all-our-turf

[all-our-turf]

thinking about cochise and swan. cochise being the one to say “swan is cleon’s number two” when ajax questions her. cochise telling swan to take the lead in orphan town. cochise being the only one who directly addresses swan as “warchief”. cochise immediately defending swan when rembrandt and cowgirl try to say she ran off with mercy.

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thinking about a light or somethin’ and vulnerability. specifically that we see more intentional vulnerability from swan in about a minute than we see from mercy in the entire album… except it’s being used defensively. she’s trying to skip straight to what she sees as the inevitable outcome - if mercy’s going to leave once she gets to know her, why not just get through that right now? it’ll hurt less.

and mercy, on the other hand… I don’t think she’s intentionally putting herself on the back foot, here, but “what do you see in me? what was it about me that made you stand up for a complete stranger?” is a hell of a vulnerable question to be asking someone you’ve just met. I think she’s used to a very specific form of transactional relationship, and she’s thrown by swan very clearly not expecting that. so she’s desperately trying to figure out what the parameters of this new dynamic are, and tentatively hopeful that swan might have seen something in her beyond physical attractiveness - might have seen her the way she wants to be seen, as someone brave and capable, who has a place within the warriors.

[all-our-turf]

Your love's coming down like rain

Back at it again with some more Swercy (and a little bit of Cowgirl and Mercy).

You can read it on ao3 or under the cut.

There was something about the calmness of the street when rain was pouring and lightning broke the sky that made Swan feel at ease, the same thing that scared Mercy shitless. Mercy had felt like that during storms since she could remember. She had become very habile at discerning the signs of the changing weather. Well she was, when she was outside. Sadly for her, she now had an indoor job in a very badly soundproof bar, at least until she had the clearance from Cleon to go on mission for the Warriors.

Considering Cowgirl was her usual colleague, she was the first of the crew to find this information about the latest member. One afternoon, as they were getting the bar ready for the night, clouds suddenly hid the sun and rain started flooding the windows. Mercy had been busy taking down the chairs around every table and cleaning up a bit, and so, the first crack of thunder took her entirely by surprise. She yelped as the legs of the chair she was currently holding slipped from her grip. 

“Mercy, are you alright?” Cowgirl asked from behind the bar where she couldn’t quite see the other girl.

Mercy took a deep breath in before answering “Yes, just fighting with a chair.” 

Cowgirl laughed, “From what I heard it sounds like the chair is winning.” She walked out from where she was to look at Mercy. “Need any help? I’m done with restocking the shelves.”

Mercy put on her best everything-is-under-control face as she looked back at Cowgirl and smiled “I’m good, but hey if you have nothing better to do I wouldn’t m-, shit!” Another thunder resounded inside the open room cutting Mercy’s sentence short.

Cowgirl raised an eyebrow and giggled a little “Are you afraid of thunder?” 

“Me? Pffft, absolutely not. Mercy, fire breathing controversy and deadly afraid of thunderstorms? That would be laughable” Mercy’s last word got elongated as she tried to hide the small scream she let out when a new rumble of thunder spooked her.  

Cowgirl stopped laughing immediately, her smirk being replaced by a warm smile as she approached the other girl. She put an arm around Mercy’s shoulder and turned her toward the closest window. Mercy let the other warrior handle her, she liked Cowgirl, but she also fought the urge to run away to the backstore until the storm passed.

“Count the flashes of light.” 

“What?”

“That’s how I stopped being afraid as a kid. One time I was at the hairdresser to get braids done and a big storm started and I started crying really hard and Miss Miller sat with me by the window and we counted the lightning strike we saw. Then Cochise joined us and it became a game of who could spot the most, and at some point it just stopped making me nervous.”

“That’s actually really sweet. Miss Miller sounds like a really nice woman.”

“Yea she’s pretty cool. More of a mother to me than my parents ever were. Anyway the lightning, you count them and I count them and the one who sees the most gets mmmmh” Cowgirl looked around her until her eyes turned to the recently restocked shelf of alcohol. “A whole bottle of tequila. Deal?” 

Mercy smiled and relaxed a little until lightning broke the sky again. Cowgirl squeezed her shoulder. “One”

The storm stopped as quickly as it started, which was only a few minutes before they opened their door. In the end, both girls drank that bottle of tequila right after their shift, going back home arm-in-arm laughing their ass off about one of Cowgirl's many dating stories.

It took days before Swan and Mercy were in the same place during a storm. It was starting to get late, Swan was lying on her bed reading while Mercy was slowly drifting asleep, her head on her girlfriend’s chest. The first thunder woke her up, her body tensing. Mercy took a few deep breaths, her ear still on Swan's chest, listening to her heart beat. Swan stopped reading but kept her book up, waiting to see what Mercy would do next. Mercy tried her best to look unfazed whenever thunder rang outside, but her slight shaking and startling gave her away easily. 

Swan put her book down and stroked her girlfriend’s hair. “You could have told me you were afraid of thunder, you know?”

Mercy concealed her face as she pushed it tighter against Swan’s skin. She mumbled something inaudible in a small voice very uncharacteristic of the loud and flashy personality she had around most people.

Swan kept a stern tone but her voice was softer than usual “I can’t hear you”.

Mercy grumbled and turned her head to the side. “I said, it’s a stupid fear and I didn’t want you to make fun of me.” 

A flash of hurt passed in Swan’s eyes but her neutral expression quickly came back. She gently lifted Mercy’s chin, forcing the newest warrior to look her in the eyes. “Mercy.. I would never make fun of you. We all have uncontrollable fear, it’s far from stupid.” 

Mercy scoffed half-heartedly “I’m just so used to people judging it I guess… Most people that are afraid of storms are probably less than ten years old.I try to hide it usually. I’m pretty good at it. Before you, only Cowgirl found out, and Sully.”

Swan’s jaw tensed “Bet he was a real bitch about it”.

“He was. But I also don’t care about whatever the hell he thinks.” 

Swan nodded in approval. 

“Cowgirl tried to help me. Gave me tips and everything. I just can’t seem to get over it.”

“I get it. I used to be afraid of fire. Thought I would be forever.” Mercy looked at Swan with big eyes. It was a rare occurrence for Swan to share information about herself, even rarer when it was about her fears. “Ajax helped me get over it. She told me I can't be afraid of something if I associate it with good memories. That summer was full of fireworks and bonfire with all the Warriors. Now when I see fire, I think of the joy I felt surrounded by my new family.”  

Thunder rang once again, making Mercy tense up before she could ask more details. 

Swan shifted to get out from under Mercy and stood up, searching around for some decent clothes to put on. “Come. We’re going outside” 

Mercy looked at her dumbfounded “And why the fuck would we do that?”

“I wanna help you get over that fear. At least a little.”

Mercy wanted nothing more than to stay in bed putting on some music and act like the outside didn’t exist, but she simply couldn’t say no to Swan. Not when the warchief had just opened her heart to her. “You better be very nice to me for the next week at least and I will hate the whole thing.”

Swan smiled at that, which for her was the equivalent of laughing out loud. Mercy was pretty proud of herself until she heard another thunder that made her jump. 

Once both of them were dressed, they made their way hand in hand to the door opening on their balcony. Swan stepped outside first, rain pouring on her head as Mercy let go of her hand. Swan looked at her girlfriend and extended her hand as an offer. 

“C’mon, I’ll keep you safe.” 

Mercy sighed, she trusted Swan with her whole heart, and so she took her hand, as her hair and shirt got soaking wet in an instant. Swan smiled at her, that soft smile she never gave anyone else, the one Mercy learned to love more than anything. The warchief led her farther into the rain until they reached the edge of their small balcony. Mercy kept her eyes on her girlfriend, how her hair was sticking to her face and her light make-up was starting to smudge, how pretty she looked totally unbothered by the whims of mother nature. 

Just when the next thunder started ringing, Swan wrapped her arm around Mercy’s waist and brought her body flushed to hers. Swan led them in a deep kiss that lasted until they couldn't hear the thunder anymore. Mercy put her forehead against Swan’s. Breathing heavily, this time because of love instead of fear. 

[all-our-turf]

i’ve seen @all-our-turf talk about mercy having tattoos, which gave me the idea that maybe the way she bonds with rembrandt initially is by asking her to help her design a tattoo. and maybe rembrandt is the only person (besides swan) who really learns anything about mercy’s life before the warriors because mercy talks to her about old scars she wants to use the tattoos to cover

[all-our-turf]

touch-starvation needs to be written with emphasis on the starving part. you are hungry to be touched. so hungry that even the very taste of it makes you nauseous. it has been long since anything has ever touched you, ever fed you - that your body has grown more used to that gnawing emptiness more than anything else. it's better for you to be held, to eat but it makes you sick to try. you know

[all-our-turf]

crazy how most of us made friends on here because we were going insane about the same 2 freaks at the same time. like oh you’re up thinking about them too?

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how ajax loves

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[all-our-turf]

no thoughts only hcs of characters falling asleep easily around people they trust

[all-our-turf]

hiii, i hope you’re having a good day !! do you have any random headcanons about any of the warriors? no pressure to answer !! i’m just curious <3

mercy's never seen the ocean so i think she's also never ridden a rollercoaster so the warriors take her to the boardwalk and her and ajax immediately get competitive about all the rides and how many times they get on and then they both feel sick by the end of the day. mercy thinks it was a shared bonding experience. she's right, but ajax still refuses to admit that she actually kind of likes mercy now.

cowgirl is actually from texas and when she first moved to new york she got teased so much about it that she bought a hat and decided to commit to the bit.

rembrandt created an art piece of a swan and a fox together when fox first got her name because she was so excited that they both had animal names. swan has it hung up in her room.

last one that’s been on my mind lately, i spoke about swercy + animals in this post and i think they are the opposite with kids. swan is like weirdly good with children and she knows all the kids who frequent the boardwalk by name. meanwhile mercy is 100% willing to argue with a child over the most minor things and swan has to physically drag her away because mercy that kid is literally eight and people are staring i don't care that he said your skirt was ugly

[all-our-turf]

the sexual tension between me and the idea of disappearing forever

[all-our-turf]

Brave and loyal knight is actually a dyke loser who desperately wants to kiss the princess

[all-our-turf]

characters apologizing for things they have no control over. mumbling sorry while losing consciousness. feeling ashamed of a bleeding wound. embarrassed when an infection sets in. deep seated feverish guilt when they need to be carried, when their legs won't keep them upright anymore and they lean heavy on a friend, slurring apologies..........

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rembrandt absolutely tries to “tough it out” as much as she can because that’s what she thinks it means to be a warrior. if she injures her wrist she’s not telling anyone about that because they need their tagger and she’s not going to let them down

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big fan of stories that, while undoubtedly being about the power of friendship, acknowledge that the power of incredible violence is just as important

the love was there. the love changed everything. the crowbar helped also

[all-our-turf]

Honestly, I love it when characters relapse. When someone who’s gotten over their anger issues falls into a situation so out of their depth they fall back on their old habits. When someone who’s learned to open up becomes a recluse again in order to cope with something outside their control.

There’s just something so horrible, so toxic, about watching a character grow and then slip back into their old selves in order to cope, bc you know they still care, that they’re the same inside, but watching them hurt so hard they don’t know what else to do brings a sense of catharsis.

[all-our-turf]

The combination of 'unnervingly flawless self-control' with 'occasional tendency to engage in reckless, dangerous, and borderline self-destructive or death-seeking behaviour' in a character is SUCH catnip to me