"Second Chances
" by Ana (Anafandom) is a Marvel Cinematic Universe fanfiction.
Several months after Civil War, Tony Stark has moved on with his life and is doing as well as can be expected. Then Howard and Maria Stark mysteriously appear back in his life, giving Tony and his parents a second chance of being a family and healing old wounds.
This fic series provides examples of:
- Accusation Fic: As you can see from elsewhere in this page, this story is not kind to "Team Cap" in general and Steve Rogers in specific at all.
- Affectionate Nickname: Tony gives out several, including calling Loki "Lokes".
- Age Lift: Shuri is in her late twenties rather than a teenager.
- Antimagical Faction: Asgard as a whole holds magic users in contempt, especially male magic users, claiming it's unmanly and dishonorable, only fit for women. Some of the Avengers such as Bruce and Hope theorize the attitude started from men simply having no talent for magic and claiming it to be unmanly so they aren't seen as lesser.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Sif accuses Loki of treason for acting against the throne, Bruce points out that she and the Warriors Three committed treason when they acted against Loki who'd been the rightful king of Asgard at the time.
- Back from the Dead: Howard and Maria Stark. Then later Jarvis.
- Becoming the Mask: While masquerading as Odin, Loki actually becomes a better and more diplomatic ruler than the genuine article.
- Character Death:In part 12, Wanda is executed for her crimes. This part deals with the characters' reactions to her death.
- Christmas Episode: In part 11, The Starks, the New Avengers and friends celebrate Christmas together.
- Courtroom Episode: In parts 5, 6, 9, and 10.
- Dysfunction Junction: All of the Avengers, and some of their friends and family, in this series have serious issues. According to Jarvis, the only members of the current or old Avengers teams that have never had therapy are Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, and Natasha Romanov. And Jarvis feels the former two could seriously benefit from it. Besides the normal reasons some might need it, Vision sees a therapist to help understand being human, James Barnes has daily sessions to remove the Hydra triggers and cope with his time as the Winter Soldier, and Howard and Maria Stark needed to see a therapist to cope with having been murdered and resurrected.
- Some time after Loki comes to Earth seeking asylum, Jarvis suggests he seek therapy as well, citing how many of the Avengers have needed it.
- It eventually becomes necessary for all prospective Avengers to speak to a psychologist before being accepted and all of them end up being told their acceptance will be contingent on regular therapy. Though whether it's universally mandatory or just a coincidence they all need therapy isn't stated.
- Fantastic Slur: Several Avengers note that the name Frost Giant sounds like a racial slur used against the Jotun.
- Freakiness Shame: Loki is disgusted by his true form as a Jotun but the others say he just looks like a blue version of himself.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: This is what caused Natasha to lose her case. Her lawyer tried to argue for diminished capacity that is caused by her Dark and Troubled Past. The opposing lawyer argues that since she actually does know right from wrong despite her traumatic past, she doesn't have diminished capacity.
- I Am a Monster: A large part of Loki's Character Development is moving past this sentiment regarding his status as a Jotun.
- I'll Kill You!: Wanda threatens EVERYONE with this during her trial which didn't endear her to the judges and the world at large. This lead to her conviction and later her execution.
- Innocently Insensitive: For all that Thor often made Loki feel inferior, he never meant to and is the only one to actually mourn Loki after he fakes his death.
- It's Personal: Tony admits the reason he can forgive Loki easier than Barnes despite their similar circumstances is because of how much more personal the matter with Barnes is. While mind controlled, Loki invaded earth but Bucky killed Tony's mother.
- Mama Bear: Maria Stark after learning what happened to her son after Howard's and hers deaths. She later confronts the imprisoned Wanda about what she has done.
- Might Makes Right: Asgard is described in such a manner by Loki and later confirmed by Thor.
- Motivational Lie: The series reveal that Mjolnir's Only the Chosen May Wield is a lie Odin told Thor both to make his son feel better about himself and to motivate him into becoming a better person. Mjolnir was always keyed to Thor and Thor alone; Odin's spell mostly amounted to making Thor take some time to reflect on his actions. The reason Vision could wield it is because having an Infinity Stone embedded in him made the being an Outside-Context Problem for the hammer.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Loki is left horrified when, while discussing the idea the Frost Giants are not as bad as Asgard make them out to be, he realizes that his father may not have been a monster and Loki killed him.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: The Black Panther is considerably more powerful than even a trained soldier and has a suit made of vibranium, but compared to most other heroes brings nothing special to the table. T'Challa lampshades that he can't fly or use magic nor does he have the infiltration abilities of the Wasp or destructive power of Iron-man and War Machine.
- Papa Wolf: Howard Stark. See Mama Bear above. He later confronts Fury and later the imprisoned Avengers about the treatment of his son.
- Parents as People: Howard Stark admits that he was a terrible father but it was largely due to a combination of his poor people skills and the demands of running a multimillion dollar business. Even times he deliberately avoided Tony was because he knew things would devolve into a fight and was trying to avoid that. When the reconcile, Tony realizes that his relationship with his father was so terrible because they're exactly alike.
- Planet of Hats: After learning more about Asgard, the Avengers call it a planet of jocks.
- Sanity Slippage: Wanda goes through this while hiding in Wakanda and her sanity especially goes down hill when she is later imprisoned.
- Series Fic: There are currently 16 fics in this ongoing series.
- Therapy Is for the Weak: Zigzagged. In Asgard, therapy is seen as something for the weak whereas on Earth, the majority of the Avengers have had therapy at some point, and when assembling the New Avengers, speaking to a therapist regularly is a requirement for being a member.
- Uniqueness Decay: T'Challa ruminates that both vibranium and the Black Panther aren't nearly as unique as they used to be. Tony Stark synthesized a similar element to vibranium, though it's currently too costly to produce in mass. Meanwhile the Black Panther is functionally a Super-Soldier which is one of the more common power sets, with several who have similar powers either having more powers such as Vision and Thor or having them to greater extremes like the Hulk.
- Villainous Breakdown: Wanda goes through this after she is imprisoned. It gets to a point where she threatens everyone during her trial which costs any sympathy among the world at large. This lead to her conviction and execution.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Maria Stark gives Tony this when she finds out that he brought a minor, Peter Parker, to fight against dangerous super-powered individuals.
