#conrad mack

The vision is so clear in my mind. Kind of angsty, full of intrigue, threats and tension, a little funny, a whole new character with zero work done with him. He can be as scary, or not, as the author wants. As evil, or not. As good natured, or not. As scheming, or not. As connected, or not. Brand new sandbox here

More Zemo in the Media! This time with lots of MCU special guest stars!

Conrad Mack has a reputation in Madripoor that’s well known -- he’s got to look so similarly to Sam that no one, including the bar tender in the (I had to look this up) the Brass Monkey, thinks too much of it. And yeah, I get it, plot convenience, etc, especially the shots of Conrad Mack in the blue suit are basically Anthony Mackie with his Infinity War beard, but another thing I wish there was more in fics (and in stories in general): twin strangers.

Twin strangers is basically a term created by a group of friends who wanted to find their doppelgangers in the world. One of them, a woman, actually did manage to find one (and then several) and meet up in person, and then they set out to create a website that could help people find, match, and meet with said strangers. There have been many articles and news reports about it and a couple of mini-documentaries -- including some that have dealt with research on biological twins and comparing the data with some of these identified pairs (or groups) of twin strangers.

It’s all fascinating, but not the point. My point is that it would be fun for fics to really take this concept with Sam Wilson and Conrad Mack and explore it. All people know is that the “Smiling Tiger” shows up to a meet with Selby, then Selby gets shot and killed. There’s a bounty on their heads but Sam’s last name is never mentioned -- so does that mean Conrad Mack has to deal with the fallout of Sam’s (and the group’s) fiasco? Would he want revenge for what Sam did to his rep or even worse, the fact he has someone who can impersonate him?

But then too, finding out that Sam Wilson, the person who impersonated him, is the new Captain America. They share a similar looking face. That can really do a lot of damage, especially if he does a pretty good job of impersonating Sam Wilson. Being Sam Wilson could get him into places and doors he never thought of and only people who know Sam Wilson truly well would be able to see through it. By the time the word could get out, who knows how far the damage could be?

And yes, the fics where Sam yet again assumes the Smiling Tiger persona is interesting but what if they find out the people they’re meeting really also know Conrad well or also have beef and take it out on Sam? (Or if they just go undercover not knowing the place they’re going is bad coz Smiling Tiger has a bad rep there) Or people want to take advantage of the fact Sam has a similar face to Conrad and demand Sam go to Conrad’s main place/hideout/lair/etc to get something Conrad took/has/etc? Perhaps in exchange for something else (whatever that else is up to the writer, especially if there’s hostages involved or etc)

Or even taking the Sam has to impersonate Conrad thing even further, they are looking into some individuals/groups and they find out they have ties to Conrad, and then they have an opportunity to get them if Sam actually can impersonate him well -- and not with the meager, last minute scraps of knowledge Zemo provided, like deep dive, into personal history thing. If the fics are gonna go there, it would be nice to see it go there you know? Sam still protesting with the whole “I’m a soldier not a spy” shtick or being like “do you remember the last time I tried to be a spy and impersonate this man??” but knowing there might be no better opportunity/choice but at least if he’s going to do it, he’d better be more prepared.

I’m sure there are more ways to milk this out but it’s 6 am and I feel I’m getting a bit wordy but yeah. 

(Another idea, maybe perhaps on a sting, they accidentally uncover Conrad among the few, but they need Conrad to specifically be the one who makes some kind of exchange or whatever, so Sam has to go in his place if they want things to go the way they want and so the two of the work together. That would be interesting lol)

Anyways, there’s so much untapped potential here. And that’s not including if Conrad was smart enough to fool people like Bucky or Joaquin or something. That would be fun. Or, if people are into the idea of Power Broker!Sharon (coz not everyone is and I understand why), the kind of united, brilliantly scarily executed plot of Sharon and Conrad using that similarity to advance their agendas?

A Power Broker show, but get this, Sharon teams up with the real Smiling Tiger, played by Anthony Mackie with some light prosthetics and an accent.