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sunstone-smiles · 4 months ago

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Mercedes' Method to Magic

Author’s note: *Grabs a megaphone and yells through it like the alarm clock horn from Spongebob* (I hope you understand the reference Lol) @gladdygirl18 GLADYS! I’m so excited to share this with you because when I saw that you requested Dimitri for @tickly-trashcan's Hear Me Out Cake Event, I was squealing with joy! It’s a little late, but it’s here and I hope you enjoy!

Series: Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Characters: Dimitri, Mercedes, Annette

Word count: 1,343

Summary: Mercedes and Annette are teaching Dimitri magic, but the prince is having some trouble understanding how to use it. Mercedes, reminded of the days when she and Annette were learning, puts one of her methods to the test to help Dimitri!

~~~

“Focus on the target. Steady your gaze. Let the magic do the work,” Dimitri repeats in his head the advice that his fellow classmate, Mercedes, provided him just a few minutes prior. She and Annette stand behind Dimitri as teachers, and observers to his magic training. His palm aims at a training dummy across the sandy practice grounds.

“Now, glide your hand over the tome, lift, and fire,” Mercedes instructs him. Dimitri inhales, then releases it all at once in a puff of breath. His hand swings down and over the book in his other arm, then circles back to aim at the dummy. A red charge glows on Dimitri’s hand like burning embers. Though, where a small fireball is already supposed to be produced, tiny sparks and an increasing glow of red takes over Dimitri’s hand.

His wrist begins to quiver as the force of the charge grows. He quickly tries to steady his arm with the other, but the strength of the magic shakes his wrist like an earthquake before a blast of fire releases from his palm and throws Dimitri backwards to the ground. The shot misses the dummy and disperses into the cement wall behind it.

Annette and Mercedes help him up. “Are you alright, Dimitri?” Annette asks.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” the soon-to-be king responds. He dusts off his school uniform. Fortunately, he took off his blue shoulder cape for training so it wouldn’t get caught in his frequent magic-casting mistakes. He picks up the fallen tome. Hints of crestfallen expression can be read on the blonde’s face.

“Don’t be discouraged, Dimitri,” Mercedes speaks in her soft, airy voice. “It takes time. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. They wouldn’t make specialized schools for magic, like the one Annie and I went to, if it was.”

“That’s true…” the prince sighs. “But I’m just not getting it. Do you have any more pointers for me?”

“Well, I have noticed that when you stretch out your arm to fire towards the target, your form is very tense. You have to relax the muscle in order for the magic to flow through,” Mercedes explains.

“That makes sense.” Dimitri rubs the back of his neck. “Heh, relaxing isn’t my strong suit.”

“Hmm,” Mercedes taps her pointer finger to her chin. “Maybe… I can use a method on you that I used for Annette when we were still learning.”

Annette gasps. “Mercie!” a blush appears on the girl’s face. She blinks a few times as the idea sinks in. “Do you think it’ll work?

“Only one way to find out,” Mercedes smiles.

“I am willing to try anything,” Dimitri says.

“Good.” Without another word, Mercedes moves from her spot so that she’s standing behind him. She adjusts Dimitri’s arms by lifting them up and positioning them as if he was about to try using magic again. It’s similar to someone who was teaching their pupil the proper stance to archery, but with the student shooting off controlled blasts of fire rather than arrows. Mercedes speaks over his shoulder while gently holding the placement of his arms. “Now take a deep breath and hold it in.”

Dimitri follows her lead. He breathes in; his lungs expand in his chest as he focuses on his target ahead.

“Aaaand…” Mercedes' voice draws out. She quietly drifts her hands from his arms, then curls her fingers right above his sides.

“Release!” Mercedes exclaims. She plunges her fingers into his sides right as the leader exhales, causing a surprised bark from Dimitri that morphs his remaining air into laughter.

“M-Mercedehehehes!!! Hahaha!” Dimitri’s body folds forward. He clamps his arms close to his sides before hugging them around his torso and dropping the tome again as Mercedes’ surprise attack persist with tickles through his defenses.

“Well, would you look at that? It does work on Dimitri,” Mercedes declares. She shares a glance with her other friend. “Not as well as it works on you though, Annie.”

“Hey!” Annette whines as a redness returns to her cheeks.

Dimitri squirms himself up straight and attempts twisting to the side. “I didn’t know yohohou were gohohohoing to tickle mehehehe!”

“Oh, surprise. Now you know,” Mercedes' words sound sweet and innocent, but she can’t help it if a grin appears on her features. It’s too rare that she gets to be silly with her friends like this, especially with the leader of the Blue Lions, who could use the chance to destress.

One of Mercedes’ hands floats to his ribs; the blonde squeaks as the tickling travels up his torso and he, as a reflex, tries to shake himself free.

Mercedes follows his movements as he tries to escape, almost like she was chasing him without her fingers losing purchase on his torso. The girl chuckles as she tries to keep the bucking Blue Lion steady. “You have to stop squirming, Dimitri! This method won't work unless you relax!”

“I’m trihihihihiying!” Dimitri genuinely says. He knows that Mercedes is just having fun with him (he knows he needs it), but he also knows that the tickling could actually help loosen his stiff muscles. In fact, his muscles become so loose that he collapses to the ground right after he replies, giggling the whole way down. Mercedes follows him down, then continues scribbling into his sides, resulting in Dimitri curling himself up and rolling himself onto his back.

Mercedes looks over her shoulder towards Annette, who’s been watching everything from the sidelines with a warm smile.

“Care to help me, Annie?” the older female asks.

The orange-haired girl nods and her smile grows. “With pleasure!” Annette runs over and kneels down by her friends. She wastes no time and scribbles her fingers along his ribs and side.

“Ahahannehehette!” Dimitri gently shoves his arms at the girl’s hands.

“Sorry, Dimitri! I know you’re the future king and all, but hear me out! If you want to learn magic, this is the only way!” Annette exclaims.

“I’m sure thehehere are other wa-HAahahays!” His giggles and his bright smile increase when Mercedes scratches a hand along his tummy. The prince snorts, then tosses his head back to laugh freely towards the sky.

“Sure there are, but they certainly don’t get you giggling and snorting like this,” Mercedes smiles at her friend’s display of joy.

“Okahahahay! Mehehehercy!!!” Dimitri says as he curls his knees to his chest.

“Yes, Dimitri?” Mercedes questions. “You have to be more specific when talking to me. I don’t know if you're calling for mercy or calling my nickname Mercie,” she teases, knowing fully well what he intended. Annette giggles beside her.

“M-E-R-C-Y!” he quickly spells. “Plehehehease!” he exclaims through his giggles, some of which are laughs at Mercedes’ joke.

“Ooh, that’s what you meant,” Mercedes plays the card of innocence. She grins and pulls her hands away, “Of course.”

Annette follows Mercedes’ lead and also removes her hands, leaving Dimitri in a curled up ball of breathy giggles as air gradually returns to his system.

Mercedes leans forward. “Are you alright, Dimitri?”

Dimitri chuckles through his words with a lingering smile on his face. “I’m fine. I’m fine,” he says for the second time that day. He lifts himself upright to a sitting position with the help of the girls. Annette returns a smile.

“Congratulations, Dimitri! You just passed Mercedes’ training regime!” Annette announces. “Now you’re ready to cast magic!”

Mercedes nods. “Indeed, Annette. So, Dimitri, are you ready to give it another shot?”

The leader of the Blue Lions doesn’t need a second to think before giving his answer. “I’m ready. Let’s do this!” the prince blossoms with determination.

Mercedes beams with pride. “That’s the spirit!”

The girls help the prince to his feet, then, they return to practicing with Dimitri. The leader positions himself with the tome of magic and prepares to take aim.

It might take some time before Dimitri gets the hang of it, but if his friends are willing to stick close behind him through the ups and downs, then he’s sure to succeed.

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gallifreyanhotfive · 1 year ago

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What helps me with posting anxiety is to listen to my brain panic, and then say “Yes, brain, I hear you, thanks for your input, but we both know that’s just you catastrophising. Anyone who sends me hate is a dick, that’s not a me problem, that’s a them problem. Aaaand click post.” :D

Thank you, anon! I've always had issues with this, but I think the fact that my chapters take over a month to perfect is making it worse somehow (lol).

Anyway, I'll definitely have to try this one when it's ready to post. I know that my sibling and I are satisfied with how it's going. I mean, I've been writing the next chapter while stumbling between crises, so I've been using it as a bit of a crutch (lmao).

Of course, that just means that there is truly an enormous amount of thoschei in the next chapter. And references or conversations specifically about things that happened in the EU (and if it confuses some, I promise I eventually plan on swinging back around to explain it all for the confused companions' sake as well). You know, stuff like Scherzo, Faction Paradox. Good shit that made my brain make the Happy Chemicals.

#thank you anon!#asks #ask #doctor who #dw #dr who #classic who #new who #big finish #big finish doctor who #big finish audios #dw eu #doctor who eu #doctor who expanded universe #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3

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bates--boy · 5 years ago

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He knew that it was only a hallucination, that vision of souls being swallowed into a screaming void. He was manic, going on a week without his pills. He was suffering a bout of cabin fever, surely. As soon as his guests had left, Peter knew he should have went to bed, get as much sleep as his forever restless body could. But he was on day three of this recurring waking nightmare, running on a grand total of two hours' sleep and a gallon of coffee.

It was a hallucination, for fuck's sake, a consequence of purposely cutting off oxygen to the brain. And he wished it had meant nothing, but

You are wrong.

That had hit too close to home.

You are wrong, you are wrong.

What did that even mean?

You are wrong, you are wrong, you are wrong, you are wrong!

What did that even mean?

Following the stub and crushed filter that was his previous cigarette was another one, this one burnt down to half ash in one inhalation. There were no calming his nerves with nicotine, so maybe we was trying to suffocate the billions of voices buried in his chest, still pushing against his ribcage and sternum, souls (real or imaginary, that was the question of the day) creaming as the void swallowed them.

You are wrong.

Peter locked his thumb and pressed it against the cigarette's burning end, putting the stub behind his ear, as if it had any more tobacco to burn. The went to his room and knekt beside his bed, pulling out a tin box from underneath. He carried it to his kitchen table and pulled out the two heavy, thick books that lied inside.

A necromancy book, leather bound and made to look like it was ancient-- if the 80s, according to the copyright page, were an ancient time, sure. The second, the textbook of anatomy Ludwig had loaned him. Which reminded him: should he have given this back by now? Meh, it was probably long forgotten, and besides, he needed it all over again.

You are wrong.

Within the pages stuck out pages of notes he had taken in his short-lived experiment. He opened to a note in the anatomy book, stuck in-between pages of the heart. His scrawl was erratic and messy, but still legible: "The plasma in the blood is a channel."

He opened the necromancy book to a note with doodles of stars-- "we are all star stuff/explosive energy in our veins".

He pulled these notes out of the books, reading them over and over, trying to figure out where did he go wrong. What was he wrong about?

He stacked the notes into a neat Pike and set them aside. He dug into the box once more, setting out the blood tubes and the animal skulls from his workplace and the finger and toe bones he snuck out of his former university's medical labs. He turned the bird's skull over in his hand, staring at the cracks spread along its crown.

There was only one thing to do, it seems...

#ic #droid noodles ( writing )#dead animals tw #aaaand we swing on back to this lol #mobile #because i had put away my laptop and am too tired to pull it out and powrr it up just for another #quick drabble #rage against the singularity saga

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bts-reveries · 4 years ago

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expect the unexpected | 10

pictures in between!

You wake up a little later than usual. Not a surprise since you don’t have to prepare for three kids + your husband’s breakfast. Making sure Minseok and Soojin have all of their books, their homework, and their lunch ready. Haneul, of course, following you everywhere around the house.

The morning was rather quiet.

“Mmm,” Jin groans from behind you. Your back was facing him as you laid on your side, facing the window in front of you.

“Good morning,” Jin says in a low and raspy voice, propping himself up on his elbows. “Happy anniversary,” he says, leaning down to press kisses all over your cheeks, neck, and shoulders. You couldn’t help but giggle as you were especially ticklish on your neck. You roll over on your back and look up at him, smiling.

“Happy anniversary,” you repeat back, looking up at his eyes, then his lips before you two met halfway.

Can you believe over a thousand plus kisses ago, you and Jin had your first kiss as husband and wife?

Now here you two are, in bed, kissing on your tenth anniversary.

“I love you,” you say, as you pull away from his face.

“I love you too,” your husband responds. “You and your stinky breath.”

After ten years of marriage, three kids, and twelve best friends and six nieces and nephews later, you have reached everything you’ve ever wanted.

A happy marriage.

Three sweet, smart, and beautiful kids.

The best friends you could have ever had, that turned into family.

Nieces and nephews who are your kids’ forever best friends.

Each day with them, even if it’s stressful and hard, you wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Meeting Jin has brought you to meet so many great people that made you have the best life you could ever have.

It’s safe to say that you love that man so so so so sO much.

“So last night,” Jin says as he brings you a plate of pancakes. “You said you just wanted to go out and visit the flower fields, then the beach, and then we can come back here to make lunch together right?” He says, listing out all the things you told him about yesterday. It’s been a while since you two went on solo dates, and the day seems a little simple for a ten year anniversary, but hey! You’re not with three little (lovely) monsters that will drag you and your husband away from each other!

“You’re right,” you say. “What about you? You didn’t really plan anything you wanted to do.” Jin shakes his head, a glass of orange juice on his lips.

“I have plans for tonight,” he says. “But that’s a secret.” He winks at you, getting up from his seat and leaving you alone on the table.

“Hey where are you going?” You say, smiling at him as he walks away. A surprise? You were both curious and excited.

“Do you have my allergy medicine?” Jin asks you, sneezing uncontrollably as you two get closer to the fields. You frown, letting go of his hand as you searched your bag.

“Oh no, I don’t think I brought it,” you say, rustling through your bag. “I think that’s what I forgot..” You reach in and grab tissues instead. “Here,” you say, wiping your husband’s nose. You laugh when Jin bends down for you. He reminded you of your son.

“You remind me of Minseok right now,” you say.

“Of course, handsomeness is passed down from generation to generation.” You quirk up an eyebrow at him.

“I meant you two both have runny noses that I always have to wipe,” you say. “Now let’s go,” you say, turning around. Jin looks at you confused.

“Where are you going? We’re going that way,” he says, pointing to the direction where the two of you were going to first.

“We won’t have fun if your nose and eyes are going to keep itching,” you say. “It’s okay. We can go to the beach first, buy some allergy medicine, and then we can come back tomorrow.”

~before this photo was taken~

“Let’s take a picture,” you tell Jin, taking out your phone from your back pocket.

“Okay, give it to me,” he says, taking your phone and walking away from you. You scrunch your brows at him.

“Jin,” you say. He stands in front of you with your phone held in front of him.

“Smile,” he says, ignoring you. You give him a weak smile and after he clicks, you walk up to him taking your phone from his hands.

“I said let’s. Meaning you and I?” You say. Jin scoffs, taking the phone from you again.

“You could’ve said, let’s take a selfie,” he says, wrapping his hand around your waist and pulling you close. “Smile,” he says, holding up your phone to show a view of the ocean behind you two.

“Let’s take another one, do you think someone else can take it for us?” You say, looking around.

“Yeah, I mean we can ask someone.”

“Okay, go ask that guy over there,” you say, pushing him towards the young man walking down the shore line.

“Why me? You ask him,” he says, pushing your phone to your chest.

“No,” you refuse, pushing your phone back into him. “You know how dangerous it is for a woman like me to go talk to random men?? You go.”

“Okay fine. Hmm,” he says, looking around. “Go ask that lady then.” Again, he pushes your phone back to you.

“No, you ask her,” you say, giving your phone back to him.

“You know how dangerous it is for you to let your gorgeous husband go up to a woman sitting alone on the beach??” He argues. Again, pushing your phone back to your chest. “What if she thinks I’m asking for her number when I hand her your phone?”

“Well when she sees my wallpaper of us and our three kids, she’ll realize you aren’t!” you say. “Now ask her, please.”

After the beach, you and Jin went back to the airbnb for lunch. Rather than going out, the two of you thought that making lunch together may be a better way to celebrate. Just like old times.

“So what should we cook?” Jin says, looking in the fridge. It may have went over your head that you two have to go and actually buy some ingredients first. “Aaaand it’s empty.” You laugh as he stands up straight, turning to you.

“Quick shopping trip?” You say, pointing towards the door. Jin laughs, nodding his head. He grabs the keys from the counter and walks towards you, swinging his arm over your shoulder.

“This may possibly be the fastest grocery shopping experience we may ever have since having kids.”

“So what’s the surprise?” You ask, wiggling your eyebrows at your husband. The two of you had just finished lunch and were currently in your room.

“What surprise?” He asks, completely clueless looking.

“The surprise you have for me,” you say, sitting up as you were laying in bed.

“Oh I was just joking,” he says, sitting down next to you. “Let’s take a nap, the beach tired me out.” Your husband then lays over the comforter, putting his hand on his chest like a corpse.

“Tired you out how? We just walked around and sat on the sand.” You turned around, looking at him and he was fast asleep. “Oh you old man,” you say, laying back down next to him.

It only took a few minutes for you to fall asleep. Jin opens up one eye when he heard your light snores, turning to the side to see your mouth slightly open. He laughs to himself.

“And I’m the old man.”

To be fair, being a mom of three kids, falling asleep whenever you get the chance is easy.

Jin slowly gets up from the bed and walks out of the room, getting ready for your surprise.

He quickly got dressed and slipped out of the airbnb without you noticing. As long as there are no noises, you should be asleep the entire time he’s gone.

Of course he had to get you flowers and cake. It was kind of weird to go into a bakery and not see a single familiar face. No Yoongi, no Sohyun or aunty Sohu as Haneul liked to call her, no Taehyung, and no Rina. Just some guy named Huening Kai.

“Anniversary?” The young man says. He looks at the roses Jin was holding.

Jin nods at him, “ten years.” The man’s mouth went into an ‘o’ shape.

“Wow, how long have you two been married? Or are you married?” Jin laughs at his question and the young man laughs along shyly, not knowing as to why Jin was laughing exactly.

“Ten years, we’ve been married for ten years. Together for eighteen,” he explains. Huening Kai’s eyes widened. He laughed again as he typed in the order.

“That’s how old I am,” he says. Now Jin’s eyes get big.

“Maybe I am the old man..” he thought.

Jin gets back to your airbnb and, as he thought, you were still asleep.

He puts the flowers next to the cake on the table and goes into your room to wake you up.

Again, your mouth was open, but of course Jin was used to that. He leans in to kiss you on the lips anyways.

You respond back with a snore.

He frowns, leaning down to kiss you again.

Still asleep.

He sighs, kissing you again. This time, you giggle during the kiss. Jin pulls away, upset.

“Yah, were you awake the whole time?” He says, annoyed. Jokingly of course.

“Yeah, I woke up after the first kiss. Were you worried that you weren’t my true love?” You joke. Referring to all the fairytales and movies you show to the kids. Jin would often tell Soojin that he was her true love which is why she always woke up whenever he would kiss her forehead in the morning.

“A little,” he mumbles. Standing above you, Jin extends his hand out. “But whatever, get up.”

You frown up at him. “Why?”

“Day’s not over, it’s still our anniversary and we have plans.”

“I thought we didn’t,” you say.

“Surprise! We have a date.”

expect the unexpected

♡ part ten: ten years ♡

pairings: ceo, dad!jin x interior designer, mom!reader

a/n: this is super choppy, but i think is cute lol

taglist: @silentlyimpractical @jillianmarie @waddlebby @cecedrake2217 @ddofa @samros95 @sope-and-shine @joonjoonsmiles @codeinebelle @aianloveseven @Chamchamcham @princessjazzyjazz @notvantaes @casspirit0705 @ramyagovindraj @brinnalaine @ephyra1230 @betysotelo18 @thoughtfultaledreamer @salty-for-suga @cosmicdaylight @dreamcatcherjiah @kookoo-kachoo @justinetingball @josierosie @jayhope88 @butterflylion @hobiismyhopeu @momma-said-that-it-was-oke @shinyplaidbagellamp @catspancake @somewhereofftheglobe @strawberryforever25 @rjsmochii @prdshobi @beeeb05 @eatjeanjin @taekookcaneatme @Cheeely14 @kookietsukkie @anpanman-sonyeondan @glitteringcoffeefreak @chocobetterknot @alpaca1612 @ohmy-fandoms @liljooniecutie @Jikachoo @preciouschimine @fan-ati--c @Joondala @httpmuffin @dammit-jjk @jikooksgirl19

TAGLIST IS CLOSED!

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taelonsamada · 3 years ago

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WIP Whenever - SS Sequel

Posting this just cause I had a huge grin on my face while writing it and wanted to share it lol

Felix apparently is turning out to be a bit of a mother hen despite his flirty behaviour, and it’s gonna drive Tobias crazy X3

~~~

“…why are you back in my home?” He asked, managing not to wince at the rasp of his voice. To his frustration, his new babysitter turned to look at him with a grin.

“Oh, I never left.” He corrected, leaving Tobias silent as he struggled to process that thought.

“…you slept here?” He hissed, his hazel eyes immediately flicking to the door just visible beyond his new caretaker.

“Mm hmm. That arm chair in the corner is really comfortable!” That had relief swamping through him, and he leaned forward to rest his forehead against the back of the couch with a quiet groan. “Would have been better if it had been a recliner, but I’ve definitely crashed in worse places on a job.”

“You’re not required to stay the night.” Tobias muttered, gritting his teeth as he heard the other man snort.

“Yeah, cause I’d be a real bang-up bodyguard if I left you here alone after you got jumped in an alley.” He replied in a dry tone, and Tobias clenched his teeth tighter as he heard footsteps approaching, realizing this was probably the moment where they were going to have ‘the talk’.

Hearing the quiet thump of items being placed on his coffee table, he turned his head enough to peek out of the corner of his eye, then lifted his head fully and stared.

There were half a dozen styrofoam containers set out on the table, along with two of his glasses from the kitchen and a handful of forks and knives. His babysitter sat down on the floor and opened the first one, revealing a large, stuffed to bursting omelette.

Sitting up, he turned around to face the coffee table, swinging his long legs over the edge of the couch and bracing his elbows on his knees as he just stared at the spread in front of him. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got the best.” Felix explained through a mouthful of egg, pointing with the fork he held. “We got eggs, available in scrambled, over-easy, poached and another omelette.”

The fork moved to another container. “That’s waffles and pancakes, and the syrup should be in there with them so it’ll be plenty warmed up. I like my pancakes absolutely swimming, so I made sure to ask for lots.”

Another swing of the fork. “That’s sausages and bacon, that’s a big ol’ pile of hashbrowns, and that’s a couple dozen slices of toast. Aaaand…” He shifted to dig his free hand into what sounded like a plastic bag, just out of sight on the floor beside him. Tobias stared in silence as two bottles of orange juice were placed on the coffee table, giving the other man a flat look.

To his frustration, he laughed, waving a hand at him as he reached for something else out of sight on the floor. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I figured that’d be your reaction.” He assured, and another bottle was set beside the orange juice, though far smaller, and one that had the seer sighing in relief. “I didn’t realize vodka came in such tiny bottles, and frankly I think it’s adorable.”

He grunted, reaching for the bottle, and stared in silent, growing rage as his newest babysitter snatched it away, casting him a stupid, smug grin as he ate another mouthful of his omelette. “Nuh uh. You get this after you eat something.” He stated firmly, and just smirked at the scowl he got in return.

#My writing #queer writing #queer fantasy #werewolf fantasy #modern fantasy #urban fantasy #wip excerpt

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copperpieceharlot · 4 years ago

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Bud I’m sorry to swing into your inbox uninvited like this but my soul is having an OOTS renaissance thanks to your content in the tag and did you say Leverage AU

haha holy SHIT this got Long. but yes. i’ve been. Thinking. (also literally Never feel like you have to apologize for sending me messages. i was Hoping someone would ask me about this. now i have an Excuse to share EVERYTHING ive written abt it :3)

Obviously, Roy is the leader/brains of the outfit. He grew up having some Strong Opinions abt what’s Legal versus what’s Right due to tragic backstory involving the death of his little brother which was definitely SOMEONE’S fault for negligence but since there technically wasn’t any illegal behavior, there were no consequences for it. Also he’s still angry at his dad bc he thinks his dad is also partly culpable (and also also just a dick). He’s the Moral Backbone of the team (alongside Durkon, more on that later) in basically the same way Nate was in og Leverage. He’s actually not the best at figuring out what people want (that’s Haley and, shockingly, occasionally Elan), but once he has that info, he is the absolute best at figuring out the ideal plan of attack to use in any given case.

Haley is still a thief. I mean she maps to Parker almost PERFECTLY. Her dad was a thief & a conman, her mom wasn’t but knew about it and mostly accepted it, but she died tragically in a mugging gone wrong or smth, which made Ian crank the paranoia WAY up and taught Haley to do the same in the name of “safety”. Let’s keep the “Ian is in Trouble and Haley needs money, Fast” which is why she signs on to the first job in the first place. She’s less acrobatic than Parker, tending towards finding (or making) weak spots in security, but she can still make a tumble check when she needs to.

Elan is the grifter who is somehow an Idiot but also not???? It baffles everyone. When he’s playing a part for a con, he’s FLAWLESS, but then the rest of the time he’s just. No Thoughts Head Empty. He probably gets lured in initially because he’s decided to try his hand at being part of a full team, rather than the two-man cons he’s been running that invariably end w his partner conning him as well and stealing half of his take. Also he likes the idea of being Crime Friends. He’s that tweet where it’s like, Roy: “after the heist is over, we split up and never communicate again” / Elan: [about to unveil his Crime Buddies Forever Friendship Quilt Puppets]: “never?”

Vaarsuvius is the hacker/gadget person. They have a Vaguely Snobby Yet Unidentifiable accent, dyed(?) purple hair (nobody has ever seen their roots) and nobody knows who they “really” are or where they came from, but they’re good at what they do so everyone just accepts the mystery. They probably got suckered into the team by their initial employer (who I’ll get to Eventually, lol) framing it as a challenge to their intellect, like, “oh, I see, you’re not smart enough to make this team work for you...” to which they were like Fucking Watch Me and also melted his computer. Anyways. They are joined (digitally) by their Intrepid Friend And Co-Conspirator (his words, not theirs), a fellow hacker known only as Blackwing, or, on certain forums, Blackwing_Bird. (In the first season, V only occasionally references him when saying they’re “calling in extra help” or smth for a particularly complex hack job. He starts showing up a little more in s2 and eventually by the start of s4 is a regular & established presence, but only appears as actions in a computer interface or output.) Elan is convinced he’s an AI, Belkar doesn’t think he actually exists, Haley pretends she doesn’t think he exists, and Durkon and Roy try not to think about it too hard, as long as B and V still get the job done.

Belkar is the hitter. He is on the team bc their initial employer got him out of jail for it. He doesn’t have a tragic backstory, he just likes doing violent crimes. As the series progresses, he grows some empathy & stuff, but really only for people who actually deserve it. Assholes still get decked. It’s all very touching. (Also he has dwarfism caused by achondroplasia. It doesn’t actually bother him and is useful in fights bc his opponents frequently have no fucking clue how to approach him, but he likes Pretending to take offense at stupid things just to see how far he can go with it.)

Aaaand last but not least, Durkon is the least involved member of the team. He’s actually a career criminal and Roy’s mentor, and wasn’t a member of the initial team that [redacted, I’ll tell you later, PROMISE] put together for a couple of reasons, the main one being that he’s Officially retired in order to spend more time with his family, which consists of his mom, his friend (not girlfriend) Hilgya, baby Kudzu, and a truly stunning number of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Roy frequently calls or visits him for advice and he Occasionally shows up to help out on local jobs, but generally he avoids doing crime if he can (as part of a deal with Hilgya, who is also a career criminal; basically, they’ve both cut back on the crime in order to provide a more stable home environment for Kudzu. But sometimes, you gotta do a little crime, and in those cases, Sigdi enjoys spending time w her grandson.)

NOW. THE BIG REVEAL YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. Who got the team together in the first place?!

The answer: Lord Shojo (or whatever Normal Person Name you want to assign him). Now this is where it gets tricky: he had them do a thing that they thought was good, THEN they thought it was BAD, but then when they confronted him he revealed that it Appearing to be bad was actually a test of character and would they consider working as basically internal investigators for him? But then he had a heart attack, so, rip. But THEN it turned out that he’d left them a bunch of money anyway and they were all feeling kind of Inspired so they formed the Order of the Stick, LLC (which, no, i am not coming up with a new name, actually, because I just don’t care. someone else can come up w a justification for that name, tho, i’m sure it’s possible). Also Miko was there and was unhappy abt their actions, and also their general existence.

Moving on. Villains!

Redcloak is the Sterling replacement, because that DEEPLY amuses me.

Xykon is a season-long main villain, probably one that Redcloak finds himself working for but then “teams up with” (read: blackmails) the Order to bring him down bc even Redcloak finds Xykon distasteful. That’s season 3, let’s say.

Tarquin is another season villain, say season 2. Nale probably shows up pretty early in s1, actually, as another recurring antagonist like Sterling but uh. Less good at it. Anyways the s2 final 3 eps deal with them (accidentally) discovering that Tarquin runs some Evil Empire Company, then trying to outplay him and take him down. Idk if Nale still dies in this version tbh.

Tsukiko is a one-off s1 villain who returns briefly in s4 alongside Miko, who has gone well and truly off the rails.

Season 1 finale has to do w Roy finally getting Vengeance for his little brother.

The vampire squad is the s4 finale villain who do smth terrible to Durkon and then get the Mother Of All Revenge served up to them by the Order.

I envision the show as being 5 seasons (like og Leverage) but I’m not going to sketch out s5 because I think it should be based off whatever happens in the current story arc, possibly involving some legacy of the OotSquiggle.

Other stuff!

The Order of the Squiggle is a legendary criminal team from the 60s who stole a BUNCH of famous shit & then proceeded to legendarily implode. This has no bearing on the plot I’ve sketched out, I just think it’s fun.

The Sapphire Guard members should probably be reworked as FBI. I don’t care about most of them but I do think that Lien and O-Chul could be like, FBI agents who Choose to look the other way while the Order does their very-much-not-legal-but-still-fair Justice Crime, and maybe even help them out on occasion.

So, the Final season-by-season outline, based on everything I’ve written so far:

s1 e1: getting the team together, doing a con for Shojo, then at the end he dies and the gang is like “dang what now?" and intend to split up except then they Don’t.

mid-s1: Nale shows up and tries to trick the Order, but then gets beat like a drum.

late s1: Tsukiko is an underling of the Villain Of The Week, winds up in police custody. But She’ll Be Back.

s1 finale: Roy’s Vengeance: The Vengeaning. also we meet Redcloak as an antagonist.

s2 e1: the truth abt Haley’s father comes out

early s2: The Two Live Crews Job but it’s the Order vs the Linear Guild and the Linear Guild ARE all bad guys.

mid-s2: Redcloak returns. ugh.

late s2: the sapphire guard FBI makes its first appearance, hello O-Chul and Lien.

s2 pre-finale: once again they’re in conflict w Nale over smth, he spends the whole episodes making Cryptic Remarks, they basically beat him (like a drum!) but then the stinger at the end is that Tarquin reveals himself and Elan is like “Dad?!”, roll credits.

s2 finale, part 1: Elan is hanging out w Tarquin bc he’s DEEP in Denial, the Rest of the team tries to take Tarquin down, but it doesn’t work.

s2 finale, part 2: Elan finally gets a clue and they manage to beat Tarquin. still haven’t decided if Nale dies or not, but I’m leaning towards yes. also they rescue Haley’s dad.

s3 e1: fuck dude idk.

early s3: Redcloak shows up, AGAIN, everyone groans. he has blackmail on them, he wants them to take Xykon down.

mid s3: The Rashomon Job but it’s about stealing the Talisman of Dorukan and it turns out that Nale was there too (“oh!” Elan says. “I was wondering why I looked so weird in all those mirrors! But it wasn’t my reflection, it was Nale’s!” “Sweetie, that wasn’t Nale’s reflection,” says Haley. “Huh,” says Elan, “so the mirrors were broken?”, cue eye rolling from everyone else.), and the Successful thief was Hilgya, who’d nabbed it from the owner before it even went on display.

s3 finale: they beat Xykon, actually factually, because he deserves to get his ass Thoroughly kicked, even if only in AU form. Lien and O-Chul are there, so are some other less helpful FBI people. There’s a bit where O-Chul Exact Wordses his way out of telling his superiors about the Order’s less legal activities without technically lying. King shit.

s4 e1: doesn’t really matter. maybe smth to do w some legacy of Tarquin’s company to set up the drama w Malack & Durkon later.

early s4: Durkon gets SENT TO PRISON. Malack approaches the Order abt this because sure they have Different Ethics but they’re still Friends. (Roy is surprised and a little hurt that he’s never heard of Malack, but he ignores that in favor of Let’s Get Whatever Fuckers Did This To Our Friend.)

immediately after that: Miko and Tsukiko return as a Team, preventing the Order from working on the Durkon situation

mid s4: Redcloak makes another unexpected & unwelcome appearance but he’s maybe a little less of a dick? the Order collaborates with Malack & his Crime Buddies (hello, Vector Legion) to pull one over on him tho, because “less of a dick” does not mean “a pleasant or decent person”, and also he was mean abt Durkon being in jail, so he totally deserved it. he still gets whatever he wanted tho, just takes a blow to his pride. also prevents the Order from helping Durkon. they’re having a LOT of setbacks wonder why that could be, not to make sure the season fills its whole length or anything, no sirree

s4 finale: something something taking down the organization, headed by Hel (yes that’s her real name), which framed Durkon for their Big Crime. Durkon goes free and Extra Firmly retires, For Good, He Swears, but says he “met someone new” who might be an asset.

s5 e1: minrah joins the team! and the episode is set in like, somewhere really snowy. that’s all i got.

the rest of s5: don’t know, don’t care, it’s open-ended until the comic finishes up.

#mine #ask #corvidcorgi #order of the stick #oots #leverage #leverage au #oots au #au #outline #haha this thing clocks in at 1.9k words because i am LITERALLY incapable of shutting up #hope u enjoy it bc i spent Way Too Much Mental Effort mapping out how the OotS plotlines might play out in a leverage setting #and then promptly ignored Most of that in favor of making it funnier & dumber & more villain-of-the-week #(bc lbr the comic is Good but it's got an overarching plot form that the Leverage story style does Not jive with)#i'm not tagging all these characters lol

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foxie-herminah · 4 years ago

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Firefighter billy!!! The keggssss! ☀️☀️☀️ And please tell me more about that roonmates fic 🌟🌟

Woohoo!! Okay!

~The Highest Of Flames

Steve’s day couldn’t get any worse. He already dropped his breakfast sandwich, the photo copy machine spat black ink back at his face and outfit Aaaand, his boss told him that he needed a status report in an hour. But Steve would never give that report cause a fucking fire got caught in the pressing room and everyone had to evacuate the printing house (yes Steve works in a printing company on this one lol)

When the fire alarm went off his head was underneath the beast of a machine that printed “The Hawkins Post” that day, cause their machine broke down. Just his luck. The hem of his shirt got caught in the gears and as he was trying to free himself and get out, he hit his forehead on the metal panel and almost lost his vission. Smoke was filling up the room, making him suffocate and he saw the flames through the glass windows in the next room getting bigger, as he kept trying to release himself. He got free and covered his mouth with his shirt but he didn’t get the chance to get out and placed his back on a wall, sliding down on the floor, legs too weak to hold him.

He heard a loud thud and voices yelling left and right and felt a hand slapping his face, making him open his eyes an inch.

“He’s alive!” The muffled voice said and lift him up and placed him on one shoulder, taking him out of the room.

Fresh air hit his lungs, giving him the reassurance that he made it. He was carefully put down on the pavement and choughed the smoke out, as a paramedic, gave him an oxygen mask to breathe in. The firefighter stayed with him and took his own mask off, revealing that it was Billy. Steve’s brain didn’t have the capacity to match the pieces right now. He has too dazed right now. All he could do was to respond to Billy.

“Harrington can you hear me?” Steve nodded

“You’re okay, you made it.”

“i’m okay i made it” Steve could only mimic Billy’s words and that was enough for the blonde to make sure he was alright at the moment.

~The Kegs

“Okay....Shit! I forgot to hit record again.” Tommy said as he stood back up and ran towards the camera. Steve was hitting his microphone and blowing at it like he was at a concert while Billy was looking at him with a lifted eyebrow

“Damn Harrington, take it for a drink fist” The blonde said and Steve sneered at him.

“I wanna make sure the mic works smartass.”

Tommy sat back down and intentionally pushed himself closer to Steve, making Steve in his turn move closer to Billy. They should really buy a bigger couch...But it was all they can do for now until they get a sponsor.

The show was a shitshow as always, but that day got special cause Billy caught Steve at a weak moment and when the cameras went off, he couldn’t help himself but to tease him more on the “buttcheek exposed shorts” subject they had on earlier on the show. Tommy joined him fast on the matter, them making Steve blush more.

“Hey...it was just an old pair i had from Middle school. They don’t fit anymore and they look-”

“I wanna see it.” Billy said, making Steve turn to him.

“What?”

“You heard me pretty boy, i wanna see them.”

Steve blinked at him and turned to Tommy for support but to no avail. The freckled dressed boy was invested in the idea too.

“Correction. We wanna see them.on.you.”

~Harringrove Roomates Au

His nightmares were getting worse. The remedies of his friends and family weren’t doing shit for him, neither do the drugs.

He wasn’t always like this. He used to be that quirky, smartass of a guy. The “live for today” sort. Now he became more like a shell of what he was. A bullet filled with anger, hurt and worry. That constant worry...

He didn’t smile much anymore, even whe Dustin was trying to make him feel better. Even when Robin was telling him all about her new date. He just nodded and listened...A shell.

Later on

He was rolling in his bed and the heat from the apartment was getting into his skin too much that day. He couldn’t sleep. Even witht the windows open. He heard a bang in the living room and grabbed his bat in a matter of seconds. He didn’t turn any lights on so he opened the door and walked silently towards the sound. Another bang was heard and he saw a hooded shadow standing in front of the couch. Without too much thought he swinged and bashed the back of the shadow, making it to yell and fall one the floor.

“What the- Easy, easy man!”The shadow shouted

Steve pointed his bat him and asked in a low tone

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“I- i was-”

“What the fuck was that??” Matt, Steve’s roomate shouted as he walked into the living room and turned on the lights. Steve’s eyes blinked and saw Billy on the floor, with his backpack torn to shreds fron the nails of the bat. He didn’t move and neither did Billy. He was too shocked to move. Matt, ran towards them and held his hands towards Steve

“Woah woah, wait! Steve that’s my cousin!”

Steve didn’t move. He kept staring. He kept pointing.

“Your cousin.” He said flat.

“Yes! I told him to crash here for a couple of days, chill out man!”

In all of this mess, Billy couldn’t help but to feel a bit turned on by the way the brunette was looking at him. Serious, intimidating, his bat not moving an inch away from his face. This is gonna be fun.

Whew! That’s it for now... i hope you liked them! The stories might change a bit but the basics are there lol. Anyway thank you for the ask! 💖

#asks #wip #tag game #harringrove #fanfiction #fanfic #answer

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ambivalent-anarchy · 5 years ago

Text

Empire State Of Mind

Masterlist

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x stark!reader

Warning: None

Summary- (FLUFF)(CRACK)the story of how Peter Parker got over his fear of heights (I was inspired by one of Peter's lines in the Spiderman ps4 game)

A/N: Okay this is me getting back to fics because apparently the only way I can actually get inspiration to write is if I'm procrastinating sooooooo since school has started I guess there will be lots of that lol

---------------------------------------

When Peter told Ned about his fear of heights, he completely freaked out.

"You can't be afraid of heights. You're Spiderman!," he whisper-shouted at their lunch table. "How can Spiderman be afraid of heights?!"

Peter shrugged. "I dunno, maybe I'll just have to get over it eventually."

"But if the spider gave you strength, perfect eyesight, and all those other awesome things. How could it not give you the ability to not be afraid of heights?!," Ned asked, utterly confused. "I mean, spiders aren't afraid of heights."

"Yeah Ned, I know. But-"

"And if spiders aren't afraid of heights then when the spider bit you, you should've picked up that trait too, right?"

"Ned-"

"-Maybe you just got a really lame spider. Maybe the spider that bit you was afraid of heights and he was a spider outcast and-"

"Ned!"

When Peter told MJ about his fear of heights, she immediately mentally prepared herself for his funeral.

"How is Spiderman afraid of heights?"

Pete groaned. "I don't know..."

"I knew it," she sighed. "You're gonna die."

"Wait, what?"

"You can't be out there saving the city while being afraid of heights. That doesn't mix," she explained matter-of-factly. "You're gonna die."

"I'll get over it, MJ. I just have to keep trying."

She shook her head. "Whatever you say, loser. But when you die, the only thing I'll be saying at your funeral is 'I told ya so'."

When Peter told Harry about his fear of heights, he teased him about it relentlessly.

Peter braced himself. "And before you say it, yeah I know: 'How is Spiderman afraid of heights?'. Ha. Ha. Funny."

Harry tossed a pretzel into his mouth. "That's pretty pitiful, Pete," he snickered.

"Yeah I know-"

"-You're supposed to be the 'Amazing' Spiderman, not the 'I-can-only-save-you-if-we're-under-fifty-feet' Spiderman."

"You know what? I'm just going to stop telling people," Peter mumbled, hiding his face into his hands.

"C'mon, I'm just messing with you, bro," Harry teased. "But seriously, how can Spiderman be afraid of heights? That's like Ironman being afraid of iron!"

Peter stared. "...it's really not though."

"Whatever." Harry reached over to ruffle Peter's hair with his hand. "Just come to the penthouse tonight and I'll throw you off the roof. Bam. Fear conquered."

"..."

When Peter told you about it, you did the natural Stark thing to do, and helped him out...after teasing him of course.

"How the fuck are you Spiderman and you're afraid of heights? How does that even work?," you laughed.

"Ugh, not you too [Y/N]," he groaned.

"Why're you scared if you've got your webs?," she interjected again. "As long as you remember those, you can't fall."

"That doesn't really help."

"Wait, so you save all those people in tall buildings while you're so scared of heights? Wow. You're even more awesome now."

Peter shrugged it off. "I guess when the moment comes to save people, I kind of have to push the fear aside, y'know?"

"Aaaand why are you even telling me this? What, you want me to fix you or something?" You laughed again, slapping the table. "I'm good with robots, Pete. I'm not a wizard."

Peter shuffled in his seat. "Well I-i was kind of hoping that... maybe you could h-help me?"

You raised an eyebrow. "And how would I do that?," you asked, giggling a bit. "Push you off avengers tower?," you teased.

"A-actually I was hoping for the Empire State Building..."

You paused. "...wait, what?"

Peter nodded in response.

"Pete..I was only kidding... Like really, are you being foreal?!"

He smiled, patting his hands on his lap nervously. "Will you?"

"You're going to fall off the Empire State Building to get over your fear of heights?," you asked.

He nodded uncertainly. "Yep."

"...And you want me to push you off said building?"

"Yeah pretty much," he confirmed.

You stared in disbelief for a moment before checking your watch. "The things I'll do for your dumbass," you sighed. "Alright. Meet me at the top of the Empire State at four. But if you die...I will not be held responsible.

--------

Peter crawled cautiously along the side of the Empire State Building, being sure to never look down.

'You're not that high, Pete. You're not,' he told himself. 'You're only like twelve....t-twelve....hun....'

"Twelve h-h-hundred fucking feet off the fucking ground oh my goshhh!," he whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut as he continued up the building. "Oh my God, please let me live."

He crawled with his eyes closed until he couldn't feel the thick glass wall anymore. Peter jumped over the railing of the 103 floor observation deck and finally placed his feet on solid ground.

"Wow, Spiderman. You're literally shaking," he heard your voice laugh.

Peter looked at you, wide-eyed as you sat on top of the railing, legs pointed outward, facing the city. "How are you not terrified right now?!"

You shrugged. "I literally take the iron suit for a joy-ride like every week. Heights don't bother me. Now, are we doing this or not?"

"J-just.. gimme a second," he mumbled. "You can do this, Peter. You can do this," he pep-talked himself. "You got this."

You remained sitting on the railing and swinging your legs, trying to give Peter some space to get himself together.

After what felt like about ten mintues, you looked over at him. "You okay over there, Pete?"

Peter took a deep breath and gave a small nod before peeking over the side of the building, which he quickly realized was more than just a big mistake on his part. "F-fuck no!" He quickly stepped back until he was the furthest he could be from the edge. "It's too high! I-i can't do this!"

You groaned. "C'mon, Pete. Wasn't this your idea anyway?"

"Actually it was sort of Harry's!," he stammered. "...[Y/N]..I-i really don't think I can do this."

You ran towards him, cupping his face with your hands. "Hey, hey... relax. You're gonna be okay. You hear me?"

Slowly, he began to nod. "...O-okay," he sighed and took the time to prepare himself again. "I think I'm ready."

You backed away a bit. "You sure?"

"..no."

"Look," you said. "Y'know, you don't have to do this if you really don't want to."

"No," Peter declared, squeezing his eyes shut, his hands turning to fists. "No, I said I'm going to do it today. So I have to do it today. I have to."

"Well then let's do it."

"But I can't!," he whined.

You groaned. 'If this dork doesn't make up his mind.'

Then it hit you.

"I guess when the moment comes to save people, I kind of have to push the fear aside, y'know?"

He'd told you the answer to his problems without even knowing.

"Got it," you whispered.

Turning around quickly, you climbed back over the railing separating the standing area from the edge of the building with a mischievous smile.

Once comfortable, you started to rock, swinging your legs back and forth. "Golly gee, Peter. I sure hope I don't fall!," you yelled dramatically in the perfect 'woe-is-me' fashion.

Confused, he looked up from where he was frozen in place. "[Y/N], what?"

You continued to speak dramatically and robotically. "Oh it would be such a shame if maybe I were to..." You gestured a person falling with your hand until it finally reached the end. "Splat!"

"[Y/N], c'mon. Stop."

"And I suppose if I were to happen to be plummeting to my death-" you looked over at him with wide eyes. "-The only person capable of saving me would be the AMAZING Spiderman!"

"[Y/N]. I'm not kidding around. Seriously, this is dumb."

"Gee wilikers! I guess my life is in your hands now Spidey!," you smirked before throwing yourself off the edge of the Empire State Building.

"[Y/N]! What the fuck!"

"Whooooooooooooo!," you yelled as you fell, confident that he would catch you.

Rolling his eyes and cursing under his breath, Peter immediately threw caution to the wind as he jumped over the fence. The only thing on his mind was catching you.

'You idiotic bitch of a girl that I love...'

Gathering his crazy surroundings, he looked around until he finally saw you. And there you were, free falling and whooping like you were on a rollercoaster and not actually almost dying.

'Okay, Pete,' he thought. 'Save her or Mr. Stark will literally kill you..Plus your girlfriend will be dead... yeah definitely that too.'

"[Y/N]!," he yelled.

"Any time now, Peter!," you shrieked once you felt you'd been falling for a bit too long. "C'mon, I know you can do it so how about you FUCKING DO IT!"

Finally catching up with you a bit, he shot a web out to pull you towards him, and then shot another on the building.

You gasped when you felt something yank you upwards. Immediately after you were scooped up by a blur of red and blue.

"I've got you, [Y/N]," he gasped out, one arm holding you while the other was busy holding the two of you up with the webbing. "I've got you."

You held onto him tightly and let out a laugh of relief. "I knew you would," you giggled. "That was awesome."

He began to laugh too. "Oh my gosh, you crazy little adrenaline junky!"

You smirked in response, looking around at where you were now "Sooo.. we're hanging off the Empire State Building..what now?"

Peter looked around too. "Uhh-" he smirked. "-wanna go for a swing?"

"That's just the adrenaline talking, Petey," you informed. "But I mean, I'm down if you are. You're not still scared?"

"Oh I'm terrified," he laughed before leaning in for a quick, messy kiss. He stared at you with nothing but love in his heart. "But I'll be fine as long as I've got you."

The next time Peter found himself swinging through the air, the last thing on his mind was how high he was going.

@spideyyeet, @soft-petey, @hey-its-grey, @allegra-writes, @chaoticpete, @underoosjae, @allegra-soleil, @sovereignparker, @lost-space-ranger, @kelieah, @spidey-reids-2003, @spidey-boy-89, @thesherlockianavenger, @crappy-unicorn

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maria-scribbles · 5 years ago

Text

glitter + crimson (let’s start a riot)//part two

summary: the pogues get up to a few shenanigans, burn the shit out of some marshmallows, and have a group hug of epic proportions. the dynamic duo of kiara and sailor brings out girl power in full force before getting real about a certain golden group rule.

word count: 4.2k+

ship: jj maybank x oc (sailor flynn)

warnings: mentions of abuse/neglect/parental abandonment/anxiety, underage drinking, weed usage, more fluff, flirting, reference to absolute legend kobe bryant

a/n: hello again! thank you all for the great response to part one, i’m seriously blown away and so grateful for your support! <3 i’m happy y’all enjoyed reading about sailor’s adventures with the pogues! here’s part two, which had previously been combined with part one but i decided to split it because it was getting wayyyy too long (over 8k words, oops). also i’ve never even seen weed with my own two eyes before so my bad if that part’s not realistic, i did my best lol. unbetaed, so i apologize for any mistakes. enjoy!

gif credit goes to @toesure

~Masterlist~

part one | part three | part four | playlist

part two: treading water

The pogues spend the next few hours among the waves, surfing their hearts out until they’re waterlogged, exhausted, and hungry. As the sun starts to sink over the island they pile into John B’s beat up Volkswagen, all their boards tied together on the roof, and head to The Wreck, where Kiara’s dad begrudgingly feeds his daughter and her ‘delinquent’ friends.

That word seems pretty harsh at first but as the evening goes on and the group gets a little louder, it’s kind of well-deserved. Pope can’t seem to stop dropping his fork, sending the rest of them into hysterical laughter each time, and everyone knows when Taylor Swift comes on the radio, Sailor has an obligation to get up and dance. The fact that she knocks a chair over in her haste to show off her moves only makes them laugh harder. When they finally leave and head back to the Chateau for the night, she makes sure to put forty bucks on their table for the food and the twelve pack of beer Kiara swipes from behind the bar when Mr. Carrera isn’t looking.

While it may not look like much, John B’s house if home for more than just him. It’s a safe port for all the pogues when they get lost in the storm, a place where they can all be themselves, be real, without judgement, and it’s Sailor’s second favorite place on the island. She’s lost count of how many nights she’s spent here, sleeping in the spare room, on the pull-out couch, and the hammock in the yard (sleepovers have become even more common in the eight months since Big John’s disappearance at sea, no one willing to leave his son all alone in an empty house.).

The hammock is where she finds herself now on this warm June night, sitting beside JJ with his arm around her shoulders, clad in his sweatshirt that she unashamedly stole last year, passing a joint back and forth while the others lounge around the small bonfire, roasting the old marshmallows John B found in the very back of one of his kitchen’s cupboards and drinking beer. One of her long legs dangles over the edge, toes pushing against the cool grass as they lazily swing back and forth, watching Kiara burn her third marshmallow in a row.

“Kie, what did those poor things ever do to you?” Sailor asks, exhaling smoke through her nose before passing the joint to JJ, and the brush of his fingers against hers sends warmth through her whole body. Kiara just shoots her the bird in response as she stabs her fourth marshmallow and holds it over the fire. The redhead laughs and rests her head against JJ’s shoulder, her limbs light as air. In the distance, lightning arcs between the clouds and creates a dazzling show over the water as thunder rumbles but none of them care enough to notice.

Although she never outright asks to smoke, she also never refuses the chance to get high with her best friend and let their problems drift away with every hit, if only for a little while. Lines get a little blurry between them, too, as both become oh so affectionate with each other when their inhibitions disappear like the sun over the horizon. She sighs contentedly at the blissful feeling of his fingers running through her hair and burrows further into his side, turning so she can throw an arm over his waist and curl her own fingers into the soft material of his shirt.

“Damn it!” John B yells as his marshmallow, in the span of a few seconds, catches fire and unceremoniously falls into the flames with a hiss.

“Ha, I’m not the only one on the struggle bus!” Kiara laughs gleefully, delicately turning her fourth attempt to keep it from burning like the other three. “We can’t all be Pope, I guess.”

The other boy looks up at the mention of his name and grins, holding out a perfectly toasted marshmallow on the end of the stick in his hand. “It takes talent, Kie.” He jokes, chuckling as she sticks her tongue out at him.

Sailor can’t help laughing, too when the two of them dive headfirst into a heated discussion about the finer points of roasting things over a campfire, their voices becoming louder and louder as they try to talk over one another while John B, unfazed from his spot between them, just holds another marshmallow over the fire and ignores them completely as he takes a sip of his beer.

“Aaaand JB’s totally checked out of that particular conversation,” She says to JJ under her breath and she feels more than hears him laugh in response.

“Poor bastard,” He whispers back before taking one last hit of the joint, now burnt down to a nub in his hand, and flicking it into the fire with a shout of “Kobe!”

“Nice one, hotshot.” She shifts her head up on his shoulder as her eyes unabashedly trace his profile in the warm orange glow of the fire, from the golden hair falling haphazardly onto his forehead and down the straight slope of his nose to the curve of his lips before she’s caught -not that she was being subtle in any possible way-, his ocean blue gaze holding hers with an electrified energy that would’ve normally set her whole face aflame. She’s not Normal Sailor now though, she’s High Sailor and High Sailor has positively zero shame so she just looks up at him with a saccharine smile on her face and blesses the fact that weed makes her bold as hell.

The flickering flames throw JJ’s features into sharp relief and highlight the dimples that she loves as he returns her smile, the hand in her hair now twirling a single curl around his finger. His free hand settles on the strip of bare skin at her waist where her sweatshirt has ridden up and her heart beats a little faster when he starts drawing agonizingly slow circles with his thumb. Her hand releases its grip on his shirt and before she even realizes it, she’s reaching up and brushing a finger along her jaw, just like he’d done to her that afternoon on the beach, and she feels the fingers at her waist press against her skin.

It’s moments like these that make her wish she could freeze time and live in them forever. Just the two of them, looking at each other like they’re more than just friends, touching each other like they’re falling into something beautiful and all they need to do is stick the landing. The possibility of taking that final leap teases her. He’s so close, it wouldn’t take much to just reach up and make that minuscule distance between them disappear and from the way his eyes flick down to her mouth and back, she’s sure he’s thinking the same. They won’t though and for now that’s okay, but deep down she wonders just how long they can balance on the cliff’s edge before they both fall.

As much as she’d like to stare at his stupidly handsome face all night, the weather has other plans as lightning flashes white across the sky, immediately followed by a big crack of thunder that makes Sailor jump and accidentally headbutt JJ right in the forehead. The stick in Pope’s hand goes flying somewhere into the bushes when he startles, too, and there’s a pause as everyone looks at each other before bursting into wild laughter.

“Jesus, Sail,” JJ says, reaching up to rub at the spot she hit, “you have a hard head.”

Her reply of “speak for yourself!” is drowned out by another clap of thunder and seconds later it starts pouring rain, sending the group scrambling to head back inside the Chateau before they get too drenched. The duo, in their haste, get tangled together in the hammock and nearly fall to the ground in a heap but manage to hold each other up with their hands clasped tight, both laughing so hard she’s sure the water on their faces is more than just rain.

“The beer! Don’t forget the beer!” Someone yells and John B, halfway to the porch in front of them, does a smooth 180 on the wet grass and runs back for the booze sitting beside the dying fire, sending them a lazy salute when he passes by.

“We honor your sacrifice, Captain!” JJ calls over his shoulder before they clamber onto the porch alongside a giggling Kiara.

“Oh my God, you two almost bit it so hard.” She says while wringing out her shirt, adding to the steadily growing puddle of water at their feet.

“But we didn’t, all thanks to me and my impeccable balance.” He says proudly, grinning down at the girl still snug against his side before she lets go of his hand to slug him in the shoulder.

“Ow, what was that for?”

“Oh please, J, I was the one who kept you from falling on your face. Now, hold still.” Sailor orders and places her hand on his arm, using him for balance as she brushes the grass from her feet.

“Yes, ma’am.” His reply is low in her ear, his hand settles even lower on her back, and she pretends the shiver her body makes is just from the cool rain.

“You like being bossed around, Maybank?”

Her hand grips his strong shoulder a little bit tighter, and she feels his fingers tighten on her sweatshirt as he replies, “Depends on who’s doing the bossing, Flynn.”

Kiara coughs pointedly, staring at them with her eyebrows raised and Sailor feels her face begin to flush bright red because, to be honest, she’d kind of forgotten she was even there as they both let go of each other. The other girl snickers and drawls, “If you two are quite done-”

Thankfully, a thoroughly soaked John B joins them and interrupts whatever Kiara was going to say, his hair plastered to his face and dripping onto the soggy carton of beer protectively cradled in his arms.

“Mission accomplished.” He says with a satisfied smile, setting the drinks down on a chair before shaking his head like a dog and splattering rainwater on everyone, including Pope as he emerges from the house carrying a pile of towels. A few drops land on his cheek and he wrinkles his nose in disgust, wiping them away with his own towel hanging around his neck.

“I was just kidding about the beer.” He says, throwing one and smacking John B right in the face, then kindly passing out the rest. Sailor barely grabs the last one before Pope’s suddenly put in a headlock by the brunet boy, yelling something about mutiny and a captain “not standing for this” as they start to grapple back and forth. JJ pauses in the middle of drying his hair and instantly jumps into the fray after tossing his towel to the floor, the scuffle quickly turning into a three way wrestling match.

She and Kiara both glance at each other and roll their eyes before scooting by the melee and heading into the house, leaving the boys to do their thing. They quickly dry off and change into pajamas, hang their wet clothes up to dry in the bathroom, and then tiredly flop onto the bed in the spare room together.

“How long do you think it’ll take until Wrestlemania out there’s done?” Sailor asks, rolling onto her stomach and reaching to pull her phone and glasses out of her bag on the floor; under her newly acquired hat, the lightning whelk peeks through its towel and the sight of it makes her smile softly. Kiara snorts and sits up, crossing her legs and running her fingers through her damp hair. “Knowing those fools, too long.”

The redhead laughs and mirrors the other girl’s position before slipping her glasses on and glancing down at her phone in trepidation, where no new texts block the lock screen picture of her and the rest of the pogues, and she does her best to ignore the hurt coiling in her chest, the smile fading from her face. She places the phone screen down on the bedside table and when she raises her head, she’s not surprised to find Kiara, ever so perceptive, staring at her with sympathy in her soft brown eyes.

“You okay?” She asks and Sailor takes off her glasses, then pulls her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around them.

“Could be better.”

Lightning illuminates the room, followed by an impressive crack of thunder a few seconds later as rain continues to pound against the window and down the hall, they hear the door slam closed as the boys finally storm inside after their scuffle, still yelling like banshees. The other girl reaches over and quickly squeezes her wrist before shooting her a bright smile.

“If you ever need to vent, I’m all ears.”

She knows she means it. Aside from JJ, Kiara’s her closest friend and from the moment they met, the two had quickly bonded over being the only girls in the group and their love of the environment: she’s lost count of how many times they’ve volunteered, both themselves and the rest of the pogues, to help raise money for animals. Despite Kiara’s kook year, Sailor considers her a sister and knows that Kie feels the same about her. Having each other’s backs no matter what is just what they do.

The redhead looks away from watching the storm outside and matches Kiara’s smile, then scoots closer to wrap her arms around her in a grateful hug.

“Thanks, Kie.”

The dark haired girl eagerly returns the embrace. “Any-”

“Comin’ through, gotta get me some of this group hug action!” JJ yells, storming into the room like a hurricane and throwing his arms around them, all but tackling them onto the bed before they even realize what’s happening.

“No, no, you’re still wet!” Sailor cries as his head rests against the back of her neck, his damp hair slowly beginning to soak into her shirt while Kiara growls, “Oh my God, get off!”

“And miss out on this? No way.” He says cheekily and pulls them both closer, ignoring the dark haired girl’s venomous glare and attempts to pry his hand away from her arm. Sailor, resigned to her fate, just laughs and calls over his arm to John B and Pope as they curiously poke their heads in from the hall, “Get your asses in here!”

She doesn’t have to tell them twice. They throw themselves into the hug faster than she can blink and with such contagious enthusiasm that Kiara can’t fight the affectionate grin making its way onto her face, even as she threatens, “I’m gonna kill all of you.”

Sailor rests her cheek on JJ’s outstretched arm and smiles to herself. This, right here and now, is where she belongs, surrounded by the best friends she could ask for, living each moment to its fullest. No matter what comes their way, she knows this is true: as long as they all stand together, the pogues will be just fine.

Some time later, the hug comes to an end as JJ jokingly complains about Sailor’s big head making his arm numb, which earns him a swift elbow to the stomach from the redhead.

“Weak.” She replies, smirking at the little oof he makes before grabbing his arm and pulling them both up from the bed. “Now get out.”

“Please.” Kiara agrees and pushes John B out the door, followed by Pope. “This room is girls only.”

“Since when?” The latter asks, sidestepping to avoid JJ as he’s playfully shoved into the hall by Sailor, who replies, “Right now.”

“Why?”

“’Cause we said so!” Both girls say in unison before they slam the door shut and then lean their backs against it, giggling. On the other side, they hear Pope ask in a very amused voice, “I thought this was your house?”

John B sighs the deepest sigh they’ve ever heard before replying, “Yeah, I did, too.”

“Ten bucks they’re gonna talk shit about us.” JJ says and there’s a not so subtle bump against the door that gives away the fact that he’s got his ear pressed to it, trying to listen in on them; a fact that gets proven when Sailor smacks her hand on it and makes him stumble back with a yelp of surprise.

“Dream on!”

“You wish!”

She and Kiara call at the same time, then glance at each other and burst into another fit of giggles.

“Tough break, dude. You’ll feel better in the morning.” That was John B’s tactless way of saying he’s tired without actually saying it and seconds later they hear his footsteps disappear down the hall to his room as he makes his escape, followed faintly by the sound of his door swinging shut.

“You don’t talk about us at all, Sail? Seriously?” JJ asks and Sailor can almost feel the sheer force of Pope’s inevitable eye roll when he mumbles under his breath, “Oh my God.”

Kiara’s on the same wavelength as him because she rolls her eyes, too and all but yells, “If we say yes will you fucking leave?”

There’s a pause and then: a slightly miffed “...yes.” along with Pope trying and failing to disguise his laugh as a cough.

“Then yes, we do talk about you. Now go.”

“Okay, okay! Jeez.”

“Goodnight, boys!” Sailor calls in a singsong voice before hearing them retreat to the living room, arguing about who gets the sleeper sofa and who gets stuck with the regular couch. When she’s sure they’re gone she shakes her head fondly (she doesn’t see why they can’t just get over themselves and share the damn thing) and turns back to Kiara, who’s already in the middle of pulling the damp comforter from the bed, her face the picture of disgust.

“Ugh,” She shudders, tossing it to the floor and then wiping her hands on a discarded towel from earlier. “Don’t touch that.”

“No shit.”

The dark haired girl jokingly flips Sailor the bird and then joins her in lounging on the bed, watching the fan spin in circles above their heads while the storm outside continues to rage on. The silence is comforting, soothing, and goes on for so long that the redhead’s nearly sent off to dreamland by the sound of the rain before Kiara finally speaks, “Hey, Sail?”

She hums in response, slowly turning her head to face her and blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.” She replies with an impish grin, but it slips from her face when the other girl shoots her a flat, unamused glance.

“Ha ha. I’m being serious, okay?”

Well that wasn’t worrying at all. “Is something wrong?” Sailor asks, rolling onto her side to face her friend completely and propping her head on her arm, all traces of lethargy thrown out the window. Kiara does the same with an unreadable look in her eyes as she answers, “No, I’m just a little...okay, a lot curious about something, and I want you to be honest with me.”

“I mean, I kind of have to. You know I suck at lying.”

She frowns when Kiara doesn’t even react to her comment and instead starts to worry her bottom lip between her teeth. “It’s kind of a personal question, though.”

Oh, Jesus. She’s gonna ask about her dad, Sailor knows it, and that’s something she’s just not ready to talk about -she hasn’t even told JJ the whole story yet and she tells him (almost) everything- but before she can think of a semi-decent excuse, or run to the bathroom, or pretend to just pass the fuck out, Kiara blurts, “What’s the deal between you and JJ?”

Okay, that’s decidedly not what she expected to hear and it completely throws her for a loop, her brain blowing a fuse in epic fashion. A long stream of gibberish comes from her mouth as she tries and fails to articulate a response because holy hell she’s so not prepared for this; she’s a listener, not a talker! She’s the confidante not the confider, the asker not the answerer, and she can feel herself getting a little sweaty at just the thought of talking about her feelings, even with someone as close to her as Kiara. She almost wishes the other girl had asked about her dad.

To be honest she should’ve seen this coming, considering the looks Kiara’s been sending her recently and especially today, the ones that clearly meant that the dark haired girl’s seen what’s been happening and wants. that. tea. What Sailor doesn’t get though, is why she’s being so serious about it: she expects at least an overexaggerated wink or a teasing comment or two from her friend but she’s just waiting patiently, the slightest hint of mirth in her eyes.

Finally, the redhead manages to collect her panicked thoughts enough to squeak oh so eloquently, “Me-him-nothing!”

Kiara arches one eyebrow. “Sail, you really do suck at lying.”

Sailor flops back onto the bed and slides her hands down her furiously blushing face with a groan. “I’m not lying.” She mutters insistently but even she can admit it sounds weak as hell.

“It’s obvious there’s something-”

Something in her snaps and before she can stop them, words just start coming out with the force of a wave crashing against the shore, rough and callous. “It’s obvious there’s nothing going on, okay? Nothing. And even if there was -not that I’m saying there is- it can’t happen. That’s the golden rule, Kie.”

Kiara looks momentarily taken aback at the redhead’s outburst and then rolls onto her back, staring at the ceiling for a moment before she whispers quietly, like a secret she’s reluctant to share, “Maybe I think that rule is stupid.”

“Stupid?” Sailor glances over incredulously, the brief flash of anger aimed at her friend slowly morphing into confusion. “You’re the one who came up with it in the first place!”

“I know...” The dark haired girl sighs, tiredly running her hands through her hair, “I wanted to keep things from getting weird! It’s worked pretty well so far but I’m kind of, sort of, maybe starting to think it might not have been the best idea.”

“Why?” She asks, brow furrowing.

Kiara appears deep in thought as she keeps staring at the ceiling, working her jaw until she seems to come to a decision and turns her head to look Sailor in the eye. “Because I don’t think something as simple as a rule should be able to dictate who you can or can’t...love.”

Oh, God. Anxiety starts to take hold in her chest and she tries to keep her brain from going into five-alarm fire mode, her fingers tapping nervously against her leg. Why oh why did she have to say the L-word? Who said anything about that? Hell, it’s been a few months and she’s still getting used to her world-changing, panic-inducing, everything-clicking-into-place epiphany that made her realize that she does, in fact, like JJ as more than a friend (how and when her feelings changed, she hasn’t quite figured that out yet.). She’s not even close to thinking about love. Noticing her friend’s distress, Kiara reaches over to place her darker hand on the paler girl’s and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m not saying you love him, okay? But there’s obviously something good going on between you guys and I’m not cool with some dumb rule we made when we were twelve getting in the way of your happiness,” Her mouth curls into a lighthearted smirk, “even if it happens to be with someone as, uh, distinct as JJ.”

Despite herself, Sailor snorts a laugh and the tight feeling in her chest slowly starts to become a little more bearable as its replaced by a swell of gratitude that she has a person as wonderful as Kiara for a friend. She really did luck out in that department, she thinks, and the corner of her mouth lifts in a small smile.

“Distinct?”

“Hey, I was gonna say idiotic but I’m trying to be nice here.” The dark haired girl says, laughing as Sailor affectionately rolls her eyes before continuing, “But you do know that if he messes this up I’ll kick his ass, right?”

“Trust me, I do.”

“Good.” She punctuates that with a massive yawn, then rolls away from her and pulls the sheets higher over her chest, mumbling, “Now I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for bed. All this deep talk made me tired.”

“Big mood,” Sailor replies, reaching over and flicking off the bedside lamp, the only light now coming from the occasional flash of lightning through the windows as she rolls comfortably onto her side, tucking her arm under the pillow. Silence settles over them, dark and calm and stretching for who knows how long before she says quietly, “Thanks, Kie.”

There’s no answer. Realizing she must’ve already nodded off, the redhead’s just about to crash herself when her friend’s reply softly cuts through the silence like a knife.

“You’re not the only one I did it for.”

Kiara doesn’t say anything after that and Sailor falls asleep wondering what, or rather who, exactly the other girl meant.

let me know what you think!

taglist ❤ (i added everyone who’s comments and reblogs made me smile so let me know if you don’t want to be tagged!) : @jiaraendgame @obxlife @sunflowerbecca @maysbanks @obx-adventures @mortifiedposts @sexualparkour @coltonparayyko @heavensalreadyheres

#outer banks #jj maybank #obx netflix #outer banks netflix #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x oc #jj maybank fic #obx fic #outer banks fic #jj x oc #jj x reader #my fics #obx #outer banks fanfiction #jj maybank imagine

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mindingmyownbusiness · 6 years ago

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20 Seconds

Meet Cute Moment

So like I haven’t written anything new in like a thousand years but I’ve been feeling the itch so I randomly chose a prompt from a meet cute list aaaand here goes nothing!

Bucky x Reader (+bffs Wanda & Steve on the side lol)

You walk out of a dressing room asking if the outfit suits you, but it’s not your friend waiting outside the room like you thought

Dressing rooms are the absolute worst. You’d lost count of how many you’d broken down and cried in over the years. Heck, you wouldn’t even be in this one if Wanda wasn’t having an engagement party in a couple weeks and you were stuck with nothing decent to wear. “The things I do for my best friend,” you muttered under your breath as you shimmied into what had to be the tenth dress of the day only to realize you couldn’t even bring the fabric together far enough to pull the zipper up.

Your quiet scream of frustration as you flung the dress onto the growing pile of discarded clothing was met with laughter and a knock at the door. “It can’t be that bad sweetie.” You cracked the door to see Wanda’s cheeky grin and another armful of options.

“Wanna bet?” you sighed as you grabbed the next round out of her hands.

“I’ve got a good feeling about these!” She called out as you let the door swing shut. “And I actually wanna see some of them this time!”

Reluctantly you did as you were told and made an appearance with a few of the least offensive options. At least she didn’t try to talk you into any of them, one of the things you loved about your best friend was that she was honest (but not brutally so) and that she truly wanted the best for you. You shook your head at the latest fail, “This is pointless Wan, maybe we should just call it a day...”

“Absolutely NOT! We are getting closer I swear, just a few more? For me...?” You couldn’t help but smile at her ridiculous eye batting and over exaggerated pout.

“Alright, alright... you’re lucky I love you, you know that?”

“Yup! Now get in there and get naked, we haven’t got all day!” She turned you around and swatted your butt, ignoring your faux glare as you shut the dressing room door and resumed your seemingly endless battle.

Grabbing the next contender off its hanger you paused, instantly noticing a difference. The fabric was silky soft, practically caressing your hips as you pulled it up and slipped your arms through the straps effortlessly. Turning to look in the mirror your jaw literally dropped. Somehow this miracle dress accentuated the curves you loved while disguising the ones you loved less, the length was absolutely perfect, and the fabric draped over your chest just so as to make you feel sexy but also demure and not at all in danger of a wardrobe malfunction.

“Hey Wan? I think we might have a winner here,” you called out as you opened the dressing room door, distractedly tucking the tag out of sight to get a better idea of the full effect.

“I’d be inclined to agree with you, doll.” Said a voice that was definitely not your best friend. Nope, this voice was deep and smooth and the absolute opposite of how your perky redheaded bff sounded. Not to mention that this particular voice was coming out of the most gorgeous male specimen you had ever laid eyes on. “If you don’t mind me sayin’ so, the guy who gets to take you out in that is gonna be one lucky s.o.b.”

Your brain was screaming at you to be cool but in reality the best you could do was an undignified squeak as his smirk just seemed to get wider causing the heat from your cheeks to quickly spread down your neck and onto your chest.

“If only there was a lucky s.o.b. In her life, but there isn’t,” Wanda stage whispered conspiratorially in the mystery man’s direction as she appeared out of nowhere, taking your hand and giving you a twirl so she could examine you from all sides. Your chronic muteness persisted as Wanda let out a low whistle of approval, “Stop the presses, this is definitely THE one! See? I knew we shouldn’t give up.” She cupped your face affectionately and you couldn’t help but smile back at her. “Now, you might have the dress but Cinderella can’t go to the ball without shoes! I think I saw some that would be perfect with this. Be right back!” And before you could blink she was gone, leaving you alone again with bachelor number one.

Just as the awkward silence was on the verge of uncomfortable he spoke up. “So, ah.. if you don’t mind me asking, what’s the occasion?”

“Oh!” you squeaked, suddenly finding your voice. “I, um my friend just then, Wanda, best friend actually she-- well it’s her thing really. Engagement party, weekend after next. Wouldn’t miss it for the world but I-I couldn’t exactly show up dressed like the hermit I am on the regular so...” Your voice trailed off as you realized your awkward silence had just morphed into a rambling overshare. Clearing your throat your eyes darted around desperate to look at anything but him.

He stood slowly, stepping up behind you and catching your eye in the mirror. “I bet you could wear a potato sack and still be the loveliest gal in the joint.” His sweet smile and sincere words were sending a flurry of butterflies loose in your stomach. “Hard to believe someone pretty as you would be going out looking like such a dish all alone...”

“You know, she doesn’t have to since you just happen to be free that weekend,” a tall muscular blonde interjects as he steps out of the dressing room next to yours and slaps your mystery man on the back before turning to introduce himself. “Hi there, I’m Steve.”

“Seriously man?” the brunet muttered through clenched teeth as he shoved Steve’s arm away.

“What? Like you were going to be doing anything that weekend other than watching Netflix on the couch covered in Cheeto dust?” Steve winked at you with a telling grin then headed toward the front to pay for his purchases. “Don’t screw this up pal!” he called over his shoulder as he went.

“Ignore my idiot best friend. Sticks his nose into my business too often for his own good...” He was the one looking at the ground now, rubbing the back of his neck as he avoided your gaze.

“No worries, Wanda’s exactly the same way.” You quietly replied, nervously smoothing away nonexistent wrinkles in your skirt as that awkward silence from earlier returned. As it became more obvious that he wasn’t going to say anything else you reluctantly eased towards your dressing room. “Well I’m um.. I should probably go change...”

At the door you paused, you could almost hear Wanda’s voice in your head screaming at you to not let this one get away. Twenty seconds of insane courage, right? Taking a deep breath you turned, stopping just in front of where he sat with his head in his hands.

“You know, I really do hate going to these things alone...” His head snapped up, his brow adorably furrowed. “Better with two, yeah?” You smile shyly and twist your hands together nervously. He stands up slowly, carefully reaching out, taking your hands in his. You open your mouth with the intent to ask him to officially be your plus one when you suddenly realize what’s missing and you can’t help but erupt into a fit of giggles. “Here I am about to ask you out and I don’t even know your name!”

He chuckles right along with you. “Maybe we should get introductions out of the way then, yeah? I’m James, but my friends call me Bucky.” He raises your knuckles to his lips for a chaste kiss.

“Nice to meet you Bucky, my friends call me Y/N.” Aaaand my blush is back. Dammit.

“Y/N... a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Now he’s smirking again. I am in so much trouble.

“You are quite the charmer, Bucky.”

“Oh you haven’t seen the half of it, doll.”

Laughing you take a step back, “Okay.. so, I definitely have to change now. Be right back, don’t you go disappearing on me.”

He shakes his head, a mischievous smile on his lips. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

You manage to wait until the dress is back on the hanger before you break out into an impromptu victory dance in the dressing room. Practically vibrating with excitement, for the first time in ages you consider a future full of happy possibilities.

#bucky barnes x reader #Bucky x Reader #marvel fanfiction #sebstan #meet cute

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2k18leo · 6 years ago

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TMNT 2007 talk

Okie dokie since we’ve been on hiatus for a long long time, but I still want to talk turtles, I figured I’d talk about the TMNT 2007 film again. If you’ve been with my account for a while you may know what a huge fan I am of this particular movie (of course I love the other films and may talk about them at a later date, but this one just hits differently for me mainly because it’s what got me into the Ninja Turtles in the first place)

So, I have already briefly covered my take on the 2007 film as a whole. Aaaand, @my-sai-and-i _and_i wrote a post that goes in depth about the emotional scarring that the fight had on Leo and Raph. It’s a wonderful post and you should def check it out 👌🏼

I am currently watching the 2007 film (yet again (HA what is my count up to now? Can’t keep track. Lol moving on—)) and once again I am breathless at the climactic fight BATTLE that Leo and Raph have. Every single time I watch it, my love for the franchise grows even more. I think this may be because I’m actually such a fan of the TMNT trope that is the constant butting heads of the two oldest brothers (oof sorry not sorry 🤭). I’m also going to talk mainly about this fight scene because it’s literally the EXACT scene that I started watching when I was first introduced to tmnt. That is already talked about in another post, however 😂

Okaaay, let’s get into this thing. First off, the score for this chase scene is already making you very anxious for some sort of confrontation between the two boys. It gives you chills right off the back. Whenever Nightwatcher accidentally cornered himself I got to thinking what it would have been like if we had seen Leo and his trip out into the city instead of the diner scene with the 12th monster. Like, was he just out looking for Raph and heard police scanners saying there was an issue with the diner? Then he headed over to possibly help, but ran into the vigilante Nightwatcher. I can only assume he was already looking for Raph since Splinter right beforehand advised Leo that he needed to get off his high horse and work things out with Raph. Since April and Casey were in the lair, I’m sure Leo didn’t expect Raph to go back to their apartment. He probably went around to their old hangout places in the city (before Leo was sent to South America) but since he had been gone so long, maybe he figured his brothers didn’t hang out anymore since it wasn’t all four of them. Sure, Casey’s a great friend, but never a replacement for one of the turtles. Leo could have also gone back to the construction site that they had partly demolished with that first monster a couple nights prior. Raph did make a point in saying that they needed to find out who was responsible for the sudden burst of creatures in New York. Don’t get me wrong, learning where the 12th monster was when Raph fought it was important I guess? I mean, it made the stone generals stationed in the area, but still not THAT close to where Raph and Leo ended up (they ran quite a ways. A mile at least.)

Okay, back to the rooftop scene. The setting was beautiful and I just— *chef’s kiss* love it. The rain. The red glow of the Red Eye Club sign. Which, I’m just now thinking about this but if an English teacher was asking you what the red sign symbolized I do believe that that could be some sort of symbol/foreshadow that Raph will be the one who comes out victorious in the upcoming brawl. In case I’m not completely giving that a whole-ass stretch, I looked up the Red Eye Club to see if it was a real place but all I got were a bunch of pictures of marijuana so I’m gonna assume NOPE. It could be a minor detail or it could just be a coincidence 🤷🏽‍♀️ I mean the neon sign did not have to be red specifically. Lol don’t @ me 😂

Anyway, I love the way the rain falls on the metal of Raph’s armor. I can only imagine how much of a BITCH that rain was to animate.

Leo starting off with the good cop persona is very in touch with his character and I like. He’s still the “talk first, shoot later” wise character we LOVE, while Raph is so much the opposite (which we LOVE JUST AS MUCH (ugh sorry im gushing again)). I like how Raph stayed silent. He didn’t give his identity up. He didn’t try to stop Leo from starting a fight. He WANTED to fight Leo. And this was the perfect opportunity without Leo holding back by being aware of his own brother under the suit. It’s sort of like a Red Hood/Batman type scene. And, it’s hardly audible but, Leo then continues to try and calm down the vigilante by saying “The road you’re on is a dead-end. Believe me, I’ve tried it.” He has no idea who is behind the mask. For all he knows, he’s talking to a complete stranger, yet he is still trying to be the voice of reason. The Nightwatcher could be a deranged murderer for all he knows. He is only aware of what the News has been recently saying. You can tell he doesn’t know everything about this vigilante (which, side note but, this all seems a bit hypocritical if I’m honest. Up until Donnie and Mikey got jobs, all the turtles/Casey/possibly April did was vigilantism. I mean, does Leo think that the Nightwatcher is correlated with the monster sightings? Is that his main reason for being a vigilante to stop a vigilante??) ALSO when Leo said “…believe me, I’ve tried it” is that referencing his time in South America? I know he “got caught up in his own world” and “forgot about everyone else” but does that necessarily correlate with what he’s talking about? Did something really bad happen in South America that we didn’t see? Did he become like Hawkeye (cough* Ronin) in Endgame?

This also makes me wonder what would have happened if Donnie and Mikey had gone out to help Leo search for Raph. It could have been like a Teen Titans scene where Robin was posing as Red X and the rest of the titans unknowingly fought their ally because he was seemingly just another villain. If things played out that way, I’m not even sure that Raph would have put up much of a fight. He didn’t have any major beef with his younger brothers. The scene would have probably been way less emotional as well. Plus, Leo probs wouldn’t have been captured.

Whenever Raph first wields his weapons, signifying he’s ready to fight, Leo gives a very small smirk. He wants to fight as much as Raph does. But for different reasons. Raph knows his opponent and is angry with him— furious even. Leo… I think deep down he loves to fight. He knows he’s good at it. He knows he’s going to win. But it’s probably been a long time since he’s actually felt that great adrenaline rush of a fight (yes, I’m aware he was in the fight with the first monster but that’s not a one-on-one duel) Which is why when he says “Trust me when I tell you. You don’t want to do this” he says it in a way that he’s still trying to be the voice of reason… BUT it’s also very much a threat. He’s been wanting a proper fight for a while. There’s a certain thrill I’m sure he gets when he’s faced with someone who is probably an even match for him. Even with the threat he gives, he’s fully aware that his opponent will strike.

COCKY LEO.

I’m not going to even try to get into the subject as to why on earth Leo cannot recognize his own brother under the suit because @my-sai-and-i already explained that WAY better.

I mean, Leo is chuckling as the Nightwatcher does his second swing. It’s funny to him because he still knows he’s going to win this fight. There is no doubt in his mind that he will defeat this amateur clown in a costume. But this is the way, I’m absolutely positive, Leo acted as a teenager to common criminals on the streets. He’s always known how good he was at fighting, so I can bet money he was cocky growing up. And yeah, it’s way different than how he was fighting the raiders in the beginning of the film. Back in South America he acted all dark and silent, more than likely trying to keep up the persona of the Ghost of the Jungle. If he acted all cocky and obnoxious to the raiders, I’m sure word would get out, which might frighten the villagers even more. Being his sneaky stealthy self, he was less likely to scare the villagers, and probably able to keep up the thought that he was just a peaceful legend (kind of like Katara as the Painted Lady in Avatar (I’m referencing soooo many other things, but it makes sense to me 😂)) So, now that Leo’s back in the place where he grew up, of course, his old cocky tendencies would come back. It’s almost nostalgic for him.

Another thing. Leo is completely defensive for the majority of this fight. He hardly ever throws an actual blow. He jumps back out of the way when the Nightwatcher swings his chain at him again. Which is a completely smart move. Another reason to note that he KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING. He’s fought for about 20 years (we don’t actually know their ages in this movie (or do we ?) but I would guess around 18-20 ??) so he’s fully aware of the fact that one of the best fighting techniques is letting your opponent tire themselves out so you can then finish them off and become victorious. But Raph’s temper has always led him to go guns blazing. Shoot first, questions later.

Leo continues to mock the Nightwatcher because he knows he’s going to get a rouse out of him. He spent a good enough time sparring with Raph to figure out how to egg on that temper. A temper that would then make Raph angry and thoughtless, thus becoming rash with his fighting technique. Ultimately becoming careless and in total defeat. Again, don’t get me started on how Leo has NOT recognized his brother yet. Even after Leo has eluded yet another strike from the chains and the Nightwatcher turns around, Leo still gives a CHUCKLE to his face. He’s begging for that temper to be released. He’s ready for a real fight. And Raph’s more than ready to finally kick his big brother’s ass.

Raph absolutely takes on the offense with a full charge to Leo as he does three heavy swings. Leo eludes all three until coming back with a counter-attack on the third. Leo does a fair job of holding his defense until Raph throws a huge right hook to the side of Leo’s head. I mean, it’s enough to knock him back a few paces and shake it off. This is when his face really goes completely serious. He’s just been caught off guard. There’s something in him that’s telling him to quit the wise-guy act. I mean, it was a simple punch, something I’m sure he is mentally beating himself up for misreading. Yet, he doesn’t charge back. He stands his ground while Raph is still the offender.

Then Leo tries to continue to coach this dude by telling him how anger is destructive. This is probably something Splinter did as they were growing up. Also, Leo never once unsheathes his weapons on the Nightwatcher (yes, he ultimately does with Raph, but that’s later on. Hold tight, my dude). Even when the Nightwatcher drew out his chains, Leo didn’t react by drawing his own blades. I feel like being able to hold your own during hand-to-hand shows power/strength, while fighting with weapons shows skill. Which is another reason why I think Leo teased him at the beginning of the fight; he didn’t really expect this vigilante to have had any actual training with these weapons. He’s probably just some punk who thinks it’s cool. Another Casey Jones or Purple Dragon that could probably be knocked on his ass in 3 hits max.

Leo’s uppercut is powerful as hell. He shot Raph like 6 feet in the air. And that can’t be easy. I can’t imagine how much these boys weigh. They’ve got the mass of a typical bodybuilder + the weight of their shell + the weight of their weapons PLUS Raph’s entire armor. That’s heavy as hell.

Okay. The “Goodnight, Dark Prince” line. I don’t like it. It doesn’t seem to fit. When has this character ever been referred to as the Dark Prince? The only other thing Leo has referred to this vigilante is Nightwatchmen. Though, I get that it would be kinda redundant to say “Goodnight, Nightwatcher.”

That’s another thing. Leo never meant to kill this dude. Just knock him out to drop him off at the police station later. Leo doesn’t kill. I mean, the very beginning of the film where he had his one-on-one with the raider leader almost implied that he killed him. Because the shot changed as soon as Leo made contact with the guy and all you hear is a loud scream making a flock of birds fly away in fright. If he was dark enough to kill these types of men (because IF he killed him, that probably wasn’t the first guy he had killed) in South America, that’s most likely the “dark path” / “dead-end” that he was referring to earlier. But I guess being back in the city does make him revert back to his old tendencies (but it shouldn’t completely disregard whatever messed up shit he had done in South America. That stuff should still be carried with him). Not even Raph is low enough to kill criminals. In his first scene in the film all Raph does is knock out some burglars and chain them up for the cops to find later on. It makes me wonder what would it have been like if Raph had gone to South America instead of Leo, while Leo stayed in the city. Would Leo have taken on his role of his own Nightwatcher? In the 2012 series, we see him become some sort of vigilante but he’s got Karai and Shinigami with him. It doesn’t seem very in character for Leo to go solo like Raph did. Of course, Leo would still miss the fight, but I’m sure he’d wise up and get a job just like his younger brothers.

Okay, here we go. Here’s that brother angst we’ve been waiting for. When Leo first realizes who’s actually behind the mask, he’s not angry. He’s not mad. Not even disappointed. He’s really just shocked out of his mind. Complete disbelief. He just walks closer to Raph in hopes to talk to him. Perhaps apologize for fighting him just moments before, that he truly had no idea. But Raph doesn’t even turn to face his brother before doing a powerful back kick to Leo’s chest. Which, of course, takes Leo by surprise. Sure they had had a couple arguments since he’s been back but honestly that’s how Leo remembered things being with Raph. He remembered small quarrels. Nothing serious. They had always butted heads. Even though Splinter warned Leo that Raph had taken Leo’s absence pretty hard, he didn’t really know what that meant until now. He didn’t understand why his brother had so much pent up rage toward him.

And Raph is throwing all these words at Leo. Calling him out by saying that he believes the world revolves around him. That they couldn’t possibly survive without him. I’m sure these words sting a bit to Leo but that’s not what he’s focused on. He’s starting to register everything. THIS is why Raph has always had an issue with him. THIS is the reason for his younger brother’s constant attitude. And when Raph says that they got along just fine without Leo, for a split second, you can totally see the pain that causes Leo. Like, that shit hurted. But he raises his voice and retaliates by calling him out on his bullshit. He’s telling Raph how immature it is that he’s taken up this new persona (*cough* still a tad hypocritical since he did basically the same thing as Ghost of the Jungle) because it’s causing danger to their family. I mean, at least the villagers were never truly afraid of Ghost, but the citizens of New York are terrified at what the Nightwatcher is and his motives. It’s all they’re talking about on the News lately. Raph has been causing a panic without even realizing it because he’s been too blinded by his own good intentions.

But Raph doesn’t want to hear it. Leo hasn’t been around. He left. He wasn’t there when the turtles were just sitting by without a leader while criminals still ran amok. I mean, Raph has been angry at the thought “why does Leo get to go?” “What are we supposed to do now?” And with Donnie and Mikey being too passive to stop Raph, there really isn’t anyone around to keep Raph from straying from this road. How can Leo honestly expect things to go back to normal?? How can this big shot waltz back into our lives after he’s missed the last year and a half? And how the hell does he think he’s still the boss of me?

And now Leo is trying to explain to him that the reason for being gone so long was to better himself for Raph and the boys. It wasn’t up to him to go to South America and be gone for so long. He didn’t ask for it. Just like Raph never asked to be second best. He didn’t want someone to lead him. This is just how things turned out. Neither of them can help what they went through in the past. It’s just a recipe for disaster when one party is trying to be the best they can be for the other party and positively beats themselves up if they let the second party down. Aaand when the second party is completely resentful of the first party because they were chosen for the role the second party wanted. Leo can’t get over the fact that no matter what he does to better himself for Raph, Raph will still disregard it. And Raph can’t get over the thought of the living embodiment of perfection that is his older brother, so he’s angry with himself for not being as perfect and takes it out on Leo.

And Raph has become his own leader. He’s become a lone-wolf that doesn’t need a leader anymore. He has good intentions (even though they are not being followed through quite right) and Leo is just coming back and messing everything up. Things have changed and Leo needs to realize this. But Raph also needs to take into consideration that Leo is trying to realize this. He’s been trying to reconnect with his brother. But Raph has put up such a strong wall around everyone that he thinks talking isn’t going to help.

Leo telling Raph that he isn’t ready to become his own leader is a tiny bit selfish in my opinion? I mean, I agree, but still. Like Leo sees that Raph never went on a hardcore training period off in some jungle halfway across the world. So, he thinks, how CAN Raph be ready if he hasn’t done that? But that’s the thing. Leo and Raph have their own way of doing things. Leo, in multiple iterations, tries so hard to have his brothers be exactly like him. If he achieves something a certain way, he expects his brothers to reach their achievements by doing it the exact same way. But Raph is fully capable of reaching his achievements his own way (same with Donnie and Mikey). That’s something that Leo has had a difficult time wrapping his head around.

I also don’t feel like Leo outwardly staying that he’s better than Raph is true to his character. There’s no doubt in my mind that Leo believes that and has thought it on SEVERAL occasions. But with his “gotta be the bigger man” personality, it’s hard to believe he would stoop so low as to actually say it to Raph’s face.

Now Raph laughs at this. And I feel like most of it is a fake laugh, but there’s still a part of it that’s real because he’s finally ready to show Leo that he’s better than him. This is the real fight that RAPH has been waiting for. The perfect match. The leader and the lone wolf. The Ghost of the Jungle and the Nightwatcher. Leo and Raph.

Leo still tries to have him call off this fight. He’s confident in himself that he will win. Both parties are, in fact. They’ve both developed such different fighting styles since the time they’ve sparred together, that they’re basically strangers to each other now. They both know this isn’t going to end well. That things will be different after the dust (rain?) settles. Leo has a negative outlook on it. He doesn’t think that Raph will ever be happy towards him again. If anything, Raph will probably shun him. This defeat could push Raph over the edge. This could make Raph leave for real. He doesn’t want that. It pains him that he has to fight his little brother. But Raph? Raph has a positive outlook. He believes that after he defeats Leo, Leo will then see Raph’s true potential. He’ll be recognized as the best, no longer second-best. He finally gets to prove to Leo that things are different.

Leo visibly sighs and shakes his head knowing there’s no getting out of this fight. His stubborn little brother won’t back down. It wouldn’t be honorable for Leo to stand down and admit defeat. It also wouldn’t be honorable to disgrace Raph by completely disregarding that he’s his brother and just going for the kill. He’s at a complete crossroads here. So, ultimately, he draws his swords.

The shot of the two boys staring at each other from across the roof — I want that as a poster !! It’s so gorgeous. I’m just noticing this now but it’s split JUST down the middle in terms of color. It gives a very yin and yang type picture. Leo is on the side where the red neon sign is glowing bright, thus making him glow a faint red color. Raph, on the opposite end, is on the side where the shine of the moon is hitting down, making his armor almost glow a pale blue. Ugh so much symbolism I may cry. Right off the bat you can tell the differences in the two boys. Raph has been in his ready-stance for a while. He’s been waiting for this. Leo stands tall with blades in hand but not in an attack stance. There’s still that sliver of hope that Raph will back down. It’s still early enough to put this behind them, but that window is fading fast. As the rain beats down around them, Leo realizes that the window is closed. Nothing will stop this fight. It’s happening. There is no going back.

Per the theme this rainy evening, Raph is the first one to charge. He runs like the brute he has become, fists clenched around his sai so he’s ready to stab or punch. Leo charges in a very graceful samurai run. Also the music. The thundering drums that beat so deep and so fast. It’s such a powerful scene.

The shot of the tip of Leo’s blade grazing the water on the roof is STUNNING. Honestly, who thinks of these details because I hope they got a RAISE back in 2007 😂 it’s beautiful

I also love how they both jumped toward each other as their first move. This shows that they are now both on the offense. Something snapped inside Leo to make him change up his tactics a bit. Almost to throw off Raph, who has never been the best at a defensive position. His strong suit is in the offense.

Still the differences between their fighting styles after the jump. Leo did a beautiful forward shoulder roll, which is a proper technique of coming out of a forward jump. It keeps your momentum going into your next attack. Raph landed on his feet which, may not be ideal, but gave him a split-second advantage to be on the offense for the next attack. Leo then had to block with his sword. This fight goes FAST. I’m watching it so carefully and I’m sure there are things that I’m missing. I love how Leo does a roll over Raph’s shell, and up until now I figured he had made contact with his shell, but he actually didn’t because just as Leo started his roll, Raph ducked forward out of the way. Then Raph does a couple kicks towards Leo’s head, which cause water to sprinkle EVERYWHERE and it’s gorgeous. Raph is just going ham and not letting up on Leo as he’s still going for those strikes. (Lol I took a stage combat course over the summer so I know a little bit of the lingo (but good god I am no expert so please call me out if you know I’m using improper terms)) Watching this scene makes me want to do a move chart with a list of moves they are doing and in the order they’re doing it haha. Finally, Leo is able to squeeze in two strikes towards Raph, both of which he ducks and then blocks.

The camera angles are wonderful. Have I talked about that yet? I mean the shot of the two of them squaring off. The little shot of the two of them fighting between the E and the D in the neon sign. And even the upcoming shot from below when they’ve got their weapons locked together. So beautiful.

This scene also really shows the details of the Nightwatcher suit.

And when Leo is able to do an X cross block with his swords at the downward blow Raph is throwing with his sai, and the camera angles are just moving with the characters. UGH. Here you can see that Leo really is mad. The fury of the fight is showing through his eyes as he watches his brother with a predator-like stare. *frantically looks up synonyms for furious* and boy oh boy, Raph is just seething as he twirls his blades. This small segment of them circling each other (sort of like a Spaghetti western style) is a fighting trope that I really dig. Sais are actually a lot larger than I gave them credit for. Those sharp boys are HUGE.

The way they have their teeth bared as they circle each other reminds me so much of two very dominate male animals fighting. Like two lions fighting for the pride. When Leo finally comes to a stop his eyebrows furrow just a tad bit more, almost impatiently waiting for Raph to make another offending move. Or possibly giving thought as if the fight was coming to its end. And Raph’s pupils are crazy dilated as he charges yet again. It’s like a sickness that has infested his mind, this constant need to one-up his older brother. It’s making him crazy. And the heaviness of that armor is making Raph charge like a rhino or something. And the shot of Leo tightening his grip on his blade gives the implication that there may have been a split second where he believed Raph was ready to be done with the fight.

Their eye contact hardly ever breaks during this scene. Raph is wanting to see that split second of worry in his brother’s eyes. He’s wanting to see that hesitation.

Now Leo charges and he has taken full offense. He strikes at Raph many times, closing him into the wall under one of the two signs. He throws seven blows before doing a jumping spin kick to Raph’s abdomen. You can tell that blow sent Raph back a ways, maybe even farther if that wall wasn’t there to stop him. He probably has some form of whiplash. And even as he’s starting to lock eyes with his opponent again, Leo’s sword comes RIGHT BY HIS NECK. Leo literally got so close to making a fatal would for Raph. And no, Leo had no intention of killing Raph. He was probably aiming to give Raph a nasty slash on his cheek. Just a warning. Something that would remind Raph to stay in his place.

Now here it is. The locking of their weapons. The climax of the fight. Raph is enraged and is gritting his teeth so hard that he’s shaking. In the shot from below, you can see the absolute force that they are using to one-up the strength of the other as their muscles are just quivering. And Raph tries to make himself become larger to push Leo back. Leo gives a quick glance down to his weapon in fear that the thin blade will give out. Swords aren’t meant to withstand this kind of pressure.

And when they do break. b o i. The shock and pain that sweeps through Leo is heartbreaking. He just lost. Even before Raph throws the final blow. Leo’s swords are finished, just as he is. His swords. The weapons he’s most likely had since he became leader all those years ago. A literal extension of his body. Taken away from him in an unforgivable instant. And right as Leo is taking a glance back up to Raph, Raph is already coming up to powerfully kick him straight through the jaw. Through his kick, Raph is still in his jump twirling around to deliver the fatal blow to his brother’s head. The spear of his sai is centimeters away from Leo’s head as he falls back and hits the concrete behind him. As soon as his eyes open after being knocked back, he registers how close that blade was to piercing his skull. He’s been around long enough to recognize a deadly shot. You can tell his mind is racing in that fraction of a second as he sees the blade and looks back up to Raph to question why on earth he would throw such a potentially devastating blow. And just like that, Raph standing above with Leo pinned to the ground, he has won. He has defeated Leo. Even still, you can see their expressions change numerous times as they process what has just happened. Raph still bares his teeth in anger/triumph. He’s finally showing Leo what he thinks of his “place”. Finally showing him that he is a worthy opponent to Leo.

Again, Leo is in shock. All he’s thinking is “why” and “what” and many other synonyms for said terms. You can see his eyes flit between Raph’s own as he continuously tries to read what his brother is thinking. Then his brows furrow once more as it finally sinks in. Raph hated Leo for so long. Up until the point where he came close enough to kill him. It didn’t matter how much Leo trained to be better for Raph. Raph still hated him. Every fiber of his being. He’s confused and frightened still as to why. Just because they fought doesn’t mean there was any resolution. Leo is still left in the dark as to WHY his brother actually despises him.

Raph, still seething, is beginning to shake all the way up to his face. Then it hits him. What he’s done. His pupils widen as his eyebrows slowly shift up. That’s Leo. That’s his older brother. That’s his family. That’s who he’s got pinned down. Who he nearly sent a sharp blade through the skull. Who he nearly murdered. Leo is still staring up at him, I’m sure wondering how someone could be filled with so much hate. Maybe for a split second, if the Ghost of the Jungle actually did kill those raiders in South America, Leo saw himself in Raph. Perhaps that scared him. This could have been the path Leo was headed down if it wasn’t for April coming and pleading for Leo to return home. No one was able to help Raph. No one tried to stop him from going too far down this path. Was it because he had been absent? Was this all because he left? This is what Raph really thinks of Leo, huh?

I love how no words are spoken here, yet again. It’s brilliant what can be said without any actual words. There’s so much emotion between the boys after what just happened.

And here’s Raph again. Still processing. He tries to shake it away as if it’s just a bad thought or a nightmare. He’s in disbelief of his own actions. He then starts to shy away from Leo as if in apology but honestly what’s to be said after that that will make everything better? He also looks a little to the right of Leo, but we don’t get to see what he’s looking at. Up until this point, I’ve always just figured he was just looking away in thought, not on anything in particular. But now, I feel like he could possibly be looking at the rain falling on the concrete roof as if to help him figure out that this is reality. That he’s actually here in this moment. And so is Leo. OR, he could be looking at Leo’s broken swords, which is also bringing him back to reality. He destroyed a part of his brother. He could have done so much more destruction. He gets up ever so gently as if Leo is a paper doll that will break under his weight or a sudden shift of movement.

Leo still clutching onto his sword handles is probably subconscious instinct, like when something suddenly scares you and your muscles clench up and you hold tighter onto whatever. And here you can see that he’s actually showing that he’s in pain. His adrenaline is wearing off so the blows from just moments before are actually beginning to enflame his body. I’m sure there’s a part of him that’s scared of Raph now. Like there’s no more teasing or mocking. If he were to try it again, I’m sure he believes things could spiral out of control again. Something neither of them wanted anytime soon. His face is a little hard to read when he stands up, but mostly because he’s in pain and is showing that in his gestures and expression. Knowing Leo, he’s probably mentally asking so many questions. I’m sure he wants to talk. I’m sure he wants Raph to talk. But what on earth are either of them to say?

They’re exhausted from the fight. Leo is visibly heaving his body. Raph is still stunned as ever as his eyes are fixed on his brother who is SOMEHOW ALIVE ?? He shakes his head slightly as the thought creeps through his mind again. As the more devastating idea enters. He doesn’t even want to consider what the aftermath would have been like. What if it actually happened. What if Leo wasn’t standing right in front of him? What if he was still on the concrete ground, covered in rain pellets, immovable. Just… still. With a single sai protruding from his head. No. He messed up. How could things ever be the same again? How could he move on from this? How could he go home and face his family? His brothers? Splinter? He feels like such a little kid. A scared child who’s worried about the consequences of his actions. He would be disowned. He would be shunned. He would be hated. What was he to do? He glances down at his weapons, still in hand, and gives a tiny gasp. These were almost murder weapons. Of his own brother’s death. So, he runs. Any specific destination, probably not. He just needed to be away from Leo. He has no idea if he’ll ever see him again. Or his family. He just messed up way too horribly. How would anyone be able to forgive him? How could Leo even be facing him?

As he turns away to disappear into the night, Leo inaudibly tries to call him back. Even after all that, Leo’s still trying to reach out to him. He doesn’t want Raph to leave. This is something they NEED to discuss. He’s not mad or angry at his brother. He’s confused. He could see it in Raph’s eyes that Raph was guilty about what he almost did. I’m sure he doesn’t audibly call out to Raph because he’s partially too exhausted to do so. Plus, I’m sure there’s still a bit of fear right on the surface.

As Raph runs, he is most definitely ugly crying. But we can’t see that because of the pouring rain :’D so. And then Leo gets captured and yadayada. Wow. I think I may be FINALLY done talking about this 😂 I’m exhausted. If you read this much I’m honestly super proud of you and I appreciate you haha you’re amazing. If you have anything you want to talk about concerning the ninja turtles (preferably the 2007 film because it’s fresh on my mind, but I’m also down to talk about the other movies or the tv shows) don’t even hesitate to ask. I love talking about the turtles. We can debate certain topics, gush about OTPs, talk about issues we had with certain things. I love all that.

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tottwritesfanfic · 5 years ago

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Fanfic Authors Tag Game

Thankee for tagging @moramewhq

AO3 name(s): Tottwriter, [REDACTED] Fandoms: Haikyuu!!, Digimon (a little lapsed, but I still tinker with my WIPs!), sliiiightly BNHA, and I have a TUA wip which I will someday resume. I try not to venture into new fandoms but, you know...I fail. Number of fics: I have 56 posted works, but also, uh... a few which I haven’t gotten to posting yet.

1. Fic I spent the most time on:

Um. Oh jeez. I mean, I guess nothing has overtaken Hope’s Fire just yet, because that’s the monster. Hopefully nothing else will? XD

2. Fic I spent the least time on:

Well this is genuinely a toss-up, because I have a few which I wrote for 20 minute prompt game fills, and then hardly even bothered to edit before they were thrown up on Ao3 without a backward glance.

Annoyingly, some of them are among my most popular works.

3. Longest fic:

Hope’s Fire! As I said, it’s the monster, currently clocking in at ~144k. My longest completed fic is The Ocean’s Curse though, which is 62.4k!

4. Shortest fic:

Okay so my shortest fic is actually a bit of weird experimental stuff I wrote for Starbound, which you will note I did not list in the fandoms above, lol. It’s old and weird and 351 words long... I don’t think anyone wants to read it. You don’t want to read it.

5. Most hits:

Hope’s Fire! It’s not really surprising tbh, given how long ago I started it and how many chapters it has.

6. Most kudos:

Hope’s Fire wins this one too! I bet you’re all really shocked to learn this.

7. Most comment threads:

...imma give you lot one guess.

8. Favorite fic I wrote:

fuck. Er. I dunno? I mean I write because I like writing them, you know? But honestly if I have to narrow it down... Parallel for the ‘serious’ fics, and either Press Play or (Not) Moving On for my more lighthearted stuff. It’s hard to pick when I swing between such tone extremes!

9. Fic you want to re-write:

I mean this is probably gonna sound really dumb but...kinda also Hope’s Fire??

Hear me out tho, because it’s complicated (and also I sorta already am). This fic started in 2015. I love it wholeheartedly, and I keep coming back to tinker and I wish life would stop throwing so much shit in my way and let me devote a bit more time to fic-writing so I continue it properly.

But the periodic and spaced-out returns have meant that every time I knuckle down I end up re-reading the whole fic for continuity and tone reasons. You can probably see where this is going. Each time I read my old opening I cringe. It’s just not up to the standards of my writing today and it bugs me.

If I’m being brutally honest, part of the reason I haven’t updated it in so long is that I keep getting distracted going back and tweaking/fixing old chapters rather than focusing on new ones. It’s a bad habit but one I just can’t seem to kick.

10. Share bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on:

You know, I’m actually gonna give two. I’ll drop them below a cut because this got long, but I know I have both Digimon and HQ peeps here and it’s sucky to be in the fandom that doesn’t get the love. I can’t promise when I’ll manage to get either of these posted (I’m trying to avoid adding more works to my Ao3 until they’re actually, you know, finished) but...they exist!

First up, we have Fun and Games at the Adventure Cafe

Yes, this is exactly what you think it is:

The notice on the door said “HELP WANTED” in large, sensible font.

The addendum “Enquire Within” sat below it, equally formal.

Scribbled underneath in scruffy handwriting was just one more addition:

‘as in we’re hiring. dw we know what we’re doing.’

The notice on the door the following morning was back to plain old:

HELP WANTED Enquire Within

…It lasted half a day or so, at least.

As Sora remarked later, it was a wonder they got any applicants at all. Then again, as Taichi remarked, it wasn’t as though a lot of places were taking on extra staff—which was something of an oddity as the summer approached.

“It’s that swanky place round the corner,” he said with disgust, peering out of the window. “Bastards are driving everyone out of business.”

“But not you guys, right!” piped up their current interviewee. “You’re doing great! Honestly, as soon as I saw the sign I knew I had to apply. I’ve always wanted to start my own ramen business, and I figure I ought to start out with a popular place like this and get some real experience in the industry, you know?”

“Er, yes. Right,” Sora remarked, looking over his application. “Well, Daisuke, I will have to warn you that as a new hire you’d be working front-of-house rather in the kitchen, but if you’re okay with that—”

“Eh, just tell him he’s hired already,” Taichi replied, turning back to face them with a grin. “Yamato could definitely use a hand in the kitchen sometimes, so taking on a future all-rounder makes total sense.”

From the look Sora shot him, it perhaps didn’t, but Daisuke was already practically leaping to his feet with a grin, exclaiming that they could totally rely on him, and he absolutely would not let them down and could start the next day if they needed him to.

Next up, for my HQ peeps, here’s a little snippet from Connection Problems, my longtime langushing halfway chatfic. I’m not sharing the chatfic stuff because formatting tumblr is hell, though.

Kenma always suspected that being a third year would turn out to be a pain, but he’d rather hoped his fears wouldn’t be realised within the first few weeks of the school year. Really, it’s bad enough that Kuro, Yaku and Kai have left, and that everyone else nominated him for the role of Captain (he’d talked them down to being Vice Captain instead, but that, apparently, was as low as they were prepared to go). He does not need Taketora constantly pestering him about—of all things—a chat group as well.

“Come on, I thought you and Kuroo were like, joined at the hip or something! Don’t try and act like you don’t miss him now he’s at university.”

He shrugs. “I have a phone. We’re keeping in touch.” Because, really. That’s all that matters, isn’t it? Why does everyone have to complicate things so much?

“Yeah, but, it’s not the same, right? Besides, what the hell! You spend all that time on your phone as it is. And even Fukunaga joined, right?”

Kenma glances over at Shouhei, who nods, grinning sheepishly. Drat.

“Still, I don’t have that chat app you all use,” he says. “It’s too much trouble setting it up, when I can message Kuro just fine.”

That should have been the end of it. Any rational person would have seen that it was no good, and left him in peace. Kuro would have, certainly. Not pushing—never pushing, actually. Just nudging him along a little, and even then, only when it comes to volleyball. He’s learnt all of Kenma’s limits over the years.

But the thing is, Kuro isn’t there any more. It’s just himself, Taketora and Shouhei, and okay, Shouhei never pushes—he hardly ever says anything, for that matter. But Taketora is clearly some sort of demon and he, Kenma, is being punished. Maybe he really pissed someone off in a previous life. Maybe this is a penance so he can piss someone off in his next life with a free pass. Either way, the badgering doesn’t let up.

Kenma holds out until the 27th of May. Seven weeks of hassling is more than enough for anyone.

Aaaand for tagging how about: @ahiddenpath, @humandisasterbuckybarnes, @mooifyourecows

#tag memes #fanfiction stuff #Hope's Fire #once again the author gets waaay too carried away #also if you wanna know my other ao3 you should probably DM me and also be over 18 #because *coughs*

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