#WHY would you situate the story at the end of the war like that?? it makes no sense!!!

[saviourkingslut]

watched netflix's im westen nichts neues with my dad and uhh. i dont think they could've missed the essence of the book any harder if they'd actively tried

[the-hawks-rye]

i know it's been said a gazillion times and said more eloquently than me but god the amount of missed potential in the sequel trilogy. thinking about how anakin became a villain because he felt he had no other choice (and the tragedy being that he always had a choice, and his character arc concluding with him deciding to stand up for what's right by saving luke), meanwhile kylo grew up surrounded by a loving family full of positive role models and chose evil knowingly because he craved power for power's sake. kylo idolizing the tragic figure of darth vader all the while burning the world around him. there was so much you could do with that but instead they had to sacrifice rey's character to make the movies about her fixing the genocidal white boy who never wanted to be saved

[radiance1]

This au again lawl. Where Danny wears these special sunglasses to hide his eyes that also track down ghosts in his human form.

The Justice League tracks down a summoning for the ghost king, an eons old tyrant of the infinite realms and known to bring war and devastation whenever he is summoned.

The cultists do manage to summon the ghost king, except, not how they wanted. They did indeed summon the king, but Pariah Dark is still trapped in eternal sleep and somehow, just, somehow, they managed to draw the lottery and dragged the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep to the summoning circle.

So there the Justice League were, wondering what to do with the (currently) locked away and sleeping ghost king.

Until Constantine's coat flipped itself open and a boy with glowing white hair and a mist of blue blowing from his mouth.

"Old man." The boy greeted.

"Brat." Constantine said.

"Do you mind explaining why and how this," The boy gestured to the Sarcophagus. "Is here and not in Pariah's Keep?"

"Funny story, that one." Constantine said, only half-jokingly. He then went on to explain that the Justice League came to track down cultists, said cultists somehow managed to drag that here, and now they didn't quite know what to do with it.

The boy stood still for a moment, before taking off his sunglasses to pinch the bridge of his nose and sighed, a large amount of blue flame spilling from his mouth. "Ancients above, why is it every time something notable happens, it's always you?"

Constantine snorted, reaching into his coat for a pack of cigarettes and lighting himself one. "Hypocritical coming from you."

"I know, but still." The boy walked over to the Sarcophagus and sat on it, as if it wasn't the thing currently holding one of the most powerful ghosts in the infinite realms. "You know smoking is bad for you, right?"

"What, you learned that in class?" Constantine snarked, making no move to do anything and causing the boy to sigh again, toxic green eyes looked around the room, falling over each hero present before homing in on Flash. The boy pointed to him. "You. Come here."

"Whatcha want with red?" Constantine asked and the boy simply shrugged his shoulders. "Passing on a message."

The boy blinked once, and if he was surprised that the Flash was already in front of him, then he didn't show it. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a green sticky not, motioned for Flash to bent down and stuck it on his forehead.

Superman was... concerned. There was a heartbeat there, he could hear it, but it was so slow and seemed rather weak, like the boy was near death.

"Alright, now I gotta get old mean and green back to his keep before the Observants get on my case." The boy put back on his sunglasses and got up, waving Flash away and lifting up the Sarcophagus above his head he walked over to Constantine, whose face wrinkled.

"That ain't going to fit." The warlock pointed out and the boy scoffed, probably rolling his eyes behind his glasses. "And you've fit bigger things, just shut up and lift the coat old man."

Constantine did so, and somehow the boy just shoved the entire Sarcophagus inside. The boy was very obviously smug as the blue mist that was blowing from his mouth the entire time petered out. "I'll clean up the mess on my end," The boy said before waving his hand in the Justice League's general direction. "You deal with all that."

"Just get going already, I'm not about to get those sentient eyeballs on my ass."

"Yea, yea. You got enough to deal with as is." The boy then stepped inside Constantine's cloak and as soon as the man let it drop, he disappeared.

Constantine looked around the room, silently assessing the situation as he brought another cigarette to his lips.

He lamented the fact he would have to deal with this sober.

[fans4wga]

"The studios thought they could handle a strike. They might end up sparking a revolution"

by Mary McNamara

"If you want to start a revolution, tell your workers you’d rather see them lose their homes than offer them fair wages. Then lecture them about how their “unrealistic” demands are “disruptive” to the industry, not to mention disturbing your revels at Versailles, er, Sun Valley.

Honestly, watching the studios turn one strike into two makes you wonder whether any of their executives have ever seen a movie or watched a television show. Scenes of rich overlords sipping Champagne and acting irritated while the crowd howls for bread rarely end well for the Champagne sippers.

This spring, it sometimes seemed like the Hollywood studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers were actively itching for a writers’ strike. Speculations about why, exactly, ran the gamut: Perhaps it would save a little money in the short run and show the Writers Guild of America (perceived as cocky after its recent ability to force agents out of the packaging business) who’s boss.

More obviously, it might secure the least costly compromise on issues like residuals payments and transparency about viewership.

But the 20,000 members of the WGA are not the only people who, having had their lives and livelihoods upended by the streaming model, want fair pay and assurances about the use of artificial intelligence, among other sticking points. The 160,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists share many of the writers’ concerns. And recent unforced errors by studio executives, named and anonymous, have suddenly transformed a fight the studios were spoiling for into a public relations war they cannot win.

Even as SAG-AFTRA representatives were seeing a majority of their demands rejected despite a nearly unanimous strike vote, a Deadline story quoted unnamed executives detailing a strategy to bleed striking writers until they come crawling back.

Days later, when an actors’ strike seemed imminent, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger took time away from the Sun Valley Conference in Idaho not to offer compromise but to lecture. He told CNBC’s David Faber that the unions’ refusal to help out the studios by taking a lesser deal is “very disturbing to me.”

“There’s a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic,” Iger said. “And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”

If Iger thought his attempt to exec-splain the situation would make actors think twice about walking out, he was very much mistaken. Instead, he handed SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher the perfect opportunity for the kind of speech usually shouted atop the barricades.

“We are the victims here,” she said Thursday, marking the start of the actors’ strike. “We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. I cannot believe it, quite frankly: How far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right, when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment.”

Cue the cascading strings of “Les Mis,” bolstered by images of the most famous people on the planet walking out in solidarity: the cast of “Oppenheimer” leaving the film’s London premiere; the writers and cast of “The X-Files” reuniting on the picket line.

A few days later, Barry Diller, chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia Group and a former Hollywood studio chief, suggested that studio executives and top-earning actors take a 25% pay cut to bring a quick end to the strikes and help prevent “the collapse of the entire industry.”

When Diller is telling executives to take a pay cut to avoid destroying their industry, it is no longer a strike, or even two strikes. It is a last-ditch attempt to prevent le déluge.

Yes, during the 2007-08 writers’ strike, picketers yelled noncomplimentary things at executives as they entered their respective lots. (“What you earnin’, Chernin?” was popular at Fox, where Peter Chernin was chairman and chief executive.) But that was before social media made everything more immediate, incendiary and personal. (Even if they have never seen a movie or TV show, one would think that people heading up media companies would understand how media actually work.)

Even at the most heated moments of the last writers’ strike, executives like Chernin and Iger were seen as people who could be reasoned with — in part because most of the executives were running studios, not conglomerations, but mostly because the pay gap between executives and workers, in Hollywood and across the country, had not yet widened to the reprehensible chasm it has since.

Now, the massive eight- and nine-figure salaries of studio heads alongside photos of pitiably small residual checks are paraded across legacy and social media like historical illustrations of monarchs growing fat as their people starve. Proof that, no matter how loudly the studios claim otherwise, there is plenty of money to go around.

Topping that list is Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive Davd Zaslav. Having re-named HBO Max just Max and made cuts to the beloved Turner Classic Movies, among other unpopular moves, Zaslav has become a symbol of the cold-hearted, highly compensated executive that the writers and actors are railing against.

The ferocious criticism of individual executives’ salaries has placed Hollywood’s labor conflict at the center of the conversation about growing wealth disparities in the U.S., which stokes, if not causes, much of this country’s political divisions. It also strengthens the solidarity among the WGA and SAG-AFTRA and with other groups, from hotel workers to UPS employees, in the midst of disputes during what’s been called a “hot labor summer.”

Unfortunately, the heightened antagonism between studio executives and union members also appears to leave little room for the kind of one-on-one negotiation that helped end the 2007-08 writers’ strike. Iger’s provocative statement, and the backlash it provoked, would seem to eliminate him as a potential elder statesman who could work with both sides to help broker a deal.

Absent Diller and his “cut your damn salaries” plan, there are few Hollywood figures with the kind of experience, reputation and relationships to fill the vacuum.

At this point, the only real solution has been offered by actor Mark Ruffalo, who recently suggested that workers seize the means of production by getting back into the indie business, which is difficult to imagine and not much help for those working in television.

It’s the AMPTP that needs to heed Iger’s admonishment. At a time when the entertainment industry is going through so much disruption, two strikes is the last thing anyone needs, especially when the solution is so simple. If the studios don’t want a full-blown revolution on their hands, they’d be smart to give members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA contracts they can live with."

[omaano]

Touchy subject

"The 501st was one of the best legions during the war. I've lost a lot of good men over the years - some of them would have given even you Mandos a run for your credits. And my general... My general was a good man too, but that's enough of that, I thought you were too old for bedtime stories by now."

Din just tried to figure out what the colour of the clones' armor paint meant, and why he's never heard Rex mention his CO during all the wartime stories and lectures; whereas he's already got to meet Wolffe and his general and even heard Cody mention his every once in a blue moon. (Special thanks to @witchydom for helping with the "dialogue" :3)

The rest of my Star Wars meets Hades AU project is here

I'll take a bit of your time to give a bit of an explanation why I decided to put Rex in Skelly's spot:

During a playthrough when I was looking for screenshots to use as backgrounds the first thing that greeted me was Zagreus calling Skelly "Captain" upon entering the armoury, or whatever that chamber is called. And that really decided it, let's be honest. Rex is Captain, and that is the Captain's spot. End of story.

Reading "still got it" by qigiined even before I got into watching TCW was such a personality defining experience (seriously, this fic lives forever rent free in my brain), that I really had no other option but to put the few clones that I'm willing to work into this AU somewhere around home base (the covert) - so you can guess where Cody and Wolffe are situated. Or will be, hopefully soon enough. Rex needs to be able to hang out with Cody, that's just how it is. (Rebels and TBB canon who?)

Rex deserves to teach some uppity Mando bounty hunters and other warriors who think too much of themselves a few lessons in humility and some crafty tricks. I think it would be very good for him.

As a throwaway note since we are already under the read more section, I've been thinking about sigils and keepsakes (trinkets) and cthonic companions (I know that over a year ago I inaccurately but very self indulgently designed one for Din, Boba and Cobb, that is not the point now) and while Cody can have one shaped like Boga, and Wolffe can obviously get a stuffed loth wolf (and Bo-Katan a very squishy owl)... I have no idea what shaped companion Rex could have. If anyone has any suggestions and would love to share it with me, I'd be very grateful!

[nxrrislando]

VILLAINISED ೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 m.verstappen

𝐦𝐚𝐱 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 — ᝰ.ᐟ SMAU

PLOT ━━･❪ When her job is at risk and her least favourite person becomes her most trusted or in other words her enemy becomes her love ❫

WARNINGS ━━･❪ everything written is fake and for the purpose of entertainment, sexual innuendos, mature language, not proofread ❫

my fics!

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maxverstappen1

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📍 - london, united kingdom

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yourusername ok?

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username snakeeeeeee

username someone’s in troubleeee

username know you were suspended from the italian and singaporian grand prix, but why are you in london? potential meeting with rbr in Milton Keynes?

username I heard a bunch of checos team who had been suspended are all there for a hearing this week and checo and max are gonna be there. username @ username why would checo and max be there? username @ username because apparently yn ln has been getting the worst of it from the media even tho everyone in the team is under investigation, and checo has been very vocal about media’s finger pointing at her. idk why max is here tho, cause they’ve never gotten along

username they could never make me hate you pookie

username what makes me laugh is that yn is getting the worst of the media surrounding the investigation just because she’s RUMOURED to have received an offer from another team, not confirmed to have been offered a position nor even rumoured to accept it. the media is absolute bs.

username no wonder max doesn’t like you. traitor

username get rid of women in motorsport

username nice take sexist moron.

username so many people more deserving of this position.

username using all my birthday wishes on you getting fired during the hearing this week🤷🏼‍♂️

username how pathetic, how old are you 7?

username dududu max verstappen

username lol this is what you get for disliking my goat

username max defo celebrating somewhere that he can finally get rid of you

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formularacingnews

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username yn ln has finally been cleared, WAR IS OVER

username the investigation has taken so long god. it’s been nearly a month

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yourusername brazil you are beautiful🤍

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username the 5th pic???

username FACTS

username max is in the likes, and has been on her past several posts…hmm

username he’s always relatively early as well, no longer fighting???

username are you really leaving at the end of the season???

username WHAT?? username @ username yeah she said in a live that months ago her life was hell with the media and that whole situation and that she wants to do engineering for road legal cars rather than motorsport, so she’s leaving at the end of the season to work at bugatti. but she also said that something great came out of the experience that’s making her really happy so she wouldn’t change it for the world (lots of people think it’s max and that they’re dating cause they seem to gravitate to each other in group settings which they NEVER did before)

username max and yn? i see you guys in the 5th pic 🫣

username please use the gf affect to get max to stop wearing redbull merch🙏🏽

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username I TOLD YOU ALL SO

username I love them so bad already my gosh

username enemies to lovers core🫡

maxverstappen1 hate sex does the trick ( love you btw)

yourusername WHAT DONT SAY THAT (love you too) landonorris mum pick me up I’m scared

username this was not on my 2023 bingo card unlike how max winning the world title was but nether the less i love it

charlesleclerc he’s only been obsessed with you since his karting days, finally!!

maxverstappen1 shut up yourusername aw username WHAT since the karting days??

maxverstappen1 mooisteee🤍 — (most beautiful)

yourusername 🤍🤍

dutch translation by my belgian pookie bear @edwardslvrr 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

[hazelfoureyes]

Hi sorry if this is a weird ask but my birthday is the 24th and I would love it if I could wake up that morning to both Lucifer and Alastor absolutely ravishing reader. Just pure smut and aftercare please

I did fem reader I hope that’s okay, it’s who I write the most so I thought maybe you just wanted what I commonly wrote. sorry it’s a little late, and also shhh it’s a secret because I can’t write birthday stories for everyone due to time. But you were the first to ask and you asked so far in advance so—

Surprise!

「warnings/promises: Alastor x FemReader x Lucifer, smut, barely a plot, tug of war, you are the rope, slight kink with breath play and restraint, attempt at aftercare, lost balloons, mention of dead deer (roadkill)」

🎂 Minors please no 🎉 🎈 this an an 18+ only party 🥂

You weren’t sure what you were expecting when the typically reserved Alastor now (seemingly) tipsy invited you to his room. He was always touchy, but the more he drink the longer his hands would stay on you. So naturally you said nothing at all and followed him out of the parlor.

And you had no idea what to think when the King of Hell saw you being pulled by the wrist and stopped you both.

There was some bickering about where you were going and what Alastor thought he was doing. The overlord making a joke about height and size. The former angel mentioning experience. 

Soon both wrists were being held but by different demons.

Ripping you apart seemed like a possibility, but somehow you ended up in an even more difficult situation to accept than second death.

Both refusing to go to the other’s room you were dragged to your own. 

Arguing around you, you were moved and turned before Lucifer snapped his fingers and your clothes fell off you at the seams. You turned to see both men nude and slowly leading you to bed. No complaints, you enjoyed just following their directions.

You couldn’t be sure how they came to their final agreement but soon you were lying on top of Alastor, impressive cock rubbing against your clit and a large portion of your lower stomach as Lucifer was fucking you from behind. The way he angled did feel practiced, so the king of lies wasn’t bluffing earlier.

Alastor's body was so warm under yours, the leaking of his precum spreading across your skin with every thrust from Luci’s hips. Your swollen clit and wet lips were sliding up and down Alastor’s base, stroking him harshly as you had no power over the movement.

“Good girl,” Lucifer’s hands roamed down your body, “Let me hear your voice.”

You could barely speak, the feeling of Luci’s large cockhead dragging along your walls was keeping your mouth busy with moans.

Another surprise, Alastor’s arms coming up and wrapping around you tightly. Any space between you was gone. With your body immobilized except for where your hips moved as you were pierced by Lucifer, Alastor began to hump up against you for the chase of release. The faster he moved, the louder and more uncontrolled your noises became.

“Stop being selfish, roadkill.” A yank of your hips pulling you a little too harshly down on Lucifer, ass flush with his crotch. A small scream into the radio demon’s chest.

“Now those are pretty sounds.” Alastor said through gritted teeth, ignoring the devil entirely.

Another tug of war, but not with your wrists. One man’s hands on your waist holding you still so he could rut into your soft flesh. The other man’s hands on your hips so he could bring to meet every thrust into your now dripping cunt. 

“Ffuuuck,” Luci clamored on top of you, hips pistoning down like an animal with a singular unmet need. “Gonna cum.”

Why did he feel the need to tell you? You could feel him already pulsing as he pressed against your cervix. Yet the words alone sent a shot of electricity to your lap.

As Lucifer’s hips slowed, Alastor took the opportunity to regain control. It wasn’t clear if he knew how good it felt when he rubbed against you. You clenched around the still stiff and twitching cock buried in you and focused on the increasingly wet slip of Alastor’s shaft over your swollen clit. The pressure of Lucifer’s body weight pressing you down added a new level of arousal you hadn’t felt before, the feeling of being held down, of your breath being restricted just in the slightest. Quickly you found yourself reaching a breaking point, a small mountain you barely made it to the crest of before Alastor came across your stomach and his own, your chest not escaping the impressive shot. The small movements of his hips afterwards and the feeling of him cumming so much pushed you over the cliff and into your own orgasm. 

Lucifer hissed above you, “Woah, that’s— you’re gonna make me cum again if you keep squeezing like that.” With a pat to your ass he pulled out and dismounted. Your shakey arms you lifted yourself off of Alastor, who was already holding a towel and wiping his chest clean. He was muttering to himself about something, his face screwed up at the sight. When you fell face down back onto the bed Lucifer crawled over Alastor to sit just below the swell of your ass, hands rubbing up and down your back. A groan, a mix of pleasured massage and painful bullying of sore muscles.

He was shoved off of you, Alastor rolling you over gingerly to wipe at your stomach and attempt to get your blanket clean as well.

“Definitely worth the brief nudity, dear.” His usual smile soft, you were confident it was a compliment.

Lucifer popped up again, a jack in the box of human proportions, “You’re an ass.” He reached for you hand and rubbed circles into your palms as he spread out the often used muscles there. “Feeling okay?” You nodded, a chill coming over you.

Alastor’s turn now, a green glow and a snap and you found yourself clothed again. Not your clothes, but you didn’t particularly care. Alastor was back to his usual attire, but for some reason Lucifer remained stark naked except his large hat. Had it been there the entire time?

Before you could find the will to ask, the doors burst open with a loud blaring honk of an air horn, “SURPRISE!” The hotel staff and star resident cheered, “HAPPY BIR-,”

“What in the actual the fuck.” Angel pointed at the obvious.

“Dad!”

“Nah I’m out.” Husk let the balloons float to the ceiling and left.

Vaggie pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes clenched with not-at-all hidden aggravation, “What the fuck, you were supposed to trick her into going to the library Alastor! We were waiting for like 30 minutes! Pendejo.” 

Alastor shrugged, “Eh I had a better idea.”

A loud noise above you, a kazoo having appeared in Lucifer’s mouth. His hands shot up with an exhausted excitement, “Happy Birthday!”

why do I love writing reader being walked in on??

[seetangus]

Oh how about: Reader loving Azula throughout her mental health crisis and still visiting her in the asylum. So, as she heals, she realizes how much she loves the Reader… and maybe through the story, you could see her reactions to certain things like if R talked about another girl like Ty Lee or something, Azula would feel jelly but doesn’t understand why or if R talks about Zuko she may think she’d like Zuko more like their mother…

idk but it’s sounds fun and I know you are awesome at writing so I bet it’ll be good!

Healing - Azula x reader

[Masterlist]

Azula x gn reader, no warnings

1.897 words, I hope you like it! :)

The metal door closed audibly, its movement making the torches close to it flicker. They barely spent enough light to make things visible in the cell. Now you two were alone.

Azula sat in front of you, tied to a metal chair in a straitjacket. It was a humiliating treatment for a princess, you thought. Still, your heart felt great relief from seeing her again after several months of waiting. It had been difficult to convince the new fire lord Zuko and his comrades to let you visit Azula, as you were considered dangerous due to your loyalty to princess Azula that you had maintained even during the last days of the war. But here you were, finally seeing her, the one your heart ached for, again.

“Hello Azula. I am happy to see you again.”, you said truthfully but very quietly. You did not dare asking her how she felt. Seeing Azula, who had always been so confident and strong in a weak and broken state like this intimidated you.

You could not make out what Azula was thinking. You had been told that she had for some time behaved like a raving maniac, screaming and trying to attack anyone who came close to her. But that phase seemed to be over now. It was obvious Azula was mentally still in a very precarious situation, but right now she was rather calm. At least it seemed like she was.

“What are you doing here, y/n.”, she asked. Your heart jumped at hearing her voice, even if it sounded differently than before. What she said did not sound like a question, but you still answered: “I wanted to see you.” Quieter, you added: “Maybe you need someone to talk to.”

A small silence followed. You could tell that Azula was, even if it had been months, still very stressed and angry about her defeat against Zuko. Still, with a heartwarming effort, Azula tried to initiate a peaceful conversation by asking you about the current situation of the fire nation and other wide-ranging topics. You happily answered all her questions. The conversation got more concrete when she asked about her old friends. Ty Lee, Mai, Iroh and even her brother Zuko. All the ones that had betrayed her. You told about their new positions and how they behaved. You also told her that, as you had remained in your position in the royal palace even after the changing of the fire lord, you were somehow reconnecting with some of them, even if it went slowly.

While listening to you, Azula increasingly looked lost. You would have expected her to be angry at the traitors taking her place in the hierarchy of the fire nation, but she seemed to worry about something entirely different. Nevertheless you talked with eachother until the visiting time was over and the guards ordered you to leave. You also realised your eyes hurt because of the dim light in the cell - it must be painful for Azula to stay here all day.

Having left her cell, a guard told you that they had feared for the worst and were surprised at how calm Azula had been with you. You couldn’t imagine why that was either.

< • ◇ • >

A few weeks passed until your next visit. In that time Azula had changed much; you were told she was still a bit unpredictable, but her violent outbursts had ended completely and she was overall more stable. That had led to the guards daring to attach extra torches to the walls of her cell, finally making the room brighter so your eyes didn’t hurt anymore. The whole atmosphere was different this visit, it was less depressing.

This time you greeted her a bit more confidently and with a smile. It would have been hard not to smile when seeing your loved one feel better. She also looked better than last time - her hair looked less messy and she did not have bags under her eyes. You were genuinely happy it went uphill with her, and you didn’t hide it:

“Hello Azula, you look beautiful today!”

Your warm greeting seemed to have catched Azula off guard; you could see she hesitated a bit before answering, and you even saw her blush a bit, but surely it was only the warm light of the torches combined with your own feelings that made you imagine it. Azula wouldn’t blush. Once Azula answered though, she did so with her old attitude: “Of course I look good, y/n. Did you expect me not to?”

That might not have been the most welcoming and thankful answer she could have given, but at least it proved she really felt better, more like back when she wasn’t here. Ah, you couldn’t wait for when she would boss you around and insult anyone else again like in the good ol’ days.

But enough of the dreaming, back to reality! Azula simply made you tell her anything that you thought might interest her. She said she TRUSTED you on choosing the right topics. That was obviously a very unusual thing for her to say but you took it as a compliment and started speaking, mostly about how things changed under the rule of her brother and how the people she knew behaved. Every time you spoke about Ty Lee or Mai you could see her eyebrows furrow and she did not comment again until you changed topics. When you mentioned that Mai and Zuko were a couple, her whole face lit up and she interrupted you, exclaiming: “Ha! That’s fantastic! Isn’t it great, y/n?” You agreed but Azula suddenly feeling happy for her brother genuinely confused you.

Anyhow, Azula soon seemed to become annoyed by the things you told her about the people she knew. After some time she simply cut you off and said: “Yes yes uncle Iroh’s new tea shop is interesting and I should care but I want you to tell me more about yourself.” At first, you were dumbfounded, but since she seemed to really be interested (and also since it was impossible not to fulfill any request of hers anyways), you talked about yourself for the rest of your visit.

Some time later, the guards opened the door and told you to leave. You had already said good-bye to Azula and turned to go away, but she suddenly made a harsh move with her head, loosening a few strands of her hair that now dangled down. “Oh y/n, before you leave, would you be so kind and fix this?”, she purred with unusual kindness, inevitably making you feel butterflies.

Hesitantly, you turned around and lifted your hand to her beautiful hair, gently brushing it back into place. She just smirked triumphantly and let you leave. You couldn’t put into words how heavenly you had felt that moment, despite the stares of the guards.

After you were gone, Azula thought about what had happened. Why had she done this. Making her hair messy on purpose to ask you to fix it. Not that it hadn’t felt good, feeling human touch after months of deprivation had actually felt awesome, she just genuinely did not know why she had suddenly felt the need to get your attention. And why did she feel so hurt when you talked about Ty Lee or Mai? She did not like not knowing the answer to something, so she was determined to get it the next time you visited.

< • ◇ • >

You did not let Azula wait for long. As quickly as the harsh regulations of the Asylum allowed, you returned. According to the guards, who prepared you for the visit, Azula had been behaving much better: there had been no angry outbursts or attempts to harm anyone at all since your last visit.

Luckily for Azula, her good behaviour had led to an even greater improvement in the furnishing of her cell: the torches had been replaced with lanterns who emitted a brightness that somewhat resembled daylight, making it much more bearable to stay in her cell.

“How do you feel, Azula?”

“I’m well, y/n. Actually, it is very relieving that you are here now, because I can finally ask you some very important questions.”

Naturally, Azula saying your name made you feel butterflies. She sounded almost like her old self again. “I’m happy to answer anything you ask me.”, you assured, excited about what questions she could have for you. You looked at her expectantly.

She also only looked at you instead of asking questions. Well, she did not just ‘look’, she seemed to have… found something on you that interested her very much. More than any question she could ask you.

“Your eyes look very happy, y/n.”, she suddenly said.

You had not been prepared for that. Your eyes widened, making Azula grin. It was not her usual grin, though. It seemed like this grin was not fueled by self-absorption and superiority as it had been until now, but rather Azula seemed to be genuinely happy, feeling real joy. You had never seen that on her before, so naturally you were very happy for her! And for yourself, for being able to witness such a beautiful moment and being part of it.

“Oh I wish the visits weren’t this short.”, Azula said, her gaze still venturing in the depth of your eyes. You were a bit confused. “Azula, the visit has just started - we have plenty of time. Also, I will come back soon! As soon as possible!”, you quickly assured.

Azula tried getting closer to you, but she was restrained by her chains. You had both almost forgotten about them. “Y/n, I do not only want to be with you during visits.”

You were speechless. All your blood was gathering in your head and your voice decided this would be a good moment to give up. “A-azula … I want to see you more often too…” you mustered up all the courage you had. “In fact”, you gulped, “I feel pained in every moment we are separated from eachother.”

Azula smirked and lifted her nose up, making her look as powerful as before; she was clearly enjoying you being flustered. But there was something different, something new in her eyes. Something that had not been there a few months ago, and that had grown each time you visited her.

“You like me, y/n, don’t you?”

Azula lowered her head, and it seemed like there even was a bit of worry or insecurity in her voice when she asked again: “You do, right?”

“Yes Azula, I do.”

You wanted to hug her, caress her and hold her close, but knowing that the guards would rush in and restrain you, it was better to remain sitting. You did not hold back expressing your affection verbally, though.

Azula was, like always, the first one to regain her composure, and you tried to do so as well, although it was not easy.

“Well, it’s settled then.", Azula said.

“... What’s settled?”, you asked, unsure of what she meant.

“When I get out of here,'' Azula answered, “I will arrange that we see eachother much more often than we currently do and that the royal family welcomes a new member. And now tell me again how much you love me, y/n.”

[haunted-xander]

I think one of the (several) reason for why Shadowbringers is so good is because the narrative is more about the individual characters than it is the Greater Conflict.

Like, the Greater Conflict is definitely there, obviously, it's what keeps the story going, but the focus is always on the people, much more so than the other expacs. HW and STB also have some level of character focus ofc, but it's very selective and even then the focus is based on them in the specific context of the current conflict.

But in SHB, the story bends around the characters' narratives, rather than the other way around. The story forms to put them in situations that challenges their flaws and limitations, by forcing them to confront it and actually deal with it. Even just at the very beginning, you see the twins being dealt a terrible hand that very neatly clashes against their faults.

Alisaie is confronted with a situation that she can and could never do anything about. She has no means to help the patients (at the time at least). The only way for her to help them is by eradicating the source of the affliction itself: the Light. But the Light isn't just some Big Bad she can kill and be done with. Even when all the lightwardens are down the Light is still there, it's just more manageable. Alisaie learns to not only see the bigger picture, but to care for it for her own reasons. For all that she has participated in Big Operations, it has always been because that's what others were doing, what others cared for to be done. She feels for the people of Doma and Ala Mhigo, but she didn't set out to liberate their homelands because she has any personal investment in it. But other people do, and she cares about what other people- be they strangers or friends- care about.

Caring about other peoples feelings and opinions isn't a flaw by itself of course, but doing things without any sense of personal purpose, is. This is what SHB helps her fix and confront, because it is personal now, she does it because she cares.

Alphinaud is forced into a situation where diplomacy and negotiations does and would never work. He can't talk himself into Eulemore, and he sure as hell can't convince Vauthry or the free citizens to let go of their life of ignorant luxury. The problem here also isn't as straightforward as a corrupt ruler, because even after Vauthry is revealed for the bastard he is, it takes considerable effort and convincing to get them to get off their asses and get to work. It's one thing to change the minds of people who wanted the same outcome just in a different way (like Ishgard- they rejected unity with the dragons, but they still wanted an end to the war), but it's another thing entirely to convince people that another way of life is even worth it.

And this is what SHB teaches Alphinaud, that words and deeds can achieve much, but that there is much more to diplomacy than appealing to their wants and/or sensibilities to convince them of an alternative outcome. His development may not be as immediately noticable as some of the others (largely bc he had a lot of it already from HW), but it is still very much there.

Urianger's development had already been build up and sort-of started already, but we don't really get to see it until it near explodes in his face after we kill Vauthry. Even after he swore off secrecy, he's forced to confront his morals when the Exarch bids his assistance. Urianger has always been looking at the greater picture, to the point he'd almost lose himself in it if it wasn't for the overwhelming guilt he feels. He works with the Exarch, because he knows he's the only one capable of it, and he hates the very fact that he is. When the climax of the plan is about to be executed, he is pained to the point that even he can't mask it anymore. He has betrayed their trust once more and once more it will result in the death of a friend.

But it doesn't, and that's what's needed for him to confront himself. As terrible and unexpected as the circumstances around it was, it did show him that there are other ways. There is no one way to solve a problem, the first choice doesn't need to be the only one. And he would find those other ones of he had just talked to the others.

The pay-off doesn't quite come until EW, where we see him actively make the choice to go against his first instinct of acquiesing to the Loporrits' plans, and instead chooses to consult us, but that scene wouldn't have made sense or even happened had it not been for his development in SHB.

Now, Y'shtola is a bit of an odd one because while she does get her due focus, she doesn't quite get the same amount of development as the others. Rather, it shows how she thrives when not held back by others interests and (often somewhat needless) bounderies. Her intelligence and charisma have the chance to shine, her independence and confidence now rewarded rather than punished. In ARR, she is constantly annoyed by the Maelstroms way of dealing with things, and how no one bothers to actually listen to her. Her advice and reprimands are almost entirely ignored until the problem blows up in their faces and they have no choice but to concede that she was right.

Being independent and confident aren't flaws by themselves, but her sometimes aggressive approaches to telling others off does her few favors. In SHB, she has the Night's Blessed who actually heed her word and respect her, they listen to her and actually take what she says- be it advise or reprimand- to heart.

She does also, however, have to deal with Thancred who, much like the Maelstrom, ignores her reprimands and doesn't listen to her. The difference here is that her bluntness actually serves a purpose. In ARR, her bluntness lacks tact and meaning, simply a result of frustration. The Maelstrom won't listen to someone who doesn't come up with fleshed-out arguments and solutions, but Y'shtola doesn't bother giving them any until she knows they'll listen. But with Thancred, she does give him the solution. It's just that the solution is him. His words, to be precise, and his acceptance. And he needs to be reminded of that, and she does. It doesn't automatically solve anything, but that's simply how it is with complicated situations like that.

Speaking of Thancred, his narrative is probably the most important of all for SHB. He's always been shown as a capable, but ultimately self-destructive man who genuinely does not know how to deal with himself in a healthy manner. Theoretically speaking he knows, he recognizes that he is self-destructive, but he still has no idea how to actually fix it. It's been shown as early as ARR when it results in him getting possessed, but it's not really made a point of until it almost ruins his relationship with Ryne. Up until now he could just ignore his problems, but with Ryne he can't because now The Problem(s) aren't just his anymore. Anything that would hurt him now would also hurt her, meaning that if he wants to continue doing the one thing he actually cares about (protecting his loved ones) then he needs to get his shit together.

But Thancred doesn't know how to. And for all that his friends try and try to help him, he doesn't know how to. He's paralyzed. Thancred is so deep into his self-destructive habits that it takes the threat of both his and the person(s) he loves the most in the worlds deaths to get him into action. He doesn't know if it's Minfilia or Ryne who will return, and I'm not sure he expected to survive Ran'jit. He only has this chance, and if he wants to die without (as many) regrets he has to do something now.

And he does. He does and what it is he does is tell Ryne that whatever happens, it has to be her own choice. That he will accept any outcome, that he will still care about her no matter what, that as long as she lives or dies as she wants to, that he still loves her. He still loves her. And it works, because that's what he's needed to do all this time, to be able to just tell her that she matters. That he cares.

He tells her to live her own life, and he learns to live his own too.

[ironmandeficiency]

the fellowship + romance

characters included: aragorn, boromir, gimli, legolas, pippin

word count: 1177

summary: just some soft shit bc these men are all sappier than any tree in the greenwood

a/n: there’s still an overwhelming lack of gimli content that needs to be fixed and i will do my part

aragorn 🗡️

aragorn’s quiet presence is the warmest blanket on a cold night, the first bite of a meal you slaved over for hours, every comfort you’ve ever experienced

he’s never been one for overwhelming displays of his affections; instead, he shows you in simple ways that add up - giving you the more full bowls of broth, laying his blanket over you if he notices you shivering during night watch, sharpening your weapons (this one had gimli nearly brought to tears by the devotion it spoke of), anything that helps your days pass easier

he grew up around stories of elves who committed astounding feats in the name of those they loved, fighting wars and risking their lives with alarming frequency. but none of them ever talked about the everyday ways they showed love. his mother taught him what she could about those things, stories of his father’s steady presence and stalwart love for his family. a young aragorn took these lessons to heart and used them when the time was right

it was why, when he caught his heart skipping beats around you, he let his actions do the speaking for him. without fail you would thank him with a soft smile, slowly coming to realize that aragorn felt something much deeper for you than camaraderie. when you woke up early one morning to find your weapons sharper than they were the day before (not for the first time), you went straight to aragorn and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. he nearly dropped your bowl of stew in his flustered state

having your affections secured didn’t mean he stopped his small acts of kindness, it did quite the opposite. it just made him bolder and more confident in his actions

boromir 🍻

this man is so damn tactile it’s ridiculous

if you’re the cuddly type like he is, it makes him all the more eager to always have some form of physical contact with you, no matter where you may be

unless you tell him to back off, he is always touching you one way or another. a gentle hand on the small of your back, your pinkies interlocked, an arm wrapped around your shoulder, anything to keep you close to him

his favorite time of day eventually becomes the end of it, because that’s when he can hold you close and whisper soft words of love in your ear while he holds you. he makes it his goal to give you a goodnight kiss every night you spend together

the best cuddle position in his mind is you leaning your back against his chest, one of his hands resting on your hip where his thumb rubs small circles above the bone, and his chin resting on your shoulder just right to where he can turn his head to kiss your cheek or burrow his face into your neck

gimli 🛡️

valiantly is the best way to describe how gimli approaches any situation he comes upon, including (and especially) matters of the heart

this is a dwarf who says what he means & means what he says, who does nothing that he wouldn’t be proud of the next day. because of this, you couldn’t find it in you to not believe him when he professed his love for you with such unwavering confidence you were nearly brought to tears. gimli never said anything just because his lips could move so you simply had to believe him

will do you favors big and small simply because he wants to help you however possible. you can’t remember the last time you carried your own pack or made your own bowl of soup. if you encouraged him (which you wouldn’t), this romantic fool would not let you lift another finger for as long as you both live

he grew up watching his parents with keen eyes, his adad showing him by example how a true dwarf treats their one. he embodies these lessons with every interaction with you, striving to be the one you deserve him to be. it ranges from the ferocity of his protection to opening doors for you. may mahal strike him down if he ever hurts you

he just wants to be a dwarf you’re proud to love, proud to call yours

legolas 🏹

physical affection can be difficult for him, but one thing legolas is good at doing is speaking his mind and his heart

if you thought his regular speaking pattern was overflowing with poetic descriptors, you’ve heard nothing compared to when he’s being truly romantic. no one you’d been with before had ever described you with such beautiful prose, never whispered soft poetry about your eyes to lull you to sleep

and he’s a cheeky bastard about it too! it’ll be a regular conversation between friends, nothing important, then BAM! he’s making quippy one-liners about your overwhelming skill/beauty/personality that catch you off guard and has your friends cackling at your flustered reaction to his flattery

even better, his praise will often include sindarin and on the off chance you don’t speak it, you’ll have to gauge the meaning from the silent looks shared between your dear elf and aragorn (doesn’t really work). eventually legolas tells you what some of them mean; after all, he needs to have an element of intrigue about him or his name isn’t legolas thranduillion

he carries a lot of pride for you and will brag about you to anyone who listens, his melleth being one of unparalleled skill and beauty and bright laughter that carries his soul on great wings

pippin 🥕

his already strong need to be silly and foolish grows exponentially when he finds out how happy it makes you

pip doesn’t care what it is you ask of him, he will do anything to hear your laugh. he’ll put baby carrots in his nostrils, respond to conversations exclusively in farm animal noises, he will even do his spot-on impressions of the rest of the fellowship and make them say all sorts of silly things

the best one to date is him doing an aragorn impression that consists of all the different ways he says legolas’s name

you’ve never heard such astounding colloquialisms from anyone until you met pippin - “don’t eat half the berries and say the pie shell’s too big,” “his cornbread isn’t done in the middle,” “if brains were leather, he wouldn't have enough to saddle a junebug” - and each time he says one, there’s always a not-so-subtle look to you so he can see your reaction. the ones that get the most laughs are used a little bit more, just enough to not lose their appeal but enough to hear your laughter all the more often

there is a single-minded determination to hear your snort when you laugh at something he says, and he will not rest until you do. his personal goal to do this resets each time you do actually snort, him now aiming for the next joke or prank that will bring it out again

[untitled-tmnt-blog]

Summary of some answers from today's Q&A with Ron Corcillo!

(July 29, 2023)

Bullet points are below the cut, since it's a pretty long list! Some combine multiple answers, and they're categorized for ease of reading (obviously not every single answer is included, but I tried to get most of the ones I thought people might find interesting!)

Apocalyptic Future

The turtles were fighting side by side with Cassandra when Casey Jr was born, and Leo trained him to be a warrior. Casey Jr only has brief memories of his mother from when he was very young, and he was mostly raised by Leo.

The chips on Leo's plastron are probably battle scars.

Mikey was likely the equivalent of being in his 70's. He was powerful enough that he could unlock almost any mystic ability you could think of, but using them took a toll on him physically. The more powerful the ninpo, the more potential it has to sap your energy.

Mikey can open up portals through all of space and time (as opposed to Leo, who can mostly portal over relatively short distances), but it took him a long time to get to that level of ability.

Mikey probably grew a little taller than seen in the movie, but shrank as the use of his powers depleted him. Donnie would be slightly taller than Leo, and Raph would be at least 6'6".

The characters have obviously taken hits and lost some things from years of fighting the Krang, but Leo still does have his ninpo.

They never worked out the specifics for how Raph and Donnie died, just that they lost their lives in the war against the Krang.

Future Leo was mortally wounded in his bleeding side, and that was why he didn't go with Casey to the past.

If season 2 hadn't been cut short

The sudden declaration of Leo as leader wouldn't have happened, and was more of a joke because of how abruptly the show ended. The original plan was for the transition to be drawn out over much of season 3. Raph and Leo probably would have been co-leaders for a while, and the transfer of leadership wouldn't have caused tension since Raph would like to share the burden. There might have been some situations where Mikey or Donnie took the lead, too. Ron never saw the turtles as a group where there had to be one absolute leader.

Karai would have lived for much longer, and been training the boys in person for a number of episodes.

If there was a season 3 / plans they had for future seasons

They probably wouldn't have ever taken a dark turn with the show, but may have gotten into more of an extended plot line after the movie.

The missing sister who was Big Mama's henchperson would probably have been a very disciplined super serious ninja, to the point where she's actually funny. She was going to be named after a female artist, possibly Frida Kahlo, and the turtles would have had to win her back from Big Mama by helping her to see that she had been brainwashed as a child.

Their other missing sister was going to be trapped in another dimension for years, and might have been "a little kooky" from being there so long. The turtles would have split up to rescue their sisters, but there were no definite plans beyond that.

We would definitely see Casey Jr again. Ron would love to see a spin-off where Casey and Cassandra roam the world and fight the Krang and remnants of the Foot.

It was going to be revealed that a Krang spaceship had crashed into the back of the crying titan in the Hidden City. The ship's fuel was the source of the ooze that gives the Yokai their power, and possibly the origin of the Yokai themselves. The crashed spaceship is what drew the invasion there a thousand years ago.

Mikey's powers could have opened the door to some multiverse episodes.

We might have seen some redemption from Big Mama, but then also seen her relapse to her villainous ways.

The Rat King likely would have been the next big villain. Shredder's story is pretty resolved, so they wouldn't have gone back to him, but maybe they could have revived the dark armor. There were no existing plans for Bishop, but once the turtles became better known heroes, he could be a thorn in their side. They would have done a lot more with the Krang.

Donnie probably thinks he's much smarter than Raph, so it would have been fun to do an episode where he got to see how Raph beats him in common sense and emotional intelligence.

The turtles would probably talk to Karai's Hamato spirit when they need guidance.

Season 3 would pick up where the movie left off. They would have launched a new story right away, but the aftermath would have been in the background. We would have seen how they changed as a result of the movie events, as well as how they deal with now being in the public eye as heroes.

Miscellaneous

The 2012 series was very traditional TMNT, so a big goal of Rise was to mix things up. Making Raph the leader opened up a lot of possibilities for both Leo and Raph: Raph didn't have to be angry all the time about not being the leader, and Leo was free to be cocky and fun-loving. It was a breath of fresh air for writers who had done previous TMNT versions.

As for how the turtles take after Yoshi: Donnie got a lot of his cockiness from him, as did Leo. Mikey senses that Yoshi misses his family, and that's part of the reason he always tries to hold the family together. Raph got his courage and sense of duty from him.

For Halloween, Raph would be a kitten, Mikey would be a lion, Leo would be a rock star, and Donnie would be J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Raph's favorite music is R&B, Leo's is glam rock, Donnie's is techno, and Mikey likes boy bands.

When asked about the turtles "favorite" brothers (obviously they all love each other): Mikey is Raph's favorite. As much as Leo gives Donnie a hard time, he really likes him. Ultimately, the three younger brothers all really look up to Raph.

The turtles all had their mystic powers inherently, but they didn't know it and couldn't unlock them without a little boost. Their mystic weapons acted as a conduit.

Splinter has a lot of power that hasn't been revealed, and there's a good chance he can do anything the boys can do if he really tries (which is how he could use Leo's portals). Their powers all would have grown and expanded over time.

Ron really likes fanart of the turtles, Splinter, and April in emotional family situations, as that is the heart of the show.

They didn't really get into romance in the show, but fans are free to use their imagination.

Hueso would never admit it, but he and Leo do have a close friendship.

While Ron doesn't think the show will be brought back any time soon since Nick's focus is on Mutant Mayhem (which he thinks Rise fans will enjoy, since they seem to have a lot in common), he does think it could be brought back further down the road. The most helpful thing is fans' continued support through watching, posting, and spreading the word!

[intheshadowsbehindyou]

Mercenaries finding random kid in the base. Who will punt the child and who will take care of it

Oh boy.

The TF2 Mercs finding a random little toddler in the base

Warnings: Thankfully none?

Scout:

- Oh god oh fuck oh shit. Stiffens up when a random fucking toddler runs by him in the hallway. He was just on his way to grab some more energy drinks from the fridge. Who let this little shit into a war zone?! Scout’s brotherly instincts kick in pretty damn quick and runs to grab the child before they could get into any artillery.

- Talks to a child how he’d talk to a normal adult. Just with less cursing and petty condescension. “The heck you doin’ here?” etc.. While the toddler completely ignores him. Bounces the little thing up and down a little. Scout’s actually had decent socialization with kids before due to his huge family.

- Scout doesn’t realize how comforting he is to a young developing mind. He’d make a great father and adamantly denies it. Partly due to his own father’s… untimely disappearance let’s just say. The other mercs are kinda floored how someone as annoying and troublesome as Scout has even the slightest amount of paternal instincts. Especially Spy. Hmm, for some reason he looks completely destroyed and devastated.

- Scout rolls a baseball on the ground with the kid and teases them lightly while Miss Pauling — stressed out of her mind — tries to find resources for this situation and figure out how a child of all things managed to end up in the middle of a battlefield. Let’s just pretend Spy isn’t standing there with his head in his hand. Realizing the consequences of his own past actions with utter depression written all over his outward body language.

————————————————————————

Soldier:

- DO NOT LET A CHILD NEAR SOLDIER. NEVER. DO NOT FUCKING DO IT.

- Are you insane? Are the parents insane? Is everyone in the world fucking insane? Soldier is practically an oversized toddler. He’d immediately make friends upon finding the child and give them a shitty nickname related to war in some way. Like “Captain diapers” or “Lieutenant Titsucker.” Now everyone else has to suffer soldier insisting the baby is his now.

- Tries to teach the child how to shoot a gun. Does not blow over well with literally all the mercs combined. Tries to read them the art of warfare and Heavy secretly has to switch that book out for a children’s fairytale mid story. Leaving soldier confused as to why the alleged warfare book contained faries and unicorns. “AND THEN MR. UNICORN SAID TO HIS FRIEND THE FAIRY: WHAT LOVELY LOCKS YOU HAVE. DEAR GOD!! THIS MUST BE SOME ADVANCED MILITARY STRATAGEM BEYOND MY UNDERSTANDING! GOD BLESS AMERICA AND ITS OUTSTANDING STEADFAST PROGRESSION!”

- Miss Pauling is absolutely livid when she finds out Soldier gave the baby a buzz cut. How the FUCK is she supposed to explain that to the parents? How the fuck is she supposed to explain that their lost child will come back knowing half the entire history of WWI now and knows how to recite the pledge of allegiance at like two years old?!

—————————————————————————-

Demoman:

- Demoman is initially pretty awkward. Quickly downs like several glasses of water in one sitting because it would obviously be a horrible example if he was drunk in front of a minor. He sits them down and tries to ask questions like where their parents were, and failing to understand the child’s not yet fully developed speech. Demoman suddenly empathizes what people mean when they can’t understand his scottish accent. Well shit. Looks like he has a little goblin in his care for a few hours.

- Demoman has a headache now. Surprisingly not from the child’s excited screeching and playing but the previously mentioned alcohol he had to manage with water. “Aye.. Quiet down a bit there..” He says flatly. Miserably holding his head while the child bounces around with endless energy. Maybe babysitting while recovering from intoxication wasn’t the best idea. He gave the kid some empty bomb shells to play with. Even bothered to draw faces on them to humor the kid.

- The child holds one of the shells up to his face “This is bob! Say hi!” they exclaim. Demoman stares at bob tiredly. Taking the shell into two fingers. “Guess you could say bob is the bomb.” The kid manages to stutter out. Which then immediately snaps demoman out of his exhaustion for a split second and causes him to choke on the water laughing his ass off. The kid’s laughing too. Overall the least insane experience the poor kid could have in the team’s base.

———————————————————————

Engineer:

- A small baby is in the intel room, trying to reach the briefcase. Naturally, the sound of the intelligence shifting in the other room would catch Engineer’s ears faster than anyone else’s. Especially considering the stats on his PDA show something bumped against one of his sentries on its way in.

- He enters the room pretty slowly. He knew whatever it was, it wasn’t a threat. Nothing that could bap his sentry with the force of a feather would be strong enough to fend him off. Let alone the patrolling sentry — which should have activated and began shooting by now. A blank, emotionless expression on his face as always, Engineer’s eyes trailed to the level three sentry. Which kept idly spinning from side to side and beeping passively. Completely ignoring the… Little child near the intel desk?!

- Engineer grinned, put his wrench on his shoulder and went over, sliding the briefcase away from the little one. “Oop! You don’t wanna get your grubby little paws on that thing, pardner. That there is for the adults, ya got that?” He said in a lighter tone. Very much unlike his usual rasp and frankly unintentionally scary deep voice. He didn’t care that the poor thing started whining. Dell reached down and ruffled the child’s hair. “Now, now. I know it’s disappointing.”

- Not even when the child hugged his legs and called him dada, not even when Miss Pauling asked to watch them for a bit. Engineer was like a nonchalant father lion tolerating his cub’s obnoxious little bites. A child could push his buttons to hell and back and Engineer would just sit there like there wasn’t a screaming child on his lap while he read the Tuefort newspaper.

————————————————————————

Heavy:

- If heavy were to be near a child in any capacity, it would make him nervous. His sisters were a different story. They’re family. But wild encounters with the beasts? What should he do? He doesn’t know them, and frankly he hates the idea of having kids. They’re way too much work, money, and his inner child wasn’t healed enough to take on another one. In a weird sort of way he’d be taking care of two.

- as he stares blankly at the little devil in front of him, the one he found trying to touch Sasha, he contemplated throwing them into the stratosphere like a baseball. His strong disliking for children didn’t come from a place of genuine malice however. He was envious that they still had youth and time to pursue everything they ever wanted. Heavy wanted to do many things in his lifetime and he felt that it was ripped from him due to the poverty he lived through.

- He recalled the time he made a child one time during Halloween and decided not to repeat that. He’ll pick up the child and shove it into Pyro’s room.. With a million dollars in the kid’s hand.

——————————————————————-

Pyro:

- Speaking of Pyro, they’re quite similar to Heavy in the sense that their inner child isn’t healed. But Pyro is once again able to destroy everybody’s outlook on them when they are capable of adeptly playing with children without ever hurting them. Especially catering to their personal needs depending on age. Can and will silently warm up a teddy bear in the microwave and hand them a bottle of chocolate milk.

- Pyro is extremely good at this, all things considered. They seem to have a pretty surface level understanding of childhood psychology and the proper ways to enforce a gentle parenting style. Which only adds to the mysterious era of their humanity; surely a faceless monster couldn’t do the things Pyro was doing. They were too calculated, too thoughtful in their actions. It made the other mercs pretty upset to see this display. In a sense, it was border-lining uncanny valley. Nobody could shake the primitive instinct that something was inherently wrong with this. They don’t even ask for help.

- But nothing violent becomes of it. Pyro had successfully eased the child into feeling comfortable the entire time they’re there. Not a single word left their mouth the entire time. They were only staring intently and tilting their head like a curious animal at the child by the time Pauling finally found the child’s parents. Scout jokes that Pyro is simply playing with his own mouse like a cat and has to be backhanded by a very uneasy Heavy.

—————————————————————————

Sniper:

- His parents — whilst nice — had their own individual flaws that prevented them from teaching this area of life. They did not think Sniper would be ever fit to raise a child and thus neglected his want for a small family. To be fair they aren’t too far off. Sniper is an assassin for hire that drives around nomadically and eats crocodiles for dinner. In no way shape or form would that ever be a proper atmosphere for a child to grow. He took their words to heart as always. He never did pursue a child. His father was angry that Sniper even thought of the idea.

- So imagine the guilt upon seeing the little rat bastard who had wandered into the base and was stumbling around the halls. He quickly realized this kid was essentially doomed. He was the wrong person to find this poor thing. The others weren’t any better. Removing his weapons was the very first thing he does, trying his best to conceal his expression. He didn’t want the child to sense his anger and self loathing. (Kids are sorta smart like that.)

- He then…. Throws the child into Pyro’s room.

————————————————————————-

Medic:

- Walks into his medbay with a bunch of folders. Sees a child sitting on one of the hospital beds. Proceeds to freeze in place like a deer in headlights. Has to double take for a moment to make sure he’s not dreaming.

- Proceeds to ignore the child for a bit for some reason. Even when and if other mercs are present and question him, Medic hushes them for some reason. Medic is like…. Fully convinced that child is an enemy spy in disguise. He moves around the room and half-asses a “Ho! Would sure be a shame if somebody stabbed me in the back while I was organizing papers!…. I SAID it would be a SHAME if SOMEBODY STABBED ME IN THE BACK!” (He fully believes this’ll work because Medic’s superiority complex doesn’t stop at Spy. He’s fully confident that he’s smarter than Spy, and Spy is a complete bumbling moron. Like most people to Medic.)

- The child makes a weird child noise, and that’s when he knows something is up. Medic narrows his eyes and marches up to the bed, staring the child maliciously in the face. “You don’t fool me, you know..” He says, gritting his teeth. “Is your kit broken or something? I can fix it for you for free! It’ll cost you an arm and limb though! Ho! Literally.” He adds “It’s quite an unflattering disguise for someone such as yourself!”

- Child stares blankly. Toddler has no clue what’s happening right now.

- Miss Pauling walks in. “Oh! There he is! Sorry for the interruption Medic, we had a child wander into the base—“ she pauses. Seeing Medic holding his ubersaw up to the child’s chin.

- “What do you mean we had a child wander in?” He is dumbfounded, and horrified.

————————————————————————

Spy:

- Spy opens the door to his quarters and makes sure to lock it behind him, always. He has like a million booby traps set up on his door and in his room to ensure nobody goes snooping for his private information.

- He turns around, adjusting his tie. Getting ready for the trauma of the day….. Then he sees a child sitting right in front of him in the hallway. The two of them lock eyes for a moment.

- …….

- Spy cloaks away immediately.

[jozor-johai]

Ned has this small speech in AGOT Bran I about why he must behead Gared, and I think there's some really interesting takeaways. Not about why he must do it, the part he focuses on; the part Ned doesn't focus on: why it's legal, and what that means for Gared.

"Do you understand why I did it?" "He was a wildling," Bran said. "They carry off women and sell them to the Others." His lord father smiled. "Old Nan has been telling you stories again. In truth, the man was an oathbreaker, a deserter from the Night's Watch. No man is more dangerous. The deserter knows his life is forfeit if he is taken, so he will not flinch from any crime, no matter how vile.

Ned moves our attention along to why Ned had to be his own headsman, but in just a few sentences here, we've been introduced to the paradox of law that makes this system so fundamentally unjust and broken.

We're told that "no man is more dangerous" than this deserter, so we might think, for a split second, that Ned feels he must kill the man because he is dangerous. But as Ned points out, the logic is actually the reverse: "he knows his life is forfeit if he is taken, so he will not flinch from any crime" (emphasis mine). It is not the prevalence of crime that is creating the demand for law, here, it's the existence of this extreme law that is generating the crime. Not wanting to be killed, the deserter would do anything to survive.

For Ned, the epitome of law in the North, who literally acts as judge, jury, and executioner, the tautology of the reasoning is irrelevant. The man is dangerous, now, whatever the situation. Of course, for Ned it's also really about an adherence to the laws of the Night's Watch, which is an institution as old as his house. It's their death sentence to declare, his to pass.

This time reading it, though, I was struck by how Ned's words here are an inversion to Septon Meribald's broken man speech, which is too long to relay here but ends with this:

"He turns and runs, or crawls off afterward over the corpses of the slain, or steals away in the black of night, and he finds someplace to hide. All thought of home is gone by then, and kings and lords and gods mean less to him than a haunch of spoiled meat that will let him live another day, or a skin of bad wine that might drown his fear for a few hours. The broken man lives from day to day, from meal to meal, more beast than man. Lady Brienne is not wrong. In times like these, the traveler must beware of broken men, and fear them . . . but he should pity them as well."

Septon Meribald is describing Gared here, just as much as he's describing the men at war. There isn't a mention here directly of the threat of punishment for desertion, which is more extreme with the Night's Watch than elsewhere, but the reality is the same. Here, though, Meribald's approach is entirely different than Ned's—Meribald, who walks among the smallfolk and gives away what good he can offer, has a much more understanding and empathetic view of these men.

Ned has the capacity for this understanding, but his role is simply not to have kindness here. All of the goodness and kindness Ned has otherwise just doesn't matter here, because here Ned is the law, and Ned is a lord still.

With the fact that even Ned is given this treatment, we see how rigid and unjust the laws and class structures are here. Even a "good person" is not good in Ned's position.

I think this highlights the cause behind the growing smallfolk unrest throughout the books and especially in Feast/Dance. Even the good lords, the ones who can see the problems at work here, are still lords, and still hold themselves to the status quo that keeps them in power above all else. And it takes a very different perspective—like the kind Arya has gotten, for example—to see it the way Meribald does. (Though Arya has gone the opposite route away from forgiveness... that's interesting too.)

[jedi-enthusiast]

Genuine question as to why you feel so passionate about being pro-jedi? I definitely wouldn't say I'm anti-jedi, but I think there are some decent criticisms that can be made about them. But overall I'm just interested to understand the dedication to being pro-jedi, cause it is a fictional organisation at the end of the day. Isn't it more fulfilling to look at them from different perspectives so we can get the most out of the story as possible?

Before I answer, I'm going to ask you a question in turn, would you ever ask this question to someone who was anti-Jedi? Would you ever imply that they need to change their view on the Jedi because they're "not getting the most out of the story?"

Now, I'm going to preface this answer by saying that I'm not angry with you, I'm just very passionate about this topic---so don't take any of this personally. You seem like you're genuinely asking, and I appreciate that.

----------

Personally, for me, there aren't really any criticisms that can be made about the Jedi- (keep in mind, I primarily adhere to Lucas Canon, everything else is just an add on depending whether I like it or not). Everything that people criticize the Jedi for or accuse them of falls into one of three categories:

Not true- (the Jedi are a cult, the Jedi repress their emotions, the Jedi were mean to Anakin, etc.)

Done for a reason because the other option would be worse/it was their only real option in a bad situation- (the Jedi shouldn't have fought in the war, the Jedi should've defended Ahsoka, the Jedi are slavers because of the clones, etc.)

Or it's something that's an Eastern concept/practice but people refuse to look at it as such and instead project their Western viewpoint/religious trauma onto them- (literally the entire thing about attachment)

I've never seen any criticism of the Jedi that doesn't fall into one of these categories, so why should I be inclined to "hear people out" or "look at the Jedi from other perspectives" when there's...really nothing else to look at?

----------

Another thing to consider is that, while the Jedi are fictional characters, George Lucas based them heavily on very real religions and groups---particularly Jews and Buddhists.

So when people say things like- "the Jedi weren't allowed to care/love/have emotions because of Attachment™️" -they're spreading harmful misinformation and basically saying that Buddhists can't love/care/have emotions because of their rule against attachment, since the philosophy of non-attachment is literally taken verbatim from Buddhism.

And when people usually pair the above rhetoric with- "-and that's why the Jedi deserved what they got/caused their own downfall" -it's...a very concerning mindset for people to perpetuate---especially when George Lucas based the genocide of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire off of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany.

When you strip away the fictional aspects of it, a lot of what people say about the Jedi is literally Nazi/antisemitic/Holocaust denial rhetoric. To take an example of something that has actually been said on one of my posts:

"The destruction of the Jedi Order was less a genocide and more of a religious conflict that the Jedi lost. The Jedi Order is a sect of the collective religious culture of 'Force Users,' and their destruction cannot really be considered genocide as the cultural group of 'Force Users' still exists albeit heavily restricted and controlled by the Sith during the Empire Era." - @/ironwoodarl01

And, as @zarohk pointed out:

It’s depressing how so many “Jedi critical” talking points are pretty much antisemitism and Holocaust denial/justification: The destruction of the Jedi Order was less a genocide and more of a religious conflict that the Jedi lost. "The Jedi Order religion of Judaism is a sect of the collective religious culture of 'Force Users Abrahamic faiths, and their destruction cannot really be considered genocide as the cultural group of Force Users Abrahamic faiths still exists…" Similar thinly-veiled antisemitism in the Star Wars fandom also frequently includes supersessionism, the Christian idea that during the (Roman) Republic era, the Jedi Jews had become corrupt and lost their way, and and so finally a divinely created person was sent to show them new path. This is why attempts to read Star Wars where Anakin is a Christ figure or correct where the Jedi have failed (ignoring the fact that he wrecked the lives of most people he was involved with, including himself, and the Darth Vader was never happy) are not just incorrect, but generally have a thick underlayer of antisemitism.

So, while Star Wars is fictional, it's important for people to analyze why they feel the way they do about the Jedi and be critical of the ways in which they talk about/criticize the Jedi---because, like it or not, the Jedi and their genocide are based on real people/things and so your reaction to them/what happened to them can be very telling.

----------

Finally, being critical of the good guys or trying to view everything through a morally grey lens doesn't make the story inherently more interesting, nor does it inherently add anything to the story---so I'm not "missing" anything.

If believing that no one can actually just be good, and everyone has to have some agenda, and "the good guys were the REAL bad guys all along" adds something to Star Wars for you...by all means, go ahead and believe what you want.

But my view of Star Wars isn't "lesser" or "missing something" just because I don't share that view and actually like the good guys and believe in what they taught/did.

----------

I'm passionate about being pro-Jedi because of everything I outlined above and because they were truly good people who tried their best to help the galaxy---they were brought down, not because of anything they did, but because of one man's selfish stupid actions.

There might've been a time when I was willing to hear people out when they criticized the Jedi---because hey! maybe I was wrong---but that time has long passed because nothing anyone has ever criticized the Jedi for has held up to scrutiny, and anti-Jedi people won't just keep the fuck off my page and leave me alone.

So, frankly, this is my blog and I'm allowed to be as passionate as I want to be---and I'm not gonna stop, or start viewing the Jedi as "wrong" or "bad" or whatever, just because you- (and other people, I'm sure) -think I'm missing something by being strictly pro-Jedi

[ezwezz]

mean girls - bp x reader

genre: imagines :) summary: the 'mean girl' develops an interest in you. pairings: ot4 x reader

jennie:

jennie was your classic 'you either wanna be me, or be with me' kind of mean girl.

your first encounter with her was through a seating plan. she begrudgingly obliged to sit next to you as the teacher separated her from her rowdy friends.

each lesson you found yourself progressing in small talk with her- it went from "what's the answer?" to "oh my god you won't believe what happened earlier..." as you were opening up to each other.

you were actually beginning to look forward to the lessons despite being acutely aware of jennie's mean girl status.

eventually, as the end of term neared, jennie asked for your number to keep in touch with you over the holidays.

one thing led to another and you were attending one of her house parties. you instantly gravitated towards each other, both in a drunken stupor, and spent almost the entirety of the party at each other's side, oversharing unfiltered life stories and having a raw heart-to-heart conversation.

she even shoo'd away potential hookups in order to continue hanging out with you.

in the early hours of the morning, one mutual confession of interest led to a heavy makeout session with the mean girl.

from then on, your relationship progressed into something of a fwb situation. you'd receive random texts throughout the holidays from jennie, asking you to come over.

sometimes she was intoxicated after hanging with some friends, therefore you took it upon yourself to take care of her instead of doing what was routine at this point.

you and jennie returned to school hand-in-hand, much to the student-body's surprise.

jisoo:

jisoo was a bit of a bully and had a tendency to target people she disapproved of, with her group of peers.

an unfortunate incident involving one of jisoo's crushes being friendly with you, caused you to become their next target.

jisoo confronted you before school the next morning, so you decided to toy with her a little.

"why were you talking to [redacted] yesterday?" "they're kind of cute...i was just testing the waters." "back off." "i'm surprised you're lowering yourself to that." "excuse me?" "it seems a little desperate. not what i'd expect from a pretty girl like you."

jisoo was at a bit of a loss for words after that encounter, she simply scoffed- a light blush tinting her cheeks as she stormed away.

from then on, you found that jisoo would intentionally find you throughout the school days to shoot you a bitchy comment, which you would respond to with a comment of equal bitchiness.

the school became your cold war arena- however, it never verged on unpleasant the way actual bullying would do. it felt progressively more like lukewarm exchanges of banter.

one particularly smart remark from you caused jisoo to crack and let out a giggle- surprising both you and herself.

"cute laugh!" "shut up."

you received a text from an unknown number after school that day: 'it's jisoo. erase my laugh from your pea-brain, i still hate you'.

you replied: 'charming as always, i guess this is one way to start a conversation with me ;)'

the conversation continued into the early hours of the morning. it was frosty at first, but by the time you finally said goodnight there was an undeniable warmth to her replies.

she greeted you the next day, not with the usual middle finger, but with a small "good morning" and a smile as she passed by.

lisa:

lisa was the rich girl. from what you'd heard, money lacked value to her, it was simply a constant in her life.

one day you were alone in the bathrooms sorting out your appearance in the mirror when someone came barrelling in, instantly locking themselves in the nearest cubicle. you could hear distinct sounds of sobbing coming from inside.

"uh...everything okay?" you felt obliged to ask. "obviously not! my boyfriend just broke up with me." a voice replied, it clearly didn't take much for them to open up.

you spent the next 20 minutes conversing with the person, indicating for random people to leave when they stumbled across the scene.

when the door finally opened, you were shocked to see a red-eyed lisa staring back at you. "you're really nice to talk to." she stated after a moment.

from then on, you'd be subject to random little gifts from the girl in gratitude. she claimed that now she didn't have a boyfriend, there was a gap in her spending to fill and none of her friends deserved the gifts more than you, but that was the extent of your interactions for a while.

you caught rumours of lisa's birthday coming around, and while you surely couldn't match her expectations on a spending-scale, you could certainly put some thought into a gift- as a thanks for all the ones she'd given you.

you slipped a small necklace with a moonstone pendant into lisa's locker on her birthday. attached was a note explaining the qualities of a moonstone such as inner growth and emotional balance, in light of her recent relationship ending.

the next day, you spotted the necklace adorning the girl's neck and smiled to yourself. when she found you later on, you were greeted with a hug, catching you by surprise. "thank you..so much." she whispered, before slipping a note into your pocket and rejoining her friends. it was her phone number.

from that day forward, lisa wore the necklace every day, and you wore your new matching bracelet.

rosé

rosé was captain of the cheer team, a role envied by many as a clear symbol of status. you'd known rosé years before school, and long before she'd become 'popular', due to your parents being friends.

you'd naturally drifted apart, but were still acquaintances in some ways- despite not even sparing each other glances in the hallways.

one day, in a strange turn of events, you found yourself inside rosé's house attending a dinner party with her family.

there was a definite air of awkwardness surrounding you two when you were left alone by your parents, but the conversation picked up when you began the gossip session.

you eventually found yourself in rosé's bedroom, completely abandoning the dinner party as you two joked around carelessly, forgetting about the divisions you faced in school. it felt strangely normal all of a sudden.

the following days were pleasant, instead of ignoring each other, you and rosé would say hello in the hallways. then it didn't take long for the friendship to rekindle as rosé would start asking to eat lunch together and hang out after school. much to their disdain, you'd eventually replaced a few of her popular new friends.

one thing led to another and you were once again in rosé's bedroom, this time as closer friends than before. you were finishing up some homework as she scrolled absentmindedly through her social media, both lying on the bed.

"i'm bored." she exclaimed with a sigh for emphasis, shifting so that she was directly beside you and her face inches away from yours. "i want to do something..." "like what?" you met her gaze, the proximity undeniably intimate. "i dunno!" she giggled while unsubtly glancing at your lips. "you sure?" you replied, smirking.

before you knew it, her lips were on yours and you were breathlessly making out with the cheer captain.

the small pecks in the hallways prior to that night seemed only natural.

[slowbison]

Heyy!! I love your writing and was wondering if I could request a Resident Evil 4, Leon S. Kennedy x male reader. Reader and Leon always had that little competition between them, always trying to be better than the other which lead to them not liking each other. They got sent to various missions together but always ended up fighting with each other on how to do things instead of focusing on the mission. It just didn’t work between them. Additionally, Reader is sarcastic and acts a bit like an a-hole sometimes, flirts with Leon in a joking way and Leon just can't stand that.

After Leon was sent to save Ashley Reader is sent to back up Leon (and Leon didn’t know that so he is kinda mad that they thought it would be a good idea to choose Reader for it) on his mission and after a long and annoying search, he ends up finding Leon in the village. At first, he thought Leon was some sort of villager and attacks him. He pins him to the ground but then realized who he is and reluctantly apologizes which just makes the situation worse between them.

When they find Ashley and then lose her later Leon gets injured badly because he just rushed in without thinking to save Ashley. But he couldn’t and they ended up fighting when the coast cleared. In reality, the reader isn’t mad about the fact that they lost Ashley again. He is mad that Leon got hurt in the process and Leon noticed that the reader was worried about him. That could lead to an angry make-out session. Enemies to lovers type thing

a/n: you plot stuff down like me (T-T)7 except yours makes more sense and less sporadic. for inspo on reader i used baptise/cassidy from overwatch (if ya know the game, i personally am a rein main, love the big guy)

Bottom! Leon S. Kennedy x Top! Male Reader

words: 3.7k

warnings: hand jobs, praising, nsfw, leon is going through it with reader

The air was moist when the car dropped you into the woods. You were assigned as a back up to an agent in ensuring the rescue of the president's daughter as the villagers proved to be much more troublesome than they thought. At first you weren’t interested in the mission, citing it as not challenging enough for your skills. But when they mentioned the agent already deployed was no other than Condor One, you agreed without any hesitation.

Condor One, or better known as Leon Kennedy, was your greatest rival yet amazing partner; if only you two could get along that is. The higher ups had always placed you and Leon as teammates due to the impressive career history. Both were top of the police academy, senses far sharper than the average agents and able to complete missions despite the numerous unknown factors. Which is why you were both often paired up. But what they didn’t know was how much fuel they fed the flames of competition between you two and how long time was spent arguing rather than maintaining focus on the task.

Leon for one, couldn’t stand your arrogance citing the times you would dismiss his suggestions with your own better option or making decisions on your own, leaving him to “pick up your mess”. Much less the many times you were more focused on teasing him or flirting in the middle of an intense situation.

On the other, you found it entertaining to annoy the blonde, enjoying the banter following after.

Worse was when you both started fighting over who gets to open the door first for the other, Chris lost brain cells hearing this story. Least to say that you both always miraculously managed to complete the mission, receiving high praise while the field agents tasked with providing information through both of the men's earpiece quietly cringed inside.

A smile grew on your lips as you made your way into the woods. “Now, where could you be, little puppy.”

The woods weren’t much of an issue to navigate as you walked up to a muddy path that led to what appears to be a desolated home. Cracks formed on the outer shell while flies circled around a heap of trash, possibly dead carcasses. You had been warned that these people didn’t treat strangers from the outside world kindly and kept your guard on as you moved closer.

With a gun in your hand, you entered the home and scanned around the dimly lit room. Blood splattered the wall, trailing to two dead bodies of what appears to be the cultists villagers mentioned from field operators' information. One appeared to be an old man whose throat was slit and the other riddled with bullet holes in the head. Picking up one of the empty shells on the ground, you found that it to be the same as your own ammo — meaning only one thing.

“Heheh, you’re still around here somewhere, huh?” You murmured, a slight grin on your face.

From the countless times you’ve spent working and being with Leon, you were rather knowledgeable with how the man shoots. Partially because you wanted to beat him at weapon handling in the academy, but from the many times your eyes lingered on every move he made.

The way his arms flexed as he held his gun, steadying it against the recoil or when he slightly pouted his lips to focus more on the target while your mind kept wondering how they’d feel if their attention was directed elsewhere…

Needless to say, you consider yourself an expert when it comes to the man and the knowledge proved useful today.

The grin dropped as soon as loud banging followed by heavy footsteps could be heard down the hall. Three rather angry looking villagers came crashing through a door, jabbing their axes and pitchforks at you before charging. You sighed, already having to deal with nuisances and shot at two of their kneecaps causing them to fall on the floor, quickly moving to punching the one still running square in the face — switching to your own combat knife, slitting the man’s throat.

The two villagers staggered their way to you, but you threw the now-dead third villager into them, crashing them both back onto the floor. You watched for a moment as they squirmed on the ground, reloading your gun before popping a bullet in between their heads, sending them to the next life. Sighing as it proved right that this mission wasn’t a match for your skills, but the thought of working with Leon lifted your spirits and made your way out of the home through the back door — marching into the forest.

Passing through the woods once more, going over a shoddy built bridge, you arrived at the main entrance of the village hidden behind a large door. Along the way you found more and more bodies, leading you closer to the man’s possible location. Hiding behind a pile of rocks, you watched as the villagers mindlessly yelled and prayed around a burning cross with a burn man tied.

Not wanting to watch for much longer, you moved further in, crouching as you rolled to hide behind a wall. Taking a moment to collect yourself, you sensed that there was a possible threat around the corner — most likely a villager.

Pausing for a moment to hear any movement made, an opportunity showed itself as the villager peeked at your corner only to be quickly pushed against the wall, gun clicking to the back of their head ready to shoot. You faltered as you realized who was at the end of the barrel, your grip on the gun easing, but a devious smile crawled on your face.

“Guess who, doll.”

The man tensed and immediately broke free from your hold, attempting to kick you at the side, one which you caught in your arm effortlessly.

“C’mon this ain’t no way to greet your partner Leon, dont’cha miss me?” You quipped, the man releasing his foot from your grasp. Leon huffed, moving back to peeking behind the wall, eyeing the villager’s for any reaction to the sudden noise.

“Just my luck I had to be paired up with you, was everyone out on break or what.” He spat, turning to finally address you.

Out of everyone they could have possibly sent out as assistance, he didn’t understand why they would send someone barely qualified to rescue the president's daughter. It just had to be a joke. You softly laughed, shaking your head at the man.

“Ouch, that hurts to hear Lee. I think we make quite the team, yeah? So long as you follow my lead, of course.”

Leon felt himself slowly losing his sanity the more he listened to you talk and moved to hide behind another home, you trailing after him. The first meeting didn’t seem to be going very well as the man decided to ignore your existence as he ran past homes, only turning to glare at you to ensure you were still real, smiling and waving as he turned.

So your brilliant mind decided that it was time to hit him with the old Y/n charm as you adjusted your clothing, wiping at the imaginary dirt. Clearing your throat and moving closer, whispering softly, “If it’s anything worth, you look great. Even if you got a little dirt on ya cheek.”

“Would you shut up for one second while I concentrate?” Leon hissed. You grinned, enjoying his reaction.

“If you’re having trouble, why don’t you leave this to me, doll? I’ll get us outta this shithole quick.”

“I don’t need your help, just shut up and stay-“

You quickly wrapped an arm around the man’s shoulder, pulling him close to your chest and fired your gun at the villager that had silently crept onto him — body falling lifelessly to the floor.

Leon snapped his head at the body before turning to meet your gaze on him, a sly smirk slowly spreading. “This is the part where you say thank you, sugar.”

The man grumbled before pushing you down, firing at the man on the floor who began convulsing, sprouting tentacles from his head. Ensuring the man was dead, Leon turned to face you with a smirk on his face.

“Guess we’re even now, huh darling?”

Your eyes slightly widened as the man referred to you with a pet name, something he never does and by the look on his face, he must’ve realized what he said. Though you could barely see it, a hit of red dusted his cheeks as he hid himself from you. You were about to tease the man some more when you heard the sound of many villagers walking in your direction, probably from the sounds of your arguing and guns.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to continue our little chat later, love. Maybe we could go out to dinner after all this.”

“I’d rather play bingo with these people than having to go on a date with you.”

“Oh?, never said it’d be a date, but if you insist.”

Leon let out an annoyed huff as he began firing at the villagers appearing, alternating between his combat knife to reserve ammunition. Overwhelmed by the sheer amount, you began busting through homes and fired at ones that broke in. The real challenge being a chainsaw wielding maniac that absorbed bullets like a sponge, barely reacting except for some staggering here and there.

Soon, the battle was over as many of the villagers lay dead at your feet as the last one standing was the chainsaw man who collapsed to the floor, blood painting the ground.

You and Leon shared a long stare as you both caught your breath from the long fight. Gaze landing on his lips while he scanned over your body before landing on your own mouth. You felt yourself pull closer to him and licked your lips while the other stayed still, eyes still focused on you. Only for the moment to be ruined, just as you were so close to him that his field operator Hunnigan, called asking for a progress report on the mission. You groaned as the blonde pulled away, speaking to the woman before turning to face you.

“Let’s go, they’ve got Ashley trapped in some big building up ahead.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s get this over with. I’ve got a date to attend after this.”

Leon let out a defeated sigh and walked off, following the dirt path as you joined him at his side, chatting as you both dealt with more villagers. Though the talking stopped as you both ran into a tied up Spaniard who you later learned his name was Luis after being thrown into a wall and awakening tied up in a room.

A bit of jealousy flared within you as the man, eyes lingered far too long for your liking on Leon. Feeling dissipating once the man ran off, throwing the key which you caught and removed the chains from your hands as well as Leon’s. You couldn’t tell if you wanted to befriend that man or eliminate him as a possible contender for Leon.

Either way, it didn’t matter as you and Leon continued the search for Ashley after traversing the village, buying items from a strange hooded man, fighting an overweight mutant pet fish and finally arriving at a church where it’s believed to imprison the woman.

The first encounter, much like your own with Leon, was a short fight that ended with her screaming before calming down and thanking you both for rescuing her.

“I’m so sorry for attacking you. I-I thought you were one of them.” She said softly, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Yeah we look like decrepit old men and got the whole cultist gear going for us,” You scoffed, the woman meekly apologizing once more. Leon punched your shoulder and moved to place a gentle hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about him, he’s just an asshole. We’ll get you home, promise.”

Ashley gave a faint smile and nodded, seemingly feeling a little bit better at his words. You huffed, turning to walk out the church doors only to shut them at the sight of a large mob of villagers outside.

“If you two are done gossiping about me, we’ve got company.”

Leon rolled his eyes, warning Ashley to carefully follow them and equipped his gun. You pushed open the doors, alerting the mob that began shouting — a fight ensued.

The mob proved to be overwhelming as your group slowly backed into a corner after making it outside, forcing you all to run for cover. Ashley desperately tried to keep between you and Leon, but was caught by a few villagers that dragged her back to the crowd. A shrill scream was all you heard as they ran off with Ashley, most likely to another building to imprison her in.

“Ashley!” Leon yelled, aiming for one of the villagers that held her arms. You quickly turned to look at the man, alternating between hand-to-hand combat and firing your gun at villagers surrounding you. Your eyes widening as one of the knife wielding villagers rushed to impale the unsuspecting man.

“Fuck, Leon! Watch out!”

Leon turned to dodge and hissed as the blade struck the side of his torso, blood gushing from the wound. Swiftly roundhouse kicking the villagers around you, you went to pick up the man and ran as he fired shots at the mob chasing.

You both managed to lose the horde after hiding in a dense thicket, holding your breaths as the villagers ran over your head. Your arm wrapped around the injured man’s shoulder while the other held out a gun. Once the sounds of the horde began to die down, you directed your attention back to the man who let out soft groans of pain. A mixture of worry and anger swept over you as you helped him to his feet.

“What the hell was that Leon!” You spat at him, putting an arm around his waist, helping ease his balance. “You could’ve gotten stabbed! Use that damn head of yours smartass.”

Leon grit his teeth in anger before letting out a painful hiss. “Our mission is to save Ashley no matter the cost, you should’ve chased after them instead of being here, asshole.”

“Fat chance we’ll save her if we both get hurt and I’m not going to leave you here bleeding out.”

“Since when did you care about me?”

“I’ve always cared, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Goddamnit, you’re always so hard to tell. I can never figure-“

You crashed your mouths together, teeth clacking. Leon let out a surprised noise but he didn't let it deter him from returning the kiss — threading his fingers into your hair, licking into your mouth. The kiss turned increasingly desperate as you pulled him close, not wanting to separate from each other’s lips for even a moment. Though eventually, the lack of much needed air forced you apart, bumping your head against his as you stared into his eyes.

“Can you figure that out, puppy?” You quipped, trialing your hands over his ass, kneading the mound in your hands.

Leon pressed himself against your chest and hovered his lips over yours.

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

Not wanting to waste anymore time talking, you decided that your body could do it for you. Attacking his lips once more, tongues dancing together as you pressed him against a tree. Slotting your leg between his, feeling the blonde’s own hardness grind down on you. Leon’s soft muffled moans slipped past the gaps in the kiss, locking his arms behind your head to steady himself as he humped your leg.

The sound of the forest drowned in the background as the kiss got more heated, lips swollen, breathing heavy against each other — mind swimming in fog lustful daze. Trailing from his lips to his neck, you marked the man, leaving dark marks littered on his pale skin.

Leon clasped a hand on his mouth, hoping to suppress the drawled out moans and whining as he continued grinding on your leg.

“Shit, ah- not enough, need more please,” He whined, digging a hand into your shoulder before hissing at the pain from his side, blood still seeping into his clothes.

“Take it easy there doll. I've got you, I’ll make it quick alright?”

Leon groaned and nodded, pushing himself onto the tree — shoots of pain and pleasure coursing through him. Not wanting to prolong his suffering, you worked off his belt along with your own and brought the hard shafts together after freeing them of their confinement. Both letting out a soft groan as you started off with gentle stroking that got increasingly faster and tighter. Thumbing over the slits, letting the precum act as lube, making it

Leon threw his head back and arched his back, feeling the pleasure overwhelm the pain from the wound festering at his side.

“Yes, fuck yes, I’m close k-keep going please.. ah!”

Denying the man felt unacceptable, especially when he was begging so nice just for you. A satisfied grin emerged from your face as you continued working on bringing you both to climax.

“You look so damn pretty right now doll. Can’t wait to see what you’d look like when I fuck that tight ass of yours.” You panted into his ear, tugging at your cocks in your hand, leaving the blonde a sobbing mess in his hand.

“You’ll be good for me won’t you? I’ll make sure you can’t walk right for a week.”

A shudder traveled up Leon’s spine at the thought of returning back to the country only to be fucked into oblivion, feeling the ache of your thrusts all week. The fact it would be from his own rival no less, one that he swore up and down to never get involved with unless forced to. He didn’t know what was worse, the idea that he wanted nothing more than to submit to the same man that frustrated him to no-end or that is exactly what he felt missing in all the interactions shared with you.

Leon’s moan became louder as he started realizing the feelings he refused to acknowledge and buried his head into your neck, blush spreading across his face.

“I know you want it darling and I’ll make it a dream come true, now come for me.” You whispered into his ear, tightening your hand even more that proved to be enough for the man to spill.

The blonde concealed his broken cries into your neck as he came, coating your hand before dripping to the ground. You soon followed after and gently jerked the last few spurts of cum, stopping to wipe your hand on the tree, tucking you and him back into its restraints.

Leon panted heavily against your neck, heart rate dropping as he caught his breath. You placed soft kisses along his neck, moving your head over his.

“I’m serious when I say this Leon, let’s get that dinner and make it a date. I want us to be more than just.. rivals.”

Leon bit his lip in thought, conviction flicking between his eyes as he stared into yours. Gaze softening before speaking, “Alright then, but I’ve had enough seafood right now. I can still smell that thing’s breath.”

You laughed, bringing up a hand to rub a gentle thumb over his cheek. “I know this killer place downtown with a nice view, no seafood menu too.” You murmured, removing a strand of hair from his lips.

Leon softly smiled and leaned into your touch. “I’ll hold it to you then.”

A laugh escaped from both of you, only stopping when Leon hissed in pain, eyebrows furrowed as he bit back a groan. For a small moment, you both forgot that the man was still injured from a knife earlier and you quickly worked on fishing out some miraculous herbs. You weren’t too sure how they always helped heal such wounds, but it was the least of your concerns so long it worked. Digging out a large bandage to wrap around his torso, Leon stifled any pained noises.

You were slightly worried as the wound wasn’t anything deep, but it was a contender for possible stitches or better treatment than you could provide. Just how did the man ignore such pain during the heated moment shared between you two was beyond you. Unless..?

“Say you got a thing for pain or something?” You mused, a grin forming on your face as the man’s face flushed.

“What? No! I’m just used to getting hurt sometimes, this is nothing.” He huffed, pushing himself off the tree and adjusted his clothes, avoiding your pointed look.

“Is it also why you like it when I throw you on the ground back at the academy?”

Leon grit his teeth and shook his head, refusing to speak anymore unless he was to give away how he truly felt about being manhandled.

“Quit speculating and let’s get back to saving Ashley, again.”

You quietly laughed and made your way out of the thicket, returning back to focus on the operation. Though your mind couldn’t help wandering back to the man at times as you ran up to the new location they hid the girl in. Wanting nothing more but to end it quickly so you could spend more time with Leon than slaughtering villagers and cultists, even if you were good at it. A determined look set across your face as you watched from the door Leon helped free Ashley from her chains.

I’ll make sure we get out of here. No matter the cost.

a/n: yeah the reader is slightly psychotic when it comes to Leon at the end. i had thoughts of making a part two of this, but not all that sure. regardless of that, hope y’all liked this :]

if anyone’s interested, here’s a rough cut dialogue that i didn’t use.

“Think that merchant guy sells lube? Rather not hurt ya while we fuck doll, I can get pretty rough.” You grinned, watching the man’s cheeks burn.

“We are not fucking during a mission!”

“Damn, that was on my bucket list.”

Leon gave you a questionable stare.

“What? Why do you- forget it, I don’t want to know anymore.”

“C’mon, it’s a pretty good list and I just thought up a few more of what I could add.”

up next: reader request! Rocket x Male Reader. rocket isn’t fond of new people, more importantly a stranger that he’s to fight alongside with, but eventually comes around to you.