moved to agendaschange

“Well, I’ll admit that is newer knowledge. Bruce, to maybe someone’s surprise, is not good at keeping information to himself. But I’m pretty good. Too busy to even contemplate. How about you?” 

“I’m fine. It’s just me and the dogs out here, mostly. I go to the city sometimes to help out with some veterans groups. Working on setting up some things and I’ve been trying to write a book. Well, an autobiography. But that will probably never get done. I hate talking about myself.”

“At the moment, judging you for that robe. Dorothy phoned, says she would like her dress back when you’re done.” He set down the passcode lock. “Bored. Fabrications for the latest suit got pushed back because one of Sam’s wings took a hit on that last mission. Wing done, suit fabricating, man bored. Figured I’d double check security settings and you, Cap, failed.”

…

☆        above all else, Margot was a sucker for all things soft and warm. They were things she’d been deprived of for so long that she gravitated towards them instinctively now. Margot hadn’t had a stuffed animal of any kind since she’d been a baby, and though she was maybe too old for one now, part of her was thrilled at the chance to have one. ‘ s’nice, and besides, it’s big enough that I can use it as a pillow, ‘ she grinned, pointing out yet another positive to the obnoxious bear. 

‘ he thought it was funny, but I just liked it, ‘ she shrugged. Though Margot loved to tease her parents when it was appropriate, she also looked up to both of them in a very clear and obvious way. Captain America had been a symbol of hope for a nation, yes, but it had been her own personal symbol during the years HYDRA held her. Silly as it was, the bear was right up her alley of things she liked. 

‘ probably, but that’s okay. I’m not very big anyways, ‘ she laughed. 

~

“Like you don’t have about a hundred pillows.” He chuckled, though he wasn’t angry at all about the purchase. Margot had missed out on many things due to how their lives had gone and if this was something that helped even a fraction to ease that? Then he was fine with it. She could have as many large plushes as she wanted.

“You aren’t.” He agreed, something that he was sort of glad about. He hadn’t known what would happen when he’d had a child. Would they automatically be like him? Would his genes overrule anyone he had them with. But, it hadn’t turned out that way at all.

“You should know that I’ve had friendships ruined by UNO. Granted they were only ruined for ten minutes, but this is a very intense game and my reaction was appropriate.” Okay no, no it was not. But there were very few times Winn got to be dramatic, and right now just so happened to be one of those times. “Ask anyone, this game is more than just a game. When I worked at SHIELD one of my teammates and I would play it when things were slow. We don’t talk much anymore.” 

“Which is exactly why you’re my moral compass. Tony’s always inspired me to create things to better the world. Clint’s always inspired me to push myself past my limits, to grow and do better? You, Mister ‘All American’,” she teased, “have always given me the go-ahead to fuck up any standard of societal norm that oppresses anyone. Fuck the law, but try to reason it with it first. That’s basically the compass I get from you, and I think it’d served me and the Avengers pretty well.”

the steady breakdown of healthy communication in the roleplay community in the past six years is something that i often think is going to have to be addressed at some point if we want to continue to even have a functional community at all.  i understand greatly that a lot of the toxic behavior,  fandom purity culture,  petty call outs and bullying etc.  that went off the rails around 2016 has left damage on a lot of people.  it’s fostered a sense of anxiety which has only grown with each year because,  as a whole,  tumblr can have the unfortunate affinity to nurse it’s anxiety and feed it which in turn can make us feed each other’s anxiety.  until it’s one big messy circle of us accidentally isolating and polarizing ourselves and each other.  at some point,  you have to be willing to step forward and take initiation to be part of the healing process in yourself and in your community. 

most of us on here have anxiety and bad experiences.  i am hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t have some kind of horror story.  and while it is completely understandable for that to affect one’s self worth or cast a shadow on future interactions,  it’s unhealthy to never work through that.  and it’s also incredibly counterintuitive to use it as a reason to no longer take initiative with ooc or ic interactions.  that creates a whole community of people waiting for the other person to take the responsibility and do all the work to make them comfortable.  this is a creative,  interactive hobby.  it has to be 50/50.  you have to meet people half-way.  and when someone does take initiative to meet you half-way first,  you have to take your steps towards them too. 

on that note,  i really think we have to learn to communicate our needs and boundaries in a healthy way.  you can’t have your boundaries respected until you’re willing to communicate them.  i’m not talking about obvious things like harassment or manipulation etc.  but the personal things that might make you suddenly decide to disengage with someone but you never communicated that was an issue and then expect them to not be confused or hurt or want to know why— it’s a really ridiculous culture cropping up in rpc.  the “you don’t owe anyone anything” mentality gets really out of hand and out of context the longer this site continues.  and it goes to foster the continuation of anxiety which makes people anxious during plotting,  anxious to interact on the dash,  anxious to send the wrong meme,  anxious to talk about the wrong thing because at any minute it could have meant they did something that makes them lose a connection without knowing why.  and without a chance to do better or simply accommodate each other’s needs like you should in a normal,  healthy friendship.  

“You don’t need to know. I’m sure you’ll get a fine report on your desk after this is over. You might even get a free meal out of this or something.” Honestly, Stark didn’t care what happened afterwards. It wasn’t his problem and wouldn’t be. There was a reason he attempted to distance himself from everyone. It was simply far better to rely on one’s self than have to deal with others who could be obstacles.

“As for now,” he says, pausing for a moment, “I’ll play nice.”  Doubtful, but he would at least try not to do anything stupid for at least an hour. After that, it was up in the air for what he would do and who would ultimately get in the way. “I can’t promise you anymore than that.” He could barely promise him that and at the same time, he knew that eventually he’d have to work with others more often. It was stiffing and ultimately unnecessary and yet … he had no choice in the matter. He simply had to deal with it.

Oh boy a file and a free meal. What a great day this was going to be. He understood that Iron Man didn’t necessarily make friends. But he wondered why it was to this extent. Steve wasn’t an enemy and he only wanted to help. But he seemed to want to make things incredibly difficult and that annoyed him to no end.