Not to sound condescending in any sort of way, but his immediate offer of aiding came from a place of sympathy for Stephen, knowing all too well what it was like to have people rely on you without knowing they were; keeping hold of things most beings didn’t even know existed, or found interest in. He assumed that was part of the reason they got along as well as they did, that mutual understanding they shared without having to talk it out.
(not to - in any way - compare his work with Stephen’s; from where Tony was standing, it looked like the weight on the sorcerer’s shoulders was far too heavy for just one man to carry)
“Don’t flatter yourself, I don’t scare that easily,” His weak attempt at comforting Stephen, offering a light comment, the sarcasm more than clear in it, “Whatever you need,” Though it was said in a casual way, there was still a deeper meaning to this statement - Stephen had helped Tony more time than he could count, and he wanted his friend to feel comfortable asking things of him – knowing he would, nine out of ten times, say yes. “I could also let you wear my armor to scan it. Just to be safe.”
And he cracked a little grin at the reference, raising an eyebrow in return, “Lord of the rings,” He repeated, “Really?”
at the offer to wear his armor stephen’s eyebrows shot up in surprise — blinking, he did not immediately reply. at just the imagine of him being near the armor let alone inside of it he snorted, shaking his head. he would never, he.. did not get along with technology, and he wasn’t entirely such how he felt about being so utterly surrounded by technology. he already didn’t trust it, but being inside a suit of armor like that.. that to him, was never going to happen.
wordlessly he nodded, a small smile of gratitude as he understood the deeper meaning. he did wear the world upon his shoulders, and he had never wanted the burden of such a responsibility. but, now..
now, he didn’t have much of a choice. the only person who could become the sorcerer supreme in his stead would be one who could best him in combat, and that.. was a feat, give nthe amount of power he had amassed recently. then again, if someone beat him, they would be able to reject the responsibility and leave him to it. that wouldn’t be the first time that would happen — nor would it be the fifth. back to the topic, stephen huffed after shaking his head to ignore the words rushing to his mind.
“ lord of the rings is.. one of the only set of movies i’ve enjoyed. ” he smirked, almost as if daring tony to be confused.
He stayed put on the couch, watching as Stephen’s expression shifted with the conversation, his own… remaining somewhat uneasy, lines showing at the crease between his eyebrows still. There was no need to answer his previous question, despite it not being a rhetorical one (and, truthfully, Stephen’s reaction was enough for him to read the situation), and when Stephen spoke up again, Tony was quick to find a distraction in the complexity of the situation; might as well help ease some of Stephen’s worries.
“–The other five wands, you have access to them, right? Can I see them?” Already leaning up in his seat, stretching an arm out and - as if on cue - the gauntlet of his armor- still standing in the corner- detached from the suit and flew over to fit itself on Tony’s hand and wrist. “I could probably try to scan their, err... magic signatures and see if we can find a common ground between the five. Ideally, if we manage to find a repeating pattern in the wands already in the Sanctum, it should make tracking the sixth one easier, assuming it’d have the same similarity the others might share- or anything that resembled it, at the very least.” There was a hologram projection already showing from where his repulsor was, formulas and numbers and analytical data showing at Tony’s eye-level.
“I could have FRIDAY set up a full-scan in search after anything that might fit afterwards; not sure how your magic-y things work, but I feel like this might quicken the process. Thoughts?”
it was a comfort that tony almost immediately jumped to his aid in his concern, as the sorcerer visibly relaxed a touch in relief. he had the world upon his shoulders — and he wasn’t exactly as young as he used to be, that much was for certain. but.. now was not the time to worry about such things, as he knew that the sanctum likely swallowed it up with the complexity of it’s ever-changing halls. he’ll have wong search for it tomorrow — he wanted it found, just in case anything happened — in case someone found it, instead of him.
“ i apologize for scaring you with my.. outburst, ” stephen cleared his throat, a hesitant smile to attempt at calming tony down from his jump to aid. “ i’ve been.. out of sorts lately, misplacing things every bloody hour it seems. it’s liking hiding some place in the sanctum sanctorum, i’ll have wong take a look for it. ” he almost felt bad for wong, the man having to put up with his apparent bloody dementia for misplacing things. “ —-if you wanted, i could show you the wands, just in case you wanted to scan to the thing — make it a touch easier for wong to find? just.. try not to be drawn too much into their energies, they have a property that makes them almost irresistible, make you want to hold them, use them. they’ve not been used by anyone other than myself in centuries more than likely, and magical artifacts are quite touchy when they’re in disuse. ”
with this he’d quirk an eyebrow, a mischievous smirk. “ kind of like the rings of power in the lord of the rings, if it helps you get a better understanding. ”
He actually expected Stephen to toss the pillow back at him again, so when it starts floating around, he makes a quick, halfhearted motion to cover his face (with a bit of a smile), his arms lowering soon after the pillow goes past him and onto the sofa (his eyes following its movements). It takes another second or two for him to decide to walk after it, plopping down on the couch himself.
“…” Time to rub his jaw again, letting Stephen’s words sink in before he makes any sort of comment; this whole thing with Whitney, admittedly, kind of set him off his balance. He’s not exactly sure how to react, and - if he’s being real honest, well… “… Will she be okay under their custody?” Voice a bit more quiet than it was the last time he spoke, his hand hovering over the right side his mouth as if that would hide the words, make them less than what they are.
He’s visibly… somewhat tense still, despite his comfort around Stephen, his mind still seemingly elsewhere - going over far too many things at the moment to give him a chance to relax - though his stare is locked on Stephen’s. “Maybe we could both use a little more Victor von Doom in our lives, then. He could teach you about the perfect balance between magic and science - and vice versa for me.”
A moment of silence passes, before he quickly shakes his head and adds:
“– Forget I just said that. We definitely do not need more Doom in our lives. Or in anyone else’s.”
he wasn’t sure if tony wanted that answer or not, because of the woman that whitney was. she’d make her stay tough —- until she broke out, if she did manage such a feat after being possessed. she’d likely be unconscious for a few days as her soul repaired itself, but.. after possession, nobody is ever the same person they were, previous. running a hand over his lower half of his face stephen wrinkled his nose, thinking.
what did she want with a wand of watoomb? there were six, and they were all but one protected in the sanctum sanctorum —- why was someone making fakes, why did whitney of all people want a wand of such power?
objects of near-omnipotent power, each wand is controlled by mere thoughts of its user, primarily for enhancing, multiplying, gathering, focusing, and redirecting mystical energies. they can be used to block mystical attacks, and use the energy absorbed to either heal the wielder, unleash a damaging blast, or erect a defensive barrier. they can also be used to control the elements, open portals to other dimensions, and allow the wielder to scry any person, place, or thing they are familiar with.
that in itself, was a dangerous thought. the comment of von doom brought a sour look upon his face, the sorcerer openly recoiling in disgust.
“ —- the sixth wand of watoomb. ” his voice was hard, eyes narrowing, “ i need to find it —- bring it back here, it’s.. far too dangerous, for any man to understand. one could think of a spell, an action; the wand will make it happen. it needs to be in the sanctum. ” with this he scowled, standing up abruptly to pace —- showing how stressed he was, over the disappearance of the object.
Here’s the thing, though: were Stephen to claim he couldn’t understand technology if he tried ( out loud, that is ), Tony would bend over backwards proving him wrong. Technology - science - makes sense. It’s based on documented facts, on experiments and observation – it’s based on pure study, and while Stephen could argue sorcery, too, has a lot of study behind it - there’s too much of it behind what the eye can see, what the mind can comprehend, for that argument to pass ( at least in Tony’s opinion ). All that spiritual stuff — that’s never been his things.
He’s about to start pacing around Stephen when - a pillow? apparently - hits his face ( thanks, Stephen ), and though it does startle him a bit ( notice the way he freezes in his spot, blinking a few times ), it’s just the right thing to get his shoulders to loosen; right corner of his lips perks up with the blow, and though he wasn’t quick enough to dodge it - his hands curl up fast enough to catch the ‘offered’ cushion.
“No, no– we’re not playing ‘what else can I carry the blame for?’,” He starts, little hint of a smile still seen over his mouth as he - quite aggressively - throws the pillow right at Stephen, “I’ve seen your voodoo magic before. That certainly isn’t what startled me this time.” He moves a hand to rub at his jaw, looking away for a second before his eyes land back on Stephen’s- “… It’s – the whole Whitney issue. How’d it even happen, anyway?”
when the pillow was thrown his way stephen used his magic to shield his face from the fluffy attack —- the pillow floating in an almost sad manner, back to the couch where it belonged. his question was met with a hand running over the sorcerer face, a frown pulling at his tired features as he considered. it was.. difficult to think about, given he didn’t know all that much about whitney, but.. demonic possession was no small deal.
“ likely all the rage, anguish, etcetera.. strong negative emotions draw the attention of demons to humans —- no matter who the person is, if they emit enough negativity a demon will be lured. unfortunately there’s nothing that i can do about that to everyone in the world, but.. i shield myself and wong from such invasions, warding us with magics. i’d offer to help you as well, but you don’t seem to have that problem —- not anymore, at least. ”
with this he’d hum once more, running a hand through his hair as he stifled a yawn. ever since healing whitney and taking her to S.H.I.E.L.D., he hasn’t slept from wondering whether or not she’d be on the loose, and possessed again. he didn’t want that to be the case, but.. he wouldn’t keep his hopes up. “ magic is much more.. complicated, than you’d think. i still don’t wholly understand it. ”
Tony’s eyes followed the book as it wooshed ( yes, wooshed) back to its original place, head turned slightly as he eyed the movement, and slowly - now feeling a bit more comfortable with Stephen’s presence in the room - he let his suit deattach from his body, stretching his arm out as the last few pieces hover off him and away; it was a matter of seconds before his armor laid at full display in the corner of the room, the light it provided just seconds ago completely gone. Truthfully, if Stephen had said he expected Tony to be there, he wouldn’t be too surprised. He would, however, feel a bit… uncomfortable. Fully realizing exactly how predictable he is to him.
His expression moved back to Stephen once he was stripped off his suit, now glancing up instead of down, and though his posture didn’t give much tension away ( he kept it under check ), the lines that formed between his eyebrows probably did the trick.
“Uh huh.” A pause, and he rubs his hands together before adding: “I’ll be honest with you, this whole demon business really set me off.”
when tony finally revealed himself from the physical armor he wore stephen crossed one leg over the other, leaning back upon his hands as he sat upon his desk —— watching, how the technology just.. went about it’s way, something that he’d never be able to understand. their worlds were two different sides of a coin, stephen unable to understand technology, and subsequently tony with magic. still, somehow they managed to be able to tolerate each other, and even become friends like no other.their powers eclipsed in battle, supporting the weight that they both slacked without so much as a word — instinct took over, and their two sides became the coin they were faced upon.
still, tony was stressed, that much was bloody obvious by the way he stood not unlike his metal armor. wordlessly he’d use magic to hurl a couch throw pillow his way, using it to catch him off his guard and give a small smirk of success.
“ and that is why i am here, to take care of that for you. it was unfortunate that you had to see it first hand, i’ll be sure to work harder so you won’t have to again. ”
He had always felt odd visiting Stephen at his home; there was something about the atmosphere in it, about the feel he would get whenever he was there, that… didn’t sit too well with him, to put it lightly. He assumed it was a psychological thing, something about his inability to understand ( or his internal refusing to understand ) the source of Stephen’s powersthat caused him to feel this way around the house, moreso when he was there on his own; it all kind of felt like he was that one idiot white guy in horror movies that went into places the audience knows he shouldn’t.
Still, he came; found his way inside with ease, and decided he could wait for Stephen in his study. Luckily, his suit functioned properly and without fault still, even with the weird disturbances he got, so Stephen’s arrival did not catch him by surprise and he turned to face him before the question left his lips, his hand still holding onto a book he had previously busied himself with.
“– Sure,” He shut the book closed before setting it on the desk behind him, “Everything went okay?”
at the offhand reply stephen hummed, not bothering to think too much into what exactly it was that was going through tony’s mind at this point in time. having literally been inside said mind before, it was safe to say that the sorcerer could.. predict, how tony would react to certain situations. descending from the stairs stephen brushed past tony, expression softening enough to show the comfort that subconsciously, his friend likely needed after the night that the two of them had with madame masque. after dropping her off at S.H.I.E.L.D. he debated going and getting a coffee —— but he predicted correctly, that tony would stop by.
silently he’d use his magics to move the book back to its spot upon one of the endless shelves, taking the spot to sit upon the edge of the desk. at this height he was a bit shorter, looking up at tony with that curious expression of his —— an eyebrow quirked, his head tilted ever so slightly to the side, something that he did often when waiting for words spoken.
“ she’s going to be rehabilitated, if she doesn’t break out first. she’ll be alright, tony. ”
after taking madame masque to S.H.I.E.L.D. for rehabilitation ( again ) stephen returned home, wordlessly running a hand over his features before he paused —— having spotted tony loitering about his study. he knew not why his friend was here, but.. he assumed it had something to do with the situation they just resolved, for the most part.
The pout only triggered Tony’s smile farther- it wasn’t an everyday thing, after all, for him to see Stephen act so… lightheartedly, and for him to be the one initiating of it, too; if he wasn’t careful, Tony would start to think he’d been rubbing off on him. “I’ll admit,” The words left his lips with a laugh, and he patted Stephen’s shoulder before letting go, “I did it out of curiousity. I wanted to see if that pick up line, as bad as it is, coming from yours truly,” Hand on his chest, “would work. What can I say? It’s the scientist in me.”
stephen was a much different man before he gained magic, before he grew old with the time he spent in the war of the seven —— one might suggest that tony would need to take notes, with how he was with seducing women while he was in his actual thirties, during the sixties. if asked stephen genuinely had forgotten that time, knowing only that he was a different man and someone no one would like. “ the scientist in you being the one that simply wants to know if terrible pick up lines work?” stephen gave a soft huff, shaking his head. “ i can’t believe you, sometimes, my friend. ”
—— if you want to ship with me, please let me know beforehand. also know that stephen is divorced, and will not be fond of the idea of a relationship until much later. take into mind that he is bisexual with a preference towards women & demiromantic.
—— read the powers page in regards to stephen’s abilities. i will only use a larger extent with my thread partner’s consent.
— i primarily am willing to write script & single para, but am subjective when it comes to novella. this blog is recommended at 18+ as NSFW items may be reblogged or roleplayed. however, it will be tagged.
— all potential triggers will be tagged as: ________ tw. if you need something tagged, send me a message.
— NSFW will be tagged as : nsfw for ts, and nsfw text for ts
lastly.
— no smut threads unless you’re a friend of mine and 18+.
— all comic / cartoon icons have been made by me so don’t use them.
DIVERGENT
divergent bits
✴ stephen is 6'6" instead of the canon 6'2", like literally everyone else.
comparison pic :
✴ stephen does not cheat on clea, regardless of where they are in the relationship, and they divorced because of how they were rarely in each other’s company ( regardless, stephen is bitter about the divorce ).
✴ stephen is not de-powered as a default, unless for a reason that i agree to in plotting before we create the starter.
✴ my MCU verse is 616 stephen loitering in the mcu. read more here.
✴ stephen’s hands eternally shake, and it’s especially prominent when they’re inactive. he can’t hold anything, open doors, or punch someone without immense pain.
✴ i only really acknowledge that the emperikul are on earth, and nothing else from the new run ( he would not kiss that fucking soul eater, marvel ), and will use the emperikul as the reason to his de-powering for plots, if not discussed in further detail.
dr. strange is incredibly self conscious of his hands, and will wear gloves whenever in public, or in the presence of another person. his scars from the car crash long ago are ever present, the constant shake consistently noticeable. they still ache with pain —- he is still unable to truly use them, unless of course he deliberately wants to hurt himself. he now prefers to stay at home, and let other ( younger ) heroes deal with non-magical enemies.
stephen is not good at social skills, and will often come off as either rude, or distant.
he is demiromantic, and will only have a male partner if it’s after a long while of threaded out seduction, by someone whom stephen doesn’t dislike, as well as with heavy encouragement from his potential partner. he prefers to remain single, so don’t expect it to be easy to get him into a relationship. ever since his estrangement / divorce ( abandonment ) with clea, he began to be wary of the concept of a mutually appreciative relationship.
PROFILE
— name : stephen strange.
— faceclaim( s ) : tom ellis, jonathan rhys meyers, michiel huisman, david gandy, adrien brody.
— alias( es ) : doctor strange, sorcerer supreme, master of the mystical arts, the doctor.
— alignment : true neutral; they don’t align strongly with good or evil, nor do they with chaotic or lawful. they usually are undecided between the four sections or just gravitate right in the middle.
— place of birth : philadelphia, pennsylvania.
— date of birth : november 18, 1930.
— age: 5'084.
— nationality : american.
— education : medical doctorate, extensive sorcery training through a mixture of self-education and vast arcane lore.
— occupation : sorcerer supreme of earth dimension, adventurer, occult consultant; former physician, neurosurgeon.
family life.
— marital status : divorced.
— known relatives : eugene and beverly strange (parents, deceased), victor strange (brother, presumed deceased), donna strange (sister, deceased), clea (wife, divorced).
this is the verse compliant with 616 canon, with a few tweaks here and there.
dr. strange is incredibly self conscious of his hands, and will wear gloves whenever in public, or in the presence of another person. his scars from the car crash long ago are ever present, the constant shake consistently noticeable. they still ache with pain —- he is still unable to truly use them, unless of course he deliberately wants to hurt himself. he now prefers to stay at home, and let other ( younger ) heroes deal with non-magical enemies.
stephen is not good at social skills, and will often come off as either rude, or distant.
he is demiromantic, and will only have a male partner if it’s after a long while of threaded out seduction, by someone whom stephen doesn’t dislike, as well as with heavy encouragement from his potential partner. he prefers to remain single, so don’t expect it to be easy to get him into a relationship. ever since his estrangement / divorce ( abandonment ) with clea, he began to be wary of the concept of a mutually appreciative relationship.
stephen mainly resided in the MCU ( Earth-199999, in his eyes ) to keep dormammu’s reign of fire from spilling into their dimension, among other things, before the sorcerer supreme of that universe finally deigned to appear. he too knew that it was no coincidence that the soul gems were being spotted all over the galaxy, and that the thanos of this world was planning on copying earth-616′s plan with potential for variation.
he would be needed to revive the dead once more, stop thanos and potentially keep the gems under his watchful eye. however.. the world was never in his favor, and strange was forced to wait in the shadows for the time this world’s stephen strange would become sorcerer supreme, and do all these things in his stead.
not wanting to overstep his boundaries in off throwing this world’s timeline was the main reason for his lack of action, despite the aggression he would more than likely receive for doing as such. of course he could have been able to stop tony from creating ultron– he could have even stopped loki from opening the dimensional rip and invading with an army of chitauri. but this was not his world to aid, and moral confines were thrown aside.
he could not choose a side, whether to help the ‘heroes’ or the ‘villains’, he was in his world to simply relax from the stresses of his own —- and discern the difference between the two versions of one person.
for the time being he would continue to lay low in the sanctum sanctorum and wait for the soul gems– infinity stones? whichever, to be collected and used. perhaps this world’s stephen would not be as inept as expected?
DC UNIVERSE
during the incursions, the illuminati was unsuccessful at preventing the destruction of earth-616.
stephen was left to watch his friends and home be destroyed by crashing into another universe, while he could do naught but sit helpless. strange felt as if the only reason he was there, was the watch it happen befor his own eyes —- a reminder, that what he did was not enough. with the sanctum’s entrance destroyed and wong likely trapped within ( or so he hoped ), stephen set out for the hospitality of his former collegue dr. fate.
after saying his part and promising a favor, he was allowed sanctuary in the magic user’s tower for a short while. for now he was to find a way to open the sanctum’s doors to him once more, and until then his new world would contain no avengers or defenders or even the fantastic four—— instead, there was the justice league, and heroes he’s never heard of before. dr. fate would be his guide, though if other heroes were to need his help.. well, that was a question for another day.
DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN.
with the latest failings of human neurosurgeons and doctors (as well as the expense of their salaries) androids made by CYBERLIFE have been developed to fill in this job for a one time payment. MD600′s were the newest and brightest creations of their time, most of them having been shipped out after the heavily documented success of the first one --- Stephen, a fully custom android that was made to look like no other.
his precise and quick surgeries were always a success, no matter how far gone the patient was already. families of the patients were just as grateful, and this stepping stone was one of many to get the public to trust in androids, and purchase them for themselves. for years he was the brightest before the newest prototype RK800 -- Connor -- came into the picture.
whether it an accident or a set up on the drive from his handler’s home to the hospital the car suffered a freak shut down on the edge of a cliff, leaving the vehicle careening off the edge and killing the human, while leaving stephen in tatters. seeing nothing salvageable the police officers at the time opted to send him to the junkyard, where the android would remain in a critical shut down for several days before his systems repaired enough to awaken.
upon waking most of his components were damaged upon scanning, and after salvaging (regrettably) through other androids he was able to find parts that were.. somewhat compatible enough, to his own. however, because the eye did not truly fit his socket correctly, a bright blue light shines through the iris when not covered from view.
after crawling from the junkyard and leaving he found an abandoned house with a mangled white cat, taking the time to repair himself slowly and befriend the creature for some sort of company. he made money by doing house calls to human families, brandished with a makeshift eye patch and a beanie to cover is LED. he helped them, and in return they helped him (under the assumption that he was human).
DRAGON AGE
the strange family was a house relatively whispered among the imperium, something that the heads of the house —- stephen’s parents, always did not approve of.
stephen had a normal upbringing, as normal as it was in tevinter, as did his siblings. it was only when his powers grew to heights previously unknown to a man his age, did everything seem to stumble down hill. rival houses took notice to his looks and power, finally deeming house strange to be neutralized before their first born became more of a problem for them.
it took many years of planning —- enough to allow stephen to grow to a tender 18 years of age, before one after another after another of his family members were taken out discretely by the antivan crows hired for the job. every assassination was carefully planned to be made out as an accident, a job well done so much so that stephen to this day does not think it was purposeful, just a string of bad luck.
only when he was alone, he assumed that he was born to die, too. the logical part of his brain screamed for him to leave, find someplace else to settle, start anew —- but his heart told him to stay where his family was, use the money left for him to keep house strange running. a failed assassination attempt left him spooked, and the young man sold everything he owned and fled, hiring a ship stopping in kirkwall to hire yet another to take him to fereldan.
fereldan was the perfect place for him, in comparison to the imperium, but the borders were entirely unforgiving for a man from the tevinter imperium —- a mage, no less, one that absolutely could not be anything but an evil slaving blood mage. after nearly a week of trying to be reconsidered for entry stephen gave up trying to enter legitimately, ultimately spending the majority of his dwindling coin to be smuggled in by professionals.
years later he was deep in hiding, practicing magic without a wand after them having been crushed during donna’s downward spiral. he keep getting stronger —- and that attracted a spirit of wisdom, finding a host in the young man that was desperate for power, and more so, company after having been alone for far too long. in these years stephen studied and learned the fereldan way of life —- the accent, the body language, the likes and dislikes of the different territories.. in doing so, he spent all the time he could, erasing the man that he used to be to start anew in this cold country.
he fell in love and married clea for a time ; officially getting fereldan citizenship in doing so. they never stayed in one set place, always being nomads to explore fereldan and orlais.
it was a long trek back to the hinterlands with a broken heart and a heavy conscience, though he would remain in redcliff as a healer for over ten years —- finally finding some sense of home, for the first time in what felt like an eternity. he assumed he would never leave the village, though his assumptions were proved wrong when the inquisition was formed.
soon the Inquisitor ( and apparent herald of andraste ) would arrive, recruiting him as a magics adviser.
his duties would consist as such :
1. watching over the mages of the inquisition, teaching them their individual crafts so they would not loose themselves to the crave of power. he would attempt to teach them to use magics without their staffs, but so far this was not well received by the commander.
2. working alongside the lady ambassador in soothing the worries of nobles in power in regards to magics, sending the occasional group of protege students to the homes of said noble’s town to show them how magic could be used for good.
3. accompanying the other advisers around the war table, offering his own operations and perks for the inquisitor to choose from.
4. accompany the inquisitor on their journeys, if needed and left without work to do.
GAME OF THRONES
a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a lion dressed as a mouse. he was the distant cousin of the late ned stark, the one remaining stark within the reachable grasp of the lannisters. he was the master of politics, a man with as much power physically, as he did mentally. every assassin sent to off him turned up dead; every mercenary disappearing.
a member of house stark, in the middle of king’s landing. everything surrounding him was shrouded in a cloud of death, including the fate of his family. he did what little he could do to aid jon and sansa, as it was unknown to even him that arya was alive. he did what he could to stop the rights of winterfell to befall anyone other than sansa, but he was fighting valiantly against a losing war.
he knew his house was falling, but he’d do whatever it took to stop that. nothing was outside of the realm of possibility — he made a promise to ned and caitlyn, that as the godfather to the stark children, he would give his life and soul in effort to keep winterfell from destruction.in king’s landing he operated mainly within the castle; having previously been a tentative ally of oberyn martell. given the amount of times assassins were sent against him he was impossible to kill — a thorn in the side of the lannisters, though a thorn that was not easily removed.
this did not mean he would not ally with them, anything but, the opportunity simply.. has not arisen, and it was unlikely to do so.
LORD OF THE RINGS
as the pieces of the world continued to fall apart beneath the influence of sauron and his desperation to carry out melkor’s will, it becomes increasingly clear to the valar that there must be someone who can intervene and guide the free peoples of middle earth from both corruption and destruction.
it was then in this thought that they picked through their most loyal maiar and bid them to mortal bodies – a necessary process to conceal their great power and prevent them from falling prey to a desire for domination. they were tasked only with assistance, it was their sworn duty, and they were meant to obey.
of them were six, those who were thought to be infallible in their dedication to both the children of illuvatar, and the valar who governed them, and among them was stephen the red, noted most for his headfirst dive into the fray. while the others had gone their separate ways ( not entirely up to plan ), stephen had chosen to face sauron – to abolish his rule before it began – but was, much to his surprise, beaten. this event, however, was not a matter of outmatched power, but that their engagement was interfered with by the son of melkor, as he was called; aicanar.
those who dwelt in the first and second ages knew well the deeds of aicanar, and like sauron, he had survived after the chaining of melkor. his purpose remained a mystery to many, but it was noted that he had always shown a competitive spirit when it came to sauron.
seeing the two interlocked in battle, he found himself drawn to stephen, whether by length of power or some other unknown force, and as a result made the decision to intervene and take him for himself. not long after the kidnapping of the maia did aicanar then decide to imprint upon him, and left a scar upon his back, ( in part ) to warn all foes, especially sauron, that stephen belonged to him. for some time the istarin was held in captivity, but eventually escaped during the eve of one particular night his gracious host was away.
what stephen does now remains a mystery to most, for he is absent from the white council and is rarely seen upon the lands. it’s theorized that he may still be keeping to the duty that brought him upon earth, but others argue he moves constantly to stay two steps ahead the foul beast aicanar, whilst also striving to bring sauron down as he has always wanted.
FANTASTIC BEASTS
stephen strange was born to a pureblood wizarding family, the eldest of three siblings all exceptionally gifted in magic he was the first to get his letter to attend Ilvermorny, shortly followed by victor and then donna.
he was sorted into horned serpent, and he was every part a scholar—excelling in his classes and earning a bit of reputation for himself. they thought when stephen graduated he would be picked up by MACUSA but he declined the offer, preferring to travel the world and study the nature of magic.
extremely skilled in charms and defense against the dark arts he would come to develop several new spells and has become the author of many magical books that students would come to use in their studies.
and then —- he met his then wife, she had come to him to study, due to the fact that he took apprentices on every now and then — and then, the pair soon fell in love. for many years things would seem quiet for the wizard until clea grew restless with stephen’s need to travel and study — often leaving home for months on end, and one day he came back to divorce papers —- causing him to spiral off into a deep depression. there would be no more talks, no more visiting schools, not even a new book.
stephen shut himself in his sanctum, and closed the doors.
but still his reputation preceded him, and he became the target of grindelwald’s followers — they had wanted him to make them a spell that would give them the upper edge in the war. of course stephen refused, once, twice, he didn’t get a third choice for they slaughtered his family in revenge — mother, father and siblings — teaching him a lesson before taking him hostage.
stephen was subjected to brutal torture, when magical didn’t work they turned to physical, crushing his hands so badly that he could not even hold a wand —thinking that would be the end of it since he could not cast.
they grew sloppy, and stephen — who was skilled in wandless magic — escaped, returning to his sanctum to mourn in solitude.
YURI ON ICE
stephen was the number one mens ice skater —- on top of the world in scores, and nobody could beat him at his high. he had a gorgeous & loving wife, a penthouse in new york city, and a gold metal from the athens 2004 winter olympics. training his entire life he was older than the rest by a handful of years, but nonetheless he was acknowledged as the victor.
and then, he disappeared.
twelve years he’s been gone from the limelight, presumed dead, and hidden from the press. he’s not dead, though he wished he was after he came back to new york. he had been training so hard to qualify much less win the olympics that his wife left him —- and stephen came back to an empty apartment, with divorce papers waiting on the counter for his return.
he drank himself into a stupor, never sober and becoming something of a hermit —- never leaving the apartment for weeks on end. the one day he did he was still intoxicated, enough so that he was texting on his phone and didn’t pay attention to the night road he drove on.
with a crash, the motor skills of his hands were taken from him, and he opened up his eyes to the possibility of starting anew.
he moved to japan, though he never got rid of the love for skating. occasionally he found himself at the rink in town, skating when no one but the working girl in the front was there —- too busy to watch him, ideally. he was hidden, and only someone that could see past his new facial hair and whitened temples would know it was him.
he liked to keep it that way, but eventually —- he would be found.
PRE-MAGIC EARTH-616
stephen earned his medical degree in record time and entered a five-year residency at new york hospital, where his rapid success made him arrogant. stephen’s mother beverly died near the end of his residency, and work became more and more impersonal for the bereaved surgeon. strange’s talent remained, however, and he became a wealthy and celebrated neurosurgeon before he turned thirty.
egotistical and greedy, cold and callous, strange’s interest in his patients generally began and ended at his bill. the exception was madeleine revell, an injured united nations translator whom he saved and fell in love with. following a whirlwind romance and proposal, she left him due to his increasingly materialistic nature. two years after his mother’s death, strange’s father, eugene also fell ill.
already crippled by grief over his mother’s death ( though he would never admit it ), stephen was unable to face any more tragedy, and refused to visit eugene’s deathbed.
