” Ana stopped their half coherent muttering, eyes full of fire. “What do you mean by that? My Edwin heard every word of you and that charlatan Tim Dugan planning on bring cameras here and televising the poor, forgotten colonel for free advertising!”

Steve’s face fell as soon as he realized what must have happened. “Oh… oh no.”

Ana was still going, though, her rant not nearly finished. “Oh yes, and while Miss Carter’s exit may be the polite way of saying that she’ll not play a part in this, well, I have no compunction, sir, of saying it straight to your face. And burning your ironing.”

Steve slowly held up his hands. “There aren’t going to be any cameras.”

Bucky leaned over, whispering in his ear, “What is she even talking about, Steve?”

Jarvis stepped up, aligning himself with his wife. “I heard it myself, sir, no need to deny it.”

“Dugan tossed it out as an idea, but I shut it down quickly. You must not have heard that part. Or the part where he apologized for even thinking it.” Steve tried to give them a smile, but they were both still stoic.

Bucky shrugged, still not entirely sure what was going on, but wanting to help anyway. “He did get the nickname Dum Dum for a reason.”

He let his smile fall, and appealed to their intelligence. “He was thinking like a broadcaster, not a military man. But we’re not doing anything like what you’re thinking. I promise. We’re using his show to get guys up here. Guests. Men from the 107th and their families. Nothing more.”

Ana gave just a little, though her eyes were still sharp. “So, you’re not televising the show?”

Steve shook his head, as tight strung as if he were dealing with a tiger. “Not at all.”

She side eyed him. “And you’re not going to make him a pitiful example?”

“Of course not.” Bucky chimed in. “We want to help him after everything he did for us- then and now.”

Jarvis began twiddling his thumbs, body language changing dramatically. “Well then, I fear that I have been the harbinger of quite the frightful miscommunication.”

“You’re not the only one,” Angie tossed out bashfully.

Steve held out his hand. “Wait a minute, so Peggy left because…”

Jarvis sighed. “Because I told her that you had conspired to make a fool out of the general.”

“But why didn’t she just ask if…”

“Because I confirmed it. Hell.” Bucky rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “I ran into her right after you made that call, which was right after the Colonel hollered at the two of you, and just started talking about how great the whole thing would be.”

“And then I… well, I didn’t make it any better.” Angie bit her lip. “I talked about it, too, because Bucky mentioned it and… I… I may have… told her Bucky and I were engaged.” Steve didn’t say a word, just looked back and forth between Angie and Bucky so she started to ramble. “I wanted her to know I was taken care of, and the contracts didn’t seem to do the trick and she was just going on and on about…” She shook her head, deflating. “She thinks I’m on some terrible plot to embarrass that poor man.”

Her words died as Steve shook his head and waved his hands. “Stop. Just… what made you think that would… No. You know what? I don’t want to know.” He paced the length of the room and back. “I’ll go talk to her at the Stork Club tomorrow on my way to Dugan’s show.” He shook his head, looking around the little circle of unwitting co-conspirators. “I’ll get it straightened out.”

“Sirs?” Will’s voice carried into the lobby, making them all turn. “Do you still want to do the run of the finale?”

“You know,” Steve muttered sarcastically as he pulled Bucky with him towards the barn, Angie following behind, “I don’t think this day could get any better.”

~*~

“I’ll make it just in time for the early show,” Steve said out loud to himself as he laid out his suit. “I can stop by the station to drop off my suit, then catch a cab over to the Stork Club then make it just in time.”

Bucky leaned against the wall, leg bouncing anxiously. “What are you going to say to her?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed, dropping his head. “Doesn’t really matter, I guess.”

“She was a spy,” Bucky started, trying to rationalize the situation. “Shouldn’t she know better than to take a rumor and—”

“We’re not in the middle of a war, Buck!” He looked up, pointing. “None of us should ever have to go back to what we were doing back then, to what we had to do to just stay alive.” Steve’s voice was louder than just conversation, and it made the silence after he spoke seem far too quiet.

Bucky looked away in the heavy moment. “So, all this going back to ‘then’ is starting to mess with you, too, huh?”

“Not that I need sleep,” he started, sitting heavily on the bed.

“Been years since I’ve had some of these nightmares,” Bucky admitted, looking at the floor. He laughed, sharply and humorlessly. “Guess we really should have gone to New York, huh?” He nearly whispered his next words. “We could always take the finale out.”

“No,” Steve shook his head. “It’s just about the only thing we advertised. People who come will be looking forward to it.” He got very quiet for a long moment, fingers rubbing up and down his thigh. “She was struggling, too,” Steve said softly. “Said she’d never really talked about it with Angie, or anyone. I thought it was good she had someone to talk to, you know?” After a long second he slapped his thighs and stood. “I should get going.”

“Jarvis said he’d take you to the station whenever you’re ready.” Bucky shrugged, smirking again. “I’d take you, but there’s still a lot to be done with the show if we’re going to open tomorrow.”

Steve nodded, smiling at the gentle ribbing he was getting. “Sure, sure. Now you’re bellyaching about the show.” He picked up his suit bag and turned. “Listen, you’ve got a job to do, make sure you do it, ok?”

Bucky nearly pushed him out of the cabin into the morning air. “Yeah, yeah. I know. Don’t get distracted, don’t forget.” He smiled, walking with Steve towards the front of the resort. “I’ve already recruited some friends to help.”

#steggy secret santa #steggy fic #3P's Fic #YES I'm still working on my secret Santa #I'm ALMOST done.#yea

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blackgirlsuperherorants · 3 years

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With more articulation, I'm ready to talk about why the push for Lokius simply bothers me, and this can be said for other m/m or w/w ships that fans push to be canon so hard just because they ship it.

It's the framing. The framing that if Marvel doesn't do it (or whatever the brand is), it's because homophobia, and if other fans don't like it/ship it, it's because homophobia (even if they ship other queer ships and are queer themselves.) And the biggest problem with that is that it overshadows the REAL issue of lack of queer representation on screen in mainstream nerd media, especially from big things under the Disney umbrella (Marvel and Lucasfilm/Star Wars, especially.)

It makes it bad that your ship isn't canon instead of bad that there haven't been any queer romances on screen in the MCU.

And like, as a writer myself, I find myself dissecting the stories of other media all the time. I can watch an MCU movie or series and pretty much assess what direction the story is going in by the narrative points they're hitting. I knew Sylki was basically gonna happen (even if just a kiss) because narratively, that's what the show was doing as soon as they had that "what is love" conversation on Lamentis-1. It didn't mean I liked it. But I knew it was happening.

Similarly, there's no romantic undertones to Loki and Mobius. None. For Marvel to make them a couple, it would mean they'd be doing it simply because the two present as men and it would make stans happy. And while there's something to be said for fan service, it would be annoying to watch them cram two guys together who aren't romantic in the slightest. I'd much rather see Loki meet some guy and have the same type of undertones they were giving to Sylvie and form a real bond to where the kiss feels earned and warranted. Not just put him with the nearest man because "he gay lol."

And how you guys are claiming it's being queer that makes you want this is beyond me. It's not being queer that makes you want this. I don't want queer characters that fuck everyone of whatever gender(s) they're attracted to even when it doesn't make sense for them to. I want real love stories. I mean, yeah, sometimes we can have a slut character, because that's fun, too, but that's not even what y'all think Lokius is. You seem to want them to be in love. But why? Because he's the first friend Loki made that isn't through Thor?

I hate that, too, because I hate this idea that queer people cannot have friends of their same gender without wanting to fuck them. IDK how y'all are, maybe y'all are like that, but I almost never have wanted to fuck any of my friends. The only few exceptions have been when I tried to befriend someone I had a crush on (in which case, usually the friendship can't work, really, because I have a crush on them.) I also think it's okay if you can have casual sex with friends, or if you have a friendship that develops into romance, but Jesus, do you people not have friends that you don't want to fuck? I am bi, maybe more pan (gender kind of doesn't matter to me, I guess) and I'm friends with people of all kinds of gender identities and like... I love them as people, which is why they're my friends, but I DO NOT want to fuck them. Especially my closest friend. I talked about her, before, here, but she's like my sister. The thought of fucking her is gross, to me. Not because she's gross, but because it feels incestuous.

Loki shouldn't want to fuck Mobius just because they developed a friendship. And that's very much how it's written on the series. They almost dislike each other (or Mobius is at least indifferent to Loki) and then they become friends.

That's not to mention the power dynamic that exists, there. And I know some of y'all are subs, but yeah, it's a bit gross to imply a sexual relationship with Loki's captor.

But on to Sylki. It sucks that I feel like most of y'all hate Sylki because Sylvie is a girl, and not just because it's bad in other ways. Like, the reasons Sylki is bad have less to do with "it should have been Mobius" and more to do with it being a lazy 1980s action movie plot that should have never happened. I'm not as creeped out by the selfcest (as many of you wouldn't have been if she was a he, I'm almost positive), but what's bad about it is that they couldn't have a strong female lead character without her being the love interest of the main guy. She didn't need to be, especially because she was a Loki variant, anyway. There was no need for it to have romantic undertones, and there was no need for them to kiss. It was sexist more than it was homophobic (and I can't help feeling like y'all are kind of being biphobic in this case. Maybe I'll talk about that, later, but yeah.) It was sexist bullshit. And there's valid criticism that Sylvie is underdeveloped. She's just angry and something for Loki to project affection onto.

I was also hoping they'd do a "found family" type of thing with Sylvie and Loki and let her be like the sister he never knew he needed, but no, they had to go trope and make her the love interest. It was lazy and bad and basically went "If Loki girl, main Loki want bone!"

Basically, having the main character fall for a character just because of their proximity and gender is bad and I hate it (and it would have been bad with Mobius, too, but yeah.)

Both the Mobius and the Sylvie thing also feel kind of racist, to me, because the show has prominent Black women who aren't even presented as desirable to Loki. And y'all, of course, ship him with anyone but the Women of Color. Y'all can pull true love with Mobius out of your ass, but he couldn't possibly fall for the Black women. lol.

Anyway. Not every show needs ships, and this show shouldn't have had any. I hate it. It's bad.

I guess on the biphobia front, I have heard some takes that it's not biphobic because Loki being queer in the MCU which hasn't shown any queer relationships, and Loki being the first openly queer character means they shouldn't have shown him with a woman presenting character. Which, I guess I get where you're coming from... but I have also been in fandoms for a long time and I see mostly girls saying this shit, which is what leads me to feel like it's simply jealousy. It happens all the time when a long-beloved single male character/celebrity suddenly starts dating a woman. Everyone hates it. And like, we haven't seen Loki be with ANYONE in the MCU, because mostly he's been doing villainy and his dating life hasn't been relevant. If the demigod says he's bi, he can kiss a woman. Especially a woman version of himself. Like I said, I hate it for other reasons, but pretending it's because he should have kissed Mobius is utterly delusional. He probably shouldn't have kissed anyone. Not in this series. There was no reason for any canon romance, especially because the show has a season 2 and we'll have time to see Loki develop earned, deserved romance with someone.

I'd much rather see them create a character just to be his boyfriend than have y'all push Marvel into making Lokius canon, which is a nonsense ship that only happened because Mobius is the only prominent male-presenting character before we meet the other Lokis.

My sincere wish is for people to remember that their ships are just ships and to enjoy them without getting all self-righteous about it. I TOLD y'all that Lokius wasn't gonna be canon like 4 episodes back, and here y'all are acting shocked and like Marvel took something from you. NOBODY expected y'all to ship Lokius. It's not even queerbait.

You can make clear arguments as to why Sambucky was queerbait. It's there in undertones in the actual series.

You cannot watch Loki and tell me you thought it was queerbait, unless you think men can't have conversations or hug goodbye without being romantically involved. Which means, in my opinion, that you need to learn about healthy masculinity.

Again, this is not a defense of Marvel. They DO need to let characters be queer, for real, and not just by saying " A bit of both". Like, let Loki be queer. Let Deadpool be queer. Let these queer characters be queer on screen. Yes.

But please stop making it about your ship. I'd rather see a flashback of Loki dating a guy and see him kiss someone he loved back on Asgard than watch y'all force Lokius. Because my queer rep is not about your crackship. It really isn't. And the fact that y'all keep calling us homophobic for not liking your ship REALLY needs to be addressed.

Like, when will y'all stop? I got on Stucky shippers about this shit in the past. All of us gay as hell, too, we just don't like YOUR ship. A lot of us like other queer ships. A lot of us like queer ships in other fandoms, too, and even have queer OCs. YOUR ship just ain't it. Stop forcing it. Literally, most of the ship wars between MCU fans have been queer ship vs queer ship, not really queer ship vs straight ship. Like, the number one Stucky rival ship was Stony. Not Steggy. People are not homophobic for not wanting your ship.

Sometimes it's because they ship something else.

And sometimes, like me, it's because they want something to make sense narratively and not happen for the sake of it happening. It's always better writing to have a character meetcute a new love interest than to magically turn a platonic friendship into a romantic relationship. Like, even when the characters are straight. Like, when Moesha dated Hakeem. It was just weird, even if he was kind of a great boyfriend. He was just supposed to be her friend, and people didn't really like it because it didn't fit narratively.

And that's why ships for the most part should be left to fanfiction, with the exception of a few where fans are right to call out the writers for not making it canon because it's clearly bait (like what happened to Destiel shippers. To see Lokius shippers compare themselves to THAT was so ridiculous. Destiel shippers had a decade of evidence only to be let down by a criminally unfair ending. Lokius shippers saw two men have a deep conversation once and lost their minds.)

Anyway, I'm not saying don't ship Lokius. I don't even hate it, really. I just think it obviously shouldn't be canon, and fans pretending like they were robbed of it is ridiculous. Literally, Ao3 exists for this reason. I will never see Steve fuck Sam Wilson, so I wrote it into my fanfic. I am not mad that they didn't actually date in the main MCU storyline.

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theawkwardterrier · 3 years

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8+25 for a Steggy drabble

Amicus Curiae

Summary: Spending her Sunday watching high school students argue the same fake case is starting to seem like something Judge Carter might regret, until the Brooklyn Community High School team shows up. Or rather, until their teacher does...

Peggy is perfectly aware why she had volunteered for this. She knows why she should be proud and excited to be here, can mentally list through all the positives, the importance of it.

By her fourth session of the day, she has given up reminding herself of these things and is just hanging on.

It isn’t that the students are terrible - many of them are actually quite good. It’s only that listening to the same case being argued repeatedly over the course of several hours has the tendency to put a bit of strain on a person.

Perhaps it is especially grating because she had specifically only signed up to work for the morning today; she was planning on indulging in some actual relaxation over this weekend, or at least a bit of it after she had finished giving the keynote at the Women and Law conference on Saturday and spending Sunday volunteering, then finishing up on some work, and so long as her neighbors’ newborn actually took a break from indulging in a seeming undying passion for crying….

Well, not being around to listen to that was one blessing of having been begged by the very harassed tournament organizer to stay for a bit of extra time when Thompson had begun vomiting after lunch and needed to go home (Peggy can’t say she’s sorry about it, and she suspects that students will appreciate not having to put up with his tendency to pontificate).

Still, it’s hard to remember all the benefits, the meaningful logic, when the next set of teams has settled into her courtroom and she has to push back her shoulders and enter for yet another round.

“Just one more to get through. I’ll text the café and put in an order for your usual,” Rose mutters out of the corner of her mouth as Peggy passes, then raises her voice to announce, “All rise, the superior court of New York is now in session. Judge Margaret Carter presiding.”

Peggy scans the crowd absently as she gives her now-standard introductory speech. There are Zola and Schmidt, who have served as faculty coach and legal advisor for Hydra High over the past several years. She doesn’t envy the students on their team; the two might have a fairly steady winning record, but their personalities are miserable and they have a reputation for being harsh leaders.

Her gaze shifts to the other side. She’s never even heard of Brooklyn Community, guesses that they have never made out of preliminary rounds before. They are serving as the prosecution, with two young women and a young man as their attorneys. The three have their hands folded atop the table, listening to her attentively, but as she wraps up, she notices them sneaking glances toward their chaperones.

She is almost certain that they aren’t looking for reassurance from the lawyer accompanying them. She knows Howard Stark, although then again everyone does. He hasn’t argued before her, but he takes high profile cases and makes them even higher profile. If he wasn’t actually a talented and thorough attorney, she would dislike him quite a lot for how well he plays the media game, turning the law and people’s lives into sound bites and cable news clips. It’s a surprise to see him here - she would not have thought him the type to volunteer his time, especially not for something as small as a high school mock trial tournament - but no surprise at all to notice that he is glancing down at the phone in his lap, typing surreptitiously.

The thought of penalizing him for that crosses her mind, but before she can say anything, a tall student in the front row shifts and she can see whose eye the young prosecutors were trying to catch.

Their teacher is young, Peggy realizes as she directs Rose to read the name of the court case on the docket (which she already knows extremely bloody well by now). Not as young as some of the bright-eyed-bushy-tailed types she’s seen, but she’d wager that he’s in his thirties, perhaps a year or two older than she is. The smile he directs toward his students is not a flashy, movie star sort of thing but more solid than that, real and reassuring, and he meets the eyes of his charges and nods with firm encouragement toward them before sitting back to watch.

Incidentally, he is also incredibly good looking.

Peggy honors her commitments, prides herself on that, in fact, and so she takes as much care in overseeing this trial as she does with those which come before her in a more official capacity. Still, between watching the excellent prosecutorial team and noting some of the more interesting choices being made by a few of the witnesses, she manages to keep an eye on the teacher - Steve Rogers, according to the file she had glanced at.

He watches the trial carefully, making notes as he does, but it isn’t like Zola, who only jots things down when his team has made a misstep. Mr. Rogers seems as likely to mark things done right as those which could be done better. He nods along with his students, smiling especially widely at several points; Peggy would venture that those were things that they worked on particularly hard in practice. And every so often he turns to look at her before turning swiftly back toward his students.

It’s the way his eyes widen and shift quickly away which makes Peggy suspect that his gaze isn’t entirely to do with analyzing how she is perceiving his team.

He keeps his eyes on hers, however, when she returns from her brief recess and announces that his team will be advancing to the next round. It’s only for that moment, though. The next he is turning to congratulate his team, who have all swarmed around him, patting their shoulders and speaking quietly to them, turning to shake Howard Stark’s hand.

With one last glance at Schmidt, whose face has turned sour with rage, and Zola, who is trying to calm him even as he shakes his head at the team, Peggy allows Rose to announce her exit, and goes to absorb the quiet of her chambers. As nice a distraction as Steve Rogers was, she knew that it could not be for long.

Still, she’s a bit regretful when she, divested of her robe and carrying her briefcase, returns to the courtroom to take the stairs down to the back parking area and finds it empty.

Then she hears something.

“Gotcha,” a voice says, and Steve Rogers stands from between the benches of the gallery where the Hydra team had been sitting earlier, a crumpled paper cup in his hand. He spots her almost immediately, and she can see the awkwardness come over his face even with the courtroom lights dimmed.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he says. “Your Honor, I mean.”

“It’s no trouble, Mr. Rogers,” she says, walking nearer. “Have you forgotten something?”

He glances down at the cup he is holding and winces. “Oh, no. I—When we were in here before, I saw that there were a few things left behind. I figured I’d come back to clean up a little once I saw my team to the subway.”

“You don’t have to do that. Really.” They are at comfortable speaking distance now. “Tidying after other teams isn’t precisely within your job description.”

He shrugs, wide shoulders looking a little helpless. “I was here and I could take care of it. No reason that the custodial staff should have to deal with extra just because some people weren’t as respectful as they should have been.”

The response seems to make something warm and expansive trail through her chest, but she only says, “Hmm,” in return, tilting her head to one side. “Well, I should hope that you didn’t entrust the well-being of your students to Mr. Stark while you came back to take care of litter.”

“They’re city kids, they’ve been taking the subway by themselves for years. And if anything, I’d trust them to take care of Howard instead of the other way around,” he says. A smile touches at his mouth, and although she’s seen him smile many times over the course of the afternoon, it is different when it is directed at her.

“Well, let us hope that it won’t come to that. I did wonder, actually, how you managed to convince Mr. Stark to participate. I only know him by reputation, but I wouldn’t think it his sort of activity.”

“I might not have thought so either, but I know that it never hurts to try, so I got in touch. Turns out that he got his start on a team back in high school too. He still has a soft spot.” He shrugs. “I was lucky to get him. My kids deserve the best.”

“I’m disappointed not to be asked then,” she says. His eyes widen a bit before he realizes that she’s teasing.

Still, he sounds truthful and serious as he tells her, “If you weren’t a judge, you would have been on my list. You got yourself on the bench even though you’re young, a woman, and if you’re a naturalized citizen you already have to be pretty self-directed and able to go through all that’s involved in that...I know that none of that would have made it easy. People with vision about their futures who were able to achieve their goals despite obstacles - that’s exactly who I want around my team.”

She shifts her briefcase a bit, knowing that she’s already eaten through most of the day and that the journey home will lose her even more time. But it feels so nice standing here talking to him, not just small talk, not just because of the compliments, but because it feels like the start of something. So instead she says, “I apologize, by the way. I haven’t congratulated you.”

“They did a great job,” he says, immediate, eager. “It’s our first year even offering Mock Trial and I wasn’t sure how well it would work out, but they’re doing themselves proud. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about some of them making partner one day - or making their own way to the bench. Nat, who did the cross, she—” But he cuts himself off, blushing a little. “Sorry, I know I can get carried away, and you probably don’t want to hear it - you already spent the whole day knee deep in this, after all, and I don’t want you to think I’m trying to bias you somehow.”

There really isn’t a word for the pink in his cheeks other than fetching. Well, perhaps darling would do it.

Just earlier today, she would have said that her life was quite full enough, perhaps even overfull. But somehow, she thinks that a space could open for him, for speaking with him and seeing him and more, if she wanted it to. So she takes a breath and says, “I actually won’t be judging any further rounds this season, so there can’t be any sort of conflict of interest at all. Even if you were to, for example, join me for a bite to eat sometime soon.”

For a blink, she wonders if she might have misjudged, if she has mistaken politeness for something more, but then his mouth curves back into that smile which sends warmth running through her and which she is already beginning to like so well, especially when it is being aimed in her direction.

“I’m free tonight if you are,” he offers, something a bit worried still lying beneath the offer he has laid plainly at her feet. It makes her want to take his hand, to lean her head against his shoulder and promise that he has nothing to be nervous about.

Instead she says, all thought of taking off her heels and climbing into a hot bath forgotten, “If you’ve finished neatening things up around here, I know a place nearby.”

His smile gets just that bit wider. “Let me toss this out. Then you can lead the way.”

She’s happy to.

#Steggy #Steggy fic #Peggy Carter #Steve Rogers #fic memes #sorry this one came out weird and probably inaccurate to actual mock trial #I did skim a bunch of stuff to try to get it at least a bit accurate #thanks to the New York State Bar Association for putting their finals videos online #(I also should have specified in my original tags that when I refer to a drabble it is a story of exactly a hundred words #This and the rest will be...a bit more than that)#Anonymous

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