Thursday: Creator's Workshop

[cap_ironman_daily]

Need help with creating the atmosphere for that sleazy bar Tony likes to hang out in? What would a college student in the 1980s spend his money on? Looking for someone to help beta read your fic or just cheer you on? How do people draw hands, damnit? How do you make your neighbour's dog stop make an appearance on your podfic? Ask a weird question that now taints your search history but still have not found the answer to? Would you like to share a great resource that you found recently?

Here's the place to direct all your questions (no judgement, no shame!), offer help, share some advice, cheer people on, or just chat about your current projects! Are you working on your Big Bang fic? Having fun with the Tiny Reverse Bang? Panicking over the Superhusbands Aluminum Anniversary Anthology deadline creeping closer? Let everyone know what you're working on, and if your fellow fans and creators can be of any assistance!


Our list of resources was getting a little long, so you can now find it here! If you know of any other, let us know!

Comments

Re: General Ideas for Post CACW Fanfic

[pangolin13]

Yes I have a general outline for some of the things I would like to include in my story, which will focus on how the death of Steve Rogers has exacerbated the divide between the Avengers. Natasha will do whatever it takes to keep them together, even if it means she's the one who has to make the difficult choices. Especially when her teammates don't always agree with her decisions. What makes it so hard for everyone is that one of their own was responsible for Steve's death, so they can't just go after some baddie and beat the shit out of him till he gives up the ghost. It's their teammate, someone they've trusted to have their back in the past, who has fought along side them. Sam and Wanda take it pretty hard that Steve is gone. But at least Wanda can see that Tony has suffered a great deal, concerning the fact he had just learned about how his parents had been murdered, after all those years thinking it had been an accident, at the hands of the Winter Soldier. And Wanda sympathizes because she knows what that kind of grief does to someone (look at everything she did in Age of Ultron). Sam on the other hand is a lot less sympathetic because he had given Tony the location and told him to 'go alone and as a friend' only then to find out from Natasha that Steve is dead because of what Tony did. Natasha herself must process the loss, but she has to compartmentalize her feelings in order to effectively assume the role as leader. I would also like to show how she does regret letting Steve and Bucky get away in the quinjet, and how she's dealing with the fact she 'played it wrong' herself.

Also I want to create situations where Natasha has to operate within the restrictions of the Accords, so she has to play along with Ross, and work to tear the system down from the inside,and eventually advocate for new legislation for accountability as it pertains to the Avengers.

And as I mentioned before this story will also explore a deeper relationship between Natasha and Tony. With Rhodey out of commission because of his condition, and Pepper gracefully bowing out of Tony's personal affairs, Natasha is now the one who has to take on handling Tony and his overwhelming grief which manifests itself through volatile and self-destructive behavior/tendencies. And while they both have their reasons to want to hate each other, seeing each others humanity and vulnerability helps them to better understand the other and work towards acceptance as they learn how to move forward together. Because the truth is that they can't hate each other, and they need the other person to get through their shared pain, loss, anger, and resentment they've directed irrationally at Steve, at one another and internally at themselves.

Tony's feelings also play an important role in how he is processing this ordeal. He feels betrayed by Steve, that someone he trusted had lied to him yet again. But more importantly Tony is angry that Steve chose Bucky, that despite everything they'd been through as a team, everything they'd worked towards, and faced together, Steve was willing to throw it all away for a brainwashed assassin, for the man who murdered Tony's father and above all else his mother. He feels an incredible amount of guilt for killing Steve too. The fact that his worst fear has now become a reality, and everything he'd done to prevent this outcome had ultimately brought this tragedy to fruition. Because if he hadn't created Ultron then there would be no need for the Sokovia Accords, no divide between the Avengers, no Zemo looking for revenge, and no reason for him to try and kill Barnes as viscerally as he reacted. He wouldn't have seen the tape, and would have remained blissfully unaware of what happened to his parents because Steve would have also still been lying to him (which that fact doesn't sit well with him either) but at least Steve would still be *alive*. And then for Tony to have to confront the fact that he has always harbored intense feelings for this man, manifested through emotions that are intimately tangled up in that fine line he's been vacillating back and forth between since the time when his father first enamored Tony with tales of Captain America, only to disappear for months at a time rather than be bothered to see all the wonderful inventions his little boy was desperately creating in the hopes of holding Howard's attention so he wouldn't have to disappear off into the ice and snow in search of the super soldier. All of the feelings Tony has tried to deny do inevitably come out in full force in the midst of his grieving, and since the story will be Natasha-centric it is through her lense that we see, in Tony, this self-destructive play of emotions.

As far as writing I just have a few pages for the beginning chapter and a tone of notes on how I want other parts of the story to come together. There are still a lot of areas/plot that needs to be fleshed out, but I am determined to stick with it!