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steve0discusses · 5 years

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Yugioh S3 Ep 43: Tea Can Just Knock Over Joey Wheeler With Her Index Finger

Guys guys guys, my favorite Character is back. That’s right--the storyboarder!

So this episode looked helllla nice for a Yugioh episode (again, this is Yugioh, it will win no awards.) It wasn’t as nice and fluid as the episode where they temporarily killed off Joey Wheeler, but I give it a good 2nd place.

You can tell we’re getting to the climax of the season because they’re throwing down their most entertaining art people onto the screen, giving us about 5 zillion dutch angle fashion close-ups of Marik’s cabbage face, and a whole lot of zany and hard to very hard to draw fish-eye lens angles of Pharaoh.

Also, everyone wears flared bell-bottom pants now. New stylistic decision, as decided just now. Everyone in pants now has flares. Even if their pants are cargo pants. How very 00′s. (my pants were flares from like birth until 2006, it was a good trend, super comfy, bring it back.)

(read more under the cut)

First off, Evil Marik decided to rewrite Marik history a little bit with some hilarious retconning that only the most evil Marik would think is legit.

I mean I was there when Marik was introduced and was a complete asshole all of S2. I remember when Odion considered murdering the hell out of his little brother because this Marik guy was such freakin tool and his Dad was an evil cultist bastard. I...I’m gonna go on a limb and assume that calling Marik a “loyal servant” is a freakin stretch. Marik made his choices. Yes, his bad side killed his Dad, but they have made sure to indicate that yes, this is the evil inside of Marik, something that he himself caused--but most of the things that Marik has done (with the exception of killing his own Dad) is still Marik. He did that.

The fact that his evil side can’t quite connect that his good side and evil side are at all the same however, is fitting for an evil Marik to think. More and more, Marik and Marik are becoming 2 different people, and this game is the deciding factor to finally give this guy full autonomy of his other half.

We’ve seen this type of contrast before with Bakura and Ryou--where Ryou and Bakura don’t really get along but have always been clearly different people, so the culpability of what they do tends to fall on Bakura. (which is a pretty GRAND assumption, I still think Ryou is a precious but absolutely still shady little bastard) So, it’s a little different that Marik considers himself two completely different people when it’s just...not the same. Marik’s alter ego is just an ego. More like how Yami was in Season Zero but a little bit more evil. Both Marik’s have the same upbringing and the same source.

It’s been kind of an interesting progression now I can look back on it, where slowly the two have been clashing to the point that they are in fact different, disparate people now. The fact that Marik points out how his situation similar to Yugi and Pharaoh being a host is almost like “well yeah, it would have been nice to see how the whole Season Zero Yami evolved into more of a separate person over time, I’m glad you inferred that, and I’ll never get to see it, thanks” But again, all that is inferred. Whether Yami Yugi eventually became Pharaoh over time or whether Pharaoh is a big retcon of Yami Yugi for the new series in order to keep the culpability for what he does off of Yugi Muto was never directly spoken in the show so it’ll be left to your fanfictions.

Meanwhile, Yugi has decided that they’re going to try and purify the Marik situation and save the good side. This is sort of the Yugioh thing, to dispel the bad forces from people and leave behind hollow husks, so yeah...it tracks. I mean...there’s very little Marik left to save, but it’s better than a husk, amiright? Better than what happened to freakin PaniK, RIP. I’m sure erasing over half of your identity will go over real well for Marik and be absolutely painless.

And then we had a lovely scene that, for those people doing scene redraws from anime, as has been a popular trend on art blogs lately--this is your episode for Yugioh. This episode’s got moody lighting, we’ve subdued all our weird ass colors into one concrete palate (remember how green the carpet used to be?) we got interesting elements of Marik being here despite being chopped into pieces. We got so many ellipses drawn in perspective (y’all I could write an entire posts just about ellipses but I’ll spare you). It’s like Yugioh gave itself a redraw.

I can’t believe this shot came out of freakin Yugioh.

Also, this guy was an ASSHOLE for the past 2 seasons but the show was like “time to make him likeable” and so they dropped some good ass cinematography and sung that sad backstory tune on the trumpet and you know what? It works.

+++++++++++++++RANT ABOUT REDEMPTION ARCS FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS MASSIVE WALL OF TEXT++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now I think the arc of Marik is pretty simple and people are pretty chill with it. But, I’m gonna talk about villain redemption arcs just in general--gonna sidetrack a little from Yugioh for a moment. Partly because I watched 6 seasons of Once Upon a Time, which is basically Villain Redemption Arc Controversy: The Show.

It bothers a hell ton of people when TV shows have to make a villain redeemable, but there’s only one episode left so they put their hands up and say “but I swear the good side of him was always good” But, does that mean Marik’s going to make up for all the murder and sending people to the shadow realm? No. He never will. Even if Marik was completely his bad half the whole time, it still wouldn’t make up for the damage done. Dead people are...DEAD.

Marik can’t actually make any choices right now to redeem his character. All he’s doing is accepting he will never be a full person ever again. Hence why he is in slices and pieces, and in several shots is trapped either in an empty glass or a window. The choice to redeem him is entirely on other people.

And that’s the thing about redemption arcs that I want to bring up--how much of a character’s redemption relies on what the villains do to “Make up for what they did”, and how much relies on everyone else to redeem them. I think the tendency is for people to assume that the villains should be doing 90-100% of the redeeming, but unless they have a time machine--they can’t do any. Even if they freakin die to sacrifice themselves it’s still like “that character was basically little Stalin, right?

I’ve seen like a million ways to write a redemption arc, but none of them, not a single one that I can think of, can ever truly make up for the things the villian has done. There’s no way that Darth Vadar was suddenly going to become a good Dad, no matter how many Palpatines he can toss into a...whatever that was at the end of that movie. That’s the riddle behind what makes redemption arcs so engaging--By all cultural standards these villains should always be tagged a “bad guy” but, we, the audience, are being challenged to ignore those standards.

And I know a lot of people see redemption arcs as a quasi-religious sort of adventure into atonement, where we’re supposed to see ourselves as the villain searching for some type of forgiveness from a higher, most-likely-a-reference-to-Jesus-power, but I don’t really see them that way. Maybe it’s because, I dunno, I haven’t killed anyone recently or possessed other people’s minds or strung them up to anchors and dropped them into the ocean. But if you see yourself as a Marik, then go for it, I won’t stop you.

But, to me, a redemption arc is more of a question posed for us as viewers. Since it is impossible for the writers to ever fully redeem a character, the only ones doing the redeeming are the people watching it, who’s reaction will differ wildly from person to person, and that’s what makes it fascinating.

And like, that’s my thesis here at the very last paragraph of this long meandering rant. Redemption arcs aren’t about “hey is this person good enough to be redeemed (because that will never happen)” it’s “are you too good to redeem that person?” It’s a large scale experiment on the viewers watching and that’s why it makes people so freakin pissed and uncomfortable. Every redemption arc calls them out directly, and for some people it’s just like--the world ends or something. I have seen actual internet mobs develop over...a villain redemption arc. Which is weird.

And so I’ll leave it with my other spicy take that...you don’t have to redeem every villain when the question is asked. I mean these aren’t real people. The questions of “would you redeem this person” is asked entirely hypothetically. And that’s what makes up stories, not just the interaction of the people inside the stories, but when it affects the moral structure of the readers directly, and seeing how for some people, that can be a very intense and deep reflection. (which usually leads to a hell ton of either retconning fanfiction or a hell ton of really, really angry posts)

bro’s just told me that Yugioh is just a redemption arc for season 0 Yami Yugi. Bro and his spicy headcanons. This one holds some water though, lol.

++++++++++++END OF A SUPER LONG RANT ABOUT VILLAINS THAT I HELD IN FOR THE ENTIRE 6 SEASONS OF ONCE UPON A TIME, WOW A LOT OF PEOPLE HAD OPINIONS ABOUT CERTAIN CHARACTERS THAT THEY JUST EXPECTED EVERYONE ELSE TO HAVE, AMIRIGHT????+++++++++++

Anyway, back to jokes.

Again, Storyboarder just...nailing these weird ass shoes that are somewhere between a dress shoe and a boot. Shoes are hard to draw, y’all. This storyboarder. And they even made sure that the shoes looked very small and precious the way Yugi shoes would be. Little Cinderella size 5 Yugi shoes.

Oh finally.

So it was only a matter of time before the people who actually care about being possessed noticed this situation, it just took like...a season longer than I thought it would. I’ll be honest it was quite cathartic for them to actually address for the first time in what feels like a long time “SHOOT, GHOSTS!?!?”

Although it was kind of funny that the biggest reaction to all of this came straight from Joey. Yugi still doesn’t care, Tristan’s decided to just accept this, and Duke is just slowly backing away. But Joey’s going to try and do the work that Yugi should have done last episode.

HOT DAMN.

So, lets go over the Yugioh power chart here. Tristan can punch out Bakura. Tristan can also defeat Seto Kaiba with a broomstick. Joey can kick Tristan, even when Tristan is armed with a broomstick, so hard that Tristan flew through a metal door and bent it completely over backwards. Tea, however, can knock Joey completely over with one single index finger.

How has this girl ever been abducted? Was she just bored?

Bro wants to bring up that she once incapacitated a man with her butt. Just falling on top of a guy and hitting him with her butt of steel. Was she even in danger from the shipping container when she could just bat it away? She once choked out Season 0 Yugi Muto. She was always fine.

Credit to Joey, he keeps trying, and it gives us, for the first time, a sneak peek into what it must be like for Yugi and Joey to hang out on the offtimes that Yugi switches over and Pharaoh hasn’t quite gotten the memo.

This is in fact, the second time that she’s done this.

(meanwhile, sitting next to Odion, is one single cargo pocket floating in the air, gently smoking a purple haze like incense)

Welcome back Odion! I only now just realized how freakin jacked your neck is.

Like y’all his neck is wider than his head, hot damn.

Anyway, this show is secretly all about the power of big brothers, so I assume he’s going to start the mile long crawl to the top of the tower and then just...walk in...just walk right into a shadow game...?

...no one thought to stay with Odion? Like not even Serenity? Or at least leave him a weelchair? what the hell?

Odion always gets the worst wrap, this poor guy.

Anyway if you just got here, this is a link to read these recaps in chrono order from the beginning and watch my progression of knowing nothing about Yugioh to knowing a lot about random facts about Yugioh but still knowing absolutely nothing at all just like Socrates.

And here’s that shot of Marik for y’alls anime scene redraws, knock yourself out.

#Yugioh #ygo #episode recap #photo recap #S3 ep 43 #Yugi Muto #Marik Ishtar #Tea is possessed again #Tea Gardner #Odion ishtar #Ishizu Ishtar #Joey Wheeler #Duke Devlin #Tristan Taylor #Seto Kaiba #man alive why do I list all the characters all the time there are so many characters #guest appearance by this wonderful storyboarder

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holbyconfessional · 6 years

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Holby City S20 E25 - Primum Non Nocere - Part 2

Fuck me, that was a bit of a rollercoaster! I should probably start with Jac, but let’s face it, most thoughts (and feels) I’ve had around this episode are Berena related, so I’m just diving straight in.

I’ve been prepared for the worst. And it’s pretty horrific watching them fight and pick at each other for the first large part of the episode. I’m still very much of the opinion that we were cheated out of a great deal of happiness in the first days of their relationship, by their new romance taking so much of a backseat before being so quickly derailed by Elinor’s death. So, whilst it has been beyond wonderful to have Bernie back on our screens for a couple of episodes, to not really see much happiness for the majority of those eps was still tough to take. BUT, there were really pure and wonderful moments in the painful angst. From the moment that Bernie walked into Greta’s cubicle, after her chat with Fleur, just the way she only had eyes for Serena was just beautiful. Followed, of course, by the chat on the corridor floor, the reminiscences about Elinor (yes, I shed a tear, because CR’s acting was just sublimely good), and even the break up scene, which I actually legitimately sobbed through. Because JR’s acting after Serena went in to meet her grand-niece was just that sublimely good.

And of course, who could fault the post-Fleur and Donna Serena intervention scenes, when Serena chases after Bernie? Somebody had to talk sense into Serena, because who in their right mind would let Bernie go??!! And as for asking Bernie to wait, let’s face it - Bernie is ex-army, she is used to being separated from loved ones for extended periods of time, and whilst I’m not suggesting it’s easy for her, nor her choice at this point in her life, she would hardly say no to something she’s learned emotionally to deal with, right? And THANK YOU, HOLBY FOLKS - because, she’ll be back, soon enough... (I’m not sure I’ve ever been quite so grateful to be proved so wrong!)

The thing with Berena is, that whilst it has been heralded as this hitherto unrepresented older lesbian relationship without death (if you choose to overlook the death of Serena’s daughter), it’s actually much more than that. It’s been pigeonholed, but I actually think it stands it’s place in the grander scheme, and whilst it means so much to so many, it’s much more than just a ‘lesbian’ relationship. It deserves to be up there amongst any relationship, regardless of gender/identity of the participants. I literally can’t remember a time in Holby history where any relationship has been treated with such care and attention - and I think we do have the representation aspect to thank for that, but (and I may be waxing lyrical, and not making that much sense), to me, it is ‘all that’.

Anyway, and loathe as I am to admit it - there were other storylines in tonight’s show. And other aspects to Serena’s story! So, here we go.

Gaskell’s monologue to an unconscious patient which kicked off the show, and was shown throughout. I had initially thought it was Jac, and was most glad at the end of the ep to be shown that it wasn’t. I think it was that first patient, the one that I’d initially thought was a loved one, who has been in the coma for years, although still not sure.

I have to admit, I still feel like I don’t quite get all of Gaskell’s storylines. It might have something to do with not catching some of what he mutters, but it feels like it’s one of the least coherent stories that they’ve run, and it’s all done almost in subtext. I’m not a stupid person, but I do constantly find myself wondering what the hell is happening within that story. So, he’s acknowledged that Meena is right, that patients are dying from encephalitis, but he lied to Meena and Roxanna by telling them that his latest patient is responding to treatment, when in fact he isn’t, and won’t. But none of that really matters, because Jac realises that she’s got a 50/50 of dying, but wants to go ahead anyway, because death is better than a life with neurological deficits, or pain, despite the fact she has a daughter. And Gaskell pretends to laud Meena for her actions, but is secretly looking for a way to get rid of her for derailing his maniacal need to trailblaze, which of course yap-flapper Meena gives him by not managing to keep her idiot mouth shut to the random researcher (who happens to tell Gaskell that they’ve been running basically the same trial in mice with the same 50/50 outcome). Incidentally, in my opinion, Gaskell was quite right to boot Meena. He just did it for totally the wrong reasons. Fwiw.

Aaaand, Jac has had the surgery, it has ostensibly worked, so now we just get to wait and see if she dies. And let’s face it, she’s gonna get a fever and high CRP etc, regardless of the final outcome, coz otherwise, where would the drama be??!!

Good to see Henrik, and so lovely to see him worried about Jac. I like to think if he’d remained CEO, Gaskell’s shadiness would have been uncovered by now. And continuing with Jac, I simply love that Sacha knows her so well - as he showed when speaking to Fletch about how she deals with things, and the anniversary of Jasmine’s death.

The meeting room was quite fun, with Sacha inadvertently spilling Fletch’s romantic dilemma to Abigail, although yet again, Sacha being used as the buffoon was a shame. But I can’t deny that it was mildly comedic. Sadly, yet again, it seems to have only drawn Fletch and Abby closer together. I find myself wondering, am I the only anti-Flabby campaigner out there? RM has all but confirmed that Flac will never happen because neither she nor AW want it to, and I’m ok with that, because I was massively anti-Flac when those rumours first surfaced, but I just can’t get behind Flabby either, and the worse part is, I just don’t know why!

I think my final thoughts of tonight are regarding Fleur Fanshawe (which actually also brings me nicely full circle back to Berena!). Fleur was always quite a pushy character, but tonight, she was downright offensive intially in her flirting over Serena. I felt quite awful for Bernie for a bit there. I’m really glad we got a bit of backstory/filler to explain how Fleur is suddenly Obs&Gynae after being General Surgical, because that was flummoxing me a little. Shame the backstory didn’t extend to what happened to Sophia. Although why should it, I suppose. Relationships come and go, and I guess Serena has all the low down considering how often she goes for drinks with Fleur - as suggested by Fleur to Bernie. So, after starting the episode as quite a thorn in the side, I guess she finally came through, first with her chat to Bernie whilst Bernie was outside having a fag (and looking unbelievably glorious), then later with her remonstration of Serena for letting Bernie go, thereby precipitating their reconciliation, albeit for 48 hours and then long distance. So, I say, go Fleur. And if you do what you promised Bernie and stop chasing Serena, and just be your gloriously bolshy, gay self, chasing after your own unattached ladies, then please stay on our screens and brighten these grey days until Bernie’s next return!!

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allurascastle · 7 years

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I loved it! I would love to more about Tails, he sounds very interesting.

:D Thank you! And, believe me, I am always willing to talk about my son™. I love him. But before that, some lowkey hcs of mine for Voltron as a whole that are kinda relevant to Talis and his universe:

The first one being that Alfor is the King-Regent - he married into the royal family, any “royal family” attributed things (Allura’s powers, for example, have been hypothesized to be because she’s from the royal line) are from Allura’s mother…who died when she was little (my post about her and Zelda being bffs was based on accidental parallels that I built up…) and because of that, he rules for Allura until she’s old enough (I’ve always seen her as a late teen/very young adult, AKA: my age).

The second one is that Alfor is the Green paladin. I know people like to hc him as the Red paladin (because of Coran’s line about following in his footsteps), the Blue (bc Lance caught Allura), or the Yellow (because of his royal armor), but the comics and Space Mall strongly suggest he was the Green paladin, so that is what he is in any of my ‘verses.

Altean shape-shifting isn’t really changing their shape. It’s chameleon like, so mostly color, and height helps to blend in (I mean, canonically it’s a thing, but my point is that color + height is the extent. You know the things I’m saying are not a Thing Alteans can do in my ‘verses, you’ve been in this fandom).

We haven’t seen much about ancient Galra (except in the same shot as younger Alfor in Space Mall, wherein they all largely look like Zarkon), so liberties have been taken with them. Even back then, though, they were a pretty militaristic, technologically driven society ruled by an Emperor; just, at the time, they all looked largely the same, the way humans do, with few distinct traits. However, they’re not just “militaristic” and “scientific” - they got a lot of culture that’s been lost, or changed, in the last 10,000 years. I’ll mostly mention these as we go on/in bits of writing, but the sword is definitely a Galra Preferred Weapon the way I hc Staffs (fight me about it I hate the word staves) and Spears are Altean Preferred.

Touching back on the militaristic aspect briefly, it’s not unusual for Galra children to go through a sort of…pre-boot-camp boot-camp (double boot-camp intended). This typically means that they have to spend less time in the actual boot-camps and training. It’s like a middle-school thing and then they get to go about their lives however they want, but military and science being core parts of their society means they’re all very likely to go into that. Once they can. It depends.

(Allura’s line about “an Altean child” being able to handle the level of difficulty their training was on leads me to suspect Alteans also had some form of young military training thing going on, so it’s not unusual for them to have cadets of wide age ranges in a group.)

Also the Galra have a garment I call a belateo from bastardizing “balletor” and “belteo” basically meaning “warrior” and “girdle” respectively. It’s…not at all a girdle, and used to be like a sash, but it (now) looks a lot more like the cloth Tal.i’zor.ah and Quar.ians in general wear with their environmental suits (dots to keep out of basic searches for Ta.li and Quar.ian). (And no, while I love Tali and she is my space wife, that’s not where Talis’ name comes from.)

edit 3: crossing out lore that is now longer. It’s going to be called a balleteo instead, and it’s just as sash, either worn around the waist or chest.

(side note: my brother has a game called Stellaris and in it, he made basically the Galra but they were all cats and honestly, watching his progression through that game was a great reference.)

Anyway, onto Talis himself.

His mother was a scientist - one of the many Galra who worked to create the lions (there are a lot of Galra in the scene during Space Mall, and something as large as one lion must’ve required a whole, big team, let alone a project the size of Voltron). His father was a member of the (Altean) Royal Guard, an all around respected one, especially within the ranks, who accompanied Alfor to the Galra homeworld for the process of creating Voltron - which would be where and when Talis’ parents met. He was born around the same time as Allura, maybe a little before.

He grew up on Galra, visiting Altea often - holidays, religious or just general ones, and to visit his father at the Palace/Castle of Lions (whether or not the Royal family made their home predominantly in the Castle of Lions is…up to interpretation…? I haven’t decided for this ‘verse). And his father would come visit he and his mother whenever he had some days off. Once he was done with pre-boot-camp boot-camp, he decided he wanted to got to Altea and start training for the Altean Royal Guard, in part to be closer to his father.

It wasn’t until he “graduated” that he actually met Allura, but by this point he’d already seen her a lot and sort of gotten to know her at a distance - he knew that once she set her mind to something, she did it, and she was kind but no way would you ever be able to walk all over her, and he over all really admired her and developed a not even remotely subtle crush on her.

Which is a good point to mention that Talis all around sucks at dealing with his own emotions. And emotional intensity, vulnerability. He likes to pretend those things don’t exist and keep them bottled up to himself (if the former is causing him inner turmoil, that is. Otherwise, just the intensity and vulnerability). It’s not really anyone’s fault. Talis just has difficulties handling it and like any procrastinater would (which, interjection, he doesn’t really procrastinate but I do so) decides to just…not. This causes some issues around the time of Altea’s destruction and season one, and by problems I mean he gets all conflicted and distant and it makes things tense around Allura.

At first, his…”broodiness” bothers Allura, once he gets appointed her knight (Which, that in of itself irked her because she does not need a babysitter, thank you very much); she doesn’t really know what he’s thinking, or personally know him. They eventually get to a point where he’s opening up easier to her. It helps that he told her something along these lines:

“Your father didn’t ask me to be your bodyguard so that I could keep you from leaving the Castle. He made me your bodyguard so I could go with you, no matter what.” Allura blinked at him, and he, for the first time ever that she’d heard, chuckled. It was a deep chuckle, but quiet and mostly to himself; he looked down as he did, and then lifted his gaze after a moment. “Not that I would try to stop you if he had. I can tell, once you’ve set your mind to something, you’re going to do it whether you have permission or not.”

And while we’re at it, here’s another little excerpt from something I was writing (actually the above was just something stuck in my head…)

The first time Allura met Talis was hardly remarkable. He was dirty from training with his father, a stately man in the royal guard. She had seen him a lot growing up; it was his job to ensure the safety of her family, and he took it seriously. Talis had very clearly taken after him: stoic and often serious.

He politely told her, “It’s an honor to make your acquaintance, Princess Allura,” and bowed respectfully to her, from the waist and with his head turned down, but not without first looking up at her, meeting her eyes. His bright yellow eyes and carmine red markings had always stood out to her, no matter the color his skin turned; she could always spot him, even in full armor as a cadet and full-fledged guard.

That day, he wore the white armor, lined with blue and gold and with a sash tied and pinned around his waist, the ends of it near his knees. It was two tone purple with golden yellow trims, and looked to be sturdily made.

Talis wears the standard Royal Guard armor initially - looking a lot like Allura’s versus the Paladin’s, with, well as described, blue and gold. I mean, as far as I know. I haven’t actually drawn it out (…not that I have the artistic skill but…), but it sounds good in my head.

He gets made Allura’s knight shortly before the war begins (the “war”), and changes his armor to be red, both to stand out from other Royal Guards and to match Allura more (sort of, vaguely related: he likes to match whoever he’s around, so he’s pretty much shape-shifted 60% or 70% the time he’s in Altea). Also, red is aggressive and his job is now to defend the princess, so it fits.

Since I mentioned Preferred Weapons before, I’ll now take the moment to say that he primarily uses the Spear, which is intentional on his part and also because I love spears (bonus round: it treads on no other character’s WoC territory). He can also use a sword and shield but…he’d rather go with a spear and a shield if he has to have a shield. He’ll one hand that. Or maybe the spears can also he shorter…?

Now continuing on…

Talis, obviously, does not die on Altea. He gets put into a cryopod as well, wakes up ten thousand years later. I could give a detailed rundown on what he’s doing in season one and two, but that would make this super incredibly long and also I plan on writing stuff about it, so I’ll just share the highlights.

He’s struggling with some internalized doubts (starts once the “war” begins and now it’s just plaguing him) about, well, himself and his identity. He’s always used “Galtean” proudly, but with recent (ancient) developments with the Galra…

It makes matters worse that he doesn’t know his mother’s position on turning against and destroying Altea the way Zarkon did, whether because he just wasn’t able to contact her or there was no time. Same thing, really. Waking up to find that a) Zarkon is still alive, b) the Altean solar system is entirely gone, and c) the Galra are tyrants merrily enslaving people does not help.

(I know you must be wondering how Allura feels about him and I’ll admit, she has some mixed feelings, but mostly because she doesn’t know what he’s thinking, once more and during such a bad time, when she’s most vulnerable to suspicions. But, she knows he’s half Galra, she’s known for years, so that in of itself does not garner the same reaction out of her that Keith being Galra does. But things are tense and strange and…cold? between them.)

Talis doesn’t just brood though, mind you. He tries to pretend this conflict doesn’t exist, horribly. He throws himself into repairing the ship, checking everything about it that he can by himself and at odd intervals - basically whenever he can - and doing work in medical; cryopods weren’t meant to last ten thousand years, and who knows what the cost of being in there for so long is? And if he’s not doing any of those things, he’s training obsessively, or helping the paladins train hands-on (he starts off aloof about it, but accidentally turns into a good teacher). And, if somehow he is not doing any of those things, he’s helping Coran or following Allura around. He…manages to do a lot and it honestly concerns Coran and the paladins. When does he sleep?

(He doesn’t. He exists purely on his will to maintain the ship and protect Allura.) (He does sleep, actually. That was a joke, but if he could get away with existing on that, purely, I’m sure he’d give it his all.)

Some stuff happens in the comics, but there’s not really any spoilers. Talis stays behind to continue working on the ship and in the event it gets invaded, Allura won’t be practically helpless. He’s a warrior. Alfor put him in a cryopod so that he could defend her from the threats that Coran simply, and not for a lack of trying, they would both lay down their lives to keep her safe in a heartbeat, could not protect her from, and right up there on that list is “giant Galra.”

(Of course, Sendak is another story, and technically he doesn’t win or lose that fight.) (Talis puts himself in positions to be injured, a lot, but that’s because out of their three-man Altean team, he’s the tank. It’s going to happen. He wears armor at all times for a reason.)

He and Allura have a (re-)bonding moment and he manages to open up just a little and tell her what he’s thinking about. She manages to convince him to have some fun with her (because what could be funner than riding that…chair thing, I’ll have to get my comic back out lol, all around the castle? Racing it against someone else) and hen go catch up on sleep.

Episode nine really brings around a change. Allura just lost her father - completely, all over again. Talis is there for her, because he is not anything if not there for Allura. He lets her know that if she needs some company, she doesn’t even need to ask; just let him know. (They sit together for a while. Talk more.)

He goes with Allura onto the ship during episode 10 - at this point, I should mention none of the others know he’s half Galra, just himself, Allura, and Coran, and Talis could probably have saved them all a lot of trouble if he mentioned this and went alone onto the ship, but much like me on last Wednesday (aka the night I accidentally trolled management??) he did not. He also gets captured with Allura because she didn’t want to leave him there when it was her fault. She bodily throws Shiro.

Talis ends up getting tortured before being thrown in the prison with Allura and they have to drag him out of there because he can barely walk. Also, Zarkon calls him “Little Talis” and it makes his blood boil.

There’s too much notable stuff about season two for me to get into tonight, but oh boy. I will tell you he loves the Blade of Marmora. Which leaves us with one more, lowkey headcanon:

The Blade of Marmora are named after a Galra who almost succeeded in assassinating Zarkon. Marmora was a she and her “Blade” started a generation or two, maybe more than that, after she died.

edit: how could I forget the most important thing!!

He gets her something sparkly during Space Mall. Like he took somethings and went to a pawn shop to sell them (and accidentally caught the attention of a collector but that’s okay, he made money because of it) and then went and bought her something sparkly.

I haven’t decided what the sparkly thing is yet. Suggestions welcome.

edit 2: some other weird, but definitely notable things about Talis:

due to weird genetics and alien anatomy, he sweats only on his hands and feet. Because of this, he constantly wears gloves (the grippy-er the better) and has about three thousand pairs of them and keeps multiple pairs on him. Also, socks. Lots and lots of socks.

he has carmine red markings of their own unique shape:

yes, they show up on his eyelids.

speaking of his eyes, his irises are bright yellow and he has the pink pupils.

his hair changes color depending on his skin color, and not intentionally. When he is his natural form or with any shade of purple skin, his hair is black, whereas when he has brown or tanned skin it’s dark brown, and his hair takes on red hues the paler he gets.

he generally rests at a light brown color, since that’s not mentioned in my writing (yet).

is accidentally romantic, but owns up to it. Also, likes romance novels but rarely ever lets himself “have the time” to read them. In general, likes reading but “never has the time for it.”

can’t write poems worth shit but that doesn’t mean he won’t try.

or anything really. He has a few good pieces but other than that, nope, crumple it up and pretend it never existed.

not artistic either.

can sing though??

has participated in “aggressive” Galra dances, but is terrible at slow dances (and maybe Allura, or whomever, should lead).

wanted to be a Paladin growing up. Alfor let him try to bond with the lions, but they rejected him. He took it hard and is still bitter about it.

#sheila answers #talis #talis (oc)#voltron #allura #hcs #head canons #galra #alteans #galteans #sheila's ocs #you-can-call-me-cipher #mutuals

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27dragons · 7 years

Note

So if you wanted some prompts I have some for AvAc Winteriron: 1) Bucky is crushing hard on Tony and is irrationally jealous of Misty, whose arm Tony made her. He also wants an arm spesifically made for him by Tony! Even if the one he has is working perfectly fine already!

2) After arriving at the Academy, Bucky is shown around by Tony, and is really drawn to him. He’s so impressed by everything Tony has done for the academy (not that Tony likes to mention it, he only does so in passing as if it isn’t important), and after staying there for a while he is slightly horrified by how some people treat him/take advantage of him all the time.

3) Every new song Bucky writes has subtle hints about how he is in love with Tony, not that Tony ever notices. Janet, however, does, and confronts Bucky about it to be sure he won’t break Tony’s heart, because she knows how Tony feels about Bucky as well.

These were so cute, I combined all three. This is nearly 6k, so ‘ware the readmore! (I’ll put it up on Ao3 as soon as I get a chance, for easier reading/bookmarking…)

—

“Hi,welcome to Avengers Academy!”

Buckyturned toward the voice, wary. When someone said “welcome” atHydra, it usually meant they were planning to humiliate you or getthe drop on you with an ambush.

Well,they could try. The Winter Soldier had carved out a niche of respectat Hydra, and he would make one here, if he had to.

“Usuallyit’s Jan or Pepper doing the welcome tour, but Pep’s offinterviewing some potential recruits and Jan’s right in the middleof planning next month’s parties, so I said I’d do it. So hi,welcome – I said that already, didn’t I? – um, I’m Tony Stark,nice to meet you!”

Buckylooked him over. Tony Stark had armored boots and a gauntlet on hisextended hand, and was wearing a garish red and yellow jacket overskin-tight jeans. Those jeans did not look practical for combat, butthey did an excellent job of showing off Tony’s legs. Tony hadartfully fluffy hair that made Bucky want to mess it up, and ascraggly attempt at facial hair that was kind of cute in its utterfailure. He’d started off with a bright smile, but it was beginningto fade, a crease forming between his eyebrows.

“Uh,okay,” Tony said, dropping the extended hand and rubbing it on hisother arm uncertainly. “So you’re the Winter Soldier, huh? Isthat… what you want us to call you? I mean, most everyone’s got acodename and, you know, a real name, but we’re pretty divided onwhat we want people to call us. I’m Tony and Jan is Jan and Pepperis Pepper unless she’s reallymadat you in which case she’s Ms. Potts. But you should see how madEnchantress gets if you try to call her Amora, and man, do notcallHulk Bruce, he smashes extrahardif you do that. And ‘Spider-Man’ thinks he’s maintaining asecret identity, so we pretty much humor him and call him that ifhe’s got his mask on, you know?”

Buckyconsidered this. “Names are nothing but words / it is the soulwithin that hurts,” he tried. Not the best meter or rhyme, butthere was a theme there worth exploring.

Tonystared at him blankly for a moment. “Um. So you’re… cool withwhatever, I guess. Okay. Well, I’m supposed to show you around thecampus, so come on, I’ll make sure you know where everythingimportant is!”

Tonyled Bucky around the campus in a wide arc. Bucky already knew thecampus layout, of course, having studied it in preparation forattack. But it was very different, seeing things with his own eyes,and Tony’s constant stream of chatter was often amusing.

“Twonightclubs, in fact,” Tony was saying proudly. “There’s theGalaxy club there–” He pointed toward a garish neon building.“–and the Guardians put on a mean death metal show, I gotta say.But a lot of us prefer something a little more homey, and that’sClub A. Pool table, jukebox, great dance floor.” He looked sidelongat Bucky, then shrugged. “Cap spends a lot of time in there, so…”

Buckydidn’t let himself wince, but he wanted to. His feelings about Cap– Steve – were… complicated. But Tony was looking at himhopefully, waiting for some sort of reaction, and Bucky was oddlydisinclined to disappoint him. “The bartender is a robot,” heobserved.

“What?Oh, yeah, I made him.”

“Byyourself?” It took – hadtaken–a team of three Hydra scientists to merely perform maintenance on Bucky’sarm.

“Oh,sure, robots are easy. The challenging bit was upgrading him so itdidn’t cause any long-term damage when his head comes off.”

Buckystared at Tony.

Tonyshrugged. “Crossbones keeps ripping his head off, and I don’tknow how many times I’ve tried to tell him they don’t like that,but he won’t listen, so it seemed easier to just make it so itwouldn’t hurt them too much, you know?” Bucky had no trouble believingthat. Crossbones was… unpleasant. It wasn’t enough for him toaccomplish his missions. He made it personal.

Tonywas still talking about the robot. “… already had someeasy-repair joints for the robots at the blasting range, so I justhad to find a way to–”

Nowthatsoundedlike something Bucky would enjoy. “Blasting range?” He swung hisfavorite rifle off his shoulder. “Show me.”

Tony’ssmile was all teeth. “This way.”

Janfound Tony in the library. She was supposed to be studyingentomology, which was usually one of her favorite subjects, but shecouldn’t help watching Tony. He was listlessly turning page afterpage without even really looking at what was on them. Instead, hisgaze kept drifting out the window toward the food court.

Maybehe was hungry; it wouldn’t be the first time Tony had gottenwrapped up in what he was working on and forgotten to eat. Though hedidn’t look particularly absorbed now, which meant he was brooding.Stewing. Maybe even sulking.

Janbrought up the social media aggregator on her phone and scrolledthrough it with a few flicks of her fingers. There had to be a reasonTony was acting so weird. He hadn’t gotten into a fight with Stevefor weeks; Jan had personally been making sure to take down all ofProfessor Pym’s posts on the message board calling for “volunteers”for his electricity experiments (honestly, Pym was cute but sometimeskind of thoughtless); there weren’t any new selfies from Crossbonesposing with Club A’s headless bartender or from Hulk showing off astolen cheese fridge.

Janscowled at her phone. If social media was failing her, it had to besomething huge. The last time Tony had been this listless was whenhe’d been moping about his dad, but he didn’t have thatguilty/anxious look that always gave him. The only other thing Jancould recall was when he’d been trying to convince Natasha to datehim and Nat had been–

Wait.

Waitwait wait.

Thatwasn’t Tony’s sulkingface.That was pining.

Janclapped both hands over her mouth so he wouldn’t hear her squee ofexcitement and realize she was watching him. This was something shecould help with! She would have to be crafty. Subtle. Tony sometimesobjected to her help.

First,she had to figure out who it was. She couldn’t have someoneunworthyattachedto her best friend.

Subtle,she reminded herself. She shrank down into her Wasp form and flittedthrough the library to land on Tony’s shoulder. “Hi!”

Tonyflinched a little at the buzz of her wings, but relaxed when he sawit was her. “Hey, Jan. Were you going to try to study? I can clearout.”

“Nah,I’ve got some entomology homework, but it’ll wait.” Shecritically examined the stitching on the collar of his jacket. It wasstarting to fray; she’d have to make him a new one soon. Heroeswere so hard on their clothes. “So, who’re we spying on?” Shepeered through the window, trying to see who was in the food courtthat Tony might be watching.

“I’mnot spying on anyone,” Tony said. Jan could heartheeye-roll; she was definitely on the right track.

MariaHill was at the coffee kiosk, but– ew, no. She was far too seriousfor Tony, and didn’t have much in the way of fashion sense, either.Tigra ran past, but she was obviously on her way to a fashion shootor an important nap or something, not someone Tony had been watchingfor the last half hour while pretending to read up on the latestengineering developments. Anyway, Tigra had a huge crush on Cap.Misty Knight was considering her options for lunch, but if Tony had acrush on Misty, Jan would’ve thought she’d have noticed earlier,since Tony had been working on Misty’s artificial arm for months.

Pepperand Kamala were chatting in the line for the shwarma stand, butKamala was basically everyone’s kid sister, and while Tony flirtedendlessly with Pepper, everyone – including Tony and Pepper – knewthere was nothing to that. Natasha was deep in discussion with Union Jackon one of the benches, probably listing all the different ways theycould kill a man with the hot dog she was holding. But Tony waspretty much over Natasha these days, Jan thought.

Ormaybe it was Union Jack? Jan considered that for a moment. Union Jack wasabout as gay as a guy could be without actually skipping everywhereand leaving daisy petals in his wake, and he’d never tried to hidethe way his eyes lingered on Tony sometimes. But Tony had alreadyturned him down (except for the body shots thing, and no one wascounting that),so it wasn’t him, either.

“Jan,”Tony sighed. “Really, it’s nothing.”

“Don’tbe an idiot,” Jan said, patting his ear. “You’re not that goodof an actor. This will go much faster if you just tell me who you’reso obsessed with!” Well, she’d never been that good at subtle, anyway.

Tonygroaned and nearly unseated her by dropping his face into his hands.Jan hovered for a moment and then re-settled on his shoulder,frowning out the window. “Come on,” she wheedled. “Don’t makeme beat it out of you. Is it Misty?”

“No,”Tony groaned.

“Areyou chasing Natasha again?”

“No.”

Janwas running out of options. “God, don’t tell me it’s Maria,”she begged.

Tonylifted his head to give her a disgusted look. “She’s even lessfun than Cap,” he protested. “Why would I even.”

“That’swhat I thought, but– Ooh, did you change your mind about Union Jack?”She could work with that. He was super-cute, and his colors wouldblend acceptably with Tony’s for couple-themed events. “I mean, Iknow you want everyone to think you’re straight, but–”

“Iamstraight,”Tony said firmly.

“Youdated Loki,”Jan pointed out.

“Onlyfor a couple of weeks,” Tony pouted. He dropped his face back intohis hands. “Anyway, Loki’s a girl sometimes.”

“Thatmight make you lessstraight,not more,”Jan mused. “We’ve talkedaboutthis, Tony. It’s good you want to make your dad proud and all, buthiding who you are is not the way to go about it! It’s not like hecan disown you for being bisexual.”

Tonywas quiet for a long minute, but the back of his neck was turningred. “Pansexual,” he corrected in the tiniest voice Jan had everheard from him. “I think.”

“Youdon’t have to know for sure,” she said, and patted his ear again.“I won’t out you, I promise.” He didn’t lift his head though,so Jan went back to looking out the window. “Except I still don’tknow who it is you’re–”

Oh.

OH.

Tonywasn’t looking at anyone in the food court after all. Past the foodcourt was the Quad. And on the Quad was the Winter Soldier, soulfullystrumming his guitar.

“Ohmy god.”

“Jan–”

“Ohmy god.”

“Don’t.”

“You’vegot a crush on BuckyBarnes.”

Tonygroaned, but didn’t deny it, which was confirmation enough for Jan.She was so excited that she couldn’t resist zipping around the rooma few times, trailing a barely-repressed “Eeeeeeee!” ofexcitement behind her like a banner. “Ohmigodohmigodohmigod!”

“Itdoesn’t matter,” Tony said, voice muffled by his hands. “Hebarely even lookedatme the whole time we were on the school tour. And maybe I’m notstraight, but he hastobe.”

“Whydoes he have to be straight?”

Tonygave her a despairing look. “He’s Captain Perfect’s best friendfrom the Stone Ages! Rogers is so straight that even my dad wouldprobably tell him to relax a little.”

Janfolded her arms and gave Tony her best glare. The one she practicedin the mirror to use on Enchantress, and people who mixed plaids.“Anthony Edward Stark, are you suggesting that straight andnot-straight people can’t be friends?”

“No!”Tony backpedaled. “He’s just so…” He trailed off, looking atBucky through the window again. Bucky had put his guitar away and wasplaying catch with a football-throwing device now.

Janwatched with Tony for a moment. “…Dreamy?” she suggested slyly.

“Yeah…”Tony shook himself, then shoved her, playfully. “Stop that! Youknow what I mean.”

Jandid know. There were a handful of students at the Academy who wereout of the closet, but not many. Certainly not as many as,statistically, there should have been. But that didn’t make it anyeasier to ask someone out, not knowing if they even liked whateveryou were. “Lucky for you,” Jan said, “you have me.I’ll find out for you!”

“Youwill?” The look of gratitude on Tony’s face was a testament totheir friendship. Or to his desperation. She wasn’t sure which.

TheQuad was a great place to hang out. It was wide open, not crammedwith buildings and other clutter. There was always a quiet spot forBucky to work on his music or practice throwing and catching.

Sometimes,there would be a new prospective student in the Quad, looking aroundand talking to everyone who passed. New students made the Academystronger, more able to stand against their enemies, so that was okay,even if Bucky didn’t always trust the candidates, especially theones who had recently fought against the Academy. Perhaps that washypocritical. But Bucky knew his own reasons for turning against hisformer institution. He didn’t know theirs.

Therewas frequently a challenger in the Quad as well, daring Academystudents to fight them. Sometimes, they triumphed, but Bucky’sclassmates banded together again and again, relentless and fierce,until the challenger retreated in disgrace. Bucky had not yet beencalled to stand against a challenger, but he took satisfaction inrefusing to allow them to disrupt his routine, in continuing to workout on the Quad, and showing off his arm so that the challengerscould see it and know what they might face.

(Hewasn’t the only one who enjoyed such tactics. The alien woman,Gamora, would sit on one of the benches for hours at a time, honingher sword and flipping it into the air, her cold gaze lockedrelentlessly on the challenger as it fell easily back into her hand.The Wakandan prince often chose the Quad to practice hislightning-quick fighting style, and the Black Widow, who wasintimidating even at her most friendly, had been known to don acostume of eldritch horror and… loom.)

Sothere was every reason for Bucky to spend almost as much time in theQuad as training at the blasting range. It certainly had nothing todo with the fact that Stark Tower overlooked the Quad, or that itsowner could often be seen through the windows, hard at work or evenlounging in the decadent rooftop hot tub.

Still,when a slender, red-clad figure emerged from Stark Tower’s mainentrance, Bucky noticed. He was a sniper; it was his job to noticethings. It was perfectly understandable that his heart rate wouldincrease as he evaluated a possible threat.

Somewhatless understandable was the sense of disappointment he felt when heidentified the figure as Misty Knight, but there was no one nearbywho knew him well enough to know what the subtle shift in hisshoulders or the tip of his head meant. Or to spot the way he tensedagain with the realization that he’d been out here on the Quad fora couple of hours, now, and he hadn’t seen Misty go in,which meant she’d been in Stark Tower that whole time. Perhapseven… overnight?

Helooked down at his guitar, but she had already spotted him watchingand changed the angle of her path.

“Heythere,” she said when she reached him. “You’re Bucky Barnes,right? I’m Misty. I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

Wasshe going to warn him off? Her hand was extended as if to shake, butit was her artificial arm. Bucky knew how much damage hisarmcould do. But Steve had been trying to convince him that AvengersAcademy was different. That he could trust – well, maybe not allthestudents here, but mostofthem. He took her hand cautiously.

“It’swarm,” he said, startled.

Mistysmiled, wide and bright and not at all offended. “Yeah, that was acouple of upgrades back. Actually, I thought we could hang out alittle and compare notes, if you want?” She wiggled the fingers ofher prosthetic hand to indicate what she meant.

Thatseemed… good, actually. Talking to someone who knew what it waslike. Still, he hesitated. He’d meant to practice his guitar for awhile longer.

Tonyburst out of Stark Tower, running hell bent for leather. He grinnedand waved at them as he passed, late to Professor Pym’s class yetagain.

“Wecan swing through the food court and go have lunch in the park,”Misty was saying. “Have you tried the new pizza place?”

Therereally wasn’t anything keeping him in the Quad. He could practicelater. “Not yet,” he said, trying to remember how to smile, andgestured for Misty to proceed him down the path.

Thepizza was pretty good, but Bucky was less interested in that than inlearning more about Misty’s arm. It turned out that Tony had builtthat, too, and kept her supplied with upgrades on a regular basis.Much more frequently than Hydra had upgraded Bucky’s arm, which hadbeen whenever he’d managed to get it so damaged that it was easierto replace than repair.

“Oh,all sorts of things,” she answered when he asked. “There’s thetemperature thing – it’s not just cosmetic; the metal used to pullheat from my body in the winter and overheat me in the summer, and mywhole shoulder just achedfromit, you know?”

Buckydid know. He was used to ignoring it, but… he knew.

He wondered if Tony would take over maintenance to his arm, now. Maybe even upgrade it some. He thought about having Tony close enough to touch, warm breath spilling over his shoulder, strong hands delicately caressing Bucky’s innermost circuits... He shivered. He hadn’t allowed anyone so close since Hydra. It was a little terrifying.

Misty was still talking, heedless of Bucky’s wandering thoughts. “Andhe’s always got a new trick for smoother function or faster neuralresponse. Better waterproofing, a filter system to keep out dirt andstuff, power upgrades… All kinds of stuff. Seriously, Tony’s thebest.”

Hercolors were similar to Tony’s, Bucky couldn’t help but noticing– mostly red with black accents, and the arm was gold… Somethingturned over high in Bucky’s gut, oily and uncomfortable. Maybe thepizza wasn’t as good as he’d thought. “Are you and Tony…together?”

Mistysnorted indelicately. “No,” she said shortly. “He’sbrilliant, and he’s funny when he’s not trying too hard, and Iowe him more than I’ll probably ever be able to repay. But no waywould I date a boy who acts like Tony does.”

“Idon’t… understand,” Bucky confessed. Tony seemed like he wouldbe an excellent partner, clever and attentive and generous, eager toplease and adventurous, and handsome–

Oh.Oh no.

Itwasn’t fear, or the pizza. It was something much, much worse:

Acrush.

“Idon’t have anything against the guy,” Steve said as he lined uphis shot, which was utter hooey, because Steve obviously didhavesome kind of beef with Tony. “He’s just kind of… flighty.”

Buckyleaned against Club A’s bar and calculated Steve’s shot in hishead, the geometry of collisions blooming there almost as neatly asthe arc of a clean shot. If there was one thing Steve did well, itwas calculate ricochet. All that work with the shield, Buckysupposed. “He’s not flighty,” Bucky said.

“Maybethat’s the wrong word,” Steve allowed. He paused to take theshot, sending pool balls spinning across the felt. Two of themdropped into the waiting pockets. “He just never takes anythingvery seriously.”

Whateverhis eye for angles, Steve’s eye for people – or at least Tony –was obviously half-blind. “Are you kidding me?” Bucky asked. “Hedoes so much here – he built the blasting range, and he’s upgradedit at least twice! And the sparring ring–”

“Excusesto play with robots,” Steve snorted, walking slowly around thetable. “Just happened to work out for us.”

Buckyrolled his eyes. “Plushestill runs his business.”

“He’sgonna run it right into the ground if he doesn’t buckle down,”Steve said. “The last thing I saw him testing was some kind ofhoverboard toy. And then he comes in here playing big-shot, throwinghis money around.”

“Hey,it’s his money,” Bucky said mildly. He didn’t ask if thehoverboards were a thing he could get for himself, because honestly,that sounded a hell of a lot more fun than playing pool allafternoon. “And staying on top of his classes. He’s got straightA’s, you know, even though I think Pym’s got it out for him.”

“Just‘cause Tony won’t follow the standard safety precautions,”Steve muttered. “That’s not Professor Pym’s fault. Maybe hewouldn’t have such a hard time if he didn’t spend all his librarytime looking for books with pictures of pretty dames, or mockingeverything in the engineering journals.” Steve made another shot,then looked up at Bucky across the pool table. “Look, I’m nottelling you who you can or can’t like–”

“Gee,thanks, pal,” Bucky drawled.

“Ijust don’t want to see you get hurt,” Steve said, all earnestpuppy eyes. “I mean, I know you weren’t back yet when ithappened, but there was that incident a few months back where he wasin here letting Union Jack do bodyshotsoffhim. That’s not relationship material.”

Christ,Rogers was so full of bullshit, Bucky wasn’t sure why hedidn’t stink. If Tony had anything going with Jack, it would’vebeen all over campus. Hell, Bucky’d had lunch with Misty at thepark onceandit had taken three days to quash the immediate rumor that theyweredating. You’d think, between classes and jobs and superheroing,these folks wouldn’t have so much time to gossip. Bucky was aboutto mention that to Steve when the door opened and Steve’s face litup.

Peggy.Of course. The only person on campus who could make Bucky turninvisible. Steve put up his cue and jogged over to join her at thejukebox.

Buckytook another swig of his drink as he watched them dance. At leastSteve had finally learned a couple of moves. But god, it made himache with the desire to pull someone onto the dance floor himself.Someone slender and strong and unafraid of Bucky’s arm. Someonewho’d laugh and rise to the challenge, ready to risk failure forthe possibility of glory…

Buckysighed and finished his drink. He waved off the robot bartender whenit reached for a new can, and slumped out the door.

“Iheard the most interesting thing,” Natasha said in Tony’s ear.

“Gah!”said Tony, because she hadn’t been there just a second ago, andthen, “Why do you do that. Why.”

Natashasmirked. “Because it’s funny.” She stepped out of the cardboardbox she’d used to sneak up on him and dropped into the seat next tohis on the dorm patio. “I heard the most interesting thing,” sherepeated, somewhat more conversationally this time.

“Heard,or overheard?” Tony teased. He pried open the back of the gadget hewas tinkering with and examined the wiring.

“Heard,”Natasha said, faux-wounded. “Are you going to ask me what it was?”

Tonylooked at her sidelong, then fished the multitool out of his pocketand started unscrewing the circuit board. “I don’t know,” hesaid. “If it’s about how Loki and Enchantress got into anotherfight, you can save it. I heard about it already from Jan.”

“No,I got it from Jan already, too,” Natasha said. “Did she tell youthey were fighting about you?”

Tonyrolled his eyes. “Of course she did. I don’t know what she thinksI’m going to do about it. I dated Loki for, like, twoweeksbeforeI got sick of his attitude, and Enchantress only wants me because Idon’twanther.I really wish I hadn’t given her a key to the hot tub.” He heldthe circuit board up, checking the connections and switches. “Howcome the only people on this campus who are interested in me areex-villains?”He did some quick calculations in his head and flipped a couple ofswitches.

“Well,there’s Union Jack,” Natasha offered.

Tonyrolled his eyes. “He’s not actually interested in me, you know.He just spreads that around to make himself look more attractivelyunavailable. He only really wants me for the tech, to be the Q to his Bond.”

Natashadidn’t say anything. Tony finished screwing the circuit board backinto place, then hit the power switch. Well, thatdidn’twork. He turned it back off and reached for the multitool again. Heglanced at Natasha. She was watching him like he was one of themysteries of the universe. “What?”

“Nothing.”She leaned back in her chair. “Ask me what I heard.”

“Fine,whatever, tell me what you heard.”

“Iwas at the Winter Soldier’s open mic last night–”

“Oh,shit, that was last night?” Damn it. He’d been meaning to go tothat. What had he been doing last night? …Oh, right, he’d gottencaught up studying that alien armor down in SHIELD HQ’s basement.He really should start setting alarms for himself when he was downthere.

“Yes,”Natasha said. “And he had some great new lyrics to try out.”

“Well,that’s what open mic night is for, I guess.” Tony fidgetedaimlessly with the gadget, not wanting to telegraph his feelings tooobviously, even though it was Natasha and she probably already kneweverything just from the way he’d combed his hair this morning, orsomething. “I’m sorry I missed it.”

“Youshould be,” she told him smugly. “I think my favorite was the oneabout the ‘stark beauty of winter’ and the ‘red glow of dawn’,myself. Sif really liked the new ‘Snowmelt’ song, but I thoughtthe bit about it dripping into the forge’s fire was a littleoverdone. Also, the rhyme was a bit forced. It could use work.”

Tonylooked up at her. “He’s… really kind of impressed with the IcePalace, I guess?”

Natasha’smouth actually fell open. “You’re being even dumber than usualtoday,” she finally said. “That’s not what they’re about.”

Whatthe hell did that mean? “But the forge at the Ice Palace is theonly one we’ve got,” Tony pointed out.

Natashadropped her head into her hands. “You’re hopeless, Stark.Completely hopeless.”

“Excuseyou, I am fullofhope,” Tony shot back, grinning.

Natashashot him a Look that made him fear for his life, or at least hiskidneys, and stalked off, muttering under her breath.

So,Bucky liked the forge at the Ice Palace, did he? Maybe Tony shouldtry to spend a little more timethere. His blacksmith costume was pretty sexy, if he did say sohimself.

Janfound Bucky at the blasting range. “So, you’ve been here forwhat, a month now?” she said between zaps. “How’re you settlingin?”

“Fine,”Bucky said, absently taking aim. The strange thing was, he actuallymeant it. His memories had been steadily trickling back, and no onehad even hinted at taking them away again. There were people here whowere actually interested in his music, who attended open mic nightand invited him to jam sessions and sought his advice aboutharmonies. The classes were interesting – well, most of them. Thestaff seemed to think of the students’ well-being as people as muchas their value as assets. And while not everyone was friendly –Bucky and Crossbones both still went out of their way to sneer at eachother whenever they crossed paths – the atmosphere was much morerelaxed and easygoing than Hydra had ever been.

Andthere was Tony, of course. Bucky’s mouth curved in a small,unwitting smile.

Heactually likedithere.

“Youknow, Tony and I have been friends forever,”Jan said.

Buckyflinched, just a bit, and his shot went off-center, wide by a whole handspan.Damn it. He made himself take a slow breath and aim again. “I’veheard that,” he said neutrally.

“Soyou know that if you break his heart, I’ll have nomercy,”she said. She shot him a glare, and it should’ve been cute andeasily-dismissed, that stubborn pout and furrowed brow, but Bucky hadseen what her stings had done to the target ‘bots, and her tinyWasp form would be ideal for ambush. It was generally acknowledgedthat despite her fixation on fashion and social media, she was one ofthe more formidable students here. “And I don’t just meancheating,” she said fiercely. “He’s sensitive,you have to be nice to him! Don’t yell at him for working toohard because he tries to act all ‘man of leisure’ but he’sactually superbusyall the time, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll respectthat. And don’t take him for granted because he’s already had todeal with just too many people who only want his money or his tech.And you’d better appreciate his genius, too! He’s the smartestguy on campus!”

Buckyknew better than to show fear. “We’re not dating,” hepointed out when she finally had to pause to draw a breath.

Jandemolished her target and huffed in exasperation as she waited for itto reset. “Well, that’s because he’s also kind of an idiotsometimes. You just need to be a little more obvious.”

Buckyactually lowered his gun to stare at her. “More obvious.”

“Yep!”She shrank and took to wing, and destroyed the target again withthree quick shots.

“Isthere a single student on this campus who hasn’t figured out how Ifeel about him?” Bucky asked.

“Um…”She resumed her human size and thought about it. “Well… Danny canbe a little oblivious sometimes,” she said. “And Rocket doesn’tcare about anyone’s love life.” She sniffed indignantly.

“AndTony, of course,” Bucky added. Just saying the name sent a shiverthrough him, as if it were forbidden. “He came to open mic threedays ago and I sang the song I’ve been saving for him, ‘TheGlowing Heart’. I don’t know how much more obvious I can get.”

Jansmiled and reached up to pat his shoulder. “You’ll figure itout,” she said. Her eyes narrowed. “You’d better.”

“Ug,she’s at it again,” Taskmaster growled as he stomped through thedoor into Club A.

Buckyglanced up, then looked away again. Taskmaster was supposedlyreformed, but Bucky didn’t trust him. He spent too much timehanging out with Loki and Enchantress.

“Who?”Crossbones demanded from the spot he’d commandeered on the dancefloor.

Buckyhad almost turned around and left when he’d spotted Crossbonesalready in the place, but they both came from Hydra. Crossboneswouldn’t see it as Bucky simply wanting peace and quiet; instead,it would read as weakness.

Whatever.He’d only wanted a drink, anyway, before band practice.

“Amora,”Taskmaster snorted. He refused to call her Enchantress, even when shefumed at him. It was one of the few things that Bucky liked abouthim. “She’s trying to hypnotize Stark again. What the hell doeseveryone see in him, anyway?”

Buckycould have answered that, but why would he? If they couldn’tappreciate Tony without being told–

Wait.Hypnotize?

Buckythrew back the rest of his drink and barrelled out of the club,heading for the Quad at not quitehistop speed. He slammed to a halt when he saw them, the Enchantress’magic a sickly green aura that slithered into Tony’s mouth andeyes.

Tonystaggered under it, weak, and stared at Enchantress with wide,adoring eyes that made Bucky’s stomach churn with anger and disgustand fear.

Evenas Bucky watched, however, Tony shook off the effects of the magic,his dopey grin curling into a sneer. He turned his back with a rudegesture and started to walk away, but the Enchantress was alreadysending out her magic again, dragging him back in again.

Bucky’shands curled into fists. Atit again,Taskmaster had said, which meant this wasn’t anything new.The Enchantress tried to drag Tony into her trap often. And despitehaving no protection from magic – certainly not Asgardian magic –Tony had so far managed to resist her.

God,the strength of will that must take… Coulda flightymando that, Steve?Buckymentally challenged.

Butwhy the hell hadn’t anyone put a stop to this? Fury, or even Odin?Did it amuse them to see Tony so weakened? There were students, aswell, fully capable of blocking the Enchantress’ lure.

Buckygrowled, anger rising, and pushed himself into motion, stalkingtoward the tableau. “Leave him alone, witch,” he snarled at theEnchantress. He wrapped his hand around Tony’s arm and tugged himaway, making straight for Stark Tower.

Buckyfelt it, the instant the last tendrils of the Enchantress’ magicsnapped. Tony stumbled a few steps and straightened, then looked atBucky in surprise. “What…?”

“Hadto get you away from her,” Bucky said through clenched teeth. Hedidn’t stop moving until they’d pushed into the lobby of StarkTower.

“Awayfrom…” Tony turned around to look behind them, though he didn’ttwist hard enough to free his arm from Bucky’s grasp. His eyeswidened. “Enchantress? Really? You… rescued me?”

Heatflooded Bucky’s neck and cheeks. “I dunno ‘bout that,” hesaid. “You seemed to be holdin’ your own. I just… couldn’tstand to watch it.”

Tonywas looking at him, now. “No one’s ever done that for me before,”he said, voice soft with wonder.

Buckybit back the first half-dozen comments that sprang to mind. (“Yourstrength does not obligate / you to carry all the weight” wasn’ta bad starting point for a lyric, maybe a song.) Tony didn’tstop looking at him, though, his eyes wide and warm. “Well, I did,”Bucky finally said.

“Yousure did,” Tony said. “Thanks.” He smiled, and it lit up hisface like the sun. Bucky swayed into it like a plant seeking themorning light.

Moreobvious,he thought, and said, “Don’t suppose you’d like to go get adrink?”

“What?Oh, uh, sure, yeah,” Tony stammered. “Victory drink, thatsounds–”

“Imean like a date,” Bucky said, and Tony’s eyes rounded. Wow, Janhad not been kidding atallaboutTony’s level of obliviousness. “I really like you,” he added, just to be sure.It came out a little too loud, verging on panicked. If Natasha was sneaking into Tony’s cheese fridge again, she was going tobust something laughing at them.

Buckydecided he didn’t much care. He let go of Tony’s arm, finally,and instead lightly brushed back the tips of Tony’s hair where theywere drooping toward his face. “I like you a lot,” he said.

Tonyswallowed, but he didn’t back away. He just kept staring at Buckywith those pretty, warm eyes. “You’re not– Really?”

“Yeah,Tony,” Bucky said. He dug deep and dredged up a smile that wasnearly a grin. “Come on, doll, let’s paint the town red.”

“IronMan red?” Tony asked, teasing.

“Youbet,” Bucky agreed.

Tonyslipped his arm through Bucky’s. “You’re on, hot stuff.” Helaughed briefly. “Oh, man, wait’ll I tell Jan she doesn’t haveto stick her nose in it, after all!”

#tony stark #bucky barnes #winteriron #buckytony #avac #jan van dyne #natasha romanov #steve rogers #assorted others #prompt fill #Anonymous

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