Stocking: nostalgicatsea

[stevetony_elf]

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Username: nostalgicatsea

AO3 Username: nostalgicatsea

Comics Steve/Tony: 616, Noir, Ultimates

Other Fandoms/Ships/Characters:
MCU:
- Ships: mainly Steve/Tony, but also Bucky/Nat, Sam/Bucky, Sam/Rhodey, Dottie/Peggy, Steve/Peggy (CA:TFA/briefly post-Endgame leading to Steve/Tony/former relationship only)
- Gen: Rhodey & Tony, Nebula & Tony, Natasha & Tony, Steve & Natasha, Steve & Thor, Tony & Thor, Steve & Tony & Thor, Steve & Peggy, Carol & Nick Fury, Harley & Peter Parker

AvAC:
- Ship: Steve/Tony
- Gen: Tony & Jan

Knives Out:
- Ships: Ransom/Tony Stark (leading to Steve/Tony? Lol), Ransom/Marta (more on Ransom's side than Marta's especially because of their last scenes and the last shot of Ransom looking at Marta outside the house)
- Gen: Ransom & Marta, Harlan & Marta, Benoit & Marta, Ransom & Linda, Harlan & Ransom, Harlan & Linda

Russian Doll:
- Ship: Nadia/Alan
- Gen: Nadia & Alan, Nadia & Ruth, Alan & Ferran

Band of Brothers:
- Ships: Winters/Nix, Lipton/Speirs, Babe/Roe, Gene/Renée
- Characters: Eugene Roe, Dick Winters, Lewis Nixon, Joe Liebgott, Bill Guarnere, Don Malarkey, Carwood Lipton, George Luz, Ron Speirs. Actually...all of the BoB guys.

Generation Kill:
- Ship: Brad/Ray
- Characters: Doc Bryan, Brad Colbert, Poke Espera, Nate Fick, Pappy Patrick, Ray Person, Rudy Reyes

Likes:
I’ll throw a whole list out there because I’m very open to a lot of things!
- AUs (gangster, magic, sports non-powered, high school or college, supernatural, horror, sci-fi, etc. You name it! I love AUs)
- canon divergence
- character studies
- parallels/similarities between characters
- angstttttttttttt (if it's a longer fic, preferably a happy ending, but I like bittersweet and sad endings too)
- soulmates
- found family
- outsiders finding companionship with each other
- family issues/difficult family relationships
- war-forged bonds
- disillusionment in a belief system
- one-sided or mutual admiration
- grudging respect turning into something more
- slow burn
- mutual or one-sided pining
- multiverse
- telepathy
- self-sacrifice
- amnesia
- time travel
- reincarnation
- fake relationship
- relationship of convenience
- hurt/comfort
- de-aging
- dream world
- presumed dead
- temporary or permanent death
- post-breakup
- getting back together
- miscommunication or bad communication
- substance abuse and recovery
- grief/mourning
- parental/child relationships
- Tony’s family issues
- dark Steve
- pre-serum Steve
- road trips
- love/hate relationships
- enemies/friends-to-lovers
- identity porn
- betrayal and forgiveness
- protectiveness/possessiveness
- legacy
- explorations of emotional/physical trauma/substance abuse
- witty humor

Dislikes: One character cheating on or raping the other character in a ship, OOC (crack is fine as long as the characters retain their personalities), mpreg, incest, adult/minor romantic relationships, partner abuse in a ship, tooth-rotting fluff without plot, Avengers fics with Darcy in them.

Non-fandom related requests/anything else?:
- Anything cute, interesting, or funny with dogs! Or just any animal really.
- Fic recs of any of the ships, characters, or fandoms mentioned above (also open to Harry Potter and Naruto because I feel like those are very hard to find and I never really read Harry Potter fics, strangely. I’m in the mood for good worldbuilding or relationship studies, something with good emotional beats, or something very plotty)
- Fanart, fanvids, graphics, fanmixes, edits, gifsets of my ships, favorite characters, Chris Evans, or RDJ
- Your favorite recipes or easy, healthy recipes for someone new to cooking or baking
- Kitchen/cooking tips and must-have kitchen items
- Links to favorite Etsy shops
- Links to favorite jewelry brands
- Book recs (non-fiction, all-time favorites, your favorites of the year and decade)
- Poetry recs
- Cool/unusual/"hidden gem" places (landscapes, favorite spots in your hometown or place you've traveled to, restaurants, shops, architecture)
- Self-learning language tips and resources

Comments

[hopelesse]

Happy wintertime!! I got you...some recs!!
- Meet Pepperpottomus, a pittie mix who often wears clothes because she has allergies!
- Three Harry Potter fic recs! All long are long and plotty with post-war trauma healing, whip-fast banter, and a couple of helpings of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers because they're all Harry/Draco (along with some other side pairings): The Pure and Simple Truth by Lettered (rated G), Here's the Pencil, Make it Work by ignatiustrout (rated M), and a fandom classic, just for funsies, Drop Dead Gorgeous by Maya (rated E).
- Favorite Etsy shops: WareLondon for very high-priced, very cool jewelry; LauraGalic for exquisitely tailored jackets and dresses; and RedJuanShop for killer watches.
- My taste in nonfiction is....niche. But if you're into US history (particularly political history), you might want to try Noah Feldman's Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices. It's about, well. As the title suggests, it's about the hilarious amount of infighting between members of the US Supreme Court during FDR's terms as president. (The conservative bloc was called "the Four Horsemen" for a while there....good times.)
- I've collected a bunch of my favorite poems on my dw, but some particular standouts are: I'm not a religious person but by Chen Chen, The Leash by Ada Limon, and Jessica Gives Me A Chill Pill by Angie Sijun Lou

[nostalgicatsea]

OHHHHHHHH MY GOODNESS, THIS IS PERFECT. I want to cry over how sweet and cute, Pepperpottomus (what a name!) is. I love pit bulls so much.<3 Look at her little clothes!

Thank you for the fic recs and the amazing Etsy shops you linked! :O I have no idea how people find cool Etsy shops because the sheer volume of shops is overwhelming.

I am interested in US history, but political history is not my forte and I should read more to plump up my knowledge. I'm always here for hilarious amounts of infighting or hilarious infighting.

And last but not least, I'm so excited to go through the poems on yoru dw and wow, there were some standout lines in the individual poems you linked. I have to sit down and roll them around in my head some more which is what good poetry always does to me.

Non-powered, mental hospital AU

[myellar]

(hi! nasafic here. this drabble is,,,, a little different from most of my content, but I saw you love AUs and wanted to try a unique one out. I hope you like it, and steve doesn't read too strange to you - he's a little outside his usual MCU characterization, but given the circumstances, it seemed to make sense? anyway, I hope it's okay, and happy holidays!)

“Penny for your thoughts, Tony?”

Tony blinks, the black and white tiled floor coming into sudden focus. He looks up at the tired face of the group therapist. Those bags under her eyes aren’t normal. Tony thinks he should really get Pepper to look into her finances. She shouldn’t be stuck here just because she’s got debts.

“It’s Mr. Stark,” he tells her.

The corner of her mouth flickers, barely perceptible. “Of course, Mr. Stark. Care to share with the class?”

She gestures to the sparse group gathered around the rickety little card table holding the juice. It’s not even good juice today - it’s grape, Tony’s least favorite kind of juice. He’d come anyway, because what else is he going to do in the five hours between lunch and dinner? It’s not like he can do work - they won’t give him so much as a double A battery in here. Something about being a risk to himself, with his skills he can make a lethal device out of anything, blah blah blah. He’d be flattered if he wasn’t so fucking frustrated.

Now, he just shrugs. “Not really,” he says. “Not exactly a lot going on in here.”

The therapist hums, not dissuaded. “You could tell us more about how you got here,” she says. “It’s been a few weeks now, but you still haven’t mentioned it in group.”

Tony’s hand comes up to his chest, a nervous tic, but he drops his hand as soon as he can. “Not much to say,” he says.

“Your case is very unique, Mr. Stark,” the therapist says, leaning back in her chair. “But not so unique you’re different from anyone else who’s here.”

Tony looks around the circle. It’s a ragtag bunch, that’s for sure. Only half the patients seem to have shown up; that’s grape juice day for you. Tony doesn’t know anything about them but distant stories: one is a gamma radiation scientist who apparently had a rage attack and almost killed his girlfriend; another is a big, buff blonde dude who seems to genuinely believe he’s a Norse god; and then there’s Steve.

He’s the only person here who’s name Tony knows, because he introduces himself at the beginning of every therapy session, to every person he talks to. He’s exceedingly polite. He’s also exceedingly handsome. Tony’s pretty sure if he looked like this Steve guy, he would have gotten the Sexiest Man Alive last year, instead of being slighted for Depp.

Fucking Depp.

Anyway, Tony’s been watching him since he got here, partially because mm, that ass, and partially because he’s curious; and his curiosity hasn’t been sated in the slightest. He still has no idea what got him here.

“Fine,” Tony says, glancing briefly over at Steve. Steve’s eyes are on him, too-knowing, and Tony yanks his gaze back forward. He tells himself he’s not blushing. “Uh. My name is Tony Stark. I’m here because my uncle tried to kill me, and staged it to look like a suicide. Pretty sure he bribed the police to believe him, because I don’t know who would try to kill themselves by stabbing themselves in the chest, but. You know. And now I’m here.”

The therapist’s gaze is shrewd. “So we’re still on that story,” she says.

Tony flashes her his biggest grin, and, oh, yeah, he remembers why he hasn’t tried to tip her before now. “Still on the truth, if that’s what you’re asking. Of course, a few more months in this shithole and I might actually be persuaded to change my story, Making a Murderer style. Except instead of framing someone for murder, someone gets off. It’d make a good Netflix documentary, for sure. Is that your endgame? Because, if so, I applaud you, really.”

The therapist sighs. “Thank you for sharing, Mr. Stark. Would anybody else like to go?”

The other three are silent.

“I guess we’re done for the day, then,” she says. “I’ll be here again tomorrow. It’s fruit punch day.”

Of course it is. It’s Wednesday. Even the greenies know that.

God guy leaves pretty much immediately, and the angry one follows suit. Steve, though, waits in his little rickety chair, along with Tony, sitting frozen as the therapist packs up her things and heads for the break room.

He waits until the door swings shut behind her to rise to his feet. “Mr. Stark,” he says, stepping forward.

Tony meets him halfway. “Tony,” he offers, and accepts Steve’s handshake. His grip is unexpectedly firm, his hand warm.

“It’s good to meet you,” Steve says. “I’m sorry I didn’t approach you sooner, I wasn’t sure what your story was.”

“Yeah, well.” Tony reaches for his chest again, that unconscious tick. He forces himself to still. “Now you know. What’s your deal?”

He expects something mundane - most of the stories here are mundane, once you’ve heard enough of them - but instead, Steve glances furtively over his shoulder, then tugs Tony closer, so they’re sharing the same breathing space. “Can I trust you?” Steve asks, voice low and urgent.

Feeling very much like he’s in some sort of cheesy spy thriller, but not willing to sacrifice the really quite comforting touch of Steve’s hand on his shoulder, Tony nods. “What’s up?”

But Steve shakes his head. “I mean it, Tony. This is - this is big.”

“Well, I’m sure whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.” Tony aims for reassuring, but it comes out more like patronizing. Steve, at least, doesn’t seem to notice.

Steve throws another glance over his shoulder. “I don’t know who’s listening,” Steve murmurs. “But I - when I heard your story, I knew I had to share.”

Now Tony is really curious. “What? What is it?”

“I was framed, too,” Steve whispers. “They say I sold government secrets to our enemies, but I didn’t, I would never.”

“Who?” Tony asks, heart rate spiking. “Is this - is this related to Obadiah Stane?”

“Maybe,” Steve says. “If he’s part of it. See, there’s this conspiracy, in the government. It’s this secret organization, like the Illuminati, but they call themselves HYDRA. They’re white supremacist, fascist Nazis trying to take over America in secret. They framed me because I was on to them, and I think if your Obadiah guy framed you, then maybe he could be in on it, too. Maybe you were getting close to an answer you didn’t realize was there.”

Steve’s eyes are blue, and bright, and totally sincere.

Oh, shit, Tony thinks, heart sinking. He’s nuts.

“Maybe we can work on this together, huh?” Steve says. “It’s so hard to get any information in this place, and I know they’ve got cameras everywhere. You seem really smart. I think we’d be a good team.”

The thing is - well, it seems cruel to say no. He’s so earnest, after all. It’s like a puppy. And the fact he’s got that sexy, mussed hair, and that beard, and those biceps, good lord. Also, his hands are really warm. And standing this close, Tony has the weird, ridiculous urge to hug him.

“Okay,” Tony hears himself say, and is rewarded by Steve’s bright, blooming smile.

“Really?”

“Really,” Tony agrees, and Steve laughs with joy.

You’re gonna regret this, Tony thinks. This is definitely a mistake.

Oh, well. What else does he have to do in here, after all? At the very least, it’ll be interesting.

Re: Non-powered, mental hospital AU

[nostalgicatsea]

Hi and happy holidays to you as belated as my reply is! Thank you so much for writing this and for trying something different from what you normally do! That's always a challenge and I appreciate people stretching their muscles in new and different ways.

I really loved how Tony corrected the therapist, whom he doesn't trust and doesn't give him a reason to trust her, when she tried to call him "Tony," but did the opposite for Steve!

Steve’s eyes are blue, and bright, and totally sincere.
I just really love this line especially after it came after his long monologue at Tony. I can imagine him looking like this and...yeah, I feel for Tony haha.

Anyway, I like how you kept their MCU histories intact because I can't know for sure if they really are suffering from mental illness or if they're right, but their stories are so outlandish that no one believes them (their canonical histories truly are wild lol). Kept me on my toes.

[the_casual_cheesecake]

Happy holidays Sea! I hope your year is off to a good start :D

I have some book recs for you!

My favorite book right now is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: a trilogy in five parts. It's a wonderfully satiric sci-fi story about god, the universe, and everything.

The second favorite, sometimes favorite is also a classic: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Which is about a mentally disabled man named Charlie who enters an experimental quest for intelligence accompanied, and mirrored, by a lab rat named Algernon. It's a riveting, bittersweet tale of the human mind, I highly recommend it.

My favorite novella is a Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez, which is the story of a murder that everyone knew was going to happen that nobody stopped, told 27 years in fractions by the people who remember it.

My favorite short story collection is Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman. I'm fond of all his books, but something about the stories in Trigger Warning touched me greatly. I also highly recommend the audiobook read by the author, I think he did a magnificent job on it.

PS: a couple of books that I'm particularly attached to: Alice isn't Dead by Joseph Fink, which is a queer, horror road trip and a superhero story (though the book doesn' say so), and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, which is a surreal adventure about ghosts and prophecies.

Do feel free to come and yell at me about any of those if you read them, and have a great year! :D

[nostalgicatsea]

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and your year is off to a great start as well!<3 A few years ago, I did something that was probably inadvisable and read Hitchhiker's Guide in one sitting. Well, not really, but I sped through it in a day or two (or three?) instead of trying to stretch it over a period of weeks which I feel like you should do with a tome of its size haha.

Flowers for Algernon KILLED me when I read it as a kid, and I read it again a few years back too. It's exactly as you said. Poor Charlie and Algernon.

Kafka is one of my friend's favorite Murakami books, but I never read it even though I read his other works! I'll have to check it out as well as all the other recs you mention which sound very, very interesting. *heads off to Goodreads to add them so I don't forget* :)

[the_vorkosigan]

Hello, have a great new year!

I have a rec for you. For amnesia & presumed dead, you have to read sheron's Any Road. Enjoy! :D

[nostalgicatsea]

AHHHHHH thank you for bringing this to my attention because I planned to read this but completely forgot! I hope you're having a great new year. o/ Since I'm late for the Gregorian New Year as we're almost in February, I'll say happy year of the rat instead haha.

[sheron]

You must have read Muccamukk's BoB fics, right? Fandom is small enough that it would be difficult not to know of them, but just in case, they are really excellent!

As for beautiful landscapes, I always enjoy looking at this blog:
https://coiour-my-world.tumblr.com/

I hope you enjoy!


P.S. A long time ago, I spent a whole while in HP fandom reading Harry/Draco stuff -- if that's your cup of tea, I could find recs. :)

[nostalgicatsea]

Believe it or not, I haven't read mucca's BoB fics! I haven't read any BoB fics save one short one by a friend because I kept getting distracted by Steve/Tony fics haha. I really need to go through mucca's entire BoB tag on AO3 and it's a new year, so I'm determined not to procrastinate. :P

Thank you for the blog rec and yes, I'd be interested in HP recs if it's not too much to ask. :) I wasn't really committed to any ships when I was deeply immersed in all things HP as a kid (weirdly, despite being a major Potterhead and fic reader growing up, I never read HP fics much other than embarrassing crossovers with the fandom I did read), so I'm open to Harry/Draco stuff, which I imagine there's a lot of. Their relationship is an interesting one. Haha saying all this reminds me of this one drarry art or manip I saw as a young kid, and that was probably one of the first m/m ships I encountered, now that I think about it. (It piqued my interest then lol.)

Clearly...

[mizzy]

...what anyone would want as a holiday gift...
....would be an excerpt...
....from a prequel that probably isn't going to be written...
......for a fic that doesn't yet exist.

Yeah.

Yeah?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22308268

Happy holistockings xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Re: Clearly...

[nostalgicatsea]

ADDY, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU SAW MY DISCORD DMS, SO I'LL SAY IT HERE AND EVERYWHERE IN CASE YOU DON'T SEE THIS EITHER. I'M SO BEYOND EXCITED TO READ THIS AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WROTE A PREQUEL EXCERPT. I FINALLY HAVE TIME TO READ IT SO I'M JUST GOING TO MAKE THE UNWISE DECISION TO STAY UP TONIGHT TO READ IT.

THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUU.<3

[msermesth]

[nostalgicatsea]

This put a smile on my face. :D Thanks, msermesth! Happy new year.

So many other stockings in the sea...

[stargraven]

...but this one is yours. :D

Happy New Year, sea. It was such a pleasure getting to know you better this past year through modding MTH, seeing firsthand your incredible commitment and dedication to fandom and every member of the community.

Here is a link to some photography I did in 2009, on the campus of a beautiful church not far from me, where I used to go to a monthly support group meeting. The architecture and landscaping inspired me to ask permission to stay on the grounds late one night and photograph many different angles and views.

Mariner's Church, Newport Beach, CA

I wish you a wonderful year of health, joy, inspiration, friendship, and the best of times in fandom, and look forward to sharing a few more of those with you.

<3 <3 <3
Wendy (wynnesome)

Re: So many other stockings in the sea...

[nostalgicatsea]

Happy new year to you too, Wendy!<3 I'm so glad you came on board as a MTH mod. Thank you so much for being so incredibly helpful, gung-ho, and ready to roll up your sleeves to do whatever was required, and thank you for always being so nice.

And thank you for sharing pics of your birds hehe. :) BIRBS.

Also, wow, that church is so interesting! I can imagine how peaceful those grounds must have been at night. There must have been something so calming about being there, in solitude and silence. I really like the island sanctuary; its top half is so lovely and I love the interior shots you took of the window (?) panes and roof as well. That tower is cool too!

Anyway, I hope 2020 has been a good year for you so far and the coming months are full of happiness, good health, and wonderful surprises for you. :)<3

[magicasen]

Hi sea, thank you so much for being a part of the server! I really enjoy seeing you around Twitter and our mutual salting/squeeing on there. I hope things let up for you life-wise because you're a lovely person, and thanks again for running MTH ♥ I will see you around in the new year!

[nostalgicatsea]

MAGIC, thank you so much for everything you do for the server and for this wonderful event!<3 It's nice that we got to keep the holiday spirit alive among all of us as f_s wasn't running this year. I love salting/squeeing with you on Twitter too haha; you're one of my favorite people to do that with. And thank you for participating in MTH and thank you for the well wishes! I hope 2020 will be a good year for you as well.<3333