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ad1thi · 5 years

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just(?) friends

this is a mash up of a university/modern au, with no powers

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

Tony had this, it wasn’t a thing.

(it was a thing)

but it was a -

Jim described it best, Steve decided, back when Steve and Tony had just met and the friendship had been new.

“Tony does this thing,” Jim had said over a cup of coffee, “where he, he falls in love with his friends.”

Steve wasn’t quite sure what was wrong with that, which must’ve shown in his expression because Jim went on.

“Look he’s demisexual and demiromantic, and he’s not- he’s not had the easiest life. So whenever someone’s nice to him, just honest to god nice to him, he falls in love with them. It happened with me back at MIT, which lead to this whole gay panic that’s a story for another time, it happened with Pepper after she hired herself as his PA, and it happened with Gamora two years ago which was this whole thing because she identifies as an alien and nobody understands it but its just one of those things that we go along with.”

He took in this deep breath, “Look it’s just one of those things. Tony falls for everyone, his heart is huge; and if that’s going to weird you out then it’s best you leave now, because I promise you - none of us will stand for you hurting him.”

And then Jim left a crisp 100 dollar bill and walked out of the coffee shop, leaving Steve with the distinct feeling that he was suddenly 4 foot nothing and pre pubescent again.

Except, it didn’t really happen the way Jim said it would; because it’s been 5 years and Steve is so in love with Tony he thinks that he might die from it.

and Tony?

Tony’s currently in love with Tiberius Stone,

and Rumiko Fujikawa,

and now it’s James fucking Barnes, and isn’t that just a complete shitshow?

Hell, Tony was infatuated by Sam for a few months before Jim hit him on the head and said stop making eyes at my boyfriend asshole and he snapped out of it.

but never Steve.

Tony had this thing where he literally loved everyone and fell hopelessly in love with everyone he met,

except Steve.

which was fine, because Steve was arguably the most important person in Tony’s life (after Jim and Virginia but they didn’t count) and that was good enough for Steve.

(it wasn’t good enough for Steve)

“It’s not really his choice,” Virginia had explained as they walked through MoMA, “but he’s had a really bad past you know.”

“And he just, he’s so starved for comfort that he takes it in any form he gets, and he returns it tenfold, like he’s scared he’ll lose it.”

Steve never begrudged Tony a hug, and always made sure to hold his hand, or kiss his cheek, or just simply smile every time Tony looked his way.

“And I’ll be honest, at first I thought it was just an infatuation too, I mean nobody falls in love that quickly and that much do they?”

“But Tony’s heart really is that big.”

Steve always made sure to sincerely thank Tony, to never cancel plans and he had the ringer for Tony’s number turned up to volumes even Bucky’s wasn’t.

“but that doesn’t mean any of us will stand to have it broken.”

Steve never really put much stock into what Jim and Virginia said until he saw it in action.

Dimly, he knew about Tiberius and Rumiko, but they were separate from Tony and Steve’s lives- and Steve could pretend they didn’t really exist and were just passing fads.

But the day Tony fell for Bucky, that’s when it really hit Steve.

Nobody knew about how Steve felt, even after 5 years.

The only person Steve would’ve told was Buck- and he was overseas shooting at people in his super-secret exclusive merc job that Steve refused to join because im done killing people Buck.

The super-secret exclusive part of the job made it hard for Steve to catch him up on everything in Steve’s life, and Tony -

Tony wasn’t someone who could be explained, he had to be experienced.

So Steve picks him up for the airport, clinging to him for a good 5 minutes before he starts (not so) scrupulously scanning him for injuries or bullet wounds or -

“Stevie knock it off I’m fine,” Buck pushes at his forehead until he looks up, and thrusts the duffle bag at him, “I was in France not Iraq I told you this a million times.”

“Twice,” Steve says on instinct, before moving back to avoid Buck’s swatting hands and walking towards the car, “Did France fry your braincells?”

“Still got more than -,” Buck whistles lowly when he sees the car, “Damn Steve who you fucking for this?”

Steve furiously tamps down on the blush from the idea of fucking Tony and says, “I told you, he’s a platonic patron, and he’s one of my really good friends. Get in, we’re going to see Tony anyway.”

And he sees the way Buck’s eyes focus on Tony’s ass before he turns away from Virginia to greet them; the way Tony’s eyes glint when he takes in Bucky in his full form.

So he nods and says “yes I’m sure,” when Bucky asks in a low voice, “you sure its just platonic Stevie?”

Once he sees it though, he can’t unsee it.

Tony and Bucky fall together within a matter of weeks, and Steve-

Steve has to admit that he’s wrong,

because Tony really does fall in love that easily and quickly,

and it’s impossible to miss.

The way his eyes light up everytime Bucky’s around, the way he croons James that does ridiculous things to Steve (which is so irrational because its not even his name but Tony’s voice), the way he’s always in contact with Bucky- holding his hand, brushing against his leg, leaning his back against his chest and on one memorable occasion, intertwining their pinkies.

and Bucky clearly cares about him too because in all the years that Steve has known him he’s never known Bucky to look at someone the way he looks at Tony.

“Thank you,” Buck says one day, apropos of nothing; when they’re sitting across from the pool at Tony’s 4th of July Party.

“For the beer?” Steve asks, “Buck I’ve been bringing you stuff for the past 20 years if you start thanking now we’ll be here forever.”

Buck shakes his head and gestures his bottle towards Tony and Steve’s throat feels like its going to close up permanently.

“For him,” Bucky says, and his voice is unbearably fond, “I’d have never met him without you.”

“I’m gonna marry him, somebody Stevie, and I owe everything to you” he slaps Steve’s shoulder and walks over to Tony; putting his hand around his waist and pressing his lips to Tony’s smile.

Steve presses the bottle to his lips and drinks until his heartbeat is back to normal and says to no-one, “You have no idea.”

He’s drunk and he’s spiteful and he’s hurting so much, and that’s what makes him turn to Buck a couple of nights later and say, “Tony does this thing where he falls in love with his friends. I’ve seen it happen with Tiberius and Rumiko, I’ve heard about it from Jim and Virginia.”

“But it never sticks.”

The next morning when he wakes up, the first thing he remembers with stunning clarity is Bucky’s downcast face and he feels like such an ass.

He scrambles around the bed for his phone, to call Bucky and apologize, but before he can unlock it- there’s a message on his screen from Tony.

Tony: You and me? We’re done.

Steve just about makes it to the bathroom before he heaves last night’s content into the bowl,

and then he collapses against the wall,

and,

cries.

tbc

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twitchesandstitches · 5 years

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Crossthicc Fashions and Philosophies: Endowed Fleet, the Big Cyber-Barbarians and Punks

Had a bit of eureka moment a while ago regarding the fashions in Crossthicc, and I've had some ideas on the Endowed Fleet’s look. While im mulling over outfit fashions and cultural reasonings for some of the other factions, have my thoughts on it

My idea for their overall look?

In brief, their overall outfit style can be summarized as techno-barbarians with lots of furs and leathers, a fondness for longcoats and cloaks or capes, supplemented with scraps of worn out clothing from whatever they could scrounge up for that perfect punky look, and a lot of honor trophies from beaten monsters (or rarely, sapient foes that REALLY deserved it). And over all that, a mish-mash of different gear, personal computers, job-specific equipment, and body-enhancing devices that make them look like clunky cyborgs!

And all of that as an outgrowth of cultural attitudes towards recycling and salvaging as a spiritual duty to the animistic eco-systems of technological devices and created things that pervades much of their design sensibilities and outlooks.

In more detail? Okay then:

At their core, the Fleet’s beginnings were a mix of scavenger punks who assemble whatever they can find into a messy combination, and futuristic techno-barbarians, at least aesthetically. This holds true, and the look of techno-barbarians is CRUCIAL; i’m considering that the vast majority of their clothing is leather harvested from monsters and space leviathans they hunt while on the move, furs, and similar things. Carved bone is common for hard/solid parts of outfits or parts that require rigidity (supports for hyper gravid bellies or such?). softer furs used in a similar way to fish nets or very flexible outfits, or they farm giant spiders to make special silk in the same way.

Body part trophies may feature prominently in their outfits as medals, and honor markings; massive bones made all shiny or a monster’s skull for a shoulder pad; decorated warriors often look like something out of Monster Hunter. The body parts and heads of sophonts CAN be used in this way. Neo-Simfurian fleet members often have the skulls of many enemies worn on spikes as honorable trophies and implied threats. These trophies are treated well, often heavily carved and metal-plated, sometimes magically altered to recite the tale of their own defeats.

Teeth and bone materials are VERY commonly used as decoration; at the least they feature heavily in their outfits, dangling from necklaces, bracelets or implanted directly into the wearer’s skin, like with nose rings and studs.

Complicated gear is universal! Big, BIG guns and powerful melee weapons, personal computers and alchemizers worn on their arms as pseudo-shields, all manner of gadgets from jet-boots to multi purpose goggles, all incorporated into their outfits. It’s not uncommon for these outfits of leathers and fur-cloaks to have such powerful servo-motors and muscle-cables in them, or salvaged chunks of exosuits for limbs, that they count as low-grade power armor. (The idea of so much technology, gear and gadgetry on them that they can be mistaken for cyborgs - assuming they already aren’t - is a KEY part of their look.)

One wouldn’t think that leathers, furs and bones would make for poor armor or clothing in this setting, but two counter points. One, they are the most prolific self-augmented people around, and just LOVE huge bulky armor, mechs and powered armor, though all of the above are often decorated in the ‘waste nothing of your foe’ trophy adornment. Common to see warsuits with bone-plated bits, carved to tell a tale of heroic victory!

More importantly, from a materials perspective, the Fleet early on mastered the means of reinforced organic stuff (leathers, hides, bones and so on) via the use of secret chemical recipes that make them far stronger and about as useful as metal in terms of protectiveness; at the very least they serve as capable body armor, even with the more fearsome kinds of personal weaponry around. Leather that can take bullets, bones that work as well as plasteel for weapon construction, and of course, reinforcing those materials to support their hyper engorged figures and not burst from the strain of their powerful bodies. This process is efficient, but it's not very fast, so the tradition of salvaging clothes from whatever was available began there, patching up gaps and making do.

Weaving all those trophies into hair, along with ritually important hair styles of great complexity, is very common. The stereotype of a warrior MILF is a massive beast of a woman, usually a cyborg just THIS side of being fully robotic, with her gigantic hair worn in heavy braids and hundreds of trophy bones weaved into her hair. Sometimes, a necklace of skulls.

Tattooing, body paint and similar things are ubiquitous, though the individual traditions vary hugely from ship to ship, world to world, and then specific styles and fashions are exclusive to individual clans OF those ships and worlds. Tattooing and body paint follow their own complex rules and traditions, and are culturally important; you do NOT steal the designs of a clan you don’t belong to, as wearing them implies you have been accepted into their family and stand with them. Since most Fleetfolk belong to many clans at once, their tattoos can blend and create very striking designs. These patterns are also incorporated into ship paint jobs, and the resulting designs indicate which clan sponsors or ideologically dominates that particular ship.

A note on that point. While the Fleet is explicitly a Paragon-allied one, they’re not necessarily easy to get along with, and the ten-thousandfold clans don’t really institute dogma. The Fleet is fiercely individualistic. Nevertheless, each clan does dominate a broad mindset, because they’re not biological families: you ask to join a clan, or you’re sponsored, and if you pass the trails, you’re in. it’s a complicated and involved process, though, and you don’t really care to do this if you don’t already share a viewpoint with them. This means that ships with particular clan affiliations have different attitudes: clan Terror Beasts of Neo-Simfur was founded by the Dinobots and thus are significantly more warlike and inclined to intervening than, say, clan Crystal Star, founded by Rose Quartz’s family, who take a more patient and isolationist approach to problems that aren’t their fault in some way. And they can serve on the same ships! Inter-clan politics can get… Interesting.

(Do the different clans fight? Oh yes. Absolutely! But not to the extremes of total war; killing is absolutely forbidden, but conflicts happen all the time and are even encouraged, because they’re entertaining. IT gets worked out in honor duels, giant robot fights, and competitive epic quests. Usually all televised!)

Now you might as, where did this idea of emphasizing trophy stuff COME from?

Well, the Endowed Fleet, as a whole, has a strong tradition of regarding the idea of technology and use as a sacred thing; they believe all things have a spirit, and that technological devices, tools and anything sufficiently complicated MUST be its own spiritual ecosystem. Consequently, animistic ideas influence their multitude of religions, and gear is taken highly seriously; engineers have great influence and status, regarded almost as midwives, and recycling is a sacred duty. The machine must live, and continue to prosper, and to simply toss it away is unnthinkably cruel.

This spiritual outlook towards recycling, salvage and doing honor to the spirit of their equipment is one reason behind their emphasis on making clothes out of monster bits. It’s wrong to kill something and just leave it, and this applies to honored enemies, not just monsters. Honored enemy is a bit complex; they don’t take trophies from EVERYONE they kill, but its subject to personal interpretation. Some might take a trophy from a truly evil foe who they were glad to kill: they gain honor from killing them. Others take trophies only from foes that they felt were honorable, and it was a shame to kill them; they take trophies as a way of honoring this foe, and it is felt that as the warrior does battle and accumulates worth, their foes in some way are redeemed by being part of their legend.

Sometimes similar might apply to either creating personal weaponry or decorations for vehicles; you can’t really turn a spine into a hat (without the right body shape, anyway), but you can use it to build a sword or staff, grind down to make bone dust that becomes part of an alloy, or gird a motorcycle with. Battlewagon grills with old bones are common, usually after beating a foe by running them over REALLY hard.

Also note that the Fleet typically hunts giant monsters of kaiju-size… that are kaijus to giantess ladies that can vary from 20 to 100 feet on average. Many of the beasts they hunt, like old school whalers, are gigantic asteroid-sized monsters many miles across. They hunt them for meat and as rites of passage, so they’re not lacking for materials.

They supplement this kind of clothing by salvaging clothes nobody else wants; dumpster diving is routine for them while on fleet adventure, and they imagine themselves really good at salvaging clothes and adjusting them to fit another crewmate, no matter their body shape. The resulting outfits can be hugely diverse, sometimes a bit silly, and often just plain bizarre. It’s a little bit punk, a hint of pretty much any subversive counterculture fashion you can name, and mostly looks like they were hit by a tornado that stopped at a bargain basement donation store first. (These outfits also tend to have fashion attributes similar to Kingdom Hearts designs; lots of zippers, belts, and so on.)

Finally, it goes without saying that piercings like rings, studs, bars and similar things are very common, and usually done to extremes. They’re not a subtle bunch and they do everything to ridiculous lengths. It’s best for them not to get too close to magnets or risk serious injuries, maybe losing their ears.

#/#//#///#////#/////#crossthicc AU #twitchy ideas #endowed fleet #queued

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