So. New reader here. Had some time and thought, "Hey, there's that kijikun story that I keep meaning to read, I have the time, I'll check it out."
First of all, I love this story. I seem to remember checking this out way back when and thinking "Oh, god, it's a Tony-raising-Steve's-clone story, run away," but that assumption was in no way worthy of this fic. I mean, that's exactly what the plot looks like, but there are so many other things going on, from the mystery of Steve's return to the complicated superhero relationships to Tony's being blackmailed by the Senator to the absolutely complex and dynamic nature of Steve and Tony's relationship. I love Maria's deprogramming and Tony becoming her father in practice as well as on paper and the secretaries Tony can't be bothered to learn the names of and the way everyone's emotions come through so clearly.
I love every chapter of this, the nail-biting emotional bits and the has-me-yelping plotty bits and the nature of the world with registration in it. I love the way Steve and Tony and Maria (and Jarivs) fought to become a family and then stopped fighting and just were. Tony's gut-wrenching fear and love for Maria are so well done. Steve's uncertainty and temper are not aspects we usually see from him, and I love it for that. I love that Maria was obviously going to be trained to be a weapon, but she doesn't fall into most of the weapon-X cliches because they caught her before her actual combat training had started. Everyone in here is a person, with their own motivations, assumptions and shortcomings.
Well-written, gripping, suspenseful and wonderful. Thank you for writing; I can't wait to see how everything turns out.
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First of all, I love this story. I seem to remember checking this out way back when and thinking "Oh, god, it's a Tony-raising-Steve's-clone story, run away," but that assumption was in no way worthy of this fic. I mean, that's exactly what the plot looks like, but there are so many other things going on, from the mystery of Steve's return to the complicated superhero relationships to Tony's being blackmailed by the Senator to the absolutely complex and dynamic nature of Steve and Tony's relationship. I love Maria's deprogramming and Tony becoming her father in practice as well as on paper and the secretaries Tony can't be bothered to learn the names of and the way everyone's emotions come through so clearly.
I love every chapter of this, the nail-biting emotional bits and the has-me-yelping plotty bits and the nature of the world with registration in it. I love the way Steve and Tony and Maria (and Jarivs) fought to become a family and then stopped fighting and just were. Tony's gut-wrenching fear and love for Maria are so well done. Steve's uncertainty and temper are not aspects we usually see from him, and I love it for that. I love that Maria was obviously going to be trained to be a weapon, but she doesn't fall into most of the weapon-X cliches because they caught her before her actual combat training had started. Everyone in here is a person, with their own motivations, assumptions and shortcomings.
Well-written, gripping, suspenseful and wonderful. Thank you for writing; I can't wait to see how everything turns out.