characters: Natasha Romanoff, Pepper Potts, Jane Foster, Peggy Carter, Lady Sif, Darcy Lewis, Maria Hill music: "So What", by Pink summary: So, so what? I'm still a rock star. A tribute to the kickass ladies of the Avengers cinematic universe. ZOMG SO AWESOME.
"We're going to Hartford," he said. "I wanted to catch the look on your face when I sprung it on you, but whatever. We're going to see Gabe." All the fight went out of Bucky like the air out of a pricked balloon. "Gabe?" he repeated, half-sorrowful, half-wondering, as if he could barely remember who Gabe was, and regretted that. Which, for all Steve knew, might well have been the case. But then he grinned. "We're gonna give him a heart attack." "Please," said Steve. "Who'd you think was the first person I called when I figured out who Tasha's Winter Soldier was?" Five times Steve visited Gabe Jones in Hartford. Oh my heart. *sniffle* This is absolutely lovely.
"Hey, look--" "I told you not to say anything," she says. "Okay," he says, and drinks out of the bottle again. "Oh, for--just go ahead and say it," she says, putting her head into her hands, because it's Tony and he'll say it anyway. "Just--give it a chance?" he says, and it's so not what she expects to hear. "I mean, if you break him, we'll have issues, but don't fuck it up by not trying." Cogent relationship advice from Tony Stark. At three in the morning. What is the world coming to? Steve asks Natasha out. She says yes, but she's convinced it's not going to work out. Of course, she discovers Steve knows who she is, and likes her.
save the last dance - hapakitsune - The Avengers (2012), Captain America (2011) [Archive of Our Own]
At first, Peggy thinks she's dreaming. But the longer she stares at the screen, the more sure she is that this is real, that she couldn't have possibly have made anything as extraordinary as this. She couldn't have made up Steve fighting alongside Howard's son and whoever that man with the blond hair was, even though she had dreamed for ages of the day when Howard or SHIELD would find Steve. The mask is a nice touch, she thinks wryly, even if it looks ridiculous, and anyone else might have been fooled into thinking that this Captain America wasn't the same as the original, but she knows Steve. She could recognize him across a room, across the world, as it happens, and it's him. Oh, Peggy. Oh, Steve. Oh my heart. *sniffle*
"Father told me,” he said tersely, as soon as they were alone. Goddammit Bruce. “Uh… what, exactly, did he tell you?” Damian clicked his tongue impatiently. “All he’d say was that you’d no longer be working with me. Are you quitting?” “I’m not quitting, little D.” “Is he making you quit?” “No!” She wasn’t about to be the cause of another bust-up between Bruce and Damian. “I’m-” “I thought we were partners!” “I’m pregnant.” So much for pretty speeches. Damian stared. “You mean… pregnant, pregnant?” “What other kinds of pregnant are there?" Steph's pregnant (again) and this is the story of how the other members of the Batfamily find out. Sweet and funny.
When Steve Rogers wakes up in the 21st century, SHIELD tells him everything they think he needs to know. No one tells him that the Dodgers aren’t in Brooklyn anymore. Steve/baseball=OTP.
I had a dream about you - Ark - Captain America (2011), The Avengers (2012) [Archive of Our Own]
Really hot Steve/Bucky porn, and then Steve sleeps with Howard when Bucky is gone. (I'm not sure why Howard and not Peggy but whatever, that part's not important.)
Bucky says, "Do you know, after you leave -- every time you leave, after the doctors have taken my mask off, I walk around this place and try to find everywhere you've been. Was your hand on the toaster? Did you lean against the doorway? Where were you on the couch? I haven't seen your face in seventy-five years, not really." Steve gets Bucky back but it's not without complications.
Nitty Gritty on the Oil Cleansing Method | Crunchy Betty
There are facial cleansers - foamy, gel, soapy, dry. There are exfoliants and scrubs. Toners and splashes. And then there's oil. The superhero of facial cleaning. You heard me right. Oil. Regardless of your particular skin situation (dry, oily, normal, reptilian), there's an oil-cleansing method that will work with your type. "Oil cleansing method," is one of the most popular in-site search term on Crunchy Betty. You want to know more about this oddly effective way to wash your face. I don't blame you. It's disco awesome. My one post on it, however, was written at nearly the absolute beginning of my blogging career. I had no idea how to craft a readable, coherent post. (Translation: It's confusing and not very helpful.) We're going to try this again. The right way. Everything you want to know about the oil cleansing method. Why it works. How to do it. The pros and cons. Your mind = blown. Your face = gorgeous. Your undying love + candy = mine.
This meant that for the first three months she'd been at SHIELD, warily figuring out how to fit into a place she hadn't been designed for, Clint had referred to her solely as Cinderella—during debriefs and training and sparring bouts, in the elevator and standing in line in the staff canteen. He'd even called her that in front of Fury once, and Natasha had learned that a man with only one eye was still fully capable of rolling it with complete disdain. At the end of the third month, she'd reached her limit and snapped, "And you're supposed to be Prince Charming?" The grin on Clint's face widened, became something real—obviously pleased by something more than just a weak and tetchy comeback. "Well," he said as he tossed a tennis ball against the inner hull of the helicarrier and caught it, over and over, "I am from Iowa. We're raised polite there." Natasha had heard of Iowa, of course, but that didn't mean she approved of it. "Polite isn't the same as charming."
Second Time, Fresh Start by jdphoenix (PG, 2,202 words)
"Be a lamb," she says and turns her back on him. It's … not something she does often. Ever, really. He steps closer than necessary behind her and she watches him lower the string before her eyes. They really are gorgeous pearls. Each perfectly shaped and colored and- and she's still mad at him. He went off and died. Again. This had better not become a thing. "What's that?" he asks. She covers her frustration at having spoken aloud by pulling her hair out of his way. His knuckles brush the edge of her collar as he brings the ends together. His breath, faint against her skin, is shockingly warm in the chill of the room. She allows herself to close her eyes again. His hands slide over her shoulders, kneading away the last of the tension she felt after he … "Dying," she says swiftly. Bantery Bruce/Selina.
"You hang out with super heroes; you end up being a bad guy magnet." "Maybe you shouldn't-" "Oh hell no," Darcy practically snarls. "You are not breaking up with me for my own good right now." "That's not-" "That's exactly what you were about to do," Darcy says, thumps the glass with a frustrated fist because she can't thump Clint. Clint and Darcy's dates keep getting interrupted by bad guys. Darcy's a little frustrated. Hee! This is hilarious.
