My Head's Above the Rain and Roses Chapter Seventeen Extended Author's Note

Review Response:

Thank you to everyone who left kudos on AO3! It really means a lot!

Chapter Commentary:

If anyone’s confused as to why Lara said “really? That’s what you’re going with?” It’s because she thought Steve was lying about his name, giving the long-thought-dead Captain America’s name as an alias. Little does she know that he wasn’t lying.

Every time I write Pepper and Steve interactions, I get worried that I’m making Pepper seem jealous or mean or something, which is something I so don’t want to do. I hate those fics where once the ex-gets dumped they turn into a crazy stalker-person who’s the only goal in life is to break the main couple up. (I’m mainly looking at the Shugo Chara! Fandom with this. They’re the biggest offenders I’ve found of this trope.) So please, yell at me if I ever seem like I’m being too mean to Pepper or if Pepper’s being too mean to Steve or whatever. Everyone’s an adult in this situation and they’ve moved on, no hard feelings. That’s what I tried to accomplish with the second chapter and I’m terrified that something I write might accidentally undo that.

Speaking of being mad at people’s exes, don’t be mad at Peggy! I have an explanation for this! (If I ever get to it. I’m at the point where I’m only two chapters ahead. I’m getting scared I’ll catch up to myself and I’ll have nothing to post.)

Tony probably shouldn’t have used the words “kind of” when he told Pepper that the health care provider information he gave was accurate. She thought he was being sarcastic when really he was telling the truth.

Mew-isms:

Social Security Number: A number that is given out by the government to identify you for the purposes of collecting social security benefits but has become the go-to number for identifying citizens in the United States. It’s easy to guess someone’s social security number if they were born before 2011 and you know where and when they were born. You’re supposed to keep this number a secret, though, because someone can use it to steal your identity. If your number becomes compromised, you can get a new one from Social Security. I would imagine that being a billionaire and the public presence that he is, many people would try to steal his identity, leading him to have to change his social security number often, hence leading to why he often can’t remember it.

Magic Johnson: A basketball player who was diagnosed with AIDS in the early nineties. He’s still alive today and doing fairly well from what I understand.