#guardvengers

"If you wanted to survive this, you should've met me a few years back. I'm a different person than I was when I came out of the ice. Which is very unfortunate for you."

Those of you who would recognize Rose Rogers have been here FAR too long but also hiiiiiiii 💕 anyway, she's changed a fuckton through the years (in universe and in the real world in her design and characterization.) She's a little more lethal, little more bloodthirsty, a little more grounded, and a little more secure in herself. And she has a fuck ton of new weaponry she's skilled with, including the Ares-gifted Spear of Achilles (:

Un-blurred versions of the above under the read more!!

because he’s absolutely smitten with Rose, (and wants to use her to make himself all powerful, loves when they fight, basically INCREDIBLY obsessed in SUCH an unhealthy way, and likes that they can go toe-to-toe and the fact that she could probably beat him) he..... has a general distaste for all of them. especially the powerful ones. however,,,, hurting them or targeting them is a last resort bc unlike a lot of older, more prominent villains he doesn’t constantly underestimate them OR Rose. he knows if he hurts them, then Rose will do everything in her power to kill him. he likes hating her too much for that to happen. he knows if he hurts ROSE, then he’s going to die painfully by the hands of not one person, but the whole fucking team. specifically Cas(buck). 

Xarus is the kind of guy who knows just what he has to work for to succeed; fighting the Guardvengers isn’t going to get him anywhere. But tormenting their little captain is going to get her closer to breaking point, or at least close proximity. His end goal is to drain her dry (and possibly turn her into a vampire, he’s dabbled with the idea) bc the super soldier serum in her blood is 2x Steve’s, so it wouldn’t just heal him from the vampiric flaw of burning in the sun. It would make him more powerful than any other vampire on the planet, and even probably make him a threat more akin to Loki or Thanos (it’s a reach but) than to where he is now. 

Ultimately, Xar is tired of living in the shadows. He’s tired of living subhumanly; not even just in accordance to the rest of human society. He wants to rise above, to prove he’s better than them(us) AS WELL as his siblings, as his father. Dracula is a name that everyone knows- and even his hated sister Lilith is technically more in line for the throne than he is. Janus, his older brother, is the most put together being in existence and has his father’s approval, his society’s approval, would PROBABLY have human society’s approval, and he even has Rose’s approval. Xarus is a being of wants. 

OFC Xarus has more of a personality than ambition. He’s a history geek. He understands the logistics of ruling a society/kingdom and how to do it fairly. And ultimately, he and Rose are very similar. They’re legacy children, with BIG shoes to fill in the future. They deal with their inner demons, and sometimes lose control- which often ends in blood. Their childhoods were not normal, they had issues with loss and how to deal with their emotions. 

But also ultimately, Rose chooses to try and be better. She does not kill unless it’s gone past subduing physically, she does not subdue physically until democracy has been attempted. That’s the big difference and it’s what makes she and Xarus so interesting. They’re cunning, mentally and physically powerful, epic foes of Hector-and-Achilles proportions. They have people who they’d kill for. Xarus’s little collection is more vapid and less actual friends/family than the GVS are to Rose (which sends him off the deep end eventually) but nevertheless.

steve and rose being reunited after everything and having expected the other to be dead/disintegrated, and literally just being close to each other for a decently long time; rose just holds his arm and lets her dad put an arm around her shoulders and just gently squeeze and stuff

the gvs having to retrace thanos’ footsteps to find secret knowledge on the infinity stones and weaknesses in the gauntlet so that they/their parents can defeat him and get everyone back; rose goes for the soul stone, because why the fuck not, and when she gets there she flips her SHIT when it’s red skull who’s guarding it. she ends up almost killing him, but turns out he’s letting her win- because he bestows her with the fact that she has no need to sacrifice the thing she loves most, no body no blood needed. not only has she suffered enough, but he reveals she’s going to lose the one thing she had back for good- and laughs at her, saying loss is in her bones and sacrifice is in her blood and her family will never know peace. she’s shaken to say the least.

rose has some serious ptsd after previously watching her friend/lover/whatever you may call him dracula turn to ash in the sun when he saved her from his son, xarus- and after seeing folks around her dissipate into dust she starts panicking. it’s not a pretty sight for the other gvs when they find her.

AND MY MOST FAVORITE THOUGHT SO FAR

the gvs had gathered together after they couldn’t contact their parents/uncles/aunts/etc and knew something horrendous was going on. when thanos snapped (lmaooooooo literally) they watched others disappear, and began frantically looking amongst themselves out of terror that they were all going to disappear, too. turns out, everyone is fine. until, of course, there’s a noise from rose and they all turn to see their leader and friend disintegrating from her hands to her arms and on- and her last words as she glances at her friends before her are a shaky ‘it’s going to be okay, i’m fine, i’m-’ 

((((((:  

oooooooooh bruh thank you so very much for asking this ask

“Living with Mum”; she’s very idealistic, very listen-to-mother, though nearing the time she enters the ice and goes missing for about 50/55 years she really starts rebelling against her mother’s orders; believes in the law through and through, upholds it, doesn’t understand the nuances of it, but still has the best intentions; doesn’t understand her abilities to their fullest, is afraid of herself, is afraid of disappointing her mother, doesn’t realize the shoes she wants to step into (AKA Cap’s)

“Frosty Rebirth”; still bright-eyed and bushy tailed, naive, believes in the law through and through and upholds it and doesn’t understand the nuances of it, wants what’s best for everyone, overwhelmingly self-sacrificial, will kill herself over trying to make everyone happy, has a longing for adventure and mystery and intrigue but doesn’t follow it, thinks she knows best on a lot of things, has a righteous understanding of the world where everything is just and right and proper

“Current”; tired, understands that justice isn’t always served and that the law can be made inherently wrong and biased, still super self-sacrificial but less self-righteous, more worldly and knowledgeable, has indulged her adventurous side and will probably never stop (feels more alive sometimes, feels more free), has accepted her flaws and failings as well as her mental illnesses and shortcomings in general, tries to do what’s best for the whole rather than a bunch of individuals, more like the vodka aunt than the mom friend but has become a better leader because of it, knows folks better and can read people better, still blindingly caring, accepts the shoes she’s stepped into and wears them better (for the most part), upholds the ideals rather than the “solid”- “compromise where you can, but where you shouldn’t, don’t.” “plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth and say, ‘no. you move.’“, etc. 

BOY, DO I

omg thank you!! yeah i haven’t really been into the mcu as of late bc of....... *gestures vaguely* everything. i haven’t seen w/viz and i’m not really planning on watching it ever bc of all of the, y’know... whitewashing and antisemitism and anti-romani sentiment and stuff. i even really hesitated watching tfatws bc i just cannot for the life of me trust the mcu to do things anymore but! honestly i’m enjoying the show so far! i would kill and die for sam wilson and mackie and stan’s chemistry is really fantastic, sharon carter finally getting some of the characterization she deserves, i find karli incredibly captivating despite them already doing the “but what if both extremes super evil?” bit. i respect john walker’s actor for making him literally so hate-able and daniel bruhl for playing zemo so well (even though i think it’s WACK that they’re rewriting baron zemo to be not hydra and just a general antagonist and i can’t get over that and never will, it’s incredibly fucked but i would be lying if bruhl wasn’t doing a good job) 

i’ve also had the GVS-verse on the mind and rose rogers in particular since the show AND because i think rose would 100% be behind sam and supporting her closest uncle and his family. she respects bucky and treats him as family also don’t get me wrong but i’ve wanted to write rose and sam interacting because i think they’d just be a very wholesome duo- especially since i’ve also been doing plot lines about how she’s coming to terms with her having the x-gene and all of the mutant stuff and how lonely and isolated she’s gotten in-universe and interacting with sam while also having someone she can truly trust and put her reputation and skill behind. she trusts him just as much (if not possibly more) than steve at this point in-universe and ALSO she would HAPPILY fistfight john walker without hesitation (: 

ADDITION: lamar deserved better. he absolutely fucking did.

Peggy: *shows up pointing a gun at an offending individual in one hand and cradling a baby in another*

Offending individual: what the FUCK is happening here