#this is something the leverage team would get involved in

[caseys-breanna]

My favourite Parker episode has always been The Inside Job, y'know why? It's not just what Parker does, but rather what the others do FOR Parker.

Parker has 4 safe houses in the city, but Nate and Sophie know her well enough to know where she actually stays when she's away from the team

Parker's security code. Do you understand the level of trust someone like Parker will have to have to use their name as her security code? To the place that's her own personal sanctuary? Sophie EARNED that level of trust.

'The Sterenko can't be cracked-' 'Can you do it?' 'Nate, it can't be-' 'For Parker. Can you do it for Parker?'

This. Just this.

'I made her. I trained her, and I released her into the world.' 'She was broken! She needed you!'

This stood out so loud to me, because it's not Hardison or Sophie (the more emotionally intelligent ones of the team) saying it. Because it's NATE. It's Nate, the man who couldn't say I Love You to Sophie for so long. The man who got so caught up in his son's death that every job involving kids or medical malpractice he nearly went out of line. NATE, who pushes and pushes and is ruthless and so cold at times.

It's Nate protesting for Parker, standing up FOR Parker, and y'know why? Because Parker doesn't know what she got deprived of. Parker doesn't feel that loss because you can't grieve something you aren't even aware you could've had. But Nate does. Nate saw her injustice and loss of childhood and spoke up, KNOWING she'll never know about him defending her.

'Hardison I screwed up.' 'We're already here mama.'

Do you understand the level of trust and vulnerability it requires for her to say those words? She's never gotten anyone's help after a screwup, she's had to take care of herself on her own. And there's Hardison, right there, not upset, not angry, not disappointed. A right straight - I'm here and we'll get you out.

'Let's get our girl home.'

Do I even need to say anything.

'It's not what we do, we don't get involved!' 'No, that's what YOU do!'

Parker is not Archie Leach's protege anymore. She's Parker. She's the greatest thief in the world. She's the one person to get the entire Leverage Inc breathing down your neck to save her. She has a family who got her back. She has a life and friends and people who may not understand her always but will always support her and be there for her, no matter what, without changing any aspect of her or forcing her to change either. And she saves people, because that's what they do.

'It's your play Parker.'

The explicit trust Nate displays in her. For someone like Nate with control issues and need to be the guy calling the shots, this is practically an all out notice saying 'she's my people, she's my family, I trust her with my life, more than that I trust her with my family and our jobs.'

'No.' 'What do you mean no? This isn't time for crazy, Parker! Come on!' 'No! I need to go back. I need to put the vial back.'

Do you understand what it feels to have someone like Parker, who is practically a ghost and the prospect of getting stuck somewhere is unthinkable, to refuse an escape route? And that too because she wants to help people and not be used to hurt them? In the face of someone who brought her up to only steal? Now that's growth.

Now this is a callback, but when Sophie and Nate first enter her safehouse, Sophie says something that foreshadows the ending. She says 'Look at this. It's methodical. This could be one of your plans, Nate.'

This is a personal choice, but god it's so good when authors and writers and creators give you hints and foreshadow and reward your intuition at the end, rather than changing endings for shock value. Because Hardison isn't ruthless, Eliot isn't striving for control, and Sophie is dramatic, not clinical. None of it would have been worth it unless it went to Parker, which it did.

Man, this fucking show I swear.

#leverage #parker leverage #sophie devereaux #alec hardison #nate ford #eliot spencer #jace.txt #i fucking love this show #the inside job #archie leach

[spacedace]

Oh hey here’s the lil prolog thing I wrote for my DP x DC Leverage AU. I’m gonna actually write more of one day I swear but for now have this opening bit and feel free to use it as a prompt if you want :D

-

The station went utterly quiet as they brought her in.

Room after room going as silent as the grave when the young woman in handcuffs stepped through the door. Chatter stopped. Bodies stilled. Heads turned. Eyes widened. It almost felt like everyone was too afraid to even breath as she walked by. Cops and crooks alike watching with fear and awe in equal measures as Jim Gordon led her past them to the interrogation room.

She didn’t give the gaping crowd any mind. Head tilted up at an angle, shoulders back, steps sure. The solid heals of her boots clicked upon the scuffed linoleum, echoing loud in the stifling quiet. Like a royal herald announcing her presence. She held herself like a queen, which was fitting Jim supposed. Until tonight, the only name anyone had to call her by was Queen.

The blood, unnervingly, only made her seem more regal.

Batman was already in the interrogation room when they arrived. Jim didn’t even have it in him to sigh at the broody bat looming in the corner. He knew he’d be there. There was no way he would miss the interrogation of someone they’d been chasing for so long. Especially not now considering…well.

Considering.

Jim largely ignored the vigilante in the corner as he moved through the familiar process of getting the young woman handcuffed in place to the table, starting the recording and rattling off the relevant details: date, time, the - many - charges the young woman had been arrested for. If he faltered over the victim’s name of the young woman’s most recent crime no one commented on it. In the corner, Batman watched and lurked. Nearly lost in the shadowy corner of the room while still being impossible to ignore.

They’d done this before. Good cop, bad vigilante. It was usually effective in getting the truth out of stubborn criminals.

Jim rather doubted it would work in this case.

“Please state your name for the record.” He said, only to be met with the same cool silence Queen had given everyone since her arrest. She shifted in her seat, not a nervous fidget but an easy, languid movement. Even the uncomfortable metal chair seemed like a throne when she was involved. Jim bit back a sigh. “We have your information. I’m asking as a courtesy.”

Queen tilted her head faintly, looking at him with something almost like amusement, one brow twitching slightly upward. “You’ll have to forgive my disbelief, Commissioner Gordon.” She said, polite as ever. “But I’m rather sure that you won’t find me in any system you run my fingerprints or face through.”

She was right about that. They’d tried a hundred times over the past few years she and her team had been operating in Gotham. Her face never appeared in any pictures or recordings - not even in her mugshot during processing, all that was visible was her red hair and a mess of corrupted visual data where her face should be. The most her fingerprints had ever led to where the other crimes they already knew she’d taken part in. Batman had done everything to try and circumvent whatever meta ability kept her from being recorded on film, had done even more to try and find her and her people in every system he and the Justice League had access to. Nothing. Jim had grumbled a few times about how Queen and her crew might as well be ghosts for all the proof that they existed officially.

Turned out, ghosts was exactly right.

“The Ghost Investigation Ward reached out to us two hours ago.” He said, leaning back in his own seat, watching her carefully. “I’ll repeat, Ms. Fenton, my asking is a courtesy.”

For the first time in the years he’d known her, Queen - real name Jasmine “Jazz” Fenton - looked scared. Beyond scared, even. Completely, and utterly terrified.

Her body went rigid, eyes growing wide, breath picking up as she sat up sharply. Any semblance of that calm, collected presence she always held even when she was at her most cornered and vulnerable vanished in an instant. He’d seen her breath in a cloud of Scarecrow’s Fear Toxin and laugh. Watched as Bane wrapped large hands around her throat and tilt her chin up to stare down at her attacker imperiously. A mobster pressed the barrel of a gun to her head and she’d smiled, coy and confidant and untouchable. Queen always, always was calm. Aggravatingly so, even. Utterly unshakable as she waltzed into every wild and insane situation carrying the undeniable air of one who was complete control of everything happening.

She hadn’t even looked scared when the Joker had held her hostage.

And now? Now all it had taken was those three words. Ghost Investigation Ward. A nonsense name for a government agency with a ridiculous purpose. And yet there the unshakable Queen sat, looking terrified out of her mind at the mere mention of them.

Not for the first time since he received that call, Jim Gordon felt uneasy.

#dp x dc #dc x dp #dpxdc #dp x dc fanfic #dp x dc writing prompt #jazz fenton #jim gordon #bruce wayne #leverage au #Jazz is the mastermind in this one #and has been having a great time up til this moment #everyone on the team has code names #Danny is Spaceman because of course it is lol #Sam is Nightshade #Tucker is Pharaoh #Ellie is Nomad #they're not actually shown here but I just wanted to share the codenames I came up for them lol

[leverage-ot3]

time for the obligatory post about what episodes I want to see in the upcoming leverage season(s)

(for reference, I made this similar post in 2020 after the reboot was announced. I'm pasting some from that post bc I still want them to happen lol)

new ideas:

I mentioned a date night episode in the last post (apollo really did bless me with foresight for the date night job on that one) but for considerment: ot3 date night. possibly their first date night after they all get together. breanna and sophie know it's happening (harry is, like, peripherally aware) and some crime hijinks are going down and the three of them are frantically trying to stop bad things from happening that are going to interfere with the date. I want to see them going through it behind the metaphorical curtain. I want to see breanna fighting for her life trying to out-hack the hacker that is going to ruin their ten-part itineraried date. harry has to get in a fistfight and eliot is so proud about it when he finds out after everything is over

tree law episode. harry has been frothing at the mouth about it since it was made. his life has been moving him towards this penultimate moment. breanna thinks it's HILARIOUS and cheers him on 100% of the way. she is VERY enthusiastic about this con

I'm not going to mention certain things because I've seen jrogers posting on bluesky social and I know he might be already writing some of those plots

con that the food trucks have plot-relevance. like, one of his food truck stations is being harassed /victimized by, like, a local gang or something that takes advantage of food truck/cart workers and the team steps in. the actual (veteran) food truck workers get involved in the con. leverage international might just have gained a few retainer members

quinn should come back for an episode. I know the actor is friends with ckane. they should make it happen because it would be iconic and I said so

on a similar note, ckane is friends with jensen ackles and. guys. wouldn't it- wouldn't it be extremely funny if a flame from eliot's past named sean sylvester who is a rugged drifter with a questionable past

episode where tara or maggie (or BOTH, can you imagine how powerful that would be???) come back and there is slight flirting with sophie possibly??? that or very obvious chemistry from a past tryst. sophie has slept with both of them, I know it in my heart of hearts. bonus points if tara and maggie fall in love (I think it would be funny. maggie's taste in men is canonically atrocious, I think she deserves someone like tara at this point)

I just want a lot of side characters to come back, okay? sue me I miss them

gonna put the rest under the cut since this post has become obscenely long

not episode-specific, but I want more mentions of the korean leverage team. and all the other teams too! we know that in canon there is the south korean one, the nigerian one, and one in london (I think that's it for mentions so far, but correct me if I'm wrong!)

episodes addressing issues with american imperialism and its effects on minorities and marginalized communities, specifically within this country (there aren't a lot of episodes where they are actively out of country)

dear fucking god take a more abolitionist stance on policing I'm begging. would it KILL you to not be weird about cops? pls just punch some more cops. take down white supremacist cops, I'm sure you can scrounge something up bffrrn

women's rights episodes. I know it's kind of recent, but episodes about accessibility of stuff like birth control, abortion access, etc. y'all are capable of making excellent episodes on that I know it

more climate crisis-related episodes. god knows you're feeling it in the deep south

taking down a corrupt megachurch pastor (although lbr, there is no ethical megachurch anything and you can fight me on this)

something to do with ace rights bc I think it would be really cool to see the team advocate for that stuff, especially since breanna is canon ace

helping a polycule that is being victimized by X organization/entity (maybe a housing association or medical or something???). breanna is bombastic side-eyeing the ot3 the entire time. it is making hardison sweat. sophie thinks it's hilarious

taking down 'writers' that use ai and self-publish AND/OR people that take original/fan works off of like ao3 and wattpad and publish them for personal profits without the author's consent. breanna would have a field day with this (god herself could try to convince me that girl does not read/write fanfic and I wouldn't believe it)

episode about underfunded public schools. we saw corrupt private schools in the fairy godparents job but I want an episode that would make abbot elementary writers proud

episode addressing native/indigenous. eliot is from oklahoma, I'm sure he is well aware of the health/job/economic/etc disparities on reservations. I will email jrogers about it myself if I have to- it anyone can get people going about native rights through a tv show it would be leverage.

I sent an ask to wil wheaton once asking if he was open to returning to leverage and I think he said he would be down for it. but chaos either has to be a reluctant ally to leverage international and is being handled by quinn as a hitter OR he is just. in jail. bc he sucks.

bpas and/or pfas episode. breanna has mentioned microplastics before but I want more

the team tears the shit out of conversion therapy camp owners and plants the seeds for legislation that will punish parents that try to send their kids to those hellscapes

while we're at it, I'd love to see an ep where they tackle the trans bathroom issue. god knows the news doesn't talk about it nearly enough

something to do with foster care. they end up starting some sort of foster care network that past clients/allies can take part in. maybe a mentorship program for kids that want to do what they do one day (they are very reluctant to encourage kids to participate in crime BUT if that is the avenue that they are going to inevitably go towards, they guide them in the right direction). nana makes an appearance (*insert 'everybody liked that' meme*)

prison industrial complex episode. I KNOW we had the jailhouse job BUT we really need this in our year of 2024

another episode on corrupt influencers. maybe influencer parents? dear god pls take them down a notch

ep where there is an underlying message that tells you how to avoid becoming victim to scams or something, or like is a tutorial for how to identify scams you might fall victim to (sorry, I just have to say this after two separate people tried to pig butcher me in less than two (2) weeks))

not to say I want them to do an ep calling out cop city, but it would feel really good to watch the leverage team rip that concept to SHREDS

the minimum wage job. need I say more? we deserve the catharsis

pls go after goodwill execs, esp the ones in the pnw that have their sector as for-profit and have become millionaires+ because of it while paying their staff (especially disabled staff) fucking pennies

while we're on the topic, pls call out salvation army (the corporation)

I can probably go on for like five hours so I'll stop here

ep that we get to see harry and his daughter bond :)

job where they get to lower the price of insulin (and other drugs)

actually, you know what? an episode where the crew annihilates big pharma and terrible insurance companies

I think that breanna should be able to go off about mass/over consumption as a treat. I 100% believe she has Thoughts about it. like, she will absolutely call out the corporations that are responsible for these trends, but also she should be allowed to mention our tendency for overconsumption as a society. obviously there are a few corporations that are doing most of the world's pollution/ecological damage, but we should be doing our part too and I KNOW it would be in-character for her to go off on it

I bet she has a LOT to say about influencers, tbh. obviously not all influencers are bad, but there are sooooo many problematic ones and problems within the influencer industry

sizing discrimination in the modeling/clothing industry. let eliot talk about how there are no perfect bodies. also while I'm on the subject, can we PLS have more body-diverse background actors on the show? I know this is nitpicky but I'd really love to see some more people that look like me, even if they are just in the background

a thinly veiled writers' rights episode (I'm looking at you media execs and the stupid amount of time it took for you to comply to the WGA demands)

something to do with media companies making entire movies/tv shows and then fucking cancelling them/not releasing them and using them as tax write-offs. every time it happens it baffles me. that is cartoonishly stupid villain shit. I can't imagine lovingly working on a project for a year plus and then the company just going, nah, we aren't going to release it because you suck and it's a good business move

ai art and ai in general. please. let it BURN

okay now I'm done

ideas from the previous post that I still want:

comicon job. I said it before and I will say it again- we deserve it!!! come on, it's the age of the geek after all!!! (in the last post I also said a ren faire ep, but I will let the card game job count for that)

summer camp ep? I saw a tumblr fic about it and I think it could be cute. it could kinda be like the fairy godparents job- eliot in charge of some type of sports (archery, fencing, etc), hardison would be in charge of arts and crafts (this boy might be a genius with tech and in general tbh, but the show did such a good job of showing that he’s also very talented with the arts- sculpting the statue for the miracle job, forging the old diary in the king george job, etc), parker would LOVE to be in charge of a high ropes course. breanna would totally be down for some sort of nerdy kid robotics or simple, traditional camp games (can't go wrong with the classics. everyone loves making bracelets!) I feel like it's too stereotypical to have sophie have kids put on a play but we all know that's exactly what she would do. idk for harry? I think he has the same traditional camp activities vibe as breanna. he's in it for the nostalgia. OR something to do with videogames

please, please, please, please, please make an episode where they take down a cult, im begging. that would be such a good episode. definitely a mindfuck episode like the experimental job (4x11). I’ve seen a few posts about a job dealing with a cult (here’s one) and I think it would be really interesting 

MORE STERLING being DONE with leverage shenanigans!!! give me feral!sterling like in the frame-up job (5x10)!!! give me sterling that protests every step of the way but conveniently looks away and “whoops, the team just disappeared, I have no idea how that happened!!! diddly dang darn it, they got away again!!! sorry guys!!!” bonus points if mcsweeten is there too and also participates in intervening hijinks

the team takes down a circus that is still using and abusing wild animals!!! because first I’d LOVE to see acrobat!parker swinging up in the air like a pro and being in her element, but also because those places are the fucking worst and need to Go Down. give me eliot having to pose as an animal trainer with deep sympathy for the animals being abused, quietly talking soothing words to them when he thinks no one is around (correction: hardison is, in fact, around, and filming his boyfriend’s softness to save for later). give me charismatic hardison playing the role of ringmaster, running and flaunting about and being passive-aggressive to the circus master. give me eliot freeing the animals from their chains when they are finally able to shut the place down and relocate the animals to sanctuaries (his hands shaking just a little as twists the key in the lock, because he too was once an abused, caged animal in his own right and he knows how liberating it is to finally be free). 

#i have SO much to say about native rights and I'd give a kidney to be able to have it shown for all on a wide reaching show #for the love of god it's the least we can do #sorry yall im just. really passionate about native rights. I made myself a nuisance to all of my hs history professors talking about it #every chance i got. if the textbooks won't talk about it i will make my presentation about it and educate my peers my goddam self if i have #to #anyway. i will get off the soap box now. but yeah educate yourself on native/indigenous rights (based off where you live too) #episode ideas #leverage redemption #leverage redemption s3 #speculation #mine #parker #alec hardison #eliot spencer #leverage ot3 #parker x hardison x eliot #sophie devereaux #harry wilson #breanna casey #mr quinn #quinn #side characters #leverage international #tara cole #maggie collins #jim sterling #recurring characters #sophie x maggie #sophie x tara #maggie x tara

[mantis-dea]

Bruno Bucciarati's Type Headcanon

Bruno is someone with a deep-seated desire for a loving relationship and perhaps, a family of his own. As the years go by, his desire increasingly starts to surface.

However, the path he walks is fraught with danger and uncertainty. Serving as Giorno’s right-hand man in Passione, his life is intertwined with the complex world of Italy’s strongest mafias.

As Team Bucciarati works tirelessly to clean up Passione and protect their territory from rival factions attempting to seize power, Bruno finds himself constantly away on perilous missions, often with little respite between them. His absence can range from days to weeks, and sometimes even longer.

The weight of his responsibilities and the knowledge that his life is constantly on the line weigh heavily on Bruno's heart. He is aware of the dangers he faces, and it pains him to imagine someone he cares about worrying and waiting for his return, only for that day to never come. He has seen too many comrades who had family fall, and it's a fear that haunts him.

He believes that suppressing this desire is the responsible thing to do.

Bruno not dating means several less things to worried about.

What if someone kidnaps his s/o and uses them as leverage?

What if he promised a night out, but he could not make it?

What if a rival member decides to kill his s/o?

Because of these factors, luck would truly have to be on s/o’s side, especially if they are a civilian.

As a generality, Bruno’s type would be someone who is kind, gets his weird sense of humor, and exudes a calming presence that makes spending time together effortless. Whether he and his s/o are fishing, listening to Miles Davis, or simply relaxing, being near his s/o soothes him.

On the other hand, while I do think Bruno values calm and stability in a partner more, I can also see Bruno liking someone slightly chaotic. Someone who he enjoys sharing a laugh with. Someone who does stupid things to get him to laugh. However, he's not looking for an extremely chaotic personality, as his demanding work already saps his energy and exposes him to such individuals regularly.

Additionally, this person must accept his line of work.

If his s/o is not part of the mafia, he won’t disclose his involvement unless they begin to suspect, or the relationship is about to go to the next level.

Bruno would want them to see him as a person first before they make a decision. Afterall, he is in Passione to eradicate drugs amongst the youths.

Bruno is most likely to enter a romantic relationship with a fellow member of Passione. His future s/o would need to have some experience within the organization, preferably working alongside Bruno on numerous missions where they shared the same living quarters.

There are two reasons why Bruno would date a fellow Passione member:

1.) Bruno will be less apprehensive about dating knowing they are perfectly capable of defending themselves.

2.) They understand the mafioso lifestyle. Though the disappointment will still be present, they won’t be resentful or surprised when he’s away for extended periods of time. This shared perspective significantly reduces potential strains and misunderstandings. Moreover, Bruno can have open discussions with his significant about Passione's members and issues, providing a valuable source of insight and support.

If his s/o is a civilian, they must be the one of the luckiest people ever.

For this civilian to catch Bruno’s attention, they’d have to do something truly “significant” in his eyes. It will most likely be an act of kindness.

Helping an elderly lady with groceries.

Buying a kid who didn’t have money an ice cream.

S/o trying to skim board in a fountain, only to fall face first into the water, attempting to avoid crashing into a kid.

I also have a one-shot where civilian s/o exchanges a bag of apples that Bruno was gifted for a bag of oranges. She was watering plants on her balcony when she overheard the conversation about him not being fond of apples. She runs down and exchanges the bags with him.

After witnessing an act of kindness, there is a low chance that Bruno may strike up a conversation with you. If you are close by him after the incident occurred, he may comment about it out loud.

As time passes, If Bruno sees s/o consistently after the initial incident, he will begin to think about them more frequently, noting just how often they keep crossing paths. If he’s in a crowd, he finds himself doing a quick glance to see if you are there.

After a series of encounters – four or five to be exact–, with each one seemingly involving him or his future s/o running into one another, he becomes drawn to them. He eventually initiates a conversation, sharing a chuckle at the uncanny frequency of their meetings. With each interaction, Bruno finds himself falling deeper in love, and s/o becomes a constant presence in his thoughts.

He starts to believe fate is trying to bring you two together. Unexpectedly, after some pep talk from Mista of all people, he finally goes and asks them out for dinner.

#bruno bucciarati x reader #golden wind x reader #jjba x reader #bruno buccellati x reader

[blingblong55]

The Great War -141 & Vladimir Makarov

Based on a request:

with the new mw3, lets do angst, something along the lines of “Somewhere in the haze, got a sense i’ve been betrayed” coming from us because 141 betrayed us horribly, which ended up in us getting tortured and then we pretennd its fine when it isnt. forget and forgive we lie and when we meet with Makarov, we tell them, ‘oops sorry, forgot i was also a enemy at some point, guess its time to betray like real enemies do’ and as we set Makarov free, we show that we have been working as his spy ever since they betrayed us. also can this be with a female reader and we also marry makarov behind their backs so thats why we betray so hard? i love u! ---- F!Reader, soldier!reader, enemy!reader, betrayal, mentions of war and violence ----

Part 1, Part 2

One was set to win. That win would set a new record for all criminals and good men. This is how modern warfare changes for the better and worse of us.

This is the great war.

"So, how will we do this?" Price asks Laswell, who was looking at the board of pinned suspects and the three main targets. A love triangle, what a mistake and blessing this was for the three people involved. "I gathered some intel, I know that tension is high with Makarov and R/N. My source tells me Ghost is driving a line between the two lovers and we will use that leverage." Amongst all the people looking for the three criminals, there was an underground world that wanted their story to succeed. After all, what is evil without danger? 

Meanwhile, somewhere in Amsterdam. 

"Simon, stop-"

"R/N, he isn't going to make us last long," Ghost tried to reason his idea for throwing Makarov to the dogs that the soldiers around the world were. "We are not killing my fucking husband, I am not going to give him to Laswell so she can send him to prison." The gun in your hands is cleaned from the fresh blood. 

Everyone knew that this is what always kills such powerful villains. Love the fact that someone else was introduced to the already steady team. Simon was a liability, there was no lie there but what he brings to the table is stronger. His background runs deep and he knows best. 

Soldiers on both sides train, wanting their idea of 'Good' to win. In war, there is no good. It is all bad and cruel, even if you are told you are on the good side of history, you know deep inside, that for one story there are two sides, so you will always be a villain no matter what. 

Six months and five days and now you find yourself in a meeting room. Vladimir tells soldiers the plan, Ghost giving you a look and then you looking at your husband. His hand holds yours, "We are doing this to end those who think they have better us and we will crush them. 

It was a nightmare for Task Force 141 to fight against their own. 

There you were, opposite sides of the line. Guns in hand, bombs waiting to explode and you, holding Vladimir's hand. The first gun shot fired and it was to the opposing team. 

This is how all wars begin. 

Price had minor scratches, Gaz with a minor wound to his shoulder and Soap, running across the hills to place bombs and ready himself for what came. On the other side, snipers were on hold, Ghost commanding them. Vladimir commits crimes as his militia moves closer to the targets. 

Skies roar, rain and thunder fall but no one has any reason to stop. One must win, they all think and dream of. 

Three weeks into this and there you stood, watching as both sides created good-faith treaties. Ghost gives you a knowing look and you shake your head. "No, we're not going with that plan," you oppose but the man with the final word is Makarov. 

"My love, there is no other choice," his hands take hold of your face. "No, we're not doing that. Please, let's not do this, Vlad," you plead and he kisses your forehead. 

As he told you the steps to this dreaded plan, all went silent. Life flashed as his words continued. Everyone in that room watched as you shed tears, as you held your husband and as you continued to refuse the plan. 

"I'll see you soon," Vladimir kisses your forehead and leaves the room. His men holding you back. "Ghost," you say out of desperation but all he does is give you a small head shake. "Sorry," he whispers and leaves. 

Once you had calmed down, you were guided to Makarov's private office, where you just awaited with grief. 

Out in the field, Vladimir turns to Ghost. "We fight or die, you hear me?" "Loud and clear," Ghost says back and they both go into position. 

141 and Konni Group made up floors with blood and gun shells. It was a blood bath and one that would guarantee some repercussions. 

One shot made the surrounding areas fall silent. 

"Enemy down," Ghost says over the radio.

Vladimir looks up at Ghost. "You sonovabitch," Vladimir tries to sit up but Ghost presses his boot to his throat. "You took men I worked with down back in London, and rest assured it won't happen again." Ghost pointed his gun to the side of Makarov. "And don't worry, your widow will be occupied as you burn in hell." His finger is close to the trigger. 

"Don't you dare hurt her!"

"Who said anything about hurting? She will be a widow for a short time, soon or later, that widow will become my wife."

Ten minutes later, Ghost knocks on the door. You open it expecting to find him and Makarov but he hands you Makarov's gun and he shakes his head. "No, please...please tell me this isn't true," you begin to cry. "I'm sorry. I tried to stop him but-"

"Stop him?"

"He committed suicide" The lie left Ghost's lips. 

"No, no that isn't true. He would never-"

"R/N, I saw him, I tried to reason with him but...nothing worked and I was there too late, I'm sorry." He hugs you. 

Then the conversation he told you before stepping out of the meeting room made more sense. 

"If me and Ghost don't make it back to the office, you grab your bag and go to Switzerland. A home has been set for you, it's a peaceful place and I know it'll be difficult to move on but my love, you have to. Don't look back and live a long life. There is a bank account that has billions of dollars in it. You use that money for whatever you please. I love you," he kissed your hands and sighed. 

Many will win. Many will die. Many will go home and just like Makarov, many will die on cold frozen ground, away from their loved ones and away from home. 

Back at the 141 HQ. 

"Laswell, explain it!" Price said through gritted teeth. 

"Fine." She sat down and lit her cigarette. 

"I made R/N fall for Makarov. I was the reason they met. I sent all of you away from her and I made her and Ghost stay behind so she could have some rendevous with Makarov. You wanted Makarov dead and you got it."

"You fucking lied to us," Gaz mentions. 

"No, I didn't lie. I just didn't tell you the truth of the real plan."

"And what is the real plan?" Soap questions.

"Unbeknownst to everyone but me and Ghost, I made R/N fall for Makarov. Who do you think gave her the advice to marry her prohibited love? I knew Ghost fell for R/N long before Makarov came into the picture. So I made a deal. He and R/N live a life away from worry and in exchange, he betrays us and kills Makarov. It's crazy how far love goes." 

"Alex was right about you," Gaz mentions and Laswell shakes her head. "Gentlemen, you got what you wanted. Makarov is dead and Russia is in talks to prevent another attack. We all win."

"Why not imprison him?" Soap asks. 

"He would escape. So, Ghost came up with the plan to kill Makarov as he pretended to be on the side of Konni. It's not a complicated scheme," Laswell crosses her legs and lets out a puff of smoke. 

"You made us believe Ghost betrayed us-"

"What about R/N? Did she know about this plan of yours?" Price, as the older brother he was to you asks. 

"She didn't know and as far as I'm concerned, she believes Makarov committed suicide. He even went out of his way to make her life away from the military comfortable and gave her nearly 2 billion dollars so she could live comfortably. If only he knew that Ghost would also enjoy those riches," she chuckles and stands up. 

"Go rest," she advises and leaves the room. 

In every story, there will always be villains.  

A/N: Tagged everyone in the original post since I believe this will be the last part to this..

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[werewolfsmile]

tysm for answering my qs about werewolf!eliot !! not to keep bugging you lol but i remember you mentioned in the tags of a post one time about a hc/au of parker being some sort of fae or otherworldly being who’s just kinda found herself here in the non-magical world - could you elaborate on that? like how come she’s in the non-fantasy part of the leverage universe, or whether the other characters know, etc? only if you want to of course, no pressure :) i’m really enjoying reading your posts about all these ideas!

You're welcome! And you're definitely not bugging me, I love getting the chance to ramble about my thought lol (werewolf!eliot post here) (link to the post and my tags that started this)

Honestly I don't have as clear ideas for Parker as I did for Eliot, but I imagine her being some kind of changeling or air/wind sprite that was left with humans for whatever reason.

(ooh i'm getting more ideas for this the more i think about it..)

okay, Parker is actually half-fey, half-human

no one really knows who her parents were or how she came to be on her own (me included lol), she was just found on a doorstep as a baby

the people who took her in had their own issues and the state eventually intervened and sent Parker into foster care

she found out at a very early age that she was different to other kids - she could move around without making a sound, she could fit into tiny spaces - all very helpful for a young girl in a foster system that was chewing her up and spitting her out

she also discovered that she could ... not turn invisible exactly, but she could be less visible if she wanted to be; all she has to do is think about not being seen and people's eyes just drift over her

Archie had absolutely no idea what she was when he got his hands on her, but even he knew that she was beyond just a gifted child

he only realised there was something magical about her after she fell off the roof of the warehouse he'd been training her in - then walked it off like it was no biggie

fey creatures love puzzles and riddles, so of course Parker has always had a natural affinity for puzzles (aka locks)

her super artistic talent is a trait that is Entirely Parker and, given that she entered a life of crime early and was surrounded by artistic masterpieces all the time, she never even considered that other people would draw/paint/whatever with any lower skill level

this contributes to her not understanding what the fuss is over art

she gave herself the name Parker when Archie met her and asked her name; it was the first thing that came to mind

she doesn't remember her birth name and isn't bothered by that in the slightest

Eliot was the first of the team to figure out she was fey - being a werewolf, he can smell and/or sense that kind of thing on others

Hardison suspected something was up with her, but then felt bad for thinking that, but then strange things kept happening around her so he started to keep a list ...

pretty much Hardison has a red-string conspiracy theory-style board of Parker Things. He's too terrified of offending her to ask her outright, but he's more convinced every day

(he's also more in love with her and just thinks her fey-ness is another thing to celebrate)

Parker finds Hardison's board of Parker Things and is utterly fascinated. It's like he understands her better than she understands herself. He's super flustered when he finds her poring over the board and tries to make excuses, but Parker's quick to steamroll over that and demands if he knows what she is

Eliot finds them 15 mins later, stuck in an endless loop of confusion over which of them actually knows what Parker is

he just rolls his eyes, says she's half-fey, it's obvious, like, "what? it's a very distinctive smell!"

which leads to how the hell would he know what the fey are and Eliot's like, oh crap, right, they still don't know I'm a werewolf whoops

Hardison and Parker stage a coming-out for her to Nate and Sophie

(Eliot refuses to be involved but still gets roped into carrying the banner. He's still finding glitter in his hair weeks later)

Sophie is thrilled about the reveal and confesses to being a siren (or some other supernatural/magical creature that can manipulate people, idk i have less thoughts about her than i do about parker)

Nate is all like are you kidding me right now what the hell is my life

after a lot of badgering, he confesses he didn't know about Parker, although he has been ... aware of magical beings for some time

no he will not be discussing this any further, can we just get back to the con now??

Parker finds that, now she's aware of her fey-ness, her magical abilities develop further

she doesn't quite gain the ability to fly but ... yeah okay, she can pretty much fly

she wants to test how far this flying ability goes - by, of course, jumping off tall buildings with Hardison in her arms (and no harness for either of them)

Hardison flat out refuses this, so Eliot somehow finds himself the unwilling victim

of course, Parker masters flying while carrying people in no time and proves it to Hardison by just grabbing him and jumping off a building one day

(he's still in therapy for it)

Parker also discovers she can make herself kind of ... misty

this skill is harder to learn but she's already been able to make her hand go misty and whoosh inside a lock

picking the lock is harder in this incorporeal state but Parker's instincts say there's a way to do this, so she keeps practising until she can pretty much disintegrate herself and float through locked doors to rematerialise on the other side

it's a nightmare for the whole team because, sure, it's not like locked doors stopped her in the past. But now she's so excited about it all the time that any concept of privacy completely leaves her brain and she jumps in and out of rooms and safes etc any time of day or night

Wow. This ended up longer than expected! Guess I did have some ideas about fey!Parker after all..

#parker leverage #leverage #fey #fey!parker #i need a tag to keep track of these... #leverage fantasy au #alec hardison #nate ford #sophie devereaux #eliot spencer #as always feel free to add your own ideas to any of this! #@ aardvaark sorry i didn't answer your questions about why parker ended up in the human world #just magic i guess #my posts #asks #sorry i forgot to include a link so i've edited this post ugh my bad

[foxofninetales]

Liu Sang Watcher’s Guide - Part 18

Man In the Rain. No, Not That Rain, the Other Rain

Link to part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6  | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Interlude | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |

Season 2 Episode 16

15:00-21:05

i.e., I hope everyone enjoys dim lighting, whoo!

Wu Xie contemplates mortality. That this also involves contemplating a sleeping Liu Sang is the silver lining in a rather depressing cloud.

Look at these little sleeping beans, aren't they cute. Good thing nothing bad will ever happen to them.

Wu Xie sneaks out alone to continue his quest, as if every single person present isn't 100% expecting him to do that.

This is the closest I could get in still image of capturing the stupidly adorable little smile Liu Sang gives as he catches up with Wu Xie - part smugness at Wu Xie's inability to sneak past his hearing, part resigned amusement at Wu Xie himself.

As Liu Sang acknowledges that Wu Xie is in the final stages of his disease, and Wu Xie says he knows he won't be allowed to go alone, the elements oblige with thematically appropriate rainfall.

Wu Xie asks Liu Sang to get the others out safely and not follow him. He pats Liu Sang's shoulder as he leaves, which has approximately the same affect that it would have on a lonely rescue dog.

Liu Sang watches him walk off with the rest of the Iron Triangle and tries to figure out where he went wrong and started Having Emotions.

Bai Haotian wakes up and realizes Wu Xie is gone. Liu Sang looks guilty (and extremely pretty).

…that's right. Break it to her tactfully.

I'm sorry, how am I supposed to pay attention to plot when he's sitting here being this pretty?!?!

23:52-24:34

Liu Sang and the others watch from a distance as Boss Jiao discovers their recently-vacated hideout, right before Hei Xiazi leads Boss Jiao's men away to try to give the others time to escape.

28:26-32:25

It… does not work. Everything is terrible and everyone is bound and on their knees and Hei Xiazi and Liu Sang stare at each other and intently say each others' names. The author would say that this awoke something in her but let's face it, that happened several episodes ago.

If Liu Sang had a dime for every time he is tied up and sees his team-mates taken out in front of him, he would have TWENTY CENTS TOO MUCH. (Good thing they were only SUPERFICIAL WOUNDS and everyone involved is COMPLETELY OKAY at the end of the series.)

At least this time he has a little more leverage, and bargains his cooperation to help find Thunder City for Xiao Bai's life.

The one silver lining is that we get treated to his 'ooooh parceling that new trauma away for later because for right now screw you' expression.

The author just wants to hug everybody, and it's only gonna get worse from here!

Next time: Blood is like drama-mouthwash, right?

Gifset posts from this episode: Man in the Rain by @ohsehuns​

*Please feel free to use any of the screencaptures from these LSWG posts for your own purposes - crediting is appreciated but optional.

#dmbj #the lost tomb reboot #liu sang #liu sang watcher's guide

[aknolan]

Nathan really is the only one where it makes sense that he ended up leaving the Leverage crew for good. And it's because his problem is twofold.

For one, as the mastermind of the crew he could not get around the simple fact that he is an asshole. In fact, he sometimes went out of his way to prove it was a requirement of being the mastermind. Add to that the effort he had to put into predicting the marks so his plan would work out, the way he would get into the mind of the worst people he could find. Think like them, what would they do?

As the mastermind, everywhere Nathan Ford looked he saw something that made him lose faith. In himself, in others. He could not believe that everyone was capable of being a good person, and he believed that he would lose himself in understanding the people that can't be good people. That he would become like them.

He did not like what being the mastermind did to him. He needed to stop.

His second problem was that as long as he was with the team, he couldn't stop being the mastermind. Even when Hardison leads the crew for a job, Nathan Ford cannot stop being the mastermind. He can choose not to do anything with that, but in his head he's still planning everything out. He's still doing everything involved in being the mastermind, except actually putting any plans into motion.

He can't keep being the mastermind. He will always be the mastermind as long as he's involved in a con.

That's why it ultimately does make sense that he chooses to leave. And when he decides who to involve in his mastermind stuff while he plans his exit, he chooses Parker. Not Hardison, he's not willing to hurt anyone. Not Eliot, he's already got plenty of reasons to think of himself as a monster and Nate won't give him chances to add to that.

He chooses Parker, who is so eager to see the good in others that being mastermind to a crew can't break that. Parker, who can make the tough decisions that hurt people without losing sight of why they're tough. Parker, who will not lose faith in herself or in others the way that Nathan did.

#nathan ford #parker leverage #parker #leverage #nate had to leave but parker will never need to do that #nate is cursed by his ability to see the worst in people #and he practices that because it lets him manipulate them #but parker wants to see the best in people #she helps a young car thief because she sees the best in her #and because for a moment there... she didn't look for the worst

[crazynerdandproud]

Leverage/Psych crossover ideas

Shawn and Elliot are cousins. They havent met because Henry is estranged from his sibling who is Elliot’s parent. Team Leverage does a job in Santabarabra while Shawn and co are in the middle of in unrelated murder investigation. They come within mere seconds of crossing paths several times until finally Parker runs into Lassiter. They both see someone do something dumb and mutter the same thing under their breaths. They hear each other and catch eyes. They have a short talk where they bond over being autistic coded. Then they go their separate ways, fully expecting to never see the other again. Yeah, they thought the other person seemed cool but neither of them are really in the market for more friends

The Leverage team finishes their con successfully and leaves town. Somehow the bad guys manage to learn Elliot’s name. Wait, Spencer? Like the psychic? They look into it and yeah turns out they’re related. They kidnap Shawn to get to Elliot and then call Sophie or rather Sophie’s alias and say hey guess what? We’ve got your cousin and unless you undo the damage you did and give us a bunch of money we’ll kill him.

Elliot is confused at first before he remembers yes, he does have a cousin who is from Santabarbara. Didn’t know he was psychic though. (Not that he’s sure he believes that) So they turn around and head back to Santabarbara.

Naturally since Shawn was kidnapped Lassie and Jules are on the case. (And Gus)

At first their are no leads. They have no idea why Shawn was kidnapped. Then, they find security footage and manage to link it back to the same company whose ceo Lassiter arrested for fraud the day before. They aren’t sure what the connection is, but it’s there.

Then team Leverage gets back to town. They team up with the Santabarbara crew and rescue Shawn. (Possibly Elliot intentionally gets himself captured because it’s the quickest way to find Shawn and then takes the bad guys out while Shawn is standing is standing in the background like “wow my cousin is badass!”)

Sidenote: Shawn gets his kidnappers to spill the beans on what’s going on and they tell him about how his cousin framed a guy for fraud. Shawn recognizes that for the half truth it is.

During the time looking for Shawn Parker befriends both Jules and Lassiter. (She goes with her fbi cover, which Hardison has officially made almost full proof in its authenticity.) or not. Idk.

Gus and Alec would obviously love going undercover together. Alec finally has someone who will go along with his dramatics easily, like it’s any other day. Gus meanwhile is used to working with Shawn and is having a blast, cause its very similar. Obviously it’s different then Shawn and Gus, I mean Alec and Gus just met, but its an equal tug and pull of power. They are both just grounded enough that neither one of them is the crazy one, but neither are either of them the completely normal levelheaded one either.

Maybe at the end, Henry reaches out to his estranged sibling or something. As for Sophie and Nate? Well Sophie can’t get involved because she was already the public face of the con. And Nate is intimidated by chief Vick, but he doesn’t tell anyone that. By the end only Shawn and Gus know that the crew are thieves. Lassiter and Jules know something is fishy about them, but hey, it’s probably just fbi stuff. (Plus Jules reached out to her brother and Ewan said Elliot is a good guy.)

Thanks to @duckapus for kickstarting this idea by your leverage psych crossover post

#leverage #psych #elliot spencer #shawn spencer #parker #juliet o’hara #carlton lassiter #burton guster #alec hardison #sorry Sophie and Nate don’t make much of an appearance #also Karen Vick is the best and would easily sniff out Nate’s bullshit #also idk Nate is an okay guy but he gives off weird vibes that I don’t like #and I have projected that onto chief vick #ooh! #maybe she also has her suspicions about the crew #but they are only suspicions #long post

[chiefdirector]

Watching | Tony Dinozzo | NCIS

“Just get it over with already.”

Tony watched you say from the video feed on the MTAC projector screen. You were clearly bruised and beaten but he still had hope that you would survive. It was fruitless, he knew that, but he still hoped, nonetheless.

“I know what you want,” you continued, the fire in your eyes still burning strong, “And you won’t get it. Not from me, and certainly not from them. I’d say you could give up up, but you won’t. Your type never does.”

The kidnapper lunged into the camera’s view, allowing Tony to see his face for the first time.

“My type?”

You just laughed. You had seen hundreds like him, and you had thought you’d see hundred more. Before joining NCIS you had been in the FBI, but your boss had insisted you liaison on a case with Gibbs. Jethro was extra smug when he convinced you to join his team; he wishes he didn’t now. “Obsessive, psychotic, predictable. You won’t to kill me, like you did to Corporal Jones, because you need me. I can’t be leverage if I’m dead.”

“You’re not leverage.”

“Then what am I?”

“A dead woman.” He said, moving from the chair and back from the camera’s view.

Tony watched, and watched, and watched. There was nothing else for him to do. Gibbs had told him to stay behind, he was far too involved to think rationally. Gibbs and Ziva would bring her home, he had too. Tony had been a womaniser, never to settle down and set his roots but then he met her and his universe shifted. He had become everything he wasn’t for her, and without her he would be less than the man he was before. The speakers sounded out another crash, then a gunshot, before the screens went blank, leaving Tony alone in the dark, unforgiving room.

——

The hospital room was cold, the radiator had busted a few nights ago but the maintenance team hadn’t gotten around to fixing it yet. Tony had brought extra blankets from home to keep her warm; he knew how much she hated the hospital issued ones were. He layered them onto her to regulate her body temperature, but he only thing colder than the room was her.

The doctor had said it was normal but Tony had seen corpses with more warmth.

The coolness of her skin made him evermore thankful though, he knew how easily she could’ve ended up on Ducky’s table, just another name in the obituaries. But she wasn’t; she was here with him, and she wouldn’t leave him.

Tony watched her as she moved in her sleep, and for the first time in many years, he no longer wished for anything else than what he had in that moment. He had spent his life longing for something more, something greater. But there wasn't anything greater than the love he held for her.

Masterlist | Buy me a coffee?

#chiefdirector #tony dinozzo #tony dinozzo x reader #ncis #ncis imagine #ncis cbs #ncis x reader #ncis tony #tony dinozzo imagine

[alwaysmychoices]

Compromise in Bloom

Synopsis: Now that Charlie and Ethan are back together, Ethan must face Bloom and reach a compromise before Bloom destroys their new future.

Chapter 42 of the “with and without” series

Previous Series: “a weekend with dr. ramsey”

Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x MC (Charlotte “Charlie” Greene)

Words: 2.6k

Rating: Teen (language)

Also available on AO3 & Wattpad (link in Masterlist)

Ethan felt weightless as he floated down the Edenbrook halls. The whispered gossip and interested stares couldn’t touch him when he felt like this. The rumors of his reunion with Charlie hadn’t reached the whole staff, but soon, it would – and miraculously, not even the impending scandal bothered Ethan.

Because, really, none of it mattered.

For the first time in Ethan’s life, he saw the world with perfect clarity. The only thing he really cared about was Charlie. He’d conquered his career, made his name in academia, and succeeded at nearly everything he’d intended to do. He didn’t need to chase glory, nor did he need to sacrifice himself for his loyalty to this hospital.

Ethan had spent his entire career thinking he must be a martyr to his grand ambition. Nothing – and no one – could stand in the way of his achievement. He’d designed a life where he’d be remembered by textbooks but not by anyone who loved him.

And now he had a chance at something different. He’d felt the crushing loss of Charlie’s absence and was blessed with a second chance. He wouldn’t ruin it again.

Ethan was positively cocky as he walked through Edenbrook – even smiling at an intern who was obviously gossiping in the corner. In a few minutes, he’d be untouchable. For now, the crowd could be satisfied with the strange mystery of Dr. Ramsey’s surprise “vacation” and his unusually happy mood. They’d forget about all of it when they learned that Dr. Ramsey and Dr. Greene had professed their love in the parking lot. And Ethan would make no efforts to hide it either.

He’d promised to be obnoxious about how much he loved Charlie, and it was a promise he intended to keep – as soon as he resolved the danger lurking in the administrative wing.

This part of the hospital used to be an afterthought. It was tidy and well-maintained but never ostentatious. But of course, Bloom’s ego touched every part of Edenbrook, especially the administrative suite. When renovations began, Ethan insisted it was a ridiculous waste of resources that should have been extended to patient care instead. This was only the first of many disagreements.

Ethan wasn’t sure when his disagreements with Blooms had transformed into something more. They started small – fights over which cases should be assigned to the Diagnostics Team and Bloom’s level of involvement in their work. What began as a series of passive-aggressive digs escalated into a war.

Bloom drew the first blood when he leveraged Charlie’s career as blackmail on Ethan. His relationship with Charlie was the first casualty, but despite caving to Bloom’s demands, Ethan ensured it wasn’t the only blood on the field. He’d fought Bloom at every opportunity – blocking unethical treatments, refusing Bloom’s intended patients, and relegating research projects.

Ethan didn’t remember why he did it now. He wasn’t sure if it really was for the patients or if he was acting out on his anger and despair – and he hated himself for not knowing.

None of this was what Ethan wanted. They’d both gone too far.

Ethan didn’t want to fight anymore. He wanted to lay down his weapons and be with the woman he loved, which required compromising with his enemy.

Admittedly, he didn’t really want to do it. The idea of compromising on anything with Bloom made Ethan feel nauseous. There was only one reason he walked into that office – and her name was Charlie.

As soon as Ethan entered the room, Bloom’s assistant slumped into her desk. Meetings between Ethan and Bloom were increasingly frequent and famously antagonistic. Seeing Dr. Ramsey meant that her day was about to get a lot worse.

“He’s asked to not be disturbed,” the assistant glared at Ethan in silent warning. Please do not ruin my perfectly enjoyable afternoon, she quietly begged.

“He’ll want to speak with me,” Ethan insisted, smiling politely to sooth her ire. It didn’t work.

The assistant highly doubted that Mr. Bloom would actually want to speak with Dr. Ramsey, but she sensed that Dr. Ramsey wouldn’t give up without a fight. So, she lifted her phone and dialed Bloom’s direct line. Just as Ethan predicted, Bloom instructed her to invite Ethan in as soon as the assistant said Ethan’s name. Grimacing, Bloom’s assistant ushered him inside the CEO’s lavish office and firmly closed the door behind her, hoping they’d invested in sufficient soundproofing during renovations.

Leland Bloom didn’t stand to greet Ethan. Instead, he watched Ethan like a predator watched his favorite prey. Normally, this blatant intimidation tactic would have incensed Ethan, but today, he merely frowned.

Now this is intriguing, Bloom thought to himself.

Feuding with Ethan Ramsey had become a bit of a hobby for the ruthless billionaire. By now, it was more than just business. Bloom genuinely despised Dr. Ramsey, but that didn’t stop him from being perpetually curious about the medical genius. Seeing him break his normal routine was enough to enthrall Bloom.

“I thought you were supposed to be halfway across the country by now,” Bloom quipped.

Ethan hadn’t told Bloom about his plans to resign and move to San Diego, but his failure to inform Bloom hardly meant that the plan was a secret – nor would the change be unwelcome. As interesting and brilliant as Dr. Ramsey was, he’d become a roadblock, and Bloom didn’t tolerate roadblocks. Ethan would need to comply, or he would need to leave. Having Ethan resign eased the process.

“Change of plans,” Ethan’s face tightened.

“Later flight?”

“No flight.”

Bloom’s eyebrows shot to the top of his temples. Still, he tried to hide his surprise by teasing, “Staycation then.”

Ethan eyed his opponent, trying to mask his disdain. Ethan hated many things about Bloom, but perhaps most of all, he hated the games he played. Feigning ignorance was exhausting and pointless. What was the point of making a veiled threat when they both knew the truth?

They didn’t need to perform for anyone, especially each other.

“We don’t have to pretend, Leland.”

Bloom’s smile twitched at the use of his first name. He preferred more honorific titles just to remind Ethan of their power imbalance.

“Fine,” Bloom snarled, wiping a small piece of lint off his jacket, “But you should know that threatening to quit on such short notice violates your employment contract and does nothing to change my opinion of you. You won’t scare me into backing down, Dr. Ramsey. Nor will you save Dr. Greene from becoming collateral damage. Breaking up with her won’t change the fact you carried on an affair with your prize student, nor will it save her career if it all comes out.”

This got under Ethan’s skin – just as Bloom knew it would.

You had to admire a man who was so easily swayed by love. Once Bloom discovered this weakness, it was so easy to exploit. If Bloom had been a better man, he would have found a more challenging target to keep the odds fair. But no one would ever accuse Bloom of being a better man.

Rage built in Ethan’s chest, accompanied by the uncomfortable prickling of fear on his skin. Ethan promised Charlie he would stay, even though his presence could ruin her career. Making the promise didn’t soothe his terror, nor did their romantic reunion mean that Bloom would call off the attack – especially when it meant that Ethan was more eager than ever to protect Charlie.

Nothing was worth this feeling of dread – not the hospital, not the Diagnostics Team, not even Ethan’s career and reputation. Ethan would gladly give it all up for Charlie to be safe. That’s what almost drove him to California, and that’s why he was here in this office. He wasn’t out of grand gestures yet.

“Isn’t it time we called a truce?” Ethan exuded confidence as he spoke, but Bloom saw his lurking fear.

“A truce?” Bloom scoffed, “Truces are for people prepared to lose. I think you forget the stakes, Dr. Ramsey. Until the day my wife is cured, there is no loss I am willing to accept.”

“I never said you had to lose.”

Bloom wanted to lecture Ethan on the nature of their little war. This was a zero-sum game– one winner, one loser. Any result that didn’t promptly cure his wife and allow them to be reunited would be regarded as a loss. Ethan would be foolish to think anything else.

But Bloom was curious.

So, instead of informing Ethan of his unbearable naivete, Bloom motioned for Ethan to take a seat across from him. Ethan complied, doing his best to maintain his confidence and courage. Neither man was fooled by it.

“This is unsustainable, Leland,” Ethan used his first name, just to put Bloom back on edge, “I’m here to offer a compromise. You want the Diagnostics Team and my research. I want you to leave Charlotte out of this.”

Bloom stared with disinterest, “Go on.”

“I’m prepared to go on sabbatical – one year away from Edenbrook to work on my long-neglected research. I’ll leave the team to Dr. Carrick, who you know will be more amenable to your plans. There will be no scandal, no harm to the institution or yourself. I’ll return to my lab, where I’ll reinstate myself as an influential academic. I’ll publish in all the right journals and speak at all the right conferences. I’ll tell everyone that I was able to dedicate myself to academia because of your wisdom and generosity. My research will still be my own, but we both know it will benefit your wife’s case.

“You came here because of my research,” Ethan continued. For too long, Ethan had let their power dynamic remain imbalanced. It was time to correct that. “You wanted my prestige and my connections. You wanted my work. The only reason you want me gone is that I’m too difficult to manipulate. You’ll still get my research – you’ll have everything you wanted.”

“Everything?” Bloom sneered, “If you wanted to give me everything, you should have complied months ago.”

“You get this, or I leave – and you get nothing.”

The threat echoed in the room.

“What’s in it for you?”

“If I’m not working here, nothing is stopping me from being with Charlie.”

“You think a new job title will protect you from the scandal?” Bloom titled his head, offering insincere sympathy, “Ethan, you had an affair with your student for over a year. You can’t go back in time to hide that.”

“I’m not trying to hide the past. There will be no need. You’re not going to bring it up.”

“Oh, Ethan,” Bloom leaned back in his chair, genuinely amused by Ethan’s confidence. Bloom wasn’t a man of honor – what would ever stop him?

“If you make so much as a comment that harms her reputation or career, the deal is off. It took me less than a day to find another hospital begging for my expertise – I’m never out of options, Leland.”

“I could take away all of your options, Ramsey,” Bloom snarled. He was always prepared to bury Ethan if needed. He’d already tracked down a patient willing to sue and jeopardize Ethan’s medical license. Ethan wasn’t nearly as powerful as he thought.

“You could scare off every employer in the country. I wouldn’t care,” Ethan said honestly, “I’ve had a record-breaking career. I could retire tomorrow. I will retire tomorrow if need be.”

Normally, neither man would have believed this. Ethan was a slave to his career, and a life full of empty days and disgraced legacies would haunt him.

But there was something about Ethan’s voice when he said it – true sincerity. He was really willing to leave it all behind for Charlie.

That was the double-edged sword to manipulating a man so devoted.

“Leland, you told me that you were only interested in winning. Dragging my name through scandal and forfeiting my research hardly seems like a win,” Ethan challenged, “This feud isn’t healing your wife. We’re on the edge of personal and professional ruin, and the person who will suffer the most is the only person you claim to care about.”

Bloom winced. A low blow but deserved, nonetheless.

He came here for his wife. Ethan was nothing compared to that.

“Fine,” Bloom acquiesced, “I accept. You’ll be on a research sabbatical for the rest of Dr. Greene’s residency in exchange for no scandal or harm to her career. But when she finishes her residency, I’ll still expect your work. You’ll return to the team and follow my commands, or you’ll stay in your lab. I won’t accept your insolence any longer.”

Ethan’s stoic veneer cracked, and streams of relief and joy peaked through. The terms were less than ideal, and undoubtedly, Ethan would renegotiate his future after Charlotte graduated. But by then, they could both leave if they needed to, and Charlie would be able to enter the field without the mark of his scandal.

And tonight – and every night thereafter – Ethan could come home to Charlie without fear.

Despite everything, Ethan’s visible delight pleased Bloom. Perhaps compromise was better than destruction.

“You know, I always liked Charlie,” Bloom said candidly, “I never intended to harm her. She was an innocent victim in a holy war for the woman I loved.”

This excuse wasn’t enough for Ethan. It didn’t forgive months of cruelty and threats. It didn’t change the fact that Bloom’s actions had harmed multiple patients, nor did it erase the damage to Ethan’s relationship with Charlie. But despite all its deficiencies, this excuse was something Ethan could understand.

This ‘holy war’ was familiar. He’d fought a similar one months ago, when he’d sat behind glass and watched Charlie fade. He’d held her frail body and wished he could take off his protective gear and die with her, just so he’d be spared the horrible reality of life without her. He knew what it meant to watch a love fade from behind glass.

And Ethan knew that his personal victory was an affront to Bloom. Ethan cured Charlie and revived the promise of a lifetime with the woman he loved. He held her every night and indulged in the steady rate of her heartbeat.

But Ethan didn’t extend the same courtesy to Bloom. He hadn’t cured his wife. He hadn’t reunited them. Instead, he’d screamed about medical ethics while Bloom attempted to bend all the rules to save his true love.

Ethan didn’t blame Bloom for hating him. If he had been in the same position, he would have burned the city down just to have a few more minutes with Charlie.

“I always wanted a cure for your wife,” Ethan confessed, “I know what it means to be separated from the love of your life while they suffer. That’s a fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone, even you.”

The two men stared at each other for a moment – realizing the unique connection they’d often tried to forget. They were looking at the only other man who had experienced this kind of loss, and even if that was the ultimate cause of their animosity, it inspired a sense of kinship. Bloom would abide by the deal – if not out of honor but out of respect for a pair of lovers who had escaped his cruel fate.

Bloom stood, offering his hand to seal the deal. Ethan accepted.

“Dr. Ramsey, congratulations. You are officially on sabbatical.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bloom.”

As of this moment, Ethan Ramsey no longer worked at Edenbrook – which meant he never had to hide Charlie again.

[bunnystalker]

Pookie, you've got me thinking. After your headcanons about being Wesker's partner, and him being your bf and reacting to a breakup I want your opinion on two scenarios.

1. Reader who knows what happened with the STARS team and stays with him (whether by force or by choice)

2. Reader who leaves him and they have a reunion in a later game (maybe helping Leon in re4 or Chris and Sheva in re5?)

No pressure to write a fic or headcanons, I'm just curious what you think.

Stay hydrated! <3

snookums... you're brilliant.

(first scenario)

anybody rational would leave. you're a rational person, so you tried to leave and he just wasn't having that. since taking that dose of the prototype virus, he's nearly unstoppable.

the last thing you remember is sitting him down and telling him that you can't, in your good conscious, stay with him. his expression quickly fell.

"i was only doing what's necessary, dear," he'd try to tell you, placing a firm hand on your thigh. the situation would escalate, he'd inject you with something, and then you'd be unconscious within minutes. you've never felt so unsafe in your life. like a dog, he'd keep you on a short leash. you're in a different country every few years to remain under the radar.

after the first year under lock and key, you realize that there's no escape for you. unless he dies, you're never getting out of this, and you're pretty sure he's not dying any time soon. what do you do? give in. give up. surrender and try to be the person you were before everything happened.

(second scenario)

the year is 2004. since the raccoon city incident you were involved in, the d.s.o has had your life in a vice grip. they molded and carved away at you until you became a shell of what you once were. you were 23 in 1998. at age 29, you're jaded. tired.

you've been sent to a small town in Spain alongside your fellow agent Leon to rescue the president's daughter.

truthfully, Albert thought you'd died in the incident. after he had told you about his plans for the future, you left. he poured hours into finding you, only to come up null.

when you made your deal with the d.s.o, they'd agreed to give you a brand new identity to keep you safe.

so imagine his surprise when ada tells him there's not one, but two little problems in their plan. one she knows, and the other she's unfamiliar with. the only thing she gives wesker is a birds-eye view of yourself and leon running to take cover from the mob of ganados.

instantly, he recognizes you. his blood runs cold. he never thought he'd see you again and truthfully, it's a kick in the teeth. so maybe he never got over you- surely you got over him, right? it's not like he could come out of hiding to bring you into his arms- he's not quite sure you'd welcome him back anyway. you're different now, that much is true.

he can't help himself. he seeks you out in a hurry, some sense of desperation controlling his actions. he knows it's ridiculous, but what is he supposed to do? leave you with a man he doesn't know or trust? absolutely not. he makes little attempt to disguise himself, no less.

the last thing you expect is to see him coming towards you as you keep watch, leon sound asleep beside you. on instinct, you grab your knife from its hilt and meet him halfway, keeping a friendly distance between you two. you don't smile or cry or even scream at him for what he's done. your silence is unexpected and very, very insulting.

"dearest-" he reaches out for you and you slap his hand away.

"don't. you don't get to call me that anymore." you point your knife at him, your eyes cold and hard. once hurt, you never forget. he hurt you- hurt everyone in raccoon city- and made you go through hell.

"how dare you be alive. you should've died in that fucking mansion with the rest of your team." you snarl and spit at him. you're not hurting him. in fact, he's just letting you get your emotions out. he grabs your hand holding the knife and lowers it, then uses it as leverage to pull you closer.

"don't be so unkind. the years have been hard on all of us-"

"you caused all of this. you're to blame. if you ever touch me again, you won't live to see another day." you swap the knife to your free hand and cut his forearm, forcing him to let you go.

and let you go he does. you let your words hang in the air and then retreat to your makeshift camp with leon, and like normal, wesker slinks into the shadows.

#resident evil #albert wesker #bunnystalker ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡ #resident evil fanfiction #asks #light angst

[imomnba-x07]

Okay I think I’m ganna elaborate on my Thunderbolts and New World Order theory because I can and I’m having IMMENSE brain rot rn. (Also please lemme know your thoughts or feel free to add on to this)

- General Ross as we know plays a pretty big role in both films. Neither of our boys have any love for Ross ESPECIALLY Sam, after the way he was treated on the raft. So when Ross starts gaining more political power, Sam is most likely immediately distrusting and suspicious of it and knows Ross well enough to know that he would be up to something more now with his presidential power.

- so essentially (either through the grape vine, walkers big ass mouth, or possibly even Everett Ross, I’ll get into my theory about him in a minute😏) Sam gets wind of what Thaddeus and Val are up to and don’t trust either of them to have control over a team of super powered individuals. So Sam wants to know more about this new team on the playing field but doesn’t have a contact on the inside that he trusts enough to get more information.

- that’s is, until Bucky potentially volunteers himself. Then there’s a lot of back and forth between them “Bucky no it’s dangerous” Sam my middle name is danger 😡” “Sam you trust me right?” “With my life Bucky” “then trust me to do this for you, we need a man on the inside” “if you do this, you keep in contact with me you understand? No more of this disappearing on me act” “I promise, you won’t lose me again” blah blah blah I’ll let the fic writers come up with more poetic shit

- But the question is, how do they get Bucky into the Thunderbolts without drawing suspicion? Well, anyone remember this?

- there’s a video of Bucky acting as the winter soldier somewhere out there. It’s likely that Sam asked Sharon to get a hold of it and keep it off web. But for Operation infiltrate thunderbolts, its the perfect “evidence” to have released. So Sharon, with the permission of Sam and Bucky, leaks it online. It’s the perfect ploy to make Thaddeus think he has some sort of leverage or reason over Bucky now. Because let’s be honest, Thaddeus can’t refuse the offer of getting the winter soldier to work for him and do his bidding. Bucky of course acts oblivious to the video, and let’s himself get arrested once Thaddeus gets the authority to do so.

- Wam Bam Bippity Bow, Bucky is now on the thunderbolts team, acting like this wasn’t the plan, acting pissed that he’s there, acting forlorn and dejected that he’s tied back down to the government, leaving Val and Thaddeus none the wiser (Ha ha suck it assholes) all while secretly reporting back to Sam every-time he can when the cost is clear.

- and all of this can either take place in the final or first act of Cap 4 or the beginning act of Thunderbolts. It’s the perfect reason as to why They won’t be in the same projects, but would still give them each an opportunity to appear for some scenes in eachothers movies (BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GETTING DIVORCED DAMMIT).

- Now if you want to add ANOTHER spicy level to this well look no further! Remember that I mentioned Everett Ross before? There have been a few rumors that Thunderbolts is going to mainly center around the search for Vibranium, and it would make sense from what we saw of Val in Wakanda Forever. There are also rumors that Sam might appear in secret invasion, where Everett Ross also is. Thus giving them a potential connection.

- Everett as we know is highly trusted by the Wakandans, so we know he likely tells them what Val is up to with the thunderbolts and the potential vibranium plot. Everett however can’t get involved because he was already arrested once by Val, and the Wakandans can’t be seen interfering with international affairs based off a hunch they got from an “anonymous” source. Gosh if only there was an avenger with ties to Wakanda who still may have to redeem themselves after releasing Zemo…..oh wait😏

- It’s a nice way for Bucky to earn the trust of the Wakandans back completely while simultaneously keeping an eye on the new team recruits to see who may actually be avengers material for Sam (Yelena and Ghost obviously) instead of just being a thunderbolt for the government to use as a living weapon.

Ok that’s it, that’s my master theory. I’ll probably add to this later cause I just have too many thoughts and the brain rot has overtaken me once again

#this is SO long I’m so sorry #but im really not cause I think I’m a genius #sambucky #sam wilson #james bucky buchanan barnes #sam wilson captain america #marvel #captain america #bucky barnes #tfatws #captain america new world order #captain america 4 #thunderbolts #thunderbolt ross #thaddeus ross #everett ross #contes #contessa valentina allegra de fontaine

[indiaalphawhiskey]

I was hoping to get your opinion on this entire holivia situation. You seem very open and patient to anons and I enjoy reading your responses. Why do you think it is that Harry and his team seem to have less of a say or control when it comes to this particular stunt? I understand there is a hollywood movie involved but it still seems oddly excessive to me. In the past Harry has been able to put his foot down and even cut beards off when they've behaved a little OTT but not with this one. tbc.

Hi there!

Sorry this took a while, you guys always hit me with the interesting stuff when I have other things I really ought to be doing. Oops. 😅

So, I know that I maybe sound like a broken record with my disclaimers, but when we talk about topics like this, I think it’s really important to remind ourselves that all we’re capable of doing is inferring. We don’t actually have any concrete knowledge about what Harry and Olivia’s stunt contract stipulates, what the overarching goals of the stunt are, what their red lines are, how they negotiated things, how things have evolved and whether the contract is flexible, etc. and we’re not ever going to have access to that info. I say this because I think we as a fandom sometimes have the habit of talking about situations like we know things for certain, because we’re often looking to each other for guidance and to make sense of very complex professional and personal situations that, unfortunately, tend to weigh very heavily on us emotionally, and part of fandom “health” (at least for me) is getting comfortable with not knowing and never getting a definitive answer.

Another really important thing to note (that someone very smart pointed out in a tag on one of my posts, I wish I could tag you) is that personal and professional goals are very different. What someone wants to achieve professionally can be (and very often is) contradictory to what they may want for their personal life. Part of living in the real world is understanding that that tension and complexity is always going to exist, and it’s actually extremely rare for those two things to align, especially in a career where success is almost entirely dependent on public love and support. I don’t think that’s said often enough when we discuss closeting and Harry and Louis’ situations.

All that said, let’s get into your question. (This is going to get long, so I apologize.)

Firstly, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a situation where Harry/his team have ever “put their foot down” when it comes to a stunt, but more importantly, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a stunt be “over the top” like this. So, when you say Olivia’s team says “jump” and Harry’s team says “how high?” I think that’s a bit of a misreading of the situation.

My guess is what you’re actually seeing is Olivia using the loopholes in their contract to her utmost advantage, which no other stunt has either thought to do, or had enough leverage to do in the past. We have to remember that these negotiations likely happened at the beginning of DWD, and at that time, Olivia was in a different professional situation than she is in now. She was his director, she was casting him, she was his professional superior, and negotiating something like a PR stunt with your professional superior is a delicate thing because, no matter how popular or accomplished Harry is or how much Olivia may have wanted his fan base for the movie, the power dynamics are still very much present. Compounded with the fact that Olivia herself was who they were pitching as his stunt partner, it would have been very easy to write something in the contract that she could take as a personal insult and that could’ve very easily jeopardized his role in the movie, their working relationship, his reputation as an up and coming actor… the list goes on.

That particular complexity has never existed with any of Harry’s other stunts (even the more high profile ones like Taylor and Kendall) because he’s never been directly beholden to them in a professional capacity. The worst thing that could’ve happened to him if he’d insulted those stunt partners somehow is calling the deal off and a few scathing rumors and songs here or there. With Taylor and Kendall, Harry was always an equal, not a subordinate. With the others, they had a vested interest in staying in Harry’s good graces by not pushing the boundaries, because he was a lot more famous than most of them. Olivia, however, seems not to care about pushing that boundary, mostly, I think, due to her personality, her “alpha-female” approach to her career goals, and the fact that Harry is likely to continue to conduct himself as professionally as he can even in a trying situation, so the backlash she gets from him, personally, is probably not enough to dissuade her.

Secondly, an important part of workplace politics is maintaining amicable business relationships. That means knowing how to choose your battles and always having professional reasoning (as opposed to personal) behind the battles you do choose to fight. So, I don’t actually think Harry’s more “on board than ever” but rather that he’s choosing his battles. And, if we’re honest, there’s no professional reasoning behind Olivia not being at multiple shows, or being papped in his merch, or them being papped together. “You’re annoying,” and “you annoy me,” and “my die hard fans can’t stand the sight of you” (and, also apparently for Olivia, “you’re having family issues that you need to deal with”) can’t really compete with consistent engagement with tabloids, Twitter trends, conversion rates (of GP to casual listeners to stans), Harry being placed on Hollywood’s radar, etc. However, it seems like when there is solid professional reasoning behind shutting down a decision, Harry and his team do take it. We’ve seen that in the social media and print media gag order (Olivia wasn’t allowed to mention him in her Vogue interview though she tried very hard to insinuate a confirmation) and the pivot in terms of the Harry’s House narrative (that I suspect largely had to do with how they plan to navigate My Policeman promo). I think our frustration as a fandom lies in that it’s not easy for us not to equate things that are annoying with things that are damaging to our relationship with Harry because when you’re as emotionally involved as we are, it all feels the same.

Lastly, I think we have to remember that the music industry and Hollywood are entirely different beasts, and I bring that up for two reasons:

1) Stunts serve different purposes, depending on the situation. For Harry Styles, singer-songwriter, it was meant to closet him, give an intriguing background to his love songs, make people interested in him, maybe even be used as a cover for why sex-symbol-rockstar-modern-day-Rolling Stone doesn’t ever take anyone back to his hotel room.

For Harry Styles, up and coming actor, it’s both to closet him and to keep people interested in him and his projects when he technically still has nothing to show for it. You can’t be interested in an actor from that one ensemble cast three years ago, even if it was a Nolan film. There needs to be a reason for him to be top of mind, especially when he technically has no body of work to give him credibility. Like it or not, a fauxmance is the way to do that, and at the end of the day, we have to remember that Harry does want to break into Hollywood. So, he has to play the game.

2) While we often joke about Larry being the music industry’s worst kept secret, it doesn’t necessarily follow that that would be the case in Hollywood. When Harry and Louis first got together, they were incredibly young (and not very good at hiding their feelings), and the people around them held relatively close ranks. They had the same bodyguards, their band was close, they worked with the same producers and song writers, they were in the same meetings, they used the same people as the crew over and over, and that level of environmental control made it much easier to mitigate the risk of them being outed while still allowing them to be “out” in their immediate environment (whether literally or through song writing). That seemed to carry over to their solo careers, where they seem to stay within the same professional circles of people as much as possible for, I suppose, many reasons, but also because I think they’ve built the kind of trust with these people that’s really hard to come by when you’re famous and closeted.

But, Harry doesn’t have that environmental control in Hollywood. He can’t call the shots on a movie set, or handpick the crew, or have time to develop that trust with all the people around him. And so, the answer to that is, if he can’t be fully out, he has to keep up some semblance of the closet by stunting, and that means, if Olivia wants to push the boundaries of their contract by being around all the damn time, then her inescapable presence, however annoying, at least serves to keep the narrative as consistent as possible with the least amount of Harry’s effort required.

TL;DR - It’s likely that Olivia is taking advantage of loopholes in a contract that was negotiated when she had professional leverage over Harry and his team, Harry and team need to choose their battles (and, I believe, have) with regards to the stunt and technically, however frustrating Olivia’s constant presence is, it’s not professionally damaging to Harry (so far) which makes it hard to draw lines for “smaller” nuisances, stunts in the music industry vs Hollywood have different goals, and unlike in the controlled circle of his professional environment in the music industry, in Hollywood, Harry likely still needs to keep up appearances because he doesn’t have the capacity to mitigate the risk of being officially outed in such a wide group of people.

Hope that was interesting to read and was at least halfway coherent!

#iaw ask #iaw anonymous #holivia #stunt tw #stunt discussion #holivia tw

[dulcewrites]

I have random Baela and Rhaena thoughts. This is probably discombobulated lmao 😭

As much as I am looking forward to (and very much hoping for) more scenes/lines for rhaena and baela, it is personally going to be so… bittersweet (??) to watch them be involved in a war where imo they gain nothing by Rhaenyra winning. And knowing how reading seems to not be fundemental in this fandom, no this is not me saying it would make sense for them to fight for team green. Though if Alicent followed through on what she said to Rhaenys, they’d have driftmark but that’s neither here nor there I guess.

Especially if we go strictly by show canon. They are THEE dragon twins essentially offered up to legitimized two boys bc that’s all Rhaenyra has at that moment (before viserys swoops in again). She tried with Alicent, who shot her down knowing that Helaena, Dreamfyre, and possible children she would have with Jace would be used as leverage.

I would get it more if it was for family reasons or even personal ambitions (Baela being queen. Though her children would quite literally be put in the same position Rhaenyra’s kids are. If they even got that far💀). But imo nothing in the show depicts that. They try to show them having some sort of affection with Luke and Jace; still don’t know if that is romantic or sibling wise. Either way, I’m supposed to believe it’s enough?? If the fight is for Rhaenyra, they did a bad job showing that too and frankly it would not make sense. If it is for daemon that’s… a choice.

Something about Baela being ‘just like daemon’ but sitting and smiling nicely while Rhaenyra takes her birthright just kind of makes me laugh 😭. Like I said, I could possibly understand this decision if we got shades of Baela wanting to be queen. She seems pretty devoted to her grandmother and wards at Driftmark, it is just hard for me to think she in particular would be over the moon about Luke being lord of the tides. Regardless of if she sees him as family or not.

I am someone who will always advocate for more women on the show, especially women from a different social/economic background from the noble ones we got in s1. So if they choose to make Sara Snow a real person, there won’t be any real qualms out of me about it (unless they write her weird lol). But ngl it will be hard watching Baela fight, quite literally, while jace is away possibly falling in love and Rhaenyra sits on her butt at dragonstone. And daemon is away grooming another young girl???

Like who and what are they fighting for!!!

Oh, don’t even get me started on how Rhaena gets absolutely nothing out of this, and honestly nothing from the people who are supposed to take care of her. I just think they both got the short end of the stick, at least during the war. Which I guess is the point of it all. Casualties and people going through strife for a stupid throne but yeah.. I’m just kind of eh about watching that unfold.

#I don’t know what to tag this bc I truly do not want to argue 😭 #*tamara judge voice* THIS IS MY OPINION #anti daemon targaryen #anti rhaenyra targaryen #I guess #anti lucerys velaryon #anti Jacaerys velaryon #just in case #anti rhaenys targaryen #too maybe idk

[atlasthegreatest]

The Bat, The Spider, and The Mutant / Cassandra Cain x Male Reader x Cindy Moon

Some headcanons about the reader being in a polyamorous relationship with Cassandra and Cindy aka Best Girls.

A/n: This one was requested by @earthboundguythatlikesmother1 I hope you like it. Let me know if you want to add something. Also, this is my first time writing for a polygamous couple.

—How did they meet?—

They met while fighting Anarky.

Anarky was the villain who, teaming up with Ultron, hacked the Shield and Justice League database, spreading confidential information and the superheroes' identities to the entire world, and causing chaos.

And while the Avengers, the X-Men, the Justice League, and other superhero organizations dealt with the infestation of villains and Ultron bots across the world, Y/n went looking for Anarky on Nick Fury's orders.

But when the young man found him, he was already engaged in a battle against someone else. And without thinking twice, he decided to get involved in the fight to assist the other superhero.

After the battle, Y/n, Cassandra, and Cindy took a moment to catch their breath and assess the situation.

Y/n was the first to break the ice by introducing herself to them, saying her superhero nickname, and receiving a short wave and a short answer from both of them in response.

Cassandra, on the other hand, looked at Cindy and Y/n with a certain curiosity due to how Y/N seemed to adapt to the different fighting styles that Anarky used during the fight and Cindy's skills. And the same could be said for Cindy.

That had been the first contact the three had with each other.

But after that, whenever one of them fought against a villain, the other was always there to help him. And without even realizing it, the three had formed a formidable team that caused fear to the villains who came to face them.

– How did they react about Y/n’s powers?—

– Cassandra:

She is known for her exceptional combat skills and her ability to read body language, which made her a formidable fighter. When she finds out about Y/n's adaptive powers, she initially approaches them with caution and curiosity.

Cassandra is highly observant and analytical, so she would likely spend time studying and testing the extent of Y/n's abilities.

As she witnesses Y/n's powers in action, she gradually develops a deep respect for her adaptability. She would appreciate the advantage this brings to her missions, recognizing the potential for strategic planning and improvisation.

Cassandra would see Y/n's powers as a valuable asset and would seamlessly incorporate them into her training sessions, finding ways to maximize their combined effectiveness.

– Cindy:

Cindy is known to possess spider-like abilities, including superhuman strength, agility, and pre-cognitive awareness. When she learns about Y/n's powers, she is intrigued and fascinated by her adaptability.

As someone who has experienced the challenges of having unique abilities, Cindy would empathize with Y/n and be eager to learn more about his powers.

She would be excited to explore the synergies between her spider abilities and Y/n's powers.

She would view their friendship as an opportunity for mutual growth and support, sharing tips and techniques to help Y/n leverage her abilities more effectively.

– When did they start to develop feelings for each other?—

Initially, Y/n, Cassandra, and Cindy formed a strong bond based on shared experiences, trust, and mutual respect. And because of the significant time they spend together as they work as a team, supporting each other as friends. As they navigate challenges and trust each other, they begin to appreciate each other's strengths, values, and unique qualities.

As time passes, the trio realizes that the connection between them extends beyond friendship. They found themselves naturally drawn to each other's company, seeking opportunities to spend more time together. They enjoy each other's presence and feel a sense of comfort and emotional support when they are around each other.

As introverts in the case of Cassandra and Y/n and socially anxious in the case of Cindy, they had difficulty expressing their emotions openly. However, the deep trust and understanding they developed allowed them to gradually open up and share their vulnerabilities. This vulnerability created an even deeper bond and fostered a sense of intimacy between the three.

As romantic feelings begin to emerge between them, the trio becomes more in tune with the subtle shifts in their dynamic. From the lingering touches, and the stolen glances, to the concern they feel for each other, their awareness of these subtle clues ignites a sense of curiosity and intrigue, causing them to question their own emotions.

Because they lead a dangerous life as heroes/vigilantes, there are times when there is an upcoming call during a mission that makes them face the possibility of getting lost. It was on one of these missions that Y/n admitted to himself how he felt about the two young women when he saw them on the ground, full of wounds, and Taskmaster walking towards them.

Eventually, one of the three had to muster the courage to express their feelings. And that someone was Y/n. On one of their walks, the young boy waited for the right moment to honestly share his emotions and admitted his growing affection for them as he held each of their hands in his hands.

With their feelings out in the open, the trio embarks on a new chapter in their relationship. Y/n, Cassandra, and Cindy explore aspects of their connection, taking the time to navigate the dynamics and establish clear communication. They support each other through this transition, understanding that their bond as friends forms a solid foundation for their romantic relationship.

Throughout this process, Cassandra, Cindy, and Y/n navigate their emotions with care and respect for each other's boundaries. They communicate openly, ensuring that everyone's feelings and desires are understood and validated.

– What is their relationship dynamic like?—

Being introverts, they understood and respected each other's need for silence without feeling pressured to fill every moment of conversation.

They value the tranquility of shared silence, finding comfort in each other's presence even without constant verbal interaction. Cassandra, Cindy, and Y/n share a deep bond, built on mutual understanding, empathy, and shared experiences. They would appreciate and recognize the significance of the unspoken connection they have, recognizing that true intimacy can exist beyond constant talking.

They prefer to spend quality time together in more intimate settings, such as quiet evenings at home, engaging in activities that everyone else enjoys. like. Cassandra, Cindy, and Y/nr respected each other's need for personal space and understood that time spent apart is essential for personal growth and well-being.

They supported and encouraged each other's pursuits, recognizing that self-care and personal development contribute to the strength of their relationship as a whole.

Typically, when they're not fighting some bad guy, or training with each other, they engage in thoughtful conversations, discussing their thoughts, experiences, and personal philosophies while cuddling in bed. They stayed there, talking calmly, with Cassandra and Cindy lying on Y/n's chest playing with each other's fingers while Y/n played with their hair softly.

They developed a keen understanding of each other's nonverbal cues, such as body language, expressions, and gestures. They would be in tune with each other's moods and emotions, providing support and comfort even without explicit verbal communication. This was a blessing in battle, as they would be able to predict each other's movements, and a curse at the same time, as neither of them would be able to hide anything without the other finding out.

– Bonus Scenes–

They tend to each other's wounds after a mission.

The bat family (more precisely Bruce, Dick, Jason, and Damian) when they discovered that Cassandra confessed to them that she was in a relationship with Cindy and Y/n were surprised. Alfred decided to give the idea of having a dinner so they could get to know each other better. Which, in Cassandra's eyes, was a terrible idea.

They spent half the dinner intimidating Cindy and Y/n by talking about all their information. From the year they were born, to the phobias they had. Even information that Y/n didn't know about himself, they somehow knew.

Dinner ended when the three men and a teenager suddenly attacked Y/n and Cindy, inducing them into combat. The six engaged in an intense battle, which only stopped after Cassandra intervened.

“You four are embarrassing me”

At the end of it all, they accepted the idea of Y/n and Cindy being in a relationship with Cassandra. But still, they (even Barbara and Stephanie) made it clear that if one of them broke Cassandra's heart they would find a way to make them disappear.

As for Peter, he reacted in a calmer and more relaxed manner (To Y/n's relief. It was enough to have several bats breathing down his neck. He didn't need a spider either). He kept making lots of jokes about bats and spiders.

When the X-Men heard the news that Y/n was in a relationship, everyone, and when I say everyone I mean EVERYONE, celebrated happily. They had already given up hope of him ever finding someone.

And in the middle of that bash, Y/n discovered that his teammates and family had bet on him when he saw Bobby collecting everyone's money. Even Logan was included in that!

“Wait a minute. Did you place bets on me?”

“We had to entertain ourselves somehow, don’t you think? But, just to confirm… Who confessed first?”

“Uhmm… it was me. Why?"

Y/n only knew how to stare at his friends in disbelief once again when half of them groaned and started taking more bills out of their pockets to hand to Bobby, who received the money with a big smile on his face.

Their favorite pastime is when Y/n plays the piano and Cassandra follows the rhythm with her ballet steps while Cindy concentrates on writing her next newspaper column.

Cassandra: looks like she could kill you, could kill you. 

Cindy: looks like a cinnamon roll, but could kill you with her webs.

Y/n: looks intimidating, but he's a big teddy bear (don't try your luck).

Out of the three, Cassandra is considered the shortest, which leads her to be the butt of jokes between Cindy and Y/n.

This goes Y/n (6' 0 ft), Cindy (5' 7 ft), and Cassandra (5' 5ft).

There are times when they even argue. This only rarely happens. But when it happens, the fight is intense.

They would spend a few days without exchanging any type of communication. The three were very proud. Mainly Y/n and Cassandra. Because of their pride, it was difficult to admit they were wrong.

But eventually one of them would break down first when they noticed how bad it was causing Cindy's anxiety, and they would quickly sit down to talk and solve their problems.

There were never any problems of jealousy between them.

Lies. It's happened several times. Both three were immensely possessive of each other, even though they were sure of the high level of stability in their relationship.

Cassandra and Y/n almost strangled Peter's clone, Kane, when they discovered the mutual attraction between him and Cindy (Which was later explained to them by Cindy herself that this would happen simply because they had been bitten by the same spider) 

Also without forgetting the time when, one of the times when she and Y/n were carrying out a robbery in one of the museums, Black Cat tried to make one of her jokes on Y/n, and Cindy almost threw her from a building.

K-pop music blasting through the speakers in their apartment.

Because of their love for K-pop, Y/n, and Cassandra bought tickets so they could go to Luna Snow's (Cindy's favorite singer) concert. And despite both being classical music lovers, Y/n and Cassandra couldn't help but be carried away by K-pop lyrics and beats.

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