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cheerfulmelancholies · 1 year ago

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Mysterious New Member-Chapter 1

Summary: After a set of unusual circumstances, the BF5 find themselves with a new member. Although they're glad for the extra manpower during the war, there's still something off about their new teammate. Vert can't quite put his finger on it, but he knows there are secrets to be found. There's little time to figure it out, however, as tensions rise between the BF5 and the Reds. All they can do is hope their newest member doesn't have something to do with it.

Or: The BF5 fic I wrote when I was younger, stopped working on, remembered again years later and decided to revamp. Also on AO3 and FFN.

Writing below the cut so I don't clog anyone's feed.

"Zoom! Head for the Key. Agura and I will cover you," Vert ordered over the radio. The scout gave an affirmative and shot off to the right; Agura pulled up alongside the Saber and stayed level as they rumbled towards a group of Vandals, kicking up desert dust.

"Oh, no you don't," Agura said as one of them swerved to chase after Zoom. She slammed on the brakes and launched a grapple at him, dragging him to her front tire before batting him away like a pest. She turned in time to see Vert send his car into a spin, blades out, knocking away several Vandals. She charged at the remaining group, ramming two aside before launching into the air to pounce on the last one, engine roaring. The poor thing barely knew what hit him.

"That takes care of that," Vert said, adrenaline still coursing. "How're you guys holding up?"

"Everything's good over here," Spinner said, giving his younger brother a high five after they took out Krocomodo. "How about you, AJ? Did that cat give you trouble?"

A groaning Kalus lay in a heap beneath his chariot. AJ rumbled past him to join up with the Buster. "Nope. Not a scratch."

"And I've got the Key," Zoom added, popping a wheelie on his way back to Vert and Agura.

"Alright, team, meet up at the Earth portal so we can head out of here." He waited until the scout was nearly caught up to put the pedal down, and the three of them rode back into the canyon.

The Zone had an unusual layout; large, open spaces the size of a football field before winding, narrow canyons. A bit like massive crop circles, to put it in Sherman's words. They'd gotten a reading on the Key pretty early on but had to split up due to not knowing which path was correct. It took some trial and error, and numerous run-ins with the Vandals, but nothing they couldn't handle.

Vert rode through the portal first, followed by Zoom, Agura, Sherman and Spinner, and AJ. When they were all out the scout grabbed the Key, tossed it and slapped it on the front of his bike.

"Good job today, guys," Vert said, taking his first calming breath in a while. "Now let's head on home so we can–Huh!"

In the distance, a black car was racing away. A cloud of dust was left in its wake.

"Who is that?" Agura asked, already scoping them out. "Do you think they saw us?"

"Whoever they are, they're sure in a hurry," AJ said, feeling uneasy. "Should we, like, go after them or something?"

"Maybe they didn't see us," Spinner offered. "They could've just been out driving. It wasn't like they were right here."

"I can go check it out, if you want, Vert." Zoom had his hand on the throttle, ready to go.

Vert thought about it. "No," he said finally, trying not to sound worried. "Spinner's right. If they were closer I'd say yeah but… they were already pretty far. The Salt Flats are perfect for racing. It's probably nothing."

"If you say so," said Agura, still on edge.

"It didn't take us that long to exit the portal," Sherman reasoned. "It's really unlikely they saw anything. And even if something does come up, like a video, we can always just deny it and say it was special effects for a movie."

"C'mon, guys, let's get back to base." He didn't want to stay out here any longer than necessary. Sure, it probably was nothing, and more than likely his nerves, but that didn't make him feel any better.

They went about their usual business upon returning, each of them branching off to spend the rest of the evening relaxing. The next morning was nothing out of the ordinary either, though it did see Spinner get into an argument with Tezz about having 'borrowed' one of his gaming devices for an experiment. All in all, nothing noteworthy.

Vert strode through the Hub and found Sage sorting through files by the Mobi. He walked over to her. "Morning," he said, getting her attention. "Everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine," she said after a brief hesitation.

Vert recognized the pause all too well. "You seem worried." Ever since the whole Mobi 3.0 ordeal, she'd been getting far more expressive. At this rate, she'd be easier to read than Stanford.

Sage took a second to process how she wanted to respond. "There is something that's been… confusing me," she admitted. Embarrassment wasn't something she had personal experience with but she knew the feeling when it arose.

"What could possibly confuse you?" he asked, worry gnawing its way to the surface. Was it something to do with Krytus? The Sark? Was the planet in danger from some sort of catastrophe?

"It is nothing of life-threatening concern," the Sentient said, seeming to read his mind. "It is just some abnormal readings I've been getting."

"From what?"

She pulled up several screens showing charts and graphs, and divided them. "These readings are from the Storm Shocks," she said, pointing to the graphs on the right side. "The initial burst of energy from the portal opening combined with the electromagnetic waves they generate upon interacting with the planet's own electromagnetic field. All perfectly normal."

"And the weird ones?" he questioned, eying the other screens. The activity there was much lower, hardly a blip compared to the massive impact the Storm Shocks had.

"These are not from Storm Shocks. At least, not from the kind we need to worry about." At his bewildered look, she added, "Sometimes a portal does not open fully and only a mere spark is produced, so to speak. It is quite normal, however, it should not be so frequent. What I'm picking up could merely be residual energy, but it is unlikely. The locations are inconsistent with those of the Storm Shocks and it is appearing at different frequencies. It is most perplexing."

"Sounds like it's worth checking out. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"You can see if you find anything at the locations of the anomalies. Perhaps Sherman and Tezz could be of assistance."

"Got it. We'll head out right now."

"I will send the coordinates of the most recent one to your cars," she said to his retreating form.

A few minutes later saw the Buster, Splitwire and Saber roaring into the desert. Tezz took the lead, his need for answers kicking in, while Vert and the Cortez brothers flanked him.

"Hey, Vert," Sherman said when they were halfway there. "Take a good look at where that most recent anomaly was."

He glanced at the map, not getting it until he zoomed out a bit. "That's where that car was," he said in shock.

"What car?" Tezz questioned, curious as to how an ordinary vehicle could cause such a reading. It wasn't high-powered like theirs, it wasn't even close to the level he was sure his project car had managed. But it was there nonetheless, and that should've been impossible.

"Oh man," Spinner said, "that means that guy does know something."

"We don't know that, bro."

"Why else would his car be leaving such weird readings?"

Vert cut in before Spinner could draw anymore conclusions. "Relax, Spin. That's what we're going to find out." To Tezz, he explained, "Yesterday when we exited the portal there was a car racing away from us. It was too far to say he was waiting but after what Sage said about those readings…"

"You think they might be involved somehow," he finished.

"Exactly. We can't let people find out about this. It's too dangerous and could cause some serious problems." He eased off the gas as they approached the area. They slowed to a stop and he got out. "Nothing out of the ordinary so far. Sherm?"

"Aside from the odd readings Sage picked up, nothing's wrong here."

"He is right. There's no trace anyone was here." With nothing but miles of rocks and sand, it wasn't worth getting out and looking either. Tezz typed on his console, trying to track where the mystery driver may have went, but the trail fizzled out after several hundred feet. There were a few nearby towns some miles away and a near day had passed; they could be anywhere by now.

Vert took in the surrounding area and hummed. Radioing in to base, he said, "Agura? We could use your hunting skills out here."

"On my way," came the response.

"What are we gonna do?" Spinner wasn't one to question Vert's leadership, but he couldn't see the point in this.

"We're gonna trace their tracks as far as we can and hopefully get some answers." He hopped back into his car to wait. "If anyone can track this guy, it's Agura."

Ten minutes later the Tangler skidded to a stop beside them and Agura stepped out. "What have we got?"

"So far, nothing," said Sherman. "The residual energy they left behind stops about seven hundred feet West. After that, they might as well have vanished."

"There's no tire tracks left either," Spinner added.

She scoffed. "I don't need something as easy as tire tracks. If there was a car passing through here, I can find it, even if it sprouted wings and flew."

"And that's why I called you. Lead the way."

They drove to where the energy trail died and let Agura do her thing. She inspected the ground and took a quick reading on the wind. "They went further West," she said. She brought her binoculars up. "Actually, I'd say about half a mile down, they turned Southwest. It's out of the way of Handler's Corners, but there is another town out that way. That's gotta be where they're staying."

"I don't know how you do it," Vert said. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of watching her work. She never ceased to amaze him. "Alright, team, let's go do a little reconnaissance."

"You want to go to the town? Isn't that taking a risk? I thought you said they might be involved." Scientific interests aside, even he knew not to risk exposing the BF5. Even if he was dying to know what was causing these anomalies.

"We're not gonna go into the town. Let's just see if we can pick up any readings. If we don't find anything by the time we reach the outskirts, we'll turn back." They drove off full-throttle, Vert in the lead.

Sometime into their journey, Sage called in to check on them. "Have you found anything, Vert?"

"We know the anomalies are being caused by a person. We're trying to see if we pick up anymore readings from a nearby town. We think that's where they're at. I'll let you know if we find anything else."

"Understood," she said before disappearing.

"I don't have anything so far, Vert," Sherman said in preparation of the sure-to-come status report. "Actually, my scans haven't picked up anything since we left that last one."

"I do not have anything unusual either," Tezz supplied. "We're getting close to that town as well. Perhaps we should turn back?"

Agura hummed in agreement. "Yeah, Vert. Knowing this guy's out here doesn't really help us that much. It isn't like we can follow him into town. If there's nothing else out here we really should head back. What if a Storm Shock opens?"

"You're right. We'll have to try something else. BF5, head back to base." They spun around and raced back to Handler's Corner's.

Sage met them as soon as they arrived. "I have found a pattern in these anomalies," she said, drifting over to the gathered Battle Force. "It seems they occur most commonly at night. Whoever is causing this is being very careful not to be observed."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to catch them in the act," said Vert. "We'll have to set up a stakeout. We're gonna find out what's going on here no matter what."

Chapter 2: here

#my writing #fanfic #hot wheels battle force 5 #bf5 #writers on tumblr #creative writing #mysterious new member

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unintentionalgenius · 2 years ago

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One line, any fic

rules: pick ten of your fics, scroll to somewhere midpoint, pick a line chunk and share it, and then tag ten people.

Tagged by @kitkatpancakestack (ily). All of these are on AO3.

Mah tovu ohalecha, Ya'akov (9-1-1, Gen)

“You’ve got to be really assertive,” she giggles. One hand to her yarmulke, she tosses back the last of her wine and crumples a napkin into the cup. “Otherwise, they’ll race right past you.” Like she’s confiding a secret, she whispers, “They all get the extras, so sometimes they’ll try to make sure there’s lots of extra.”

my lost was saying found (Teen Wolf, Peter/fem!Stiles)

He starts to flip through, looking for the right section; it’s not like ancient bestiaries have tables of contents. He only makes it through a few entries before he’s distracted by Stiles, her torso still angled towards him from her chair. She hasn’t gone back to her book, and he wonders why, and he’d also spend the night naked and human in the Preserve before he’d let on that he’s noticed. He can’t see her face from this angle, and if he shifts to see her, it’ll be obvious.

Put Away Childish Things (Teen Wolf, Peter/fem!Stiles)

And then, he must have let his attention lapse from her for too long, because Stiles starts tossing popcorn and trying to catch it in her mouth and missing. She’s just an absolute tragedy, hasn't caught a single one, and he watches this go on for entire scenes - it’s much more interesting than the movie itself.

He’s paying plenty of attention - he’s transfixed - but he still doesn’t manage to dodge when she overshoots by a mile and a piece hits him square in the face. She jerks, slightly, like she’s remembering that he’s here, even though she’s been dodging around him the whole time, chasing after pieces of popcorn.

They're not cuddling, exactly, but Stiles is - will smell like Peter, when she leaves.

A Twisted Thing Cannot Be Made Straight (Teen Wolf, Peter/fem!Stiles)

“You don’t suppose it has anything to do with the guy we’ve got in the basement, do you?” Cora asked, acerbic and rhetorical. The betas had, apparently, more or less recovered from the compulsion in Peter’s call.

Peter gave her a sharp look for her flippancy, but the lines around his mouth tightened and he was forced to concede, “We don’t know that for certain. But I am very skeptical of coincidences,” he finished, with a significant look at Stiles.

the bane of honor, the death of duty (Game of Thrones, Jaime/Brienne)

He parries, “You do not usually think so highly of yourself, that the machinations of queens and kingdoms are aimed to hurt your feelings in particular.” She does not flinch; it was no true blow, he put no strength behind it. He cringes, though, and sighs. “I - I would not trouble you for anything less than this,” he says, with an aborted gesture around them, at everything they both know is outside these walls.

so throw away your baggage and go forward (9-1-1, Eddie Diaz/Evan Buckley)

Eddie can’t keep looking away; there’s nothing left to distract him.

So he has to look at Buck, standing there so sure, cracking open his ribcage for Eddie to see inside like it’s no big deal. It makes him want to offer up something in return. He’s got longer friendships, sure, high school football and Army buddies and cousins who don’t really count, but he can honestly say: “You’re my best friend.” He should’ve told him long before now, because Buck’s face just lights up, and Eddie’s a little embarrassed to admit it makes his throat feel tight, all of the sudden.

Come then, and be broken (9-1-1, Eddie Diaz/Evan Buckley)

“Oxy,” Eddie replied, reading the bottle. He shook a pill out into the cap and then set the bottle back down on the counter. From the dish rack, he grabbed a glass and filled it one-handed with water. “Just so you know,” he said on his way out of the kitchen, nodding towards the pill bottle, “I’m only leaving that uncapped because you’re here to watch it and the boys are outside.”

“Eddie, I’m not really worried about you being cavalier with controlled substances,” Hen said, but picked up the bottle anyway.

Kon alegria i plazer (9-1-1, Gen)

As he awaits Chris’s return, his phone vibrates in his hand. He unlocks it and opens the message that just arrived, a photo from Sophia, his favorite new amateur genealogist. In it, she and her boyfriend are lit only by a pool of warm yellow light, eight candles glowing brightly enough to illuminate both their faces fully. They look happy. Sophia, in particular, looks like something finally just - fits. Eddie feels a brief, agonizing pang of jealousy before Christopher clambers back into the chair beside him, an entire tube of aluminum foil in hand.

Litost (Supernatural, Gen)

She can watch other things, too. They never force her, but sometimes, if she’s not paying attention, the static click of the TV sounds behind her, followed immediately by the sound of voices, of a fist fight, of a negotiation. She turns it off as soon as she realizes. Over time, she catches names, bits of detail, key words she might cling to if she desperately needed something, anything new. Anything from outside. Names like Winchester, Michael, Lucifer. Places - Heaven, Hell, South Dakota. Angel blades and holy oil and demons and fire and brimstone and falling.

Bless These Wicked Hands (Sons of Anarchy, Chibs/Tara)

The flare of the cigarette falling from the sky startled her; she watched as steady fingers lit another, though she knew anyone up there had to be three sheets to the wind, that late at night. In the flare of the flick of the lighter, she recognized Chibs. She watched him smoke, sat on the picnic table for half a cigarette, living vicariously through him. Each inhale lit his face, dimly, washing it orange; the moments he toyed with the lighter in his hands did the rest.

I'm tagging @ongreenergrasses, @ragequilt, and frankly if we're mutuals and you write fic and I don't know it, you should consider yourself tagged too.

#ao3 #my fic #writing #i love the variety of fandoms on display here #also even though I have read SO much more derek/stiles #I somehow have only written peter/stiles

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softquietsteadylove · 2 years ago

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So, I live for chaos. I had this idea where Jack has some sort of competition in a school activity of his, whether it be soccer, football, or whatever, and of course there’s that one parent that thinks their kid is better than everyone else’s and isn’t very nice when talking about the other kids *cough cough* Karen. This person then starts to talk about Jack and Thena nearly goes apeshit on their ass while Gil defends her actions with “Well, they deserved it” and Phastos scolds Thena for it (even though he kind of wanted to do the same thing but he wants to set a good example for his kid) and she just doesn’t care. Can you maybe write it please?

Also, I absolutely LOVE your work! The way you write Thena and Gil is some of the best writing I’ve seen! That’s not even an exaggeration.

"What is the purpose of this activity?"

"To get the ball into the other team's net."

Thena's head moved like a sprinkler head, smooth and steady as she tracked the ball across the field and back again. "They're not very good at it."

"They're kids," Gil chuckled beside her, also watching the game's progress. "They're not going to be good at it for a while."

Despite the criticism, Thena watched intently as Jack took the ball, running as fast as little feet could take him. She inhaled, holding it as he kicked towards the goal.

It missed by a mile and a half.

"That's okay, Jack!" Phastos shouted from beside her, clapping for his son and waving. "It's okay, son!"

"Good effort!" Ben cheered from next to his husband.

Thena didn't offer any vocal support. But when Jack looked over at them she gave him a singular nod of approval. He didn't answer his fathers at all but he returned the hilariously serious gesture. It seemed to motivate him.

"Jack Stoss needs to learn to aim."

"Easy," Gil grabbed Thena's arm, already feeling her ready to turn around and something not very guardians-of-Earth-ly to the woman behind them.

"You heard what she said," she argued, but Gilgamesh held her, firm but not hard. He released her arm only when his had wrapped around her waist securely.

"I know," he whispered. He knew Phastos had heard her, even if Ben's human ears might not have. "But she's just...being petty."

"Y'know he has missed four practices this season?--Aiden hasn't missed a single one."

Thena bristled, still listening to the woman criticise her nephew. "If she wishes to see a demonstration of pettiness, I am happy to provide it."

"Yes, Jack, kick it!" Phastos shouted, holding up his fists hopefully as Jack came around to their end again.

It missed by less, this time.

"He's going to be the reason they lose."

Gil was quick, clasping Thena's hands entirely between his, squeezing them shut to hide the golden glow of Cosmic Energy. He kissed her cheek, nestling her closer to him as an excuse, "we swore--no harm comes to any human by our own hand."

"They should put him on the bench."

Thena pursed her lips, although she did let her Energy recede. "Are we sure she's human?"

"Hey, I don't like her either." Thena raised her brows as her brother nudged her. She was under the impression he was playing ignorant to the piercing voice behind them, but it seemed she had been mistaken in that. "But Karen is in charge of snacks every other week. If we piss her off, she'll 'forget how many to bring' again."

The woman would let the other children starve to ensure the success of her own?

Gil read the expression well and shook his head. "Try to ignore her."

"Aiden, make that goal!"

Thena squinted, feeling the woman's breath rustling her hair from behind as she leaned over to scream with all her might. She glanced at Gil, "I do not see how that will be at all possible."

"Go, Jack!" Ben shouted, ignorant - maybe wilfully so - to his husband and his siblings and their quarrels.

"Let's go, buddy!" Gil shouted, raising one hand to project his voice while the other stayed firmly around Thena's waist to anchor her to him.

"That's it!" Phastos clenched his fists again.

It got in. It got in!

"That's my boy!" Phastos jumped, wrapping one arm around Ben while the other waved to their son.

Thena blinked as Jack looked at her. She smiled, offering a wave. It wasn't the screaming cheers of his parents, but he beamed, sending her a thumbs up.

"At least he did something this season."

Thena raised her brows. She'd had enough. It took a little precision, but she was still the Warrior Eternal; they all sat once the excitement had died down, waiting for the handshake to finish before they took the kids home. Thena slipped her hand behind her, pressing her palm to the underside of the next level up.

She only needed a finite amount of Energy to summon her smallest weapon.

"Ow!"

Gil and Phastos both turned around as the woman yelped, falling onto her seat in response. She pulled her shoe off, looking to see what was the cause of her pain but found nothing.

Thena remained facing ahead, waving as Jack trotted away from centre field. She felt Gil's hand tap her shoulder but she shrugged, the absolute picture of innocence.

#You're very sweet anon #I hope this is something like what you had in mind #I really did like the interaction between Jack and Thena #and wish we'd gotten more of them #in the film or otherwise #also I know they're tossing a football in the movie #but I don't know how that game works #so #soccer it is

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thebloggerbloggerfun · 7 years ago

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Hello! I have an idea for the ficlet (feel better btw!). Okay: HS AU with popular!Dean and popular!Cas, they're those two annoying guys who make funny (but also obnoxious) comments in every single class, and make stupid, flirtatious remarks to each other like "Cas looks pretty hot today guys" or "I'm totally dating Dean, everyone" etc. Only thing is, they're secretly in love, but neither will admit it. I've had this idea for a while and I'd LOVE for a talented author to execute it.

Aaaahhh it’s been too long since I’ve done a High School AU and I’ve missed it. Thanks for this one and thanks so much for asking me to fufill the prompt! I hope I do it justice :)

AO3

“Please take your seats quickly. I want to discuss your quiz scores so we can go over any questions you may have before the final test.” Ms. Mills said with a stack of papers clutched against her chest.

Dean stretched his arms above his head as he flopped into his usual seat on the third row, next to the wall so he could lean up against it in times of extreme laziness. He sprawled out accordingly, dropping his backpack to the floor and draping his letterman jacket over his seat until the air conditioning kicked in during the middle of class like it usually did.

“Hey, hot stuff.” Dean said with a nod as Castiel sat down in the seat next to him.

“Good morning, Dean.” Castiel said, barely looking up as he aligned his binder and world history book neatly on the small desk in front of him.

“How was that student council thingy yesterday?” Dean asked, popping a piece of gum into his mouth.

“Absolutely dreary without your shining personality to brighten all of our days,” Castiel murmured, completely straight-faced.

Dean winked as Ms. Mills began talking again.

“Some of you need to look at your notes from the beginning of the year again,” she said as she began passing back the quizzes. “And some of you need to remember that - if you want full credit on the final test - the answer to ‘What are the seven wonders of the ancient world’ is not ‘Castiel Novak’s Ass’ written seven times.”

She frowned when she got to Dean’s desk, dropping the paper on his desk as the rest of the class laughed.

Dean clicked his tongue and made a finger gun at Castiel with another wink.

“Really, Dean? Don’t be childish.” Castiel said, just loud enough for everyone to hear. “We all know that’s not true. I haven’t done any squats in at least a month.”

Dean hummed as he leaned back in his seat, obviously inspecting Castiel’s rear end. “Hmmm. Doesn’t show.”

“If you two are quite finished -” Ms. Mills rolled her eyes and made her way back up to the front of the room and rested a hand on her hip. “Now, did anyone have any questions on anything that you’d like to go over?”

Dean leaned forward and raised his hand.

“Besides you.”

Dean let his hand drop to rest above his heart in a faux-wounded position.

“Ms. Mills. I’m shocked and offended that you would deny me my right to receive an education. I wouldn’t dare waste your time with trivial questions.”

Ms. Mills raised an eyebrow.

“Mmhmm. What’s your question.”

“I noticed that you maked me down on question twelve? We had to name one of the causes of Enlightenment?”

“Again, the answer is not ‘Castiel Novak’s Ass’.”

The class broke out into laughter again as Dean leaned back in his chair and did - yet another - finger gun at his best friend.

“You can pay me after class,” Dean said teasingly.

Castiel nodded seriously.

“Cash or credit?”

The laughter finally died down, ending with a long sigh from the front of the classroom.

“… anyone else have any questions?”

***

Dean leaned back against the wall with the rest of their gym class while Castiel and Meg, who had been elected by Bobby (who’d be damned if any of the students called him Mr. Singer) stood up front, picking teams for dodgeball.

“Ruby,” Meg said with a lazy wave, and Ruby skipped over to stand next to her.

Dean smirked as Castiel pretended to survey the rest of the group before pointing at directly and predictably at Dean.

“I guess I’ll take that fine specimen over there.”

Dean flexed as he practically pranced over to his friend, posing next to him while the rest of the class either chuckled or rolled their eyes.

“Raphael.”

“Anna.”

“Abaddon.”

“Jo.”

The choosing continued until there was no one left and both teams had made their way over to their prospective sides for a pre-game huddle.

“Alright, here’s the plan,” Dean said in as loud of a whisper as he dared. “When the whistle blows, Cas, you stay behind and I’ll run ahead so that you can stare at my ass.”

Jo snorted.

“C’mon, Dean. Be serious -”

“No, no,” Castiel interrupted, holding up his hand. “He has a point. I think it’s a worthy sacrifice.”

“You guys are ridiculous.”Jo said, shaking her head. “Anyway, I think we should all run for it and damn the consequences.”

Castiel nodded along as Jo spoke.

“Yes. In all seriousness, Jo’s correct. As team captain, I think that we all should do whatever we can to get our hands on those balls.”

“Cas, you know you can always get your hands on my -”

“Shut the fuck up, Dean,” Jo said in exasperation.

***

Dean stripped off all of his football gear and took a quick shower before running back outside to the bleachers where Castiel usually met him after practice. He didn’t always stick around after school, but when Cas had student government stuff after, he’d watch what was left of Dean’s practices as they tended to go longer.

“How was practice?” Castiel asked, snapping his book closed and hopping off the bleachers to fall in step with Dean.

“Same old, same old,” Dean said, tugging up his shirt to rub at his damp hair. “Coach yells, we run, Lucifer trips Michael, and Benny tries to set me up on a date.”

Castiel tucked his book under his arm and nodded. “Sounds exciting. And you said?”

“That all a man will ever need is a cool drink of water like yourself.” Dean placed a hand over his own heart, bowing his head in reverence.

“A good answer,” Castiel said, nodding in his approval as they neared Dean’s car. “So, what’s your mom making for dinner tonight?”

“The best goddamn mashed potatoes you’ll ever have.”

“Wonderful.” Castiel grinned as he opened the Impala’s passenger side door and slipped inside. “I’m starving.”

They drove the ten minute drive to Dean’s house with the radio turned all the way up, singing the lyrics of various love songs to each other as dramatically as they could, with Castiel reminding Dean to watch the road as needed.

“Mom!” Dean shouted as he opened the front door. “Do we have enough food for a plus one?”

He dropped his backpack and stripped his shoes at the front door, watching Castiel do the same.

“Of course!” he heard from the kitchen. “Who’d you bring?”

“Adonis reincarnate.”

“Dean, you know Castiel is always welcome.” Mary said, and poked her head out from behind the doorframe. “Hello, Cas.”

“Hi, Mrs. Winchester.” Castiel waved before turning to Dean with a raised eyebrow. “Adonis reincarnate, huh? That’s a new one.”

Dean grinned.

“Only the best for you, babe.”

***

“Listen, Dean.”

Dean looked up from where he was shoving all of his clean laundry into its respective drawers while Cas lay on his bed.

“Yeah?”

Castiel’s hands drummed on his stomach.

“I was thinking… what if we went on a date?”

Dean paused and turned completely around, a pair of boxer shorts still in his hand.

“What?”

Castiel propped himself up on his elbows and licked his lips.

“You know. A…. date. You and me. Doing something together.” Dean watched Castiel pause and clear his throat. “Would you want to?”

Dean tilted his head and let a slow smile creep across his lips.

“Cas, I think that’s an amazing idea.”

Castiel’s mouth fell open, and an even wider grin split his face.

“Wait - really? You think?”

“Absolutely! You’re a genius! People will think that’s hilarious!”

Dean burst out laughing at the thought of everyone’s faces at school when they found out. It would really be the icing on the top of the cake for a lot of people. Not only would they flirt with each other at every opportunity, but now an actual date? Incredible.

“Right. Yeah.”

Dean glanced over at Castiel, who was looking away, his smile nearly gone.

“No, it really will be funny! Jo will probably die laughing. It’s a great idea, Cas.”

Castiel chuckled, but even that sounded forced, like he no longer found his idea funny.

“Thanks,” he murmured, flopping back down on the bed and staring out the window.

Weird.

Still, even though it would be a joke, the idea of going on a date with Cas… it was nice. Nicer than he’d thought it would be.

Not that he’d ever…you know.

Thought about that.

“So, what did you want to do for it?” Dean asked, though he already had a list of possibilities that he was running through. Dinner and a movie was up there at the top of the list, just because of how incredibly cliche it was.

“I don’t care,” Cas mumbled, picking up his book again and turning to his bookmark. “You decide.”

Dean tossed the boxers into his top drawer and rubbed his hands together.

This was going to be the best date of his life.

***

It was not the best date of his life.

It was…okay. Very average, if he had to make a guess.

Definitely by no fault of Dean’s, he finally decided. He was making sure to go out of his way to be especially flirtatious with Castiel on their date by holding doors open, being more touchy-feely than usual, and absolutely drowning him in pet names.

Cas, however, wasn’t playing off of him as well as he usually did.

“Here you are, sunshine,” Dean said, opening the passenger door for Castiel with a flourish. “I hope you enjoyed the meal.”

“Thanks,” Castiel said, sliding into the seat and shutting the door himself, nearly wrenching it from Dean’s grasp.

Dean pressed his lips together as he walked over to the other side of the car to let himself in.

“You doing okay?” he asked and started the car, sparing a glance over to Castiel.

Castiel let out a breath and shot him a quick smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Yes. I’m fine. Just a little tired, I think.”

“Oh, okay.” Dean drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as he drove, the silence making the drive a little more awkward than it usually was.

“And here we are,” Dean said cheerfully when they stopped in front of Castiel’s house. “Home sweet home.”

Castiel smiled and leaned his head back on the head rest. “Well, thanks Dean. It was a fun date. We should - what are you doing?”

Dean paused in the middle of opening the driver’s side door.

“Um, walking you to your front door, of course.”

“Oh,” Castiel ducked his head and the dim lighting made it almost look like Castiel was blushing. “Dean, you don’t need to do that. I think I can find my way on my own.”

Dean scoffed and shook his head, as if the very thought of such an act wounded his honor.

“What kind of gentleman would that make me? Please.” he winked and quickly shut the door behind him to get to the other side of the car before Castiel opened the door. “It’s my pleasure.”

Castiel looked up at him as Dean opened the car door, and Dean’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

Oh. Well.

He’d probably just had a little too much fun pretending to be on a date with him, is all. It was just muscle memory for him by now.

Castiel climbed out. Dean shut the door. The two of them walked up to Castiel’s porch.

Just like they would do on a real date.

“Again, thank you, Dean. It was fun.” Castiel said, smiling at him from just a foot away.

“Are you gonna leave me without a goodnight kiss?”

Dean wasn’t sure why he said it, probably because that’s what he did at the end of every date, but the moment it was out of his mouth he knew there was no taking it back. Part of him wasn’t even sure that he wanted to.

Castiel’s lips pulled into slight frown, and Dean realized that’s where he’d been staring for quite some time now.

“What?”

“You know. Goodnight kiss.” Dean pointed to his own lips with a smile.

“Why?” Castiel was squinting now, like he usually did when he didn’t understand something the teacher was saying or when he was working out a math problem.

“To like, make the date official. It’ll be funny.” Dean shrugged.

Castiel’s frown deepened.

“No.Goodnight, Dean.”

“Oh, come on, Cas!” Dean reached out and rested a hand on his forearm as Castiel turned away to open the door to his house. “It won’t mean anything. Just a kiss so we can tell people we did!”

Dean could see Castiel’s grip on the doorknob tighten minimally, and when Castiel looked back with a face full of hurt -

Dean took a step back.

“That’s why I’m saying ‘no’.”

And Dean was left alone on the porch.

***

Dean closed the door to his house as quietly as he could, and rubbed at his eyes in confusion. Something had gone very, very badly and Dean’s mind was experiencing a little too much turbulence for him to figure out what exactly that meant or where it had happened.

“Dean? Is that you?”

Dean rubbed at the back of his head as he made his way into the living room, following the sound of his mother’s voice.

Mary was sitting on the couch with a book in her lap; her hair was pulled back into a messy and reading glasses rested on the tip of her nose.

“Hey, mom.”

Mary looked up and smiled.

“Hey, hun. What were you up to?”

Dean sighed and flopped down on the couch next to her, resting his hands on his stomach.

“Went on a date with Cas.”

“Oh? And how’d it go?”

Dean shrugged and made a noncommittal grunt.

“Well, what did you do for the date?”

“Dinner and a movie.”

Mary raised her eyebrow.

“Really? I thought that was something you only did on first dates.”

Dean frowned and glanced over at his mother as she calmly turned a page in her book.

“It- it was a first date.”

Mary made a face at Dean and tutted as she shook her head in disappointment.

“You’ve never taken your boyfriend on a proper date? Dean.”

Dean sat up.

“Wha - but I - we’re not - it’s not like -” Dean steepled his fingers together and pressed them against his lips. “Wait, what…what makes you think that Cas and I are dating?”

“Well,” Mary pursed her lips thoughtfully and folded a dog-ear in her book. “Besides the intense amount of flirting that’s sort of a giveaway? Two things. One is the way that you look at him.”

“The way I….” Dean trailed off, a question in is voice.

“The way you look at him. Dean, the way you stare at Castiel reminds me of the way people stare at stars. It’s like there’s nothing else in the world you’d rather be looking at.”

Dean felt the a light blush begin crawling up his neck.

“Oh. Um. What’s the second thing, then?”

Mary smiled.

“The way he looks at you.”

***

“Cas! Hey, Cas!”

Dean shoved his way through the crowds of lunch period, trying to catch up to his best friend. Castiel had been extremely successful in avoiding him throughout their classes and even the teachers had noticed that he’d sat on the opposite side of the room from Dean instead right next to him as he usually did.

“‘Scuse me. Pardon me.” Dean used few well-timed elbow jabs until he could finally tap Castiel on the shoulder. “Cas. Hey.”

Castiel glanced over his shoulder and squinted.

“Oh. Hello Dean. How did everyone take the news about our date last night?” he asked, folding his arms in front of his chest and not bothering to hide the slight venom in his voice.

“I uh, I haven’t told anyone.” Dean said, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Look, can we talk?”

Castiel shrugged.

“Sure.”

Dean grabbed Castiel by his hand and led him outside where there weren’t so many people surrounding them before.

He took a deep breath, quickly running through the major points of long speech that he’d prepared in his head. It was full of eloquent apologies and deep confessions that he hoped would help Castiel realize how he felt and maybe help him forgive what an ass he was.

“Will you be my boyfriend?” Dean blurted, then slapped a hand over his mouth.

Castiel’s eyes widened almost comically.

“What?”

“Shit, wait. That was supposed to come last.” Dean licked his lips, feeling the panic set in. “Look, Cas. I’m so sorry about last night. I played it off like it was just a joke but…I don’t think it was. I don’t think any of this has been a joke for me and I’ve just been too much of an idiot to realize it. What I’m trying to say here is, I uh, I really like you, Cas. I don’t want any of this to be pretend anymore. I want you to be my boyfriend.”

Castiel continued to stare, and Dean didn’t blame him for taking his time while he digested the word-vomit that he’d just dumped.

“So…” he said finally. “The date was real?”

Dean shrugged, letting himself smile a little.

“It should have been.”

Castiel nodded to himself and slowly reached out to grab Dean’s hand, giving him plenty of time to move back if this wasn’t something he wanted.

He wanted it.

“Then I think I’d like that very much, Dean.” Castiel murmured, intertwining their fingers together with a grin.

“Awesome.” Dean breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed his hand tightly, not bothering to hide how giddy Castiel’s simple answer had made him. They were holding hands. Of course, they had before, but all of those times were just screwing around being funny.

This wasn’t funny anymore.

It was so much better than that.

It was real.

“So, uh, Cas?” Dean said, ducking his head a little to hide his playful grin.

“Mmmhm?”

“If that date was real, does that mean I can get a goodnight kiss now?”

Castiel raised an eyebrow, a teasing look on his face as he slowly leaned in, causing Dean’s heart to nearly burst from his chest in anticipation-

And pressed a finger against Dean’s lips.

“I never kiss on the first date. I’ll see you later, darling. ”

Dean laughed as Castiel slipped from his grasp and walked away, a slight skip in his step.

“Then I’ll pick you up at eight, hot stuff!” He called after Castiel’s retreating silhouette.

A few meandering students paused and stared at Dean curiously.

“That’s my boyfriend.” Dean said with a nonchalant shrug and the biggest goddamn smile that he’d ever had on his face.

#spn #destiel #destiel fic #its-the-tenerife-sea #whelvenwings #high school au #hope you like it!#sometimes I write #there's a read more in case mobile doesn't let you see it

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freshcuntgrass · 2 years ago

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I am saying that the credits, which in the original have the absolute god-tier song Mighty Wings, are full of Hans Zimmer's noodly bullshit fantasia on the themes from Top Gun and it's truly truly garbage. I have a master's in music composition and I once subjected myself to his absolute fucking terrible Netflix special on a dare (look it up sometime! It's 3 hours of him hitting on a pleather-clad trio of 20-something string players while the most self-indulgent bullshit arrangements you've ever heard play in an orchestra behind him! absolute criminal behavior!) so I can, in fact, recognize when Hans Zimmer has put his sticky little fingers all over something. And he put his STICKY little fingers all over Harold Faltermeyer's good good themes.

Hold My Hand should have scored the boat scene. It's referenced thematically in the score several times AND is playing in the background in one of the bar scenes, but you don't actually get to recognize either of those until the absolute end or a rewatch, because Hans Fucking Zimmer shoved it out of the way for some more absolute nothingburger reimaginings of other people's better music (and like two lines of dialogue, but they could have made it work). We could have had Hold My Hand there, in full, and then a reprise at the end when the one plane flies off into the sunset, and then any NUMBER of excellent throwback covers of songs from the original. Give me Weezer's cover of "Mighty Wings" or give me death.

What exactly do YOU think he was doing? Do you think that his name was at the beginning for decoration? No. He was putting his greasy digits all over one of the most iconic themes in movie history and he was doing it shamelessly throughout. The iterations where it sticks closer to the original, like in the Mach 10 test at the beginning, are actually very good modernizations of the original Faltermeyer, though I'm doubtful of how much of that orchestration was actually him vs his studio of underpaid, uncredited interns (which is just how the industry works, but it's not exactly a well-kept secret that Hans Zimmer's one of the worst about it). But when he starts to just... lengthen... every... note... value... maybe with some drums underneath... but still all on the same note so you know Serious Things Are Happening... that's the shit he's been doing since Muppet Treasure Island, man. They kept a lid on a lot of his worst impulses during the bulk of the movie, thank god, but they REALLY let him loose during the credits. A place where, again, they had some TRULY iconic pop song throwbacks from the original they could have worked with!

It is Hans Zimmer's fault that the sequel to a movie with an infinitely iconic soundtrack basically doesn't have a soundtrack at all. There are only the bare MINIMUM of callbacks to the original one: Great Balls of Fire for the character moment, and Danger Zone because there would have been riots in the streets without it. For original songs, there's a very good Lady Gaga power ballad, and then something during the football scene that I believe may also be a song sung by someone with words in it. And then there are a few classic rock songs tossed in; they're utilized really well in the moment, but while going back and thinking about it it genuinely took me a LONG time to remember that they were there, which just isn't the case with a single track from the original.

I am far from opposed to movies that are way more score than soundtrack! That applies to almost all of my other favorite movies, actually. But given that the music is so much of what I (and a lot of others) love about the original, the comparative lack of a soundtrack is TG:M's biggest flaw, and it happens because Hans Zimmer's enormous, flabby ego compelled him to roll around in the Top Gun Anthem for entirely too much of the movie, literally never improving the track (because *how could you*) and in several cases making it worse. Now, I'd be willing to hear an argument that pop songs would've been the wrong dramatic choice for any given scene in the movie proper, sure. That can be a tough call to make. TG:M had a different tone than the original, and I can see the argument that a movie that is more scored than soundtracked is therefore appropriate, even to this (in my opinion egregious) extent.

But the credits? The goddamn CREDITS? You think that, despite a universe of incredible nostalgic options ranging from a Weezer cover of Mighty Wings to literally just Danger Zone again, Creepy Uncle Hans' Musical War Crimes Power Hour was the perfect choice there? Take a COVID test. You have no taste.

just to be clear about where i stand on the film

i think everyone who found the film wanting and wanted more of various characters, elements, relationships than what we got are so so valid

but also as someone who's seen the film in theaters six times

i am a TGM purist and i would not and refuse to change a goddamn thing about it it's perfect

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