#like idk their energy is just different compared to other teams

[tar0star]

im watching haikyuu season 4 rn omg I love inarizaki high like congrats for being the team that has rintarou suna 🤭

[deadtiredghost]

Tmnt facts that are canon cause i said so:

All Leo's are sci-fi fans of varying degrees of old sci-fi series/movies

But MM!Leo thinks the old movies are old and thus has no major franchise to obsess over, he is just big into any of the more modern movies of the genre: I'm thinking Interstellar, Blade Runner, idk many more. And then he started watching Final Space and eventually got into Futurama.

But he still would think the other Leo's are old and a bit lame for enjoying old anime so much.

All the Donnie's and Leo's are the musical fans, but that doesn't mean that Raph and Mikey can't enjoy a musical too! Especially 2003!Raph who grew up watching shit like high school musical and teen beach movie with Leo and Donnie.

The 2003 boys all teamed up to sit on Mikey and tape Mikey's mouth shut cause he would dramatically and badly sing the songs otherwise.

2018 crew are hard into Hamilton of course while 2012 have a knock off version of it that flopped but Mikey loves.

2003 have a musical version of Lost Boys and Faries that could possibly be comparable with some rap songs and some emotional ballads.

Bayverse and MM have batman while 2018 have a weird mixture of some irl media and some really obvious knock offs. 2012 has Wingnut and Silber sentry as comics to replace Marvel and DC in their universe and we all know how 2003 is on superheroes.

All the Mikey's are naturally talented at drawing apart from 2012 who's skills apparently just got transferred to literally every single one of his siblings.

2012!Mikey's writing looks like chickenscratch and his drawings are chaotic in an abstract art kinda way, while 12!Leo can draw anime, 12!Karai is decent at drawing anything reallt, 12!Donnie preffers skatching items and backgrounds rather than people and 12!Raph is the one who does art the most in the fam.

The 1987 turtles are stuck in 1987 and have been since 1987. They like crossovers for the change of pace but 87!Raph and 87!Donnie very much dislike how other turtles have treated them in the past so take any and ever chance to fuck with their alternates in retaliation, feigning innocence well enough that they keep getting away with blatantly insulting their iterations to their face.

Leo is the tea drinker in the family across iterations but most of the iterations don't drink coffee - rottmnt gets into coffee wars (sans Leo and Splinter) but other than that 2007!Donnie and Bayverse!Raph are the only rabid coffee drinkers.

most of the Donnies drink energy drinks if they want a caffeine boost - the nonbinaries and their Monster especially.

The MM kids aren't allowed coffee because Splinter read a watched of child-raising YouTube videos and banned it. Of course that doesn't stop them from sneaking out. MM!Donnie is trying to convince him to allow coffee while MM!Raph just sneaks in his energy drinks.

2003!Casey was convinced the turtles were adults for at LEAST the first month into their friendship.

The ampunt Mikey wears stickers is directly proportional to the amount of leeway Splinter gives him - with the used-to-be-human Splinters being more strict on not personalising his weapon while the used-to-be-rat Splinters such as MM gives the go ahead.

The outlines of this rule are 03!Splinter and 18!Splinter of course who have entirely different ways of handling their adhd child.

And then there is bayverse!Splinter who said fuck the stickers, yes of course my 15-year-old children can have tattoos.

(And yes I firmly believe they were 15 in the first movie, and I attribute their tattoos to Splinter not really seeing the harm in it, or caring much as long as it won't hurt them.)

18!Leo is biologically the eldest but no one knows this apart from Draxum who will never tell at this point. Splinter aged them based on size.

On the other hand, 03!Leo is the biological youngest but only Donnie knows this (science shit to find it out) and will never tell anyone because he found out that 03!Mikey hatched first and that information can never be allowed to get to the turtle in question.

2012 Casey is transfem but doesn't know it yet and 2018 Casey is what 12!Casey will look like at 20.

All Donnie's watch anime and all Mikey's watch horror movies - despite how much they may or may not scream at the horror movies.

07!Mikey sells art online and 07!Leo becomes a language tutor in their 20's. Ironic as 12!Raph attempts to sell art online but becomes too emotionally attached to his work and 12!Donnie attempts to tutor for a time but is a terrible teacher.

Leo is a basketball or baseball fan, Raph likes wrestling and basketball, Donnie will partake in basketball or volleyball and Mikey prefers dancing but is open to playing anything... just not watching.

Splinter always watched the tennis, becuase his grandmother did. Leo likes to put it on but doesn't like playing it.

Mikey will forever be confused why the others enjoy watching sport. This stemms from when he was 12 and trying to watch his cartoons and Splinter would always take control of the TV during the Olympics. Mikey is still very salty and has an agenda against the Olympics and any other big sports match on their communal TV.

All the Leo's before 2012 just didnt use the Internet or any electronics as a kid and thus struggles with electronics massively.

Conversely 2012 and 2018 Leo were both on tumblr as kids and read fanfic about Space Heros and Jupiter Jim respectively.

And in addition: Donnie was on the Internet far too much as a kid.

(12!Donnie will never tell but 12!Mikey befriending Chris Bradford on Facebook hit a bit too close to home.)

After Don, Raph is the best at mechanics, other than 18!Raph who is kinda shit at them.

Splinter taught all of the turtles first aid but Raph and Mikey are patched up the most by the other two, which leads to the other two being more confident and skilled at first aid.

Leo's first aid experience is very much similar to an army medic, using improvisation based on his prior knowledge without any of the proper hospital procedure while Donnie's is much more based on his research into medicine and thus much more clinical.

The outliers are the 18!kids cause Donnie finds biological shit kinda disgusting unless he HAS to do it.

And then there is the 87!turtles who don't really get hurt for longer than an episode's run time. Despite this every single one of them are able to accurately and skillfully carry out any medical procedure should the need arise becuase cartoon logic and convenience. It is a skill they have and its usually 87!Donnie ordering them about while 87!Raph plays nurse.

Mikey and Raph spray paint together sometimes in all iterations other than 87.

87!Mikey and 87!Leo have never kmowingly committed a crime.

Mikey looks up to Leo most out of his siblings, and Leo would look up to Mikey in turn if he could get over the jealousy towards his youngest brother.

There is not a single itteration where Leo doesn't sometimes kinda wish he could be more like Mikey - he has never voiced these feelings and hates that he feels this jealousy.

If you wake Leo up from sleeping he will be alert, a bit grumpy about it, but will never turn you away. He rarely gets a full good night's sleep anyways, ans becuase of this he is prime target to bother when he is awake... up until they turn 14 where Leo gets into the habit of pretending to be asleep so Mikey doesn't bother him and starts meditating until he falls asleep.

The prior headcannon excludes rottmnt and mutant mayhem.

Mikey starts bothering Donnie more and joins him in the lab late at night a lot.

If you dare to disturb Raph's beauty sleep you will get a pillow to the face and a shouting to at the least.

Everyone of the turtles loves Kung Fu Panda or whatever similar movie exists in their world. They won't admit it but its because Poe reminds them of Mikey.

Raph maintains that he doesn't like physical contact much to get out of hugging the sweaty humans in his life. He is actually fairly chill with hugs he just hates the feeling of sweat on his scales so much, and learnt that the hard way when Casey brought him in for a hug after a fight and he shoved him off and blustered a bit. But any of his siblings hugging him is fine, he only ever shoves them off out of annoyance.

Donnie is the least huggy turtle, but he will sometimes lean his full body weight on April - which is fine in most iterations but some cannot handle the weight, I'm looking at Bayverse.

If Mikey were a human he would be a borderline nudist when home and everyone who lived with him would complain about it.

Like [insert hair covering here] and a fluffy dressing gown from when he was 9 wrapped around the waist if you're lucky.

[rust-is-a-car-disease]

Combining a bunch of stuff i love into 1 thing (i dont remember exactly where i read all of this)

Uncanny valley + charges via sunlight + weird biology and aging + shapeshifting isnt a genetic thing + his eyes are weird n reflective

(Basically talking abt that one fic where emi cocoons and his dad convinces him to move emi into sunlight and more... i love that fic so much both bc its great and for how they apply his biology)

I do want to talk abt his lifespan... but thats not what this post is abt

Im not into baseball but from what i understand sports doesnt really do a lot of media stuff as compared to what irl stuff ik like reality shows etc. bc they dont rly need to promote sports like entertainment stuff needs.

I just think itd be really fun if kenji gets put on one of those reality shows, maybe one where they try out hard jobs or smtg. Why? This gives me an excuse to put him in a farm setting for multiple days.

And if we put his whole team there... they get to experienve uncanny valley and weirdly reflective eyes. I include reflective eyes bc it probably would look really unsettling in addition to his uncanny valley effect when hes somewhere darker but somehow his eyes are reflecting a lot of light.

And they also get to experience how he has so much more energy since hes in the sun the whole day. And then how he has less energy on darker days if it starts raining a lot... hehehh

I imagine over the years before he can handle his aging (if he ever could learn how now thats an idea) it could very much start getting weird how his aging seems sporadic or stagnated. From what i remember i read ultraman ages could be based on emotional maturity so itd be interesting when applied to aging. As a celebrity itd be soooo fun to see the medias reaction to him.

I do really enjoy the ahapeshifting isnt a genetic thing. If we go on ultraman is very emotions based and we apply that logic to theyre emotions affect those they care abt and then apply how a lot of sentient beings mimic each other and learn like that it makes it interesting... not to mention if we r more lenient with it we can also apply it to him himself. Idk ultraman lore but wouldnt it be fun if ultramans could have another form (cough kaiju cough)? How this would apply to kenji might be different considering hes only half ultraman but for kaiju kenji sake i choose to believe in this case than ultras have more control over their forms than him but hes still able to control it to some extent. (Suddenly thinking abt the dsmp fic where tommy shapeshifted to have wings 4m grian or smtg but thats not what this post is abt i will think abt that later)

[vladdyissues]

I once read the post where Vlad said: "This anime is obviously a romantic school comedy! Danny and I are the main characters, so it means we are love interests. (to Jazz, Tuck, Sam) You guys are the heterosexual support cast, so make sure do not across the line" (I saved screenshot but Idk how to add photo in ask). Developing the subject, how do you see this anime au? Sailor moon alike relationship? Should it also be a horror cause of creepy natural ghosts?

I've never seen Sailor Moon so I can't comment, but it definitely seems like Danny Phantom was heavily influenced by Yu Yu Hakusho, so it wouldn't take a lot of mental gymnastics to envision an anime version of DP being a lot like this, mixing humor and drama and the supernatural. I'd love to see some actual horror thrown in, though. Animes like Vampire Hunter D and Bio-Booster Armor Guyver come to mind. Guyver's not actually billed as horror, but there's enough body horror, gore, and horror elements in it to qualify, in my opinion. I mean, look at this thing, it's terrifying:

Aside: This ask got me nostalgic for Guyver and I went and watched a few episodes. (The last time I saw it was in the 90s on VHS.) I was floored. There is so much it has in common with DP that I wonder if Hartman wasn't inspired by it as well.

Compare: the black-haired, blue-eyed MC (Sho) who's not the best student, had a disfiguring experience involving something with lots of power and now has two different personas, human and non-human, the latter having incredible strength and unearthly energy that he uses to combat threatening entities that are Not Of This World; best friends are a glasses-wearing geek and a girl who's also the show's love interest, completing the trio. Of course Sho spends a great deal of time protecting his friends, but they also cheer him on from the sidelines and offer help when able, much like Tucker and Sam.

But get this: The only other person with a Guyver armor happens to be the villain (spoiler: not really the villain, it's all an act, and eventually they team up). This is the guy:

Long hair. V-hairline. Sideburns. Thick black eyebrows. The English dub isn't that good, but this guy's voice is deep and nice to listen to. He's supposed to be a student but looks like he's 35.

Anyway. DP anime.

I don't see much changing at all plot-wise. Upping the rating to at least PG-13 is definitely prescribed, so there can be things like blood and fantasy violence and adult humor. Let Danny say "hell", "damn", "bastard", and the occasional "shit", like in YYH. Naturally, Vlad and Danny would start out as rivals before laying aside their differences and teaming up to save the world—which is exactly the formula that YYH and BBAG follow in terms of enemies-to-allies.

I'm imagining a steady progression of saving each other's butts and fighting increasingly powerful enemies until it comes to a point that they both realize they'd die for each other. (Literally Kuwabara and Yusuke lmao.)

In fact, just do a DP/YYH wardrobe swap for all the characters, because Dan Dan Phantom Show is something I'd pay money to see 😂

[mastersoftheair]

Sorry but am I the only one that thought that episode…sucked? Like it was straight up bad. Horrible pacing, no wrap up of all the random characters and plot lines they’ve thrown around all season (the tuskegee airmen, Westgates spying, literally all the guys beside like the main 4). (Seriously it makes me so mad that the three redtails got all of 5 seconds of screen time, almost no lines. Literally what was the point of introducing them other than to pretend the show was iNcLuSiVe) Even at the end of BoB and the Pacific you get a much better idea of what happened to all the remaining guys. In this they’re like what happened to DeMarco or Hambone or Brady or (insert character here) we don’t know! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The concentration camp scene felt shoehorned in compared to how it was done in BoB. Unless that actually happened to Rosie (which i haven’t heard anything about) but it was just like.. ok? It all felt so rushed and emotionless to me. Maybe I’ve just fallen out of love with MoTA but it’s been downhill for me since episode 6 or so.

i already made a little (read: long) post-finale write-up here, where i talk about the use of the tuskegee airmen, l'sandra, and overall editing/pacing issues i felt the show had. but i don't agree with the notion that adding the redtails was in any way insincere or trying to halfass being "iNcLuSiVe", i just think they suffer from this show's obvious time constraints. and to summarize what i wrote in my linked post, there's a limit to what white writers/directors/producers can do when creating a story about black people. there are some stories i'd feel uncomfortable with them telling on their own, truth be told. dee rees wasn't the sole nonwhite director, but she Was the only black one. i think she did her job well given the limitations and i appreciate that they let her direct those episodes, rather than leaving it up to a team of white people trying their best to tell a black story.

the worst i can say about the finale is that it didn't feel like That strong of finale, tho i wouldn't go as far to say it "sucked" or call it "straight up bad". i liked it plenty, it's just the weakest of the hbo war finales imo.

as for the concentration camp scene, artistic license was taken with both shows. unlike what's seen in the BoB, easy company wasn't the first to arrive at kaufering, and there's 0 mention of the all-japanese american 552nd who helped them liberate it). similarly, rosie rosenthal did assist in liberating those camps, though it would've been after the events shown this episode. idk if he saw one in that up-close way seen in this episode, but he could've (i should research this when i have time). plus, it would've felt weird Not having him acknowledge them at all. "shoe-horned" is an odd term to use here imo, as both scenes more-or-less center a jewish character (BoB's liebgott and MotA's rosie). the former show has survivors the characters can help, the latter shows no one left to help. the former has all of easy company there, the latter has rosie there all alone. rosie's scene felt deeply personal in that way. at the end of the day, both scenes are communicating different things. that doesn't make one better than the other when they aren't trying to be identical. (disclaimer, i'm not jewish, so i'd be interesting hearing from the perspective of someone who wrt whether or not they felt it was "shoe-horned")

i can understand if you've disliked the show post-episode 6 (and episode 6 was a very strong episode i'm ngl). eps 7 and 8 were weaker in many ways, even to me, so i get it. everyone's entitled to their own opinion (i'd be a hypocrite saying otherwise). just understand that this blog is run by someone who overall enjoys this show despite its flaws! basically, i encourage you to take this energy and make your own posts.

[ednito]

pretty please talk about your crane.

Yes!!! I'd love to talk about him!!!

TW: gore and abuse- I'm sure there's more but I'm blanking on what it could be so be careful on reading!! Also sorry I'm on mobile and idk how to insert the keep reading thing LMAO

So in my verse my crane has been scarecrow for much longer then others, it started immediately after killing great granny- he grew up tortured by him and he hated her and his birth mother with all of his being. He never knew his father and his mom died in childbirth, while pregnant with Jonathan though she tried her best to kill him without getting an abortion which led him to have fetal alcohol syndrome disorder, he was also born with coloboma, scoliosis, and had a bad overbite when he was younger. Before going to college (I'd say around 17 to 18) he and his grandmother got into a tussle that lead to her death, he was so angry he skinned her face off and drenched her blood into her prized white scarf, he wears the face as his mask as scarecrow and also wears the scarf.

No one in Gotham knows he's scarecrow, most people if not all believe scarecrow is just a rumor, a boogeyman of sorts to warn people to not be so reckless but no he's real. He stalks at bars and strip clubs waiting for the right people to jump out and beg for him to swoop them away (in his mind at least), he's pretty well connected with people and holds a lot of black mail on specific bar/club owners so they let him do his business. Scarecrow has a lot of hideouts around Gotham that he dubs as "crows nests" where he keeps most his equipment, not a lot of them have victims but when they do they're organized but it's extremely disgusting. He keeps them in dog cages (sizes very) almost to completely naked, the cages are rusty and more then occasionally has someone in it still (dead or alive is 50/50), these specific crows nests is where he experiments his fear toxin on them, to see how strong it is and the affects- he does a lot of experiments from very simple ones like just injecting it into the vains to extreme or questionable like seeing if body excrement like urine or sweat can extract the fear toxin if injected in high enough doses. When people die though depending on their usefulness he uses in creative ways, some he creates as human chemical chambers as he'll insert a bunch of chemicals that when given energy (like from a defibrillator) would cause a chain reaction and produce fear toxin or a close equivalent to it (usually these are people who are still alive somewhat), others he'll dump them in the Gotham bay or dump, places he knows people don't care about.

As crane he pretends to he jolly, he's always smiling calmly and us very kind and gentle with his patients though realistically he doesn't care about them whatsoever. Nurses think he's got an ugly boy charm about him and are friendly to him and most psychiatrists there are pretty respectful of him, no one ever questions him and his actions as compared to everyone else he's the smartest member of the team, only one to question him is arkham but he's too intimidated by him to do anything.

He's extremely cunning and violent, he often plays games both as crane and scarecrow and is often in a goofy silly mood- a serious crane/scarecrow is an absolutely scary thought ngl! He doesn't really have any friends, closest I'd say is arkham (who when finds out he's scarecrow is forced to become his assistant) and riddler, I think I've mentioned it before in the post about Quandarism but riddler does a lot of exiling and he usually give those exiles to scarecrow as he knows he'll wipe them out of existence

Also here's a list of little tidbits about him that I'm only now remembering

He was born with bad joint and muscle problems and thus is always in discomfort or pain, because he's so used to it he can't tell the difference in pain when being punched compared to his joint and muscle problems, he's pretty resilient because of it

Also because of his joint problems he has a cane, the handle is in the shape if a crow

He uses Sickles instead of a scythe

He often has trouble finding companionship or even the heart to care, when he does he doesn't know how to handle it and usually leads to death or even worse

When not being scarecrow or pretending to be dr. Crane he's just dissociating.

He doesn't have DID, I can definitely see him having it but I just don't feel comfortable writing that for him (reasons)

He doesn't care or like most things, he doesn't like animals, he's not a fan of music or movies or art, he doesn't eat a lot of food so he doesn't care. When he does like something it's extremely specific and nothing is consistent

That's a gist I think, there's a lot more about him but that's all I can really think of for him atm. I have another anon asking about my riddler that I'll get to later- hope you weren't too grossed out! Lmao!

[aces-to-apples]

Fic Self-Recs

Fic authors self rec! List your favorite five fics that you've written, then tag at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

Tagged by @dead-cowboy!

It's crazy just how many of these bastards I have published under my own names and yet wouldn't recommend someone read with a gun to my head lol. Also I went with six so I could include one from my SourFacedLemon account:

i. hold it in your mouth for a minute (real hunger has a real taste) (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Glitch/Savage Opress, Explicit)

From the inaugural year of Smut Wars, this actually holds up pretty decently. Takes place vaguely within the Season 5 Crime Lords arc because that must have taken months to accomplish and the visual of Savage and Maul desperately trying to get along with Death Watch for that long amuses me. Included some thoughts about Nightbrothers and clones that I don't usually get to explore since Maul isn't, you know, culturally a Nightbrother. Also I reject the cultural obsession with dick size, I hate it, Savage is the embodiment of "small, leave me alone" and I'll die on that hill. Also also, Glitch is here! He's sweet! He's Force-sensitive! The narrative is in love with him and wants him to live and thrive! It's me, I'm the narrative!

ii. self/less (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Maulsoka, Teen)

Older, and imperfect, but I had a good time with it. This fic has everything: the unhinged Maul-Ahsoka team-up that a Star Wars What If series should explore, Maul being traumatized and terrified and not hiding it well, genderfuckery, two forms of mind-control, the Son and the Daughter escaping Mortis because what do you mean they're just dead now??, Jesse surviving... Short and sweet and well beyond my writing skills to fully flesh out, but I genuinely think there's a decent premise buried in there.

iii. a beast within you (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Maulrex, Explicit)

Also notably imperfect, but another 2023 Smut Wars gift and I spent so much time trying to research octopi and tentacles without actually consuming any tentacle porn, and I want that effort acknowledged. It's a vague Percy Jackson fusion AU, if that's any more enticing. And if you get to the end there's links to some beautiful fucking fanart someone (@omaano) made of it!

iv. pretty (handy with that iron) (Jak and Daxter, Jak/Jinx, Teen)

Transmasculine!Jak who not only has terrible taste in men (Jinx) but also has a vaguely-emasculating-pet-names-induced gender crisis during the sewers escort mission and Daxter doesn't get to rest for a single second. Idk I was feeling silly with this one. It was fun to write and I actually don't regret it lol.

v. all restraint and poised bones (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Maulakin, Teen)

I just love a confused Maul POV in general and also an outsider POV on time travel. It's just so much fun for me personally. Also I know it's because that's the way the timeline shakes out but the fact that Anakin missed meeting Maul and all that that entails by like two hours is as ridiculous to me as the Grievous thing; their unhinged chaotic goblin energies would have bounced off each other and created a feedback loop that would give Sidious a heart attack, so I understand why it never happened. But still.

bonus vi (and vii and viii). The Expansion of Clan Mudhorn (The Mandalorian, Djarin/Leia/Boba, Teen)

I have written non-TCW, non-Maul related Star Wars fics, as difficult as it is to believe. These ones are also silly, and strangely fluffy compared to most of my other content, but it was 2021! Mando S2 had just ended, we had canonical Tem-as-Boba-Fett and were all so excited and optimistic, it was a different time! Honestly my only regret is that I haven't thought until just now to go back and edit them to fix Djarin's name. Everyone is surnaming this poor man who misses his baby so, so much, you guys, that's tragic lmao.

No pressure tagging @hawthornsword @hjbender @darthlivion @mandalorianbrainweasel @inqorporeal and anyone who sees this and wants to play!

[flygonee]

introduction!!

umm.. hello! my name is honey, i am a bug/dragon type trainer (but i do have other types of pokemon) and my goal is to catch all bug and dragon type pokemon!!!! (ง'̀-'́)ง

i am nonbinary, a minor (not saying age for privacy reasons), and i go by they/them!

i travel alllll around the world.. i love to see all the beautiful pokemon!! as of right now i’m exploring paldea :D

my bestie is fay, he’s actually the one who convinced me to make this account hehe…. whenever i remember his @ i’ll link it here ^_^

this account will just be for me talking about my journeys.. pokemon i catch…. yada yada all of that stuff

if you wanna talk to me pls shoot the dm first.. i get a bit nervous when speaking to people i don’t know (●´⌓`●)

i use way too many emoticons, and i say hehe and lol a lot.. sorry if that annoys you :(

my favourite animal of all time is cats!!! aghhh just sooo cuteeeeee :333 (so i have lots and lots of cat pokemon :p)

tbh it’s easier for me to act more energetic while typing than irl.. so that’s why if you meet me irl i’m a bit nervous, but on here i’m way different :0

now it’s time for my team! >:3

FLYGON ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

they are my first ever pokemon, they just wandered into kanto and i caught them after choosing my starter! my best friend!! they are really close to me and protect me like their life depends on it lolol

such a sweetheart.. very clingy too! and they are kind of tired all the time hehe!! they have a good sense of humour and feel like the one out of all my pokemon who really gets me

not to say the rest don’t,, flygon has just known me for way longer!! i even use my z-ring on them.. and besides they’re my main pokemon for a reason

MEOWSCARADA ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

he’s a sweetheart! so nice to everyone else and he LOVES attention, he begs for it all the time (he reminds me of my old ragdoll cat hehe)

he is the pokemon i tried to get the most (and got the easiest) when traveling over to paldea, cause i love cats! and grass types are like my 3rd fave type (bug and dragon 🔛🔝 though ofc ofc)

he’s really strong for a meowscarada idk why.. i did train him a lot though lol!! he loves to fight, very active kitty

ESPEON ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

she’s a bit more independent than my other pokemon, and only really is affectionate towards me.. but when she wants attention she’s really clingy!! she just sits on my lap while i do work or something

overall she isn’t that hard to manage compared to my other pokemon (especially my pidgey i caught back in kanto.. he’s so hard to deal with ಥ‿ಥ)

she’s also a shiny?? forgot to mention earlier but it’s pretty cool imo.. :0

RAICHU ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

now it’s time for her!! little buddy,, i love her so much, she’s so sweet!!

for some reason she always wants me to make her waffles, maybe she just has an addiction to them cause of how often i eat them hehe…. (and maybe i slip her a bit too many waffles a bit too often..)

she was actually the starter i picked in kanto, then she evolved into a raichu.. we traveled to alola….. you get the rest

she’s insanely clingy just like flygon.. probably cuz i’ve had her for so long? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SCIZOR ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

MY SCIZOR!!! really tough gal, although.. truthfully? not on the inside, physically very tough though!! she’s a really strong pokemon

she doesn’t often show it, but she’s quite the softie! she only really shows that side to me though, remaining tough to the others.. because of this she seems to be an idol for my younger pokemon, so not too bad

MILOTIC ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

such a beautiful pokemon, i always loved him even during his pre-evolution. i don’t get the hate,, feebas isn’t ugly guys!! >:(

my house is right next to a huge lake, so i just keep him there and he seems happy with it

he always manages to calm me down,, something about sending energy? well whatever it is he’s a great listener! he always encourages me to vent to him hehe

NOW FOR THE BONUS POKEMON!! cuz why not,, the pokemon below are just the ones not on my team! just some of the pokemon i’ve caught (not all of them cuz i’m lazy)

PIDGEY ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

he is such a hyper bird!! i don’t get how so much energy is stored in such a little guy (ᗒᗜᗕ)՛̵̖

raichu was the first pokemon i had ever, and pidgey was the second!

out of all my pokemon he’s the hardest to take care of.. he’s a handful for sure :p

he’s very small for a pidgey actually! he’s the size of my hand, and kind of just likes to sit on my shoulder, or fly with me on my morning walk!! he doesn’t eat much cuz of that

he usually sleeps in my collection of plushies,, it’s really cute! ˶ᵔᗜᵔ˶

GOODRA ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

she is so silly, very good cuddle buddy tbh.. she gives the best hugs

she’s so motherly and friendly towards everyone, especially my other pokemon

love her <3

if i had to describe her in one word, it’d be motherly

not much to say she’s just really kind (but oh my arceus is she so cool when fighting.. fay agrees!)

CUTIEFLY ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

a wild cutiefly i found on one of the paths in paldea, make sure to contact me if they’re yours!! for now i’ll keep them safe ^^

DRAGONITE ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

silly guy! forgot to add him to this post actually.. he’s very close to me much like flygon, but he acts a bit more overprotective over me o_o

he’s very clingy,, literally too! he clings onto me a lot

not much to say he’s just very friendly

MIMIKYU ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

one day i was having my morning walk, and felt as if i was being watched.. only to see this little fella following me all the way home!

ever since then they’ve been apart of my team, and i have been happier cuz of it! :3

they’re more independent than the rest much like espeon, except a little less affectionate. i don’t mind though! everyone expresses their love differently, and i don’t need a cuddle session from either of them to know they love me

sometimes mimikyu makes me little gifts like gloves or just any clothes and i always think it’s so cute

DEWPIDER ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

a dewpider given to me through a pelipper mail, the very same one with that.. strange beast ball o.o

umm for now i don’t know where to put this little guy on my team. soooo…. kept at home for now! ^_^"

ok uhh.. that’s all, i hope you like me!!

-

now it’s time for the ooc info

hai! my name is stitch, i go by she/her and this blog is kind of just for me to pretend i’m in the pokemon world cause.. why wouldn’t i want to LMAO

my main blog is @stitchthelilo so my main content is there

i have a bad sense of humour so beware and i do use a lot of emoticons which is why honey does

ooc mark will be // and the hashtag #ooc

pelipper/musharna/any kind of mail, sapient pokemon, and magic anons are on!

[staurora]

My Thoughts on Xikers debut!

(gif retrieved from @hunternity )

So Xikers recently debuted with the album House of Tricky: Doorbell Ringing and I wanted to share my thoughts! I’ve been keeping an eye on them as KQ has released more content to build hype and I think they were very easy for me to get interested in compared to many other groups. And their album did not disappoint!

I won’t go into my specific thoughts on every song but I think the entire album as a whole is very well done. Its cohesive and high energy in a way that doesn’t feel annoying or dull, due to the great musicality from the production team (Hongjoong, Edenary crew, ily). If I had to describe the concept, it’s a sort of trickster concept with a modern, youthful kind of twist. They play around a little bit with varying genres while keeping a distinct Kpop sound as the through-line. I enjoyed it very much and I’ve been listening to it often since release!

(I hear they also have lore. I’m not gonna dive into that until like. Next comeback. It looks complicated and I don’t have enough material to judge yet lol)

When you look for negative opinions of them so far, the biggest thing I’ve seen is that people think they’re too much like Ateez, that KQ is just making them Ateez junior, etc. I can see why they feel like it sounds a bit similar, but at the same time, Ateez has a particular sound that I just… don’t really hear in these tracks? Idk how to describe it, like Ateez songs tend to have a more cinematic feeling most of the time I think? I could see a comparison between this album and maybe Fever part 2, but even then its a very vague similarity and I’ve always felt that particular album kind of stuck out of Ateez’s music. I think if Xikers were under JYP, everyone would compare them to Stray Kids in the same way, right? They just sound like a kpop boy group.

Also… yeah I’m sure KQ is trying to make a follow up to Ateez, one of their most profitable business moves to date (come on, KQ fellaz and then KQ fellaz 2? It’s pretty clear). But the members of Xikers are distinct individuals, and their personalities will naturally influence the direction of their music and performances. They will eventually move out from the shadows of senior performers. Hopefully they can bring something very new or innovative to their second comeback, make a wave like hala hala did but in a whole new way.

Anyway, to close on a positive note, here are some of my favorite things I’ve noticed from Xikers thus far!

Sumin! He’s probably my bias, along with Hunter? Hunter’s dance skills are CRAZY (and he did that one performance to all time hit Juggernaut by my fav Tyler the Creator so I’m. Biased.) Sumin kinda snuck up on me tho, for some reason he reminded me a bit of Changbin? But distinctly different, he has this particular kind of coolness yknow? I’m always rapper biased😔.

In Xikey, Minjae’s shout of “Xikers” rly gave me goosebumps! So powerful, he went all in and it paid off!

Edenary, HJ i am Kissing u deeply for Dynamic, that track fucks severely

Yechan… that kid has some crazy potential and I think everyone knows it. With him as well as the other members, I look forward to learning more about them as individuals and seeing those traits shine through in their music.

[onerabong]

Dm rambles Ch40

When Iryo came to save them all my heart was SWELLING with excitement and joy. He is so badass. Of course he felt it the moment the killer made an appearance, and he comes running right away.

And the way he just LOOKS at the killer first. It’s so chilling. In moments like these you’re acutely reminded of just how absolutely deadly Iryo is. He has complete confidence in his abilities, and he will use them.

Bitch just WALKS up to the killer like it’s nothing, cuz he knows for a fact he’s stronger.

This fight showcases just how much more capable and experienced he is compared to Boros, further highlighting how Boros was just fighting with his purely instinctive powers alone, not of his fault, but because of their difference in rank back in Xaria Vecta. (And their age. Boros is literally just a bby).

This whole Horizon’s refuge arc actually, is a great highlight of that. Like that scene where Iryo teaches Boros how to detect the killer’s energy. It reminded me of this lmao

Anyway, the fight. HOW IS THAT KILLER SO STRONG WTF

To go against IRYO, that is no small feat. Just who is he. And he somehow possesses the power to affect another’s aura. One that isn’t shown on either Iryo or Einaros, as mentioned. (Kinda reminds me of an esper? Or the Mindtaker. Messing with people’s aura. Idk why since none are mentioned to do so)

But Iryo seems to be unaffected by it- or rather, has experience repelling them off? Though he still has to give effort with the sheer power it exudes. And the way it’s described is just- so fucking cool. I have to geek over whenever there’s a fight scene in this fic- it’s just so good. The way Iryo’s red energy flares up. So potent and dangerous but somehow, at the same time, cold and calm like his demeanor. This killer might be deadly, but he’s got nothing on Iryo. This criminal may be a cold blooded killer, but surprise surprise- Iryo is also. Only difference is that Iryo’s been trained for years and years by the strongest in the Universe. Your days are numbered murderer.

But still- to go against THAT. That is very impressive. I can’t wait to see who or what this guy turns out to be. And if they are a robot- though with the mentioned charred flesh it may be a cyborg?- that in itself would be so damn interesting cuz all the powerful beings, including in opm, are organic ones. So to imply that a robotic being can have such an energy- adds so much to this Universe as a whole. (For obvious reasons my mind goes straight to the bald hero’s beloved disciple.)

Oh right and did i mention how Iryo snarling is the most sexiest thing ever. Like. Dude. You’d think he’d be this cold headed soldier that simply follows orders to fight- but no, in this instant you can SEE his Xar instincts- to fight and WIN. He was angry that he was even gave an inch, he was angry that this enemy was able to go against him. That animalistic urge to win in a fight- for him to have shown it- I love this so much you have no idea.

Now- Iryo’s interaction with Boros.

Im not kidding when i say i get giddy when Iryo even mentions Boros. So him calling Boros ‘deserter’ when addressing the others that maybe he could face the killer, and Caleb saying that he could just call him by his name got me smiling crazily like a maniac.

You can imagine my reaction when they eXCHANGED NODS- i was dead that instant. I died.

Iryo was probably just doing it to acknowledge that yea- ur going patrolling, i’ll be here on lookout. Not thinking much of it- and Boros is like- ????????and nODS BACK not knowing what else to do i fucking love this idiot so much. God why is he so cute.

As of now Lumi and Iryo is my favorite duo on the team but if Boros and Iryo keep this up.. and they somehow grow more closer.. i MAY die. That’s a warning.

Anyways, speaking of Lumi.

What Iryo has with her is so SWEET OH GOD IT MAKES ME FORGET ALL ABOUT THE ANGST OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH ZAEL which was exactly what Iryo was thinking too. How different it is. And now he’s admitting that it was very dark and twisted. And he’s realizing that now, admitting to even, (though i’m pretty sure he already knew it was bad even back before everything when to shits) because he has a friend that genuinely cares about him. He can make the comparison now. And it hits all the harder. The way he softens to tell Lumi not to worry- fills my heart with joy and warmth and LOVE I love them so much and I will keep saying that until i die.

And his convo with Draas.

The two antisocial fools coming together with the power of Lumi- is perfect. They agree on one thing, that Lumi is a precious lil bean that they will protect at all costs. As it should be. Draas opening up is always so nice to see, especially to someone he had doubts about at first. And Iryo.

God this fucking albino.

‘,,You mean that I haven’t been useful already?” Iryo retorts, allowing himself a small smirk.

,,Do I get on your nerves?”’

Are you KIDDING ME calm the fuck down diva oh my GOD LMAOOOOO i love this twink so much.

I love that Iryo’s growing more and more comfortable around the pirates- not just for this moment alone, but the way he speaks a lot more with them now, even if it;s mostly case related. He’s a part of the quirky funky crew now and has to accept that.

But still despite all that- his signature professionalism and indifference when they’re in a stressful situation is *chef’s kiss* such a good contrast. The way he looked at Boros with no emotion after the fight. Offering(?) his own energy field for Boros to get back up quickly. All business. I love it.

And lastly-

AERON

first of all the whole robot thing Horizon;s refuge’s got going on is so cool. Like, in any other sci fi universe with robots, star wars for example- they’re treated like seconds to organic beings, no questions asked. But here it’s not- as seen with Aeron, and that in itself was interesting but actually, no. Here in Horizon’s refuge it different. Like the moment you see a robot here you go- huh. That’s just a robot. That;s weird. Cuz we’re so used to Aeron and he’s just a dude. A person.

Anyway, thought it was a very cool background for the robotics in this Universe.

And with this chapter, im now almost certain the killer’s got to do something with Aeron. Maybe it was just his weird field affecting the nearest robot the worst, but maybe something more. Im sure it has connections with his headaches, Valenterra, and his past.

[iruludavare]

{ ooc. Honestly I think about this bit of the interview a lot and the fun fact that while Floette is described as having eternal life, they skirt around describing AZ that way

The giant man named AZ was a surprising addition to the story of the game. Was everybody from 3,000 years ago on the Pokémon planet as big as him? What story was the team trying to express by including this character?

AZ used a machine to bring his beloved Pokémon back to life. By doing so, he gave his Pokémon eternal life, and he was also affected by this. Part of that was him turning into a giant and still living even after 3,000 years have passed. However, unlike his Pokémon, he still grew old. Was living so long a good thing for AZ? Was using the machine to give his Pokémon eternal life a good thing? I wanted to express these things as well as as the differences between the encounters and losses that we experience in our lives compared to what AZ feels about the encounters and losses he has experienced over 3,000 years. However, what I most wanted to express with this character was the bonds between people and Pokémon.

LIKE.... the implications.... his height was, for whatever reason, a side-effect of him being indirectly exposed to the light when reviving Floette. Almost like a curse or a last fuck you from the Aura Trio. He's the Only person who goes through this issue with immortality. Cogita ages yeah, but she wasn't turned into a giant. Floette doesn't age, and she wasn't turned into a giant either. It's like idk divine retribution?? But he's never described as also receiving eternal life like Floette is so?? Is he incredibly long-lived?? Also immortal??

The wording is so interesting. It's not "he gave his pokemon eternal life, and he was affected this way too"/"and he received it too". It's "he was also affected by this". It also implies that he never intended to make Floette immortal-- just revive her. But he didn't know what sort of power he was playing with (which makes sense. It's literally Xerneas' energy) and it bit him in the ass. He's implied to be extremely long-lived and punished for it beyond what we see in-game (aging, still living after 3000 years, the height which... I gesture to his knee brace....) with no way out. What other side effects are there gf??? HELLO????

Honestly, it'd be a cool concept if Xerneas or Arceus cursed him for what he did and they're just keeping him alive to force him to repent for his actions. But even then, not letting him rest once that's happened. Because the laundry list of 'side-effects' he deals with is... it feels very deliberate and not what would normally happen}

[happyendingsong]

5star thots <3

i had sooo much fun with the quarter final night, every match was banger after banger after banger and the crowd was eating it up and i was so excited with the final four.

and unfortunately the finals didn't live up to it for me ! mayu vs maika felt like it ended just as it was getting going which was a bummer, and saya vs hanan was hard to really get into because obviously saya would be going over and we had just seen this match a few days ago.

i wish there was one more big match on the card and not just filling time with anna jay and xena, hashtag hater hashtag the hater's temperment.

the god's eye vs neo genesis match was fun (love the spot of all five members of neo genesis in like a starburst formation crashing into their opp sat at the ring post, so cute). i love getting to build neo genesis's identity as a unit, but i was a little disappointed with this being the next beat in syuri's story after such an on-the-warpath 5star. the promo package for the goddess league used a clip of syuri and saki teaming together and if we get them as a tag team all will be forgiven. <3

hanan looking on during rina and hina's match was sooooo :( <33333

looooved the natsupoi/thekla moments during the cosmic angels vs h.a.t.e. match, woof. a lot of what thekla is doing doesnt fully work for me (like part of her h.a.t.e. manifesto calling out girls holding starbucks coffee cups. boo corny stupid boring fart sfx toilet swirl sfx. call the audience perverts again.) but with everything with natsupoi she brings SUCH great character work.

looove the energy ruaka and yuna are bringing too and i loved yuna getting her licks in! i feel like there's such a disparity between the cosmic angels that means tam/natsupoi/saori (the cule) and the cosmic angels that means all the others, like it's hard imagining them all standing in the same room and having a conversation, let alone being in the same faction and working towards the same goals. (which speaks to what theyre doing with tam being a shit leader, like it does seem like a conscious choice but i wish it manifested in some more friction or smth.) it was v sweet getting some interactions between yuna and poi and saori here at least!

i was really looking forward to the tora vs tam match, especially after the tag team match on the quarterfinal night where tam clocks that tora's knee is also in bits. the second she started targeting the knee, tora just fell apart and tam mocks her for it after, very smugly "we're not so different huh." and tora lashes back like "do not fucking compare us, you havent been through a fraction of what ive endured, ill show you when i finally rip your leg off this weekend" etc.

i loooove that angle. tam wrote that thread about how this 5star was about overcoming the fear she's had with wrestling since coming back from injury at the start of the year. having her knee brutalised again and again and getting these losses made her face that fear head on, and she's finally ready to hit play since time stopped with her match with tora last year.

and it's clear that tora is SO consumed by that fear, like that acl injury took a year and some change off her career and every time she gets an inch she loses all momentum. she's trying to consume tam with it too, she wants to inflict the worse thing that ever happened to her onto tam because she needs to leave her broken. tora offers her the title match not to have a match but to land the finishing blow and kill her herself. idk it's fascinating!! girl the neuroses the paranoia the projecting!!

and we'll see how all this plays out obviously, maybe they're cooking, but i really wanted tora to go over here u_u. i really want tora to be a credible threat and i think there are so many directions to go with this big bad leader of hate compelled by this really deep seated fear and bitterness. i really wanted to give that more time to grow and fester and spill its way into every fracture of the roster so that it'd be way more satisying when love/frindship/whatever eventually wins out.

i wanted tam to get swallowed up by this manifestation of her fear, by someone who was swallowed up themselves. if we're doing tam at rock bottom, lets fucking do tam at rock bottom like ! like having her lose here and have her scratch and claw to earn another title shot at the end of the year or whatever wouldve been so satisfying.

i was really really into the match until the interference stuff. and i loooove shitheel interfernce stuff but h.a.t.e. are always booked to be such fucking morons, this is so humiliatinggggg...... like tora getting the steel chair and hitting tam in the head, HELLO? this whole thing started with her chairing tam's knee, the whole point of this match is meant to be tora getting tam in a confined space to finally saw off the piece of thread holding her ligaments together. why isn't she using the first instance of the ref getting distracted to drop any pretence of this being a sports match to put tam in a saw trap. what's happening.

and oh my god im so sick of h.a.t.e. being used as these bumbling fools what the fuck are we doing...... literally lining up to trip over their own banana peels one by one. like the spot of konami accidentally spraying tora in the face and flailing her arms, then ruaka accidentally crashing into tora and flailing her arms too, MORTIFYING. i wanna be on board with h.a.t.e. sooooo badddddd there's so much fun to be had there but this is such a fucking farce like. can tam even be proud of a win here, like it's such a lose lose for everyone involved. poor tora, jesus christ.

i was pretty sour going into maika vs saya as a result and it took me a while to get into it, but they did kill it and they ended the night on a high note for me! loooooved the spot of maika holding onto saya's wrist and not letting her go as she hits her with the lariat again and again, and then saya doing the same with her kicks. wah.

saya's acting at the end was crazyyyyy, the crybaby heel shit is really really fab as a nod to the "i wanted to see you cry" thing. soppingest wettest meow meow fr.

love u maika <3333333 so glad she got her win here, i was really on edge after tam's win that they'd be going with saya instead but i think maika is still the right call. tam had been saying before maika lost the belt, smth like "bc i had to drop the belt due to injury, maika never got to experience taking the belt out of someone's grasp, someone who poured everything they are into that belt. ill show her what it's like from the other side when i take this belt from her." so there's obviously a lot of ground to build this feud on and they're gonna kill it etc

this is a chapter they never got to have the first time, and im glad they're getting to have it now, but i REALLY wish we were getting it months from now. it's such a shame to treat tora as a footnote in all of this when there's soooo much to be tapped from that. she had a long fucking reign in her! what's the point in pretending h.a.t.e. are this big threat putting the entire company on notice, the successors/dismantlers of both queen's quest and oedo tai, if they're so easily thwarted and forgotten. they're bumbling!!!!!

and with maika and tam, they've already set that match to be a couple weeks from now BOOOOOOOO. why are they so eager to burn through everything so quickly, chew your fucking food!!!!! like there's such an easy and fun plot beat to have in everyone who beat tam in the 5star rocking up to the ring like hello where are our title shots. and tam wanting this gauntlet challenge over a few months overcoming all these past losses from this year, like tam eats that shit up!!!! and then have her vs maika at queendom at the end of the year so there's actual momentum and intrigue in it.

idk this breakneck pace they're doing with everything makes it hard to get my teeth into anything, like it's hard to feel like the investment is gonna be worth the payoff. which sucks that im feeling like this after ive been so into the rest of the 5star! like having tam completely and immediately wipe out was so exciting, and i love how open the field felt for everyone.

it's a shame to end the 5star on a sour note, and maybe it'll be clear in a few months that this was all part of a bigger better plan. one can hope

but jesus christ they need to book h.a.t.e. better. babygirl tora you will always be famous.

[tutuandscoot]

Ok so I’m obsessed with VM’s Rhumba….

Here’s why…

First few things:

E D G E S (I’m not a skater but I have watched enough at this point to know what edges are and that VM have all of them..) so low down in the knees and the side of their boots nearly catching the ice. I know T got called on the edge in the Choctaw in the TE and… again… I’m not a skater but from what I could see.. and I’ve watched this event a lot I really couldn’t see any difference/ stronger edge in any of the the other girls/teams- Tessa’s seemed the same or at least very close in both the TE and IE.. but WHATEVER.. (like even all the commentators said how good it was so idk)

What Tessa does with her arm. She does like a push out movement on the side step that mirrors the movement with their legs-then keeps it beautifully extended into the first Choctaw step. It just works so beautifully with the music and the vibe of it all- she just exudes confidence and the quality of it just adds the the whole ‘sex on ice’ vibes we got.

The… kinda (I can’t think of the exact name for the movement) but on the last ‘OWW’ as the music transitions from SFTD to HC and they’ve already started the rhumba they.. well in ballet it’s like a pas de chaval- but it’s when they extend their right legs to arabesque and bend it while it’s still close to 90 degrees, and like a cat bend it back in as they go into the next step. It’s so musical and so fitting with the animalistic vibes and energy. They’ve done it in the past where on that step they would leave it extended and that was beautiful too, and most teams this year (2018) did an extended leg but it’s turned in and often the legs aren’t matching height. It doesn’t look as good. What VM did with that was just so perfect. They lift from the glute even more to give it extra stretch and height before retracting it. *chefs kiss 💋:

But here’s what I’m really obsessed with:

So I can’t really emphasise enough what a good partner Scott is. Like really I’ve never seen a male dancer partner his girl so seamlessly- make it look so effortless, while at the same time be as charismatic and engaging of a performer and equally talented dancer as their partner. There’s great male ballet partners but usually in ballet- during a pdd, the man is literally just their to support the girl- he isn’t really dancing. In most ballets the structure is the pdd, man solo, girl solo, coda. So what makes Scott so special is he is dancing and partnering her at the same time without ever compromising one of the two. He truly makes it all about her and is not at all resentful of that- he knows people watching her doesn’t mean he is bad- it means he is presenting her and matching all her lines, complementing her movements, playing off her and interacting with her. A lot of male dancers say it’s about the girl but will often compromise or risk their girls’ safety at times- not always intentionally, but they forget that the pdd is about the girl and then they can have their moment in their solos. So what makes VM so unique as dancers (notice I almost always refer to them as ‘dancers’ and not simply ‘skaters’) is in their discipline there is no ‘solos’ (even hardly ever in shows- they are always together unless it’s a boy/girl no.). There’s no chance for one of them to shine without the other- they shine together. Its not quite like you are seeing only one person, but I feel even if you are watching one of them specifically, you are still seeing the other because they’re are so connected and every movement one of them does relies on the other to match/compliment.

So: the one thing I watch on repeat over and over is Scott’s hand placement in the rhumba pattern:

(And it’s not just in the rhumba, it’s anytime he’s holding her like this)

You will notice if you look carefully how far he has his hand around to the front of her waist compared to the top teams:

You will notice of all the teams here (top teams coz there’s no point comparing to lower ranked teams, but for the record I can’t think of another team at all that partners as well as Scott partners Tessa). In the first set of screen shots (sorry.. they’re fuzzy) the guys have their hands flat-palm just sitting on the crest of the girls pelvis, or in Alex’s case on her ribs. What Scott is doing, and you can see it in motion in the top video, is he bends his fingers round and digs into the space- kinda between her abs and her obliques- the soft(er) part/muscle between her ribs and her hip bone. His arm is also bent at nearly 90 degrees which means he holding her much closer than the other guys are holding their girls. The others just have their arm curved around the girl’s back and resting their hand on her side- they aren’t ‘holding’ them, more just ‘touching’ them.

What all this means and shows (at least to me in my experience) is that Scott is actually partnering Tessa through this whole pattern, rather than what the other guys are doing is just doing the steps with their partner. Scott is actually aiding and assisting her through this entire pattern. Giving her that feeling of being lifted (through her upper body), helping her feel lifted out of her hips. The way his arm is bent- he is partnering her with his whole arm (really his whole body) but he can make minor adjustments without anyone seeing them because he is holding her so close. If she is a little off balance, or to close/far away, he can use his forearm to bring her back a bit, or give her more space if she needs it. You will see in the top video how as they step right, left (just before it cuts out) that he re adjusts his grip. He reaches his hand around a little further and digs his fingers in again and lifts in and up towards her ribs. If you go and watch every performance of this- you’ll see he does this hand movement on this exact step every time.

He isn’t helping her through this because she needs assistance- as if she’s weak and doesn’t have the strength to skate it and hold herself up, it is literally him being the perfect partner for her and making it easier for her so she can use her upper body and feel more free. You will also notice in the second set- him holding her left hand- how parallel her lower arm is to his upper arm. Again, go watch any performance of this- his left arm DOES NOT MOVE. It is so strong and ridged. He is basically acting as a ballet barre for her- screwed into the wall that doesn’t move, so Tessa and lean in an out of his hand, use it for balance and feel her whole left side stable. He is holding her so steady that there is no movement in her left arm at all- it stays so straight. This whole pattern is almost like he is driving her through it. Having his left arm so strong and ridged however, isn’t visible, that stiffness isn’t reciprocated in the rest of his body. His neck is so lose and he too is able to express through his upper body, while being so strong and supporting for Tessa.

You will see compared to other teams, how this partnering allows them to match. Their lines are better because they are closer together. If you look at the second set with B/S - he is the one guy who is holding her kinda like Scott with his right hand, but his left hand is not assisting her, they are much further apart and their hips aren’t level.. in that second set with VM, their shoulders are level, her free hand extended is in a straight line with her left and his upper arm holding her. Their hips are only centimetres apart and are at the exact same level and completely square. Free legs PERFECTLY parallel and straight and POINTED with THEIR HEELS REACHING FORWARD WHICH MEANS THEY ARE TURNING OUT FROM THE TOPS OF THEIR LEGS (urrggghbb I can feel my piriformis switching on just writing this, FUCK I love them 💞).. their chests lifted without pocking their ribs out (no banana backs) and those beautiful, confident smiles. Seriously this whole pattern is perfection and like honestly, the neck kiss was a moment, but this is like satisfaction porn..

I love this slo-mo part where they (idk what it’s called in skating so I’ll just say it’s a pivot round the corner..)

But just watch his right hand. The way he shapes it, uses his fingers to direct her, the heel of his hand and his wrist/forearm to form like an arch for her to sit in where he can use each part of his hand/arm he needs so keep her on balance. Watch in the second gif how far his around his fingers are and presses into her abs as she combrés forward, he is holding her steady to give her freedom in her upper body to bend forward while staying on balance. You can see as they complete the last bit of the pivot he pulls her closer to make it round the corner. (Like pulling tight at the end of a spin to go faster- create less friction against the air). Straight after that you can see he shifts his hand as their transfer weight to their left leg, he moves it more to the back of her hip to use the heel of his hand to assist her in changing direction- as she as to step her steps out a little further- and he is more doing his on a pivot point as she goes from being in front of him facing the front to stepping in front of him facing the back in only one ‘ball change’ (sort of step).

The way he shapes his arm reminds me of how guys are to taught (at least the guys at my school) how to do partnered pirouettes: they are taught, when the girl is standing on point, or in 4th preparing to relieve to pirouette, if you are turning to the right, (which most of the time we are) to have (I think it’s this way around but I could be mixing it up) to have their left hand in an ‘L’ shape and their right hand with their fingers on the crest of our hips, the left hand in the L shape is for us to ‘sit’ in as we turn, and kind of keeps us on our axis (like a spinning top) where as the right hand does the turning, flicking our hip around, in each turn. Here’s a gif of some partnered pirouettes not that you can really see the hand technique but give you an idea: (they aren’t really doing this technique- that more for training but with multiple pirouettes like this there’s more movement to keep us spinning, btw this is Marianela Nunez for the Royal Ballet who is STUNNING and reminds me soooo much of Tessa)

So what Scott is going here in the rhumba is he is doing the job of both the left and right hand all in his right + arm.

I would really be so interested to hear about VM’s off ice training coz even tho the basis of Ice Dancing is ballroom- I see so many similarities to ballet/contemporary partnering in their programs- so I wonder if they did lots of off-ice pdd and partnering training because with don’t see this type of partnering in other teams.

You will also notice if you watch any version of this, but I especially noticed it on the olys version, he talks to her the whole way through it- up until the the end of the side step where they curve round into the Choctaw and the judges can obviously see them. I like to think the little minor squeezes and adjustments he makes with his right hand are also little communications.

Again, this has nothing to with Tessa being weak and him needing to support her. It’s literally just good partnering. It’s the tiniest little things he’s doing but it just helps her so much and makes it so easy for her. That’s his superior partnering skills and him just putting her safety and ease of movement as first priority. Like other guys probably don’t even see the difference. So many skaters are taught by the same small group of coaches at this level so I don’t really think it’s something-a style taught- I think that’s something TS mostly developed between themselves, however there are clips from when they were very young where you see he has similar hand placement, so it could be something their first coaches taught them. The big difference, just me imagining doing these steps and knowing what it feels like to be partnered well and also by weaker partners, there is so much difference and just watching all these teams, I can feel that Tessa feels so much more assured and supported in her movement than the other girls would, just by the way the guys are partnering in this killian hold. It’s the difference between doing really hard ballet steps at the barre vs in the centre, or like if you start class in the centre without barre and it takes you so much longer to find you legs (balance)-being at the barre is just inherently easier.

The other difference is Scott and Tessa are doing it together- they are connected and their partnering just as intricate and necessary as their skate placement. All the other teams- they are touching just coz it’s necessary- they aren’t actually helping each other. The guys are just resting their right hands on the girls hip. That’s not helping her in anyway. Funnily enough it’s kinda the same approach some teams have to the whole sport- only touching coz they have to. TS’s partnering is literally the core of their programs- it’s so complicated and so nuanced and they way partner is like a language of communication. They talk through their programs but I feel lots of talking also goes on just by the way he shifts his hand or squeezes her.

Everything about what they do is just crazy fascinating when you get down to the tiny details.

[haleigh-sloth]

We're due to get like at least 5 more pages so there is some stuff we are missing, obviously.

But, thoughts on the summary and the leaked panels so far:

I stand by what I said after last chapter---this wasn't really positive development for Bakugo--he still isn't there yet. I mean.....show me where the positive development was. I don't see it. Team work is great and all, but when the team you're working with is not so great idealistically, by the story's standards, well, things don't work out for you.

This is definitely NOT Bakugo's "greatest moment" 🙄

Bakugo getting seriously injured is really rough, but no I don't think he's out of the battle after this, so....hopefully hysteria doesn't arise from this. I don't have the energy.

As I guessed based off of last week, Bakugo went for the kill, and now....things are worse. This battle is so much mirroring Endeavor vs. AFO, and the tables are turning in the villains' favor at both of these battlefields (it's supposed to), and now Bakugo is seriously injured. They both lost use of their right arm, even if Bakugo's will be fixed later---they both went for the kill and now they're going to have a very difficult time for the rest of the war it seems. Again, not to compare the two characters, but these fights are distinctly similar and paralleling each other. There is development and growth to be had for both of them, clearly.

The identity crisis is still happening (I mean, it's not gonna stop any time soon). It seems to go back and forth between Shigaraki and AFO, at certain times. If the summary is accurate though, it seems that Shigaraki is the one connecting Bakugo to Midoriya in this moment, as the lip scar that was previously very noticeably NOT there, is there when he is saying this.

The Big 3....tbh I'm not expecting much. I was wondering why Mirio wasn't brought to this battle field at first because he's perfect to combat decay, so it's cool that he's there. But tbh....I don't care lol. He always gets a super grand entrance and it never really matters later, I'm not expecting anything different here. Yes, they'll probably have a badass "Big 3" moment next chapter, but honestly, how much will that really hold up in the end lol.

Some rambles that aren't super serious:

Shigaraki....that one panel, Horikoshi stop it I can't take it. He's too pretty

Bakugo, you don't deserve what's happening to you, but the growth is coming and I'm sure you'll have no regrets later

Hori please don't dedicate an entire chapter to the Big 3, I am begging you, we don't need it

Aizawa...I hope your time is coming soon. I'm sure when we get back to Spinner we'll finally kick start your growth

I don't think Shigarako/ShigAFO is gonna kill Bakugo, as stated that he could be useful. So maybe, just maybe, Shig will take kidnap him again and leave Sky-High UA (idk how this would happen but god I can dream)

This looks like a fantastic chapter, and I'm so excited.

[hotwaterandmilk]

Have you been watching the new Tokyo Mew Mew anime? If so, what do you think?

Hi, thanks for the question! Yes, I have been watching Tokyo Mew Mew New, but I don't have a lot of insight to share and I think a lot of that owes to my age and overall interest level in magical girl titles post-2000.

TMM was a formative magical girl series for many young people in the early 2000's. However, when it was being published in Nakayoshi I had stopped buying the magazine regularly and basically moved on to other things, so for me it really didn't leave much of an impact.

The original anime adaptation left even less of an impression on me because 2002 had things like RahXephon, Princess Tutu, GitS:SAC, Witch Hunter Robin, Gravion, and all manner of other anime that I focused more of my energy on obtaining (and back then, boy did it take a lot of energy to get fansubs).

What I'm trying to articulate is that Tokyo Mew Mew is something that I've watched and read, but due to my own circumstances it has never been a stand-out title in my mental map of anime/manga. So coming to Tokyo Mew Mew New I really didn't have many expectations and now that I've watched it... I still don't really have any strong feelings either?

Why the long face? Horsie DNA?

I think overall the attempt to be true to Ikumi Mia's updated designs is admirable, everyone looks good when they're in key scenes. It does feel as though the animation slips "off" throughout these first 3 episodes and is operating within a particular budget though. The animation here is hardly comparable to the awful magical girl reboot animation we saw in Sailor Moon Crystal's broadcast version, I do think that the fact TMMN looks decent most of the time makes those moments of off proportions or long faces stick in my mind more than, say, the first anime adaptation (where everyone looks wonky all the time and nothing matters).

This looks cute, 0 notes.

No shade to the artists, I feel like Ishino Satoshi has done well returning to these characters he clearly feels passionate about designing for animation and the animation team is really working hard. And I absolutely LOVE that they kept in all the ridiculous expressions from the manga. It's just this anime is a mid-level project from Yumeta Company and Graphinica, neither of which are fantastic studios. Still, the passion is there and I respect the team for doing their best. Natori, the director, is very average in my opinion though, there's nothing that stands out much about his work here (so many of the shots etc. reflect the manga which is good but also not overally inventive or challenging for viewers).

When looking at the approach to the story I really respect that they went with the changes Ikumi helped develop before her death. I know a lot of people want anime to be 100% accurate to the original manga and that's definitely an opinion plenty share, but I appreciated that they went with something different here and respected the way the original creators wanted to change their work after 20 years. It's a gamble to do something like that and I think it pays off, it changes things up a little but feels respectful to the vision the creators wanted so yeah.

TFW the DNA hits

In saying that though, damn I wish they changed some of the crappier aspects of the series. The lack of consent re: The Mew Project's DNA Digivolving sciencemagic is something that could have been adjusted quite easily here, but they opted to keep it basically the same. Hey kid, you're part animal now go fight. Ryou grabbing Ichigo's face like she's a fucking bread roll. Ichigo just bleating on and on about romance and first kisses. Minto now kind of stalking Ichigo to set her up for the DNA digivolving sciencemagic knowing what she’s in for and not giving her the chance to make an informed choice on her own? Idk man, I feel like a lot of this could have been changed to be less icky quite easily without impacting the characters or scenario too much. Maybe that’s just me.

:) gonna get u filled with hot DNA

Umm what else? It's all very rushed (I mean 12 ep season, no shocks there) and while that's very much on par for the course I still feel like if you had no background with this title whatsoever it would be difficult to get invested in these characters at this point. Rettasu is the one with the most background given in these first few eps, Minto remains a cipher, Ichigo’s character is extremely tied to Masaya’s and Bu-Ling is monke hehe acrobatics. There’s no meat on the bones of these introductory episodes.

So she was made of chimps!

Not a criticism of TMMN specifically though, I should point out. We only just saw the exact same INTRO INTRO INTRO INTRO INTRO thing happen in the Majo Kaitou LIP☆S manga recently where it felt like having a cannon loaded with a new magical girl pointed at your face every chapter for the first half dozen months of serialisation. I get why they do it, got to get those girls introduced and all the little trinkets out there for kids to latch onto, but it still makes forming an attachment with adaptations like TMMN a little tough if you don't already know that there's more to these girls than what is shown ever so briefly in these first few eps.

Hey, I just met you and this is crazy. But who are you, and why we dressed all same-y?

The seiyuu are fine, I think they all sound about right for each character. The one area where TMMN does nothing for me at all though is the OP/ED, they’re extremely generic and while the ED at least gets close to recapturing some of the spirit of the original ED, the OP is just... put the nonsense lyrics aside and it could be for almost any generic series airing right now. There’s nothing that makes it stand out and that’s a shame, because if you’re forming a seiyuu group for a show at least give them some decent bangers (Franchouchou, for example, objectively rules and they’re a seiyuu group formed for a random anime so... it’s doable).

I think at the end of the day if TMM was a series that meant a lot to you growing up, you’ll appreciate revisiting the tale in a modern adaptation. Yeah there’s always plenty to nit-pick, but it’s rare to see shoujo anniversary adaptations like this and I’d love to see more titles get a chance at a redo so I hope TMMN does decently for those involved in its production. The loss of Ikumi Mia before this adaptation started airing has definitely put a sombre spin on things for me, but knowing how much she wanted this to succeed and how much she cared about this series made me watch the episodes going, “This isn’t for me but I’m glad other people love this and are having fun.” And ultimately that’s my take on the whole thing.

:)

Is it going to reset the magical girl genre? No, I don’t think so. Does it do anything shocking and new? Not particularly. Is it comforting for adults who have grown up in the past 20 years to watch something that cares about the environment and is joyful about life even after *gestures at the world* ALL THIS SHIT? Yes, and I think there’s value in that even if I’m a bit too old to have the same level of investment as people in their 20s.

[procrastinatingsapphictrash]

Oblivious

Word count: 12,961

Genre: Pining but fluff?

Pairing: Carol x fem!reader

Warnings: drinking sort of (let me know if I need to add any)

Summary: Carol flirts, you're oblivious and Natasha is done with it.

A/n: So this is the first fic I've finished in months. It's also the longest fic I've ever written and the one I've spent the most time on. Also for some reason I thought this was a request but I can't find the request so maybe it wasn't. Usually I have them labelled but for some reason I labelled this "sort of request" so idk. If you gave me this idea credits to you I guess! I haven't edited this so sorry if there are mistakes but other than that I hope you'll like it!

“Hey cutie.”

Carol’s voice distracts you from your idle chit chat with Natasha as you wait for the rest of the team to show up for training. If it weren’t for the fact that her wink is sent in your direction you would have thought she was talking to Natasha.

“Hey Carol, what’s up” Your voice is awkwardly squeaky and you scratch the back of your neck with one hand, never sure what to do with your body around her. Thankfully she doesn’t seem to notice any of your odd behaviour. Although perhaps it’s because you always act weird around her so she doesn’t know any different.

“Ready for training today? It’s Steve’s turn to run it so it’s guaranteed to be a tough one.”

It takes a second for the words to process in your mind and you scramble for a response before the silence gets too long. “Um yeah! I think so. But unlike some people I don’t have powers to make it easier.”

“They do come in handy sometimes,” she agrees, “although I think it’s best for everyone that you don’t, you’d be too powerful with them.”

You feel your heart flutter at her praise. “You flatter me.”

“Just the truth babe.”

She winks again and your heart skips a beat. She called you babe! And winked at you! You have to use logic and remind yourself that she didn’t mean it in the way you want her to. Carol is just a friend and the sooner you remind yourself of that the better. You aren’t too fond of getting your heart broken.

“Y/n?” Carol’s voice brings you back from your thoughts.

“What?”

She’s looking at you weird. “Did you hear my question?”

“Oh sorry I must have spaced.” You give a forced laugh that sounds strange to your ears.

“No problem! I just wanted to know if you want to do some weight training with me?”

You want to say yes but you’re not sure if you can spend any more time with her. If you can’t control yourself within a two minute conversation when Natasha is standing beside you for support you definitely can’t spend more than that alone with her.

“I should probably save my energy for group training so I’ll just watch for now, maybe next time.”

“Next time.” she says and sounds a little disappointed before perking up. “I guess I better show off a little and use the heavy weights if a pretty girl like you is watching.”

You’re not sure what to say in response but Carol doesn’t seem to expect one, walking away to the corner where all the weights that are too heavy for normal humans are. It takes all your effort to peel your eyes away from her and to turn back to a smirking Natasha.

“Very smooth Y/n.”

You give her your best glare which admittedly isn’t very good compared to hers. “Shut up.”

Being the person that she is, she completely ignores you. “Could you be any more obviously in love with her?”

“I’m not in love!” you protest. You’re not sure if you’re trying to convince Natasha or yourself. You know you have feelings for Carol and you know Nat knows about them (she’s a spy, she knows about everything) but that doesn’t mean it’s love. Being in love with her scares you because you know she is way out of your league and there’s no way it would end in anything but hurt.

“That would be a lot more convincing if you weren’t trying to sneak glances at her right now.”

You flush and scowl at the same time. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t, you just hate how I’m right.”

“Nope I hate you.”

She doesn’t reply and you lapse into comfortable silence. Natasha often likes to be together without actually talking which is part of the reason you like being friends with her because you feel the same way. Today however the silence gives you too much time to think. You don’t want your mind to focus on the fact that you can see Carol’s arm muscles flexing as she does her reps or that you can see a single bead of sweat making its way down her forehead. It’s not anything you should care about but you can’t tear your eyes away from her.

She’s unfairly attractive and she’s confident enough to know it. You find cockiness annoying usually but Carol never seems to put herself above anyone else, she just is confident in her own skin. Which makes her even more attractive.

As if she can hear you thinking she looks up from the mat directly at you and you snap your gaze away, your cheeks burning. You want to look back and see what she’s thinking but you can practically feel her eyes on you and making eye contact after you were just caught staring is too embarrassing. Natasha being the amazing friend that she is takes pleasure in your embarrassment and you can see her chuckling quietly beside you.

“It’s not funny.”

“You’re right it’s not funny. It’s hilarious.”

You give her a mock glare, unable to be fully mad at her. For all her teasing Natasha could be quite helpful when giving advice which is something you sorely need since you can’t seem to even talk to Carol without getting flustered anymore.

“What do I do?”

“Ask her out.” She says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“I can’t do that.”

She scoffs. “You totally can. Just go up to Carol and say ‘wanna bang’ and I guarantee she’ll say yes.”

You roll your eyes. “Natasha be serious.”

“Fine,” she relents, “I still think you should ask her out though. Maybe bring her flowers and ask her to a nice restaurant or something like that.”

“Does Carol seem like the type of person to like flowers?”

“Maybe not,” she admits, “but Carol would love anything coming from you.”

It’s your turn to scoff now. “That’s not true.”

“It’s definitely true, that girl is completely in love with you.”

“You don’t have to say that just because you’re my best friend.” you tell her. Natasha isn’t usually one to lie but she can also be protective of you so you assume she’s trying to protect your feelings.

“I’m not lying, I’m surprised you can’t tell.”

“Can’t tell what?” You don’t want to listen to Natasha’s obvious lies but your curiosity gets the better of you.

“How in love with you she is. She’s always flirting with you.”

That brings out a small laugh. “She has never flirted with me.”

“So she wasn’t flirting when she came over here to talk to you?”

“No?” Your response is more of a question. You don’t think she was flirting with you because why would she? But Natasha knows way more about relationships and reading people than you do so you can’t help but begin to trust her a little.

“Y/n.” Natasha sounds exasperated. “We were both here but she ignored me the entire time because she wanted to talk to you. She was flirting with you.”

You let yourself entertain the idea for a second. The thought of Carol flirting with you makes you feel all warm and fluttery inside. But no. You push the thought out of your mind as quickly as it came in. Carol wasn’t flirting with you and you can’t allow yourself to get your hopes up and start daydreaming like this. The more you delude yourself the more it will hurt when Carol inevitably starts dating someone better.

“She wasn’t flirting.”

“Y/n I know what flirting looks-”

“She wasn’t. Now let it be, training is about to start.”

Natasha doesn’t look happy about it but she stays quiet. She knows pushing you right now won’t help and will only close you off from the idea more. She doesn’t know exactly what made you suddenly become closed off but she can guess. It breaks her heart a little to know that you don’t see yourself as good enough for Carol when she knows that you are incredible and Carol should be the one worrying about not being good enough for you. Perhaps she’s biased since she’s your best friend but you deserve better than anyone could give you. She just wishes you could see it for yourself.

You can tell Natasha’s thinking and wants to say more but you ignore her as Steve calls the team to group so he can start training. Natasha may be right about a lot of things but she has to be wrong sometimes, this being one of them. There’s no way Carol is into you and you have to keep telling yourself that so you don’t get your hopes up. The best way to deal with your little crush is to try to ignore it until you get over her.

---

“Y/n, wait up!”

You sigh as you hear Carol rushing to run to catch up with your quick pace. You had purposely gone in the opposite direction of your room which was where you were trying to go because you saw Carol in the hall and was trying to avoid her but apparently it had all been for nothing since she spotted you anyways.

“Hey.”

“You’re a hard person to find lately, how have you been?”

You feel kind of guilty about that. The truth is you’ve been purposely avoiding her for a few weeks now, ever since the day at training when you decided that you needed to try to get over her. You had quickly realized that it was impossible to get over her when you saw her constantly so you’ve been doing your best to fill your days with paperwork and missions so you were at the compound as little as possible and you tried to find ways to stay out of her way even when you were here. Natasha knows what you’re doing and obviously disapproves but she hasn’t confronted you yet and your plan to get over Carol is working. Or so you thought because although you had stopped thinking about her twenty four seven now that she’s back in front of you you can feel your chest get tighter and your heart beat faster.

“I’ve been busy but good.” you tell her simply.

“Cool.” she casually stuffs her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “Are you going to Tony’s party tonight?”

“Yeah, I think we all have to, right?”

“Tony did say it was mandatory.” she confirms. “I have to admit I’m a little nervous, I haven’t been to a proper earth party since I got my powers and I’m not sure I know how to behave.”

You can’t imagine Carol being nervous around people since she is so charismatic but you try to comfort her anyways. “It’s Tony’s party, nobody is going to make a bigger fool of themselves but him so you have nothing to worry about.”

She smiles knowing you’re right about Tony making a fool of himself. “I still want to make sure I make a good impression, maybe you could help?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. We could go together and you can teach me how to act and make sure I don’t do anything too stupid.”

“Are you sure I would be good at that? I’m not the best at talking to people.” You don’t know how to have conversations nearly as smoothly as most people and you’re even worse when Carol’s around so you’re not sure why she’d ask you for help.

She frowns slightly. “You’re great at talking to people-”

“Doubtful.”

“-and even if you are awkward we can be awkward together and it could be fun! Please come to Tony’s party with me.”

Your traitorous brain imagines what it would be like if she was asking you to the party as a date instead of as a friend for help. You want to say no because you know that spending time with her dressed up at a party will only complicate your feelings for her but it’s impossible for you to say no to Carol, especially when she looks so hopeful.

“Sure.”

She beams. “Thank you so much!”

“It’s no problem, it could be fun.” you say smiling back. You don’t care that you’ve just made a stupid decision because her smile is infectious and you love it when she’s happy. You forgot just how much you missed her smile during your past few weeks avoiding her.

“Of course it will be! It’s always fun to spend time with you, I’ve missed seeing you around recently.” She says it so casually like it’s no big deal but you can feel the butterflies in your stomach. It’s things like this that make you like Carol so much, how sweet she can be without even trying.

“You too.” you say and immediately cringe at yourself. You hate yourself for getting so awkward whenever you get flustered. Luckily she doesn’t comment on your weirdness, only smiles brightly at you.

“Well I’ll leave you to get ready then, is it okay if I pick you up from your room a few minutes before it starts?”

You nod mutely, not trusting yourself to give a proper answer anymore. The way she says it makes heat rush through your cheeks because her wording makes it sound like she’s picking you up for a date. Which she’s not, you remind yourself.

“I’ll see you in a few hours then Y/n.” she says and then with a wink she’s walking away. You stay rooted to the spot for a second before shaking your head and moving on. You have to keep yourself calm and focused tonight, you can’t let yourself get distracted by how pretty or nice she is because you can’t allow yourself to fall any further for her. As much as you know she might tease you Natasha is definitely good at giving advice about controlling emotions and she is the only one you trust not to blab about it to others so you head to her room.

Natasha isn’t there when you arrive but you let yourself in anyways and make yourself comfortable while you wait for her. You know it annoys her a little to come in to find you already there but annoying her is part of the fun. You’re not really in the mood to wait long since the party is only in a few hours and you need all the time you can get to prepare so luckily it’s only a few minutes before Natasha bursts in.

When she spots you she sighs. “Seriously Y/n.”

“It’s an emergency! I need your help for the party tonight.”

“The party you claimed you were going to ditch as soon as possible because you hate parties?” she asks skeptically and you remember ranting about how stupid Tony’s parties are yesterday.

“Well I changed my mind and now I need you to help.” you say with a small pout. “Please?”

She sighs. “Fine. I’m guessing this has something to do with Carol?”

“Why would this have anything to do with Carol?” you ask, trying to play it cool. She gives you a glance that makes you feel like she can see right through you and you hate how easy it is for her to read what you’re thinking.

“Fine, yes this has something to do with Carol.”

She smirks. “So was she the one who asked you to the party or were you the one who asked her?”

“Tasha, no teasing.” you tell her. “Neither of us asked the other to the party. Well technically she asked me to go with her but in a platonic way.”

Natasha gives you her signature look which is a mixture of affection and annoyance. You’re one of the only people she ever looks at like that and you definitely are the one who she looks at like that most often.

“Y/n,” she starts slowly, like you’re stupid, “she did not ask you to the party in a platonic way. Carol likes you.”

“As a friend.”

Natasha closes her eyes and takes a deep breath to try not to get too annoyed. “I can almost guarantee that’s not the case, tell me what happened.”

“Nothing much.” you say, ignoring her eyeroll. “She said that she hasn’t been to any parties like this and doesn’t know how to act so she wanted to go with me so I can help her.”

“That is the most obvious excuse I have heard in my life.”

“It wasn’t an excuse.”

Natasha can almost feel physical pain from how oblivious you are being. “It was definitely an excuse. You know I love you Y/n but if she wanted help with social situations she would have come to me or Sam or someone else who knows how to talk to people normally.”

“I can talk to people normally.” you mutter, not hurt by her comments because even though you deny them you know it’s true.

“Not the point,” she says, “the point is that Carol is in love with you and you’re too blind to notice.”

“Tasha.”

“Y/n.”

You both stare at each other for a moment before Natasha breaks the silence with yet another sigh. She’s been sighing a lot lately.

“I know I’m not going to be able to convince you but when you’re with her tonight I want you to watch her actions because she’s flirting with you and if you pay attention it is obvious.”

“Fine.” Natasha hasn’t quite given up but she isn’t pushing you on the subject too much so the least you can do is meet her in the middle.

“Good. Now what did you need my help with?”

“Tips on how to act less…” you trail off, unable to find the right words.

“Less like a schoolgirl with her first crush?” she teases and you nod.

“Maybe not the way I would like to put it but yes.”

She smiles mischievously. “You have come to the right person. So first of all…”

You listen as she details ways to stay focused, to not get flustered and to take control over conversations. You know most of her advice is going in one ear and out the other but you like to think that enough of it is sticking so that you won’t make a complete fool out of yourself tonight. She even tries to teach you how to seduce Carol but you quickly move her away from that topic. The only thing you need to do tonight is not get too flustered and trying to seduce someone who sees you as a friend would be a complete disaster.

Eventually time starts to run out and Natasha kicks you out of her room so you both can get dressed and put on some makeup. You’ve thankful now that Natasha forced you to buy a dress specifically for this party because originally you had just planned on grabbing an old one. You hate how you want to make yourself look good just for Carol but when you think about going with her you can’t help but take extra care as you do your hair and apply eyeliner.

---

Natasha waits until you’ve left the room before letting a huge smile take over her face. Just because you can’t see Carol meant it as a date doesn’t mean she is oblivious too and this is the perfect opportunity to finally make something happen. Carol has been flirting with you for ages - another thing she can see that you can’t - but she has never said or done anything bold that couldn’t be passed off as a friendly complement until now.

She wastes almost no time making her way out of her room and into the hall because even if she won’t need to spend as much time getting ready as you (because she doesn’t have a certain someone to impress), she doesn’t want to be rushing around at the last minute.

Carol’s room isn’t far but it’s not close either, giving her the perfect amount of time to go over what she should say in her head. She knows she should start off teasingly. It would make Carol nervous and unsure of what to expect from the conversation which would give her the advantage. In the back of her mind Natasha acknowledges that perhaps gaining the advantage in a conversation was not something normal people do when talking to their friends but she also recognizes that Carol is anything but normal and since she is overpowered in every way, the only way Natasha can have an advantage is through mind games.

She knows she shouldn’t be too hard on Carol though and after a bit of teasing she should provide support and ideas to help. You would never forgive her if she scared Carol away from you and she would never forgive herself (although she is tempted to try to scare her away because anyone who is scared by her is not fit to date you in her books). But that doesn’t mean she can’t have a little fun.

Natasha knocks when she reaches the door and Carol pulls it open almost immediately. When she sees that it’s Natasha she pales a little and Natasha barely conceals a smug smirk.

“Hi Nat,” Carol says a little wary, “not that I don’t love talking to you but why are you here? I don’t think you’ve ever been to my room before.”

“No I haven’t,” Natasha answers while avoiding Carol’s question, “may I come in?”

“Of course, you can stand or sit down wherever.”

She steps to the side and opens the door further for Natasha who wanders in and surveys the room. She doesn’t say anything but Carol fidgets, feeling like she is being judged. After a silence long enough to be awkward for Carol, Natasha finally stops looking around and sits down on the edge of Carol’s bed, looking as though she has been there many times before.

“It’s a little messy.”

“Oh,” Carol stutters and quickly tries to explain herself, “there’s not usually so many clothes on the floor, I was just trying on some different suits and dresses trying to figure out which one to wear tonight.”

Her explanation only backfires when Natasha smiles lightly and raises an eyebrow. “Trying to make a good impression for your date with Y/n tonight?”

“W-what???”

Carol’s expression is comical and Natasha can see her thoughts displayed plainly across her face.

“Is it not a date?” Her voice is the definition of innocence but her smirk makes it obvious she quite enjoys making Carol look as pale as a ghost.

“NO! I mean just- did Y/n say it was a date?”

“No but she’s oblivious to the fact that you want it to be.”

Carol laughs nervously. “What do you mean, no I don’t.”

“Don’t lie.”

“I don’t.”

“Carol…” Natasha warns and Carol sighs, knowing that she’s lost this argument.

“Fine but you can’t say anything to Y/n, please.”

“Too late for that,” Natasha tells her. “But you have nothing to worry about because as I said Y/n is oblivious and didn’t believe me.”

Carol lets out the breath she had been holding in. “Thank god, I know it’s obvious that I have feelings for her but I don’t want her to know because I really am okay with just being friends and I don’t want to ruin it.”

“You won’t ruin anything.” Natasha promises. “But the thing you should know is that you are also very oblivious.”

“What does that mean- no that’s impossible.”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Natasha watches as Carol processes the conversation and takes a few steps back, dropping into a seated position on the bed. She can see the thoughts racing around in her head and the small smile that grows and grows, lighting up her face when she finally seems to make sense of the fact that you have feelings for her too.

“What do I do?”

“Flirt, tell her you’re in love with her, and then ask her on a date.”

“Easier said than done, I meant how do I do it.”

“That’s up to you to figure out.” Natasha says heading for the door. “I believe in you.”

“Thank you.”

Just before Natasha leaves she pauses. “Oh and Carol? You hurt her and nobody will ever find your body.”

On that note she leaves a very confused yet excited Carol in her room as she sauntered down the hall back to hers to get ready, her job done. Now the only thing left to do was hope Carol actually did something about the information.

---

Your fingers tip tap on your thigh as you sit on the edge of your bed, playing with the hem of your dress. The silky fabric slides through your fingers too easily and not having something to hold is making you anxious. You’d tried pacing but walking in heels isn’t very fun and you don’t want to get blisters before the night starts. You know you look good yet you are worried about how Carol will react. What if she doesn’t like the colour green on you and takes one look before deciding she’d rather go alone? It’s stupid you know, even if Carol didn’t like your dress she would be kind about it but you can’t stop the negative thoughts from making their way into your brain.

A knock on your door startles you to your feet and you accidentally step on your toe with your heel and go crashing down. It must have made a big thump because you can hear Carol’s voice through the door.

“Are you okay in there Y/n?”

You stumble to your feet, wincing at the pain in your toe that you hope will go away soon. Smoothing out your dress you walk to the door.

“I’m fine.” you say, swinging the door open. “Hi.”

“Hi yourself, you look gorgeous.” she compliments, her eyes running up and down appreciatively. You mean to compliment her back but the words get stuck because to your surprise (and great happiness) she is wearing a suit. It’s black and textured and somehow makes her look feminine and masculine at the same time.

“Y/n?” she asks and you realize you’ve been staring for nearly a minute. Your cheeks burn.

“You look pretty and handsome.” you tell her. Your voice comes out all squeaky and much to your embarrassment she lets out a small laugh.

“Glad you think so, are you ready to go?” She holds out her arm and you stare at it a moment before you realize she means for you to take it. Awkwardly because you’ve never done this before you hook your arm through hers.

“Thank you.”

She looks over with a light smile. “No problem, I have to be a gentle woman after all.”

You smile back shyly and resist the urge to rub the back of your neck with your free hand like you always do when you’re nervous. You can feel your heart beating fast and even as you walk in silence through the halls to the event room it doesn’t slow down, the feeling of your bare arm against her suit all that you can think about.

“So what should I expect?” she asks when you reach the entrance. There aren’t any people around since everyone but the avengers were using the main entrance instead of the side one.

“What?”

“From Tony’s parties. You’re helping me remember?”

Stupid stupid stupid you remind yourself. You had gotten so caught up in things you had completely forgotten that the whole reason she’s with you is so you can help her at the party. She’s looking at you expectantly so you use Natasha’s advice to push all the thoughts outside of your head so you can focus on answering her.

“Right. So at first the party is kind of slow and there are a lot of boring business people but people quickly let loose and it can be kind of wild. Usually we end the night with just us avengers once everybody else leaves but you don’t need to worry about that part.”

She looks concentrated, like she’s hanging on to your every word and it suddenly occurs to you that you’re still hooked around her arm so you pull away, doing your best to act natural. Her gaze is intense and you’re not used to it being on you for so long so it’s hard not to fidget.

“Where are you going?” she asks after a pause.

“Nowhere.” Your brows furrow, confused by what she means.

“Then why did you let go?”

“Because we’re going into the party now?” Your answer is more of a question because you don’t know what she’s getting at.

“But I thought you agreed to help me make a good impression.”

“So?”

“So how could I make a better impression than walking in with a pretty girl on my arm?”

You try to fight the smile that springs to your face because you don’t want to look like a dork but you can’t help it, she called you pretty. Her words bounce around your mind so that you can barely think and you tell yourself to get your act together. She obviously only said that to convince you to walk in with her and she doesn’t mean it in any way beyond complementing your appearance. Even so, the smile doesn’t leave your face.

“I guess you’re right.”

It’s her turn to smile as you move back and resume your previous position attached to her arm. She wasn’t lying about making a good impression but that is definitely not the only reason she wanted you with her.

“You ready to go in m’lady?”

“Of course, lead the way my brave knight.” you tell her, giggling slightly. She looks over at you with a smile mixed with an expression you can’t quite place before she starts walking, pulling you along with her.

As you had told her it would be the party doesn’t seem like much of a party when you enter. It’s mostly old rich white men in suits talking business and gambling. You aren’t too fond of this part and if the way Carol scrunches her nose up in disgust at a particularly sexist man bragging to a group about how he bangs women half his age she isn’t either.

“Fuck first impressions, I’m going need a drink.” she huffs, not letting go of your arm and dragging you in the direction of the bar.

You let out a laugh. “Already?”

“Yep. Unless you would prefer I punch him and anyone else who says something stupid.”

“A drink it is.”

She grins. “I knew you would agree. What do you want?”

“Oh no, nothing for me yet.”

“Come on, don’t be a party pooper!”

You argue back a little bit but it’s half hearted because you gave in the moment she gave you a pleading face that looked so cute it nearly made your heart stop. When you finally say yes she does a little cheer, finally unhooking herself from your arm so she could wave the bartender over to order. Even though it’s Tony’s party the alcohol still costs money (fundraising for some charity apparently) and Carol insists on paying.

You decide to stick to a simple glass of red wine to start because you don’t drink often and as a result have an embarrassingly low level of alcohol tolerance. You’re already going to make a big enough fool of yourself tonight on your own, no need to add getting drunk to the list. Carol however has no such doubts and orders a couple of shots, downing them one after another.

“Much better.” she sighs when she’s finished.

“Does alcohol even affect you anymore?” you ask. You know that Thor, Valkyrie and Steve aren’t very affected by human alcohol so maybe Carol is the same way.

“Nope but I can pretend.”

You laugh. “I’m sure Valkyrie has a stash of space alcohol somewhere, she was less than pleased when she found out that earth alcohol isn’t strong enough.”

Carols laughs too, remembering her friend storming around the compound raging about fragile humans. “I’ll have to ask her sometime but hanging out with you is fun so there’s no need to get drunk tonight.”

Some business man comes up to the two of you before you can respond. He looks like a bit of an asshole but you couldn’t be more thankful for the interruption because you had no idea what to say. Carol sometimes is so genuinely kind that it throws you off guard and you don’t know how to act because you’ve never had someone act like that before. You fake a smile as she talks to the man but your mind is elsewhere because you realize you don’t mind that much that Carol doesn’t feel the same way about you as you do about her. Of course that would be nice but having her as a friend is more than enough.

---

It’s gotten to the point of the night where people have started to relax a little. All the donation activities like a small auction have finished and people are having real conversations instead of just talking business. Ties are loosened and jackets are coming off as music plays in the background for the few that are dancing.

Much to your surprise Carol still hasn’t left your side. She had a few more shots and convinced you to drink a couple as well but she stayed the entire time, even as different important people came up to talk to her. You’re not quite sure why she thought she needed someone to help her make a good impression because she is great at speaking to people. From politicians to singers and actors everybody seems to love her company and if anything you are making it worse.

You aren’t going to complain though because this is the first time you are genuinely enjoying yourself at one of Tony’s parties. Usually you stand awkwardly in a corner and Natasha comes to check on you every so often but this time Carol makes an effort to include you. She always introduces you to the person who she’s talking to and she sends you smiles or eyerolls during her conversation, depending on how much of an asshole the person she’s talking to is. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like the two of you are sharing a special secret.

“Ugh finally.” she says with her biggest eyeroll yet when the stupid ceo of some company walks away thoroughly rejected. He wasn’t the first guy to try to flirt with her tonight but he was by far the most persistent. She had to reject his advances five times before he finally got the message.

“People flirting is really annoying.” you agree, trying to relate to her. You definitely don’t get hit on by old men as much as she just did but it has happened before and it’s always annoying.

She gets a strange expression on her face. “Well old men flirting is annoying but I don’t mind when pretty girls flirt with me.”

She adds a wink to the end of her sentence but you can tell something is still off about her. Swallowing down the disappointment you feel when you think of Carol flirting with girls you don’t know you nod.

“I wouldn’t mind it if pretty girls flirted with me but that never happens so being flirted with is annoying.” you explain. By pretty girls you mean Carol but you wouldn’t ever tell her that. The smile is suddenly back on her face and any traces of her sudden weird mood is gone.

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that.” she says, leaning over to whisper in your ear. “I’m sure pretty girls flirt with you often.”

You snort unattractively (she thinks it’s cute). “I wish.”

“Maybe you just don’t notice.”

“I think I would notice Carol.” you tell her.

She seems to find that amusing and takes a second to laugh. “Agree to disagree, how about we get another drink.”

“Definitely.”

Your initial plans to stay mostly sober tonight have been thrown out the window but you don’t really mind. You’re already slightly tipsy and you think that’s part of the reason this party is more fun than normal (the other part of the reason being you’re spending time with Carol). As long as you don’t get completely wasted and blurt out your feelings for her it should be fine. You are pretty good at acting sober while drunk, years of being a Shield agent had taught you that.

The area around the bar is crowded, apparently most people share your sentiment of finding the party more tolerable with alcohol. As you squeeze through the crowd to the counter you feel Carol’s hand rest on your back and gently help push you through the people. You know it’s just so she doesn’t lose you but it makes your stomach all flutterly just the same.

“Two shots each?” she asks and you nod. She immediately gets to work signalling you’re ready to order and luckily enough one of the bartenders notices and comes over right away.

“What can I get for you ladies?” he asks. His tone is respectful enough but there’s something about the way his eyes wander over your body that immediately makes you uncomfortable.

Carol also seems to notice because her voice has a hint of a warning to it. “Four shots of the Ironman special.”

He gives her a glare, recognizing her protectiveness over you but pours your shots and hands them over the counter. Carol immediately downs both of them while you take a little extra time.

“Thank you.” she says as she hands over the money. Her words are forced and she doesn’t sound very thankful. They have a mini glaring contest which is broken when somebody else further down the bar calls for his help. Carol smirks at him triumphantly and wraps her arm around your shoulders as he goes over to do his job and she ushers you out of the bar area.

“You didn’t have to do that.” you tell her once you’re sure he won’t be able to hear.

“Yes I did, I didn’t like the way he was looking at you.”

You smile. “Well thank you.”

“Of course, anytime.”

You sigh dramatically and give a little giggle. “My knight in shining armour.”

“Not your prince charming?”

“Not yet.” you tell her, giving her a wink. You’re not sure where that came from, winks are her thing, but your mind is practically screaming danger at you.

“And what would I have to do to become your prince charming?”

Your mind goes blank. “Um - well, just - I don’t know. Chivalrous?”

“I will be the most chivalrous person ever.” she promises. You had started the conversation as a joke but this doesn’t feel like much of a joke anymore.

“Did I just hear chivalrous? Because I’m the most chivalrous person ever.” Tony interrupts your conversation out of nowhere. Normally his interruptions can be annoying but he just saved you from making a huge embarrassment of yourself so you mentally thank him.

“Would Pepper agree?” you ask with a laugh. You know for a fact Pepper wouldn’t. She loves Tony and he loves her, that much is very clear but just last week she came to you to rant about how he missed their date because he lost track of time in his lab.

Tony pretends to think for a moment. “Maybe not. But let me prove it to you ladies with a dance?”

You’re about to agree to his offer but Carol beats you to it. “Not a chance in hell Stark.”

She’s glaring at him like he murdered a kitten right in front of her. You know they aren’t the biggest fans of each other but you’ve never seen her so openly hostile before so you frown. Tony seems less upset about her rude behaviour then you are and just laughs.

“How about you Y/n?”

Once again Carol speaks before you can even open your mouth. “She already promised me a dance.”

“Sorry Tony.” you apologize. You don’t know why Carol would lie but she’s already dragging you to the dancefloor by your hand so there’s not much you can do about it. You just wish your hand wasn’t so sweaty.

When you reach the dance floor she guides your hands to rest on her shoulders and her hands find your waist. Her expression is stiff but no longer mad and she’s looking straight into your eyes so you look away.

“What was that?” you ask, desperate to find anything to talk about other than how pretty you find her face up close.

“What?”

“With Tony.”

“He’s an asshole.”

That makes you laugh a little. “Well we all know that but usually you get along.”

“Can we just drop it?” she asks softly and something in the tone of her voice makes you nod your head in agreement immediately. “Thank you.”

Without the distraction of talking it becomes even harder to focus on anything but her. Her strong hands on your waist, not too tight but definitely not soft either. Her eyes stare right into yours and even when you turn your head to the side to avoid looking you can still feel her gaze on you.

It’s somehow too much and not enough all at once. You want to run away from your feelings and never look back but you also want to explore them, to lean in closer and see what she does. Maybe if you stepped closer you can dance pressed up against her and place kisses to her jaw… You scold yourself as soon as you finish your thought. It was one thing to fantasise about being with Carol and another to do so when she’s just in front of you and it’s easy to slip up.

“What are you thinking about?” Carol asks suddenly. You’re grateful for conversation but not that particular question because you can’t very well tell her that you were thinking about kissing her.

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

You ignore her. “What are you thinking about?”

“How pretty you are and how lucky I am to get to spend time with you.”

Your face gets warm and your eyes dart everywhere but her face, trying to find something to help you concentrate on anything but the excited buzz in your head.

Carol giggles. “You aren’t very good at taking compliments are you?”

“I can take compliments just fine, thank you very much.” you protest. It isn’t even a full lie, just a half truth. Most of the time yes you appreciate compliments but they don’t affect you much but when it’s Carol complimenting you it’s different.

“No you can’t but it’s fine because you look cute when you get flustered.”

You don’t know what to say back and your brain is not helpful because it keeps repeating her words over and over and squealing. You try not to appear too flustered again but from Carol’s smile you can gather that didn’t go too well.

“Thank you.” you say and immediately curse yourself. Thank you sounds so stupid and so meaningless, like you’re talking to someone who’s opinion doesn’t matter. But Carol’s opinion does matter, perhaps more than anyone’s and you want to at least show you appreciate her.

Before you can get too deep into self loathing thoughts and overthinking you feel a hand on your back.

“Can I steal Y/n away from you for a minute?” Natasha asks Carol.

If you didn’t know better you would say Carol looked disappointed as she nodded. “Of course, I’ll catch you later Y/n.”

You don’t know whether to be mad at Natasha for pulling you away from Carol or thankful she did before you made an even bigger embarrassment of yourself. Either way to Natasha’s credit she makes sure Carol is off the dance floor and way out of earshot before she speaks.

“You guys looked very close.”

“So?”

Natasha feigns innocence. “Nothing, you both just seemed like you were enjoying each other’s company.”

“Yes, spending time with her is fun.” you say, deciding if Natasha was going to play games then so were you.

“I’m sure it is, have you kissed yet?”

Even though you know Carol couldn’t possibly have heard her, your eyes widen and you shhh her. “Keep your voice down.”

“Is that a no?”

“Of course it’s a no, how many times do I have to tell you she doesn’t feel that way about me?”

Natasha rolls her eyes. “And how many times do I have to tell you you’re wrong? She’s so in love with you it’s ridiculous.”

“Tasha.”

“Y/n.”

You raise your eyebrow and give Natasha a stern look and she copies you.

“What’s it going to take for you to believe me?”

“Unless Carol tells me herself there’s no way I can ever believe it.”

Natasha sighs. “Fine, be stubborn. At least tell me about how your night has gone so far?”

You can tell she regrets asking the moment you open your mouth with a dreamy look on your face and start to gush about how Carol was so sweet and handsome and gorgeous and complimented you. But like a true best friend she listens as you get all the feelings out for Carol that have been building up over the evening and she even refrains from making too many comments.

“And she’s just so amazing that I can’t help but get flustered but I still love her.” you finish finally, wrapping up your mini speech that focused on why you think Carol is the best.

“You’re in love with her?”

You freeze at Natasha’s question. You didn’t even realize that was what you had said or that you even were in love with her but reflecting on that you know your little slip is true. As much as you don’t want to be in love with her you are and it only seems to get worse every time you see her.

“Hey,” Natasha’s voice is soft and understanding, “it’s okay if you are.”

“I didn’t realize how deep my feelings are and it scares me.” you share.

“I know.”

“What do I do?”

“Well you could try to get over her but I think you should make sure she doesn’t actually have feelings for you first because I know you think I’m teasing you or making stuff up but I do think she loves you back.”

“She doesn’t.”

“Please just keep that in mind, even if you don’t believe it, give it a chance.”

“Fine.” you tell her, without any intent of taking anything she said to heart. Sometimes you think Natasha wants you to be happy so badly that she creates her own ideas of what other people are feeling to give you hope.

She smiles. “Good. Now do you want to join the rest of them?”

You follow her gaze to where Thor, Tony, Carol and a couple of the other avengers are sitting together at a grouping of chairs. You swear you see Carol’s head move but it happens so fast that you brush it off as a figment of your imagination.

“Yeah.”

---

You can’t remember the joke but you laugh along with the rest of the group anyways. A few drinks in and nothing seems too serious anymore. The party has loosened up considerably with most of the super rich business people gone. There are still a few people milling around but there is no pressure for small talk and most of the Avengers have grouped together on the couches to have fun.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) Carol isn’t sitting near you but rather diagonally across. Maybe alcohol makes you brave or maybe it makes you stupid but right now you want to be beside her. Normally you wouldn’t mind since Natasha is beside you but she’s a boring person to drink with because she never even gets tipsy, much less drunk. She blames it on her Russian genes but you know the real reason is because she trained herself to have a very high tolerance and act normal even while drunk.

Tony is sharing some story of Bruce in the labs making a fool of himself. It’s one he’s told many times before but since most people are drunk or at least tipsy it still hits the mark and there is laughter all around. Carol has a nice laugh you notice and you’re surprised you haven’t noticed it before. It isn’t as soft as some people’s but it’s full and warm and comforting.

“Carol has a warm laugh.” you share, leaning over to whisper your discovery in Natasha’s ear.

“Really?”

“Mmhmm.”

Natasha smiles fondly at your words and plays along. She isn’t quite sure what you meant by warm laugh but if your smile is anything to go by it must mean something good.

More stories and jokes get shared and someone (probably Tony) brings another two rounds of drinks to the table so gradually everybody starts making less sense as the night goes on. It’s hard to follow the conversation especially when there are three going on at the same time and you can feel yourself drift away and start to get sleepy. Your eyelids droop as you lean your head on Natasha’s shoulder for support.

“Y/n?” she asks.

“I’m tryin’ sleep.”

“I need to pee so I’m getting up now.”

“No.”

“Don’t worry.”

You pout when you feel her start to move and sit up properly again. Your head feels heavy and foggy and your neck feels weak. You’re about to tell her to hurry but before you can you see Carol move and plop down beside you.

“Hi.” you greet her with a giggle for absolutely no reason.

“Hi,” she replies, “Natasha said you needed a shoulder to sleep on?”

You consider her offer for a moment before deciding fuck it. Maybe you wouldn’t usually agree but you’re too tired and drunk to think right now and who cares if it’s Carol’s shoulder, it’s not like you will do anything too stupid.

“You’re my favourite.” you tell her seriously, flopping over so your head is on her shoulder and you’re leaning up against her.

She chuckles slightly. “You’re my favourite too.”

You bury your face into the crook of her neck happily and inhale.

“You smell nice.”

“Thank you.”

“And you’re soft and warm.”

Her chuckle is back. “Glad I can be of service.”

You smile into her neck, suddenly even more sleepy than you were before. One of her arms moves and wraps around your shoulder. You feel small butterflies in your stomach at her touch but a strong feeling of safeness overwhelms it. Something about Carol relaxes you and makes you want to never let go. You suppose that should scare you but right now, as you breathe deeply and press your nose into her neck, you are just too tired to care.

The next thing you know you are being shaken lightly and your pillow is moving. You think for a second, confused about where you are, before you remember falling asleep on Carol’s shoulder in the middle of the party. Groggily you sit up and look around. Your head hurts and your eyes are blurry but you can see that there is almost nobody besides the Avengers left. Carol is still sitting beside you and stretching. Your cheeks heat up as you feel bad about falling asleep on her and making her sit in an uncomfortable position.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep. How long was I out for?”

“About an hour.” she replies. “And don’t apologize, I didn’t mind. I just woke you up since everybody is getting ready to leave and I thought your bed and pillow is more comfortable than this couch and my shoulder.”

“Right.” you say with a light laugh. Privately you disagree because while your bed might be comfier than the couch, her shoulder is better than any pillow you’ve ever had. “Thank you.”

“As I said, it was no problem.”

“No silly, thank you for the whole night.”

She shakes her head. “I should be the one thanking you Y/n, I had an amazing time.”

“Me too.” you say, sad that the night is over. Almost as if she can read your thoughts she speaks.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Go where?”

She laughs. “Now who’s being silly. I’m walking you back to your room.”

“You don’t have to.” you tell her but you feel all nice and fuzzy about the thought so you really hope she doesn’t change her mind.

“Y/n,” she seems exasperated, “you’re tired and still a little drunk, of course I have to.”

“I’m not drunk.” you protest but your headache and fuzzy brain disagree with you. You don’t want Carol to walk you to your room out of obligation, you want her to want to.

“Yes you are, don’t deny it. Besides I like spending time with you and if I walk you to your room it’s an excuse to spend more time with you so please let me?”

You brighten up considerably after her words and smile. “Okay maybe I am drunk.”

“That’s what I thought.” she says while standing up. “Let’s go.”

You stare at her offered hand for a second before grabbing it and using it to pull yourself up. You’re grateful for the added support because you’re more unsteady on your feet than you anticipated and the floor seems to sway for a second before your vision returns to normal.

“Let’s go.” you repeat in confirmation once you’re sure you’ll be able to walk without falling down.

Carol gives some sort of goodbye to the people remaining but you aren’t quite sure who’s left and honestly you can’t be bothered so you don’t say anything, instead allowing her to lead you out of the room. The first few steps are hard and your legs wobble but it gets easier and as you’re entering the hallway you don’t even need her hand anymore (although you don’t tell her that because you like the feeling of holding it).

Time seems to pass strangely. While you’re walking it feels like forever to get to your room. By the end your feet are dragging, your head hurts more and you feel exhausted but at the same time it feels like no time passed and you teleported because you honestly cannot remember walking.

You feel your sleepiness returning as she pushes the door open and ushers you instead so you let go of her hand and take a few steps to your bed before collapsing onto it face first.

“You’re not going to take off your makeup or dress?” she asks, amused.

You give a grumble into your pillow that she can’t decipher but seeing as you don’t move an inch she assumes you mean no.

She sighs. “At least take off your heels.”

“I don’t wanna.” you tell her. Your head is turned sideways so this time she can actually understand what you’re saying and she laughs at the sleepy and whiny tone in your voice.

“You’ll regret it in the morning.” she warns.

“I don’t care.”

She sighs again. “Well then I’m going to help with your heels because I don’t want your feet to be sore, okay?”

“Fine.”

You hear her steps and some rustling before you feel her soft hands on her feet which makes you giggle.

“That tickles.”

“Sorry.”

“S’okay.”

She slowly removes your heels one by one, drawing out a few more giggles and a groan when your feet are finally free. You didn’t realize your feet hurt in the heels until they were off and you could feel the air on your toes that were no longer tightly constrained.

It feels oddly nice, you muse. Not in a foot fetish way but more in the way that you like it when Carol does stuff to show she cares for you. It makes you feel warm and fuzzy, like you are someone important in your life. You definitely can’t voice that outloud but you can show your appreciation so you murmur a quiet thank you. You’re not sure if she hears it at first because there is a small pause before she speaks.

“Do you need anything else?”

Your first thought and probably more rational one is to say no. Carol has already let you sleep on your shoulder, walked you back to your room and took your heels off for you, asking for more would be selfish. But maybe you are selfish because the irrational side of your brain is loud, way louder than the thoughts telling you to say no.

Maybe your idea is stupid, maybe it’s brave. Either way there is almost a one hundred percent possibility that you will regret it in the morning. But right now the morning doesn’t really matter and you are too tired and too uninhibited by alcohol to resist.

“Maybe.”

She laughs. “It seems like a yes or no question, what does maybe mean?”

“You might not want to.”

“There are very few things I wouldn’t do to help you Y/n.” she says. You’re nervous but her tone is soft and her words genuine so it gives you the last boost of courage you have to ask.

“Please stay.”

She laughs awkwardly. “What?”

“Nevermind.” you tell her quickly. You chant stupid at yourself in your head, reminding yourself why you shouldn’t ever open your mouth without thinking things through again.

“Not nevermind, did you mean stay here with you?” she asks.

“Forget it, it’s stupid.”

You feel a hand rest on your back which takes you by surprise but you don’t jump because it’s warm and comforting.

“It’s not stupid, I just want to make sure you’re sure, should I lie down or something... ?”

“I’m sure and whatever you want.” you tell her. You’re not sure if your racing heart is because of panicking a few seconds ago or because Carol is going to lie down beside you in your bed but either way it needs to stop.

“Okay.” she says. You can’t see her from your position so you’re not sure what she’s decided to do but you’re too afraid to ask. You feel the blanket being pulled from the foot of the bed and slipping out from beneath you before it’s placed gently over your body. You hum at the feeling of warmth as you feel the bed start to shift beside you.

Carol settles herself into position as you listen to the sounds of the sheets moving. She’s not touching you but she might as well be, you can feel her body heat radiating off her and although you still can’t see you can sense that her arm is so close to yours that you might accidentally touch it if you try to move.

“Goodnight.” you tell her when you’re sure she’s made herself comfortable. You can feel yourself on the brink of sleep and honestly you wouldn’t be surprised if you woke up only to find you dreamed this part because you can’t believe how amazing she is to you.

“Goodnight Y/n, get some sleep okay?”

You hum to show her you understand, too tired and overwhelmed to provide a real response. If anyone had ever asked you before you would have said you would be way too nervous to ever fall asleep in Carol’s presence. But obviously you judged yourself wrong because you fell asleep on her earlier and now it’s only a few seconds before your mind goes completely blank, you close your eyes and you drift away.

---

Carol waits until she can hear your breathing grow slow and deep and then waits a few more minutes to make sure you’re asleep. She supposes it should have been awkward, lying beside you while you tried to fall asleep, but somehow it felt right. It’s not necessarily the way she was planning to end the night but it was nice nonetheless.

She doesn’t want to get out of the bed and she almost doesn’t before she forces herself out. It’s one thing to go along with your wishes and stay while you fall asleep and it’s another to purposely forget and fall asleep next to you. The latter is just creepy and while she’s sure you wouldn’t mind she wants to make sure she’s doing things right.

“Hi.” The quiet voice to her side as she steps out in the hall makes her jump.

“Fucking hell Natasha,” she mutters, letting out a breath, “what are you doing?”

“Waiting for you.” she responds simply. “So?”

“So what?”

“So what happened?”

Carol sighs. “Nothing happened Natasha.”

Natasha gives Carol a quick look that shows great disappointment. “You had the whole evening and night with Y/n and did nothing about it?”

“I flirted with her.” Carol protests weakly.

Natasha shakes her head. “As you’ve been doing for months. Y/n cannot recognize flirting, we’ve already established that, which is why you were supposed to do something tonight!”

“There was never a right time.”

“Then why were you just in her room for half an hour? You were doing nothing?”

“She asked me to stay while she fell asleep.” Carol explains with a fond smile that turns into a frown when she sees Natasha’s frown. “What?”

“That’s not good.”

“Why?”

“Because Y/n will wake up alone and think she messed things up by bothering you.” Natasha tells her.

Carol’s frown deepens. “But she wasn’t, I like helping her and spending time with her.”

“I’m kind of regretting helping you because you obviously know nothing about Y/n.” Natasha snaps at Carol before her voice softens. “Sorry, but you should know that Y/n can be extremely dense and insecure.”

“She shouldn’t be, she’s amazing.”

Natasha smiles at the dreamy tone in Carol’s voice. Despite her harsh words she knows Carol does know you and would be amazing for you. It’s just sometimes hard for her to see why you might not think you’re perfect because she does.

“I know but she will.”

“What do I do then?” Carol asks. She doesn’t want an action she originally thought would be helpful to end up hurting you.

“Well,” Natasha says slowly, “you start by bringing her water and pain meds in the morning and repeat that it was no problem until she believes you. And then you have to actually show some guts and ask her out like you were supposed to do already.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Natasha asks in confirmation because Carol’s voice wavered a little, unsure.

“Okay.” she says before pausing. “But are you - are you sure she’ll say yes?”

Natasha fights the urge to roll her eyes. “Of course she’ll say yes, I wouldn’t be helping you ask her out if she didn’t want to be with you.”

“Even though I know her answer I’m still nervous.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake Carol,” Natasha exclaims although not in an angry way, “would you rather be a little nervous asking her out when you already know what her answer is going to be or would you rather be a coward and not ask her out and watch as somebody else inevitably comes along and sweeps her off her feet.”

Carol gulps. “I would much rather the first option.”

“Good,” Natasha says before loosening up a little, “although I don’t understand why asking her out is so hard but flirting isn’t.”

“Shut up, that’s different because she never notices but she gets all shy and cute.”

“Imagine if everyone could see how soft you are around her,” Natasha teases, “oh wait, they already did when you let her sleep on your shoulder.”

“That was your idea!” Carol says loudly in mock betrayal. “You were the one who faked needing to pee and motioned for me to come over. If anyone is soft it’s you. You’re always looking out for Y/n.”

“Only for her because she is my best friend and she’d be lost without me.” Natasha says. “Which is why although I approve of you asking her out if you do absolutely anything to fuck it up or hurt her there will be consequences you don’t like.”

Carol tries not to shiver at Natasha’s warning and cold tone because although she has powers and Natasha does not she has no doubt that Natasha would make good on her threat if she hurt you because she is protective like that. Carol’s shiver must not have been as subtle as she hoped because Natasha smirks widely, proud of the fear she sees behind Carol’s eyes.

“Any last second doubts?” she asks. Her tone is light to someone who doesn’t know her well but Carol can sense the danger behind it and knows it’s a test.

“Of course not, I’m not going to mess anything up on purpose.”

“On purpose?”

“At all,” Carol quickly corrects, “I’m not going to mess anything up at all.”

“Good.” Natasha says and her tone is back to normal and friendly which helps Carol relax, but only slightly. “I’ll let you get to bed now, but remember to go see Y/n in the morning and don’t chicken out.”

Carol scoffs like it’s something she’d never do even though she already has several times. “I won’t, goodnight Natasha.”

“Goodnight Carol.”

---

Pain is the first and only thing you register when you wake up. Your head feels like splitting apart and your stomach is turning unpleasantly. You don’t get drunk often so the day after you are always surprised with the consequences and vow to never drink again. You don’t understand how some people manage to party every week and not feel like they’re dying.

You want to lie in bed for the rest of the day and hopefully fall asleep so you don’t have to deal with the pounding in your head but unfortunately your stomach has different plans and after it churns even more unpleasantly than before you have to make amends with the fact you are definitely going to have to get up.

Groaning, you roll out of bed, which only seems to make both your stomach and your head worse, and practically sprint to the bathroom. You make it just in time to flip the lid of the toilet quickly up and lean over the bowl before the contents of your stomach comes spewing up. It burns your mouth and the taste is awful but there’s also a bit of relief when after a couple of heaves your stomach slowly starts to feel normal again.

Even though you’re almost certain you won’t throw up again, you stay on the ground hugging the bowl, partly because you want to be careful but mostly because you’re too tired and too lazy to force yourself up. Plus an upside is the floor of the bathroom is cool which feels nice and it gives you time to think and try to remember exactly what happened last night.

The not remembering is perhaps the worst part of getting drunk. A lot of people would disagree, and for a lot of people it’s one of the best parts but you hate the fact that except for a few hazy memories of talking and dancing with Carol you can’t remember any details of what happened or the end of the night. You make a mental note to ask Natasha what happened, just to confirm you didn’t do anything too embarrassing.

You’ll talk to her later though, because right now you’re seriously contemplating having a nap on the bathroom floor instead of having to get back in your bed. Ten meters seems a little too far right now and getting up would be a challenge itself. The universe however seems to have other plans for you because just as you press the side of your forehead to the cool plastic of the toilet and allow your eyes to flutter shut a loud knock at your door interrupts your silence.

“Y/n?” you hear Carol’s voice call out from beyond the door. “Are you awake?”

You stand up quickly, ignoring the way your brain swirls at the sudden movement. Carol arriving is the last thing you expected or wanted. You just assumed when you heard the knock it was Natasha and you don’t mind if Natasha sees you hungover because you know she’s not going to judge you. The logical part of your brain knows that Carol is a nice person and she won’t judge you either but you still feel like you have to impress her for her to like you and right now you look like shit.

As you make your way to the door to let her in you frantically try to make sure your hair isn’t sticking up weirdly and you make an attempt to brush the goop out of your eyes. It’s by no means perfect and you probably look just as awful as before but it makes you feel a little more prepared by the time you swing the door open.

“Hey Y/n,” Carol says, looking you up and down and giving a slight laugh, “rough night?”

You laugh along awkwardly. “How could you tell?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know.” she says, playing dumb with you. “Maybe because you were really drunk last night or maybe because you look like shit.”

“Thank you.” you say sarcastically. Your response has a little more bite to it than intended because while you know she was just joking around and that you do look horrible it still hurts to hear her say that, no matter the context. Somehow Carol seems to sense the slight change in your mood and quickly corrects herself.

“You look like cute shit though, may I come in?”

You nod along dumbly as she steps into the room, feelings your cheeks heat up at her sort of compliment. You wait a few seconds for her to explain something, explain why she’s here but she doesn’t. Instead she just wanders in a circle taking in the pictures on your walls and your stuffed animal in the corner.

“Your room is nice,” she comments, “it suits you.”

Your brain tries to say thank you but your mouth blurts out the first thing you think of. “Why are you here?”

Your cheeks burn as soon as the words leave your mouth but you can’t take them back and luckily Carol doesn’t seem to take your question as rude.

“Well I assumed you might have a headache and could use some pain meds or water this morning,” she says, “that’s my official reason anyway.”

“Official reason?”

“Yeah it’s my excuse to talk to you.”

You feel your stomach flutter at the thought of her making excuses to talk to you and you forcefully remind yourself she doesn’t mean anything by it and not to gain hope.

“Why?”

She laughs as though the ‘why’ is obvious even though it is most definitely not. You notice however that her laugh seems slightly forced and when you pay even more attention you notice that her body is tense, like she’s nervous about something.

“Carol?” you ask again when she doesn’t answer.

“Do you remember last night?” she asks in replacement of an answer and you feel your blood run cold as your brain struggles to remember the end of the night and goes through every embarrassing thing you could have possibly done.

“Oh god did I do anything embarrassing? Do I even want to know?”

“No, no.” she’s quick to reassure you. “You didn’t do anything like that, just something you said got me thinking.”

“Okay…” you say slowly, still trying to think of what it could be, “what did I say?”

Carol fidgets with her hands and takes a deep breath like she is nervous about telling you. Her nerves are making you nervous because Carol is always so sure of herself that it’s weird to see her like this. You know she already told you it was nothing bad but you’re starting to doubt her because there's a not so small possibility she was only saying that to make you feel better. Finally (after what feels like forever but in reality was less than a minute of tense silence) she speaks up.

“After I walked you back to your room, you were really tired and wanted to lay down. You didn’t even take your heels.” She pauses to take a breath before continuing. “I knew they would hurt your feet so I took them off and then I decided to tuck you in but before I left you…”

“Yes?” you ask when she trails off. You’re really starting to get nervous now but you try not to show it.

“You asked me to stay with you while you slept.” she finishes to your absolute horror.

“I am so sorry Carol, I didn’t mean to-”

She cuts you off before you can continue your sentence. “Mean to what? Mean to make me uncomfortable? Because I’m not telling you because I was uncomfortable.”

“Then why?”

“Because the opposite.” she explains. “Because even just laying beside you while you fell asleep felt comforting and natural. It took all my willpower to get up and not fall asleep beside you because I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You wouldn’t have.” you tell her. You’re still nervous but for a different reason now. It’s a hopeful type of nervousness and you can’t quite squash it down.

“Natasha tried to tell me that too.” Carol says and you can’t deny you feel a little bit betrayed. It was not Natasha’s right to tell Carol anything about what you feel for her.

“She what?”

“Don’t be mad at her, she was only trying to help.” Carol explains on Natasha’s behalf, sensing your anger. “And god I hope she’s right.”

“Right about what?”

“About this.”

It’s like a movie, the way Carol moves towards you. You see it happen in slow motion yet you’re still completely unprepared by the time she reaches you. One hand wraps around the back of your head and pulls you in until your lips reach hers. The first touch of your lips feels different, better, than any first kiss you’ve had before but just as you’re starting to relax into it you pull back suddenly, hyper aware of how awful it must taste for her since you haven’t brushed your teeth since throwing up.

“Oh god that was awful.” you groan, hoping you haven’t scared her off.

“Shit I’m so sorry Y/n, I wouldn’t have done it if you thought you wouldn’t-”

You laugh, cutting her off effectively. “No, not for me, it must have been awful for you. I literally taste like barf.”

She smiles, relieved you didn’t pull away because you hated it. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Carol.”

“Okay fine it did taste bad but it was worth it to kiss you.” she admits.

“Weirdo.”

She shrugs. “If it means I get to kiss you then I’ll gladly be a weirdo.”

“If you’re trying to flirt you’re not doing too well.” you tease her.

“Excuse me, I don’t think you have the right to talk miss ‘I can’t notice flirting if it punches me in the face’.”

You scoff. “I’m not that oblivious.”

Carol smiles fondly. “Mmmhmm. So you know I’ve been wanting to ask you out for months then?”

Your gasp loudly. “I can’t believe Natasha was right!”

“I can’t believe I just admitted I wanted to ask you out and that’s what you focus on.” Carol replies.

“I can’t believe that either.” you agree with her. “I’m kinda freaking out right now.”

“In a good way?”

“Definitely in a good way.” you confirm.

“So you wouldn’t be opposed to going on a date soon?” Carol asks and you shake your head furiously, ignoring the fact you still have a bit of a headache. “What about brunch today?”

“Oh wow, I didn’t think you meant that soon.” you say laughing. “But I’d love to, I just need a chance to get ready first.”

“Of course,” she says, “I’ll leave you to get ready and maybe come back in half an hour? I’m sorry if that’s not enough time but I’ve waited so long to go on a date with you I don’t think it’s physically possible to wait anymore than that.”

You don’t think you can contain the smile that spreads across your face if you tried. “Half an hour is perfect, I’ll see you then.”

“Great! I’ll see you then!”

She smiles back and awkwardly, lingers in the doorway for a second before giving you another smile and leaving. You wait until you see her walk quite a ways down the hall before closing your door and letting out a high pitched squeal. And if anyone ever asks you will deny it but you may have done a small dance party in celebration before grabbing your phone to text Natasha.

Y/n: I hate you

Natasha: I take it your talk with Carol went well?

Y/n: We have a brunch date

Natasha: Someone’s eager

Is now the time to say I told you so?

Y/n: I still hate you

Natasha: Hate me all you want but you wouldn’t have a date without me

Have fun <3

Y/n: Ty

I definitely will

---

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