possible endgame spoilers - the dr strange open post.

[rehandle]

give me mcus or au your crosscanons into the mcu or weird space cross-dimensional magic them there I'm easy I just want to play a magical, magical man with too many responsibilities who is also a shit

pre-IW, post-endgame, an au where everything's simpler, weird side pocket universes or suspended states where characters can have some chats, space, the sanctum, post-ml au for those who are/have been in a game with me, etc. the world is your oyster and any kind of thread starter or thread genre is fair play.

drop me a starter or a prompt or just a theme/genre or idea in the body of the comment, or leave it empty and give me free rein, I'll come back at you when I have the get up and go.

please also let me know whether or not you'd be happy to have spoilery themes involved in the thread if the tag-in doesn't already make it obvious.

thanks let's get MAGIC and STRESSED

Comments

big time spoilers pls / fix-it thanks magic man

[expiable]

[rehandle]

[ Natasha Romanoff was a pivotal part of the saving of the universe. her love of her best friend, her lost sense of purpose, her strength found in the small family she and those who remained had made of themselves after the Decimation. these things, the culmination of her nature, meant that she would do what it took - and maybe even take some small satisfaction in the doing of it. serving purpose: saving the world, saving Clint's family the loss of him.

in some cases, lives have had to be lost for this. but not always. sometimes there are loopholes.

the Black Widow deserves a chance to find value in her own life. she has made a big enough sacrifice.



Stephen's seen the journey for the Soul stone more times than he needs to remember. he's heard the Red Skull lay down the terms, knows them inside and out. in order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. a soul for a soul.

there are three key elements. loss, love and a soul exchanged.

never once has the Red Skull demanded life. never blood.

theory 1: the soul doesn't refer to the body at the foot of the fall. the soul that is given up is the one left behind, the one who watched as love was lost. who gave love up for power.

theory 2: there only needs to be a sacrifice. there doesn't need to be a body.



time is a tricky thing. but there's a window of it between the end of the war and Steve Rogers' journey to return the stone into the hands of a woman whose faith in Stephen provided them the chance they needed. it's a big enough window in which to do something important.




high on a cliff face, Clint Barton clings to life and to Natasha Romanoff. he refuses to let go. he reaches for her - there isn't enough give. she tells him what needs to be done. he refuses again. she smiles. kicks out her feet and takes back the choice.

she falls. Clint watches her go until he has to close his eyes against the impact. seconds later a body hits the floor and bleeds, bleeds, bleeds.



but Natasha Romanoff is not on the ground. her head is not split on stone. Clint Barton disappears at the whim of the Soul stone and she finds herself suspended, caught in a net of spun and sparking gold. to her right hovers a man in a cloak that moves as if held aloft by a wind. around her, the view of the world is split as if by fractured panes of glass. below, the image similarly distorted, what would seem to be her own broken body lays bleeding. ]

Hello, Miss Romanoff.

[ a precise twist of his hand from flat, open palm to closed, bunched fist, and the body some few feet beneath them first glows bright gold then fades away entirely, leaving no trace of blood or bone or anything that might say a woman once lay there, dropped from a great height to save the lives of trillions (but one in particular). ]