How To Write Indigenous Characters Without Looking Like A Jackass:

How to Write Indigenous Characters Without Looking like a Jackass:

Update as of December 26th, 2020: I have added a couple new sections about naming and legal terms, as well as a bit of reading on the Cherokee Princess phenomenon.

Boozhoo (hello) Fallout fandom! I'm a card-carrying Anishinaabe delivering this rough guide about writing Indigenous characters because wow, do I see a lot of shit.

Let's get something out of the way first: Fallout's portrayal of Indigenous people is racist. From a vague definition of "tribal" to the claims of them being "savage" and "uncivilized" mirror real-world stereotypes used to dehumanize us. Fallout New Vegas' narrated intro has Ron Perlman saying Mr. House "rehabilitated" tribals to create New Vegas' Three Families. You know. Rehabilitate. As if we are animals. Top it off with an erasure of Indigenous people in the American Southwest and no real tribe names, and you've got some pretty shitty representation. The absence of Native American as a race option in the GECK isn't too great, given that two Native characters are marked "Caucasian" despite being brown. Butch Deloria is a pretty well-known example of this effect. (Addendum: Indigenous people can have any mix of dominant and recessive traits, as well as present different phenotypes. What bothers me is it doesn't accommodate us or mixed people, which is another post entirely.)

As a precautionary warning: this post and the sources linked will discuss racism and genocide. There will also be discussion of multiple kinds of abuse.

Now, your best approach will be to pick a nation or tribe and research them. However, what follows will be general references.

Terms that may come up in your research include Aboriginal/Native Canadian, American Indian/Native American, Inuit, Métis, and Mestizo. The latter two refer to cultural groups created after the discovery of the so-called New World. (Addendum made September 5th, 2020: Mestizo has negative connotations and originally meant "half breed" so stick with referring to your mixed Latine and Indigenous characters as mixed Indigenous or simply by the name of their people [Maya, Nahua].)

As a note, not every mixed person is Métis or Mestizo. If you are, say, Serbian and Anishinaabe, you would be mixed, but not Métis (the big M is important here, as it refers to a specific culture). Even the most liberal definition caps off at French and British ancestry alongside Indigenous (some say Scottish and English). Mestizo works the same, since it refers to descendants of Spanish conquistadors/settlers and Indigenous people.

Trouble figuring out whose land is where? No problem, check out this map.

Drawing

Don't draw us with red skin. It's offensive and stereotypical.

Tutorial for Native Skintones

Tutorial for Mixed Native Skintones

Why Many Natives Have Long Hair (this would technically fit better under another category, but give your Native men long hair!)

If You're Including Traditional Wear, Research! It's Out There

Languages

Remember, there are a variety of languages spoken by Indigenous people today. No two tribes will speak the same language, though there are some that are close and may have loan words from each other (Cree and Anishinaabemowin come to mind). Make sure your Diné (you may know them as Navajo) character doesn't start dropping Cree words.

Here's a Site With a Map and Voice Clips

Here's an Extensive List of Amerindian Languages

Keep in mind there are some sounds that have no direct English equivalents. But while we're at it, remember a lot of us speak English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese. The languages of the countries that colonized us.

Words in Amerindian languages tend to be longer than English ones and are in the format of prefix + verb + suffix to get concepts across. Gaawiin miskwaasinoon is a complete sentence in Anishinaabemowin, for example (it is not red).

Names

Surprisingly, we don't have names like Passing Dawn or Two-Bears-High-Fiving in real life. A lot of us have, for lack of better phrasing, white people names. We may have family traditions of passing a name down from generation to generation (I am the fourth person in my maternal line to have my middle name), but not everyone is going to do that. If you do opt for a name from a specific tribe, make sure you haven't chosen a last name from another tribe.

Baby name sites aren't reliable, because most of the names on there will be made up by people who aren't Indigenous. That site does list some notable exceptions and debunks misconceptions.

Here's a list of last names from the American census.

Indian Names

You may also hear "spirit names" because that's what they are for. You know the sort of mystical nature-related name getting slapped on an Indigenous character? Let's dive into that for a moment.

The concept of a spirit name seems to have gotten mistranslated at some point in time. It is the name Creator calls you throughout all your time both here and in the spirit world. These names are given (note the word usage) to you in a ceremony performed by an elder. This is not done lightly.

A lot of imitations of this end up sounding strange because they don't follow traditional guidelines. (I realize this has spread out of the original circle, but Fallout fans may recall other characters in Honest Hearts and mods that do this. They have really weird and racist results.)

If you're not Indigenous: don't try this. You will be wrong.

Legal Terms

Now, sometimes the legal term (or terms) for a tribe may not be what they refer to themselves as. A really great example of this would be the Oceti Sakowin and "Sioux". How did that happen, you might be wondering. Smoky Mountain News has an article about this word and others, including the history of these terms.

For the most accurate information, you are best off having your character refer to themselves by the name their nation uses outside of legislation. A band name would be pretty good for this (Oglala Lakota, for example). I personally refer to myself by my band.

Cowboys

And something the Fallout New Vegas fans might be interested in, cowboys! Here's a link to a post with several books about Black and Indigenous cowboys in the Wild West.

Representation: Stereotypes and Critical Thought

Now, you'll need to think critically about why you want to write your Indigenous character a certain way. Here is a comprehensive post about stereotypes versus nuance.

Familiarize yourself with tropes. The Magical Indian is a pretty prominent one, with lots of shaman-type characters in movies and television shows. This post touches on its sister tropes (The Magical Asian and The Magical Negro), but is primarily about the latter.

Say you want to write an Indigenous woman. Awesome! Characters I love to see. Just make sure you're aware of the stereotypes surrounding her and other Women of Color.

Word to the wise: do not make your Indigenous character an alcoholic. "What, so they can't even drink?" You might be asking. That is not what I'm saying. There is a pervasive stereotype about Drunk Indians, painting a reaction to trauma as an inherent genetic failing, as stated in this piece about Indigenous social worker Jessica Elm's research. The same goes for drugs. Ellen Deloria is an example of this stereotype.

Familiarize yourself with and avoid the Noble Savage trope. This was used to dehumanize us and paint us as "childlike" for the sake of a plot device. It unfortunately persists today.

Casinos are one of the few ways for tribes to make money so they can build homes and maintain roads. However, some are planning on diversifying into other business ventures.

There's a stereotype where we all live off government handouts. Buddy, some of these long-term boil water advisories have been in place for over twenty years. The funding allocated to us as a percentage is 0.39%: less than half a percent to fight the coronavirus. They don't give us money.

"But what about people claiming to be descended from a Cherokee princess?" Cherokee don't and never had anything resembling princesses. White southerners made that up prior to the Civil War. As the article mentions, they fancied themselves "defending their lands as the Indians did".

Also, don't make your Indigenous character a cannibal. Cannibalism is a serious taboo in a lot of our cultures, particularly northern ones.

Our lands are not cursed. We don't have a litany of curses to cast on white people in found footage films. Seriously. We have better things to be doing. Why on earth would our ancestors be haunting you when they could be with their families? Very egotistical assumption.

Indigenous Ties and Blood Quantum

Blood quantum is a colonial system that was initially designed to "breed out the Indian" in people. To dilute our bloodlines until we assimilated properly into white society. NPR has an article on it here.

However, this isn't how a vast majority of us define our identities. What makes us Indigenous is our connections (or reconnection) to our families, tribes, bands, clans, and communities.

Blood quantum has also historically been used to exclude Black Natives from tribal enrollment, given that it was first based on appearance. So, if you looked Black and not the image of "Indian" the white census taker had in his brain, you were excluded and so were your descendants.

Here are two tumblrs that talk about Black Indigenous issues and their perspectives. They also talk about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia.

However, if you aren't Indigenous, don't bring up blood quantum. Don't. This is an issue you should not be speaking about.

Cherokee Princess Myth

"Princess" was not a real position in any tribe. The European idea of monarchy did not suddenly manifest somewhere else. The closest probable approximation may have been the daughter of a chief or other politically prominent person. But princess? No.

Here is an article talking about possible origins of this myth. Several things are of note here: women from other tribes may have bee shoved under this label and the idea of a "Cherokee Princess" had been brought up to explain the sudden appearance of a brown-skinned (read: half Black) family member.

For a somewhat more in depth discussion of why, specifically, this myth gets touted around so often, Timeline has this piece.

Religion

Our religions are closed. We are not going to tell you how we worship. Mostly because every little bit we choose to share gets appropriated. Smudging is the most recent example. If you aren't Indigenous, that's smoke cleansing. Smudging is done in a specific way with ceremonies and prayers.

Now, a lot of us were forcibly converted. Every residential school was run by Christians. So plenty of us are Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, Lutheran, etc. Catholicism in Latin America also has influence from the Indigenous religions in that region.

Having your Indigenous character pray or carry rosaries wouldn't be a bad thing, if that religion was important to them. Even if they are atheist, if they lived outside of a reserve or other Indigenous communities, they might have Christian influences due to its domination of the Western world.

Settler Colonialism and the White Savior Trope

Now we've come to our most painful section yet. Fallout unintentionally has an excellent agent of settler-colonialism, in particular the Western Christian European variety, in Caesar's Legion and Joshua Graham.

(Addendum: Honest Hearts is extremely offensive in its portrayal of Indigenous people, and egregiously shows a white man needing to "civilize" tribals and having to teach them basic skills. These skills include cooking, finding safe water, and defending themselves from other tribes.)

Before we dive in, here is a post explaining the concept of cultural Christianity, if you are unfamiliar with it.

We also need to familiarize ourselves with The White Man's Burden. While the poem was written regarding the American-Philippine war, it still captures the attitudes toward Indigenous folks all over the world at the time.

As this article in Teen Vogue points out, white people like to believe they need to save People of Color. You don't need to. People of Color can save themselves.

Now, cultural Christianity isn't alone on this side of the pond. Writer Teju Cole authored a piece on the White Savior Industrial Complex to describe mission trips undertaken by white missionaries to Africa to feed their egos.

Colonialism has always been about the acquisition of wealth. To share a quote from this paper about the ongoing genocide of Indigenous peoples: "Negatively, [settler colonialism] strives for the dissolution of native societies. Positively, it erects a new colonial society on the expropriated land base—as I put it, settler colonizers come to stay: invasion is a structure not an event. In its positive aspect, elimination is an organizing principal of settler-colonial society rather than a one-off (and superseded) occurrence. The positive outcomes of the logic of elimination can include officially encouraged miscegenation, the breaking-down of native title into alienable individual freeholds, native citizenship, child abduction, religious conversion, resocialization in total institutions such as missions or boarding schools, and a whole range of cognate biocultural assimilations. All these strategies, including frontier homicide, are characteristic of settler colonialism. Some of them are more controversial in genocide studies than others." (Positive, here, is referring to "benefits" for the colonizers. Indigenous people don't consider colonization beneficial.)

An example of a non-benefit, the Church Rock disaster had Diné children playing in radioactive water so the company involved could avoid bad publicity.

Moving on, don't sterilize your Indigenous people. Sterilization, particularly when it is done without consent, has long been used as a tool by the white system to prevent "undesirables" (read, People of Color and disabled people) from having children. Somehow, as of 2018, it wasn't officially considered a crime.

The goal of colonization was to eliminate us entirely. Millions died because of exposure to European diseases. Settlers used to and still do separate our children from us for reasons so small as having a dirty dish in the sink. You read that right, a single dirty dish in your kitchen sink was enough to get your children taken and adopted out to white families. This information was told to me by an Indigenous social work student whose name I will keep anonymous.

It wasn't until recently they made amendments to the Indian Act that wouldn't automatically render Indigenous women non-status if they married someone not Indigenous. It also took much too long for Indigenous families to take priority in child placement over white ones. Canada used to adopt Indigenous out to white American families. The source for that statement is further down, but adoption has been used as a tool to destroy cultures.

I am also begging you to cast aside whatever colonialist systems have told you about us. We are alive. People with a past, not people of the past, which was wonderfully said here by Frank Waln.

Topics to Avoid if You Aren't Indigenous

Child Separation. Just don't. We deserve to remain with our families and our communities. Let us stay together and be happy that way.

Assimilation schools. Do not bring up a tool for cultural genocide that has left lasting trauma in our communities.

W/ndigos. I don't care that they're in Fallout 76. They shouldn't be. Besides, you never get them right anyway.

Sk/nwalkers. Absolutely do not. Diné stories are not your playthings either.

I've already talked about drugs and alcohol. Do your research with compassion and empathy in mind. Indigenous people have a lot of pain and generational trauma. You will need to be extremely careful having your Indigenous characters use drugs and alcohol. If your character can be reduced to their (possible) substance abuse issues, you need to step back and rework it. As mentioned in Jessica Elm's research, remember that it isn't inherent to us.

For our final note: remember that we're complex, autonomous human beings. Don't use our deaths to further the stories of your white characters. Don't reduce us to some childlike thing that needs to be raised and civilized by white characters. We interact with society a little differently than you do, but we interact nonetheless.

Meegwetch (thank you) for reading! Remember to do your research and portray us well, but also back off when you are told by an Indigenous person.

This may be updated in the future, it depends on what information I come across or, if other Indigenous people are so inclined, what is added to this post.

A concept

The “they did surgery on a grape” meme but instead it’s a picture of William Afton from FNaF in surgery don’t @ me

Well-Known and Obscure Toxins: How They Work

Well this is a morbid subject but HEY it’s almost Halloween baby!! I was super curious about what toxins actually do on a molecular level after reading about cone snails. Obviously toxins can kill you, but how?? I wanted to know the grisly details. This is not an exhaustive list, just some types of poison, venom, and other toxic substances I was curious about, so let’s get to it.

Deadly Nightshade

Where is it found? Atropa belladonna grows in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia.

How it works: slows your heart waaaaaay down. deadly nightshade contains tropane alkaloids atropine, hyoscine (scopolamine), and hyoscyamine which disrupt the nervous system’s ability to regulate activities such as heart rate, breathing and sweating. It can cause narcosis, paralysis and heart failure as a result. Yikes. But an antidote exists that can reverse these affects if administered in time.

Toxicity: the entire plant is toxic, with roots having the highest toxicity but berries posing the greatest threat to humans because of their appearance. 10-20 berries can kill an adult, and 2-4 can kill a child. Symptoms of mild poisoning include dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, loss of balance, confusion, hallucinations (wild) and convulsions. Doesn’t sound like a good time.

Do not eat the shiny attractive berries!!! (cows and rabbits and other animals can eat it but humans, dogs and cats…NOT SO MUCH)

Totally fun and not morbid fact: during the Renaissance, belladonna was used by women in small quantities to dilate pupils and give a seductive appearance, and this is how it gets its name belladonna, or beautiful woman. Atropa comes from the Greek Fate Atropos who cuts the threads of mortal lives with her shears. Snip snip!

Hemlock

Where is it found? Conium maculatum grows naturally in Europe and North Africa, and has spread to North and South America, Australia and Western Asia.

How it works: stops your breathing. the flowers contain an alkaloid called coniine, which directly affects the nervous system and causes paralysis of respiratory muscles, leading to death from oxygen deprivation. Hemlock poisoning is treated by artificial ventilation for 48-72 hours until the effects wear off.

Toxicity: about 100 milligrams of coniine is fatal to an adult. That’s about 6-8 hemlock leaves, or a smaller dose of the seeds or root. Animals can also be poisoned and killed by hemlock, but luckily dangerous substances cannot be passed into the human food chain from milk or fowl.

Basically you’re only gonna get poisoned by this if someone puts it in your tea, because I assume you’re not gonna just go around just like…chomping on pretty flowers. Right? Right?? ok good.

Arsenic

Where is it found? arsenic is a metalloid that occurs often with sulfurs and metals. It can be present in volcanic ash and groundwater, and as a result can be found in low (acceptable) levels in plants and seafood. Good news: it is rare to find arsenic occurring at dangerous levels in nature.

How it works: in high levels, arsenic disrupts ATP production and causes organ failure due to necrotic cell death. This process can last between 2 hours to multiple days. It can also be fatal in lower doses administered over a period of time, and as such, was a popular murder weapon when it was readily available during the 1800s in England. Symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea don’t immediately alert someone that there has been an attempted murder unless maybe you’re Sherlock Holmes.

Toxicity: google probably thinks I’m a murderer and won’t tell me just how much arsenic will kill a person. COME ON, google!!! it’s for SCIENCE!

Arsenic is no longer readily available for people to just get in large quantities, so that’s a RELIEF.

Cyanide

Where is it found? cyanide is a chemical compound produced by certain algae, bacteria and fungi. It is also found in plants such as peaches, apples, apricots and bitter almonds. A type of bamboo that grows in Madagascar is so rich in cyanide that it would kill humans, but not the golden bamboo lemur for whom this bamboo is a primary source of food!!! You go girl, eat that cyanide bamboo.

How it works: in non-bamboo-lemurs, cyanide disrupts ATP production, affects the central nervous system and heart, and causes histotoxic hypoxia: the inability of cells to take up oxygen from the bloodstream. Antidotes can work if administered in time for lower doses of cyanide.

Toxicity: 200 milligrams of solid cyanide or a cyanide solution, or exposure to airborne cyanide of 270 parts per million is sufficient to cause death within minutes. Um, YIKES. Really, cyanide was already scary enough as a solid before nature went and made it into a gas that kills upon inhalation. DEEPLY uncool.

Murder mystery writers: slip belladona or arsenic into your literary victim’s tea. Belladonna is sweet, arsenic is tasteless, but cyanide has an acrid and bitter taste.

Fun (well, not fun) fact: if you eat 200 apple seeds (about 40 apple cores) you will receive a fatal dose of cyanide. So like, don’t do that. An apple a day keeps the doctor away and is completely safe, but 40 apples apple cores a day WILL KILL YOU

Vampire Bat Saliva

Where is it found? Vampire bats are found in the Americas.

How it works: a toxic substance called Draculin (I’m serious) in the saliva of vampire bats acts as an anticoagulant by inhibiting an enzyme involved in the coagulation pathway.

Toxicity: vampire bats are indeed venomous and toxic, but they are not at all lethal. It just sorta sucks if you’re being bitten by a vampire bat, but you’ll live. Unless that bat has rabies. Vampire bat saliva also contains an analgesic, meaning the bites are almost completely painless. SO THAT’S SOMETHING

Cobra Venom

“hello do you have a moment to hear about cell death?”

Where is it found? Many species of cobra are found throughout Africa, Southwest and Southeast Asia.

How it works: most cobra venom includes neurotoxins that cause paralysis as well as cytotoxins that cause necrosis and blood coagulation. blood coagulation can happen in minutes.

Toxicity: many types of cobra venom are treatable, but may leave disfigurement from necrosis. If this isn’t scary enough for you, just know that spitting cobras can reach 2.7 m (8.9 ft) in length and like to aim for the eyes.

But you’d still rather be bitten by a cobra than THIS deadly mofo:

Venom of the Inland Taipan

Where is it found? the inland taipan is the most venomous snake in the world and lives, YOU GUESSED IT, in Australia, ie the place where everything is designed to kill you. Evolution decided it can reach 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) with a maximum length of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet), which I think everyone can agree is a dick move on evolution’s part. Take it back, TAKE IT BACK!!!!!

How it works: the venom contains neurotoxins, hemotoxins, and myotoxins AND an enzyme to increase absorption of the venom. Basically it causes paralysis, blood coagulation and muscle damage, because one of these things wasn’t enough apparently. Antivenoms against Australian venomous snakes exist but are least effective against the venom of the inland taipan.

Toxicity: the inland taipan’s venom has a murine LD50 value of 0.025m/kg. This means there is a 50% chance that .025 milligrams per kilogram of weight will cause death. It’s bite contains enough venom to kill at least 100 adult humans. But GOOD NEWS! the inland taipan lives in such remote places that it rarely comes in contact with people. Other slightly less venomous snakes are therefore responsible for more deaths. ….So that’s…still terrifying. just don’t go into the woods in Australia FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

What’s deadlier than the deadliest snake in the world, you ask?

Tetrodotoxin

Where is it found? tetrodotoxin is found in several animals such as pufferfish, moon snails and the small but deadly Australian blue ringed octopus (DAMMIT Australia)

How it works: blocks sodium channels. This prevents normal transmission of signals between the body and brain, causing loss of sensation, paralysis and inability to breathe. Fun!!! Don’t pick up the frickin evil little octopus

Toxicity: more powerful than cyanide, that’s for sure, about a thousand times more powerful in fact. the oral median lethal dose (LD50) for mice as 334 micrograms per kilogram. Fatal pufferfish poisoning result in death in about 17 minutes. The blue-ringed octopus, however, carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans within just a few minutes. There is no anti-venom.

What’s worse than that, you ask? Ah, you shouldn’t have asked.

Conotoxin

Where is it found? Cone snails are found in the Indo-Pacific, the Cape of South Africa, the Mediterranean, and even southern California. Smaller species are not that dangerous. Larger species, however…

How it works: paralysis within minutes. cone snails have multiple harpoons to administer venom to prey (or unsuspecting humans). the harpoons deliver a venom that has HUNDREDS of different types of toxins, each targeting different nerve channels or receptors. Some cone snail venom even includes pain-reducing toxins. These pain reducing toxins can be 100 to 1,000 times more powerful than morphine. How THOUGHTFUL.

Toxicity: vastly more potent than tetrodotoxin. the oral median lethal dose (LD50) for mice is is 10 to 100 micrograms/kilogram. So like, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT LOL

Ricin

Where is it found? Ricin is obtained from the beans of the castor oil plant.

How it works: inhibits protein production and results in organ failure, respiratory failure and circulatory shock.

Toxicity: The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. If that sounds bad just wait till you hear about poison dart frogs 😭

VX

Where is it found? Nowhere in nature. VX is synthetic. It is an oily amber colored liquid in its natural form, was first developed as a pesticide and later for chemical warfare. It is considered a weapon of mass destruction and is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993.

How it works: causes stimulation and fatigue of muscarinic and nicotinic ACh receptors, resulting in violent contractions followed by paralysis and death by asphyxiation.

Toxicity: 7 micrograms/kilogram. this is one of the most toxic synthetic substances on earth. Humans have got nothing on mother nature though…

Batrachotoxin

(This guy is called phyllobates TERRIBILIS. but is his cute little face terrible? noooo.)

Where is it found? in certain types of beetles, birds and poison dart frogs found in Colombia.

How it works: similar to conotoxin, batrachotoxin interrupts sodium channels. The resulting migration of Na+ ions causes heart failure and paralysis.

Toxicity: The LD50 is around 2 micrograms per kilogram, meaning that an amount the size of two grains of table salt will kill you, and that this is even worse than a cone snail, Ricin, or VX. Batrachotoxin is one of the deadliest alkaloids known. No antidote exists.

Fun frog fact: this was the poison commonly used by the Embera-Wounaan for poison darts, and that’s where poison dart frogs get their name! How…cute.

Botulinum, most toxic substance in the world

Where is it found? made by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum and related species.

How it works: causes Botulism, which if untreated can result in paralysis and respiratory failure by preventing the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Botulinum is used in very very very VEEEEEEERY small amounts in Botox, in case you ever needed reasons NOT to do Botox lol.

Toxicity: the lethal dose of 1.3–2.1 nanograms per kilogram in humans. of any toxin natural or synthetic, this is the deadliest known. However!! Actual good news this time: treatments involving antitoxin therapy and intubation are very successful and mortality from Botulism is extremely low. Yay!

More good news: toxins have been instrumental in medicinal breakthroughs throughout history and continue to be vital to modern medicine. A drug for diabetes was recently synthesized from Gila monster venom: it increases the production of insulin when blood sugar levels are high. A painkiller has been developed for chronic pain patients that is derived from a component of the venom of our friend, you guessed it, the cone snail! These are just two examples of toxins being used in medicine, and a lot of research is still being done because face it: we still don’t know a lot about how our bodies work. Paralyzing agents are extremely important to our understanding of the body and the development of non-opiate non-addictive painkillers because of how they disrupt signals between nerves and the brain.

Long story short: don’t eat nightshade and stay OFF AUSTRALIAN BEACHES and you should be just fine.

Oh and your tea is getting cold ;)

20K notes View Post

voidofstarryink

4 years ago

you do know that when jewish and romani people say “never forget” we mean “learn about the holocaust so you can recognize the warning signs of facism and genocide” not “repeatedly bring up the holocaust whenever anything bad happens and exploit our pain and trauma to make people care about your cause” and when we say “never again” we mean “take action to prevent any stage of genocide on any scale by any means, hold collaborators responsible and don’t be complicit” not “only care about genocide when it’s too late”, right? or did you think it was just a fun catchphrase?

144K notes View Post

voidofstarryink

2 years ago

@voidofstarryink

I made them properly meet ✨️

Golden Horses

Post Endgame ( No-one is dead AU )

Tony has decided to adopt Peter. Morgan starts to notice something between her dad and the Sorcerer Supreme. And so do a few of the other Avengers.

(They all have a party to celebrate defeating Thanos. Tony can’t help but smile at Stephen bonding with Morgan.)

(I love Pepper to bits, no shade to Pepperony)

-x-

“I’m holding you responsible if anything gets broken, Peter!” Tony pointed towards the boy, “Pepper will kill me if anything happens to Morgan.”

Peter nodded as Morgan clung to his hand, “I promise nothing bad will happen, Mr. Stark.”

Tony was about to comment on Peter calling him ‘Mr. Stark’. They’d already spoken about him calling him 'dad’. But before he could speak, Morgan was dragging Peter off further into the Avengers Compound.

Natasha nudged Tony’s shoulder, “I see he’s still calling you Mr. Stark.” she mocked with a smile.

“I don’t think he’ll believe it’s true until the adoption papers are finished.”

“So it’s official?” she questioned as he walked over to one of his workbenches.

“Just need to speak with May a few more times. Then yeah.” he fiddled with a few electrical parts scattered around the desk. His eyes moved towards the photo of him and Peter with the Stark Internship upside down in their hands. He couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on his face.

Natasha walked over and eyed the photo. But what really caught her attention was another photo, she raised her eyebrow as she picked up the frame, “When was this taken?”

Tony quickly grabbed the photo, “Oh, this? Nothing. It’s nothing.” he placed it face down on the table, stepping away from the desk.

A smirk found its way onto the woman’s face as she turned slowly towards Tony, picking back up the photo in the process, “Oh, really?”

“Look, it’s just some stupid photo that Pete took.”

“Well it must mean something to you.”

It was a photo of Tony and Stephen hugging after they defeated Thanos.

Just after Tony had snapped his fingers, Stephen was by his side telling him that he could save his life with the power of the Time Stone. Tony had to remain in his astral form for a few weeks whilst Stephen worked. He created something called the 'Infinity Reactor’. Using the technology of Tony’s reactor, Stephen created a life-saving mechanism by infusing a part of the Time Stone into it. It kept him stable whilst his body healed.

As Stephen gave him the reactor, finally releasing Tony from the astral dimension, he had the biggest smile on his face and pulled the sorcerer into a hug. Surprisingly he returned it. And that’s when a flash had lightened up the room. Peter had never ran quicker.

“It seems to be working.” Natasha nodded towards the reactor within Tony’s chest. A swirl of green flowed through it every now and then.

“I didn’t quite believe it when Strange told me about the Infinity Reactor.” he sighed, “When he showed me the plans I called him crazy. And when he finally gave me this.” his hand rested on it, “I was shocked. Shocked that he managed to build a reactor on his own by following my plans.”

“Sounds like somebody’s falling for the wizard.” Natasha teased as she placed the photo down.

Tony’s hand dropped from the reactor, “No. No. I’m just grateful for everything he’s done.”

“Grateful.” Clint chuckled as he walked into the lab, “Looking very grateful there, Stark.” he nodded towards the photo.

“So I’m not allowed to thank someone by hugging them?”

“No.” both Natasha and Clint said.

“Yeah, definitely not.” Scott said as he entered.

“Is there something going on that I don’t know about? Why is everyone here today?” Tony questioned with utter confusion. Suddenly, Scott had to step out of the way as a familiar young girl came running towards Tony, “Hey, Morgan. What’s wrong?” he asked as he picked the girl up.

“Peter broke something.” she whispered as Peter arrived.

“Traitor.” he said before looking at Tony, “It was only a glass!”

Tony groaned, “This just keeps getting better.” he muttered, “Look. Strange is-”

“Do you love the wizard?” Morgan asked, innocently.

Everyone did their best to stop smiling.

“Wh-What?” he looked at his daughter.

“Peter told me that you love Doctor Strange.”

Tony immediately glared at the boy, “I er…” Peter cleared his throat, “I think Aunt May needs me. For… Something…” he took a step back.

Clint placed a hand on the kid’s shoulder, “You took the photo, right?”

Peter folded his arms, “Wh-What photo?”

Natasha grabbed it and handed it to him, “This one.” she said.

“Oh… I must’ve done by accident.”

“Yeah. Accident.” Scott nodded.

“Whilst we’re all jumping to conclusions I’m gonna spoil the ending. No. I’m not in love with Strange.” Tony spoke up.

“Nobody said 'in love’, Tony.” Natasha replied.

“So you do love him?!” Morgan asked, excited.

“You’re supposed to be on my side!” Tony responded.

Morgan was fascinated by Strange’s magic. He had shown her butterflies appearing out of thin air and flying ponies made out of orange dust. She loved it when Stephen showed up to the compound, which he tended to do quite often nowadays. He’d always bring a small gift for her. And Tony becomes even more grateful after every visit.

But it wasn’t just the magic and gifts that Morgan loved about Stephen. He was just generally caring and always there to listen to her stories. She was happy that he saved her dad. And just because she was young, she wasn’t stupid. She could see that there was something between her dad and the wizard.

“So you love him. But… You’re not in love with him?” Scott tried to work it out, “It’s okay, Mr. Stark. It takes time.”

“Why is everyone against me?!” Tony complained, “Doctor Strange is-”

“Doctor Strange is what?”

“Oh, for f…” Tony stopped himself from swearing, knowing that he had already taught Morgan the word 'shit’, “I was going to say… erm. Doctor Strange is an excellent doctor!”

“Is that a compliment, Stark?” Stephen asked, “I didn’t know you were capable.”

Everyone inwardly cringed at the obvious tension between the two.

Morgan looked over at Stephen, “Daddy loves yo-”

“Loves the… Arc reactor you made! That’s why I called you an excellent doctor!”

“Stark…” Clint muttered, “Your sweat is gonna cause a flood.”

-x-

Morgan sat on the couch next to Stephen off to the side.

The sorcerer had opened up a portal to the Avengers Tower, allowing everyone at the compound to step through. They were all due to meet the rest of the Avengers for a little 'get-together’.

Tony had called it a 'get-together’… But really it was a big party to celebrate the one year anniversary of defeating Thanos.

Everyone was there. Including the Guardians, Happy, Fury, Hill, T'Challa, Danvers, Harley, Bucky - Everyone.

Tony had promised not to get drunk to set a good example for his daughter and son.

“Can you make ponies?” Morgan asked Stephen, “Please?”

Stephen nodded with a smile as he waved his hands, orange lights illuminated the air in front of them. Using his free hand, he handed a small plush toy of a horse. A replica of the ones in the sky.

Morgan giggled as she clutched the toy tightly before she placed it next to her. Her arms were around the wizard, making him tense up, “Thank you.” she said.

-x-

“She likes him.” Natasha nodded towards the pair on the couch.

Tony looked over and saw Morgan hugging Strange. His heart swelled at the sight.

“You should talk to him, Tony.” she suggested as she took a sip from her drink.

“I-”

“Don’t bullshit me, Stark.” she cut him off, “Everyone can see it. Trust me. He wouldn’t have saved you if he didn’t feel the same way.”

He hated it when she was right.

“You think so?” he asked with slight hope.

“Those fourteen million realities he lived through must’ve made him fall for you hard.” she said, watching Stephen and Morgan laugh among themselves in the far corner of the room.

“You people make me sick…” a mutter came from Pietro as he walked by.

Tony and Natasha laughed, “You love us.” Tony winked. A smile appeared on Pietro’s face as he continued on, towards Wanda, Clint and Vision.

“Oh, Mr Stark. I looove you.” Stephen said behind him, “Take me home and have your way with me.”

“Loki.” Tony warned.

Loki laughed as he transformed back. He smirked as he walked away towards Thor and Bruce.

Shaking his head, Tony mentioned, “Remind me why we let him in here?”

“Thor and Stephen vouched for him.”

“God knows why…” he mumbled before his eyes landed back on Stephen and Morgan.

“Close your jaw, Tony. It looks weird.” Natasha smiled. Tony quickly bit his lip before he downed the rest of his drink, “I thought you weren’t getting drunk tonight?”

“I’m not.”

“That’s your fourth drink.”

“Shhh… I’m stressed.”

Natasha rolled her eyes, leaning against the bar. A bright orange light caused Natasha to look over at Stephen, too. He was making a giant shield above him and Morgan, the young girl was clearly excited.

The woman could clearly see the look in Tony’s eyes, “You deserve to be happy, Tony. And you can see how comfortable Morgan is with Stephen.”

Tony turned to quickly pour himself another drink, “I’m gonna talk to him. But I need another drink for this.”

“Such a good role model.” Nat teased.

“This is necessary.” he nodded before drinking. He slammed the glass down onto the bar before clearing his throat, “Okay. Okay. Wish me luck.”

“Have faith, Stark.” Natasha said, “It’ll work out. Who could say no to Iron Man?”

“You. You could say no to Iron Man.” he said.

She shrugged, “I guess.”

-x-

“-And Peter let me wear his old spider suit!” Morgan exclaimed, happily.

“Really?” Stephen asked with a smile.

She nodded, “It was a bit big. But don’t tell daddy.” a finger came up to her mouth, “Shh.”

Stephen winked, bringing his finger up to his mouth, “My lips are sealed. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Pinky promise?” she held out her hand.

He nodded, “Pinky promise.”

Giggling, she hugged her horse.

“Keeping secrets, are we?” Tony asked as he approached.

“Sorry, Tony. Can’t tell you.” Stephen leaned back, “We pinky promised.” The cloak of levitation quickly moved away from Stephen to rest on Tony’s back instead.

“Come on, Cloakie. You can tell me.” Tony said.

“Don’t you dare.” Morgan glared at the cloak.

Stephen chuckled, “The girl has spoken, Cloakie. You don’t want to feel her wrath.”

“Why is everyone against me?” Tony faked offence as he sat down next to Stephen, “I can see I’m not loved.”

You are.

Stephen gulped hard.

“How could you betray me like this, Cloakie?” Tony asked as the cloak flew off him and floated in front of the three.

“Cloakie is my best friend. He wouldn’t tell any secrets!” Morgan announced.

“I thought I was your best friend!” Stephen exclaimed.

“You can be my best friend, too.” she said, hugging the horse tighter.

“Three against one?” Tony said as he put an arm around Stephen’s shoulders, “That doesn’t seem fair. I think we should rethink teams here.”

“Tony.” Stephen said, already comfortable with the arm around his shoulders, “No matter what team Morgan is on. You know she will win.”

Tony sighed, “Can’t disagree with that.” his eyes then moved to the golden horses that were still running around in the air, “Why do you share your magic with Morgan and not me?”

“Because I’m the best.” Morgan whispered with a smirk.

“Because you’re the best.” Stephen agreed, nodding.

Tony hadn’t realised that he was smiling wide. He felt his heart warm as his arm tightened around the sorcerer’s shoulders. Stephen made Morgan happy which made him happy too. Tony felt like being with Stephen was the only way forward.

Natasha suddenly appeared, “Hey, Morgan.” she smiled, “Why don’t we go and show Hawkeye your new toy?”

Morgan’s eyes lit up at the mention of 'Hawkeye’. She nodded eagerly before looking over at her dad with pleading eyes, “Go for it, sweetheart.” Tony smiled, warmly.

Morgan quickly jumped from the couch, horse in one hand as she gripped Natasha’s hand. The cloak flew towards Morgan and wrapped snugly around her neck. Nat looked over her shoulder at Tony as they walked away. The mechanic mouthed 'Thank you’, Nat nodded in response.

Tony suddenly stood as the magic in the air faded away. He offered a hand to Stephen, “Lets go outside where it’s a bit more quiet.” he suggested, “I erm… I have something I need to talk about. Professional shit.”

Stephen eyed his hand before he slowly took it.

-x-

The two stood on the top of the Avengers tower, leaning with their arms over the railing. They looked out over the city that was glowing in the night. There had been a few minutes of comfortable silence, both just taking in the cool night air.

Tony fiddled with his fingers before he spoke, “So… You’re trying to take Morgan away from me?” he joked.

“Not my fault that I’m clearly the superior being.”

“Oh, really? What makes you so superior?”

“Magic.” Stephen stated.

Tony chuckled before nodding, “She likes you a lot, Stephen.”

“Well…” he paused, “I do admit that I care for her, Tony.”

“And I appreciate that.” Tony reached over for one of Stephen’s hands which were shaking slightly, “Thank you, Stephen.”

“For?”

“Everything, honestly. For being there for Morgan, for Peter. Definitely Peter. He was a wreck when he thought I was dead.”

Stephen smiled, “Took me five days to convince him you were alive.”

“Nearly gave him a heart attack when he saw me in my astral form.” he paused, “And thank you for saving me.” he looked down at his Infinity Reactor.

“Don’t mention it, Tony. Really. It wasn’t a big deal.”

Tony turned, taking Stephen’s other hand making him face him, “It was a big deal. I wouldn’t be here without you. I wouldn’t…” he gulped, trying to stop tears, “I wouldn’t be able to see Morgan… Or Peter… Or Pepper without you.”

“Tony-”

“I wouldn’t be able to be here with you. Without you.” he paused, “I feel like I’m in debt to you, Stephen.”

“You aren’t. I would never ask for anything in return.”

Tony could feel the slight shake of Stephen’s hands within his. The mechanic really didn’t know how to word this.

Holding his hands just a little tighter, Tony sighed, “Stephen I…” he stopped.

Stephen tensed.

He knew. He knew what Tony wanted to talk about.

“You’ve done so much for me. For Morgan. For Peter. And…” Tony stopped again.

Stephen took a step closer, their hands still together, “Go on, Tony. Just say what you have to say. Unless you want me to start?”

Tony shook his head, “No, no. Okay.” he felt slightly at ease as he looked down, “I hope this isn’t out of nowhere. But, I love you, Stephen Strange. I have since you saved my life. You’re great with Morgan. And she loves you. I can see that. I know it’s crazy to think that you would jump into a relationship with me considering I have a kid… Well… Two kids. But I hope you could give us a chance. And see how things go.”

“You’re an idiot, Stark.” Stephen chuckled.

“Well, isn’t that great to hear after I confess my love?”

One of Stephen’s shaking hands retracted from Tony’s and moved up to rest on the Infinity Reactor, “I love you, too, Anthony Edward Stark.”

“Don’t ever call me that again, Stephen Vincent Strange.” he paused, “Wait… Did you-?” he couldn’t finish his sentence as Stephen’s lips made his way onto his. Tony’s free hand moved to the back of the sorcerer’s neck, immediately reciprocating.

“Dad! Help!” Tony and Stephen jumped apart at the shout.

“Wh-” Tony started.

“Morgan and Cloakie are chasing me!” Peter exclaimed.

Tears welled in Tony’s eyes, “What did you call me?”

Peter froze, “I… uh-”

Tony looked back at Stephen, moving to kiss him on the cheek before he turned and walked towards Peter. He pulled the kid into his arms, “We’re just one big dysfunctional family.” Tony said as Peter returned the hug. The man looked over at Strange who smiled in return.

A huge gust of wind blew across the rooftop of the tower as a familiar cloak flew towards Tony and Peter, it effectively knocked them down, holding them tight.

“Morgan!” Tony shouted.

“I win!” she exclaimed as she walked over.

Stephen laughed, “I told you no matter what team she’s on, she would win.”

Morgan quickly made her way over to Stephen, “Did daddy tell you he loves you?” she whispered as he knelt down to her level.

He nodded, “Yeah.” Tony and Peter still struggled against the cloak’s restraint.

The girl held her horse tight, “Do you love him back?”

Another nod, “Of course I do.” Stephen was caught off guard as Morgan put her arms around his neck.

“Hey!” Tony exclaimed, “Can you save the hugging for later and get this stupid cloak off us?!”

Morgan stepped back as Stephen smirked, “Shall we go and get ice cream and leave them here?” Stephen whispered.

A mischievous smile appeared on Morgan’s face, “Can I have lots of ice cream?”

“Lots.”

“Don’t you dare leave us.” Tony warned.

“Doctor Strange! I’m innocent!” Peter assured.

Stephen stood up straight and took Morgan’s hand, “The little one has spoken.” he said, “She has decided your fate.”

“Strange, I swear I will marry you just so I can divorce you!”

The sorcerer laughed as he walked past the two on the floor, Morgan close by his side, “You’ll have to escape from the cloak before you can do that.”

“You’re in big trouble when I get out of this, missy!” Tony said to Morgan.

“Doctor Strange will save me!”

“You bet I will.” he replied.

“You know… I think I’m starting to reconsider being apart of this family.” Peter said.

“Hate to you break it to you, kid. But you’re stuck with us.” Tony smirked. His smirk dropped, “I swear, Stephie. Let us out.”

Stephen and Morgan arrived at the door to go back inside, “I’ll let you out in exactly thirty seconds. Try and find us before we eat all the ice cream.”

Morgan excitedly pulled Strange inside.

“I hate him so much.” Tony muttered.

“No you don’t.” Peter replied.

“Yes I do.”

“No you don’t.”

“…No I don’t.”

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voidofstarryink

2 years ago

Nothing beside remains

voidofstarryink - There Is Something Here

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voidofstarryink

There Is Something Here

I spent years just lurking on tumblr but recently I’ve been making TSP content so I guess this is a TSP account now?they/void/ink/star/eye(Always feel free to message me or send in an ask <3)

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