#they would've been so team rocket

[sleepypdng]

spindrax & syntax duo would've been too powerful 🏍️🕷️

[forestofmemories]

(⊙ˍ⊙) (⊙ㅅ⊙) !!

[patscorner]

Night, Night

Summary: You and your girlfriend expose your relationship at night.

wc: 2,027

Contains: just fluff, one of the worst endings I've written, but I hope yall enjoy.

______________________________

“Let's gooooo!!! Suck it, Kamorea!!” Paige shouts, standing from the couch and throwing her controller down before doing a victory lap around the dorm room. KK rolls her eyes at the blonde's antics and turns to her phone on the desk.

It'd been a while since all the girls had been able to really hang out, but since summer sessions had just ended, you decided a little gathering was well deserved. You invited the team to your apartment to chill, which is what led you to now; sitting next to your girlfriend on the couch, watching KK and Paige play rocket league, occasionally laughing at the comments that came from KK's live. You and Morgan weren't public yet, so you made sure you stayed a safe distance away from her so as to not raise suspicions.

You were doing an okay job, having to stop yourself from lacing your fingers with hers. Aubrey was at the desk, monitoring the comments, reading a couple out loud, and ignoring the out of pocket ones. You watched as Paige ran out of the room shouting, probably bothering anybody who was possibly sleeping. You can't help but giggle when you hear her being scolded by Azzi in the kitchen.

What you don't see is Morgan staring at you, hearts in her eyes, watching the way your eyes squint close and the way the corners of your mouth crease as you laugh. Aubrey sees it, though, and so do the other 1,527 viewers. Aubrey turns around and looks at Morgan, wordlessly waiting for her to stop looking at you. When she eventually does, Aubrey makes a face, and her eyes flick to the phone screen.

You look between them, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “What, what happened?��

“Nothing.” The girls say in unison. Morgan clears her throat, trying to will the blush that had crept onto her face. KK turned around and smirked.

“Morrrrgggiieeeeee,” She teased, drawing a laugh from Aubrey and an eye roll from the freshman.

“Oookay!” Morgan stood up abruptly, the blanket you were sharing, falling off of her. “Where are you going?” You ask, pouting as she walked towards the door.

“Just to the kitchen, you need anything?” She turns, sliding her phone in her right pocket. You smile at her gesture. “Just some chips, if we have any.” She nods before walking out.

“I'm all good, thanks for asking, Morgie!” KK calls after her, Aubrey shaking her head as she turns back to the phone. “Shut up, KK!” Morgan calls back.

Paige comes back into the room with a pout on her face. “What's wrong with you?” You ask as she plops down on the couch next to you, opposite where Morgan was sitting. “Azzi is being mean.”

“Me telling you not to sit on me is not being mean!!” A voice calls.

“Whatever.” Paige groans, pulling her phone out.

You shake your head before going on your phone. You already feel your stomach tighten in the absence of the love of your life. You both have been dating for eight months, and it's been everything you wanted and more. It didn't take long for the team to figure it out, and as soon as they did, they teased you both relentlessly. You couldn't even smile at your phone without them asking if it was Morgan. Granted, it always was, but that's besides the point.

You think about the moments you've had with her. Whether it's playing 1 on 1 with her at 2 am, because she couldn't sleep or sitting next to each other on the couch after an argument, talking out your feelings. You think about the times she would leave the house when you were sick to get the medicine you wanted, even if you already had some that would've worked just the same. You think about the subtle sparks that burned until they were blazing inferno whenever you grazed each other during a game or at a party. You think about the heated makeout sessions that turned into more and you think about the slow, lazy kisses you shared while drifting in and out of consciousness.

Where is she?

You're about three seconds from getting up and searching for Morgan when she walks in with four bags of chips and a bottle of water. “Wha- why do you have so many?” You question.

The brunette gives you one of her dopey grins before as she sets them on the table. “I didn't know which one you wanted, so I brought one of each.” You can't hide the smile that sneaks its way to your face as you take the water from her. “Thank you, ba- Morgie.” You correct yourself quick enough that only the girl in front of you could hear it. Her eyes are wide with amusement. “You're welcome.” She says, plopping down next to you.

KK turns around and looks at the chips in Morgan's hand. “Whipped.” Is all she mutters and the other girls burst into giggles, including yourself.

Morgan grabs a pillow and throws it at her, hitting her in the back of the head. KK glares at her, and Morgan sticks her tongue out.

“Girl boo!”

“If Morgan could pass the ball like that, Coach would stop making us run suicides.” Paige muttered quietly, but not quiet enough because the room erupted with laughter. You place your hand on the freshman’s thigh, patting her lovingly as she glared at you, who was struggling to stifle your laughter. You bit your lip, and Morgan's eyes trailed to them, and suddenly, your breath hitched.

“Not too much on my kid, c’mon, yall.” Aubrey says, giggles escaping her lips. She glances at the comments, some people talking about the way Morgan was looking at you. She ignores them. “You act your any better, P, how do you miss a layup?”

“Woah! There were two people next to me!” Paige defends herself.

“Please, they were practically social distancing. You had plenty of room.” You say, earning a glare from her. You attempt to ignore the girl on the other side of you, whose arm is subtly wrapping itself around your waist from behind. You raise your eyebrows as you turn to Morgan, astonished by her boldness. She ignores you and pretends to be on her phone.

The night drags on as KK has started the talent show. Paige migrated to the floor after telling Aubrey she could get more kills than her in fortnite. You've sprawled out, legs where Paige once was, head in your girlfriend's lap. The day was starting to catch up to you as you started to drift in and out of consciousness, and Morgan, running her hands through your hair delicately, was lulling you to sleep. Despite your efforts to fight sleep, she could feel your body relax when you nodded off and tense up again when you realized you'd done so.

A small smile made home on her lips as she leaned down to your ear. “You tired?” she asked, pausing her hand movements. You shook your head. “Mmm-mmm. Wide awake, you?” You mumble. She scoffs playfully, resuming her hands.

“Do you wanna go to your room?” she whispers. “No.” You say. “‘m good right here.”

“Go to sleep, then.” She hums. You nod sheepishly before drifting off once more.

You'd been asleep for no longer than five minutes, before KK was yelling at Paige, who was trying to beat Aubrey's five kills in Fortnite.

“Paige, go left! There's like three peop- no! Your other left! Dumba-”

“Watch your mouth!” Aubrey yells before KK finishes the word. Just then, Paige gets a kill, and she exclaims loudly.

“Let's go!!!” She shouts before locking back in.

“Could yall quiet down?” Morgan says, causing Aubrey and KK to look at her, then glance at you, dozing off again, before looking at each other. “Is she really sleeping, right now? It's only 8:30.” KK laughs. Aubrey giggles. “Guess my kid is a grandmother.”

Morgan shakes her head, looking down at you. “No, just between school and practice, she hasn't been sleeping well.”

She can't help the smile that crawls onto her face as she glances down at you, eyes fluttered shut peacefully. The peace had been missing from your features for weeks, and been replaced with furrowed brows and stressed wrinkles.

KK and Aubrey look at each other before bursting out in loud laughter, waking you up once more, causing you to groan.

“She's so whipped, bro.” Paige mutters, her eyes never leaving the screen. This only eggs the other girls on, everybody forgetting about the now 2,000 people watching them on the other side of their phone screens.

"I know you're not talking." Morgan shoots back.

"Ay, not too much." Paige laughs.

Morgan rolls her eyes at the girls before leaning back down to your ear. “Let's go to bed, sweetheart.” She mumbles.

You don't even try to fight it this time. You just hum and sheepishly sit up before leaning your head back on the couch and letting your eyes close once more. At this point, nobody cared about the live, it being long forgotten on the desk.

Morgan patted your thigh before standing up. “Come on, pretty girl, let's get you to bed.” You whine as she wraps her arms around your back, pulling you up to your feet. “No..” You slur, your voice muffled by her shirt. She laughs as you reluctantly wrap your arms around her neck, and she taps the back of your thighs to signal you to jump, and you oblige. KK eyes widen, looking at you guys, then back at the live, watching people slowly start to freak out.

“Do I need to-” She cuts herself off when she sees Morgan shaking her head. “Don't worry about it. It was bound to happen.” She offers a small smile before kissing your head and walking out of the room. She hears the girls laughing in shock before she closes the door behind her. She earns giggles from Ice, Azzi, Ayanna, and Jana, who are playing a quiet game of UNO.

It's almost funny how easily she carried you to your bed, laying you down before standing back up. You whine and lift your arms up to her, signaling you want her to stay. She laughs before kissing your cheek. “I'll be right back, baby, hold on.”

Morgan walks out of the room and back into the room with KK. She gathers your phone, as well as the empty bags of chips and other trash that had gathered. “Bro, Morgan, come give these people a backstory so I can stop avoiding these comments.” the shorter girl groans. Morgan, Paige, and Aubrey laugh as she makes her way next to KK.

She squints as the questions roll in. “How long have y'all been dating?” She reads. “Uhhh- almost a year.” she smiles as she answers.

“Who said ‘I love you first?’” KK reads, turning to Morgan, who's blushing.

“Me, but she knew first. She just didn't tell me.” She rolls her eyes playfully.

“Okay, okay, that's enough. This is not Morgan's live, and I'm not bouta sit here and listen to this story again.” She complains. Morgan sends her a glare before backing up. “Whatever, she's waiting for me, anyway. Goodnight, Live.” She smiles and waves. “Night, Morgie.” KK says, directing her attention back to the TV screen.

“Night.” Aubrey offers. Morgan looks at the blonde. “Goodnight, Paige.”

All she gets is a grunt. She rolls her eyes before walking back out and offering the other girls goodnight.

She walked back into your room to find you right where she left you. She smiles as she kisses your cheek, waking you up gently. “Get under the blanket, baby.” She whispers. You move automatically, still sleep.

She crawls onto you, pulling the blanket over you both. She put all of her weight on you, her face in the crook of your neck, where she presses a kiss. “Goodnight. Love you.” She whispers. All she gets is a hum back, but she doesn't miss the way your arms wrap around her body, holding her securely onto her.

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taglist: @wintersstan @bueckerslover @lilia22hicks @fake-intelligences @girlokwhatever @pbloverr @breeloveschris-deactivated20240 @cosmopretty @hellokittyfeenie @averagelobotomyenjoyer @elliewilliamsthang @chelisbae @angelscovee

[beiasluv]

forbidden fruit pt.2 | charles leclerc

part 1

a/n: i wrote last part at like midnight, apologies for any typos 💀 enjoyy 🤍

‘y/n l/n and charles leclerc. forbidden love, rival or lovers?’

front line mercedes driver, l/n, and the ferrari driver, leclerc, had been seen having a conversation together before the grand prix in italy…

“y/n, question for you please.”

the conference room. same old same old. lewis, you, and george were seated together in front of thousands of lenses, ready to pick each and every length of your skin just to get a piece of information they could sell to the media.

it was the day before the big race in italy, the media was catching their eyes closely at all the drivers - especially you know which two.

“..yes?”

“about the incident after the qualifying round, what had happened with charles?”

the clicking of the pens and the scratching of the notebooks were starting to get you any minute. clearing your throat you grabbed the mic closer to your mouth,

“i’m sure charles meant no harm..we’re racers..erm…rivalry isn’t the furthest thing from us.”

“are you dating charles, y/n?”

alarms were set off in your mind. it would be a crime if george and lewis couldn’t hear them. you were nothing with charles leclerc. he’s the reddest flag of all. really. you were nothing.

"we," clearing your throat and grabbing your mic closer to your dry lips. "we're not talking on any terms."

smile, y/n. smile for the cameras.

"what are your thoughts on the ferrari team this season? any comments?"

the journalist raised his hands through the crowd, his pen almost fell off his lap from the enthusiasm.

"it was always a challenge to race with any team on the track, ferrari included," you nodded. "the ferrari has a strong car, they are one of the many tough contenders. obviously, every team wishes to win...and so does mercedes," glancing a tight smile at the interviewer who took the answer down the notebook. perhaps a little bit too messy for your driver's head to decipher.

"how about when leclerc saved you? any additional comment?"

"i.."

you caught lewis shifting in his seat; his hands started to calm up together in front of the mic, seated between the three drivers and the whole internet. you could only pray your zoning out was missed by the media and you know who.

if only you could express your infinite pain of being the only female in the male-dominant sport, no paper could ever hold just a nick of the feminine rage pregnant inside you.

how come the only question you got asked was about 'charles,' 'men,' 'dating' and never the sophisticated 'performance car racing' or the ones filled with personalities?

george russell, for the record, your biggest shipper, even chipped in. he pushed the mic closer to his face and looked dead into the camera - if looks could kill - "please, this is a mercedes drivers' briefing."

the tension is sky-high, or you could say: rocket-sky-high. george settled back in his seat as you threw him a quick thankful smile. only god knows what the media is going to make up this time.

'george to the rescue'? bullshit.

"lewis, over here please."

--

"y/n, leclerc's getting aggressive. be careful for an overtake-"

"copy-"

the adrenaline is rushing, flowing, and doing whatever the heck it can in your bloodstream. pushing the pedal as hard as your baby could possibly could, the wind rushed against your face. if it wasn't for the helmet you had on, your face would've been cut like it were a thousand knives thrown at you.

looking to your right you see the infamous red ferrari again, surging with the wind and springing out against the green grass beside the track.

"leave space! you fucking-" you muttered as your fingers tick all the necessary buttons of the formula 1 car in order to keep your position above the ferrari. "what the fuck is he doing!"

praying the car tires could take a bit more, you applied as much pressure you felt comfortable on your baby for the first place behind the checkered end line. you glanced at the body behind the mask of the helmet as you continued to push and pray, push and pray.

if only you knew the ferrari was reciprocating the act.

what was important was you finishing above leclerc - mercedes finishing above ferrari, of course.

"leclerc! y/n! leclerc! who's going to win?! would he complete the overtake?!"

holding on to your steering wheel for your dear life, you saw something of a maroon color rushing to your side. perhaps it was the speed of the car that distorted your vision or was it something in your cheeks?

shut up-

"leclerc! leclerc! leclerc! ferrari have gained another victory home! ladies and gentlemen, charles leclerc!"

"fuck!"

the cracking sound from your radio chimed in your ears - at the worst time possible - "y/n! 0.02 second behind leclerc! P2!"

yeah, thanks. thanks for rubbing it in your face that leclerc had beaten you once again.

"..thanks," slowing your car down against the wind, you came to a halt after the race line; obviously at a considerable distance behind the red ferrari. climbing out and plastering on a fake smile for the media and your beloved fans.

--

the monégasques national anthem was blasted through the speaker throughout the whole podium. any fan knew this song belonged to any of the leclerc and ferrari, for now.

holding your hands in the comfort of in front of you, you tried to remain calm throughout the whole song. nevertheless, your heartbeat was beating fast for the obvious reason after the race.

the shit-eating grin was plastered on the driver standing on P1. can you even blame him? congratulations, you had beaten your rival for the longest time and were placed on P1 while wearing your infamous red suit.

while you were wearing your notorious mercedes's fire suit on your waist, just like all the drivers on the grid (and charles), you grabbed the champagne bottle as the others did so.

"good one, leclerc.”

you sprayed the champagne straight onto the monégasques’s back, maybe it was a little intentional that you shook the bottle a little harder for more pressure of the liquor.

no hard feelings, of course. you only knew his hair was soaked under the cap on his head and the tingling of the bubbles down his neck.

how unfortunate.

charles smirked back as he aimed his half-empty champagne bottle at you, "it's still not a date."

what.?

seeing you in your stunned state, he lowered the bottle to an acceptable level. leclerc cleared his throat and wiped the foam of champagne off his upper lips and chin; looking back with the biggest annoying grin on his face, "congrats on the podium. next race?"

oh, how you wish you could smack his grin off his mother fucking face again. rubbing it into your face.

the media..the media. breathe in, breathe out.

"will do, 16."

--

"congratulations on P2,"

toto patted your back as he entered the mercedes's headquarters. how lovely it is to see his drivers bundled up in his room, once again, after a race 'gone wrong.'

"what is it this time," he sighed as he lowered himself to his chair, not ready to be resigning the team principal position for a therapist for his driver.

the room was your comfort zone, safe to say. the picture of toto's kid, susie, and all of his essentials to complete the job for a team principal. crashing into his room with george wasn't an abnormal thing in your team, nor was it the first time of your career with him.

"they kept asking if you're dating charles, huh?" toto grinned as he faked wipe his mouth for the dramatic effect.

"i'm sick of it-"

the environment of the room shifted - for the better, surprisingly. also. did you mention the fact that this room felt more like a therapy session than a team principal's room?

and. wikipedia got it wrong, it was: toto wolff, team principal and CEO of mercedes, and a part-time therapist.

perfect.

"i'm sure we've put on a great fight," toto nodded towards you, the unspoken tension of the media was killing you inside out.

"i'm sick of the media, toto-"

george shifted next to you on the black sofa, "who knows, they're just trying to write a story out of nothing."

"it'll be the death of me if I have to continuously declare my love life on the internet," resting your head back on the back of the couch you did.

the coldness in the room was cleared by a bit as george snaked his arm around the back of the couch, he whispered into your ear, "you don't have a thing for charles..do you?"

"i hate you."

--

"night, toto. night, george."

bidding toto and george goodbyes, you grabbed your bag from the floor and beeline for the exit door.

the hotel bed is calling your name like a mantra at this point. the race was mentally and physically exhausting, what could be better than a nice, warm bath and a soft bed waiting for you?

the sky was pitch black, darker than your deepest thoughts in solitary, but the pitch was never dark. thanks to the eyes-scorching light to illuminate the track during the night races.

“sup lando..sup daniel”

“good race, l/n.”

walking past a couple of drivers, quick and friendly nods were exchanged as you head for the garage for your beloved mercedes.

and for the love of god, the eyes of the ferrari next to your mercedes were ignited.

how could this get even better?

making your way into the garage, you tried to be as quiet as you possibly could. digging in your purse for the key was a painful ride to ride.

'ah, found it.'

your fingertip dug into the muscle memory as you press the button you hoped was coded with 'unlock.'

fuck.

how gracious of mercedes to make the unlocking sound so loud. so loud that it caught the attention of the ferrari driver. so loud that leclerc's neck flicked towards the sound of your car and you swore you could feel his grin growing.

the second slowed down by a quarter as you seized the handle for the door and swung your bag and body inside the car. perhaps it was not fast enough for the P1 winner today as he made his way next to your car before you could even shut the door. ignoring his steps as he teasingly walked over to his ferrari and played with the key in his hand.

"you put up a great fight for the first place," he grinned. "next time.." he opened his ferrari,

“eyes on the track, l/n.”

"how-...don't you worry about it, leclerc," you scoffed, hiding the beating of your heart. fucking hell- stop beating so fast-

raising his eyebrows in one quick, swift motion, he entered his ferrari, "of course." the driver was fully engulfed by the shadows of the vertical door, but his eyes were still looking into yours, "nice drive today."

"you too."

--

your phone screen screamed it was 2 in the morning, but who cares? the tiktok on your phone was a little more entertaining than seeing charles off the track - okay, maybe a lot less - but the thing so addicting about tiktok was a life mystery for you.

curling up to your side, your phone was plugged into the wall next to your bed, your hand starting to get numb from holding your phone for too long.

asmr. f1 edit. asmr. f1 edit. asmr. f1 edit. you were going to go mad. for the love of anyone, if you see one more edit of charles leclerc on your fyp, you are going to throw your phone out-

honestly, you wouldn't lie that you enjoy an edit of yours once in a while, but hell, charles leclerc..fucking leclerc...who told him that he can look so fucking fine after a horrible race from the ferrari?

you were almost tempted to slam your phone on the nightstand and get some sleep for the night. also. who cares if you wake up late tomorrow?

knock..knock

"oh, come on," you cursed. the audacity to knock at 2 in the morning?

you swung yourself off the comfort of your hotel bed and tiptoed towards the door of your room. your pajama short and oversized t did not help with providing the necessary warmth.

peaking through the cat-eye, you saw the last thing you were expecting.

charles leclerc, in the flesh. he was leaning one of his arms on your door as he was about to raise his hand for another knock.

"gasly! open the door-"

"have a problem, leclerc?"

gosh, you wished you could take a pic of how terrified he looked. shit. was he looking at the unbearable state of yours, or what? short shorts, oversized t, and your hair-

"y/n- i'm-"

squinting your eyes, you adjusted to the light of the hallway, "gasly's not here."

silence engulfed the air between you like a buffet. he continued to stare blankly at you. gosh- could he stop with his dark, green, eyes- fuck. "…leclerc?"

was it the tension or your ears going deaf - you weren't sure - that made you couldn't even hear his - probably lame - excuse of why he knocked at your door at 2 in the fucking morning.

what did matter was the blabbering of his mouth traveled through one ear and straight to the other, just like an f1 car, speeding on any straight path-

"-i think i'm fucking in love with you"

"charles...don't."

charles stopped - his breathing, his steps, his brain, and whatever he could be conscious of. you started - started leaning onto the door, started clutching the other hand to the door blocking the other half of your heart from his.

"what d'you mean 'don't'?" leclerc's mouth was gaped, letting the least amount of air in to keep his heart beating - for you.

retracting your hand, and the door, away from him; you still found his hand in the comfort of over yours, the one that you held onto the door to not fall onto the wooden floor of your hotel room.

every breath you took was a sharp nick on your lungs, but you've managed to heaped out, "i'm sorry, charles-" just in time before your lungs would betray you.

"why?...why?...please-"

"why? -really? why?"

finally regaining the willpower to look back at him, and not cry, you were greeted with his reddened eyes, "what the fuck do you want with me-?"

"you- you could go around and tell me all these nice things in front of my face and- and god knows what you've been calling me behind my back-"

his grip on your hands tightened as he opened his mouth again, but you cut him short- "it drives me crazy- fucking crazy that you act all so nice to me when we've fought our whole lives against each other."

"...what ever happened to all of your loathing glares when i'm on the podium?"

who cares what the sleeping people, ghosts, or whoever the fuck on this floor hears. you were done with cradling your heart as far away as you could from the pitch. it was stupid. fucking humiliating, at least, that you've found yourself back - back at the start.

all the effort to fight for your place on the grid as the only female driver and all of your effort to carry your dignity above all the scandals came crashing down just for a second of your selfish desires. was it so bad to want love from someone who really cares for you all your life?

dancing, kissing, crying, loving. was it so hard to deny when it is literally in front of your fucking face? under the reddest flag of all.

you wished and prayed every day that the races would be over soon so you could stop seeing his shit-eating grin, his eyes, his remarks, his cologne filling the air whenever he walked past.

charles stood in silence, unmoving, as if the time had stopped. if only you knew he was trying- trying to find the right word to express this weird sensation in his brain, his chest, his fucking heart. they all just ended up tangled in italian, frech, and english. mon amour. my life-

"..is that how you really think of me-" he felt slightly betrayed by his wrong tone, but even more by your thoughts.

"you think- y/n- you think i'm just trying to tick you off the podium?"

"..are you?" wiping the tears that betrayed you and escaped from the comfort of your eyes. "look- look at all the headlines- 'mercedes and ferrari.' is this really the- the condition you want to love under?"

"i'll love you under any condition i want," he breathed shakily as he continued to hold the door of your room open. who cares about the ruffled sheet you left or your phone uncharged by the bed?

"there's nothing between us-"

"you have a girlfriend for fuck's sake!"

"it's a PR relationship! and who cares what the media thinks? i'm not doing ferrari any good by confessing my heart raw to you-"

"you think mercedes is getting anything out of this but rumors? i've fought the press for all my fucking life from the scandals inside the pit-"

"this isn't about mercedes, and this isn't about the goddamn media-”

charles ran his hand through his messed up hair, "and I would have thought you knew that..."

"maybe- maybe i don't. maybe i'm too scared to love again. maybe i'm too scared of what would happen if we ended on a bad note. maybe i'm a coward for not wanting to open my heart for you.

-maybe i'm stupid...for you"

"you're not stupid," he said- decreasing the gap between you two, trying his hardest not to reach to wipe your tears.

"we won't work out," you sighed. "we'll focus on our drives, we'll fight, you'll leave."

"please," charles grabbed your waist and pulled you in, once again - you gave in. "i'll make it work."

all your walls came crumbling down as you broke down like a dam on his shoulder. you buried your face onto his chest and gripped his shirt until you didn't care it would crease. a mantra of apologies came out of charles's mouth that you wouldn't even waste an energy to decipher.

his hands found their natural comfort in your lower back, rubbing in lines of traces and tracks you'd spend the rest of your life trying to decipher.

tucking a piece of your hair behind, he kissed all of your tears away. his mustache which had grown since the karting days grazed your skin like they were made for each other. his cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling too much like an idiot in front of your hotel room..106.

you were still gripping his shirt hard, as he closed the space between your lips and his. it seemed like all of your walls were crushed to the point of no returning; towering over you, he pressed his body against yours like there was no more- like the last lap of the race.

the level of oxygen in your lungs was starting to set off an alarm in your head, but you didn't care. you were kissing the reddest flag of all in the grid and you were not regretting anything.

pulling away for air, he smiled against your lips; sending a wave of breath onto your chin.

"you have a lot to explain to toto."

"i'll have my ways..."

oh my goodnesss. if you like it, please do whatever you want to, I’ll appreciate it 🫶🏻

today’s a great day to take care of yourself, luvv 🤍

tag: @leclerclvr @buendiabebeta @be-your-coffee-pot @al-luvx

[s10127470]

Nicktoons Unite: Rewritten

I'm pretty sure most of you reading this know about the Nicktoons Unite series.

Running from 2005 to 2008 with a total of four games, the series saw some of Nickelodeon's most popular Nicktoons coming together to stop whatever the big threat of the game there was.

Even after almost 20 years, these games are still fondly remembered for how well they utilized the crossover aspect and how cool it was to see so many of Nickelodeon's most popular characters actually interacting with each other.

But apart from that, the games are pretty mid (specifically in terms of gameplay).

So recently, I've been thinking about what the Nicktoons Unite series would've been like if it actually had good gameplay and even went a little more all-out with the crossover aspect than it already did.

And being the madman that I am, I'm gonna make this a 4-part series!

Starting off with the game that started it all, Nicktoons Unite!

So without further ado, let's get this party started!

Gameplay and Presentation:

Nicktoons Unite! would still have the action-RPG style, but a little better.

And for a few reasons.

For starters, the characters will move much faster than they previously did.

Which is something I appreciate the later games for doing.

And the combat is a lot more fleshed-out.

Each character has a light attack, a heavy attack, a grab and a throw, a trip, a stun, a pop-up, an aerial attack, a block, a dodge, a ground slam, a double jump (though that varies between characters), 6 or 7 special attacks, one or two boosts, a few passive abilities, and a super attack that is able to unleash an insane amount of damage across a wider range.

Along with that, there will be enemies with specific resistances.

For example, say you’re dealing with an enemy that’s heavily resistant to energy/elemental/magical attacks.

So in order to beat that enemy, you’ll have to switch to a character who’s heavily reliant on physical attacks.

Since this is an action RPG, there will be tons of strategy.

And in terms of presentation, the worlds would be more expanded than they originally were.

Including major locations and characters that weren't in the original.

But biggest glow-up in the presentation would be with the music.

Everybody knows that Nicktoons Unite's music is pretty weak.

It's basically elevator music, and doesn't really fit the worlds we go to at all.

But here, the music would actually strive to replicate the scores of each Nicktoon.

So much so that I could imagine they would even receive help from the composers of those respective Nicktoons.

But don't worry, Guy Moon isn't gonna be giving every action its own music cue here.

The Story:

The overall story is more or less the same, but has a lot more content here.

First off, let's talk about the Nicktoons themselves.

The team still consists of Jimmy Neutron, SpongeBob SquarePants, Timmy Turner and Danny Phantom.

But this version would see five more members of the team.

These being Jenny Wakeman, Otto Rocket, Tommy Pickles (the All Grown Up! one), Tak and Avatar Aang.

As for why they're here.

I remember reading something somewhere about how Rocket Power, All Grown Up!, and Tak and the Power of Juju were all meant to be featured in Nicktoons Unite!

As for Jenny and Aang.....why shouldn't they be here?

Jenny especially since at the time of this game's release, My Life as a Teenage Robot has been around for two years.

I've always found it weird how she was never included in the main stories of any of the games.

I'm guessing that they wanted the Nicktoons to be a boys-only thing.

And given Nickelodeon's track record, I could definitely see that being the case....

Though I have no clue why Aang was never included in these games, especially since Avatar: The Last Airbender was one of the biggest Nicktoons on the channel during its run.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that it is was the only Nicktoon at the time at was primarily serialized.

So trying to figure out where the games could take place during the three Books would've been tricky.

But given that Avatar has comics in the Nickelodeon Magazine that took place between their adventures and are presumably canon, I think they could've pulled it off.

Anyway, just like the original version of the game, these nine have teamed up thanks to The Syndicate.

Which now consists of Professor Calamitous, Plankton, Mr. Crocker, Vlad Plasmius, Vexus, Tlaloc and Zuko.

As for how they're each contributing to their team.

Calamitous is who's creating The Doomsday Machine.

Plankton, Crocker, Vlad, Tlaloc and Zuko are each obtaining energy from their respective worlds to power it.

Those energy sources being jellyfish electricity, fairy magic, ghost energy, juju magic, and waterbending & earthbending.

And Vexus is creating an army of special robots for The Syndicate to use in their respective worlds.

Thought with all being said, you're probably wondering why the hell Otto and Tommy are here since they have no notable villains to speak of.

Well it's because The Syndicate have already conquer their respective worlds and are planning to make the inhabitants into cybernetic slaves.

And so, with our heroes united, they decide to head to Ocean Shores and Eucaipah (the All Grown Up! world) to free them first from The Syndicate's rule.

Upon arriving in Ocean Shores, they find the city to be particularly deserted.

But soon enough, they do manage to run into Twister and Sam.

The two reveal that the people of Ocean Shores have been captured by the Syndicate's troops and taken away.

Luckily, Twister and Sam were able to escape.

But the likes of Reggie, Raymundo, Tito and Noelani weren't so lucky....

And with the knowledge of The Syndicate planning on turning the residents into cybernetic slaves, the Nicktoons concur that there's some kind of base in this world where the process is bound to take place.

And so, our heroes decide to search around the city in order to find said base.

The world of Ocean Shores would consist of the following sub-areas:

The Cul-de-sac, Ocean Streets, Madtown, Rocket Beach, The Boardwalk, The Woods and The Town Dump.

And during their search, The Nicktoons find themselves fighting off Syndicate Bots resembling skateboarders, roller-skaters and surfers.

After some time, our heroes run into Eddie, who also escaped capture.

He reveals that the citizens of Ocean Shores have been taken to The Pier, which has been turned into factory.

And with that, The Nicktoons decide to head there.

The Pier Factory would sport a circus/carnival theming to it.

With Syndicate Bots resembling clowns constantly attacking you.

After fighting through the hordes of robo-clowns, our heroes eventually make it to the holding area where the citizens of Ocean Shores are being kept.

Before they can free them, The Nicktoons find themselves having to fight a robotic extreme sports star known Rad-Tron 3000 (who would be voiced by Rob Paulsen).

Rad-Tron attacks with four different modes.

Skateboard mode has him speeding all over the place on his board, all while ramming you his helmeted head.

Roller-skate mode is pretty similar to skateboard mode, but he attacks you with kicks and swings from a hockey stick.

Surfing mode has him ride a surfboard that can automatically create an actual wave of water.

And snowboard is pretty similar to surfing mode, but does it with a wave of snow that can slow down The Nicktoons.

Luckily, our heroes are able to defeat Rad-Tron and free the citizens of Ocean Shores.

And with Ocean Shore now free, they decide to head to Eucaipah next.

Upon arriving there, just like with Ocean Shores, they find the place completely deserted.

However, they would soon run into Chuckie and Susie, who reveal that same thing that happened in Ocean Shores happened to them as well, and that they were only ones who manage to avoid capture.

And so, our heroes head off to find where the citizens are being taken.

The areas of this world include:

The Pickles' House, The Neighborhood, Eucaipah Streets, Jim Jr. Junior High School, and The Mall.

The Nicktoons eventually find the factory, which is now where The Java Lava used to be.

The factory here has an overall fruit-theme to it, and the Syndicate Bots use special guns that shoot juice.

As for the boss here, it's a robotic fat guy known as The Juicer (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson).

He attacks with punches, charges, throwing large fruits, and shoot powerful streams of juice out of his mouth.

Luckily, our heroes defeat him and free the people of Eucaipah.

With that out of the way, The Nicktoons finally decided it's time to take on their villains.

Their first stop is Tremorton, so they can stop Vexus.

Upon arriving, they come across a shocking sight….

Cluster Prime flying high the above the city.

Soon enough, they find themselves surrounded by Cluster Drones.

Thanks to them, our heroes find out that with the help of The Syndicate, Vexus has reclaimed her throne as the ruler of Cluster Prime.

Along with overthrowing and imprisoning the current ruler (and her daughter) Vega in the process.

But she’s not the only one.

Vexus has also imprison Nora, Brad, Sheldon and Tuck.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, Vexus has also conquered all of Tremorton and are forcing the residents to work in the factory creating the Syndicate Bots.

And so, our heroes decide to first free Tremorton from the rule of The Cluster, fighting off Cluster Drones and Syndicate Bots along the way.

The areas of this world include:

Downtown, Tremorton High School, and The Neighborhood.

After defeating all the Drones and Bots and freeing the city, The Nicktoons decide to head to Cluster Prime to confront Vexus and free Jenny’s mother and friends.

Along the way, they fight themselves fighting even more Cluster Drones.

They even run into a mini-boss against Smytus and Krackus.

Krackus attacks with a electricity ray, and Smytus attacks with punches, ground pounds, flying charges, and when he enters his rage mode, claw slashes and shooting spikes.

After defeating those two, our heroes finally reach Vexus, who has her captives right next her and starts threatening their lives.

And soon enough, the battle begins.

For her boss fight, Vexus attacks with punches, kicks, ground smashes, flying charges, teleporting attacks and energy blasts.

After defeating her, Vexus declares that the Nicktoons may’ve stopped here, they still have the rest of The Syndicate to worry about, right before fleeing through a portal.

And with Tremorton, Cluster Prime, and Jenny’s loved ones now freed, The Nicktoons decided to head to Amity Park next to stop Vlad.

Some time later, the team land in Casper High…..or where it used to be.

As they immediately find out, Vlad tore down the school to make way for his new castle.

And he’s captured Danny’s parents Jack and Maddie, Mr. Lancer, and a few of Danny’s classmates such as Dash.

When The Nicktoons try to attack him on the spot, Vlad knocks them all out and banishes them to The Ghost Zone Prison, where they’ll have to deal with Walker.

When they wake up, our heroes find themselves in a prison cell.

Luckily, they manage to escape with some help from The Box Ghost.

And soon enough, they start making their way out the prison, fighting off ghost prison guards along the way.

But right when they’re about finally be free, Walker stops them.

And thus, a boss fight commences.

Walker attacks with punches, kicks, stomps, and ecto-energy beams that he shoots with finger guns.

After defeating him, The Nicktoons finally escape and soon find themselves traversing through The Ghost Zone, trying to find the ghost portal that leads into Fenton Works.

Along the way, they find themselves fighting off all kinds of ghosts.

This section of the game will essentially be a boss-rush, with our heroes having fight against several of Danny's foes.

This include Skulker, The Lunch Lady, Ember McClain, Sidney Poindexter, Technus, Desiree, Johnny 13 and The Dragon Ghost.

As for how each boss would play out.

Skulker attacks with claw slashes, kicks, flying swipes, laser beams and missiles.

The Lunch Lady attacks with charges, throwing fast giant balls of meat, and mini meat monsters.

Ember attacks with guitar swings, sound waves from playing her guitar, and shooting fireballs from her hair.

Sidney attacks with eye beams, ink squirts from his pen, and telekinetically hurling rocks.

Technus (using his robot armor seen in Attack of the Killer Garage Sale and Prisoners of Love) attacks with ground slams, electrical blasts and mechanical tendrils.

Desiree attacks with enlarged fists, energy blasts, and various elemental blasts (fire, ice, wind and electricity)

Johnny 13 attacks with punches, kicks, chain whip strikes, ramming into you with his bike, and commanding his Shadow to attack.

And The Dragon Ghost fights with claw slashes, stomps, tail swipes and fire breath.

After defeating then all, The Nicktoons finally escape The Ghost Zone and make it to Fenton Works.

A short while later, our heroes meet up with Sam, Tucker and Jazz in the Amity Streets.

The trio reveal that they found a way into Vlad's Castle, that being a short-cut through The Graveyard.

And so, The Nicktoons head off to their destination, fighting Syndicate Bots resembling skeletons, vampires and zombies along the way.

But along the way, they actually gain a temporary ally in the form of Valerie, who's also trying to stop Vlad.

Although she refuses at first, she does eventually accept The Nicktoons' help (albeit begrudgingly since they do have the ghost she hates the most as a member of their team).

Valerie herself fights with charges on her hoverboard, her Ecto-Grenade Launcher, ecto guns and missiles.

Upon returning to the castle, the heroes destroy the generators that Vlad's been using to harness the ghost energy from The Ghost Zone.

And soon enough, The Nicktoons finally confront Vlad again in his throne room.

For his boss fight, Vlad attacks with punches, kicks, ecto-energy rays, and duplicates of himself.

He also teleports all over the place and crafts an energy shield around himself sometimes, which Danny will have to use Jack to break through.

After defeating him, Vlad flees through a portal.

And after freeing Danny's close ones, The Nicktoons end up doing the same thing when Jack, Maddie and Valerie decide to jump Danny.

And so, with Amity Park now free, the heroes decide to head to Pupununu next to stop Tlaloc.

Upon arriving in the Pupununu Village, The Nicktoons find out that the villagers have been turned into sheep once again.

Luckily, with the combined magic of Tak and Cosmo & Wanda, they're able to return about half of the village back to normal, including Jibola and Lok.

Thanks to Jibola, the heroes find out that Tlaloc is planning to steal the Tikis in order to summon the Jujus.

And upon doing so, he would instantly capture them and use a special generator to extract their magical energy.

And so, The Nicktoons find themselves having to retrieve the Tikis of Dead Juju, Dinky, Caged Juju, Two-Headed Juju, Belly Juju and Mind-Reading Juju.

This race against time will take our team to The Burial Grounds, Dryrock Canyon, Gloomleaf Swamp, Chicken Island, Wetstone Lake, and Gyre Mountain.

Along the way, they'll be accompanied by Flora and Fauna.

Flora fights with nature energy blasts, whirlwinds, leafy wind blasts and vines that sprout out of the ground and either hit or grab enemies.

Fauna fights by turning into different animals. These include a rhino, an orangutan, a ram, a bear, a boar, a crocodile, a jaguar, a eagle, a python, and an elephant.

And over the course of their journey in this world, The Nicktoons find themselves dealing with Syndicate Bots resembling monkeys, emus, sharks, tigers, alligators, wild dogs and wolves.

Along with some Nerbils.

But unfortunately, everytime, they end up being too late as the Tikis end up getting swiped by Pins and Needles.

Eventually, The Nicktoons head to Tlaloc's lair, The Dark Temple.

There, they find the summoned Jujus, including The Moon Juju, who was captured first via Tlaloc stealing the Moonstones like before, having their energy extracted.

Luckily, our heroes manage to free them and destroy the generators harnessing their energy.

And soon enough, they confront Tlaloc.

Tlaloc attacks with dark magic blasts, lightning bolts, summoning giant thorny tendrils, and casting spells that temporarily turn our heroes into animals.

After defeating him, Tlaloc flees through a portal.

With Jujus now freed and being able to return the rest of the Pupununu people back to normal, The Nicktoons decide to make The Four Nations their next stop in order to stop Zuko.

They arrive at The Southern Air Temple, where they run into Sokka, Momo and Appa.

Sokka reveals that Zuko's crew has kidnapped Katara and the three of them have trying to chase them down.

And with the knowledge of The Syndicate wanting to obtain earthbending to power their Doomsday Machine, our heroes decide to head to both Omashu and The Earth Kingdom Village to save the earthbenders there, namely Bumi and Haru.

Along the way, they find themselves fighting Syndicate-Bots that resemble Eastern dragons and Fire Nation soldiers.

And you would expect, Sokka serves as our ally for this world.

He fights with swings from his club and throws from his boomerang.

Along the way, they also fight against Zhao in Omashu.

He attacks with fiery blasts, fire circles and fire fists.

Unfortunately, the heroes end up too late both times as Zuko's crew manage to take all the earthbenders away.

But not all hope is lost, as while in The Earth Kingdom Village, they received a mysterious note revealing that Katara, Bumi, Haru and the rest of the earthbenders have been taken to The Fire Temple on Crescent Island.

(We would later find out that this note was sent by Iroh)

And so, our heroes head there to free the captives.

After freeing Katara and the earthbenders and destroying the generators, The Nicktoons finally confront Zuko.

Zuko fights with blazing rings, fire fists, fire knives, fire blades, fire streams, fire lashes, and fire walls.

After defeating him, Zuko flees through portal.

With Katara and the earthbenders now free, The Nicktoons head to The Bikini Bottom next to take on Plankton.

Upon arriving at Conch Street, they find the place completely deserted.

And soon enough, they find themselves surrounded by Syndicate-Bots resembling octopuses, eels and barracuda.

Luckily, Sandy comes to help them out.

Sandy fights with punches, kicks, karate chops and lasso grapples & throws.

After going through The Bikini Streets and rendezvousing at The Krusty Krab, Sandy reveals that Plankton has imprisoned the people of The Bikini Bottom, kidnapped Mr. Krabs and has been using jellyfish capturing harvesters to extract their electrical stinging power.

Luckily, she's been trying to take down the harvesters alongside a small resistance she's built.

Soon enough, she sends our heroes to Jellyfish Fields to destroy the harvesters and meet up with the two agents she sent.

Those agents being Patrick and Squidward (who was forced to accompany Patrick).

Unfortunately, the duo end up getting sucked up by one of the harvesters.

Aftering destroying the harvesters and going through Kelp Forest, our heroes find themselves in The Ship Graveyard, where they encounter The Flying Dutchman, who plans on making them his crew for all eternity.

Luckily, Danny persuades him to let them go in exchange for bringing back his old crewmates, which he accepts.

After retrieving all his crewmates, The Flying Dutchman let's our heroes go.

A short while later, they arrive at The Chum Bucket, where they free Patrick, Squidward and the jellyfish, and destroy the generators harnessing the jellyfishes' sting.

And soon enough, they confront Plankton on the roof on his restaurant.

Plankton attacks with a giant robotic crab, which performs swings with its claws, ground slams, and shoots powerful streams of water.

After defeating Plankton, he flees through a portal.

And so, after freeing Mr. Krabs, The Nicktoons head to Dimmsdale to stop Crocker.

Upon arriving there, they find out that Dimmsdale Elementary has been torn down and replaced with a golden fortress built by Crocker.

Soon enough, our heroes find themselves making their way through Crocker's Fortress in order to shut down the power, all while dealing Syndicate Bots resembling elves, pixies and Anti-Fairies.

Along the way, they also free some of the residents of Dimmsdale, who were enslaved by Crocker.

These include the likes of Mr and Mrs. Turner, Chester and AJ, and Trixie Tang.

After doing all that, the heroes finally decided to head to Fairy World to free the fairies and destroyed the generators harnessing their magic.

Along the way, they receive an ally in the form of Jorgen von Strangle.

He attacks with punches, kicks, ground slams and swings from his massive wand.

After that's all done, our heroes finally confront Crocker at The Big Wand.

Crocker attacks with a flying exosuit, which performs punches, flying charges, and magical energy blasts.

After defeating Crocker, he flees through a portal.

A short while later, The Nicktoons finally return back to Retroville.

Jimmy deduces that they need to go the base of The Syndicate and stop them once and for all.

Only problem: they have no clue where it is.

Also, they run into Cindy, who reveals that The Syndicate have also taken over Retroville.

However, their prayers would be answered when Jimmy discovers the Goddard has flea-bots on him, which he deduces that Calamitous had them placed on Goddard in order to spy on Jimmy, hench how he was able to know about the Universal Portal Machine.

And so, our heroes shrink themselves on got onto Goddard and find the main flea-bot.

After battling through swarms of flea-bots, they find the main flea-bot, defeat it, and uses it circuitry to locate Calamitous' lair.

Soon, our heroes make their way through the lair (fighting off all the Syndicate Bots they did before) and finally confront The Syndicate, who proceeded to activate the Doomsday Machine.

Their boss fight has the group constantly switch between member and shooting at The Nicktoons.

Each of the villains' respective dome have some kind of special projectile.

Calamitous shoots electricity, Plankton shoots water, Crocker shoots magical energy stars, Vlad shoots ecto-energy, Vexus shoots energy blasts, Tlaloc shoots dark magic, and Zuko shoots fire.

Luckily, the heroes manage to take down each of the domes' generators, taking down the domes and allowing them to defeat The Syndicate.

A short while later, The Nicktoons have turned Calamitous into the authorities and have trapped each of their respective villains.

Plankton's stuck in a pickle jar.

Crocker's trapped in a Hypercube.

Vlad's been stuffed into the Fenton Thermos.

Vexus has been deactivated and turned into pieces.

Tlaloc's been turned back into a sheep again.

And Zuko's been frozen solid.

And so, our heroes bid each other farewell and return to their respective worlds.

But not before Jimmy gives each of them a Neutronic Recaller, in case something like this happens again.

Playable Characters:

SpongeBob SquarePants:

-Light Attack: A triple karate chop.

-Heavy Attack: A roundhouse kick.

-Grab and Throw: An elastic grab and toss.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A double-handed smack.

-Pop-Up: A high kick.

-Aerial Attack: A drop kick.

-Block: Holding foam-gloved hands out in front.

-Dodge: A roll.

-Ground Slam: An upside-down head smash.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Chops of Fury: Unleashes a flurry of karate chops onto enemies.

-Water Shoot: Soaks up water whenever they're standing in a body of it and shoots it out as a powerful stream.

-Bubble Bomb: Crafts a solid bubble and when thrown, explodes on impact.

-SpongeBall: Morphs into a ball and bounces all over the place, doing more damage with each drop.

-Jellyfish Swing: Swings a jellyfish net at enemies, trapping them in the process.

-Doodlebob Lure: Uses magical pencil to create Doodlebob, who attacks enemies on sight.

Boosts:

-Kar-Rah-Tay Fury: Taps into heart of karate, increase the damage done by his attacks.

-Bubble Barrier: Crafts bubble shields around himself and allies, decreasing damage taken.

Passive Skills:

-Spongy Skin: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-FUN Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by FUN attacks.

-Kar-Rah-Tay Master: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Sailor's Eye: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Parachute Pants: Grants the ability to glide via inflated pants.

Super Attack:

-Wipe Out: Absorbs a massive amount of water, jumps into the air and performs a ground slam, unleashing water all over the place, washing enemies away.

Jimmy Neutron:

-Light Attack: A triple laser saber slash.

-Heavy Attack: A dashing laser saber slash.

-Grab and Throw: Goddard rushes in, grabs an enemy with his mouth and throws them.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: An electric discharge sent by watch.

-Pop-Up: An upward laser saber slash.

-Aerial Attack: A downward laser saber stab.

-Block: Crafts an energy shield around himself.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: A smash with the Neutronized Baseball Bat.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Tornado Blaster: Uses a special gun that shoots a powerful whirlwind, sucking enemies up and throwing them into the air.

-Neutron Flare: Shoots a flare from a repulsor cannon that sets enemies ablaze.

-Quarterback Gear: Uses a football helmet to charge into enemies, knocking them down in the process.

-Hey Batta Batta!: Delivers a powerful swing with his Neutronized Baseball Bat.

-Shrink Ray: Uses Shrink Ray to shrink enemies down, lowering their defenses.

-Plant Attack: Sics the Girl-Eating Plant onto enemies.

-Brain Drain: Uses the Brain Drain 8000 to confuse enemies, lowering their defenses.

Boosts:

-Speed Up: Uses Speed Shoes to increase his movement and attack speed.

-Energy Barricade: Crafts energy shields for himself and the entire team, decreasing damage taken.

Passive Skills:

-Brain Boost: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Tech Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by tech attacks.

-Laser Fighter: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Genius Sight: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Jet Pack: Grants the ability to fly via Jet Pack.

Super Attack:

-Think Big: Uses the Shrink Ray to make himself giant, and proceeds to stomp all over the place.

Timmy Turner:

-Light Attack: A triple Cosmo Hammer swing.

-Heavy Attack: A Cosmo Hammer smash.

-Grab and Throw: Wanda turns into a giant hand, grabs an enemy and throws them.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: An magical blast sent by Wanda.

-Pop-Up: An upward Cosmo Hammer swing.

-Aerial Attack: A downward Cosmo Hammer swing.

-Block: Crafts an magical shield around himself.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: A smash with Cosmo Hammer.

-Double Jump: Yes.

Special Attacks:

-Star Flinger: Wanda turns into a special cannon that shoots magical energy stars.

-Freeze Wand: Uses a special wand that freezes enemies, bodies of water, and makes bridges.

-Magical Blast: Shoots a blast of magical energy from his eyes.

-Egg Bomb: Throws an Easter egg, exploding on impact.

-Magic Floss: Uses Magic Floss to lasso, swing around, and throw enemies.

-Magic Chucks: Cosmo and Wanda turn into a pair of nunchunks, which Timmy uses to unleashes a flurry of swings onto enemies.

-Pinata Smash: Has Cosmo and Wanda turn enemies into pinatas, with the possibility of containing goods.

Boosts:

-Cleft the Boy-Chin Wonder: Turns into his famous alter-ego, allowing him to attack enemies with punches, kicks and the Cleft-Arm.

-Crash Nebula: Changes into the costumes of one of his favorite heroes, allowing him to attack enemies with a laser gun and a laser cannon, along with granting the ability of flight.

Passive Skills:

-Godchild's Luck: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Magic Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by magic attacks.

-Hammer Time: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Star Struck: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Remedy: 40% chance that Timmy will have Cosmo and Wanda revive a fallen ally.

Super Attack:

-Balloon Bash: Has Cosmo and Wanda summon a whole bunch of balloons, which then explode all over the place.

Otto Rocket:

-Light Attack: A triple punch.

-Heavy Attack: A roundhouse kick with rollerblades.

-Grab and Throw: A simple pull and push.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A double-handed smack.

-Pop-Up: An upward hockey stick swing.

-Aerial Attack: A downward hockey stick swing.

-Block: Immediately puts on hockey gear and holds hands out in front.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: A smash with hockey stick.

-Double Jump: Yes.

Special Attacks:

-Skate Strike: Performs a double-kick with his skateboard.

-Hockey Bash: Performs a straight of swings with hockey stick.

-Surf's Up: Rides on a surfboard, knocking down enemies in the process.

-Pucker Up: Launches hockey pucks at enemies.

-Snow Surf: Rides on a snowboard, freezing any enemies he hits.

-Alley Oop: Jumps into the air and spikes down a basketball at enemies below.

Boosts:

-Skate Speed: Rides on rollerblades to increase movement and attack speed.

-Safety Gear: Puts on skating gear, decreasing damage taken.

Passive Skills:

-Pro Skater: Increases chances of dodging attacks, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Sports Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by sport attacks.

-Rocket Bash: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Eye Coordination: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

Super Attack:

-Rocket Rush: Skates all over the place, ramming into and knocking down enemies.

Tommy Pickles:

-Light Attack: A triple screwdriver baton swing.

-Heavy Attack: A double-handed screwdriver baton wack.

-Grab and Throw: A simple pull and push.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A screwdriver baton smack.

-Pop-Up: An upward screwdriver baton swing.

-Aerial Attack: A downward screwdriver baton swing.

-Block: Pulls out a textbook and holds it out in front.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: A smash with screwdriver baton.

-Double Jump: Yes.

Special Attacks:

-Baton Batter: Repeatedly swings his screwdriver baton at enemies.

-Blinding Shot: Uses camera to temporarily blind and stun enemies.

-Reptar Bike: Rides on a Reptar-themed bike and rams into enemies.

-Soda Shooter: Shoots enemies with a special water gun full of soda.

-Rope Whip: Whips enemies with a jump rope.

-Soda Bomb: Launches a shaken bottle of soda, which explodes upon impact.

Boosts:

-Reptar Rush: Rides around on Reptar Bike to increase movement and attack speed.

-Movie Director: Uses camera to film and distract enemies, lowering their defenses.

Passive Skills:

-Determination: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Gadget Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by gadget attacks.

-Screwdrive: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Carbonated Crush: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

Super Attack:

-Reptar Fire: Rides around the Reptar Bike while it breaths fire all over the place.

Jenny Wakeman:

-Light Attack: A triple punch.

-Heavy Attack: A roundhouse kick.

-Grab and Throw: An Extension Arms grab and toss.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A double-handed smack.

-Pop-Up: A high kick.

-Aerial Attack: A drop kick.

-Block: Holds out the Poppin' Shield.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: An double-handed ground smash.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Laser Blaster: Morphs arm into a blaster and shoots at enemies.

-Shiva Swords: Grows more four arms, places scimitars in each one, and rapidly slashes enemies.

-Fire Blaster: Shoots fire from a cannon via her arm, setting enemies ablaze.

-Ice Blaster: Shoots ice from a cannon via her arm, freezing enemies.

-Turbine Hair: Turns her pigtails into massive turbines, blowing enemies away.

-Thunder Fist: Morphs her hand into a giant flail and smashes enemies with it.

-Buzz Saws: Morphs hands into buzz saws and slashes enemies with it.

Boosts:

-Fists of Fury: Makes her fists much bigger and spikier, increasing attack damage.

-Rocket Blades: Morphs her feet into rocket-powered roller blades, increasing her attack speed.

Passive Skills:

-Adolescent Android: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Weapons Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by weapon attacks.

-Titanium Tank: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Precise Aim: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Mechanical Might: Grants the ability to lift and move heavy objects.

-Robotic Flight: Grants the ability to fly.

Super Attack:

-Heavy Artillery: Unleashes a barrage of lasers and missiles all over the place.

Danny Phantom:

-Light Attack: A triple punch.

-Heavy Attack: A roundhouse kick.

-Grab and Throw: An simple grab and throw.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A double-handed smack.

-Pop-Up: An uppercut.

-Aerial Attack: A drop kick.

-Block: Crafts an ecto-energy shield around himself.

-Dodge: A phasing side-step.

-Ground Slam: An double-handed ground smash.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Ecto-Strike: Channels ecto-energy all over his body and delivers a flurry of punches and kicks, doing more damage with each one.

-Ghostly Ray: Blasts a ray of ectoplasmic energy.

-Creepy Charge: Delivers a flying headbutt at enemies, knocking them back.

-Fenton Thermos: Uses the Fenton Thermos to suck enemies up and spit them out.

-Overshadow: Takes over the body of any nearby enemy, gaining their abilities.

-Ecto-Ball: Throws a massive ball of ecto-energy, which explodes upon impact.

-Frightful Flames: Throws green fireballs at enemies, setting them ablaze.

Boosts:

-Disappear: Makes himself and allies invisible, increasing their defenses due to most enemies not being able to detect them.

-Phase Shift: Makes himself intangible, allowing him to go through walls.

Passive Skills:

-Halfa Physiology: Increases chances of dodging attacks, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Ghost Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by ghost attacks.

-Phantom Pummel: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Ectoplasmic Eye: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Paranormal Power: Grants the ability to lift and move heavy objects.

-Ghostly Flight: Grants the ability to fly.

Super Attack:

-Ghostly Wail: Unleashes powerful waves of ecto-energy via a scream.

Tak:

-Light Attack: A triple staff swing.

-Heavy Attack: A double-handed staff wack.

-Grab and Throw: A simple pull and push.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A magical discharge.

-Pop-Up: An upward staff swing.

-Aerial Attack: A downward staff swing.

-Block: Crafts a magical shield around himself.

-Dodge: A roll.

-Ground Slam: A smash with staff.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Juju Blast: Shoots a beam of juju magic.

-Thunder Strike: Summons lightning to strike enemies.

-Juju Bolts: Shoots multiple beams of juju magic at enemies.

-Jaguar Claw: Summons a giant claw to strike enemies.

-Juju Slam: Jumps high into the air and comes back down, delivering a powerful shockwave of juju magic.

-Dragon Breath: Breaths fire, setting enemies ablaze.

-Piranha Swarm: Summons a swarm a magical piranhas to attack enemies.

Boosts:

-Crazy Feet: Uses juju magic to increase the attack and movement speed of himself and his allies.

-Restoration Spell: Uses juju magic to heal himself and allies.

Passive Skills:

-Pupununu Power: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Juju Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by juju attacks.

-Staff of Dreams: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Juju Sight: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Glider Cape: Grants the ability to glide via cape.

Super Attack:

-Juju Surge: Unleashes a massive shockwave of juju magic across the battlefield.

Avatar Aang:

-Light Attack: A triple staff swing.

-Heavy Attack: A double-handed staff wack.

-Grab and Throw: A simple pull and push.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A light gust of air.

-Pop-Up: An upward staff swing.

-Aerial Attack: A downward staff swing.

-Block: Crafts a windy barrier around himself.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: A smash with staff.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Air Ball: Hurls a powerful ball of air at enemies.

-Air Scooter: Rides on a ball of air, running down any enemies in his way.

-Air Blast: Sends a powerful gust of wind towards enemies.

-Air Cyclone: Creates a whirlwind that sucks up enemies and sends them flying.

-Water Whip: Whips enemies with a think stream of water.

-Ice Spear: Hurls a long icy shard.

-Water Wave: Rides on a wave, knocking down enemies.

Boosts:

-Air Shield: Crafts windy barriers around himself and allies, decreasing taken damage.

-Ice Shield: Crafts icy barriers around himself and allies, decreasing taken damage.

Passive Skills:

-Avatar Spirit: Increases chances of dodging attacks, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Airbending Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by airbending attacks.

-Waterbending Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by waterbending attacks.

-Airbending Staff: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Air Aim: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Glider Staff: Grants the ability to glide via staff.

Super Attack:

Avatar State: Goes into the Avatar State and unleashes massive amounts of wind and water all over the battlefield.

Well that was Nicktoons Unite: Rewritten!

I really had fun making this one.

Expanding the story and adding more characters and worlds to explore.

You can't tell me this doesn't sound this would be the coolest thing to check out in 2005!

Anyway, let me know what you guys think about it.

And if you could, and me some ideas for the sequels.

Note: Also, I really hope that @nicktoonsunite sees this! I would really like their feedback on this.

[remember-digimon]

Let's talk about Tai!

First of all, Tai does in fact show signs of terminal Shonen Protagonist, however with the depth of his character we can assume it is in remission. Good for him.

Tai is reckless and often rushes into things without thinking. To him, there is the goal and there are things in the way of his goal, so naturally he just has to bulldoze the obstacles and he's good. This is probably how he ended up as the leader of the group, aside from him being shown as a sort-of-main-character; while other characters are important, Tai is the driving force. He is action.

(Remember that time he tried to beat up a Bakemon?? This kid has zero chill when he's on a mission I swear)

If Izzy were in charge, they would get sidetracked by the details. If Matt were in charge, they'd likely never get very far because he has to consider the feelings of the entire group. If Sora were in charge, she would be too concerned with protecting everyone.

While Tai is basically the rocket fuel of their group, this also leads him to charging forward when other parts of the metaphorical machine aren't ready. This is why the dynamic of the whole group works so well; Tai may be hyperfocused on the end game but the others make up for the skills he lacks.

In addition to being the driving force, Tai is really good at delegating. He gives the task of figuring out the gate in Myotismon's castle to Izzy, who is objectively the best one for the job. During Our War Game, he's giving orders like a general during the fight, showing his aptitude for strategy.

Other leaders in Digimon seem to be given that title simply because they're the ones wearing the goggles, but in my opinion none of them really live up to the standard set by Tai. He may not have a deep understanding of Digimon and their world, but he has Izzy for that. He might sometimes lose himself in the end goal and forget to be empathetic to his friends, but he has Matt for that. He might be bullheaded and stubborn, but he has Mimi to be blunt and tell him what he needs to hear.

His real weakness lies in Kari; when she passes out in the desert, Tai basically falls to pieces and Izzy has to take over. When Izzy accidentally broadcasts their location, Tai flies off the handle, unprovoked, in a way that's pretty out of character for him any other time. He's haunted by the incident where Kari collapsed at the playground when they were younger, and he blames himself completely for what happened.

It's interesting to compare Tai and Matt as older brothers. Tai is very loving to Kari, and very protective, likely (at least in part) because of what happened at the playground. Matt is just as overprotective of TK, maybe even more, since he's basically rooted his entire purpose in protecting TK. Tai values Kari as a member of the team, but is still highly aware of the danger she's in. This is similar to how Matt views TK, being glad to be spending this much time with him but losing himself a little in worrying about him.

Unlike Matt, though, Tai is never really given the chance to fully confront his fear of something happening to Kari. He finds aspirin for her, but Machinedramon attacks and separates them. She's recovered by then anyway, but that's beside the point. It would've been nice to see him come to terms with his feeling of failure to protect her at all costs, but there were huge monsters to fight so I see why they skipped it.

Overall, Tai is a wonderful protag. He's courageous and instills his teammates with the energy to keep moving forward, he always has his eye on the prize, and he knows when to step aside and let someone else handle a problem he might not be well equipped for. Other shonen protags, like Ash from Pokemon for instance, can solve their problems by believing in their friends and that's it. Tai solves problems through strategy, delegating, and most of all, teamwork.

[leclerc-s]

paint the town red - bonus part

series masterlist

EPISODE 10 - AN UNEXPECTED PURCHASE

charles stands with max, before their final press conference of the season, when lance approaches them. he greets both of them before turning to charles, "what happened? twitter is losing it's mind."

charles laughs, max also looks visibly confused, "oh mate, the craziest thing happened."

"STARK!" lando is heard shouting before he appears in the camera's view. he crashes into charles, gripping his shoulders, "TONY FUCKING STARK JUST BOUGHT THE TEAM?"

"what?" max questioned, "who bought what team? and what are you doing here, you're supposed to be in the media pen?"

"TONY STARK JUST BOUGHT FERRARI MAX!"

"oh," lance said, "that's why twitter is losing it."

"losing it?" lando questioned, "twitter is in shambles lance. it's not everyday a fucking avenger buys an f1 team."

"correct me if i'm wrong," daniel says, approaching the group, "but didn't tony stark get attacked at the monaco grand prix ages ago?

"you should ask fernando about that," charles told lance. the canadian looked confused before realization hit him, "right, fernando's been driving as long as oscar's been alive."

"we are completely and utterly fucked if tony stark just bought ferrari. you think the red bull dominance was bad, ferrari is about to completely annihilate us," lando complained.

daniel laughed, "well, i'm sure you guys will enjoy fighting for that p3. my tractor and i will enjoy fighting for points."

will buxton sits in front of the camera, "there's not many times when the world of formula one falls silent. in 1994, it fell silent to mourn the death of ayrton senna, then again in 2014 to mourn jules bianchi. zhou's nearly fatal crash and romain's near death experience rendered it silent for a moment before it all went back to normal. but this, this is one of those moments where it all falls silent before exploding. no one saw this coming, that's how unexpected this was. we never thought we'd hear the news that a billionaire had purchased the oldest standing team in formula one. let alone an avenger."

we now see christian horner in front of the camera, “i think i’m more so upset about the fact that ferrari will now be able to steal the championship from us. if there’s one thing i know about tony stark is that he is one competitive son of a bitch. there will be no more half-assed pit stops and strategies from ferrari, that you can count on. and with his daughter as one of the race engineers and a lead engineer, that car is going to be a rocket ship. it just means the rest of us will have up our game.”

toto wolff sits in front of the camera, replacing christian horner, “this is not the first time someone has purchased a formula one team. i do not know why they are acting like this is a first. yes, ferrari will be difficult to beat next year. they will know what they are doing, but we will not give up without a fight. next year will be an interesting year for us all.”

in front of the camera now sits tony stark, his signature blue tinted glasses sit on his face. he smiles at someone off camera, before turning to the producer, "need me to take off the glasses?"

"if you would," the producer answered, "name and title please."

tony looks at the camera, "my name is tony stark and i am the new owner of scuderia ferrari's formula one team. oh! and i am iron man!"

"mr. stark, what led you to purchase the team?"

tony clears his throat, "my mother was italian and a big tifosi, she bled rosso corsa proudly. she never got the opportunity to see michael schumacher lead the team to the greatness he did. i kept up with the team in her memory, and in recent years the team hadn't been performing as well as a fan would've liked. i knew the current drivers, charles and carlos, were championship material. that much was obvious to me when sainz became the only non red bull driver to win a race in the 2023 season. for leclerc, well, there's a reason they call him il predestinato right? he won monza his maiden year with ferrari, that alone put him into the tifosi's good books. speaking of, i knew they were furious and after austin, i knew something had to be done. and if nobody else was going to do it, i was, so i bought the team."

"how confident are you that you can restore ferrari's old glory?"

"i trust my drivers and i trust my team, i think that says enough."

in front of the camera now sits an old face. sebastian vettel smiles brightly at the producer. the last time they had seen him he was in a green shirt and he looked tired, but the time away did him some good. he's happier now and back in ferrari red, back where he had started when the show first began.

"did you ever think you'd be back here?" the producer asked him. sebastian smiled, "honestly, no. i had left this all behind and i told myself i was never going to return to this sport. but when an opportunity like this comes around, you don't say no."

"are you happy with this new position or would prefer to be back in the car?"

"i'm happy with my job now."

“do you think you can help restore ferrari to its old glory?”

“yes,” sebastian quickly answers, “in the past ferrari had been stuck dwelling too much on its history. being stuck in the past for so long leads to no results. it leads to people demanding your first driver leave the team after constantly getting screwed over. we want the championship back in maranello and we will take it back. next year ferrari will put up one hell of a fight.”

“you’ve got a great team mr. vettel.”

“i know, i don’t plan on wasting it.”

charles smiles brightly at the camera, “hello.”

“hi charles,” the producer replies, “do you mind telling us what your first thought were when you heard the team had been bought? how did you find out?”

“i found out on twitter along with everyone else,” charles replied, “my first reaction was to text carlos to see if he knew, he was just as shocked as i was. no one had informed us the team had been bought much less who it had been bought by.”

“and how did you find out the team had been bought by tony stark?”

“when there was an emergency meeting called at maranello right before abu ahabi. carlos and i walked in to the factory and it felt like a different environment, people were excited and whispering to each other. you can imagine our surprise when we walked in to that meeting to see seb sitting with tony stark of all people.”

“i imagine it was a big shock?”

“yes,” charles answered, “mr. stark explained to us what he had done and told us that we should be expecting a whole new team when we arrived back from the final race of the season. it is exciting to know that things are changing.”

"is change a good thing?"

"in this case, it is. things needed to change if ferrari wants to be a championship contender once again. and this will be good for my friendship with carlos."

"are things strained between you two?"

"the truth? yes," charles replied, "it is difficult to go online and see people saying that you don't deserve your seat or that your teammate is better simply because he won a race when you haven't been able to do that this season. it places a sort of- tension? is that the word?" he looks at someone off camera, the person must nod because he turns to face the camera again, "carlos and i are good drivers, there is a reason we are formula one drivers. but the team, it has- it pit us against each other, that was what strained our friendship."

"what are your wishes for this upcoming season?"

"to win the championship." charles laughs.

carlos looks at someone off camera, nodding at whatever they're saying, before turning to look at the producer, "hello," carlos greeted.

"hello carlos," the producer greeted, "can you tell us what your initial reaction was to learning the team had been bought?"

"i was shocked, i did not think it was possible for someone to buy the team, it's ferrari. but i also felt a bit relieved? i hope maybe things will change and we can have a decent shot at the championship."

"relieved? i don't think i've heard that one yet."

carlos chuckled, "my friendship with charles was strained after this season. i hope that with mr. stark as an owner we are able to put aside our work and our friendship to achieve the goal we have in common. to bring the championship back to ferrari."

"is it difficult to separate work and life off the track?"

"sometimes, yes. after singapore was when our friendship truly hit rock bottom. i think it was difficult for us to accept that only one of us was the 1st driver. everyone knows that it's charles, it has been since 2021, but i think after a while it was difficult for me to accept that. he's- charles is loved by the tifosi, he's loved by everyone because he's charles leclerc. sometimes it is difficult to be his teammate knowing people will always see me as second best."

"i see."

"i love the kid, trust me, i do. i value his friendship very much, but sometimes it is difficult. with stark as the owner, and sebastian as the new team principal, i am hoping things will change. even if charles is still first driver, i hope i am not treated as second best by my own team. sometimes change is good, this time i think it is."

"what are your wishes for this upcoming season?"

"to win the championship." carlos answers.

will buxton is in front of the camera once again, "it will certainly be entertaining to see what ferrari manage to do next season. the lingering question that remains is, will the starks live up to the hype surrounding this purchase? i guess we'll just have to wait and see."

series taglist: @celesteblack08 @be-your-coffee-pot @evans-dejong @elliegrey2803 @bingewatche @arkhammaid @sunflower-golden-vol6 @lorarri @melanier7 @ironspdy @mypage-myfandoms @vellicora @you-bleed-just-toknowyouarealive @enchantedthoughts @stopeatread @hobiismyhopeu @lilsiz @alessioayla @niniluvsainz @au-ghosttype @fulla02 @cowboylikemets1989 @six-call @embrosegraves @justtprachisblog @bionic-donut @rmeddar123 @nichmeddar @landonorizzz @unluckyyoshi @raizelchrysanderoctavius @burningcupcakefire @spilled-coffee-cup @jamie-selwyn @cool-ultra-nerd @kami10471633 @int3rnetgf @fernandoswarcrimes @skynel09 @arieltwvdtohamflash @mimolovescookies @brekkers-whore @camdensreg @mycenterfold @dear-fifi @chiliwhore @tygecjjd @nothaqks @nataliambc @formulaa1d @prongsvault @kaa212 @julesbabey1 @julesbabey @georgeparisole

strikethrough means i couldn't tag you

¡leclerc-s speaks! once again, merry christmas to those of you celebrate and a very wonderfully normal day to those of you who don't. either way, my gift to you is this bonus episode for paint the town red, i hope you enjoyed it. it is a pain figuring out how to write netflix style, it's over 1.7k words, although it may not look like it.

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[son1c]

Ok but what does Shadow think of Jack and Teddy? Is he indifferent to them or do they big their way into his mind?

jack pisses him off cuz she's very combative and rude. this is HER town, these are HER slopes, and when shadow starts to infringe on ""HER"" rival, she teams up with sonic to take him down. like, she's petty enough to put her and sonic's rivalry aside if it means putting shadow in his place.

however, shadow might also see her attitude as a little... refreshing? it's hard to explain. but like, snowpoint is this idyllic hallmark town where everyone is nice and welcoming (to an uncanny and scary degree). so to have jack be like "piss off, i hate you" has shadow being like "finally, someone normal" LMAOOOOO

later when she decides to work with shadow as a means to protect her town, he doesn't really wanna. let her help? i mean, he's the ultimate lifeform. he's got this. he doesn't NEED anyone's help. but jack is SO pushy, and she's kind of... right. about how she knows her way around better than shadow, since she grew up around here. and she can get herself out of any sticky situation irt the terrain, whereas shadow has been struggling a little bit, because the ice and snow seriously disagree with his chosen mode of transportation (heat-based rocket skates).

so he begrudgingly agrees to let her help. and she pulls her weight. he's gotta respect it.

as for teddy... yeah, he doesn't like him at all at first. at least with jack, he's not unfamiliar with her specific type of bad attitude? but with teddy, it's different. he does feel a little bad for him, since, once he figures out that starline is behind everything, he also realizes that teddy has been manipulated into playing the role of sonic's "love interest" and has had his feelings messed with as a result.

shadow can sympathize.

and maybe he even opens up to teddy about it, just a little bit. that sort of emotional manipulation is extremely difficult to come to terms with, it can flip your whole world upside down. and he's BEEN there, with maria's promise being twisted into something so violent in the past. but teddy would've thrown it back in his face, like, "you're only saying that so you can have sonic all to yourself" or something like that. and for shadow, who rarely EVER offers that sort of openness, it would've stung.

but again, it's. familiar. isn't it?

and at the end of it all, shadow is just a little bit enamoured by teddy's boldness. maybe it was a little late, but teddy finally responded to shadow's openness with some of his own. and it's not every day mr dark and brooding gets a kiss for saving the day!

[ts1m1kas]

Original Ask: here's one for jude 😁 they're childhood friends, have known one another for so long, everyone says they are a perfect fit but jude brushes off the idea because deep down he doesn't want to admit he's in love with her, she on the other hand doesn't have time for relationships cause of her career as a ballerina. they stop talking for about three years until they meet again in madrid, she's dragged by her girlfriends to see real madrid play, that's when she sees jude, they reconnect with jude finally ready to confess his feelings, however one of his teammates tries to jump in the way. (@findingnemosworld)

Word Count: 761 words

(author's note: everyone thank @findingnemosworld for her amazing requests !! i did change the ending a little so i hope thats okay 🫶)

Jude always thought that Y/N was the most beautiful girl in the world. Her smile could light up a room, and her laugh was like music to his ears. They had been friends since he could remember, spending most of their childhood years as an inseparable pair.

What Jude didn’t realise is that Y/N felt exactly the same about him. His happy-go-lucky personality made her enjoy being around him, and the side of him that was ever-so caring made her fall head over heels for the boy.

But through Jude’s move to Real Madrid and Y/N’s gruelling career as a ballerina, the pair had fallen apart. This shocked everyone around them, as anyone who looked their way would assume they were a couple. There was no one else in the world who would've been more of a perfect fit together than Jude and Y/N.

Jude Bellingham wasn’t scared of most things. He’d played professional football for years. Suffered online abuse and gone through many hardships throughout his life. But the idea of telling Y/N how he felt about her had him shaking with fear. He valued her friendship more than anything else, so when he had to let his best friend know he was moving away, it broke his heart.

Y/N was devastated. Jude’s departure had made her lose her drive and motivation and her ballet career was suffering because of it. Her coach was pushing her to her limits to distract her from the gaping hole that Jude had left behind in her life with his departure.

Time passed, and the pair hadn’t spoken in months. But that didn’t mean that they didn’t think of one another every passing minute, of every passing day.  

Y/N had a break in ballet performances, and it just so happened that her dance group’s next show was in Madrid. Her friends had been given tickets to a football game, and she blindly agreed to go. Her friend, who had been given the tickets, was married to a player from one of the teams playing, and Y/N desperately needed a chance to relax.

Jude was sat in the changing rooms. He was listening to Vinicius Jr. give them a pep talk before their game against Sevilla. He had a strange feeling his his stomach but he couldn’t place it. 

"Jude, are you okay?" Luka asked him, noticing the look on his Jude's face.

“Yeah man, I’m fine”, Jude responded, brushing off his friend’s concerns.

And so the game began. Y/N and her friends sat, immersed in the game. She always used to watch Jude play, and the interest in football had stuck, even after he moved away. However, when the line-ups were announced and the players walked out, Y/N felt sick. She hadn’t seen Jude in three years since his move to Madrid, and the painful memories rocketed to the forefront of her mind.

Jude ran onto the pitch. As he stood through the pre-game formalities, his eyes wandered over the masses of spectators that had turned up to watch their teams play. However, his eyes widened when they connected with those belonging to a familiar face.

Y/N’s mouth dropped open. The look she shared with Jude was one full of shock and pain. Jude mouthed ‘meet me after the game’ and she understood immediately.

It was an interesting game that resulted in a draw. Each side fought hard, but neither of them could grasp the winning goal. Jude had never been so eager to leave the pitch as he rushed over to where Y/N was waiting for him.

As he stood in front of the girl he had loved his whole life, he faltered. Jude knew he couldn’t hold his feelings back any longer.

“Y/N, I love you. I have for so many years and I-”

“Jude, I love you too.”

Jude stopped talking. He had been waiting to hear those three words come out of her mouth since he had learned what they meant. He couldn’t stop himself anymore. He stepped forward, cupped her face with his hand, and kissed her. 

Jude poured every ounce of love he had for Y/N into that kiss. The fondness he felt for her was unbeaten, the years he spent hiding it, filled with regret.

Once they broke away, the looked at eachother. The look was not filled with pain this time, it had been replaced with love and tenderness.

The pair left the stadium, reunited and ready to spend their days together.

[caesarhamato22]

I like to think Rocket likes to sleep in, and if he's woken up before his alarm, he gets grumpy.

Not with you though.

Actually, yes, he still gets grumpy with you, but it's more annoyed.

~

He'd be in a deep sleep, not showing a single sign of waking up, probably snoring and possibly drooling.

You'd normally let him rest, knowing he'd wake up eventually.

But when there was a risk of him being late to leaving for a commission with the rest of the guardians, you chose to deal with the consequences.

"WAKE UP!!"

He had sensitive hearing so you didn't need to yell into his ears to get your point across. Standing beside the bed with a raised voiced annoyed him plenty.

He'd jolt awake, probably swear at you, but get up nonetheless after a few minutes of mumbling some not so affectionate phrases directed at you.

He'd definitely give you the silent treatment until he's fully awake.

Don't expect a kiss goodbye before he leaves.

But you can expect a call from him a couple hours later while he's on his way to whatever mission he and his team were heading to.

"Why are you calling me, I thought you hated me."

"I don't hate you, I'm waiting for you to apologise."

"I'm not apologising."

"You yelled at me?!!"

"To get you out of bed?? You would've been late."

"I had three more hours!"

"And without me, you would've slept for SEVEN."

“I WAS EXHAUSTED!”

“You’d be just as exhausted if you’d been late for your commission!”

"...I still want an apology."

"Well, doesn't that suck." And you hang up.

If he's going to be petty, you would simply up your game.

Fuck, he'd be pissed.

Because you're acting exactly like him.

You bitch.

~

Taglist:

@aliasrocket @shybabylovestmnt-blog @scholastic-dragon @beckalias

[rascalentertainments]

Wish Granted AU: Magnifico, Amaya and Sabor 🌟

PREPARE FOR TROUBLE, AND MAKE IT DOUBLE!!! 😈😼

I've been itching to get to these guys for a while! They're probably going to be the most fun to write! Of course, this version is based off the evil Disney villain couple we deserved. (ROBBED) The vibe I want to give here is Team Rocket meets Gomez and Mortica Addams: Elegant, evil yet SO entertaining to watch!

For Magnifico, I actually got inspiration from the Wish movie itself. One aspect that was underused was his tendency to put on a performance during the Wish granting ceremonies, and when he "turned evil" in the third act. Especially when he's a DISNEY villain performing a DISNEY like ceremony! I adore villains that put on a show when they're fighting the hero. Broadcasting the battle, the evil monologue, maniacal laughing while thinking they've won. LOVE that, but they didn't go all the way with him being a hammy villain. So whenever its time for a ceremony, its a big deal. With his wife and loyal lynx, they put on a show worth watching. Plus the way they work together basically splits up watching the kingdom and keeping their cover.

Maginifico is the frontman and keeps the people's wishes in his tower. He promises them a free and happy life in Rosas in exchange for their wishes and dreams. However, the price is that they no longer have a driving force in their life. They're complacent living there and serving the king, but they don't experience pure joy anymore. They're just merely existing and going through life always feeling something's missing in their lives. His apprentice Flazino is supposed to be learning from the king and assisting him by getting the ingredients needed for potions and spells. Magnifico actually has no intention of passing on his vast knowledge to a peasant or even considers giving him the ability to do magic, but he's at least a good errand boy. (Though Mag doesn't know he's a double agent)

Magnifico uses the wishes to gain power for himself, as its his greatest desire, but that desire is never truly satisfied. He takes more and more and its never enough, no matter how many wishes he eats. He once heard from a philosopher named Tomas that the stars themselves are the most powerful things on Earth, and this sparks the idea to pull a star from the sky itself to achieve that undying thirst. Magnifico fails many times, but once he senses that someone else has managed to do the impossible, he knows he must have that star. (Magnifico's voiced by Antonio Banderas in this, because HE WOULD'VE BEEN AWESOME, MAN)

Amaya here works her magic behind the scenes. Like her concept counterpart, she creates the potions and spells for Magnifico. However, she actually taught him about magic back when they first met. Mags became so enamored by it that he wanted to start performing it himself, and the two of them actually grew stronger in their abilities by using magic together. They even created a way to take wishes directly from people's hearts, as the couple discovered they could use the joy from people's wishes to fuel their own desires.

While her husband takes care of keeping the citizens attention on him mostly, Amaya personally goes down to the people of Rosas keep an eye on the people. Ever since the amount of traitors escaped from them. She puts on a warm smile for them, but like a wolf in sheep's clothing, she's looking for any hint of disloyalty in them. If she does, their wish is gone, permanently.

One of her strengths is that if she can't manipulate people with magic, she can do it psychologically. Speaking in half truths and turning the tables on her enemy, Amaya could change the mind if just about anyone if she dug deep enough. So when she does meet Star in a brief one on one fight, she knows exactly where to hit the Starboy where it hurts: his heart. (Amaya is voiced by Salma Hayek in this because yes I must have that same chemistry as The Last Wish, they're so good together)

Lasty, Sabor the Lynx! While he's a ridiculously pampered wild cat raised by Amaya, she still taught him to be cunning and eliminate any enemy at all costs. Sabor casually checks far into the woods surrounding the castle. Sometimes for fresh air and catch a few mice (Scar atyle), but he also works as sort of a watchdog for Amaya. Sabor watches for any suspicions people coming or going and unbeknownst to the citizens and sniff out anyone that doesn't belong. He's mostly the opposite of Valentino in every aspect, aside from their loyalty to their owners. (Expect for Magnifico, he's not so crazy about him) (As for voice, if I didn't use regular Lynx sound effects, I'd go with Dee Bradley Baker, or Alan Tudyk. That makes way more sense than voicing a three week old goat)

The last ones to feature are the 7 Teens, which will take some time, then I'll get to the first chapter to see how it goes. Please tell me to your thoughts, I'd love to hear them! (Plus I....just want to talk to you guys, it feels more fun when you're around. Its sappy I know 😅)

@signed-sapphire @oh-shtars @annymation @spectator-zee @kstarsarts @chillwildwave @flicklikesstuff @uva124 @tumblingdownthefoxden

[nightmareentertainment]

Finally had a discussion with a friend and I've landed on why I hated Hazbin Hotel (outside of the vivziepop situation) and after bingeing it hopping from dubious illegal website to even worse more illegal website, we've finally pinpointed it.

The fucking pacing is trash.

Okay so here's the pros of this series: The designs, art style, voice actors, concepts, themes, and motivations are cool as fuck. However. The pacing single handedly ruins at least half of the actual meat of the story- what were getting is kiddie-sized packages of episodes, stuff you'd see in kids shows where there's a problem that ultimately gets resolved in the next 20 minutes. It's, frankly- bad. It's bad.

Sir Pentious could have easily had an arc in which he exists as a spy, relaying (perhaps useless, considering the silliness of his character) information and team-rocket style fails to mess things up for the hotel. The arc could have included him slowly enjoying the place, fitting in, trusting others, and ultimately doubting the plot and having a gross, emotional moment when he's found out because he doesn't want to leave- that would've made Charlie' acceptance so much more impactful to the story. It would've made Sir Pentious a more interesting, full character rather than an extra who joined the gang.

Charlie and her dad could've been a series-drawn arc in which she tries to contact her father and fails repeatedly with the idea from the original episode of meeting Adam, trying to get to the higher-ups to get a REAL meeting, only for him to show up and talk down at her idea, we needed a BUILD UP for this episode. It feels flat and unpersonal.

Vaggie being an angel. Oh my god. I need to sit down. I cannot stress how forced this felt. No blatant hints? No cliff-hanger from a previous episode implying this? Idk, perhaps from the fucking FIRST EPISODE? would've been a REALLY COOL REVEAL if we had MORE of a BUILD UP.

The pacing, man. The pacing is getting me. It's getting my ass. It's bad. It had a lot of potential. Give me the pen. Let me- listen man. It just needs a little bit of writing. I got them. Let me handle it. PleasePleasePLEASE I could do it better.

Disclaimer: I have considered that the pacing may be due to budgeting or how to push the production out but I still think the show is objectively bad pacing-wise and genuinely I do not actually care enough on why it's so poorly managed. It had some interesting characters and plot lines that result could've gone somewhere. The music in alot of it is REALLY good. I enjoy the concepts for the characters. Pacing is bad. There's no room for theorizing and cliffhangers and baited breath it's just fast and quick and over its a massive let down bye its time for me to go to bed

[moetrash]

Other RSV Spirit's Eve costumes ideas

Since it's October, and just over a year since the RSV seasonal outfits mod was released, I thought it'd be fun to share some of the costume ideas we didn't end up going with from our brainstorming doc. These ideas were ultimately passed over for a variety of reasons (already worn by a different npc, too real world-specific, liked a different option better, etc.), but still would've been great to see... soooo here you go!

(If a character isn't listed, that's just bc we didn't have any extra ideas for them. Also, in case you wanted a refresher, here's a list of the costumes we did end up going with! Also also, bc I can't help myself, I added in some ideas as I was making this post - those ones are in [brackets].)

aguar: doc brown/mad scientist

anton: running forrest gump, the dude, jack sparrow, [flynn rider]

ariah: wendy darling, elle woods, ruth bader ginsburg

bryle: peaky blinders gangster, aaron burr from hamilton, [top gun maverick]

carmen: cat in the hat, mike wazowski, oompa loompa, sasquatch

corine: lara croft

daia: [chun li]

faye: anything heidi klum has done for halloween bc she's extra like that

flor: gwen from ben10, human ariel (in the "kiss the girl" outfit)

ian: scottish highlander (a la jamie from outlander)

irene: retro carhop, carmen sandiego, bo peep, the house from up, coraline

jeric: [ups delivery man (but the sexy kind, a la legally blonde)]

june: roronoa zoro, kaneki ken/sasaki haise, [prince zuko], [jack skellington (but with makeup, not a mask)]

keahi: [sonic the hedgehog]

kiarra: ghostbuster (the kate mckinnon one), prince charming

kiwi: kutie krab from spongebob

lenny: beetlejuice, inflatable dinosaur, macho man randy savage

louie: prairie king, [buzz lightyear], [minecraft diamond armor]

maddie: handmaid's tale uniform, marie curie (then proceeds to get mad at everyone for not recognizing her costume)

maive: queen of hearts

pika: jason momoa's aquaman, sinbad (from the 2003 movie)

sean: the local ridgeside legend of the local kiwi fruit, [car dealership dancing air tube]

sonny: charlie chaplin, vincent van gogh

torts: stegosaurus

ysabelle: britney spears from "hit me baby one more time" or "oops i did it again"

anton and paula: [victor van dort and the corpse bride], [woody & jessie]

ariah and louie: [baseball uniforms from a league of their own]

corine and ysa: kim possible and shego, dionne and cher from clueless, [elphaba and glinda], [storm and mystique]

bryle and faye: captain america and black widow, [bonnie & clyde]

bryle and jeric: super troopers cop and reno! 911 lt. dangle cop (without a wig, so just slutty, basically)

faye and ysa: [anna and elsa], [poison ivy and harley quinn (from the animated series)]

freddie and lola: quasimodo and esmeralda

ian and sean: [shrek and donkey]

keahi and trinnie: sharkboy and lava girl, pokemon to match blair and sean (probably meowth and jigglypuff (trinnie insisted on being a cute pokemon even though jigglypuff's not part of team rocket))

kimpoi and malaya: easter bunny and tooth fairy, popeye and olive oyl

maddie, corine, and ysa: [sanderson sisters], [totally spies]

philip and shiro: [mario and luigi], [purple cobra and average joe uniforms (from dodgeball)], [dug and russell (from up)]

sean and blair: rock'em sock'em robots and they just beat each other up the whole time, [chuck and tiffany], [bluey and bingo], [thing 1 and thing 2]

sonny and irene: lumiere and mrs. potts (bc they're the help)

yuuma and naomi: [minions], [ash ketchum and a low-effort pikachu]

I'm curious to hear others' ideas too, so if you have any, feel free to share in the reblogs/replies! ^^

[isa-ghost]

Ok so I've seen you do phil + techno and phil + cranboo, time to complete the syndicate and ask for phil and niki! c!niki or q!niki, i don't mind :D

Oh god oh fuck I didn't see enough Niki on either SMP *explodes*

EDIT: Just kidding, apparently I have plenty of material for c!Niki.

qPhil headcanons masterlist

He KNOWS she was done dirty. He's familiar with that anger and bitterness she tried so hard to hide for so long, he's been there. He was more than happy to have her in the Syndicate so she could do something proactive with all that pent up emotion.

They had a lot of conversations just one on one where he tried to ask her more about his son and what was going on before his arrival. She seemed close-ish to the L'Manbergians (he didn't realize at first that she had BEEN one), could she give him ANY context, any closure at all?

He told her about the letters he got and asked how true they were. She was PISSED reading some of them, which he took as "I was lied to." It didn't surprise him, but it did reopen that wound.

They had a chat or two about Ghostbur. They both fucking hated him. Wearing the face and using the voice of someone they cared for so deeply, who hurt them so badly, but wasn't anything like him.

Sometimes he thinks about her being a lynx hybrid and giggles to himself bc it makes sense she'd be hanging out with dudes that live in the tundra.

He wishes he had the chance to help her further lush up her cave. Rose would've gone absolutely feral in there and he bets talking to her would've done Niki a lot of good. Granted, at the time, he was very private about having affiliations with otherworldly deities. This is something he wishes he did in hindsight.

Fuck Revivedbur that extra bed on the second floor was for Niki and he told her she could stay with them any time she wanted since she didn't have a house by the rest of the Syndicate. He didn't want her to abandon her place but the offer was always there in an effort to make sure she felt included and cared for, since her previous group affiliation did little to ensure that.

He is SO SAD he didn't get to try anything from her bakery and on at least one occasion he begged her to make a new and better one so he could try her baking. When he heard she eventually started baking again, he was elated.

He had mixed emotions about her being hellbent on going after Tommy, but overall he just. Didn't get involved. Wasn't his business. He didn't have anything against Tommy and he loved Niki, but he wasn't about to tangle with whatever they had going on. Didn't want to damage or break either bond.

He DID think, when it was described to him as "some Team Rocket bullshit" by someone, that Niki and Jack's attempts were kinda funny in a fucked up way.

When she told him the story of how she stood before Manberg with no one to protect her (you know the iconic picture I'm talking abt I'm sure), Phil was SO PROUD. That was one of the things that made him sure she belonged in the Syndicate.

When he heard that she burned that one tree, his jaw dropped and he laughed. He isn't sure if it was out of shock or amusement or something else, but it's all he could think to do.

Honestly sometimes he considered asking her if she'd like to just. Talk things out. Communicate with people. Get herself closure more directly instead of through what they had been doing. It's not exactly his style, but the fact that he came to this realm because of poor communication from his son had him unable to help but think someone deserved some clear fucking answers for once.

He was more than happy to spar with her and help her sharpen her combat skills. She picked up on things he taught her very fast, and in typical Phil fashion, he always downplayed himself when she'd call him a great teacher.

Post-DSMP he still thinks about her sometimes. He hopes she's happier now, less plagued by bitterness and in a place she can confidently call her own, with no government or "stronger" group of people to breathe down her neck or threaten her. Because we don't have confirmation afaik that c!Niki & q!Niki are the same, I'll say q!Niki just reminds Phil of a happier, lighter c!Niki.

[pancake-blogging]

So the other day, I added onto a post from @too-many-blorbos and mentioned how I thought Robots in Disguise would've been improved if it were a sequel to Rescue Bots instead of Prime. Now over here, I'm gonna expand that with the other things I would change! Also, I thought it'd be fun to call this au/rewrite/whatever Rescue Bots in Disguise, or RBiD

Putting it under a read more, because it's probably gonna be... A lot.

The first change is the starting cast. As I established in the other post, we'll be replacing Bumblebee with Chase but keep Strongarm. Then, we replaced Sideswipe with Hot Rod (don't worry tho, Sideswipe will show up later with Sunstreaker in tow)

The show starts with Chase and Strongarm patrolling on Cybertron. Chase is trying to explain to Strongarm why they don't need to be concerned with one bot loitering in a public space, only for a speeding Hot Rod to rocket past them. The two pursue him, eventually catching up with him next to a Space Bridge.

Hot Rod is perplexed when told he was speeding to get here, and as Chase tries to ask if he's okay his hand brushes against the controls. The Space Bridge suddenly activates, and all three of them are pulled through to Earth.

On Earth, I've decided it would be more interesting to replace the human characters with a grown-up Raf who has a kid of his own (because I miss my boy and I want him to be there).

And while Grimlock was one of the better parts of RiD, I still feel like he isn't quite Grimlock-y enough. So, I decided to swap him out with a new Dinobot based off Spike from the movies; all you need to do is take Grimlock's Dino mode head and make his snout narrower and longer, add a sail to his back, and bam! You have a spinosaurus that's still just as intimidating as a T-Rex, while leaving the door open for a more traditional Grimlock to show up later.

One of the main plot points of the first season is that Megatronus returns with a plan to destroy both Earth and Cybertron, hence why the Primes saw fit to revive Optimus. In RBiD, however, Optimus won't be revived.

In every episode, Hot Rod will have at least one very brief encounter with a past Prime; they might be right next to/replacing his reflection in a piece of glass, he might see them standing opposite him at base only to vanish when another bot passes in front of them, or maybe he hears their voice telling him to duck in the middle of a battle.

Halfway through the season, Windblade shows up; still acting as an agent of Primus, her role in RBiD is still to help out the team, but now her primary mission is also to help Hot Rod establish a connection with the Primes. With her help, Hot Rod is finally able to have a full conversation with a still dead Optimus Prime, who reveals that he and the other past Primes have sensed an approaching darkness. He also reveals that Hot Rod was chosen to take up the mantle of Prime when the time is right – though Optimus fears they may not have the luxury of time.

As for the Decepticons... It is very strange that virtually EVERY SINGLE ONE is partially (if not mostly) animal-like, while there are (to my memory) ZERO animal-like Autobots. That's sending a weird message. So! Some of the Decepticons will have slight redesigns to be just normal humanoid robots, though exceptions can be made for ones with bestial alt-modes or when their animal-like features have a clear translation into their alt-mode, like Thunderhoof's antlers. Steeljaw is supposed to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, but since it's kinda strange that a half wolf man turns into an SUV I've decided to just make him a beastformer that turns into a wolf.

Also! Some of the prisoners aboard the ship should've been Autobots. And I don't just mean former Autobots, I mean Autobots that broke the rules but would still refuse to join the Decepticons.

At the end of the first season, when Megatronus breaks free, Optimus and the other Primes channel themselves through Hot Rod and temporarily transform him into Rodimus Prime. Shortly after Megatronus is defeated, however, he reverts back to a HEAVILY exhausted Hot Rod – another character (probably Windblade) points out that had he contained the raw power of the Primes in his body for too much longer, he might have died. The rest of the series, he's dedicated to honing himself, occasionally getting the odd power boost until the series finale, where he's finally able to become Rodimus Prime permanently.

[sykilik101]

Syk's Snippets #11

This is actually really long for a snippet, but as always with these snippets, I just kinda typed and went with it without thinking too much about the direction. Hope you like.

It was common knowledge that all Pokémon Centers locked and barricaded their doors late at night. Every trainer worth their salt knew this. Safety for the visitors and injured Pokémon inside was a top priority, and as such no one was allowed in or out, save for the gravest of emergencies.

Which meant that if someone found themselves unable to sleep, and didn't want to stay in their room, the main lobby was their only real alternative.

Misty sat curled on the unreasonably soft sofa stationed along the wall, pulling her knees to her chest with one arm as her free hand grazed Pikachu's fur. Even as Ash and Brock found themselves lost through the forests of Dreamland, Pikachu was always willing to join Misty in her occasional bouts of insomnia. His company was always appreciated; rare were sleepless nights something she wanted to go through alone.

"How's this, Pikachu?"

Her fingernails pressed firmer against the tiny nook hidden behind Pikachu's ear, and the small mouse mewled in response. "Piii-ka."

Misty giggled, and as she admired his yellow fur a strange inclination overtook her. "Oh, I have an idea. Be right back, Pikachu, wait here."

With as much silence as she could manage she rose to her feet, delicately bounding her way back to her room. Only a minute creak accompanied the door opening as she peered inside, seeing if her companions were magically awoken by the tiny sound. As expected, they hardly stirred from their slumber, and she took that as her cue to tip-toe inside.

It only took her mere moments to reach for her bag, digging inside until she found her hairbrush. Cinching it back closed, she turned to the door to make her exit, but her feet rooted to the spot as her gaze landed on Ash. He lay on his side, his arm out stretched to where Pikachu had previously been before escaping to join her. His lips moved almost imperceptibly as he breathed in and out; his bangs, soon in need of a trim, fanned across his forehead.

Misty, not having to hide from his gaze, smiled as she savored the warmth rising in her cheeks. She would've remained longer if not for the mental reminder that Pikachu was waiting for her, and with some hesitation she eased out of the room, making her way back to the lobby.

Pikachu perked up as she returned, his ear flicking curiously as his eyes landed on the brush. Misty nestled herself back into her original spot, using her free hand to pat at her legs. "Sit here, Pikachu."

Without missing a beat the small Pokémon followed her orders, perching himself atop her thighs. With a gentle touch Misty slowly began dragging the brush through his fur, and she giggled as she felt his weight relax into her. "I thought you'd like having your fur brushed."

"Cha..."

His voice petered out as she continued to stroke, finding the motion cathartic against the many thoughts blitzing through her mind. Her erratic feelings, the inability to sleep that had suddenly taken over for the past few nights, and, of course, the recent day's events.

One event in particular.

It was the standard fare Team Rocket situation; a trap is set, the group is caught by it, and eventually Team Rocket is sent blasting off again. It was so routine at this point that she'd practically begun mentally scheduling it into her day. She never knew when it was going to happen, but it would. It always did.

What didn't always happen was Ash kissing her cheek.

Team Rocket's flavor of the day was a net trap; as luck would have it, only Ash and Misty had succumbed to it, while Brock had been able to avoid its capture and thus play a vital role in their rescue. As the ropes pulled the two upwards, Misty found herself atop Ash, slumped together in the bundled-up net, and conveniently, Ash's mouth was pressed right against her cheek.

Given their specific position, she had no real leverage to move herself away. All she could do was encourage Brock as he fought for their freedom, decidedly ignoring Ash's exhales and the way his lips moved against her face as he tried mumbling his own cheers.

Admittedly, part of her had half a mind to turn her head to face him, just so the lip-to-lip contact would shut him up.

For the rest of the day, Ash had been uncharacteristically quiet. Normally the two of them would've been able to squeeze in a few arguments between their Team Rocket encounter and their arrival at the Pokémon Center, but he silently held his gaze forward. Even Pikachu's occasional comments didn't crack through Ash's tight-lipped persona. She'd known him long enough to read him and guess what was on his mind, but silence was rare for him, and with it came perplexity.

It was fairly late when they arrived at the Pokémon Center, enough that it was already bedtime when Nurse Joy greeted them. Ash had mumbled out the usual nightly rituals; "I'm gonna shower" and "Good night" managed to escape him, but that was all she'd managed to get. He didn't appear angry or upset at all; if not for his silence, she wouldn't have even imagined him to be bothered by anything.

"Did Ash tell you why he was so quiet today, Pikachu?"

The question came out almost as an afterthought she'd opted to speak aloud; her voice was quiet, her eyes not even leaving the speck on the wall she'd been fixated on. She continued to brush Pikachu's fur, mulling over the question and doubting he'd have an answer for her.

Predictably, Pikachu shook his head, leaving Misty to lean hers back until it touched the wall. The clock hanging above her serenated the lobby with its ticks and tocks, its metronomic rhythm a soothing accompaniment to her brush gliding through Pikachu's fur. She unconsciously began recalling the moments in the net in time to the clock, each moment snapshotting into a still image captioned with questions and commentary.

His lips first touching her cheek. Was he conscious of the fact that he was kissing her?

His lips gliding along her cheek as he failed all attempts at coherent speech. Did they tingle the way her cheek had?

His lips when they, so very briefly, seemed to pucker against her. Was that intentional?

Tick.

Tock.

She rewound the scene, memorizing the way the sun would occasional peek through the net and his cap, the smell of nylon from the rope and the way it dug into her skin, the small crick in her neck from trying to peer at the battle. Every facet of their capture was preserved in mental amber, a gleaming memory that brought warmth to her face and coerced her heart into starting a little game of hopscotch.

"Pikachu pi?"

Pikachu's voice pulled her from her musings, and it was only then that she realized she'd stopped brushing his fur. "Oh, sorry, Pikachu." She attempted to resume tending to him, but Pikachu suddenly leapt from her embrace, and before she could question him he bounded away from the couch.

"Hey, where are you-"

Her one-question interrogation died in her throat as Pikachu immediately leapt up onto Ash's shoulders. The boy was meandering down the hall towards her, wearing his trademark bedhead and a matching set of dreary eyes. As his gaze found hers his eyes lost some of their drowsiness, his lips pouting the slightest bit. "Whatcha doin' out here, Misty?"

"Oh, um, nothing really. I just couldn't sleep."

She couldn't tell if he look unconvinced or if he still hadn't fully returned from Dreamland, but nonetheless he settled himself into the cushion beside her. His hip pressed against hers, and the small touch brought back the warmth to her cheeks that their previous net incident had instilled.

"Is everything okay?"

It would've been easy to say no, and to chide him for bothering her when he should've been sleeping, but the knowing look in Pikachu's eyes held her tongue in place. She ping ponged the pros and cons of talking about it with him; maybe he'd have been conscious of what happened as well, and maybe she wouldn't feel so alone about it. At the same time, given Ash's proclivity for never picking up on romance, she might be making herself look stupid by seeming presumptuous or hopeful, whichever was less embarrassing.

"Piiika."

The gentle ire in Pikachu's voice caught both their attention. His eyes sharpened for a moment before softening, offering Misty a cheeky grin. "Pika pika."

Ash turned back to face Misty, his eyebrows knitted. She knew the subject would be impossible to ignore now, and she leaned back against the couch with a small sigh. Her fingertips played together as she tried grasping at a coherent thought that she could put into a sentence.

"You know, it's been a while since Team Rocket tried using a net to catch us."

The mention of their archenemies clearly wasn't what Ash had anticipated, turning his body towards her and cocking his head. "Yeah, it's usually some weird gadget or weird disguises or something."

Misty nodded. "And today, I didn't expect it to be just us two in the net."

"It's a good thing Brock didn't get caught. We'd have been in big trouble without him."

"Yeah, Team Rocket might've actually won for once."

"Nah, no way, I bet we'd have found a way out, no problem."

"...I'm still thinking about how close we were."

Ash blinked. "I mean, yeah, that's usually what happens when you're stuck in a net."

She should have expected that implication wasn't Ash's strong suit, but she wished she didn't essentially need him to overtly spell it out for him. "I'm talking about where your mouth was, Ash. It was kind of like...you were kissing me."

She'd already been prepared for Ash's inevitable confusion and fluster, but seeing Pikachu's eyes narrow gleefully towards the boy was a sign of camaraderie she wasn't ready for. In that moment, more than becoming overrun with nerves, she sound herself wondering what Ash would say or do when mental density was no longer an option for him.

His thumbs had already begun spinning around each other, his eyes downcast and his bottom lip tucked between his teeth. "Well, it wasn't really a kiss, right?"

"It felt like one to me. Your lips were on my face."

This emboldened fire had burned away all of her anxieties; all of her worries about their feelings, the status of their friendship, all of it was lost to the embers. As if to emphasize her point, she touched her finger to the spot where the kiss had happened, and this was enough to finally add a spattering of pink to his cheeks that the late night couldn't hide.

"I-I mean, yeah, sure, but...it's not like I want that to count as a kiss or anything."

And almost instantly the flames were doused, her stomach hollowing out immediately. She hadn't explicitly expressed her modest crush on him yet, so it wasn't as if he knew what his words had done to her. Even Pikachu's expression was a cross between anguish and frustration, eyeing his trainer for any sign of it being a joke.

Ash, however, remained silent, and it was a silence that was making the heartbeat pounding in Misty's ears far too loud for her. "O-oh. Okay. Right."

Tick.

Tock.

She watched his fingers dig into the cloth of his jeans, and she felt the bite of anger bubbling within her. He was the one who decided to ruin what could've been a wonderful moment; he had no right to feel frustrated, to feel the same way she did.

How could he possibly feel the same way she did?

Hiding watery eyes was easy; all she had to do was look away, pretend she was getting tired; stifling a yawn, nothing out of the ordinary for the time of night. Hiding the sob, the shaky inhale of air, on the other hand, was much more difficult to conceal, especially when their ambience consisted of the tick and tock echoing through the lobby. Still, Misty endured; she was a tough girl, she could manage.

She heard Ash rise from his seat, and she was almost grateful for his decision to leave her to her tears. She knew she was overthinking things; this didn't mean he didn't like her, and it didn't mean she had to give up on her feelings for him. Still, even the notion that he didn't want to kiss her was enough to pierce at her heart. She would need a few moments to patch the wound.

"Hey, Misty?"

She made a small sound to let him know she'd heard him. She had no faith in her ability to talk without letting her vocal chords shake, without being able to relax her tightened throat. He didn't immediately reply to her, so he was clearly trying to draw her attention and gaze, but she couldn't bring herself to offer either.

"Pikachu pi."

Pikachu, on the other hand, was a different story. He always had her best interest at heart; how often had he taken her side over Ash's? With a hard swallow and a deep inhale she turned to the duo, surprised to find Ash's gaze aimed at the hallway. His cheeks had come to match her hair, his hands sheepishly shoved into his pockets as Pikachu glanced at him with a knowing smirk.

"I...I just meant that, y'know...if..." Nervous stutters were foreign to Ash, and Misty felt a pilot light begin to glimmer in her chest; sparks began searching for something flammable again. "If I ever kissed you, I wouldn't want it to be an accident, or part of one of Team Rocket's traps. That's why I don't count it."

And with that, with Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash turned and headed back towards their room; it was just as well, since Misty found herself unable to conjure up a reply to his words. She watched the pair as they made their way down the wall; watched Ash's back and wondering if he'd turn to look at her one last time. However, he continued facing forward until reaching the door to their room; at that point, the hallway was too dark to make out his expression before they entered, the soft thud of the door closing quietly reverberating through the center.

The ticks and tocks wormed into her mind again, and the way she'd recalled the day's memory in time with their rhythm began its repeat performance. Her tear-stained cheeks felt on fire as she thought about the half-hidden sun, the nylon rope, the crick in her neck, and the realization that Ash had been aware of the exact situation they'd been in. She took a deep breath, wiping at her face and replacing her former wobbly lips with a small grin.

Maybe Ash wasn't so bad with implication after all.