Fanmix - Avengers - Epic Avengers Pairings Fanmix pt 2
Pt 2 is up!
Fandom: The Avengers
Subject: All the Pairings
Title: Epic Avengers Pairings Fanmix - 2
Warnings: ALL THE FEELINGS.
Notes: Ten more pairings, still on the established fanon/plausible canon side of things. Again, a little disclaimer - I have the most insane amount of headcanon on the subject of the Avengers, and most of it is entirely contradictory and incompatible with the rest. I suppose it’s my brain’s way of coping with ALL THE SHIPS. Therefore, ALL THE FEELINGS. Also, some of these got a little wordy, and some got a lot wordy. Oops!
1. Thor/Loki - “Make This Go On Forever” - Snow Patrol
Please don't let this turn into something it's not / I can only give you everything I've got / I can't be as sorry as you think I should / But I still love you more than anyone else could / All that I keep thinking throughout this whole flight / Is it could take my whole damn life to make this right / This splintered mast I'm holding on won't save me long / Because I know fine well that what I did was wrong… / The weight of water, the way you told me to look past everything I had ever learned / The final word in the final sentence you ever uttered to me was love / And I don't know where to look / My words just break and melt / Please just save me from this darkness
Starting off with one of the most established fanon pairings out there. I love the relationship between Thor and Loki. I don’t see it as ‘romantic’ as such (and not all of my ships are romantic - I’m probably Doing It Wrong, but that’s the way I go). They have a bond. It’s deep and sometimes painful but there’s a fundamental love there.
Thor loves Loki. He loves him almost unconditionally. He understands that Loki wants vengeance on him, but, in his heart, though he’d never admit it out loud to anyone but Loki, he still believes that Loki will forgive him eventually, and apologise for all he’s done, and they can both be redeemed.
Loki loves Thor. He loves him deep down inside, and it’s because he loves him so much that he hates him as much as he does. If he didn’t love Thor, it would be so much easier to get over the agony of living in his shadow for so long. He also wishes that being in that shadow didn’t hurt so much; didn’t make him so angry.
I see this song as the words Thor’s desperate to hear, but Loki’s just too angry to say.
2. Peggy/Howard - “It’s All Right With Me” - Ella Fitzgerald
It's the wrong time and the wrong place / Though your face is charming it's the wrong face / It's not his face but such a charming face / That it's all right with me / It's the wrong song in the wrong style / Though your smile is lovely it's the wrong smile / It's not his smile but such a lovely smile / That it's all right with me / You can't know how happy I am that we met / I'm strangely attracted to you / There's someone I'm trying so hard to forget / Don't you want to forget someone too?
I have major, insane headcanon for these two. In the movie, Peggy and Howard have this Are They/Aren’t They relationship (and the “fondue” scene will forever be one of my favourites). They’re obviously good friends, and Steve only draws them closer together. They’re his support team, closer than even the Howling Commandos, and when Steve disappears, there’s suddenly a gap in their lives.
And this is where my headcanon begins. Howard searches. He’s practically single-minded in his search, and, at first, so is Peggy. But the days and weeks and months go by, and they don’t find him. This is unbelievably painful, and Peggy realises that if they continue, she’ll go insane. Anyway, she and Howard have been getting closer, having a weird relationship that’s sort of half shared passion and half tension-releasing, mostly-emotionless sex.
And it’s great, don’t get me wrong, the sex is fantastic and they have a lot in common, but as time goes on, it gets crazy. It’s not healthy to spend all your time searching for your sort-of-ex-boyfriend-slash-love-of-your-life with his sort-of-best-friend-who-had-a-mad-crush-on-him-both-romantically-and-professionally who you’re also having sex with. So she tries to convince Howard to stop looking.
Of course, this plays out just as well as you might imagine, and Howard practically blows something up, and Peggy flees back to England, because it’s easier to get over someone if you’re somewhere they’ve never been. And eventually she sort of gets over Steve, because that’s what he would have wanted, but she reads the newspapers and sees Howard become an even more ruthless businessman, and get married and have a brilliant son, and though she’s happy that he seems to be happy, she still wonders what would have happened if she’d stayed.
3. Natasha/Bruce - “I Walk Beside You” - Dream Theater
There's a story in your eyes / I can see the hurt behind your smile / For every sign I recognize / Another one escapes me / Let me know what plagues your mind / Let me be the one to know you best / Be the one to hold you up / When you feel like you're sinking / Tell me once again / What's beneath the pain you're feeling / Don't abandon me / Or think you can't be saved / I walk beside you / Wherever you are / Whatever it takes / No matter how far
Go here for an explanation of why Natasha and Bruce are awesome - http://gyzym.tumblr.com/post/23255466886/and-now-black-widow-meta . Gyzym says everything far better and more succinctly than I can. :D
The way I see it, Natasha/Bruce is an experiment in control. Twice, Natasha faces a stressed out and scared Bruce, and twice, she is shaken to her very core with fear, at first by the threat of the Hulk, and then by the reality of him. But she pulls herself back together, and treats him with the same respect and comradeship that she treats all the other boys. At the battle of Manhattan, Bruce attempts to apologise, and Natasha immediately, without a trace of resentment, admits that the Hulk can be useful.
So, post-battle and post-movie, Bruce goes off and does SCIENCE with Tony, and Natasha sidles off with Clint for some downtime. Then, somehow, everyone ends up in the Avengers Tower together. Late one night, Natasha is awake, because she doesn’t sleep all that much anyway, and she hears a noise downstairs. She investigates, and finds the Hulk in the gym, with one of these giant, stronger-than-kevlar punching bags (that Tony totally invented just so the Hulk could get some exercise in without smashing the place up). But the thing is, as soon as the Hulk notices that Natasha’s there, in the doorway, doing everything she can to control her breathing and just stay standing there in that doorway, he goes away, and lets Bruce back out. Then there’s just Bruce, wearing his super-stretchy shorts (that Tony also totally got round to inventing), staring at Natasha, because the Hulk pretty much never goes away that easily, and wondering what this means. And from then on, Natasha’s never exactly comfortable around the Hulk, but she isn’t as scared of him, and Bruce tries his best to put her at ease, and they spend more and more time together. She teaches him how to protect himself, which seems to make the Hulk happier, and he shows her all his most interesting experiments and makes her his special green tea. (The irony is not lost on him.) They become friends. Do they become any more than friends? I don’t know.
4. Steve/Bucky - “Save Us” - Feeder
Face against the ground / Torn, but you can stand / Your will is strong, but you have now / I know you can save us / Faith is on your side / Fears you can't deny / It's burned a hole, right through your soul / But I know you can save us / Save us now / Don't say goodbye / I know you can save us / Don't wave goodbye / But nothing can break us / Don't say goodbye / I know you can save us / You can bring us back again / Born to be as one / Turn to face the sun / Your will is strong, but you have now / I know you can save us / Save us now
I can totally see Steve - little, sickly, scrappy Steve - having a hopeless crush on his strong, brave, perfect best friend. I can see him longing to be him, and, if that wasn’t possible, to at least be with him. I mean, back in the 1930s it was still really illegal to engage in homosexual acts, so I can’t see Steve even considering doing anything, but no one could stop them being best friends forever and always having each other’s backs and occasionally sleeping in the same bed just for warmth, okay? Because it was the Depression, and life was hard and if Steve and Bucky could get the slightest amount of happiness from each other’s company, it couldn’t possibly be wrong.
This song is all about what I see as the fundamental quality of Steve and Bucky’s relationship. They save each other. Pre-serum, Bucky saved Steve from bullies, but I don’t doubt that Steve saved him in other ways. After the serum, Steve actually walked into a Nazi fortress and saved Bucky (as well as 400 other soldiers). After that, they saved each-other, over and over again, until one day, on a train, Steve couldn’t save Bucky, and that breaks my heart.
(Also, I have headcanon that Steve still dreams of that day, and he does something different - faster, smarter, better - and he saves Bucky. Every time.)
5. Thor/Sif - “Sparks Fly” - Taylor Swift
The way you move is like a full on rainstorm / And I'm a house of cards / You're the kind of reckless / That should send me runnin' / But I kinda know that I won't get far / And you stood there in front of me / Just close enough to touch / Close enough to hope you couldn't see / What I was thinking of… / My mind forgets to remind me / You're a bad idea / You touch me once and it's really something, / You find I'm even better than you imagined I would be. / I'm on my guard for the rest of the world / But with you I know it's no good / And I could wait patiently but I really wish you would / Drop everything now / Meet me in the pouring rain / Kiss me on the sidewalk / Take away the pain / 'cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile
So, in their movie, I don’t really ship Thor/Sif… I think they’re adorable, and totally best friends, but I don’t see it as a romantic relationship.
However, teen!Thor/teen!Sif - YES. BY ALL THE GODS, YES. I want all the fic where Sif is a rebellious young maiden, ditching her embroidery for sword practice, and sneaking off with Thor to brawl and make out together.
This is also part of my headcanon about Loki/Sif. All through their formative years, Loki watched Sif alternately making googly eyes at Thor and beating his ass (because that’s totally how it worked) and he wanted that attention for himself. But, of course, he didn’t, and Sif eventually realised that she wasn’t actually in love with Thor, and the fighting was more fun than the sex, so they just stayed best friends.
So yeah, this song is all Sif being young and ‘innocent’ and meeting Thor and deciding that it’s so much more fun being a kickass warrior than a demure little girl. (And Taylor Swift - because nothing in the world will dissuade me from thinking that Thor loves Taylor Swift. They could even exchange gorgeous blonde hair tips!)
6. Tony/Natasha (Tony/Natalie) - “A Woman Like That” - Bernie Marsden
When she walks into the room / She walks into your life / And the memory of her face / Is gonna haunt you through the night / When she comes in your direction / Better realise the cost / All that you believe in is gonna suddenly be lost / A woman like that is gonna bring you some pain / She's gonna wind you up, gonna mess with your brain
It’s probably kind of telling that my top three Tony/Natasha moments are actually probably Tony/Natalie moments, and one of them didn’t even make it into the final cut of the movie.
1. “Is that dirty enough for you, sir?”
2. Natalie shooting stuff with the Iron Man gauntlet (deleted scene)
3. “Fallaces sunt rerum species.”
Of course, I adore Tony with non-undercover Natasha too, but there was something about Tony’s relationship with Natalie that just makes me smile all the time. She’s this awesome legal secretary turned PA, who speaks Latin (which is totally possible, PEPPER), and occasionally breaks character by flipping a 200 pound guy over her shoulder or dropping into a martial arts pose when her boss crashes through the ceiling. He’s her awesome boss who makes a lot of comments which could be construed as sexual harassment if she didn’t give better than she got, and who doesn’t know quite what to do with her. I think he was actually relieved when she turned out to be an undercover SHIELD agent. I mean, Pepper is bad enough, but a Pepper-clone who speaks in double-entendres, is unnervingly calm in all situations, and can flip Happy on to his back without breaking a sweat? Shit, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tony had nightmares about her.
7. Coulson/Pepper - “You’re Not Alone” - The Enemy
Don't let the sun go down, / On an Empire,/ It's too much to waste. / Don't let the walls come down, / Round an Empire,/ It's too much to wave goodbye. / We've been working for a long time, / We've been fighting for a way, / Now in the streets men standing in lines they're all wasted anyway. / You're living in an incestuous world,/ Where your conscience holds no weight, / You sold us down the river like rats then,/ You drowned and beat the brave. / You're not alone you know, / You're not alone you know, / You're not alone no no.
I didn’t really start shipping this until I was doing my Live Blog, and it hit me right between the eyes near the end of Iron Man. I really don’t know why I didn’t always ship them. They’re both phenomenally organised, wonderfully lovely and patient people, who, as The Avengers confirms, are BFFs! Also, I don’t doubt that Coulson’s passion for Supernanny isn’t shared by Pepper too. I’ll bet she totally has the Bedtime Routine down, and she often entertains the idea of designating Tony a Naughty Spot.
This song is my quintessential Coulson to Pepper anthem. The world is a mess, it’s superheroes and aliens and nothing she could have possibly dreamt of when she started working for Tony all those years ago. But she isn’t alone, she has Phil. I like to imagine that all through the span of the Marvel Movieverse, ever since Tony committed the cardinal sin of revealing himself as Iron Man, Pepper and Phil have been meeting up and having a sort of “Superhero-nanny” support group, where Pepper half-heartedly apologises for whatever mess Iron Man has got into lately, and Phil tells her all the funniest ‘mission gone wrong’ stories he knows - trying to keep the really confidential stuff out of it, obviously. And then they eat insane amounts of junk food and Pepper tries to set him up with all her nicest friends.
(BTW, the track in the zip is a cover version I found on youtube here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvy0fcuRaI8 - because I love this guy's voice, and I think Coulson would too. :D )
8. Maria/Fury - “You’re The Storm” - The Cardigans
I'm an angel bored like hell/ and you're a devil meaning well / you steal my lines and you strike me down / come raise your flag upon me / and if you want me I'm your country / if you win me I'm forever - oh yeah / 'cause you're the storm that I've been needing / and all this peace has been deceiving / I like the sweet life and the silence / but it's the storm that I believe in / come and conquer and drop your bombs / cross my borders and kill the calm / bear your fangs and burn my wings / I hear bullets singing… / you fill my heart, you keep me breathing / 'cause you're the storm that I believe in
I didn’t have a Fury pairing or a Maria pairing on the last one, and that made me sad. :(
I am a bit of a sucker for kickass!girl/her!boss pairings. I think it’s a consequence of my serious authority kink, which has manifested itself quite dramatically through my life, but either way, I totally see Maria crushing on Fury. I mean, who wouldn’t? He’s strong, brave, has questionable but committed morals, and doesn’t take shit from anyone. It’s obvious that she respects him deeply, and admires him, even when he makes debateable decisions, and she even saves his life in a pretty awesome way. There’s no doubt in my mind that they would make an epic couple, even if there’s only two fics in their tag on AO3 - one of which is a drabble and the other is a three-line reference in a Clint/Darcy fic. D:
This song is totally from Maria’s POV, near the beginning of her employment with SHIELD. She sees Fury as this amazing whirlwind of a man, all billowy-coat-of-pain and lack-of-hair-full-of-secrets, and she’s all want! take! have! and ‘I’ll follow that man to hell and back’. But in a totally kickass feminist way, of course. *nods*
(I may or may not be living vicariously through Maria. I apologise.)
9. Clint/Darcy - “Dixie Chicken” - Little Feat
I've seen the bright lights of Memphis and the Commodore Hotel / And, underneath a street lamp I met a Southern Belle / Well, she took me to the river where she cast her spell / And, in that southern moonlight she sang the song so well / If you'll be my Dixie Chicken, I'll be your Tennessee Lamb / And we can walk together down in Dixieland / Down in Dixieland / Well, we made all the hot spots - my money flowed like wine / And then that lowdown southern whiskey began to fog my mind / And I don't remember church bells or the money I put down / On the white picket fence and boardwalk of the house at the edge of town / Oh, but boy do I remember the strain of her refrain / And the nights we spent together, and the way she called my name
Before I talk about why Clint/Darcy = 4EVER, I have to say that I had to pick a country song for them, because of this fic - http://archiveofourown.org/works/364902 - in which Clint is secretly just as good at playing the banjo/guitar as he is at shooting things, and he becomes a COUNTRY MUSIC SUPERSTAR, called Dirk Hawksley. Oh, and he’s dating Darcy. It was the first fic I read with Clint/Darcy, and therefore, it is inscribed in my brain that Clint/Darcy = Country Music.
Anyway, Clint/Darcy works because they’re both smartarses who talk too much and make off-colour jokes and like the thrill of violence. They’re both very practical and a little bit crazy and loyal to their people.
So, I picked “Dixie Chicken”, because in that wonderful, wonderful fic I just linked, Darcy calls Clint Dixie (short for Dixie Chicken), and at one point he sings this song just for her. And therefore, it is my Clint/Darcy theme song. :D
10. Coulson/Steve - “Believe” - Yellowcard
Think about the love in the strength of heart / Think about the heroes saving life in the dark / Climbing higher, through the fire / Time was running out / Never knowing you weren't going to be coming down alive / But you still came back for me / You were strong and you believed / Everything is going to be alright / Everything is going to be alright / Everything is going to be alright / Be strong, believe / (Be strong, believe) / Think about the chance I never had to say / Thank you for giving up your life that day / Never fearing, only hearing voices calling out / Let it all go, the life that you know / Just to bring them down alive / And you still came back for me / You were strong and you believed
One of my absolute favourite scenes in The Avengers has to be Coulson and Steve on the jet. The way Coulson not-so-subtly invades his space and then mirrors his movements, leaning against the wall, combined with the frankly hilarious dialogue is just completely wonderful.
There’s a Tumblr blog called “Avengers Headcanon” (http://theavengersheadcanons.tumblr.com) and one of them a few days ago was that Coulson is Peggy Carter’s son. OMG. YES. I don’t even care that it’s implausible and a little weird and sort of incestuous, I love it. I love the idea that Coulson’s frankly endearing obsession came from a whole childhood of stories about a scrawny little boy with a heart of gold who grew up to be a superhero.
This song is about facing impossible odds and coming out the other side because you believed. The way I see it, this is Coulson, finding out that they’d found Captain America, and he was still alive - that insane rush of happiness he must have felt. Because those stories made him the man he is today, saved him from all the dark times and helped him get up in the morning when nothing seemed worth it. He’s been in love with Steve since before he knew what that meant, and just the idea that he hadn’t disappeared for good makes Coulson happier than he could have ever imagined. And he watches over him while he sleeps, and gets his prized trading cards out of his hidden safe (where he also keeps the picture of pre-serum!Steve that his mum saved all those years ago), and puts them in his locker, longing for the day when he can ask Steve to sign them. And he entertains the thought, just for a moment, that Captain America is back because he wished hard enough.
Zip: http://www.mediafire.com/?x9iq3325z3uc5f5
Fandom: The Avengers
Subject: All the Pairings
Title: Epic Avengers Pairings Fanmix - 2
Warnings: ALL THE FEELINGS.
Notes: Ten more pairings, still on the established fanon/plausible canon side of things. Again, a little disclaimer - I have the most insane amount of headcanon on the subject of the Avengers, and most of it is entirely contradictory and incompatible with the rest. I suppose it’s my brain’s way of coping with ALL THE SHIPS. Therefore, ALL THE FEELINGS. Also, some of these got a little wordy, and some got a lot wordy. Oops!
1. Thor/Loki - “Make This Go On Forever” - Snow Patrol
Please don't let this turn into something it's not / I can only give you everything I've got / I can't be as sorry as you think I should / But I still love you more than anyone else could / All that I keep thinking throughout this whole flight / Is it could take my whole damn life to make this right / This splintered mast I'm holding on won't save me long / Because I know fine well that what I did was wrong… / The weight of water, the way you told me to look past everything I had ever learned / The final word in the final sentence you ever uttered to me was love / And I don't know where to look / My words just break and melt / Please just save me from this darkness
Starting off with one of the most established fanon pairings out there. I love the relationship between Thor and Loki. I don’t see it as ‘romantic’ as such (and not all of my ships are romantic - I’m probably Doing It Wrong, but that’s the way I go). They have a bond. It’s deep and sometimes painful but there’s a fundamental love there.
Thor loves Loki. He loves him almost unconditionally. He understands that Loki wants vengeance on him, but, in his heart, though he’d never admit it out loud to anyone but Loki, he still believes that Loki will forgive him eventually, and apologise for all he’s done, and they can both be redeemed.
Loki loves Thor. He loves him deep down inside, and it’s because he loves him so much that he hates him as much as he does. If he didn’t love Thor, it would be so much easier to get over the agony of living in his shadow for so long. He also wishes that being in that shadow didn’t hurt so much; didn’t make him so angry.
I see this song as the words Thor’s desperate to hear, but Loki’s just too angry to say.
2. Peggy/Howard - “It’s All Right With Me” - Ella Fitzgerald
It's the wrong time and the wrong place / Though your face is charming it's the wrong face / It's not his face but such a charming face / That it's all right with me / It's the wrong song in the wrong style / Though your smile is lovely it's the wrong smile / It's not his smile but such a lovely smile / That it's all right with me / You can't know how happy I am that we met / I'm strangely attracted to you / There's someone I'm trying so hard to forget / Don't you want to forget someone too?
I have major, insane headcanon for these two. In the movie, Peggy and Howard have this Are They/Aren’t They relationship (and the “fondue” scene will forever be one of my favourites). They’re obviously good friends, and Steve only draws them closer together. They’re his support team, closer than even the Howling Commandos, and when Steve disappears, there’s suddenly a gap in their lives.
And this is where my headcanon begins. Howard searches. He’s practically single-minded in his search, and, at first, so is Peggy. But the days and weeks and months go by, and they don’t find him. This is unbelievably painful, and Peggy realises that if they continue, she’ll go insane. Anyway, she and Howard have been getting closer, having a weird relationship that’s sort of half shared passion and half tension-releasing, mostly-emotionless sex.
And it’s great, don’t get me wrong, the sex is fantastic and they have a lot in common, but as time goes on, it gets crazy. It’s not healthy to spend all your time searching for your sort-of-ex-boyfriend-slash-love-of-your-life with his sort-of-best-friend-who-had-a-mad-crush-on-him-both-romantically-and-professionally who you’re also having sex with. So she tries to convince Howard to stop looking.
Of course, this plays out just as well as you might imagine, and Howard practically blows something up, and Peggy flees back to England, because it’s easier to get over someone if you’re somewhere they’ve never been. And eventually she sort of gets over Steve, because that’s what he would have wanted, but she reads the newspapers and sees Howard become an even more ruthless businessman, and get married and have a brilliant son, and though she’s happy that he seems to be happy, she still wonders what would have happened if she’d stayed.
3. Natasha/Bruce - “I Walk Beside You” - Dream Theater
There's a story in your eyes / I can see the hurt behind your smile / For every sign I recognize / Another one escapes me / Let me know what plagues your mind / Let me be the one to know you best / Be the one to hold you up / When you feel like you're sinking / Tell me once again / What's beneath the pain you're feeling / Don't abandon me / Or think you can't be saved / I walk beside you / Wherever you are / Whatever it takes / No matter how far
Go here for an explanation of why Natasha and Bruce are awesome - http://gyzym.tumblr.com/post/23255466886/and-now-black-widow-meta . Gyzym says everything far better and more succinctly than I can. :D
The way I see it, Natasha/Bruce is an experiment in control. Twice, Natasha faces a stressed out and scared Bruce, and twice, she is shaken to her very core with fear, at first by the threat of the Hulk, and then by the reality of him. But she pulls herself back together, and treats him with the same respect and comradeship that she treats all the other boys. At the battle of Manhattan, Bruce attempts to apologise, and Natasha immediately, without a trace of resentment, admits that the Hulk can be useful.
So, post-battle and post-movie, Bruce goes off and does SCIENCE with Tony, and Natasha sidles off with Clint for some downtime. Then, somehow, everyone ends up in the Avengers Tower together. Late one night, Natasha is awake, because she doesn’t sleep all that much anyway, and she hears a noise downstairs. She investigates, and finds the Hulk in the gym, with one of these giant, stronger-than-kevlar punching bags (that Tony totally invented just so the Hulk could get some exercise in without smashing the place up). But the thing is, as soon as the Hulk notices that Natasha’s there, in the doorway, doing everything she can to control her breathing and just stay standing there in that doorway, he goes away, and lets Bruce back out. Then there’s just Bruce, wearing his super-stretchy shorts (that Tony also totally got round to inventing), staring at Natasha, because the Hulk pretty much never goes away that easily, and wondering what this means. And from then on, Natasha’s never exactly comfortable around the Hulk, but she isn’t as scared of him, and Bruce tries his best to put her at ease, and they spend more and more time together. She teaches him how to protect himself, which seems to make the Hulk happier, and he shows her all his most interesting experiments and makes her his special green tea. (The irony is not lost on him.) They become friends. Do they become any more than friends? I don’t know.
4. Steve/Bucky - “Save Us” - Feeder
Face against the ground / Torn, but you can stand / Your will is strong, but you have now / I know you can save us / Faith is on your side / Fears you can't deny / It's burned a hole, right through your soul / But I know you can save us / Save us now / Don't say goodbye / I know you can save us / Don't wave goodbye / But nothing can break us / Don't say goodbye / I know you can save us / You can bring us back again / Born to be as one / Turn to face the sun / Your will is strong, but you have now / I know you can save us / Save us now
I can totally see Steve - little, sickly, scrappy Steve - having a hopeless crush on his strong, brave, perfect best friend. I can see him longing to be him, and, if that wasn’t possible, to at least be with him. I mean, back in the 1930s it was still really illegal to engage in homosexual acts, so I can’t see Steve even considering doing anything, but no one could stop them being best friends forever and always having each other’s backs and occasionally sleeping in the same bed just for warmth, okay? Because it was the Depression, and life was hard and if Steve and Bucky could get the slightest amount of happiness from each other’s company, it couldn’t possibly be wrong.
This song is all about what I see as the fundamental quality of Steve and Bucky’s relationship. They save each other. Pre-serum, Bucky saved Steve from bullies, but I don’t doubt that Steve saved him in other ways. After the serum, Steve actually walked into a Nazi fortress and saved Bucky (as well as 400 other soldiers). After that, they saved each-other, over and over again, until one day, on a train, Steve couldn’t save Bucky, and that breaks my heart.
(Also, I have headcanon that Steve still dreams of that day, and he does something different - faster, smarter, better - and he saves Bucky. Every time.)
5. Thor/Sif - “Sparks Fly” - Taylor Swift
The way you move is like a full on rainstorm / And I'm a house of cards / You're the kind of reckless / That should send me runnin' / But I kinda know that I won't get far / And you stood there in front of me / Just close enough to touch / Close enough to hope you couldn't see / What I was thinking of… / My mind forgets to remind me / You're a bad idea / You touch me once and it's really something, / You find I'm even better than you imagined I would be. / I'm on my guard for the rest of the world / But with you I know it's no good / And I could wait patiently but I really wish you would / Drop everything now / Meet me in the pouring rain / Kiss me on the sidewalk / Take away the pain / 'cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile
So, in their movie, I don’t really ship Thor/Sif… I think they’re adorable, and totally best friends, but I don’t see it as a romantic relationship.
However, teen!Thor/teen!Sif - YES. BY ALL THE GODS, YES. I want all the fic where Sif is a rebellious young maiden, ditching her embroidery for sword practice, and sneaking off with Thor to brawl and make out together.
This is also part of my headcanon about Loki/Sif. All through their formative years, Loki watched Sif alternately making googly eyes at Thor and beating his ass (because that’s totally how it worked) and he wanted that attention for himself. But, of course, he didn’t, and Sif eventually realised that she wasn’t actually in love with Thor, and the fighting was more fun than the sex, so they just stayed best friends.
So yeah, this song is all Sif being young and ‘innocent’ and meeting Thor and deciding that it’s so much more fun being a kickass warrior than a demure little girl. (And Taylor Swift - because nothing in the world will dissuade me from thinking that Thor loves Taylor Swift. They could even exchange gorgeous blonde hair tips!)
6. Tony/Natasha (Tony/Natalie) - “A Woman Like That” - Bernie Marsden
When she walks into the room / She walks into your life / And the memory of her face / Is gonna haunt you through the night / When she comes in your direction / Better realise the cost / All that you believe in is gonna suddenly be lost / A woman like that is gonna bring you some pain / She's gonna wind you up, gonna mess with your brain
It’s probably kind of telling that my top three Tony/Natasha moments are actually probably Tony/Natalie moments, and one of them didn’t even make it into the final cut of the movie.
1. “Is that dirty enough for you, sir?”
2. Natalie shooting stuff with the Iron Man gauntlet (deleted scene)
3. “Fallaces sunt rerum species.”
Of course, I adore Tony with non-undercover Natasha too, but there was something about Tony’s relationship with Natalie that just makes me smile all the time. She’s this awesome legal secretary turned PA, who speaks Latin (which is totally possible, PEPPER), and occasionally breaks character by flipping a 200 pound guy over her shoulder or dropping into a martial arts pose when her boss crashes through the ceiling. He’s her awesome boss who makes a lot of comments which could be construed as sexual harassment if she didn’t give better than she got, and who doesn’t know quite what to do with her. I think he was actually relieved when she turned out to be an undercover SHIELD agent. I mean, Pepper is bad enough, but a Pepper-clone who speaks in double-entendres, is unnervingly calm in all situations, and can flip Happy on to his back without breaking a sweat? Shit, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tony had nightmares about her.
7. Coulson/Pepper - “You’re Not Alone” - The Enemy
Don't let the sun go down, / On an Empire,/ It's too much to waste. / Don't let the walls come down, / Round an Empire,/ It's too much to wave goodbye. / We've been working for a long time, / We've been fighting for a way, / Now in the streets men standing in lines they're all wasted anyway. / You're living in an incestuous world,/ Where your conscience holds no weight, / You sold us down the river like rats then,/ You drowned and beat the brave. / You're not alone you know, / You're not alone you know, / You're not alone no no.
I didn’t really start shipping this until I was doing my Live Blog, and it hit me right between the eyes near the end of Iron Man. I really don’t know why I didn’t always ship them. They’re both phenomenally organised, wonderfully lovely and patient people, who, as The Avengers confirms, are BFFs! Also, I don’t doubt that Coulson’s passion for Supernanny isn’t shared by Pepper too. I’ll bet she totally has the Bedtime Routine down, and she often entertains the idea of designating Tony a Naughty Spot.
This song is my quintessential Coulson to Pepper anthem. The world is a mess, it’s superheroes and aliens and nothing she could have possibly dreamt of when she started working for Tony all those years ago. But she isn’t alone, she has Phil. I like to imagine that all through the span of the Marvel Movieverse, ever since Tony committed the cardinal sin of revealing himself as Iron Man, Pepper and Phil have been meeting up and having a sort of “Superhero-nanny” support group, where Pepper half-heartedly apologises for whatever mess Iron Man has got into lately, and Phil tells her all the funniest ‘mission gone wrong’ stories he knows - trying to keep the really confidential stuff out of it, obviously. And then they eat insane amounts of junk food and Pepper tries to set him up with all her nicest friends.
(BTW, the track in the zip is a cover version I found on youtube here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvy0fcuRaI8 - because I love this guy's voice, and I think Coulson would too. :D )
8. Maria/Fury - “You’re The Storm” - The Cardigans
I'm an angel bored like hell/ and you're a devil meaning well / you steal my lines and you strike me down / come raise your flag upon me / and if you want me I'm your country / if you win me I'm forever - oh yeah / 'cause you're the storm that I've been needing / and all this peace has been deceiving / I like the sweet life and the silence / but it's the storm that I believe in / come and conquer and drop your bombs / cross my borders and kill the calm / bear your fangs and burn my wings / I hear bullets singing… / you fill my heart, you keep me breathing / 'cause you're the storm that I believe in
I didn’t have a Fury pairing or a Maria pairing on the last one, and that made me sad. :(
I am a bit of a sucker for kickass!girl/her!boss pairings. I think it’s a consequence of my serious authority kink, which has manifested itself quite dramatically through my life, but either way, I totally see Maria crushing on Fury. I mean, who wouldn’t? He’s strong, brave, has questionable but committed morals, and doesn’t take shit from anyone. It’s obvious that she respects him deeply, and admires him, even when he makes debateable decisions, and she even saves his life in a pretty awesome way. There’s no doubt in my mind that they would make an epic couple, even if there’s only two fics in their tag on AO3 - one of which is a drabble and the other is a three-line reference in a Clint/Darcy fic. D:
This song is totally from Maria’s POV, near the beginning of her employment with SHIELD. She sees Fury as this amazing whirlwind of a man, all billowy-coat-of-pain and lack-of-hair-full-of-secrets, and she’s all want! take! have! and ‘I’ll follow that man to hell and back’. But in a totally kickass feminist way, of course. *nods*
(I may or may not be living vicariously through Maria. I apologise.)
9. Clint/Darcy - “Dixie Chicken” - Little Feat
I've seen the bright lights of Memphis and the Commodore Hotel / And, underneath a street lamp I met a Southern Belle / Well, she took me to the river where she cast her spell / And, in that southern moonlight she sang the song so well / If you'll be my Dixie Chicken, I'll be your Tennessee Lamb / And we can walk together down in Dixieland / Down in Dixieland / Well, we made all the hot spots - my money flowed like wine / And then that lowdown southern whiskey began to fog my mind / And I don't remember church bells or the money I put down / On the white picket fence and boardwalk of the house at the edge of town / Oh, but boy do I remember the strain of her refrain / And the nights we spent together, and the way she called my name
Before I talk about why Clint/Darcy = 4EVER, I have to say that I had to pick a country song for them, because of this fic - http://archiveofourown.org/works/364902 - in which Clint is secretly just as good at playing the banjo/guitar as he is at shooting things, and he becomes a COUNTRY MUSIC SUPERSTAR, called Dirk Hawksley. Oh, and he’s dating Darcy. It was the first fic I read with Clint/Darcy, and therefore, it is inscribed in my brain that Clint/Darcy = Country Music.
Anyway, Clint/Darcy works because they’re both smartarses who talk too much and make off-colour jokes and like the thrill of violence. They’re both very practical and a little bit crazy and loyal to their people.
So, I picked “Dixie Chicken”, because in that wonderful, wonderful fic I just linked, Darcy calls Clint Dixie (short for Dixie Chicken), and at one point he sings this song just for her. And therefore, it is my Clint/Darcy theme song. :D
10. Coulson/Steve - “Believe” - Yellowcard
Think about the love in the strength of heart / Think about the heroes saving life in the dark / Climbing higher, through the fire / Time was running out / Never knowing you weren't going to be coming down alive / But you still came back for me / You were strong and you believed / Everything is going to be alright / Everything is going to be alright / Everything is going to be alright / Be strong, believe / (Be strong, believe) / Think about the chance I never had to say / Thank you for giving up your life that day / Never fearing, only hearing voices calling out / Let it all go, the life that you know / Just to bring them down alive / And you still came back for me / You were strong and you believed
One of my absolute favourite scenes in The Avengers has to be Coulson and Steve on the jet. The way Coulson not-so-subtly invades his space and then mirrors his movements, leaning against the wall, combined with the frankly hilarious dialogue is just completely wonderful.
There’s a Tumblr blog called “Avengers Headcanon” (http://theavengersheadcanons.tumblr.com) and one of them a few days ago was that Coulson is Peggy Carter’s son. OMG. YES. I don’t even care that it’s implausible and a little weird and sort of incestuous, I love it. I love the idea that Coulson’s frankly endearing obsession came from a whole childhood of stories about a scrawny little boy with a heart of gold who grew up to be a superhero.
This song is about facing impossible odds and coming out the other side because you believed. The way I see it, this is Coulson, finding out that they’d found Captain America, and he was still alive - that insane rush of happiness he must have felt. Because those stories made him the man he is today, saved him from all the dark times and helped him get up in the morning when nothing seemed worth it. He’s been in love with Steve since before he knew what that meant, and just the idea that he hadn’t disappeared for good makes Coulson happier than he could have ever imagined. And he watches over him while he sleeps, and gets his prized trading cards out of his hidden safe (where he also keeps the picture of pre-serum!Steve that his mum saved all those years ago), and puts them in his locker, longing for the day when he can ask Steve to sign them. And he entertains the thought, just for a moment, that Captain America is back because he wished hard enough.
Zip: http://www.mediafire.com/?x9iq3325z3uc5f5