#road trip trope

[r41nb0wzzz]

I LOVE ROAD TRIP TROPES

[munsster]

road trip (trope bingo)

A/N: thought i might try this format out. also introducing a new face to my tumblr repertoire. i’ve written marvel before, just never on this site. enjoy!! (gif creds: @bubbarnes)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Summary: You think Bucky is shallow for rejecting a pretty stranger in North Dakota. Little do you know. 1.6k words

Warnings: fluff, dummies not talking about their feelings, pet names (doll), slight angst but resolved, perhaps mutual pinging, a really good hug, playful bullying, cursing

"Ooh, she's cute."

You've been doing this for over an hour. He's downed at least four coffees by now. And the worst part is you call it finding a suitable mate. But he's just not interested in the women you're scouting for him at a rest stop a few miles out from Fargo, North Dakota. He would've just left, gone and sat in the truck, but he'd feel bad leaving you rambling to yourself when you're the one paying for this meal.

"Come on, Buck, you're no fun," you huff, dropping your spoon into the thick mug now emptied of hot cocoa.

"You're right. Can we go now?" He starts to slide out of his seat when you scoff. He goes still like a deer in headlights. This should be fun.

"James Buchanan, you're telling me none of the lovely ladies in this diner tickle your fancy? Not even third barstool? She's tall, Buck, like... model tall," you suggest with your brows raised.

"I'm not... we're in North Dakota, you think that's what I'm lookin' for?"

"Just one date! You wouldn't take her on one, single date? The little bar across the street seems sensible, why not?"

"Um—"

"Tell meee," you whine, leaning over the sticky, vinyl tablecloth with a pout.

He shrugs. "Not my type."

"Bullshit. She's everybody's type. She's my type, Bucky. Are you blind or just plain stupid?"

"I'm not interested."

You pull a face like you're offended on her behalf. Bucky rolls his eyes and wishes you'd drop it.

"Oh, I get it," you say. Leaned back, arms stretched across the length of the seat, you huff and glare at him. "You think you're too good for her, huh? Just 'cause she's a North Dakota ten, and you're a Brooklyn eight, you think that makes you better, don't you?"

"What? An eight?" he mumbles, shaking his head.

"Ugh, you men gross me out sometimes. Massive egos, teensy little brains," you say, slapping a twenty on the table and standing with a vicious squint. "Well, let me learn you something, James"—you loom over him and poke your pointer finger at his chest—"you're shallow, and you're no better than her. You prob'ly couldn't take her out if you wanted to. Goodnight."

You huff and walk away, but he chuckles and calls after you: "It's noon, doll." Flipping him off, you march out into the parking lot. He considers the woman for a moment. You called him a Brooklyn eight. She's pretty, he'll admit, but he wasn't lying when he said he wasn't interested. Bucky's seen the far stretches of the Earth, which means he's seen women of all forms. Accountants and soldiers from all over, all professions, all languages. All beautiful. But nothing intrigues him quite as much as you do.

...

"Did you ask her out, or are you choosing to remain a coward?" You've got your boots propped on the dashboard, the truck bumbling eighty down the highway. An emery board swipes back and forth at your middle fingernail as you snap your bubblegum.

"Come on, doll, play nice. We're leavin' anyway, didn't want to hurt her feelings," he grumbles.

"Tough. Doesn't make you any less of a pussy, Barnes."

You flick the nail file at his cheek and drop your feet heavily on the hot car mat. You called him a Brooklyn eight. You cringe at the remembrance while Bucky revels in it. He even grinned stupid all the way back to the parking lot. To himself, but still. He hates how deep under his skin you are. He hates how he likes the itch.

His tongue twists with all the things he could have said. He should have said. But he grips the steering wheel tight and drives till you cross the border into Minnesota.

"Wanna go anywhere before Wisconsin? They've got... lakes here," he shyly suggests, voice soft, hoping you'll just ignore him and turn up the radio. He doesn't think you'll ever ignore him, even if he did prefer it.

"Only if I could push you into one of them."

"Listen, kid—"

"Kid? That's great, Bucky. It's getting dark, why don't we just find a motel." You cross your arms. The cold is getting to you. Even in a down jacket and two pairs of pants. It gets like that up north.

He does what you tell him because the last thing he needs is for you to hold another grudge against him. This one's quaint, so he gets the last double available, chuckling nervously when the older woman at the front desk mistakes you for a married couple.

"Sure you don't want a single, honey? Not gettin' any kids outta separate beds—"

"Nope—thanks, miss—that's—double is fine, double's perfect, thanks," he huffs. You chuckle.

She gives a rolling, belly laugh, head tossed back as she croaks, "Won't file any noise complaints against youse! Have a fun night."

"Geez, she was great," you sigh, still smiling from the ridiculous interaction. You flop face down onto the bed closest to the window, rattling the ice from the crevices in your boots. It crunches to the floor and you wriggle out of your coat as Bucky locks himself into the pale yellow bathroom.

He starts mumbling from the other side of the door, so you sit up and toe your boots onto the floor with a thud. Digging your fingertips into the edge of the hastily tucked sheets, you stare at a wine stain in the middle of the beige carpet. At least it smells nice in here. Even if half the lights are out, and cable doesn't come through clear enough to watch.

You find yourself, cheek pressed to the door, eyes wide as you listen through the flimsy wood.

"I don't think so, Steve. No, listen, it's like... beyond repair. She wouldn't take an apology even if I knew what i was sorry for—no—she's way too good for me, I can't do that to her."

Still moping over women found in North Dakota's lowest rated diners? That's highly unlike him. But even Bucky's a wildcard six-thousand miles into a roadtrip. You press closer, chewing your lip and closing your eyes.

"No, no, everything—this stuff's easier for you, pal, you don't get it, 'kay? I'm just saying... I mean, even a stranger thought we were married"—What—"has to mean something, right? Even strangers are realizing... there's something... there. I just don't want to accidentally—no, I know, not like that, I mean...well, I like her a lot and I don't want it to scare her—"

You back up slightly, hands held in front of you like surrender. Not out of fear, but realization. That's why he didn't ask her out. Or even fish for her number. Because—

You hit the floor with a thump.

"Steve. I gotta go."

The door whips open and floods the room with warm light. You scramble to your feet.

"Were you... I was just talking to... Did you hear any of that?"

You shake your head. He shoves his hands into the shallow pockets of his jeans.

"Okay," he says with a nod, "good." He blows hot air out of his mouth and runs a swift hand through his hair. But he doesn't meet your eyes. Like a little kid so terrified of fibbing that he'd rather swim deeper into the abyss than float to the surface. Can't catch his damn breath around here.

"So..."

"Goodnight, Bucky!" you chirp, turning on your heel with a whoosh of air. And he stops you in your tracks, hand on your bicep. You don't turn back around, stuck staring at the foot of your bed.

"Doll," he whispers, roped up by fear and a pinch of self-pity. Attending his own funeral with a sick smile on his face. "Just how much did you hear."

You spin on the balls of your feet, going hot in the face, fueled by the electricity at his fingertips. "A lot."

"Oh."

You nod and try your best non-psychotic smile. "Sorry."

"No, no... don't be," he says, trying his own. So you're just a couple of smirking idiots at a stalemate in a stale motel room. A couple of idiots with feelings for each other. Unresolved feelings. Unspoken, too.

"I actually—could I?" You point behind him into the cramped bathroom, and he lets go of you like it's his last move before you put him in check. Before he has to hand you the game. Though, he'd do that in a heartbeat. Every game of his is yours. "Thanks."

"No problem." He shuts his eyes when you close the door with a calculated tenderness. Like you don't want to frazzle his poor heart.

But then why would you open the door again? Why would you wrap your arms around his waist and nuzzle into his back? Why would you make it all so much worse and spread your fingers over his abdomen, taking a deep breath when he runs his hand down your forearm and turns to face you. Then you melt with his strong arms holding you thisclose.

"Like you a lot, too, Barnes. You're just a big dunce a lot of the time. But that's like... half the draw or whatever," you mumble into his shoulder. And you've never been this close, and he thinks he could pass out. Become a chalk outline in a dusty motel in Minnesota. But if it happened like this, he'd be okay with that statistic.

marvel masterlist

[inchidentalmeowmeow]

Rewatching LOTR and my friend keeps saying legolas looks like charles. I’m not so sure myself but he does look great as an elf sooo 🤷🏻‍♀️

[bluebellefox]

Sometimes I think about this fun little AU I have where Snape somehow ends up on the horcrux hunt with Harry, Hermione, and Ron for whatever bullshit plot reason. And the three of them are just like "Merlin he's an asshole, I can't believe we're gonna bully him into being our weird grumpy uncle figure" and then there's Snape being all disgruntled and trying to beat them off with a stick and the trio just doubling down harder out of spite.

Can you imagine Malfoy Manner with Snape being there, it would be a shitshow of epic proportions. Snape has really no idea that the three of them had grown on him like some kind of obnoxious fungus because he's absolutely terrible at handling his emotions right up until they're being threatened by torture to hand over the sword of Gryffindor and having that italicized "oh" moment right there. Which of course leads to him trying to goad Bellatrix and the rest of the Death Eaters into redirecting their attention on him because fuck those are kind of his kids now. And then the Golden Trio having their moment of realization with concrete proof that there's real emotions and feelings hiding underneath all that snark and snarling.

I just want them to get along.

[muppetbyers]

"the entire point of the cali gang road trip was finding el" yeah, finding el. lgbtq

[innytoes]

Happy birthday @onlygenxhere

Julie knows her aunt will have an absolute fit when she finds out that instead of job hunting straight out of college, she and Luke are taking a road trip across the country. But even with her fancy degree in music therapy, she had no idea what she wanted in life.

Part of her wanted to use what happened with her mom to help kids like her. To help them find their way back to what they loved, or to help them find a new way to express themselves.

But another part of her still longed to do, to be, to sing and feel that connection to her mom where she felt it most: on a stage.

Her papi had taken her into his arms when she broke down a week before graduation and had told her to follow her heart. She was pretty sure he hadn't meant 'follow the love of her life into a beat up old station wagon to drive through sunsets and sunrises, check out tiny music stores in tiny towns, sit in late night diners in the middle of nowhere and talk for hours, and croon along to the radio as Luke dozed on her shoulder'.

But that's what she did, and she never felt more free, and happy, and sure of herself.

And when they came back with a stack of notebooks full of songs, two strangers they picked up along the way, and a plan to form a band, well, her dad just said he knew Mom would be proud of her.

[besttropeveershowdown]

The Best Trope Ever Showdown: Round 4, Side B

Road Trip Plot

Propaganda:

Characters stuck in a car together. Often at least one of them doesn’t want to be there. The banter is unmatched. It’s chaos.

Battle Couple

Propaganda:

Two people fighting side by side, or back to back, trusting the other to have their back, even while bickering. Amazing. And if they kiss, surrounded by enemies… perfection ❤️❤️❤️

[lord-squiggletits]

Something I keep seeing when I speak to others about MTMTE Megatron is basically the idea that he's going on a personal journey to become a better person, that the point isn't for him to be "redeemed" but for him to get a chance to do good and die as a person he can live with again. That MTMTE presents a unique take on this because being away from Cybertron gives Megatron a chance to be a person rather than a political figure and this is how it gives him more depth as a character. Or just generally pointing out in a narrative sense that Megatron being in MTMTE limits his story options so of course his story is going to be more focused on a personal journey than on politics of him dealing with the Decepticons/Earth/etc and that just because JRO made a choice to take that path with Megatron doesn't mean that it's inherently bad.

And I'm just, mmm like I understand all of those points and acknowledge that they all contributed to the MTMTE Megatron we got. I even think that without JRO writing Megatron we wouldn't have had his lore be as fleshed out and 3D as it ended up becoming.

(Post starts out as a sort of meta analysis or at least me giving a reasoned explanation for my interpretation of the story, ends up being petty bitching in the last 1-2 paragraphs)

I just..... I just personally don't agree with the "he's becoming a better person by getting a chance to relax and experience happiness and trust after a life of trauma" as being the best choice for his character? Because the problem is that maybe if he were a random Decepticon foot soldier that would be appropriate, but he was literally the leader of the Decepticons that made them Like That and has political/cultural/societal responsibility for why things are the way they are? To be completely frank, I don't care about him going on a personal journey for self-peace, I think that he should become a better person by helping to un-fuck all the things he actually screwed up???

Like idc about the debate of whether he can be "redeemed" or if he should've been killed/imprisoned/etc at the ending. It just comes down to the fact that for me personally, I feel that since Megatron's wrongdoings were at a social level, him "being a better person" would've been better shown by him engaging with those people who he wronged instead of just going on a frigging personal journey for his legacy and self-peace???

Especially since in other series (exRID, possibly Windblade) we literally got plots like "the neutrals hate Autobots but they hate Decepticons even more" and "the Decepticons have been taken over by Galvatron and are now invading earth 2 electric boogaloo" and "yeah the Decepticons are literally living in slums because people hate them so much and won't give them any work." It just leaves me wondering why in the hell people are like, "oh Megatron got to be happy and have a chance to be a normal person." I don't want him to be normal! I want him to repay his debts to the people he actually wronged! Like if you want to cast Megatron as a hero of the people so badly (which so many of his stans do as if he actually cared about the Cons) then how do you reconcile the fact that Megatron just fucked off and left the Decepticons to suffer on Cybertron? Including some of them attacking during his trial and getting killed and Megatron is basically like "sorry, I'm not coming with you and this isn't going to work." And then Megatron complains about "toxic Decepticon loyalty" as if he didn't literally make them that way? Like I get that MTMTE Megatron is still an asshole but if you've read something besides MTMTE and know what the Decepticons are going through, it just ends up being really grating.

I just don't see Megatron as being a particularly good hero or having a particularly fulfilling story if he's completely isolated from all the bad things he did on Cybertron/the way the Decepticons are suffering until LL#25 where it's like "ah damn I'm going to trial now, well this is what I deserve so it's fine." Why could we not have seen something like Megatron trying to deradicalize the Decepticons or change their public image so they could integrate into normal Cybertron again? They were living in SLUMS and getting gunned down by Starscream's badgeless enforcers!

The best we got was the Functionist Universe but like.... I'm sorry, but JRO inventing a whole alternate universe for Megatron to save doesn't do jack shit to save or fix the people he left behind in this one. It was especially grating to read because JRO literally wrote in someone saying "you saved billions of lives from the Functionists" as if he was trying really hard to show how good Megatron is because he saved people (and also if not for Megatron existing Cybertron would be even worse and half of your faves would be enslaved or dead, also the Functionist Council was going to genocide organics too so technically they're WORSE than Megatron since they hate organics AND want to enslave their own race).

I read Barber's, JRO's, and MScott's series concurrently using the omnibus + a release order list for phase 3, and after all that I'm kind of puzzled why the fandom seems to ardently love MTMTE Megatron and think he's so well written but then also shit on Optimus for things that he did during the same points in the story? Because, and I know this is a blazing hot take, I honestly think that Optimus makes a better hero of his story than Megatron does for his, and Optimus' personal journey combines his personal and political identities into a narrative that's a lot more gruelling and questioning of his goodness than we got for Megatron in MTMTE. Which is fucking saying something considering Megatron committed crimes against sapient species and Optimus is the guy who tried to stop him from doing that and has always been pro-equal rights for all beings. But people pretty much just cherrypick things like Optimus annexing Earth or beating up Prowl and go "he's bad" and I'm like no??? IDW OP isn't a bad person or a bad character??? It's just that unlike MTMTE Megatron he's placed in a narrative that actually suits the nature of his actions and has themes that match. To the point that IMO sometimes Barber's narrative shits on Optimus excessively or paints him mainly in the most unflattering ways.

But like. It's just funny to me because Optimus spent his entire part of the story doing things like trying to stop Earth from being invaded/colonized yet again. Grappling with his identity as Prime and dealing with the fact that people literally worship him vs. the fact that his upbringing made him see the Primacy as nothing more than a facade of authority/leadership. Having people get mad at him for prioritizing politics over friendship/relationships with other people. Even getting shit on for being a cop a decent amount so people can STFU about IDW OP being "copaganda" or "not held responsible for his actions". The problems that Optimus dealt with were personal because they had to do with his self-doubt, culpability for the war as a leader of one of the armies, distance from his soldiers, etc. But all of these are also POLITICAL struggles. Because Optimus gave up on the chance to just be a normal person having personal struggles when he chose to become a LEADER, which also means that he's held to extremely high standards that he regularly fails at in the eyes of others.

That's why, to me, MTMTE Megatron falls flat in comparison and really as a "hero" or heel-face character in general? Because he also made a decision to be a leader, and IMO once you do things like become the commander of an army and start your own galactic empire, you lose the right to prioritize your personal problems and instead are obligated by the power you've chosen to wield to focus on your POLITICAL problems. If Megatron's power, influence, and crimes are of a social-political nature, then his heel-face turn arc and ways of showing that he's a better person/helping to heal what little damage he possibly can should have been shown with actions that help on a social-political LEVEL. That's why I'm not particularly impressed with his character arc and feel as if it was overhyped by other people in this fandom: sure, the extra character depth and emotion is nice, but I'm not really going to see him as extraordinary or even particularly good when the extent of him "becoming a better person" happens entirely on a random road trip to fuck-off nowhere. Especially not when the ending of LL tried to sell me a "they lived happily ever after" ending while basically leaving the freaking MUTINY as just Rodimus going "oh it's okay you're forgiven, we're all together again" and I guess everyone was fine with Megatron and wanted to spend an eternity on a ship with him just because Getaway died.

This is why I like (the concept/themes of) exRID/OP and the way Optimus' character arc was handled a lot more. Because for Optimus, the personal and the political were as one. He was held accountable for his actions towards others and the disruptive effects they had on a social level, sometimes to a ridiculous extent (the fucking "oh Megatron is an Autobot so now that makes the Autobots colonizers" plot and that stupid colonist screaming about how Optimus is "literally fascist" my beloathed). Even his very personal issues like his relationship with Zeta were still cast in a wider lens of, yeah this is a personal struggle that Orion faced, but he was still part of a Society TM and his actions were sometimes ill-informed or harmful to others. Even if I had a lot of problems with the way Optimus' story was written by Barber (plot holes, little meaningful character interaction, forced conflicts), at least the BASELINE of it was way better than Megatron's in MTMTE. Especially since Optimus' struggle was explictly about things like struggling with responsibility and how he feels he HAS to intervene in political affairs because has to save people/make up for his past mistakes. That's something that a good leader/good person actually does, so I found Optimus to be a better hero (even if his actions weren't all "good") because he was trying to be a good person by actually getting involved with Cybertron/Earth and subjecting himself to something he hates (leadership, war) and dealing with a shitload of criticism instead of just going on a fuckin "personal journey" lksdlkfsd.

Which just makes me extra salty that people hold up MTMTE Megatron as the pinnacle of Megatrons and literally the best Transformers writing evar! while turning up their nose and ignoring or outright despising IDW Optimus. Like okay. I guess since Megatron got handled with silk gloves on while Optimus got put through the wringer of being shit on by every other person in the story, it's easier for you to pretend that Megatron is a poor uwu boy who just needs friendship and love while Optimus is literally the worst bastard to ever exist. Or maybe it's just that since Optimus' story involves him sometimes fucking up, being criticized, or making things worse, that makes him morally bad. As opposed to Megatron who disrupted a lot of other characters' stories in MTMTE, had to have an entire alternate universe invented so that he could "save lives," and got to sail off on a quantum Lost Light happily ever after, so since he's happy and the story says he saved people that means he's a good hero.

[discar]

Random plot bunny I'll probably never have time to write: Medieval arranged marriage road trip.

So this sprouted from this recent post on arranged marriage. Arranged marriages don't have to be terrible or perfect, they can just be a thing your parents set up for you, like a job.

But obviously the parents don't want their kids to be miserable; from a purely pragmatic view, it would lower their utility in the marriage, marring the family's reputation and threatening future dealings. And you know how they say you shouldn't marry someone until you're stuck in a car with them for hours on end?

So I'm thinking of a pair of noble kids, locked in a carriage and sent to a far-flung corner of the country with a vague quest. "The weirdos in the swamp are being weird again, fix it." They've got guards and everything, they're not literally alone. But all the servants have orders to avoid interfering as much as possible, basically forcing the kids together as much as is feasible considering the times.

Solving the problem is secondary (the weirdos in the swamp are always weird, no one cares). The point is just to see if these kids can be trapped together for weeks or months without murdering each other. For added drama, maybe they don't know about the arranged marriage.

Sprinkle on magic to taste. She's a fire mage, he's a water mage, the swamp needs ice. They're supposed to steal from a dragon (the dragon is in on it). Whatever.

Throw in a few rambunctious cousins who weren't supposed to tag along (maybe one of them has a lute), an assassin if you're feeling violent, and a missing bed if you're feeling spicy (they're at least eighteen, obviously). Plus all the normal road trip tropes.

[abibliophobiaa]

i’m having eddie thoughts…once rwylm is done i may need to open the docs.

[thebest-medicine]

Listen. I have always been a dino kid at heart. I fucking love dinosaurs.

> so I was listening to a dino podcast and they interviewed the author of some dinosaur shapeshifter series.

> I’m like. This sounds ridiculous but I need to see if it’s on my library app.

> got the audiobook which is read by Kirt Graves who does a bunch of excellent MM romance audiobook readings

> just listened to the entire first book of the 5 book series and I honestly fucking loved it. It was like listening to a fanfiction trope romance novel but also with dinosaur animorphs.

> fucking in love with the main two characters.. went onto ao3 and there’s only 1 fic for the entire series / fandom

> I’m about to make it my problem to make more works for this because jesussususjs is the switch / teasing energy strong with these boys

> the series is called RELIC by Maz Maddox and the first book is called Smash & Grab

> for more good dinosaur related recommendations hit me up 😝

[acerikus]

Y'know, when I really think about it I don't think there's a single male character I ship w kris :o

[intheorangebedroom]

🧡HAPPY ❤️‍🔥FRANKIE❤️‍🔥 FRIDAY🧡

Hey Orange besties 🧡 I am currently utterly obsessed with this lame ass 70s classic rock song (lame ass 70s classic rock songs are one of my favourite types of music).

It screams road trip with Frankie Morales, so you can bet your sweet 🍊 there will be a PTMY drabble somewhere down the line with that title. In the meantime, may I humbly suggest you give this other road trip a read...?

Have a good Frankie Friday 😊🧡

[landwriter]

For fanfic tropes: snowed in, only one bed, road trip

first of all i get the impression ur giving me strong writing hints here haha

snowed in: haha bruh as a canadian this is REAL THING and dear to me. i have lived adjacent and less-dramatic versions of this trope MANY TIMES and it has gotten me laid. 'oh...the roads look really bad' 'yeah...do you want to stay the night?' 'ok~'. objectively people bang when snowed in. or when they mutually pretend to be, if you are me, a slut who is lazy and always wants to stay the night. it's also a super hot device for group and interpersonal dynamics in a real Winter Storm Scenario. you can't get out of each other's hair. daily life is interrupted. things are Unusual. infinite options for disrupting the mechanisms of daily life that are keeping characters apart or barely holding them together. can be played for horror, drama, humour, heart-warming folks-looking-after-one-another-ness. it's a great catalyst. 12/10 grade: S-tier! (the s is for snow) because i'll probably give any snowed in fic a try - even if i'd not read it at all otherwise

only one bed: a timeless classic no deep insight here. grade: A, love it

road trip: similar confinement catalyst as snowed in, except with changing scenery. interesting possibilities for having an initial journey with motivation or enthusiasm that changes over time due to evolving feelings for one another. all of these dovetail so beautifully. scene: our gang is on a road trip. bonding over snacks and music. bickering. wow such an enclosed space look at them being totally normal about it. oh no. bumbles mcfuck didn't book enough rooms at the bnb. character a and b must share a bed. do they volunteer? do they draw straws? night falls. wind howls. a storm is blowing in. morning comes. a and b have woken up cuddling but nobody notices. because something is wrong. it's strangely silent. why? they're SNOWED IN grade: A, love it

(trope grading)

[besttropeveershowdown]

The Best Trope Ever Showdown: Round 1, Side B

Road Trip Plot

Propaganda:

Characters stuck in a car together. Often at least one of them doesn’t want to be there. The banter is unmatched. It’s chaos.

Fantastic Fauna Counterpart

No propaganda was submitted.