#ronin: what are relationships i don't know anything about them

[shuttershocky]

how do you feel about iori/saber so far by the way, whether as a ship or just their dynamic in general

I really like their dynamic!

While Iori and Saber themselves are full of callbacks to the original Shirou and Saber, their relationship dynamic is something that's all their own.

Usually a servant like FSR Saber would have belonged to a more emotional master. Saber starts the game out as an arrogant, destructive force and a bit of a bully, constantly going "Good grief my master's so weak! How did I get such a weak master when I can solo this whole thing? I should just kill everybody that gets in my way."

Rather than get upset or insecure however, Iori's humility and martial discipline ends up making a wall for Saber's arrogance to repeatedly bounce off of. When told he's weak, he goes "You are right. I don't fight because I'm strong, but because I should." When Saber talks down to him saying his presence doesn't change the outcome of a fight whatsoever, he just goes "I know. I'm doing the best I can."

This doesn't just eventually warm Saber up to him, but it also ends up creating the soul of their dynamic for the rest of the game. Saber's powerful, impulsive, and free in all their aspects, while Iori is measured, disciplined, and tied down (he's poor, he's an orphan, he's a warrior in an age of peace). This leads to fun gags like Saber having that classic Saber gluttony which wreaks havoc on Iori as a poor ronin living hand to mouth every day, but where this really shines is in how it makes its own twist in the original dynamic of Shirou and Saber.

Underneath Shirou and Saber's relationship was the recognition of themselves in the other. Both were willing to give up their entire lives for the greater good without once thinking of themselves, and seeing it in the other person horrified them because that was someone they cared about, while making a special exception for their own self-sacrifice.

In Samurai Remnant, Saber wonders how could such a weak human have summoned a servant as powerful as them, but the answer slowly becomes obvious as their relationship grows. Hiding underneath Saber's smug nature is a legend known for brutally killing anything and everything that stood in their way, whether that be armies, kings, monsters, or even gods. Why? What could compel a human to put a god to the sword just because they were ordered to? How broken and terrible inside must you be to see an aspect of divine power and feel no fear, only the desire to fight and to kill something that should be untouchable by a human?

The most delicious part of Iori and Saber's developing relationship is Saber slowly realizing that the bravery in Iori's eyes when he (literally) locks blades with a Servant is not bravery, but something much more familiar.

It should also be said that FSR Saber is one of the extremely few servants (if not the first even) to cry about the thought of leaving their Master after the ritual has ended.

Bittersweet goodbyes have been a mainstay of the series since Fate/Stay Night, but FSR is the first time in my memory that we see a Servant look back at the short, second life they've been given and actually break into tears about not wanting to go.

Going back to the throne of heroes would mean returning to legend. They'd be the bloodstained killer and godslayer. Unparalleled, feared, revered, and alone. Meanwhile in this incarnation, they run around doing odd jobs every day to afford rice, assumed by the neighbors to be the new fiance of the poor ronin that lives in a shack, destined to be forgotten by history like everyone around them living humble and ordinary lives. And now that they've tasted it, they don't want to go back. They've fallen in love with this life, and have to live out the rest of the Waxing Moon Ritual knowing they don't have a choice about going back.

It's soooooo good. Such a perfect capture of that vintage Type-Moon feeling, I'd almost forgotten this wasn't even written by TM themselves but by the Fire Emblem Three Houses team.

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Not a request, but a question! I really want to post some TMNT writings again. However I noticed that 18+ (gore, smut other dark themes) seem to be a matter of heavy debate. Such as you can't age up character or if you're now an adult you cant interact/write/draw for the fandom anymore. I left years ago because of how bad it got. Do you get a lot of hate for your writings? Or has it died down after all these years?

No, I get no hate. I've only gotten two mean-ish comments, and none of them had anything to do with my 18+ writing.

Dark themes, and to a certain degree, gore, has always been part of the TMNT universe. Leo's PTSD pattern in the tv shows, Raph's homelessness in the IDW, Donnie gradually becoming more and more robot in both comic and tv, and of course Mikey in The Last Ronin. And then there is the ROTTMNT movie. That was some dark stuff, and if you think about it, there was body horror as well.

Sex is not new to the TMNT comics either. Donnie is the only turtle that haven't lost his virginity in cannon. We have to remember that the turtles have been in relationships and have had crushes ever since the Mirage days, so sex doesn't seem that far off.

I'll say it's all about being comfortable with what people are reading. That's why I put warnings and try to put it into a genre. There are people that just don't feel comfortable with these themes, and that's perfectly fine. At the same time, some people find that by interacting and inserting themselves or other people into the story, it ruines it, and that too I understand. To me it's almost an art form to write fan fics and inserts that does not mess to much with the story and plot, yet at times it's fun to play around with "what ifs".

With all that being said, I too do have things I don't feel comfortable writing about, with non-con being a BIG no for me. At the same time I don't mind writing about age gaps, as long as the youngest person partaking is at least 18. But with fictional characters that we know age over time, I don't see a problem with pushing their age so it matches the theme of the story. That's also why I often by my smut a few year after the main events took place (unless people want me to write about a specific scene, in which I still push their age up to an acceptable place that I too would feel comfortable with).

Maybe TMNT fans are adults today, so it would be strange not to let adult have a go and make fan content, even if it's 18+:)

[yandere-loveer]

✧ Yandere Mikey / Miguel Angel (The last Ronin) Concept ˚ ♡

English is not my first language, not at all. But I will make the effort. I will start accepting all kinds of requests, but obviously everything has limits.

TW : Obsession, murders, mention of kidnapping, forced relationship, sensitive topics.

Oh honey. Don't even think he's going to be a fairy tale next to this mutant.

He is so tired and depressed from losing his loved ones, then being disturbed in his little conscience.

He still sees his brothers, talking to them and bothering him even for the slightest mistake or situation he has to act on. He didn't even feel like he was living in this miserable life for him.

I imagine you know him from before it was like this and he will pass the death of his family through the foot clan while now with April and Casey in hiding.

He is no longer the same teenager who was funny and optimistic, who loved pizza and his family while going out to fight crime with his brothers on the streets of New York.

Because of the loss and loneliness that he had to go through, he had to make it that way. Even when she saw you, she was speechless and began to make a face of deep sadness, relief to see that you and April were actually still alive.

This Mikey is a true yandere when he has all these traumas, he is overprotective and paranoid but unfortunately his brothers in his mind are not much help.

He had fallen in love with you when he was still a teenager but never had a chance to tell you. This time he is determined not to let you go again and to be able to express what he feels for you.

He always wants you to be with trusted people like April and Casey (only a little) but she prefers you to be by her side so she can keep her eyes on you and see that you are protected.

When you're not watching what's going on and you want to go alone somewhere in this prison called "New York" don't be surprised if you feel watched by someone the whole time you're out. Mikey will receive you when you just arrive at the entrance of where April and her daughter live.

Sometimes he usually has nightmares about his past and the fear he feels when imagining that you end up with the same fate as his brothers and his father. So when he wakes up a little nervous, he always goes to see if you are with him by his side.

If someone hurts you too much in the war you are all in, be prepared for Mikey to become more violent than before. He kill and without leaving a single evidence of the existence of who hurt you.

He feels that you are the only thing that motivates him to continue living and put aside his suicidal thoughts apart from feeling that destiny is incomplete. He teaches you and expresses if you have more confidence in him what happened when he was in the mountains after learning that Donnie and his father were dead but with honor.

He focuses on completing the mission to avenge his beloved family but he still can't help but notice you and give you his time. Then he will think that they should be together otherwise it would be too late like when he almost lost you as a teenager. So you're his official girlfriend without you realizing it.

If they weren't in the same place with other girls, he would have kidnapped you as a last resort if he sees that it's too dangerous and your life is at risk.

Don't be surprised if when you see him he's fighting or just talking to nothing, it's just his dear brothers talking about his crush or what he has to do now. Which makes Mikey very angry that they tell him what to do all the time.

You're not going to leave this poor mutant turtle who still can't forget everything he lost. Or Yes?

" I'm not going to let the bastard that is Oroku Hiroto or anyone else do anything to you, did you hear me? "

[allofthebees]

i can't remember if you've ever said anything about it before but as the resident Ronin Enjoyer do you have any thoughts on some of the more irredeemable or straight up bad parts of his writing (i.e. what he did to zane in skybound and possibly ToE? but mainly the one thing with nya. like i'm not gonna fault anyone for not liking him but i personally feel like that never should've been written in in the first place and it sucks seeing people act like liking him is a sin. you know :/)

Ronin my guy my scrungle he is not the best man but also he suffers from bad writing lol. The Nya thing.... As much as I personally prefer to pretend it didn't happen because it feels like in the early days of Ninjago the writers consistently kept forgetting that she's supposed to be a minor (SKYBOUND) as well as making her face the occasional casual sexual harassment/assault (evil Jay forcefully kissing her), this is actually consistent with Ronin's character because:

Yeah.

Granted, the reason I prefer to ignore this aspect of him is because it's just plain stupid and he gets no real backlash from it in canon. And with Misako it's very much out of nowhere and Ronin doesn't even seem like he's interested. He erased her memories to pit her against the ninja and nothing else, but for some reason it was decided she should be putting her hands all over him like that 💀 However, I don't blame people for looking at this and deciding he's unlikable for it.

With the Zane stuff, I look at him taking Zane and Pixal to Chen's as something he had no other choice to do. It's kinda confirmed in the book Way of the Departed that it's the case (though my own reasoning is a bit different compared to the book), but at the same time, this was during a time he was a bit more eviler lol. So if he did this with evil intent then well he's grown since then at least.

As for what he did to Zane in Skybound, tbh fucked up and I'm glad it was technically undone. But Zane and Pixal were also kinda treated like objects that season in general too. The way Zane treated Pixal, the general existence and then complete dismissal of Echo, and whole thing with the Mechanic.... not great.

For me, personally I see Ronin as a tech lover who loves R.E.X so much he considers it a person, and by extension would respect Zane and Pixal in that regard, especially after befriending them but that's just me 🤷

But tbh there is something Ronin has done that is far more heinous than being robophobic and a creep, and that's what he did to the Islanders. I do not like season and what it did to him. Of all the people he goes and robs, it's the isolated people no one knows exists lmao. He doesn't just take their money, he takes their food, and takes so much they resort to human sacrifice. Like what the fuck. This felt more like something maybe SoR Ronin would do. And he was treated more like a common villain with no real history with the ninja at the end, too.

I don't wanna fully say it's out of character for Ronin to rob an entire island of people though, because I do feel like if desperate enough, he would go back to how he was before. I don't think he's above betraying the ninja, or hurting innocents because we've been shown he's afraid of dying (or at least going to super hell lmao) and is overall untrustworthy. But the thing is, he was fine! He had a deal with the Commissioner and was doing fine! Why make him do this, and then arrest him with the very people he used and put back in prison himself and then have him be just.... totally fine and friends with everyone again, prisoners and ninja alike lmao. It's bad writing to me. And after his development and and his relationship with the ninja, it seems very ill fitting to have him be the one lead the prisoners on the island when the Mechanic and/or Ultra Violet are right there.

So yeah I mean, if people don't like him I get it. At face value he is not a great guy lol. But for me there's a lot to like about him just because I really like his type of character when done well. He was a great influence for Nya and I love their relationship. He just suffers from poor writing just like.... every other character in this show 💀

And people better not be harassing or hating on others for liking a goddamn LEGO of all things. Please there are real problems to have. I'll continue loving Ronin regardless if others consider it a crime to lol I'm a grown bitch and can do whatever I want ❤️

[flockofcrowsinatornadoofcreation]

Roadrunner!

• used to have a Scottish accent, but now she sounds more Western? Adopted Ronin's style of talking

• will literally eat anything. Will she like it? Maybe, maybe not. Will she eat it? You betcha

• demisexual / bisexual

• ooh boy she's sassy. She is ready to throw hands with anyone who dares look at her wrong. She will not hesitate. She will bite you.

• Picked up Ronin's smoking habit

• Typically wears her hair long, but might cut it short later? She'd look cute with short hair

• Preferred weapons are staff weapons, especially the yan yue dao (also called the guan dao) and the bo staff.

• Best friends are Ultra Violet (surprisingly), Nya, and maybe Morro?

• Long thin scar across back from the event that took her family (a wooden beam fell on her)

• She's 20 during The Island

History:

• In the events if Legacy of the Green Ninja, her apartment block was ransacked. Her family hid Sequoia and her little brother Gabe during the attack, but everyone else was killed

• When no one came to help them, and with Sequoia injured and Gabe getting weaker by the day from hunger, Sequoia went out in search of food. She didn't get very far before her injury overcame her and she passed out hiding in a dumpster.

• Ronin, through miracle or chance, found her, asked her where her family was, and took her back to the remains of her apartment to help care for Gabe. But Gabe had disappeared, with the only sign of his existence bring the pictures on the wall and his blood on the floor. (He had been kidnapped, but we don't know until later)

• Ronin took Sequoia under his care, raising her as best he could. He taught Sequoia to distract people while Ronin scammed them.

• When Sequoia was 13, he taught her how to drive so he had a getaway driver while Rex needed fixing. It was the best day of her life. Sequoia quickly gains the name "Roadrunner" for her skill at "running the roads", as she calls it

• At 18, she is with Ronin as a part if the Resistance. She doesn't officially meet the ninja, though, merely takes orders.

• During the events of The Island, Roadrunner is captured with Ronin, but is let go with a warning because she was raised to be a thief, and therefore isn't really responsible for her actions (Ninjago law headcanon)

• Roadrunner stays at Laughy's under the watchful eye of Dareth. She is caught sneaking out to rescue Ronin, and is sent to the Monastery in hopes that Sensei Wu can knock some sense into her. No one is very happy about this, except for maybe the police commissioner, who has had his hands full with Ronin and doesn't want to have to deal with Roadrunner as well.

Relationships:

• Ronin: Basically her dad. He taught her everything she knows. Adopted her in every way except legally. They have a very strong bond, built on trust and loyalty.

• Cole: love-hate relationship. Neither of them are sure what type of tension is between them, but fsm, there's tension.

• Lloyd: tbh, he reminds her of her little brother (at least, what she imagines he would be like at that age). Everyone was convinced that Roadrunner hated Lloyd, but she was just avoiding him to prevent stirring up bad memories.

• Nya: passive-aggressive partners in crime. That's the best way I can describe their dynamic

• Kai: they're both absolutely feral. Kai was angry about the misunderstanding that Roadrunner hated Lloyd, and would always act defensive of Lloyd, even when he didn't need to. Later, when they find Roadrunner's bother, Kai realizes that she doesn't hate Lloyd, she just misses her brother

• Zane: she thought Cole had a crush on Zane and was feeling jealous, which was confusing, because she doesn't like Cole (she does and won't admit it.) Once she actually starts talking to Zane, she realizes that he's not so bad.

• Pixal: Pixal is strongly defensive of Zane, and Roadrunner hating on Zane made her hate on Roadrunner? But then they figure out the misunderstanding and start a girlboss club with Nya

• Jay: surprisingly good friends. They help each other fix their vehicles and whatnot, and bounce ideas off each other

• Wu: he just lives there

• Gabe (little brother): he was kidnapped by the early Sons of Garmadon and taught that his sister abandoned him. He hates Roadrunner with a burning passion.

Close up of her tattoo:

[basicallyjaywalker]

Does any of your Ninja ocs have elements?

What season are they introduced?

What are their relationships like with the ninja?

Good evening anon! Happy to answer :DD Putting it under the cut bc these tend to get. long

Most of my main OCs have elements! There are three (Willow, Jonathan, and Kyle, though the latter changes as of DR) who don't but otherwise we have

Nataly, Master of Love

Roxie, Master of Peace

Jasmine, Master of Nature (not related to Bolobo)

Jackie, Master of Magic

Hannah, Master of Music

Luna, Master of Dreams

Ivy, Master of Wind

And Master Twyla, Master of Light! (Not related to Paleman)

Their introductions are scattered throughout the seasons, but the basic breakdown is

S2: Jackie is introduced as a member of Garmadon's Stone Warrior Army who's a human. At the end of that season, she's pulled out of the rubble of a building and goes to study with Garmadon

S3: Jasmine is semi-introduced as a background character at Borg Industries, though she's not plot relevant yet. Jonathan is introduced as Borg's son but also isn't super plot relevant yet, he has his own adventure which is technically where we meet Willow

S4: Roxie, Nataly, Hannah, and Kyle are all introducing on the boat ride to Chen's, as well as Jackie and Jasmine. Roxie knows Cole from Marty Oppenheimer's, Lloyd and Garmadon recognize Jackie (who between S3 and S4 started studying under Master Twyla, a former friend of Garmadon's, as well), and everyone kind of recognizes Jasmine as someone from Borg Industries. At the end of the season, Twyla joins the EMs in the Corridor of Elders to fight. Prior to this she's only been mentioned by her students and a little by Garmadon

S5: Ivy is introduced when the ninja go to Ronin's pawn shop! She's Ronin's partner in crime and while she's there she and Nya form a strong bond too (daughters of Wojira my beloved)

No one is introduced in S6 or S7 really

S8: Luna is introduced by Harumi during Garmadon's resurrection. After it's presumed failure, she's taken to go stay with the Ninja

Another skip

S15: putting Willow here too bc this is when she's introduced to the Ninja at large during the fight with the Overlord 3.0. until now she's been chilling in the woods with occasional visits from Jonathan

Ofc having all of the relationships would be a bit messy but her are the basic breakdowns:

Nataly: she and Kai have a pretty close bond, partially forged on annoying the shit out of each other. Similarly, she and Lloyd bond a lot over complicated family situations (Nataly is Pythors's daughter, if that tells you anything) and also an innate sense of whimsy. Her related w the other ninja is pretty good! Aside from various pranks she's pulled on them

Roxie: she and Cole are really close and used to be best friends at Marty Oppenheimer's! I've made a post about their friendship before and if I can find it later I'll link it. She's also really close w Nya and I personally believe they have 3am conversations about femininity and womanhood that look like that one painting of Aristotle and the other guy. Gender studies minors after an exhaustive study sesh type jazz

Jasmine: uh. Complicated. She gets along great w Nya and Jay for a while due to a shared love of mechanics and inventing but she develops some more complicated feelings that lead to her shooting those relationships in the foot. She also discovers in S8 that she's Julien's daughter and thus Zane's sister but there is a veil of family drama over that entire thing, so that relationship barely manifests and becomes tense even after Zane finds out. She and Pixal get along amazing though. There's been no time to ruin that.

Jackie: she's probably the second closest to most of the ninja, but particularly Kai, Nya, and Lloyd. She and Kai are kinda like siblings. Often if a situation is full of Some Bullshit, they'll exchange a glance before diving in. They're like a pair in a buddy cop movie. Her and Nya are training together and I think would get along well by virtue of being insane tryhards. Her and Lloyd are really close after S4 and are the partners in crime to her and Kai's buddy cop movie. She develops a crush on him around the Oni Trilogy, but doesn't act on it because well. Oni Trilogy events. He starts reciprocating around the post-S11 pre-S12 era but they don't do anything about it til undetermined time (probably sometime pre-Seabound or post-Crystallized, they are definitely officially a couple as of Dragons Rising).

Hannah: Keeps to herself and her team but she and Cole get along pretty well. They share an appreciation for music, though she's a performer and Cole's not, so they mostly talk about artists they enjoy and he might help her hash them of her own work out. They're chill friends. She has this semi-antagonistic, semi-they just like to talk shit with each other, relationship with Kai. She's very tempermental and likes to call out his antics. Kai thinks it's kinda funny when she's mad about dumb shit so he purposefully pushes her buttons. It's like rats play wrestling. She and Kai and Skylor are in a triad (she's in a romantic relationship w Kai and a QPR with Skylor, Skylor and Kai are also in a romantic relationship) post-Crystallized. I would go into her relationship w/ Skylor bc there's a lot of backstory there, but this post is long enough as is.

Kyle: Mostly hangs around Jay and Cole. Third wheeling. He referees their Face2Fist matches to make sure no one is cheating. They're like... bros is the best way I can describe it. He and Kai are also pretty amicable on account of both getting the Older Brother Special Edition experience (orphans) and Kai hangs around Chen's, where Kyle works bc he and Skylor are actually besties

Luna: Her and Jay are nerding out over comics something fierce. I think she and him would host Jackbox nights for the team to boost morale too. She and Lloyd have a semi-tense relationship at first bc of the circumstances of their reunion but post-S10 they have a very "one is doing something very impulsive and stupid and the other is egging them on" sibling relationship. She would get him back into comics and also they'd do pinball tournaments at arcades that aren't about winning just about beating each other

Ivy: is kind of peripheral, but she and Nya get really close during S5 and stay in contact. They sit on the edge of a creek and skip stones while talking about random shit. Ivy brings her scrap for projects and Nya has to side eye her like "did you steal this" and Ivy never gives her a straight answer. I think she and Cole would get along too, funnily enough. They're just similar enough in their defiant rebellion that I think they could hold a respect for each other that manifests in sitting in the same room, quietly, working on projects and occasionally helping each other out. Ivy and Lloyd have a bond over bitching about Morro.

Jonathan: he and cole are vibing in a room together except Jonathan has no idea how to talk to him and so is nervously making small talk. Cole thinks he's neat and likes to hear him ramble about the various mechanical projects he's working on. They'd also bond about their dads. Jonathan feels like he has to live up to the Borg name and make his father proud (he already has, but anxiety's a bitch) and Cole gets that. He and Pixal are also practically siblings and are tight as hell. Between S7 and S8 he was def helping her w her Samurai X stuff.

Willow: she actually doesn't have relationships with the ninja! As said she's kind of a peripheral character who only interacts with Jonathan and her characterization and story rests within that bubble. If I were to let her out I think she and Wu actually would get along the best, which is a cop out, but there's something about feeling like the fate of the world is upon your shoulders and one wrong step will cause everything to come crashing that makes a silent shared cup of tea the most meaningful interaction you might ever have

Master Twyla: she's closer to Misako and Wu by virtue of those being her friends and comrades before, but I think she views the ninja as like. peripheral students. she's not their teacher and doesn't act like it but those are her kids in the same way the others are yk? She would see their parents in them but also feels a sense of pride at their own strengths and is happy to be someone they can talk to. I think she'd have a particular soft spot for Lloyd because she was closer to the Spin Bros and Misako so in another life that's her godchild

Thank you again for your question! I am so sorry this is so long! But this absolutely made my day to answer!

[slrsunfire]

💌 & 🌈? If you’re feel up to answering

have an amazing day :D

You are sweet, anon! Thank you ❤️

As for your questions...

[💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited! ]

To be honest, I've mostly been focusing on my Space!AU, Ronin!AU and fem!Tobirama AU at the moment. I can confirm that I've gotten enough interest in my recent mdtb childhood betrothal a/b/o one shot that I'm going to be continuing that at some point? But you might've already known about that. I...uh... I've been asked to maybe do a collaboration with someone in the future so...something fun might come from that as well? I don't want to say anything yet, but I think you'd like whatever comes of it 😉

[🌈is there a fic that you worked *really fucking hard on* that no one would ever know? maybe a scene/theme you struggled with?]

This is hard, whew. I did work on one in my old fandom that touched on cancer, death and some other hard topics and led to some complicated writing gymnastics. But as for Naruto where I've mostly settled, I'd say that A Constellation Undiscovered has been challenging to work on in a few different ways.

Tobirama's struggle with coming to terms with what he has done to Madara was very emotional for me to write. Though my own relationship with my husband is very, very strong, we've also had moments where a break down in communication has happened/expectations have gotten the better of us, leading to unintentional hurt on both sides. I found myself reflecting that in the story as a result, and it turned out to be a struggle to properly give it weight, while also staying realistic and in character to Madara and Tobirama as I'd perceive them to have behaved in the current framework of the story. It's been a very good challenge so far!

Original ask game post

[ducknotinarow]

Ramble about: Mikey! :D I wanna know all about the sunshine baby ;3; any verse and anything you wanna talk about

| Ramble about my muse

Imma do this where I start on things that apply to all takes of Mikey then more specific stuff for each verse I have. Mostly it'ss just be 2003 and 2012 though since Rise ive talked about so i left him out of his own section and 87 a bit newer so his bit will be the shortest.

Aromatic Pansexual. Mikey dosen't care to much for being in a romantic relationship this dosen't mean he won't he a bit content with his own interests and platonic relationships. It's why he tends to vicariously live and meddle a bit in his brothers/friends relationships.

He attracted to ones good vibes over their gender uwu. Mikey has actually gotten experience under his belt he just dosen’t talk about it. He can keep thinks more casual.

Genderfluid. pronouns? he will actually use any. he/him. They/Them. She/Her.

I have made a few mentions here and there on a few Mikey's being pretty open on their gender in responses. Like how Rise and 2012 both share an interest in painting their nails and their brothers nails or shells if they let him

Mikey dosen't use Labels however. He is just Mikey.

All Mikeys do like to paint their nails but they don't all push it to their brothers. 87/03 go with one color and its mostly just orange. 12/rise will mix it up and sometimes to mutplie colors at a time.

Highly empathic. Mikey is very attuned to others feelings it's why hes the likely the one you wanna meet first out of the four. He dosen't view many as threat which can be both bad and good. SO if Mikey DOSE feel someone can't be trusted it might pay to listen to him.

Has ADHD. Now really only the Rise version has this confirmed but well I always saw the case for 2003 and 2012 and I can see it easily applied to him over all.

Highly admires all his brothers. True to his place as the baby in the family Mikey looks up to his brothers and admires them for who they are. Often trying to emulate them.

Also because of that and his empathy hes highly aware of his older brothers hang ups and struggles. He knows Leo burned of Leader/How hard they are on themself (rise), He knows Raph carries the worlds problems on his shoulders, He knows Donnie sets his self worth into his mind and creations and feels like a failure if he cant fix an issue. Mikey is painfully aware of this all.

It why hes a tad more relaxed and laid back and tries to get them involved in his own antics. Or gets a bit to involved in what they are doing. Yeah hes annoying but its coming from a good place.

Super protective. Sorry to anyone who dates his brothers or takes a liking to them. Will he befriend you and be that siblings that steals his brothers partner away to hang with him? yes he will. But theres a slight motive behind it. He's making sure you good for his brothers and well thats a hard thing to crack to Mikey because of how highly he thinks of them. Even Casey someone he is friends with he has done this with.

That another thing out of all the turtles? Mikey is the one you don't wanna make mad. Sure Raph, Leo and even the rare times Donnie snap is something you wanna avoid but Mikeys worse. He aims to hurt. Last Ronin uwu is a good example or ya know 2012 throwing a whole couch out a window over Leo or Rise Mikey throwing buildings and boats even.

It's stated and shown in many of the shows and comics that Mikey could be one of the greatest ninjas out there, Even rivaling Leo's abilities. I feel last Ronin shows it most. He has often gotten the better of all his brothers when pitted against them at times. Mikey just lacks the drive, focus and motivation at times.

87

Has Severe stage fright, just can not handle the spot light funny enough.

Is a major gift giver for no reason at all. he just sees something and thinks his brothers would like it. Sometimes yeah its just a rock it made him think of them okay

Gets upset if his brothers disguises clash in anyway u-u just cause they live off trash don't mean they have to dress it.

Casey's look is trash but Casey scares him to much to say anything about it.

2003

Having to kill a deal with version of Splinter fucked with him a bit more than he has noticed. He felt guilty about it for months and made sure to be a bit more serious with training for a bit of time.

Loved super heros since his first comic book he ever came across.

His favorites are Captain America, Spider man, Batman and Wonder women.

It's what inspires him to feel he and brothers could do real good for the city. Not just simply hide away they can help people.

Helping others is his biggest goal. Even why he dawned the Turtle Titan persona.

Mikey dose a lot of charity work on his own. Making sure orphanages/foster homes are getting toys and essentials to the kids. Helping their homeless friends out with basics through the year.

What makes Mikey happiest? being useful to others even if he might complain here and there knowing he helped someone? it just feels nice.

2012

Admires Donnie the most of his brothers and is why he often is always in their lab. Also them always being team up as the B team adds to his closeness.

pretty open on his whole gender thing. He’s got a collection of dresses and wigs and such. It’s why he loves those teen magazines.

Loves to paint his brothers shells tends to keep him quite and it's a fun bonding moment for Mikey. At most it's just a small section hell do a small design on. But if they will let him go all out he will uwu

Has a few of online friends that he met from online games, he has actually met in person. Hes worried his brothers would freak out about it. So he kinds of keeps this fact to himself.

[awlumii]

"i'm sorry."

he almost doesn't catch that: your whisper is almost inaudible among paimon's shriek as aether pokes her with raw fish. mona is sitting with fischl on the shore, trying to cheer her up, while xinyan is after the traveler's antics, giggling.

kazuha turns to face you, leaving the half chopped vegetables be. his eyes don't miss the way you're fiddling with your fingers, bandaged after the fight with the ronins you ran into during whatever happened this afternoon. the cuts were the first thing he noticed when you reunited on the last room, way too similar to the alcor he could call a home.

"i do not get what you might be referring to, love" he simply answers, walking closer to you (he hopes you dont mind the smell of tomatoes lingering on his hands), "mind clearing it up for me?"

you gulp, not daring to meet his gaze even when his fingers tentatively graze yours, something he does whenever he wants to comfort you - and it's ironic, since he should be the one feeling upset.

"i'm sorry for having to... listen, i guess? to your past. to... what you didn't want to tell me"

it's kazuha's time to sigh now, eyes closing as his fingers finally intertwine with yours - he internally grimaces as the feeling of bandages on your skin.

"the warmth of your heart never fails to amaze me, hummingbird," he muses quietly bringing your knuckles to his lips, but not pecking them, "why would you apologise as if you are the one who created such mirage? unless you're the mage, the 'alice' that the traveler and miss mona kept mentioning."

a small whine leaves your throat out of frustration while he brushes the back of your hands with small kisses: "it's not that. i just... feel like i accidentally crossed boundaries," you whisper back, squeezing his hands trying to grab his full attention, "i wanted to cover my ears but the voices kept coming from everywhere and i just-" you break eye contact, feeling shame crawl on your back, "i wish i could have avoided it. i thought holding onto you as we got transported inside the bonsai would separate me from the others but it didn't work. it feels like i was forced to acknowledge something i was not supposed to know."

you can't see the way he's looking at you and for the first time in your relationship, kazuha is glad about it. he blinks a few times, glad you can't see the glimmer of tears trying to spill out and waits a few moments before speaking, fearing that a wavering voice would betray him.

and he's speechless.

"come here, little one. come here, please" his hands leave yours just for his arms to wrap around your form, tugging you close, the closest he can manage, to him. nuzzling his face in your hair as you hide your face in his chest, he speaks again:

"you have nothing to apologise for, angel. it was.. how things were supposed to be, perhaps." a hand sneaks under your shirt, grazing your bare skin gently as kazuha tries to get even closer to you.

you protest, the sound muffled by the fabric of his clothes "but it's unfair, 'zuha. it's like you were forced to share your past even if you didn't want to. and- gods, even people you don't know well like mona and fischl got to see it."

"i believe a part of me is glad," he breathes out, "i'm glad i no longer have to tell you what is burdening me, and that someone did it in my place. although that someone was my past self."

he pulls away to look at you, a hand resting on your cheek. the way he's looking at you makes your knees weak.

"if anything, i should apologise for being such a hard person to love"

you break down. kazuha had always appreciated your sensitive side, even before you two started dating. he would rub your back after you cried sharing a sad story he heard during one of his travels, or try to cheer you up at the sight of your tears after a particular dramatic song yunjin would sing in your presence. but right now you're despising your weak self, wanting to be the one to protect him for once.

"that's- that's bullshit!" you sob out, covering the hand on your cheek with your own, "you are not hard to love! you are the most gentle soul i ever encountered, the most - the most beautiful person there could be out there. both inside and outside."

"you could even be the son of the cruelest tyrant and that wouldn't change anything! i just- see, i can't even put myself in words!"

that makes him laugh a little, although you can't sense any real humour coming from him.

kazuha doesn't answer, simply hugging you again.

"i love you," he manages to get out before you feel a sob shake his shoulders. and another as you kiss the crown of his head.

"i love you more than you will ever know, kazuha"

giggles nervously damn writers block is slapping me violently sorry if this is awful

i'm gonna fucking cry dawg, this is so 🥺🥺🥺

[howtofightwrite]

Hi! I've been working on a historical fantasy story (think Taisho era but with Caribbean influences). My issue is with two of the main characters: A morally-questionable "ronin" for lack of a better term, and street-fighter with the noble incentive of supporting her family financially. While it's easy for me to picture what their relationship ends up becoming, it's hard for me to decide how these two could end up working together without it seeming unrealistic or forced.

I have no idea what this means.

I'm vaguely familiar with the Taisho Period. This was from 1912 to 1925, and saw some early elements of the transition that lead to the Japanese Emperor's authority being completely subverted by a military junta in the following decade. It's a very significant era.

The problem is, Japan in 1925 looked nothing like Jamaica in 1656, and I cannot extrapolate exactly what you're looking for here.

"Caribbean influences," could be as simple as geological, or it could be an elaborate fantasy setting that melds elements of late Imperial Japan with the European colonial squabbling in the Caribbean that resulted in an authority vacuum, and the proliferation of piracy, both freelance, and state sponsored.

The result is, I don't know your world, and that's not a bad thing. It does make this question much harder to answer with any specificity.

So, yes, a unique world is a good thing. Not being able to boil that down into a single sentence is something you may want to work on. Though, the goal is to create a coherent one line description, not to simplify your world.

The problem with your characters is, I don't know who these people are. The description of them is basic, but fine. However, because I don't know your world, I don't have a full frame of reference for what your setting's ronin really are. This could be anything from a disgraced noble to a former military leader who's degenerated into piracy when their place in the old order collapsed when the previous emperor died.

How does that interface with someone who has the, "noble incentive of supporting her family?" This could get really dark.

A couple years back I remember reading an article discussing the good/evil axis for D&D's alignment system. The author used the concept of proximal empathy a litmus test for a character's alignment. (Note that "proximal empathy," means something very different in developmental psychology.) The idea is that a good person will experience empathy and exhibit compassion and altruism to a wide range of people, in some cases, even total strangers. However, as the alignment shifts away from good, that proximity will decrease. A neutral character may be apathetic about strangers, but they don't stop caring about or protecting their friends and family. An evil character may either only care about their innermost circle, or themselves alone.

While I think it has limited value as a philosophical position, it's something worth considering about your characters. If your character is willing to commit crimes and harm others in pursuit of providing for their family, that does not make them a good person. Further, even someone with noble intentions can be responsible for horrific actions.

This will be a slightly crude explanation, but when you're plotting the relationships between characters, it can be helpful to think of it like a multi-act story, with a sequence of different stages or phases. Over a long enough period of time, many relationships are unstable. People who start as friends can become bitter enemies, and people began barely tolerating one another could come to respect each other, only for that to be scuttled later on.

There's nothing inherent in these two character concepts that would automatically mean they couldn't work together, or even become friends. Similarly, there are a lot of potential threads that could lead to a brutal falling out down the line. That's fine. More than fine, that's useful.

I've said it before, but your job is not to make friends with your characters. You are not responsible for handing them a happy ending. Having characters that end up parting ways because of irreconcilable differences can punctuate a good story. Conflicts between protagonists can be incredibly valuable for changing a character's trajectory, or showcasing new insights into who your characters are, and how the story's events have changed them.

In both cases, you have a the basic sketch of a character who could be a complex individual, and that's something you will want to encourage. Character conflict lets you tease out that depth without requiring either character to be exceptionally self aware.

I can't tell you how they met, or why they started to work together. I can't tell you if there was friction or if they started out working together for purely pragmatic reasons. I don't know. Those are your character and your story.

What I do know is, try it. If it doesn't work, examine where and why it failed, and rewrite it until you're happy with it.

-Starke

This blog is supported through Patreon. If you enjoy our content, please consider becoming a Patron. Every contribution helps keep us online, and writing. If you already are a Patron, thank you, and come join us on Discord.

[stitch1830]

Taang

Headcanon

3, 9, 18, 21, 27

Ronin! Hello! :D Taang headcanons, here we go!

3. Who is the most romantic?

I think Aang is more romantic, but it's mainly because his is more apparent than Toph. Toph's romantic gestures are usually done in the comfort of their home, but Aang isn't afraid to make doe eyes at Toph in public or tell her how amazing she is haha!

Usually, if they're out in public and Aang does something sappy, she'll sass him or hit him because she has a reputation to uphold LOL. (But she secretly loves his PDA haha!)

9. What is the most embarrassing thing they have done in front of each other?

I feel like Aang sometimes forgets that he is the Avatar and can bend more than just air. He's a bit of an airhead in that regard, so there are moments where he just... forgets and Toph never lets him hear the end of it hehe.

Toph actually never does anything embarrassing so—

Just kidding :)

I would say that she does a lot of silly things for their kids, so sometimes she sings and does a goofy dance or makes weird faces to help the babies eat their baby food, and Aang can't help but laugh. She doesn't often do embarrassing things in front of Aang, but if she does, it usually rolls off her back. But I feel like if Toph did some sort of flying lemur dance for the kids, Aang would replay that in his mind forever and ever :)

18. When they fight, how do they make up?

Toph and Aang seem like the couple that just... hug it out LOL.

They'll fight and it's a blowout, they usually say stuff they don't mean, but then the next day or two, they just meet in the middle and are like "I'm sorry" and ~hug~

Toph and Aang know what they prioritize in their relationship, they know their roles and responsibilities to each other and the world, and I think sometimes it gets to them, but they never let a fight get in between them.

I also feel like when it comes to admitting they are wrong, they find it hard to properly express it.

That, or they just straight up make each other laugh, and it's water under the bridge lol.

21. Where do they get nervous about going with one another?

I don't think Aang is ever nervous about going with Toph anywhere, but I can see Toph being a little nervous for their relationship to go public with their friends/family. She finds it weird to be the center of attention when it comes to questions about her relationship, so she just gets fidgety and whatnot lol.

27. Why do their friends get annoyed with them?

Toph and Aang are the notorious couple that pranks their friends and their nieces/nephews. They're the 'fun couple' and like to wreak a little havoc wherever they go! So, that typically means that the Gaang gets all exasperated whenever they pull a prank or make an inappropriate joke at the dinner table.

Aang shows a little remorse at times. A little. :)

......

Okay! I think that covers the questions! Thanks again for the ask, Ronin! Always love our Taangy conversations. Hope you have a great day!

Send me headcanon asks for ATLA (or other) ships!

[randominagines]

Ok I'm sending this your way 👁👁 Bucky x Steve's ex. Post tfatws sam and bucky apprehend a vigilante killer that can't be killed, any injury she get heals/regenerates. Bucky realises it's Steve's first proper girl friend who broke Steve's heart after she mysteriously disappeared, what's more is that bucky had some unresolved feelings for her back in the day. But the sweet, gentle young woman that Steve had loved is now a lonely near immortal killer. Maybe with flashbacks, pre-serum Steve wasn't popular with the ladies but when he met her he fell hard, and when bucky met her a part of him was interested but that makes his new found reunion with her all the more conflicting. I image reader to look in her mid 20s, average looking but with old eyes that interested bucky, maybe 300 years old never one to stay in the same place, not one to have relationships or flings for that matter but Steve was so sweet he made her feel hopeful but she had to leave for safety this was a few years before he became captain America. Reader is old fashioned too like bucky n steve lots of Angst please cos she still feels bad about Steve plus bucky doesn't trust her cos of how she hurt Steve plus she's a vigilante  (Like punisher/daredevil or Clint as Ronin) but now she's tasked with helping bucky n Sam track down human traffickers that she has insider info on from her time undercover, basically she's spent her years infiltrating n hunting human traffickers/organised crime syndicates . I can image the tension, the pinning and guilt,gotta have a lot of guilt I don't usually go for romantic fics but I like this idea also she's based on my oc 👁👁 hope it sparks an interest in you.😊

THIS IS LITERALLY SO CREATIVE THANK YOU! I added a little plot twist, hope you don't mind, and I combined this request with this⬇️

And thanks to anon too for the request!

Pairing: Bucky Barnes X Fem!reader (Steve's ex)

Setting: After FATWS

Warning: obviously a lot of angst and a bit of smut

P.s. if you find any mistake please correct me, English is not my mother tongue and I want to improve. Reblog, if you can, it helps a lot, thank you💕

P.p.s. gifs belong to the creators.

The Vigilante

When Sam told Bucky about the mysterious Vigilante that was practically exterminating every single organised crime syndicate he was kinda sceptical. Why would someone so apparently powerful and slippery help them? Sam looked so enthusiastic that Bucky didn't feel like tearing him down.

"Relax, he is probably a nice guy." Sam said while stepping into the abandoned parking: that was the meeting point jointly agreed. Bucky rolled his eyes, his hands in his pocket. "We don't need help." He said but his best friend shook his head. "We totally do. These arms dealers are different, these are not amateur, so we need a professional too." He concluded while opening the fascicles he had written about these man: Sam had brought them for the Vigilante to read. Bucky puffed. "Whatever." He said.

In that moment, a figure practically landed in front of them: the Vigilante was wearing a pair of black cargo trousers, two guns at her belt and the hilt of knife sticking out of her boot. The Vigilante had a black shirt with a black leather jacket and a mask that covered most of their face and head. The only thing exposed was their neck. The figure looked at them, deep y/e/c eyes scanning their figure, while pointing a gun against them.

Sam raised his hand and Bucky frowned. "Woah, was this necessary?" Sam asked and the Vigilante tilted her head before lowering the gun. "I had to make sure you were not impostors." They said, their voice alternated by some weird device. Sam nodded, but before he could say anything, Bucky took a step forward and the Vigilante finally saw him: a gasp escaped their mouth. "James Buchanan Barnes..." The Vigilante whispered, their voice filled with tension. Bucky walked toward them, his hand already on his gun. "How do you know my full name?" He asked while extracting the gun, his eyes widened. The Vigilante shook their head. "You know me too..." They said and pressed a button behind their mask: it opened with a click and Bucky looked at them: he stumbled back, his mouth parted and his hand lowering. "This is not possible..." He whispered in panic.

Sam looked at the Vigilante and tilted his head. "Mmh, a girl." He simply said while she kept staring at Bucky, her eyes getting watery. "You're alive." She simply said and Sam raised his arms. "Wait a second, how do you know each other?" He asked and looked at his friend, but he was like petrified.

The girl sighed. "I was Steve's girlfriend back in 1940." She said and Sam widened his eyes. "What the fuck?!" He simply said and Bucky stepped forward to look at her: she looked exactly the same, her y/h/c were slightly longer but still the same colour, her lips still pink petal and her eyes still intense, even if there was something different in her sight. "Y/n," he whispered her name, it was almost weird to pronounce after all those years. "I thought you were dead." He said, his jaw clenched. Y/n shook her head. "I had to make Steve believe it, it was too dangerous to stay with him." She explained.

Bucky felt a burning anger growing inside of him. He looked at Sam. "We're not working with her." He said and rushed out of the parking. Sam raised his hands while staring at y/n. "I'll be right back, read this in the meantime." He said and passed the fascicles to her before running to his friend. "Bucky, stop." He commanded but Bucky kept walking. "I'm not working with her." He repeated and stopped to look at Sam, he shook his head. "We need her, we have been trying to stop those dealers for months." He trying to help his friend reasoning but Bucky was adamant. "There is no way, Sam." He said and Sam rolled his eyes. "But why..." He asked but Bucky started walking away. "You don't wanna know." He said, Sam walked in front of him. "Just tell me, I can't understand why--" he tried to insist, but Bucky grabbed his arms and looked at him. "Because I loved her!" He screamed, his voice filled with anger. He shook his head and bit his lower lip, his expression resigned.

Sam widened his eyes and stepped back while Bucky sighed. "I was in love with her and it cost me a lot to never say this. Steve was so happy to have her, he liked her since the beginning, and I liked her too. Living their relationship in front row made me get attached to her too and I realized that I loved her," he said, his voice a whisper. "Then, one day, she left him out of the blue, telling him that she was about to move in Europe. Steve couldn't resign, he kept insisting to have another chance. She looked so torn, then one day, her friends told us that she was found dead after a car accident. Those were weird years, cars were still such a new thing and couldn't be trusted. We never saw the body but we attended her funeral," he said, the memory of that day still fresh in his mind. "Steve was in pieces, and I was destroyed. The person I loved was gone and I couldn't tell anyone about that, not even to my best friend. And the worst part is that I've never been completely honest about the reason why me and her were so close..." He concluded, eyes watery and his hands nervously entwined. He never told Steve that, the day he introduced her as his girlfriend, was not the first time Bucky saw her: he met her weeks before, they had a one night stand but he never forgot her. He didn't even know her name, but those eyes had been in his thoughts for weeks, untill he saw her again, but next to Steve. It was too late to say anything, and that had been their secret for two years, the amount of time she had been Steve's girlfriend. Sam put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, mate." He whispered and Bucky nodded.

In that moment, y/n walked to them, the fascicles in her hand. "I read them. I've been trying to stop this organisation for months, then I was recruited for another mission two years ago and I've left USA since then," she explained while shaking her head. "They apparently are still around. It's quite personal to me, since their boss was my boyfriend and--" Sam almost choked on his own saliva. "What?!" He asked and she shrugged. "I pretended to be interested in him for the sake of the mission, he was an awful man, always treating me like his funny little toy. I simply dumped him with the excuse of having to move." She said and looked at Bucky, a bit of guilty in her eyes. He shook his head. "That's your modus operandi then, you make people fall in love with you and you dump them with this silly excuse when you're tired of them, just like you did with St--" he was saying, but she snapped: she grabbed her knife and pointed it to his throat, her movement so fast and gracious that they didn't even realize. She looked at him in the eyes. "Not another word, Steve has been the only real thing I've ever had. Leaving him was the most difficult decision I've ever made." She said and he chuckled, the tip of the knife scratching his throat. "Then why did you?" He asked and she took a breath, her eyes not showing any emotion at all. "Because I was getting weak. Having sentimental attachment was not a thing accepted by my boss. He threatened me to kill Steve, and you..." She said and he tilted his head. "Me?" He asked in surprise and she nodded. "You're free to not believe me, but I cared about you too, and also very much." She concluded and lowered her knife, Bucky's body relaxed. Sam looked at them both, standing one a couple of centimetres away from the other: they were lost in each other's eyes, the sexual tension between them almost palpable. Sam held his breath. "Okay, enough drama for today. What about going home, sleeping on this and we meet tomorrow at Bucky's apartment to discuss the mission?" He said, trying to defuse the atmosphere. Y/n nodded, her eyes still on Bucky. "I'll keep the fascicles, see you tomorrow." She said and practically disappeared in the darkness of the parking, there was no trace of her.

Bucky let out a breath, his stomach twisted and his heart pounding faster in his chest. Sam tilted his head. "Do you have to tell me something else?" He asked but Bucky started walking away, not another word escaped his mouth for the rest of the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky could always tell when he was dreaming, there was something in the way he perceived feelings that was surreal. He used to have the most vivid flashbacks of when he was still the Winter Soldier, filled with violence and pain, so it was easy to tell that it was not who he was anymore. But this time, it was different: after decades, he was dreaming of y/n again and it felt real. It was a pure memory, of the night he had sex with her...

He was lying on his bed, his chest covered in tiny drops of sweat while it was raising and lowering fastly, he was out of breath. She was still sitting on his, her legs spread and her torso lowering to kiss him, a quick but intense kiss on his lips, before she rolled on the bed next to him. He looked at her and smiled: her hair were messy, her breast covered in small bites and her hands pulling the sheets to cover her naked body. Bucky scanned her. "Don't, you look beautiful." He said and grabbed her by her hip, his lips pressing on her shoulder. She smiled. "You don't look bad yourself, James." She said and ran her fingers through his short hair, he shook his head. "It's unfair, you know my name and I don't know yours." He protested and she shrugged while slowly kissing his neck, her hand tracing his pectorals. "I could tell you, but where would be the fun?" She joked while biting his neck, her warm breath sending shivers down his spine. "You act so mysterious." He whispered, a small moan escaping his lips as her hand travelled down his stomach.

She smirked. "Don't you like it?" She asked and he looked at her, his eyes filled with lust while he climbed on the top of her, his legs spreading hers. "I love it." He whispered and kissed her, his lips searching for hers with passion. She kissed him back, her legs crossing around his lap and her hands scratching his back. "You are so hot, has anyone told you that?" She asked while looking at his naked body, he really was perfect. He grinned in confidence but his lips turned pink. "Well, have you seen yourself?." He asked while his hands travelled on her body and he looked at her with pure adoration, his eyes on her making her feel kinda of worshiped.

She smiled. "You look like you're in the mood for a second round." She provoked him and pulled him closer. He smirked, his fingers tracing her breast. "Even a third." He said and grabbed her leg, his lips leaving a trace of tiny kisses on it while she smiled, feeling happy and wanted for the first time in forever.

Bucky woke up, his eyes widened and his body authomatically sitting up. He was out of breath, his irregular heartbeat making him feel full of adrenaline. He shook his head, his hands running through his hair.

Bucky had never thought about that night again since y/n's funeral: the fact that he dreamt of it again was almost disturbing to him. He clearly remembered how the following day he woke up and she was gone, he tried to search for her for days but no one knew her name, she was like a ghost, disappeared without leaving a single trace behind. Bucky couldn't forget the day he saw her again: Steve was proudly holding her hand, his blue eyes filled with love and affection while he looked at her.

"This is y/n, my girlfriend." He said and smiled in pride. Y/n widened her eyes while staring at Bucky and he did the same, his throat so dry that he thought he was not going to be able to talk. In the end, she reached her hand. "Nice to meet you, Bucky, Steve always talks about you." She said, underlining the name Bucky since she knew him as James. He shook her hand and nodded. "Nice to meet you, Steve told me that you are an amazing person, y/n." He said and put emphasis on her name too, since he didn't know it.

Bucky didn't realize at the time, but he was already so captured by her: it had been just one night, but the way they connected had been so intense. Making love, talking about random stuff, sharing life moments through stories; all of those things had been powerful and deep for Bucky. He couldn't help but falling for her, even though she was with Steve.

He stood up and looked at his clock: 4 in the morning. He sighed, it was impossible to go back to sleep, so he went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass to fill it with milk. In that moment, someone knocked at his door: he frowned and grabbed a gun that he had hidden behind the microwave, who on Earth would knock at 4 a.m.? He walked to the door slowly, his hands pointing the gun, then he heard a voice. "I know you're awake, it's me." Y/n said from the other side of the door. Bucky's heart almost skipped a beat: he put the gun down and opened the door. Y/n was standing there, her hands in his pocket and the hood of her hoodie on. She walked inside and put the hood down while staring at him. "I'm sorry to show up like this, but I needed to see you." She said and he shook his head. "How did you know I was awake?" He asked while putting the gun back behind the microwave. She shook her head. "Because I couldn't sleep too. Plus, I clearly heard the click of your gun when I knocked, amateur shit." She said and sat on his couch.

Bucky shook his head and sat in front of her. "What do you want?" He asked, his tone filled with tension. She took a deep breath. "To apologize. I know I hurt Steve, and maybe you too but--" she tried to say but he laughed. "Tell me one thing: did you know I was Steve's best friend the night we fucked?" He brutally asked, his voice firm. She shook her head. "I didn't, it was just a coincidence." She honestly said while having vivid flashbacks of that night, her stomach filling with a weird sensation. "Coincidences do not exist." Bucky bitterly said and she sighed. "Sometimes, they do. I didn't intend to end up with Steve, but when I met him he was sweet, thoughtful, sincere... I wasn't allowed to get attached to people, but he was so special. I got involved and when I saw you the night he introduced me to you, I almost thought about breaking up with him..." She confessed, her voice shaking. He didn't interrupt her and gave her the time to take a breath. "I liked you, Bucky. That night had been important to me, believe it or not. I used to have sex with people and leaving the following morning was easy, but that morning I hesitated. But then I already was a Vigilante, I had responsibilities and my life was a constant danger, so I left your apartment. I thought about you for days, then I met Steve and I was probably opened to the idea of love because of how you made me feel, like I could be worthy of love after all and like I didn't have to give up on human basic experience just because of my job." She concluded, her eyes stuck into his and her hands playing with one of the pillows.

Bucky felt his stomach twisting: that night had been important to her too, then. All those years thinking about how stupid he had been to believe that it mattered something and here he was, listening to her talking about that damn night spent together. "I thought about you too." Bucky confessed, his voice a whisper and his eyes travelling to his own hands. She parted her mouth. "You did?" She asked and he nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked and regretted a second later, it was obvious. He shook his head. "Because you were my best friend's girlfriend. He had never been happier and I didn't want to interfere." He said, thinking about how much Steve actually loved her. He felt guilty of loving her too.

She let out a breath and tilted her head. "I feel bad for lying to him, to you. I saw you at my funeral and I felt the worst person ever." She admitted and Bucky nervously chuckled. "How to blame you? Steve was destroyed." He said and she nodded. "I know, but if I had stayed he would have been killed. He became a hero, instead." She said and thought about Captain America. Bucky nodded, eyes staring at the void. "And I became a monster." He said and she bit her lower lip. "You were the Winter Soldier, weren't you?" She asked, finally connecting all the dots. He nodded, those words still hurting. "I was." He said and she grabbed his hand. Their first physical contact since the night they had sex and Bucky felt it all: his stomach twisted and his eyes travelled back on her face. "I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that, we didn't deserve to be experiments." She sighed and he frowned. "I suppose they used the serum on you too." He guessed and she nodded. "Yes, two hundred years before they did on you." She confessed, thinking about how many epochs she had been through. He widened his eyes. "Wait... Are you three hundred years old?" He asked in disbelief. She looked at him and nodded, a tiny smile curving her lips. Bucky felt weird, he hadn't seen that smile since the last time he had seen her with Steve, he used to love that smile.

She shook her head. "So, now that we told the untold, can we work together?" She asked and reached her hand to shake it, he hesitated, he wasn't sure he could, but she was just someone from his past and he didn't love her anymore, didn't he? They had been lovers for a night and friends for two years, but there was always something unclear between them. He shook her hand. "We can." He said and she finally smiled, a full and bright smile that reminded Bucky of the good old times. "Okay," she said and stood up, he did the same. "So, see you tomorrow." She said and hugged him. Bucky tensed up for a moment, his body freezing between her arms, but it was just a second: he hugged her back, his arms wrapping around her torso while he hid his face in the crook of her neck: she had the same smell, the same familiar sweet scent. She looked at him, and for a second she thought about kissing him again, those eyes still mesmerising and his lips so soft. He was looking at her too, his eyes travelling from her lips to her eyes. They didn't realize but they both leaned forward, their lips barely touched and y/n took a step forward. "I should go." She said and took a deep breath. Bucky sighed and nodded, his hands falling long his body. "Yes, you should." He said, feeling guilty for still wanting her so bad. She smiled at him and left, the noise of her footsteps filling the stairs. Bucky sighed, his hands covering his face while lying down on his couch, thinking that he was still in love with her.

Part 2

[cruciatusforeplay]

This is part two of a hella big post. Check out part one here. These are all a lot more recent, so I'm gonna try to be less spoilery, but there are gonna be some.

A not-so-brief history of Hawkeye in Comics Part Two (spoilers below the cut)

A note on events, dying and doubling down on Hawkeyes

Comics love doing big events, and I'm not covering them in here. Partly because they are huge and complex and to just focus on Hawkeye would be an injustice to the stories, but also because the amount of stuff I would need to spoil would be way beyond just a little Hawkeye. Clint was involved in Secret Wars (1984), which was one of the first crossover events of its kind. Another notable era is 2004-2009, where there is an incredible amount of superhero politics driving big narratives. If you're new to comics, you might not know that characters dying is common and rarely permanent. This is relevant because while I said that I wouldn't talk about events, I think it would be pretty uncool to not mention that Hawkeye dies and is brought back to life (Avengers Disassembled, House of M, New Avengers #26). It's around here that Clint picks up the Ronin mantle.

This is also when Dark Reign/Dark Avengers is going on. For anyone who'd like some Clint whump from this era, there's a top notch naked torture scene in New Avengers Annual (2009). Clint is involved in several other big events and crossovers over later years, but that's definitely a seperate list.

In the time where Clint is dead, Captain America is hanging out with a group of newly formed Young Avengers, including archery badass Kate Bishop. Cap suggests to her that she take up the Hawkeye mantle and gives her Clint's old bow. After Clint returns, he becomes initially her mentor, before they form a very close friendship. Clint is initially doing Ronin things, but even when he lays down ninja robes, they decide to be very Hawkeye about the whole thing and both keep calling themselves Hawkeye, despite the obvious confusion this causes.

Hawkeye's ears: Hawkeye vs. Deadpool #0-4 (2014)

This is a fun little miniseries that you could treat as a Halloween special if you so desired. It's set in the time after Fraction's run and there are a few callbacks, but nothing major if you've not read that. Clint is a little short-tempered and hypermasculine in this run for my personal taste, but it's got lots of grumpy Clint Vs sassy Wade while they vaguely attempt to team up. The thing this run does really well is Clint's deafness, despite the lack of visible hearing aids. There are comments around lip-reading, wearing aids when wearing other headgear, there's some sign language, and this is the run where Deadpool pulls his mask up so Clint can lipread and see his face while he signs (facial expressions are really key in sign language). It's lovely. Otherwise the run gives you a Kate cameo, some Deadpool and Hawkeye disaster/shenanigans, and perhaps most importantly, the return of the skycycle.

Key background: All New Hawkeye #1-6 (2015)

This run is often overlooked, but the art in the flashbacks is beautiful. We get some key information around Clint and Barney's abusive home situation - with their dad who drank and beat them, and how they ended up in care after their parents died, and subsequently their early days in the circus. There is a definite shift in how Barney is characterized as a bad influence compared to the 2003 run. It parallels with the rest of the arc which focuses on Clint and Kate Bishop working together to get some kids out of a very bad situation. The rest of Lemires run is a little weird and has no major repurcussions for anyone except Barney (which I won't elaborate on because it's relevant to the Fraction run).

Back to your roots: Tales of Suspense #100-104 (2017)

Seeing Clint cycle back and return to Tales of Suspense is really lovely. This comic is one of my all time favourites. It's incredibly tight story-telling with a great plot and really fun dynamic. The premise is Clint and Bucky teaming up to figure out the body trail being left after Black Widow's death. Clint is obnoxious and a delightful mess, Bucky is sporting a permanent scowl and is hilariously level-headed. It's a lot of fun and it's a lovely build on the tension and teamwork between these two idiots (who I, as an avid Winterhawk shipper, am completely gone for, but even without that, this is a great comic.) It also has some killer covers, and the facial expressions are absolutely hilarious.

Hawkeyes together: Hawkeye #13-16 (2017) and West Coast Avengers #1-10 (2018)

The Hawkeye run is Kate Bishops run and it has a larger continuing storyline that runs from the beginning of her Hawkeye and way into WCA, but I've listed the issues that you'll want for Kate and Clint shenanigans, and you should be able to catch up without the rest if you don't want it. These comics are ridiculously fun, especially West Coast Avengers, which has Kate leading the team this time. There's loads of jokes, and it strikes a nice balance between Hawkeyes being disasters and being hyper competent. Truthfully, this is Kate's show, and Clint takes a backseat, but their dynamic is killer here so I think is deserves a mention. There are also plenty of Clint related wardrobe malfunctions and Lucky the Pizza Dog is around.

Our most recent boy: Hawkeye freefall #1-6 (2020)

I haven't read this one yet, but it's been extremely well received by the fandom. As a result, good news: no spoilers! It's a short run, which may have had something to do with it being published during 2020, and specifically around a time when Marvel were experiencing some major distribution issues (which would have led to digital release only and as a result lower sales), but that's all guesswork because I haven't actually researched it. This run has someone dressing as Ronin and letting Clint take the blame for their nefarious deeds (oh no!). Clint makes some classic Clint (read: dumpster fire) decisions, and the art looks fun and vibrant. Can't really give you more without reading it myself 😅 If you need more Clint still, he's also rumoured to be knocking around in the 2020 Black Widow run, but I've not had the money to get my mitts on that yet either.

Notable AUs:

Marvel is a big fan of throwing a well known cast into an alternative universes, so there are a few other places to look for him.

The Ultimates universe was largely speaking a bit of a shitshow, but they did give us a very dark and gritty Clint, so if that's your jam, ultimate hawkeye is the place to be. Old Man Hawkeye appears alongside Old Man Logan, and they are both, you guessed it, old. It's not the only time we get Clint as a wrinkly dude (the second half Lemire's run also has some timey-wimey stuff happening), but this is a version of Clint who is going blind (granted we've seen that before too, but this is a darker vibe than Blindspot). Wanna know who the greatest marksman is without his sight - old man Hawkeye for you! Finally there's the Zombie 'verse: zombie Clint is a little confused, but he's got the spirit. Clint got zombiefied and then left in some rubble as only a head for 40 years before getting picked up, so he's a little worse for wear. If you need that in your life then Marvel Zombies is your universe. For a full rundown of all the universes including animated and MCU, click here.

Notable aliases:

Clint's been a few other people than Hawkeye in the 616 universe (the main Marvel Comics universe). He used one of Hank Pyms growth serums and became a giant strongman in Avengers #63 (1969) and stuck around in his Goliath form for more than a few issues. After Cap had died, Clint returned from the dead and tried on Captain America for all of one issue in Fallen Son #3 (2007). He decided (with a little help from Kate) that it wasn't right to wear the uniform, which in turn led to some interesting tension between him and Bucky Barnes when Buck did become the new Captain America. Finally, there's his most well-known alternate persona: Ronin. Clint becomes Ronin after returning from the dead, wanting a break from his Hawkeye persona and an opportunity to become Ronin arises in New Avengers #27 (2007). Clint is not the only person to have used these aliases. Additionally, Hawkeye has been used not only by Clint and Kate Bishop, but also by Bullseye during the Dark Reign.

The things we haven't talked about

Like I said at the very beginning, there is a lot of Clint Barton knocking around in comics and even with all this there's a lot of content I haven't focused on. For instance, I've not talked a lot about his relationships, beyond his marriage to mockingbird (and really I only scratched the surface with that), and honestly once you start getting into interpersonal relationships we're starting to move on from what can be done in a Tumblr thread.

There are also some topic specific threads floating around, which you might like to look at too.

@vaguelyrotten has done a run down of some great dumpster fire Clint Barton comics (some of which I haven't listed) and you can see that here.

@bobbimorses did a great summary of Clint's historical deafness for instance which you can find here.

There's also this little bit all about Clint and Bucky in canon (thanks to @nightwideopen ) and how Winterhawk became a thing (thanks to @1000-directions )

This is slight sidenote, but @clintscoffeepot did a really great comprehensive of Fraction Clint's apartment which is just a really useful writing resource and you can get that here.

There is also this website which I stumbled across fairly far into writing this post which does actually look like it might be comprehensive.

If I've missed anything major, or listed something incorrectly or you just have some Clint related opinions that I need to know about, do hit me up.

[ironxkid]

why don't you like endgame or civil war

((hoo buddy, idk what brought this up but salt under the cut!! Like... a lot of salt - specifically regarding Endgame lmao

I’m gonna start off with CACW because it’s a short response lol

I don’t like it simply because I was done with the infighting between the Avengers. The found family crumbs we were given in Endgame was something I really wanted to see, and them just... ripping them apart frustrated me lol

honestly, the movie was... fine? Idk, I found it to be a lil slow for my taste (it felt like it just dragged on when I watched it in theaters), and I just don’t care for it in general  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, ngl, I’m really bummed that Captain America: Serpent Society was a joke announcement because that sounds dope as hell and I really wanted to see that before I realized it’d been a joke dfgjhdsfhj

but, yeah, literally just because CACW is specifically an infighting movie annoys me to no end so I just won’t watch it again dgsfjhsfdhj

now, Endgame?

fuck Endgame

I. have a lot of issues with it, all of which are major grievances throughout the fandom. I’m pissed they killed Natasha and didn’t even bother giving her a fucking funeral because, I quote from Joe Russo, “Well, Tony does not have another movie. Tony is done. And Natasha has another film. And Marvel Universe obviously does not have to move forward linearly anymore. But that character still has more screen time coming.” (see here) and that annoys the hell out of me. She’s getting another movie - great! So you killed one of the few characters doing her fucking best to keep everything together at the compound, the one who was taking charge, give her a big role, and then murk her and... give her nothing but a brief mention at the end. Like... what the fuck? Natasha deserved so much better than what she was given. Tony’s funeral could’ve (and, frankly, should’ve) been a funeral for him, Natasha, and Vision because god forbid we see anyone mourn Vision other than Wanda

(actually this post covers how Endgame fucked over the MCU women perfectly, though Wanda’s not mentioned :c )

plus... Tony’s not done lol - he’s still a massive figure in the films/shows despite RDJ not acting in them, so his character has left shockwaves that aren’t dying any time soon. Natasha... basically disappeared, and I believe she would’ve been dropped completely if it wasn’t for the fact she does have a film coming out soon. Which, frankly, seems awesome and all, but it’s a film that goes back to post-CACW pre-IW and... frankly doesn’t give me any reason to understand why that means she didn’t get a funeral. She’s not coming back in future movies/shows that are in present MCU timeline - her movie is set in the past. She could’ve gotten a decent sendoff 

now, Clint’s arc as Ronin rubs me the wrong way. I know it’s a huge thing in the comics, and it’s not him taking a different mantle that I have an issue with. It’s the fact he, a white man, went around murdering people and got off scot-free. Yes, he was targeting genuinely bad people, but... to show that, they specifically singled out Mexican cartels and the yakuza (Japanese mafia, essentially) - so, in other words, the bad guys were people of color! I feel like I don’t need to explain how fucked up that is. And, to clarify, I love Clint! Clint is honestly one of my favorite characters, and the whole thing was just handled... poorly in the film

Tony’s arc genuinely hurts. This is a man who has suffered for years and has tried to make things right, and finally got a chance to settle down. He finally retired from the Avengers, finally settled down, and had a fucking life he could enjoy despite his ghosts, and yet... His arc ends with a message of “tortured soul finally gets rest by dying”. Because, y’know, it’s great seeing yet another long-suffering character only reaching peace through death, because god forbid they let characters heal! He could’ve still caused the second Snap, and he could’ve survived. He could’ve finally been able to step away for good and focus on his family, focus on recovering, and be truly happy. What’s so wrong with letting him stay alive so he can rest and be with his family? What’s so wrong with letting a long-suffering character finally find peace after one last bang? 

plus it pisses me off that they’re now using him as a reasoning as to why bad things are still happening. Why is this person the bad guy? Because Tony Stark somehow may or may not have done something that hurt them! Even though most of that really stems from Howard or Obadiah. Tony just ends up getting the blame in their place. He’s just an easy target to use, much like the tesseract seems to be the go-to answer for why things go wrong. But this is a different train of thought

Steve’s ending pisses me off just as much as the next person lmao. You take a character who has acknowledged he no longer belongs in the past (which, funnily enough, was written by the Russos), aaaaaaand have him go back to the past while ignoring two important people in his life that were still right there. He got Bucky and Sam back, and he leaves them. His arc is ruined within a matter of minutes, and it paints a hella bad picture of him in the process. He goes back in time to stay with Peggy (which ultimately destroys her own arc, and the fact she’s a person outside of her relationship (or lack thereof) with him because, y’know, why have her be able to move on and be her own person?), and we’re supposed to believe he’s fine with everything he knows from the future? Fine with knowing Bucky’s trapped with HYDRA and is suffering as the Winter Soldier? Fine with knowing HYDRA has infested SHIELD from day one? Fine with knowing Howard and Maria are going to die? Fine with royally fucking up the timelines? We’re supposed to believe he sat back and did nothing with all of that? They could’ve had him still hand the shield over to Sam - they could’ve let Steve stay an Avenger without the mantle

also the fact the Russos said he didn’t recognize Red Skull when he returned to Vormir to return the soul stone? Like... what the fuck?? Not to mention he literally returns the stone to Vormir, which “soul for a soul”, and they didn’t bring Nat back that way??

and now onto Thor. Thor... holy fuck is this hitting something personal for me. Thor was ridden with guilt - he was furious with himself, hated himself, and blamed himself for failing to stop the Snap. He fell into a massive depression, and... was promptly danced around as laughing stock. Like, “oh! look at Thor! he’s fat and drunk because he’s depressed haha!” - like fuck off. It’s not funny in any form. His suffering was made into a joke and it pisses me off because I suffer from depression. A lot of people suffer from depression. It’s not funny. It’s fucking terrifying at times. I wasted a shit ton of money on a stupid online sim game because it was a distraction - it gave me... god, I wouldn’t even say temporary happiness, but it gave me something to temporarily help, and I still hate myself for doing it. It was a poor decision on my part, and I wish I could change it. And, during that time, I was scared because I couldn’t see myself pulling out of it. I thought I was gonna feel that way forever. I called out of work multiple times because there were days I couldn’t stop crying (something I still feel horrible for doing), I couldn’t get myself to contact any of my friends for months, and it was all because the medication I was on at the time... stopped working. Thankfully, my depression doesn’t work in a way that makes me a danger to myself, so that wasn’t an issue, but it still fucking sucked. And to see a character that I could relate to on such a personal level treated as laughing stock fucking hurt. I’m not sharing this for sympathy - I’m sharing this because it Thor’s arc hit home and it’s literally the main reason why I will not watch Endgame again

this is more of a nitpick than anything else, but... I didn’t really care for Carol in it tbh? Which is unfortunately because Captain Marvel is one of my absolute favorite movies! And I’m well aware she was introduced in Endgame while CM was being drafted, but that in itself is annoying?? Because Carol was originally going to be introduced in AoU, but was cut because it wasn’t going to introduce her character properly. And yet they decide to introduce her character in a clusterfuck of a movie before her movie is in the final stages, and proceed to release her movie first and then give a complete different characterization in her following appearance

honestly I just wanna cover this now to clarify some things regarding Carter and her backstory: the only reason I keep Endgame as is is because it felt easier for me to do so for the purpose of bending canon for specific threads. I wanted to stay as true to the given plots as possible to help with fudging of both the movies and her background, and also because I didn’t want anyone to feel like I was trying to force my own headcanons onto them, y’know? 

I’m just gonna plug this here because fuck it lol, but I did start a fix-it fic regarding Endgame that you can read here! I... probably won’t finish it tbh, and I haven’t gone over it in a hot minute so it might be riddled with errors ahah - plus I’m not sure about how I wrote the characters! I get nervous when writing canon characters because I feel like I’ll miss their characterization completely, which is actually why I,,, rarely rp canon characters dgfjhgsfdhj

also the image in the doc was created by @/archervale!! 

[fasterthanmydemons]

How would Alive!Pietro react to losing Wanda in the Snap? I mean, I don't think the two of them would die simply because they're twins. The Snap wouldn't care, it would just tear families apart. And Clint, who is like a father figure to Pietro, would be too busy angsting over his own family in Japan to be there for him. Feel free to go on a long rant if you need to! Your blog does justice to Pietro.

{out of breath} So this is an interesting question, and I’ll warn you right off the bat that the answer is going to be very depressing. Trigger warnings ahead for mention of suicidal tendencies and self-destructive behavior.

If you’re the same person who already asked me about what would happen if Pietro lost Wanda after Ultron instead of the other way around, you can ignore what I’m gonna say next because you’ve already probably read all this, haha, but I’ll draw your attention to these three posts. Two of them are starters and one is an answer to an anon who asked me to elaborate on one of them. Pietro would have one of two reactions to losing Wanda in pretty much every scenario you can imagine, regardless of when it is in his timeline: 1) anger, 2) despair. The two starters deal with each of those overwhelming emotions. So even though it’s not the exact scenario you are asking about, you might find them interesting to read:

“Nothing Left” Starter

Ask Answer About “Nothing Left” Pietro

“Carrying On” Starter

With regard to what you asked about specifically... I feel like his reaction would be the same, but by that point, he’d probably have a lot more support than he would after Ultron, for example. He will have been with the Avengers for... what 2 years? 3 years? I see him staying close to Clint as well as making friends with Natasha. That doesn’t mean his reaction to Wanda dying is going to be any less intense, but it might mean that either Clint or Natasha (more likely Nat given how Clint reacted to his own family being snapped) might try to actively keep Pietro from hurting himself, whether in the literal suicide sense or just by getting into fights and reckless behavior.

Anytime Pietro loses Wanda, no matter the circumstances, he’s going to blame himself. He’s the big brother, he’s supposed to protect her. If she’s dead, then he failed her. That failure would be compounded even more by losing her in the snap, because like all the other Avengers, he’d feel like he failed the world, didn’t try hard enough, didn’t do enough, could have done more, etc. So... huge let down ego-wise and morale-wise, and he’s losing the most important person in his life. It’s all downhill from here.

Anger is a natural thing for Pietro to express at this time, because in a lot of ways it’s easier for him to be angry, explosive, and self-destructive than it is for him to cry and be sad. For someone who grew up with a somewhat antiquated notion of men, Pietro feels like there’s more strength in anger than sadness. So covering up his grief with explosive temper is a natural path for him to go down. Combine that with guilt and him feeling like he deserves to be punished for failing her, and you have a Pietro who is starting fights with everyone hoping to be hurt, doing dangerous parkour to burn off energy and oh, maybe he’ll fall and die. Just very reckless behavior in which he doesn’t care and almost would prefer if he got seriously injured. Because what’s the point? Wanda’s gone, and she was his life.

It’s a very sad outlook, but as I've said many times in the past on this blog, I have always headcanoned that Wanda is stronger than Pietro emotionally. He’s stronger physically... and he appears to be stronger emotionally, but we all know Wanda can survive without Pietro. I headcanon that there is a good chance Pietro would not survive losing Wanda. Suicide is a real thing he would consider, unfortunately, and it would take very persistent and patient intervention from someone he trusts (Clint, Nat, maybe Sam or Steve if he got close with them) to help him through his grief in a more constructive manner.

Let’s say he is helped by Nat or Steve or a similar friend in the Avengers. Fights will probably happen, both shouting matches and physical ones. They might have to kick his ass a few times or at least tire him out to get him to calm down and listen to them. It sounds cruel, but this actually isn’t a bad way to get Pietro to listen, as long as he isn’t seriously injured in the fights. It tires him out, expends a lot of that rage he’s using as a coping mechanism, and gets past it. He’s more likely to break down and cry once he’s tired/spent enough, but that’s actually a good thing because he’s not suppressing his sadness anymore. At that point, he’d be more conducive to listening to them. What would they say? It’s not his fault. That they’re all in the same boat, they all lost someone they cared about. Maybe that they’ll work to find a way to reverse it. That Wanda wouldn’t want him to hurt himself or to just self-destruct because of her. Things like that. It would take several times of getting him down to a more open and vulnerable state enough to learn that they’re not going to judge him, take advantage of him, or mock him in that condition. That’s when the healing begins.

But before we get too optimistic, I will say that even if Pietro is able to be saved from himself after losing Wanda, he will never be the same. Ever. A light, a happiness, a spark he had inside him will be gone forever, and even if Wanda is brought back to him after the events of Endgame, something will still be broken in him. He might be able to get back to 95% of who he was before, but the scarring and traumatic experience of losing his sister is something that will permanently effect him, even if he gets her back.

Now... there is one more way he could be saved from his rage benders and other destructive behaviors. Well, sort of. He does trust and respect Clint as a father figure by this time (I headcanon anyway, that their relationship would only deepen the longer Pietro is with the Avengers), so he might follow suit when Clint decides to go rogue and become Ronin. I could easily see them bonding over their grief by basically adopting a “screw everything” kind of attitude. Like, they’ve lost their families and there’s a feeling of well... we don’t care what happens to us, we may as well make various assholes pay. I can see Pietro jumping on that bandwagon real fast and helping Clint take down various mafia, Yakuza, crime syndicates. They’d become a duo, taking matters into their own hands and staying off the grid.

That would be a satisfying outlet for his anger, however, not a healthy outlet for his grief overall. Like Clint, he would be suppressing things like grief, sadness, and guilt in favor of anger, self-righteousness, and a misguided sense of vigilante justice. It might serve to keep Pietro from becoming completely suicidal, but it also will do next to nothing to help him process his grief and begin to move on in a healthy fashion.

Okay, so I think I’ve dished out most of my headcanons on this topic, but if there’s anything else you want to ask or if I raised more questions in your mind, please feel free to send in more. I love asks like this because they really help me to flesh him out if I don’t have headcanons on the subject, or to get them all written out “on paper” so to speak so that I don’t forget them. Thanks for sending this in! =) Also thank you do much for saying I do justice to Pietro! That’s the best compliment the mun of a canon character can get. <3

[sagebodisattva]

The Sword of Deconstruction

For a markedly deep philosopher, an answer never really answers anything much at all.....

You know, there are a lot of different theories, postulations, philosophical concepts, scientific proposals, and theological prognostications, concerning the nature of life and existence, but have you ever noticed that all of them, and I do mean ALL of them, without exception, have awareness as a foundation? Now, I don't mean the theories and stories themselves, as they do go to great lengths to guide us away from our own awareness, and shine the spotlight of interest onto inventory items and conceptual projections, that cast the fundamental center of reality outwards onto extrinsic phenomena; what I mean, is that all of these assertions about the possibilities of meaning and function, through various applications of ideology, all have awareness at the core.

You wanna talk about the philosophy of metaphysical existentialism? Awareness is the foundation. You want to speak about the material universe, evolution and the quantum properties of objects? Awareness is the foundation. You prefer to frame things through the idea of a supernatural supreme deity that created a medium of interaction? Awareness is the foundation. All theories about life start from awareness.

Even the famous philosophical proposition by Rene Descartes, “Cogito ergo sum”; translated to mean, "I think, therefor I am", starts with awareness as the foundation. And so, it's inaccurate really. What makes “you” an "am", is not thinking. Which, more aptly stated, becomes: There is awareness; therefor there is cognizance of an agency identified as a self, that has the capacity to think and experience appearances. It all starts with awareness.

I am aware of an experience of appearances, and I call that a reality. This is all an honest philosopher, or scientist, or anyone else concerned with the nature of existence, could possibly say, in truth. You are aware of an experience of appearances, and call that a reality. To gain an understanding into what exactly this is; what the nature of awareness, experience, appearances, and reality, is; one would have to explore it for themselves, and, due to the format of this setup, this can only investigated by oneself by delving into the depths of the very thing that is the foundation of this configuration: the awareness that is providing the platform of inquiry. This is what is most true, most clear, most immediate, most verifiable, by virtue of just being aware of it.

There's nothing to say or point out about the appearances that is going to shed light on this simple undeniable truth, although we like to try, don't we? And just by doing this, we have already lost the clarity of the truth, which just is, and doesn't need any explanations. You are already it. So why do you need this to be explained to you? You are aware. This is what you are. This is the nature of your so called existence. The proof and evidence is right there. What further needs to be explained to you? Isn't already being aware self evident enough, in itself? We are aware, and wow, look at that. There is something to be aware of. And this is the apparent stumbling block. So maybe I can find out some answers about this awareness by investigating what I am aware of? And just like that, clarity is lost, delusion begins, and ideological masturbation begins.

As soon as we start looking at what awareness is aware of, as a source of inquest, we are already reaching into the wrong place, and so then, it should be no surprise whatsoever, that any answers obtained therein, are going to be spurious. So then you can just imagine what kind of convoluted murky swamp of delusion develops when one begins to form attachments; that is, identifications and associations with these false appearances. Then, these false attachments become foundations for truths that are based on the erroneous. And getting out of this sticky mess is also difficult; because, due to the jumbled quagmire produced by these false identifications and associations, even the way out is misconstrued, and so, the lost self thinks freedom from the entanglement will somehow be found by digging even deeper into the entanglement. It's virtually inescapable. A veritable quicksand.

So this is why, when you step forth to point outwards, and open your mouth to speak about phenomenal content, you are, at the least, just blowing a bunch of hot air, or, at the worse, misguiding and enabling others to stay mired in delusion. This is the greatest disservice, and an injustice, if ever there were such things.

You might as well get this straight right now: There isn't going to be any spiritual progress, any new age of enlightenment, any existential transcendence, any great vibrational ascension, nor any other proposed shift into a new chapter of the evolution of consciousness, until the secrets of the inner connectivity of reality and the mind are explored and uncovered. What the hell else are you waiting for? It's not gonna happen all by itself. It's got nothing to do with a prophetic date on a calendar. Unrelated to the cycles, alignments, and activities of the stars or celestial bodies. Far from being associated with a god, or the coming of some savior that is gonna pick you up and carry you across the finish line. Not found in the exploration and discoveries made about the fabric of space and time of a material universe. Not conditional to a political revolution, tuning into a frequency, deciphering ancient texts or artifacts, or the arrival of some race of benevolent or malevolent extraterrestrials.

No, the metamorphosis you are anticipating is not going to come about by waiting for some external event to unfold. These proposed events are all very elaborate and effective diversions from the truth. An error made by the misjudgment of the appearances of illusion, which fosters the tendency for us to take the considerations of life a bit too literally.

Again, it all comes back to the foundation of existence. It's right there at your fingertips, yet you refuse to investigate it. Don't get me wrong, I understand why this seems like a daunting task, despite being the most accessible avenue you have. The external world is the ultimate attention whore. It is taxing and overwhelming, and pulls the focus towards it constantly. There are so many fascinations, narratives and objects of desire. It's no wonder that the source of attention is the very last place it would occur for anyone to consider. Well, guess what. You are not going to discover anything of real import or significance by searching out there. Seeking to leave no stone unturned is not going to get the job done. Just the notion of a search is already the wrong approach. You are already that which needs to be investigated. There's nothing to find because you are already it. Move inwards, into that which precedes the ego, which is also a part of the external projections, and become intimate with the source of attention.

Maybe the pull of the external world is too loud and strong, and you find yourself hindered at every step, so this may require you to take a more proactive approach, where you become a existential warrior, a Ronin samurai of sorts, employing the sharp cutting blade of the sword of deconstruction. The world is demanding, but it only holds such sway over you because you are heavily attached and invested in it. You have established many identifications and associations with the world, and these binding stakes, which are heavy fixations of value, purpose, meaning and narrative, represent the opposing warriors on the field of battle, who seek to defeat you through your voluntary surrender to illusion. Don't allow illusion to remain your master. Take up your sword of deconstruction and begin to cut down these established investments of identifications with the false. You hesitate because they seem like your friends, as they have been with you for most of your life, but they over encumber you with a heavy burden. The actual cost of maintaining these exacting relationships is so much more of a strenuous effort then simply letting go, despite letting go seeming so difficult. It's only seemingly difficult because desire rules your ego, and your ego is the master over awareness, because it is a distracting fickle spoiled brat that constantly snags the attention with it's wants and woes; and the deep cravings it has to be unique and special. But remember, you are not the ego. The ego stands on the field of battle among the opposing foes of illusion as a boss and warlord, leading the charge against you. Take up your sword and fight.