#second reboot | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

starlightvld · 2 months ago

Text

Allowances

For @baohanhanesel - happy holidays! Have a little hurt/comfort, MacTavish family Christmas vibes, and Simon beginning to find his place among them (and a bit of sappy romance at the end).

(Also on AO3!)

---

"Dinnae fash, Simon. They're gonna love ye."

Ghost stands perfectly still beside the car as Johnny rounds the boot to step up beside him. They make a pair, with Johnny in a new bright red cable-knit sweater, jeans, and a navy blue knit cap that brings out the blue in his eyes, while Ghost is dressed down in his usual black shirt, black hoodie, and a black medical mask. His faded blue jeans are the only spark of color, as old and worn as Johnny's are crisp and new.

If he were a better person—a better partner—he would've worn something nicer. As it is, he's a split second away from turning around and disappearing into the Scottish twilight. The only thing keeping him rooted in place is—

A warm hand slips into his hoodie pocket and curls around his balled up fist. Ghost sucks in a deep, slow breath, and as he exhales, he releases the fist to clasp Johnny's hand palm to palm.

It terrifies him, the comfort a single touch can give. He knows how easily comfort can turn into soul-wrecking pain. Yet he clings to Johnny's hand with the kind of desperation Price would no doubt find concerning for a whole host of reasons.

"We dinnae have tae go inside," Johnny murmurs. "I can call mam from here and—"

"'M not gonna melt, Johnny. Just... gimme a minute."

He's already ruined Johnny's Christmas enough by bowing out of the actual holiday. But the aching despair of the anniversary always winnows him down to his basest self. Even three days later, he feels hollowed out and cold, his sole point of warmth the callused palm and strong fingers clinging to his as they huddle closer against the chill winter air.

Johnny doesn't know the sordid details, but he knows enough about special ops life to fill in the blanks. Every operator has their demons. Simon Riley's are just a little more harrowing than most.

At least the MacTavishes like to celebrate the winter season all the way through New Year's. Or so Johnny says. Ghost suspects the post-holiday get-together might be an allowance made specially for him, but he's certainly not going to ask about it. So here they are, standing in front of Johnny's childhood home outside of Glasgow, store-bought biscuits in hand, while a multi-colored glow spills through the frost-edged glass into the rapidly darkening outside world. It beckons them inside with the promise of warmth and joy and all the other things those trite holiday cards claim for the winter season.

Ghost doesn't move.

The blinking Christmas lights taunt him through the front window. Memories loom from the dark corners of his mind and threaten to upend the one thing he desperately wants to give Johnny—time with his family.

He takes another deep breath, taking care not to let the exhale shudder on the way out.

He's only met Emma and Grant MacTavish twice in passing at Johnny's medal ceremonies for Las Almas and then for the Chunnel op. The latter medal, a Victoria Cross, was officially for exceptional heroism in the line of duty and unofficially for assisting in the dismantling of a major bomb threat and taking down Makarov with a well-aimed stab. He and Johnny weren't in a relationship then, and even if they had been, it would've been inappropriate to mention it on base. Even so, he remembers the overflow of unearned gratitude in Emma's blue eyes—exactly like Johnny's—as she wrapped both of her warm hands around his and thanked him for keeping her boy alive.

The words still ring hollow as he thinks about Johnny collapsing on the cold concrete after clipping that final wire with Price.

He almost died in Ghost's arms that day, and Ghost hasn't been the same since. For one, he kissed his subordinate in the hospital the instant he thought Johnny was coherent enough to remember it and hasn't stopped kissing him since.

Completely unprofessional.

And utterly worth it.

With a final deep inhale and slow exhale, he straightens his shoulders. He can do this. Even if it makes his stomach cramp and his palms sweat with anxiety and the Christmas decorations seem to taunt him with memories of a family forever lost to him.

For Johnny, he can do this.

"Alright," Ghost murmurs—more to himself than to Johnny—as he slides their clasped hands from his hoodie pocket and pulls him toward the door.

It opens before they can knock, flinging brilliant light, excited conversation, and upbeat music into the night air. Emma MacTavish greets her son with a wordless exclamation of joy as she throws her arms around him in a tight hug. Somehow, Johnny manages to return the hug and answer rapid-fire questions about their journey all without letting go of Ghost's hand. Cold air pricks at the exposed skin around his medical mask, but Ghost is too focused on processing and cataloging every detail to acknowledge the physical discomfort.

Johnny looks more like Emma than he does Grant, sharing those bright blue eyes, dark hair, and a brilliant smile that could melt a glacier. Peas in a pod and, according to Soap, often partners in pranking crimes. All Ghost can see is warmth and light—pouring from her, from Johnny, from the home that was never riddled with suffering and people whose lives were never cut short by an evil too insidious to anticipate.

When Emma pulls back from Johnny, she keeps her hand curled around his bicep as she turns the full power of her warm gaze on Ghost.

"And Simon—may I call ye Simon?" Emma asks.

"Yeah," Ghost replies before clearing his throat and adding, "Hello, Mrs. MacTavish."

The smile she gives him sends a shock of pain through his chest even as a flood of comfort flows in behind to sooth the ache.

It's kind. Compassionate.

Motherly.

And it's directed at him.

It gets worse—or better?—when she reaches out to gently clasp his bicep too, connecting the three of them in a circle of touch. As if he's somehow a part of this world. As if he deserves a second chance at family despite dooming his own. The connection is both suffocating and freeing, as if he's taking his first breath of fresh air in years all while a boulder crushes his chest.

She squeezes his arm, and her smile widens into something familiar. Maybe a bit teasing, too.

"Call me Emma, love. I'm so glad yer here. Both of ye. Now, come in out of the cold, will ye? My bones are already aching."

Ghost flounders as the onslaught of pain and comfort slices straight through the layers of armor he's built up through the years, exposing his soft insides.

He wants to fall into the touch.

He wants to run away.

He meets Johnny's gaze, and the softness and understanding he finds there is a balm to his spiraling emotions. Despite everything inside screaming at him to shut down, to not let anyone else into that secret part of him that Johnny breached with the ease of a demolitions expert, Ghost is helpless to do anything but follow Emma inside.

For the first time since he lost his family, he dares to let himself hope.

Hours later, Johnny pulls Ghost into bed with a gentle hum, guiding his head to rest on his chest. The heavy thud under Ghost's ear is like scissors to a puppet's strings, snipping the tension away and leaving him boneless and overwhelmed.

"Alright?" Johnny murmurs in his ear before pressing a gentle kiss to the side of his head.

"Not made of glass," Ghost grumbles.

Johnny knows him too well to take him seriously, even now. "Nae, yer made of sterner stuff. Gunpowder, madness, and pure spite."

"Spite can be motivatin'. Just ask any of the rookies who've had me for drills."

Johnny hums a laugh, and Ghost presses his ear harder into Johnny's chest to catch every vibration. Fingers trail through his hair, and he sighs.

"How shite was that, scale of one to ten?"

"What?" Johnny mumbles, his lips once again pressed to the side of Ghost's head.

"How bad an impression did I make?"

A hand grasps his hair to gently tip his head up. Their eyes meet, and the genuine confusion in Johnny's expression gives Ghost hope.

That he didn't fuck everything up. That Johnny's family won't try to convince him to stay away from Ghost.

"Mam was absolutely charmed, Ghost. I think she'd adopt ye on the spot if she could."

Ghost blinks. He replays the evening in his head—from the homemade dinner to the impromptu after-dinner sing-along between Johnny and his niblings to the softer conversation between the adults once the children had crashed. He can't think of anything he did to warrant such a reaction. In fact he barely talked at all, content to let Johnny answer questions for both of them and only interjecting when someone spoke to him directly, which happened rarely enough that Ghost was positive Johnny had asked them to make allowances for him. He both hated and loved it—hated that it made him feel weak, like he couldn't handle himself or his emotions, but loved that Johnny was clearly thinking about him and ensuring he would be as comfortable as possible.

He doesn't deserve it. Doesn't deserve Johnny at all if he's being honest with himself. The man is too good—all righteous fire and burning passion. But with that honesty comes the acknowledgment that he's far too selfish to ever give Johnny up.

At this thought, a faint memory surfaces of Emma's soft look when Ghost wrapped his arm around Johnny's shoulders as they settled on the couch. It's how they always sit when on leave because they can't risk it on base. Ghost loves the feeling of their bodies melding together, a line of heat at his side and Johnny close enough for Ghost to mumble inappropriate comments, bad jokes, and blush-inducing innuendo into Johnny's ear.

Apparently Emma MacTavish thinks it's a good thing, too.

"Well. Good then?"

Johnny hums another laugh, making Ghost's cheek buzz. "It is good, love. Very good." He tightens his arm around Ghost's shoulders. "Thank ye for coming with me."

Ghost swallows. Despite their solid relationship status, they haven't exchanged more than joking admissions of their mutual attraction. He feels the lack all the more as the worst of his holiday malaise falls away in the face of so much care and affection. Something wiggles loose in his chest, a sensation of free falling as his lips form words he hasn't said since before Roba took his family from him.

"Thought you woulda figured out by now that you've got me wrapped around that trigger finger of yours." He swallows. Takes a shaking breath. "You're the only thing alive in this world that I love."

Johnny stills under him. Even his chest is unmoving, breaths locked up with a quick inhale.

And then it all comes out in a rush.

"Simon... d'ye mean tha'?"

And though it means losing the comforting thud of Johnny's heart in his ear, Ghost answers by leaning up, gripping Johnny's chin with his fingers, and pressing a soft kiss to slack lips. When he pulls back, Johnny is staring at him, tears welling in his blue eyes and a wide grin replacing his shocked expression.

"Love ye, too, ye big bastart," Johnny whispers before diving in for another kiss.

And maybe it's not perfect in an objective sense. Maybe he still misses his family and what could have been. But in this moment—with this man and his gracious family who went out of their way to make him feel welcome—it's the closest to perfection he's ever been.

#soapghost #ghostsoap #ghoap #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #Call of Duty #COD MW reboot #hurt/comfort #family christmas #soft romance #Simon and the struggle of letting himself be happy #minor mention of post MWIII fix-it #will post to AO3 later #This is the second fic I started for this gift but I ran out of time to finish it so anticipate another coming by Christmas #OG Starlight

177 notes · View notes

v-albion · 1 year ago

Note

I come bearing amenities for our little AU competition. Good luck ;)

- REBOOT: Second Chance AU Donnie

Theres no such thing as a free lunch @tmntaucompetition

Look at him and his hypocritical ass, handing out baubles but not taking anything for free

#tmnt au comp #tmnt au competition #true colors au #tc au #REBOOT: second chance au #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #v draws stuff #rottmnt donnie #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt donatello #rise donnie #rise donatello #donatello #tmnt #tmnt donnie #tmnt donatello #crossover

423 notes · View notes

legionofpotatoes · 3 months ago

Text

I know the discourse well is poisoned and no one hates bioware games more than bioware fans, but I am just 🫠 having so much fun with veilguard it's unreal. It is selfishly the dragon age game I always wanted. with less emphasis on cRPG, a more focused story, curated mission based design that spotlights the high fantasy stuff, slowburn structure with companions, significantly less sidequest bloat, and a fully real-time action-oriented combat system that isn't riddled with the growing pains of previous titles. when I first played origins I imagined something almost exactly like this as my ideal version of a sequel; and it was one of those dirty, selfish thoughts that I knew was disrespectful to the then-established DNA of the thing, but I can't help but feel giddy about having it here and now. like down to the shift away from the childishly dark tone and to something more inherently flexible with a baseline aspirational quality. I hate aesthetically depressing games so much. am I not alive right here and right now already

When I say "aesthetically" there though I do mean it. I'm fully on the opposite side when it comes to tone and positions expressed in the story itself. I am just not including that in my analysis because I am not done yet - so please no spoilers! I think I am where most people consider to be the second act, and I definitely have my gripes with the narrative framework and some of the optics, but I won't put the cart before the horse and will see how it wraps things up first. Above that level, in terms of how it presents itself, of how it plays, of how it balances its core pillars - it is such a bioware-ass game and I could not be any cozier in it. So grateful it exists

#and thank god for that reboot away from live service horseshit they were pushing. this is the most offline ass game in ages. bless #anyway no one is allowed to reblog this because people here aren't normal and I am afraid of spoilers #but I cant pretend not to adore every second of Beef Hilda Mercar and her adventures as a shadow dragon reaper #I have her fully invested in shield throws. that shit couldnt bounce better if zagreus was tossing it #also everyone is so pretty 🫠 this is the first time for me in a bioware game where like #purely aesthetically. i feel targeted and manipulated. these people feel designed around my tastes it's so embarassing #text #dragon age #okay I gotta mention one more thing. it is a very specific ass peeve I have #their dialogue system has never felt as.. nimble in their frostbite titles. something about the constant fades in and out and click delays #it all feels insecure on the engine-end side to me. maybe I am dumb. but veilguard also has this issue #like the original 2 DAs and the unreal engine mass effects had such snappy and frictionless selection-to-dialogue feel #and their frostbite titles I swear to god some greare is missing in the wheels there. here too. it is a LITTLE annoying since this is like #my favorite part of engaging with their games. it's not a huge issue but I have grown keenly attuned to it #inquisition had horribly bad delays in response selection. andromeda had those godawful delays in starting and ending convos #and those things are still somewhat present here albeit to a lesser degree. it feels like a streaming thing #idk. I do not make games. but I think that shit needs to feel smoother

110 notes · View notes

tangledinourstrings · 5 months ago

Text

i think doll lines have a bad habit of giving up and quitting when they have so much room to improve and grow.

#made this post for a myriad of reasons #ghoulia not getting anymore g3 dolls despite her only having 2 #mga deciding to randomly reboot rainbow high when it was already doing successful #mga cancelling mermaze before even releasing the sirenz dolls and making ppl track down the slumber party dolls #spinmaster canning mermaid high not even after their second line of dolls #etc. etc.#i might be wrong about some things and ik they primarily do this because of money and theyre corporations so uh #ozzie rambles #dolls #dollblr

60 notes · View notes

shima-draws · 1 year ago

Text

Catch me being super emotional and sappy on this Monday morning. Anyway I'm so so so glad I got into One Piece, I don't regret it for a single second, I'm so mad that it took me this long to finally sit down and watch it bc now it's been what. 3 months? And I'm 400+ episodes in. I've never watched 400 episodes of anything before (except maybe Pokeani) and I thought it would feel like a chore but now I'm SO fucking addicted I can't get enough. The story is so good the pacing is so good the characters are SO good I can't help but get attached and scream and jump for joy and cry my heart out (and worry my roommates downstairs with all my yelling but. You know) because it's just EVERYTHING. The found family, the power one goofy kid has to topple kingdoms, to make friends with anyone and everyone he meets, to completely destroy anybody who hurts his nakama, to rid his crew of all their burdens and chains that bind them to their traumatic pasts. I'm going to fucking explode I love One Piece so much. And maybe I'm 20 years too late to the party but I'm here and this series has its claws in me so deep that I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. And there's people here who have been fans for years and years and YEARS at this point who are OP Veterans and you've all been so sweet and kind and nice and it makes me want to cry. GOD DAMMIT. Banging my head against the wall all these emotions ARE going to make me blow up. I love you Monkey D Luffy I love you One Piece

#AGHGHGH!!! AHAHGHGHGHGHSHFDFDSFSDDSA #I was looking at fanart last night and going absolutely bonkers with the NEED to create #Me: I need to draw 11218583295873294 different OP fanarts RIGHT this instant #The emotions were too much man. I literally had to lie down for a second. LMAO #One Piece #Really REALLY wish I had gotten into the series sooner but. Better late than never :")#I guess I picked a good time bc of all the revival stuff happening with OPLA and the reboot anyway? Lol #Rolls on the floor #I love my skrunklies so much. Blows kisses to the entire Strawhat crew #Shima speaks #Shut UP Shima. Sorry I needed to be annoying for two seconds.

173 notes · View notes

probably-a-plant-thing · 2 years ago

Text

ricotta face

#topher bus #clone high topher #clone high season 2 #clone high #clone high reboot #i love how i just keep dodging that second eye #also hes slowly evolving into my own style like the lil bacteria he is

447 notes · View notes

pawzofchaos · 1 year ago

Text

I really wanted to see more of them tbh

#they would’ve been good friends tbh #ew I might remake this I hate how I drew the second two pieces #I’m so tired that’s a future me problem #I don’t draw Bowie enough #paws draws #art #my art #fanart #total drama #td #tdi #total drama fandom #total drama new seasons #tdi 2023 #total drama reboot #total drama 2023 #td ripper #td bowie #quote thing is from scooby doo btw LMAO

203 notes · View notes

pluurankeli · 2 months ago

Text

The original Neon Genesis Evangelion series has a weird nostalgic feeling to it because it was made in the 90's and set 20 years into future, which is also in the past now. It's like retrofuturism or alternative history now

#also the animation cels being hand painted gives it quite a different feel compared to the more glossy reboots #neon genesis evangelion #nge #evangelion #btw I read the wiki and apparently on this timeline there was some big world shaking event close to 9/11 of the real world #I don't remember exactly how it went but it had something to do with the whole Antarctica melting thing that was caused by the second impac #also yeah of course it has always been alternative history because Angels and Adam and Lilith etc aren't real

22 notes · View notes

yhwcomeback · 6 months ago

Note

what are your favorite ninjago seasons?

Rise of the Snakes, HANDS DOWN.

I've rewatched it so many times, and I adore this season, it's so nostalgic, and easy to digest, it brings me back to when I was 12 years old searching "Lloyd gets revenge against the ninja" on youtube only to instantly get spoiled that he was the green ninja LOL. (twelve years old me really thought he was going to become a major villain and I WAS READY TO EMBRACE THAT)

altought I also rewatch Dragon Rising alot? Probably cuz it's easy to watch it and similiar to season 1, it just feels like I'm eating a snack.

I also really like Possesion and March of the oni, but that's mainly becuase of the opening? like the opening of the season is just so cool.

and I feel like seabound is one of my top favorites becuase I am AWFUL at dealing with that type of stuff so I was sobbing so hard in the end. Same with Sons of Garmadon.

#watched Sons of Garmadon for a second time with a friend last week and it's still insanely good #I think that out of all of them I have enjoyed Dragon Rising and Rise of the Snakes the most #ITS JUST A DIFFERENT VIBEEE YKNOW???#Season 2 is also very cool #My least favorite is probably The fire chapter one #ICE CHAPTER WAS NICE THO #ones that I hate rewatching is Rebooted and Hands of time #they aren't even bad it's just like idk I have a hard time sitting throught it #and the ones I feel guilty for liking it is prime empire and the island #IT IS SO LIKE “NOT GREAT??” BUT I ENJOYED IT ALOT #Ones I didn't mention here I consider great or nostalgic to me #also funfact 12 years old me really felt guilty for watching a show for children #WELL GUESS WHAT GIRL??? YOU ARE ALMOST 20 LMAOOOOOO NEEEEERDDDD #GUESS WHO USES HER SALARY TO BUY LEGOS??? YOUUU!!! LOSER!!! BAHAHAHA

32 notes · View notes

quackle · 1 year ago

Text

"quite randomly" okay listen wiki writers, the queen had to squeeze in lines that weren't about hollywood somewhere 😭😭😭

#look she has the second least lines of the reboot cast; let her LIVE #and why is everyone lookin at her like that... girls cant even state they guesses no more 💔#damien probably: miss girl why would you speak up... now i gotta speak up when you inevitably get it wrong...#td spoilers #total drama

94 notes · View notes

time-bombed · 1 year ago

Text

i love to praise ever after high for being one of the first doll lines to even tease a sapphic relationship on screen (i only say one of the first as roxxi and nevra from bratz were not confirmed until 2020), but the reality is ever after high was such a product of its time because even then, with an entire on screen kiss… they completely pushed aside any sort of development between darling and apple in favor of daring and it really sucks.

i LOVE daring, and i absolutely adore darabella. i love his arc in epic winter and i think it’s such perfect character development for him. what i don’t like, however, is that darling was such an important character in dragon games. like, the entire ending of dragon games was due to her character arc and her discovering her destiny, and… they barely show her on screen during epic winter. she gets maybe ten seconds of screentime in the background of some shots, and her and apple never even speak.

mattel had the best opportunity to give darling and apple some much needed discovery and closure during epic winter, especially after daring went through his own character arc and found out that he was destined to be with rosabella. i think it was in part that so many parents probably complained about the kiss (which is also why the “it was cpr” or “it was a friendship kiss” theories are so popular) so they pushed darling off screen in order to make parents happy, but it still drives me absolutely bonkers.

in general, i actually sincerely hate how mattel treated the charming children. it was obvious who their favorite was (daring) and i can’t fault them for that because i really do enjoy him and his arc, but dexter and darling were both routinely pushed aside and it drives me insane even all these years later.

57 notes · View notes