#Fanfiction Trope Mash-up Meme

[phoenixyfriend]

marriage of convenience and hair brushing/braiding for rexwalker, if you feel up to it?

Fanfiction Trope MASH-UP: Send me two (2) tropes from this list + a ship and I’ll describe how I’d combine them in the same story.

This ask meme is from over a year ago. Please don't send new prompts.

52. Marriage of Convenience 94. Hair Brushing/Braiding 

Is it bad that my first thought is actually inspired by the Ob*kin fic Their fragrance came from you? There's a whole thing about Tatooine marriage braids that my mind immediately jumps to lmao

I think... let's say modern AU. Anakin is a single dad, has been for a few years. Padme died in childbirth, and while her will was made out in favor of Anakin and the kids, the executor of her will was her lawyer-mentor, Palpatine, who couldn't touch the trust funds set up for the twins (which are very large, and will become available when they turn 25, but can only be accessed for education costs before then), but did manage to somehow take almost all the liquid assets left for Anakin in bogus fees.

Anakin's still got the house, but as time passes, he's having more and more trouble with paying the property taxes. He's still managing, but the money Padme left for him is slowly dwindling, and the kids are going to start costing more as they get older, and he's already got Ahsoka living with him (she helps out with the kids so he can work, coding from home, since he's paying for her college tuition; she doesn't have to pay rent since she's a commuter student, and she's got a partial scholarship, but that's still a few thousand a year coming out of Anakin's pocket to put his little sister through underrad). Obi-Wan offered to help, but Obi-Wan lives on the other side of town and even tenured professors don't earn that much, compared to Coruscant's standard cost of living, especially since Obi-Wan adopted recently, a little girl called Reva, and--

Anakin's struggling financially, basically, which isn't a new circumstance, but he really doesn't want to lose Padme's house. Worst comes to worst, he can probably sell it back to Sola so it stays in the Naberrie family, and she'll let him keep living there, but... that's not a sure bet. The Naberries are comfortably wealthy, but it's still an entire house.

Rex, a college friend of Anakin's that went to the same aerospace program, comes back to town. He was on a military tour overseas, but got honorably discharged due to a head injury. Anakin offers to let hm sleep in the guest room, since Padme's house (it's still Padme's, in Anakin's mind), is a lot bigger than Cody's apartment, even if there are toddlers at large. Rex initially promises that he'll only stay long enough to find an apartment of his own, except he overhears Anakin on the phone with Obi-Wan about the finance stuff one day, and reaches out to a few people who have been in town more consistently for a better idea of what's going on without getting too deep into Anakin's business.

Rex manages to get a job locally; there's an airfield for hobbyists a few miles out of town, and the place is looking to hire a new engineer on staff to do repairs and checks on the small planes they keep on site. He starts making noises about moving out, and then, 'subtly,' suggests he just stay at Anakin's place and pay rent.

Anakin does not like the idea of Rex paying rent; friends don't do that! Anakin isn't going to make Rex pay rent in Anakin's home.

They don't talk about it for a few days, and then there's... IDK a night 'off,' where Obi-Wan or Sola or Aayla or Beru takes the twins for an evening, and Ahsoka goes out with friends, so Anakin can take some time off from being a Dad and just Relax.

He and Rex break out the wine, get tipsy not truly drunk, and Rex pokes at the 'just stay here' option again. The house is closer to the airfield than most apartments, and Rex can help take some of the weight off of Anakin and Ahsoka's shoulders with regards to childcare! Even if Anakin won't accept him paying rent!

Anakin argues this. Anakin's kids aren't Rex's responsibility, and Anakin doesn't need his charity (which is, of course, how he views Rex's suggestion). They go back and forth on the topic a few times, and then Rex throws out something about getting married 'for lower taxes' and 'it's not rent if it's my house too, right?' and it's. It's a joke.

Except they're both still thinking about it the next morning, with faint (but not faint enough) memories of a tipsy kiss before bed, and--

Months pass with the two of them circling around each other and Rex never quite moves out, and tax season rolls around, and Anakin is stretched so thin, even with all the cuts for children and covering a dependent's tuition and so on.

Rex quietly floats the idea of a convenience marriage again. It doesn't have to mean anything, if Anakin doesn't want it to. It's not an insult to Padme's memory, just a way of keeping her children in the house she chose for them. And it's not charity, because Rex will get tax cuts too, and better health insurance once Anakin can put him on the family plan he's got. It won't do anything for this year, but by the time the next year rolls around, Anakin will have less of a problem paying those taxes, even if that promotion he's been hoping for doesn't come through.

Anakin, eventually, agrees.

Just four months later, they tie the knot. It's a small ceremony, more than just a courthouse and a paper, just to... well, Anakin wants Rex to have this. Leia and Luke don't entirely understand what's going on, but Ahsoka told them that it means Rex is going to be staying for a lot longer than they originally planned, and they're pretty excited about that part. They're four, and 'Daddy's friend that we like a lot is staying' is pretty clear.

They don't have a 'traditional' wedding night, because they're still both looking at this as a platonic thing (it won't stay that way, but it still is for now). They do share a bed, because someone is sleeping in their guest room (IDK who, maybe a guest was too drunk post-wedding to get home and they just offered the room). Anakin's hair is long enough for an evening of people and, importantly, sticky toddler hands to have tangled it. He washes it out, comes to the bed, and looks so tired--because he had to wash the toddlers first--that Rex offers to brush it for him.

It's intimate. Gentlemanly, but intimate. They go to bed with warm cheeks and pounding hearts, and eventually, one of them rolls onto their side to cuddle.

Neither of them get much sleep that night.

#star wars #the clone wars #rexwalker #captain rex #anakin skywalker #ahsoka tano #skywalker twins #modern au #obi wan kenobi #phoenix answers memes

[majorbaby]

You might have talked about this before, and I love Hawk crying as much as anyone, but do you think the baby death was… maybe not fridging, but it always bugged me that they never showed the mother again and focused on his grief

oof, i have a lot of angst over what i perceive to be rampant misuse of the term 'fridging' because i come from marvel and dc comics fandoms and so does that word, which at one time had a very specific meaning, which i think you know because of how you wrote your ask.

actually when i first joined MASH fandom i saw a few people allege the 'fridging' of peg hunnicutt by beejhawk stans was a thing and i want to just go on record and say that i really strongly reject that assessment of beejhawk fanfiction in general. this only increased my fridging angst.

there can be genuine parallels between 'fridging' - the act of violently harming or killing a female character for the purpose of advancing a plot centered on a man (or, imo, giving a male character far more agency with which to react to some act of violence against a woman character than the woman herself is afforded) - and acts of violence against other equity-seeking groups (racialized people/BIPOC, neurodivergent people, disabled people, lgbtq+ people).

i would say for example that there are some similarities between the 'fridging' trope and 'the black guy dies first' - the similarities are that (1) some act of violence (violence being the operative word) has taken place (2) the victim or survivor is afforded no agency within the narrative to address what has happened to them and (3) this event is the catalyst for further developments in the narrative which heavily feature a white man and his reaction to the violent act.

so in GFA we have:

A violent act against an unnamed Korean baby

The baby cannot be 'impacted' by its own death (not an absolute statement on fiction in general, see: The Lovely Bones) - the person closest to the baby (the mother) exists only to smother her child and appear in Hawkeye's flashback

We open on Hawkeye in the sanitarium, he's there because the baby died, he only leaves once it's revealed that the baby died, and we see how this event affects him throughout the rest of the episode

So yeah, I'd say it's a fair comparison to make. Actually you could argue that the violent act does happen to the woman, because she's smothered her child to death, she did so at the behest of an American who should not be in Korea, who did that because Americans shouldn't have been in Korea.

I actually did vent about this somewhat on GFA day (though not in any kind of detail) because I saw a couple of dead baby memes on the dash and that made me very uncomfortable. Not because I don't think it's possible to joke or meme about serious subject matter, but because it further decontextualizes the pain and suffering of the Korean people in the Korean war, on top of how GFA (and MASH) already did that.

(I have a longer post in the drafts about multiple degrees of decontextualization and GFA and MASH in general specifically prompted by "chicken-baby" memes but I have no idea when I'll publish it or if it will end up being a text post at all)

i don't really have a solution to offer tho, because i do think it makes sense that the death of a child is the thing that finally breaks Hawkeye, who is otherwise shown to be quite resilient. He survives the death of Tommy on his table in Sometimes You Hear the Bullet, he processes a deep-seated childhood trauma in Bless you Hawkeye, and by GFA in general we can say he's got have grown somewhat used to the constant assault on his senses.

I guess that's why I'm so irked by the 'further decontextualization' bit. Fridge me once, shame on you, fridge me again and again and again and again... and that's continued to happen to women, racialized characters in the larger media landscape, while these events are memed and real-life violence against women is so deeply ingrained in our culture.

It's the larger context of where this stuff happens that bothers me I guess. The Korean character most often referred to by the fandom is a dead baby, and usually as an (unfunny!) punchline, rather than a legitimately harrowing memory that probably haunts Hawkeye for the rest of his life.

#child death #mash #re: mash #race on mash #goodbye farewell and amen #fridging #maybe i need to revisit my unpublished fridging essay... #thank you for this very interesting ask btw

[bookworm555]

Fanfiction trope mash-up: 54 and 66, AmeLiet!

Unfortunately, it's been so long since you sent this that I couldn't find the ask meme you meant.

The closest one that had at least one of the numbers on the list (54) was a list of kiss prompts. So I just went with that!

Taken from this meme.

54. Sleepy kisses:

Alfred sighed contentedly as he sat down on his couch, wrapping one of his arms around Toris's shoulders. Toris himself held a bowl of popcorn in his lap, as well as the TV remote.

"Raivis said this movie was good for date night, so I borrowed it from him."

"Ooh, it must be something romantic, then!" Alfred winked before kissing his boyfriend on the lips, causing him to drop the remote.

"Alfred!" Toris yelped, surprised, though he soon leaned into the kiss.

After the two pulled away, needing air, Toris raised an eyebrow. "At least I didn't drop the popcorn."

Alfred laughed, leaning down and grabbing the remote. He pressed himself closer to Toris, ready to start the movie.

As it went on, both Toris and Alfred realized that Raivis's taste in movies was different than their own. The film, while romantic, seemed old-fashioned and rather boring to the two, so they found themselves nodding off.

But before either could fall asleep completely, Alfred drowsily pressed his lips to Toris's. Toris returned the kiss, though he was equally sleepy, thus, it was clumsy.

With a tired chuckle, Alfred wrapped his arms around Toris, and soon, both were asleep, the movie still playing in the background.

-

Thanks for the ask! :D

#response #justmakeleftturns #ameliet #hws #aph #hetalia #my writing #kissing ask meme #ask meme

[indiaalphawhiskey]

23 & 24 for Larry? 🥺

Hi darling! Thanks for this, I had so much fun!

💕Performer AU + Soulmate AU

“I don’t really understand how you can not know who it is.”

Even as Niall said it, Harry knew it sounded stupid. Stupid and ever so slightly false. Maybe a little more than slightly false. Okay, more like straight up false.

A lie, Harry, he said in his head, rolling his eyes at himself. It’s called a lie.

Well... he tried to convince himself, more like an excuse. A... distraction, just until he, you know, figured out what he was meant to do about it.

“I mean.”

And oh, right. Niall was still talking. Harry flicked his gaze upward, and tried his hardest to tune in; focus on Niall’s voice instead of the deluge of very unhelpful thoughts running around in his head.

“It goes: meet someone new,” Niall narrated, making chopping motions in the air in front of him to illustrate the fluidness of the process. “He accidentally touches you, you feel The Spark. Suddenly, there’s a red finger print on your body you’ve never seen before. Bam!” He said it so loudly Harry jumped a little. “You’ve found your soulmate.” He looked down at Harry, shrugging. “Kind of hard to miss, H. That’s about as straightforward as it gets.”

And it was true. Had it been any other circumstance, Harry never would have missed it. Except that it was that particular circumstance, so... he did.

“I...” Harry tried to think. “...had a busy night?” he finished lamely, ignoring the fact that it came out like a question. Jesus, Styles. Lie better, for fuck’s sake.

“Maybe, hmm.” And God bless Niall for trying so hard to find a solution to a made up problem. “Would it help if we retraced your steps? You fucking bolted out of that conference room like the building was coming down. Where the hell’d you go?”

“Uh...”

---

“N-need a light?” No, Harry scolded himself. Too nervous. Try again.

He shrugged up one shoulder lightly, voice quiet under his breath, “Hey, Louis,” he said, complete with a too-casual shrug. “Need a ligh—God,” he groaned, shaking his head at himself. “It sounded sexy yesterday. Now I sound like a bloody Girl Sc—“

He was cut off by the telltale creak of the backstage door behind him. He whipped around, and by the grace of God, managed to lean his hip against the wall in his most casual, just-having-a-smoke-in-the-back-alley-of-a-rock-concert-like-I-always-do pose he’d practiced in the mirror, before his target came into view. Blue eyes flicked up, and, like magic, Harry heard himself — tone even and, dare he say it? Sexy.

“Need a light?”

For half a heartbeat, he held his breath and watched Indie Rock Sensation and lust of his life Louis Tomlinson, focus that super fucking sexy smolder right at him. He took Harry in, from his painstakingly coiffed curls, to his straight-off-the-cover-of-Louis’-third-album anchor tattoo on his wrist, to his beat up white Vans (Harry thought they went better with the band shirt; looked a lot more rock ’n’ roll than his loafers).

And then, slowly, as if deciding Harry was entirely harmless, he smirked around his unlit cigarette, pushing his own lighter back into his pocket.

Okay, Harry thought. Good sign. Good sign.

Harry said a silent prayer to the friction lighter gods as Louis stood in front of him, just close enough to lean down into the miraculously smooth flame of Harry’s brand spanking new Zippo.

The top of Louis’ cigarette glowed orange, his long eyelashes fluttering as he took a rather... obscene suck, before leaning back and meeting Harry’s eyes again.

Carefully, he blew out a slow plume of smoke.

“So,” he started, flicking his hand upward and raising a brow.

“Harry.”

Another long suck, another stream of smoke, and a nod. 

“Harry,” he said, the upward quirk of his sexy as fuck lips rising higher. “Super fan, stalker, or...” His smirk turned suggestive as he angled his body that much closer. “Aspiring groupie?”

Harry was glad it was dark, willing his flush down as he worked up the nerve to answer truthfully. Emboldened by the knowledge that this was his one and only shot, he lifted his hand and dragged a lazy finger lightly down the front of Louis’ shirt, toying a little with the waistband of his jeans, before hooking it into his belt loop. He tugged, Louis tripping forward and catching himself on Harry’s hip, and, had Harry not been high off of Louis’ undivided attention, off of the slow curl of interest in the blue of his eyes, off of his own lust, coursing through him — he might have noticed the quick bite of electricity where Louis touched him, and the gentle heat of a red fingerprint embedding itself onto his skin.

But, to be fair, it was hard to notice when there was heat in other places on his body too — on his cheeks, pooling between his legs, and in the tiny sliver of air that separated his lips from the shell of Louis’ ear as he whispered, cheeky and sure, “All of the above?”

Fanfiction Trope MASH-UP

#fanfiction trope mash-up meme #writing exercise #iaw ask

[amethystina]

If you are still doing the mash ups, how would you combine, say, 71. Twenty-Four Hours to Live aaand 49. Arranged Marriage (for Winteriron)?

I admit that I had to think long and hard on this one and, eventually, I ended up with some weird kind of dystopian arranged marriage AU? And it’s not like Bucky will die within twenty-four hours, but his life will certainly be forfeit within a not-to-distant future once those hours are up.

More below the cut!

The story is set in a world that’s a little more technologically advanced than ours. Big parts of the planet has died and people now live in huge, sprawling cities, protected by high walls and various high-tech shields to keep the elements and pollution at bay. Due to how these cities are built (i.e. can’t expand all that easily) the population has to be kept under control. This is done through various methods, like excellent birth control, a limit on children one family can produce, and a firm belief in monogamy and the sanctity of marriage. The one you marry, you stay with for life, because there’s no room to go galavanting off and get kids left and right. The state also has a hand in approving marriages, to make sure that the best genes are preserved. This means that same-sex relationships are, in fact, quite common, since they don’t result in children. But, of course, these couples’ chances of adopting a child are extremely low. Only the rich can pay enough to buy one of the precious babies being allowed to be born each year.

ANYHOW. Like all true dystopian stories, this one has a dark side. Namely that those who aren’t considered beneficial to society are, well, cast out. There are settlements huddled around on the outside of these cities, consisting of the sick, weak, and generally undesirable who have been discreetly shoved out the door. It’s a harsh life since there’s no protection to be had and very little food. More often than not, it’s a death sentence (which, coincidentally, is also the most common punishment for murder, because no one wants to waste precious resources on criminals). There are laws in place to decide who gets to stay or not and, as you might have guessed, they are much harsher for the poor. Anyone who is sick, unmarried, and without a job are more likely to get kicked out.

Bucky is all three.

When he lost his arm four years ago it wasn’t such a big deal at first. Lots of soldiers lose limbs and they’re always given prosthetics to make sure they can keep working (soldiers are, after all, not growing on trees, either). Bucky is no exception. But then, about five months before his thirtieth birthday, he’s suddenly not allowed to extend his contract and finds himself without a job and is given no explanation why. Bucky is a good soldier, but, apparently, the brass has decided he’s not worth it anymore.

Bucky moves in with Steve and Peggy, no longer able to pay for his small one-room apartment, and he realises, quite suddenly, that he is literally months away from getting kicked out. People like him — those with a physical disability, no job, and no spouse— will be shown the door once they’re past thirty. But, naturally, no one wants to give Bucky a job once they find that out. Why hire someone who is nearing their expiration date anyway? And it’s not like he has anyone to marry, either, since he doesn’t qualify for the programs set in place to help people find a suitable match.

So Bucky suddenly finds himself running out of options. Even Steve, who’s been sickly for as long as they both can remember, is safe for now, since he married Peggy. Technically, the state disapproved of that match (Steve doesn’t have very promising genes, they argued) but Peggy pulled enough strings and twisted enough arms to make it happen anyway. Because no one tells Peggy fucking Carter what to do.

Bucky is glad that Steve has a future, but he is admittedly worried about his own. He grows more and more desperate as the weeks past and, long before he’s ready, his birthday arrives. Bucky knows they won’t come for him until the day after, so he has twenty-four hours left before he’s exiled. Both Peggy and Steve are, understandably, distraught while Bucky is mostly numb. He’s done what he can to prepare— bought supplies that will at least last a couple of weeks — but he knows that won’t do much in the long run. Once he’s outside the wall, his fate is sealed.

While he knows that he should spend his last day with his loved ones, he ends up drifting instead. Just walking along the streets, drinking in the city he’s lived in his entire life but will never see again. All their grief and anger just makes his own panic spike. He will go back home before the evening, but, for now, he does what he wants.

Eventually, he ends up at a bar. He figures it’s one of the last times he’ll get to drink, so why not? It’s not a nice place by any means, but the beer is acceptable and the music is good, so he doesn’t complain. 

It’s when he’s just starting to get tipsy that someone bumps into him where he’s sitting hunched over the bar. Bucky turns, annoyed, but the scathing reprimand dies on his lips when his gaze meets a pair of gorgeous brown eyes. The guy is probably a couple of years younger than Bucky but cute as hell with a charming smile and clothes worth more than Bucky’s entire wardrobe. He’s not entirely sure what the guy is doing there— in that kind of bar—but, from the moment their gazes meet, his entire focus shifts to Bucky in an extremely flattering way.

His name is Tony, Bucky learns.

Tony buys Bucky another drink and they get talking. Any other day, Bucky would have made an effort to flirt, but he’s too tired to even try. He even says as much, when Tony seems bewildered at Bucky’s lack of response to his flirting. Without really meaning to, Bucky ends up spilling his life’s story to this virtual stranger, which feels both good and extremely embarrassing. The best part is that Tony genuinely listens, his face growing more and more solemn the more he hears. He asks questions, too, clearly appalled to hear that Bucky is going to kicked out tomorrow.

Tony is clearly too rich to have ever known someone who qualifies to get exiled.

Bucky shows his prosthetic and explains he can’t get a job because of it and, unless someone is willing to marry him within the next eight or nine hours, there’s just nothing to do about it. He tries to smile, but it’s not a very comforting smile.

He knows he’s going to die. He has come to terms with it, no matter how much it hurts. Tony, apparently, has other plans.

He proposes.

Bucky laughs it off at first, assuming it’s a joke, but Tony shakes his head and just repeats the question. Bucky isn’t sure how to react, but, for some reason, what he ends up doing is listing all the reasons why Tony shouldn’t marry him. Tony just smiles and adds some of his own— the fact that he’s already engaged to be married to someone named Sunset Bain (the name tickles at the back of Bucky’s memory but he can’t quite place it), is expected to produce heirs at some point, and would probably give his mentor a heartattack if he suddenly showed up married — but says they don’t matter. 

Bucky argues that they do— divorce isn’t an option. Tony will be stuck with Bucky for life if they get married and he shouldn’t have to do that just to save Bucky’s life. 

Tony argues that there is no better reason. In their day and age, most marriages are arranged anyway, aided by the state and their algorithms and research, and Tony would much rather do something useful with his marriage— like giving Bucky another chance at life.

Besides, they seem to like each other well enough— more than Tony likes his actual fiancée. Bucky might actually be doing Tony a favour by marrying him. They can work out the details later.

It’s not like they’re expected to love each other, but they can make it work.

It takes a lot of arguing before Bucky eventually agrees. Mostly because he realises that he’s being an idiot, saying no to the one thing that can save him from certain death. Steve would never forgive him if he didn’t try.

And that’s how Bucky finds himself at the registration office just before closing, waiting for Steve and Peggy to arrive and serve as witnesses, while his future husband is bribing the clerk to allow their marriage to pass. According to whatever algorithm that decides compatability, they’re a pretty bad match— Bucky is much too poor— but Tony can apparently bypass that just by showing his identification.

Bucky knows that’s probably a bad sign— or a really good one, he hasn’t quite decided— but it’s also a problem for later.

By the time Peggy and Steve arrive, Bucky has gone past nervous and shock and settled for comfortably numb. Sure, he notices the wide-eyed look on Peggy’s face when her gaze lands on Tony— meaning she probably knows who he is— but Tony has already made them all hurry along with the service before she has time to even open her mouth.

And, just like that, Bucky is married.

He and Tony don’t kiss— Bucky is much too awkward for something like that— but Tony gives him a warm, comforting smile and squeezes his hand, and that’s not so bad, either, all things considered.

Then, of course, Peggy asks if Bucky intends to change his last name to Stark, which is when Bucky realises that he’s somehow managed to marry Tony Stark— the heir to one of the biggest, most influential companies in their city and as close to royalty as you can get in their day and age. It’s a bit of a shock, but it’s too late for regrets.

For all intents and purposes, he is now married to Tony Stark.

Bucky has no doubt that he’s going to have an incredibly interesting life from then on out.

—

Aaaand we better end it here. But there’s of course a lot more to be told, like how Bucky and Tony try to fit into each other’s lives and get used to their impulse marriage (and, of course, slowly but surely fall in love for real), plus intrigue caused by Tony’s decision to suddenly break his arranged marriage. You can even throw in Obie and him trying to take over the company, which will be A LOT harder with Bucky there— an experienced, well-trained soldier who is often underestimated just because he happens to have a prosthetic.

It could be a pretty epic story, if you ask me, with politics, action, and a slow burn like you wouldn’t believe.

But this is all you’ll get, at least for now. I hope you like it ;)

#Amethystina Does Memes #Fanfiction Trope Mash-up Meme #Winteriron #Marvel #Tony Stark #James 'Bucky' Barnes #Bucky Barnes #journeythroughtherain

[achangeinpriorities]

How about for the prompt mash up, coldflash forgotten first meeting and it's not you, it's my enemies

Hmm... Both halves of Coldflash have so many enemies that it's hard to choose, but honestly, the 'forgotten first meeting' part is what I had to really think about. I'm gonna interpret it a little loosely, but here we go:

Long before he became a CSI, long before he'd ever considered going into law enforcement (and probably while he was in a bit of an ACAB mood, given that his dad was arrested), an early-teens-ish Barry decided he was going to write to someone at Iron Heights. He already wrote to his dad, in addition to visiting, but he figured, if his dad was lonely, no doubt other prisoners were too, and could he please correspond with someone who needed outside comfort.

The powers that be inside the prison decided this was the perfect way to distract one Leonard Snart from breaking out. And thus, Len got a pen pal during one of his stays. (At some point he probably puts together that his pen pal is the son of the alarmingly earnest guy they gave him as a cellmate, also to prevent him from breaking out - ask me about that headcanon sometime.)

They correspond for something like six months, long enough for them both to get fond of each other, before Len finally escapes Iron Heights and Barry hears no more from him. Barry, being young and distractible and dealing with a traumatic teenagerhood, forgets the whole thing within a year. Len doesn't *forget,* per se - I think he has too good a memory to let anything just slip away - but he actively puts it out of mind, thinking it was just one of those random acts of pity that upstanding citizens do to convince themselves they care about the less fortunate. Additionally, Len's stay in prison this time was particularly awful, with abuse from the guards, and he gets way too focused on a revenge plan to think about good-hearted pen pals. Not much comes of his revenge at this point, for reasons that will be relevant later.

Years later, Len and Barry meet face to face for the first time, and it's electric. They fight, like they do in canon, and slowly, slowly get closer. Barry's ability to throw himself wholeheartedly into loving someone scares the shit out of Len, so he's the real impediment to them getting together. They probably end up doing sex first, because I could see Len giving in to the electricity between them way faster than the Feelings, but one way or another, they're just about to the cusp of Feelings.

And then Len spots the guard who gave him trouble years ago. All those long-buried traumas, and associated revenge plans, are foremost in his mind. And that directly conflicts with Barry, who wants him to be a better person, wants him to stop killing - wants him, in short, to let go of the revenge he's wanted for years. They can get justice, Barry says. Bullshit, Len says - the system doesn't work like that. (Deep down, Barry knows he's right.)

Faced with a choice between killing his enemy and keeping his lover, Len chooses revenge, because he'll always believe the worst of himself. It's a hollow victory, just like when he killed Lewis, but it's a victory nonetheless, and he forces himself to think it's enough, because he thinks he's just lost Barry. He hasn't, of course - Barry is forgiving, and understanding of grudges that last a lifetime - but he's so caught up in this idea of himself as unworthy that he originally isn't sure he wants Barry back.

Their road back together involves, in some way, them eventually recalling their correspondence all that time ago. Barry has big feelings about the fact that he was Len's bright spot through that pain when it first happened, and that he gets to be here for him now that it's resurfaced. Len is awed anew by how much this sweet boy means to him, and even if he's not sure he deserves him, he gives himself permission to be greedy.

(And then they both get counseling because holy shit do they need it.)

#coldflash #barry allen #leonard snart #fanfiction trope mash up #fanfiction ask meme #this got much too angsty #but i have no regrets

[caiusmajor]

52+77 your choice of ship

Marriage of Convenience and In Vino Veritas 

As part of a peace agreement, (G1) Galvatron gives Cyclonus in marriage to Ultra Magnus. 

The wedding ceremony was short, but the reception was wild: the Autobots put out a good spread and a lot of high-grade energon, and the Decepticons descended on it like, well, Decepticons. Peace or not, they were still chronically underfueled, and it was just lucky that most of them are happy, sleepy drunks (see: Microbots).

During all this, Cyclonus and Magnus forgot to pay attention to each other in favor of trying to keep their respective troops out of trouble and, in Cyclonus’ case, making sure he got his own share. The Autobots weren’t as hungry as the Decepticons, but they weren’t necessarily peaceful when overcharged, either, or happy to miss their chance at cake and punch.

Magnus was trying to keep some Autobots from insulting the Decepticons’ table manners loudly enough to start a fight even with happy drunk ‘Cons when Cyclonus came over and half-falls against him.

Cyclonus was not a happy drunk, it turned out. Magnus looked at him, froze for a second, and decided it was time to take his new….spouse….to their wedding chamber, because if he could tell that Cyclonus was holding back tears, the semi-conscious Decepticons were going to notice any minute.

Magnus didn’t play the eager bridegroom very well, but Cyclonus played along better than he had expected, wrapping his arm around Magnus and pressing his lips against his face – probably to hide his own face more than anything else. He didn’t let go until they reach the safety of their marital chamber.

Then Magnus pulled back and turned away awkwardly. He wasn’t the best at this with Autobots, never mind a Decepticon who is now his spouse. Someone – Kup maybe? – had left energon cubes for them, and Magnus passed Cyclonus one.

Cyclonus took it, silently, downs it in one go, and then started sobbing. Magnus’ spark twisted; he couldn’t turn away from this but he couldn’t very well start doing….what they were expected to do tonight either. And he didn’t know how to help.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, awkwardly.

“Lord Galvatron gave me away.” Cyclonus snaped. “I’m never, ever –” he shakes his head. “He was holding hands with Soundwave, he’s never going to forgive me, never ever…”

“Oh.” Magnus sat down, heavily. He knew Cyclonus was very devoted, everyone knew that, but he hadn’t realized until now how much, or how it would affect him. “I”m sorry.”

Cyclonus glanced at him up at him. “And you? Your Lord didn’t complain about giving you up.”

Magnus….needed a drink. He grabbed another cube, pulling it open and swallowing as he decided it wasn’t the time to correct Cyclonus about Rodimus’ title. “Rodimus tried to offer himself in my place.”

Cyclonus paused, distracted from his own misery, then stared at Magnus for a moment. “…Autobots,” he concluded, finally, and grabbed another cube of energon.

Magnus sipped at his cube. That seemed to have helped, but he didn’t know what happened next, other than let Cyclonus overfuel himself into recharge.

Then there was a commotion at the door. First there was an impatient wrenching at the nob, followed by a familiar yell of frustration and the humming sound of Galvatron’s particle cannon charging up. “My Lord!” Cyclonus jumped up, tears and energon cubes forgotten.

Then, before Galvatron or Magnus could respond, another voice, “Don’t vaporize the door! I’ll open it!” Rodimus exclaimed in exasperation. “Sorry Magnus, Cyclonus….” There was the clang of a brief scuffle and then the door opened, with both Galvatron and Rodimus looking around it. 

“There you are!” Galvatron declared, trying to bound into the room but half tripping over Rodimus and the door and having to brace himself on the wall. He was, clearly, as inebriated as his second-in-command was. “Why’d you leave?!!”

“My Lord?” Cyclonus said, apologetic but also, clearly, hopeful.

“Galvatron!” Rodimus said, exasperated, “It’s their wedding night!”

“Yes.” Galvatron grinned. “And according to the customs of your earth allies…the wedding night is the right of the Lord.”

“….What?” Rodimus said, looking at Magnus in confusion. Magnus shrugged.

Galvatron laughed. “You don’t know, Prime? Watch.” He pushed Rodimus in Magnus’ general direction and then, his way clear, pounced onto Cyclonus.

Cyclonus said, “Mighty One!” with a delighted, breathy sigh as Galvatron’s weight pushed them both to the berth.

Rodimus as Magnus looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.

And then Galvatron started snoring.

Rodimus giggled. Magnus, overwhelmed by it all, stifled his own burst of giggles. They looked over to where Galvatron had collapsed, apparently very comfortable on top of Cyclonus, who had both arms wrapped tightly around his Lord, and though tears were flowing down his cheeks again, they seemed happy this time.

Magnus looked at Rodimus, who yawned and shrugged. “We’ll have to sort this out when they wake up. Meanwhile….it’s a big enough bed for all of us.” He yawned again and sprawled out on it. “C’mere.” He opened his arms.

Magnus looked at the slumbering Decepticons, and back to his Prime, and then he climbed into the huge berth and allowed Rodimus to cuddle comfortably against him. Despite his thoughts of standing watch over his Prime–and his spouse–the high grade and the stress of the day soon overcame Magnus as well, and he slumbered.

#this turned into fic #or at least the beginning of one idk #my fic #Fanfiction Trope MASH-UP #meme #moyaofthemist

[ruddcatha]

This is Fandom hahahaha 61 and 18 for the Trope Mash-Up 🥰🥰🥰

Love Confession and Circus AU...

Y'all love your circus AU's lol.

Ok, here we go.

Inuyasha and Kagome are attending the circus, well, Kagome is attending the circus, Inuyasha is there because Kagome wants to be there, if it were him... he wouldn't be anywhere near there.

Cause clowns

Clowns were terrifying.

Yes, he is a big strong hanyo, but that doesn't mean Clowns weren't evil creepy creatures...

It was all Sesshomaru's fault. But that's a different story.

But this was for Kagome, so he would do whatever she wanted, because making her happy was worth putting up with anything... even clowns.

Or so he thought.

Everywhere they went there were clowns. And as the day went on, they got progressively creepier to him, putting him on edge. But then Kagome would look at him with a small smile, and the clowns faded away, nothing existed but her.

Until she looked away again, and there they were, closer than last time.

And this time, he couldn't hide his unease from Kagome.

He knows the moment she realizes it, her shoulders slumping, her eyes dulling, and he feels a crack in his heart as he watches her. She starts to apologize, saying she wishes he had told her, they would have gone somewhere else.

He pulls her close and wraps his arms around her, burying his nose in her hair. He breathes in, letting her scent surround him as the world settles.

"It doesn't matter where I am, if i get to spend time with you."

"But you are so uncomfortable here, and I'm sorry. I wish I would have known, i could have come with Sango or Miroku later. Why would you agree if you hate it here so much?"

"Because I love you, and that's more important."

They both still, suddenly realizing what he said. Kagome's head slowly tilts up, and Inu panics at the tears in her eyes. Fuck he's upset her, he should have done better about hiding his unease and h....

"you love me?" Her voice was cautiously hopeful, her eyes glittering.

Inuyasha swallowed and nodded slowly. "I do, I really really do."

The smile on her face was gorgeous for the split second before her lips claimed his.

"I love you too." she whispered against his kiss, her arms wrapping around his neck.

The area around them burst into applause as Inuyasha drew the love of his life deeper into his arms, pouring his feelings into his kiss. He draws away, a grin on his face as Kagome laughed, her head thrown back in happiness.

Yeah, he could put up with clowns as long as he got to see that smile on her face every day.

Thank you @fandomobsessions016!!!!!

Fanfiction meme mash up

[thisbluespirit]

Hi! Fanfiction Trope Mash Up - Silver/Liz - 95 Sleep Intimacy and 97 Time Travel please and thank you!

@pers-books woo, thank you!

"Ah, you're awake. Good morning," said a voice from far too near Liz's pillow. "If it is morning, that is."

She managed by dint of sheer will not to shriek and then opened her eyes one at a time. There was indeed an unwanted elemental technician sitting beside her on the bed, watching her.

"Not again!" she said. She pulled herself up into a better position to glare properly. "Am I an experiment? Human observed closely during the sleeping state, exhibit A?"

Silver cocked his head to one side. "I wasn't observing, I was removing the bedknobs." His glance flickered from her to the item in question, now in his hand. "And... again?"

"It happened last week! And I suspect the week before last, since I unaccountably woke up with three out of four bedknobs missing one morning and I don't suppose there are two lots of bedknob thieves around."

Silver drew back. There were grey-green lights in his eyes and his expression was suddenly inscrutable.  Liz was reminded that he was not in the least bit human.

"Oh, how fascinating," he said, and gave her a bright smile, the momentary darkness gone. "This is my first time..."

Meme here if anyone wants to send more (these are fun!)

#fanfic #ficlet #trope meme #sapphire and steel #silver #liz shaw #silver x liz shaw #replies #pers-books #fannish nonsense

[forthegothicheroine]

Fanfiction trope mash-up meme: 13. Detective AU + 93. Makeovers, Eleanor/Chidi

Eleanor and Chidi have a private detective agency (god help us), and one of their jobs (possibly about investigating the Good Place Corporation to see if it's actually a front for a criminal operation) requires them to blend into the crowd at some kind of sleazy expensive club. Cue Eleanor going clothes-shopping with Chidi ("Something with an open neck! Come on, I- I mean, the eurotrash chicks want to see your chest hair! Look sluttier!")

#the good place

[phoenixyfriend]

if you’re doing the fanfic trope mash up, can i suggest 42 and 56 for jangosoka?

Fanfiction Trope MASH-UP: Send me two (2) tropes from this list + a ship and I’ll describe how I’d combine them in the same story.

This ask meme is from over a year ago. Please don't send new prompts.

42. The Big Damn Kiss 

56. Awful First Meeting

Okay, so: time travel, as is standard for this ship

We'll say Ahsoka is ehhhh 23, has been doing Fulcrum stuff for five or so years, is very competent but not perfect. She falls into the past, as one does, shows up about a year pre-Galidraan, so Jango is 21.

Ahsoka has slipped into some undercover work, eeling her way into the upper echelons of society, attending galas and events and so on in fancy dresses and jewelry. How is she funding this? However you want. Maybe she robbed a Hutt. Maybe she has the codes to some shadow accounts nobody knows she's accessing. Maybe she found teenage Bail and talked him into bankrolling her based on The Future. Doesn't matter.

(Actually, the Bail thing would make a great fic on its own, especially if Ahsoka were young enough to pretend to be his girlfriend. Tell me that wouldn't be hilarious. Not here, but somewhere. Bail is absolutely in love with Breha, but like... the fate of the Republic! The fate of the Jedi! That's a cool thing to be doing! With a cool person!)

Point is, she's lying to a lot of very wealthy, very dangerous people when she shows up at these things. She could have theoretically tricked her way into being someone's long-term date, but that would mean dating to attend more than one, and she's not doing that. Better to just pretend to be the heiress to a company from the rims that's very rich but not quite rich enough for everyone in the Core to have heard of.

She is using these events to spy, of course. Slipping into hotel rooms to slice datapads, bugging white collar criminals with a tap to their favorite watch, wandering into servant's tunnels while pretending to be drunk, all the usual fun stuff.

She gets caught, of course.

Jango's side of the story starts about when Ahsoka's does, with him hearing tales of someone stealing information and sabotaging deals, and he gets hired as security by one of those especially important events. He keeps an eye on this, and he... notices Ahsoka.

He does not notice her as a spy, but as a person who is being harassed by an intoxicated, rich old man, whom she'd clearly like to ditch but cannot safely do so.

(At least, as far as he can tell. We know her better than that.)

Jango steps in, because it's not like he's got a lot to do right now, and intercepting drunk old men has been about the only interesting thing he's had to do all night. Ahsoka... I mean, she thanks him. Technically. She doesn't hide her distaste for him as a person. Jango would think this is just about him being Mandalorian, except she doesn't react as negatively to any of the others. She's neutral and ignores most of them, but there are two moments where she interacts positively, laughing at a joke or something. So. She just doesn't like him.

The night ends without incident. It's not until weeks later that there's an information leak. It could have happened during the party Jango was guarding, but it could have happened at any of three other incidents that same month. There was at least one midnight break-in, several days after the party; there's a solid chance his presence did discourage whoever this spy was from engaging, and made them delay their actions to a Plan B.

Months later, he's doing personal guard duty for the king of something or other. It's another gala or fundraiser or coronation or--honestly, he doesn't care. He's getting paid to keep this one specific person safe, and that's all that matters.

He's not the only mando there, so when he sees a young woman, vaguely familiar, stumble out of the hall with an expression that says 'drunk' as much as it does 'roofied,' he doesn't commit any dereliction of duty by excusing himself to just... see that she's okay. The woman is familiar, even if he can't place her. That usually means something; what if she's an assassin he's run into before, here to kill his client?

(That really is why he's following her. If she's familiar but unplaceable, that usually means she's In The Business.)

He follows her at a safe distance, and sees her ask for a bathroom, get pointed in the right direction, and then... go down the wrong hallway, and enter a room that he's pretty sure is supposed to be locked.

He gives it a few seconds, edging closer slow enough that his boots can't be heard (the music and carpet both help muffle the noise, but he's still wearing a lot of metal), and then opens the door to a library-esque space.

The "drunk" girl is hard at work slicing into a computer terminal she 100% should not be at.

They stare at each other.

"Give me one good reason to not shoot y--"

"I can give you intel on Death Watch."

Jango pauses. Considers. It is not his job to keep information safe, this time. His job is to just keep one specific man alive, and this is an unrelated crime.

There are footsteps in the hall, and he sees her start to look around the room for an exit route. He tries not to think too hard on how she was planning on making the very-much-screwed-into-the-wall vent work.

"Fine," he says, and she looks quick at him, and then at the door, and then disengages from the computer and hops the desk to--plaster herself against him?

She giggles, high and drunken, and fumbles for his helmet. "Oh, come on, Mr. Mando, just a kiss? Just one ki--I told my friends I'd run into a Mand--ma--Mandaloriana... Just a kiss! I wanna--wanna one-up 'em..."

He hears the door crack open, and has no idea what he's supposed to do to play along to this... cover? Cover, sure. "Ma'am, I'm on a job."

"And you can't play? Your friends are totally--"

There's a cough from the door, and Jango turns, and the security guard that actually works here is grimacing.

"You can't be in here."

They manage to talk their way out of suspicion, something about how she claimed she'd seen something important but was just trying to seduce him, does the guard know anywhere a drunk guest can be deposited? Thanks.

She does give him information, but she disappears before he can learn anything more about her.

(Galidraan is avoided, oh so narrowly, because of what she gives him. He may never know how close it really was.)

Months pass. He gets invited an event that isn't a job, but is rather some large gladiatorial event. He's not a fan of it--he's pretty sure the fighters aren't nearly as voluntary as people are claiming--but he goes. He watches.

A familiar face enters the arena. He stiffens.

His helmet can zoom in and analyze, and he finds that the cuffs she wears are Force-dampening.

Definitely not willing.

He dithers too long to figure out how to help, or if he even can, because she wins her fight (no deaths in these matches; makes it expensive to find new combatants), and is ushered out, and Jango himself is invited to an afterparty. Someone tells him that the winning gladiators get to attend. It's a reward, the food and fancy outfits. Even 'the pretty one you seemed to like' is going to be there.

People are still pretending that the combatants are voluntary. Jango grits his teeth. He goes.

He finds her, removes his helmet, meets her eyes from across the room. She is bruised and bandaged, but alert. She blinks at him, slow and measuring, and then taps her lips twice.

He doesn't understand, until she signs--where did she learn Mando battle sign?--and asks him to lie and say they're a couple.

(Well, she's using battle sign, not actual MSL, but he's pretty sure 'cover spouse you self extraction' is... yeah. Sure, that sign for cover is usually about cover from fire, and 'spouse' is a splice of 'law' and 'partner' that is usually hard enough without trying to hide everything, but he thinks he got the gist.)

(He does kind of owe her; the information she gave him was more useful than he'd expected, and even if it hadn't been, he can probably convince her to share something else as 'payment' for getting her out of this.)

He stomps through the crowd, pushing people out of the way, and then sweeps her into his arms and bends her backwards to plant the showiest kiss he can on her.

He holds it long enough for the silence to spread, and then pulls them back upright, closes his eyes, presses his forehead to hers, and hopes that it's enough to sell it to the people around them.

His hands drift down to her wrists, a calculated move that looks natural if he's lucky, and asks quietly for them to remove the cuffs.

Jango Fett is a very heavily-armored, heavily-armed man. People read into his quiet the way he wants them to: that he is very close to slaughtering a whole lot of them, and trying incredibly hard to stay calm.

There are cuff removals, and 'negotiations' for Ahsoka's freedom (he still doesn't even know her name, but he hears the fake she gave to the people who arrested her), and she leaves the planet on his arm, and on his spaceship.

She explains that getting arrested and sent to the gladiatorial arena was part of a greater plan, but that her extraction partner was delayed. They might be dead. She doesn't know, but she was already planning her own escape. She tells him she's gotten out of worse scrapes before.

The fic would end with them separating, and her promising to come find him again. Any sequel would involve a reveal of the Future thing, possibly after a one-night stand.

#ahsoka tano #jango fett #jangosoka #star wars #the clone wars #sw legends #time travel #phoenix answers memes #this was meant to be a 'how would you' not-fic but it ended up. half fic

[nikkxb]

51, 99, & Kouga/Kagome for the ask meme?

Fanfiction Trope Mash-Up || @misku-nimfa Accidentally Married and Magical Accidents

Everything about this was wrong.

Kagome had never been to anything like this. She usually had left the palace before the festivities began, having done her job and eager to be home, but today she was running late in the wash room and accidentally walked out to a row of archers aiming their arrows toward the sky.

One by one, the arrows were sent, each archer following until they found where the arrow landed, all in front of beautiful women. Kagome didn't understand what was going on, didn't understand why the women reacted the ways they did, had no idea why the men ribbed each other with knowing, lusty looks at each arrow's mark.

Keeping to herself, she skirted along until she could run and finally get home. Just as she was crossing the line of archers, she was stopped. All who step on the line must shoot, she was told. No matter her argument, no matter her fight, she was handed a too-large bow and an arrow. Point to the sky and shoot.

It takes her a few tries to pull the string, the weight simply too much for her to handle. After the first few mishaps, the angry court magician steps up and holds her arm. This arrow soars into the sky and flies, on and on until it lands just on the skirts of the forest and at the feet of a large, brown wolf.

A roar of laughter fills the sky, jeering and nasty and all the things a servant girl was used to when dealing with knights. Forcefully, she was led over to the wolf, growing ill at the jokes that she would be made a meal before the ceremony was over.

What ceremony? she cries, not understanding what happened.

The wedding ceremony, comes the horrific answer. Your arrow landed at a wolf, you must marry the wolf.

It's not until a week later that she learns of this ceremony. That she learns women are not supposed to aim the arrows, that the archers chosen to marry know how to aim just right to pick their chosen brides. And her wolf who cared nothing for human traditions took her anyway, claimed her as mate, but let her learn what it meant to be mated to a wolf who can choose to take human form and at the end gives her the choice to leave or stay.

She stays, of course. And when the court magician shows up in the forest looking to steal the servant girl from the wolf and take her for his own -- as he intended when he forced her into the wedding contest -- Kagome and her wolf mate take delight in tearing him to shreds.

#people talking #misku nimfa #kogkag #i went looking for wedding/marriage myths #found the thousand and one nights and the idea of letting an arrow find the bride intrigued me #there's more in why they forced her to participate #and more to how the magician messed up her aim and led her to kouga #but i don't know what that is

[yellowmagicalgirl]

19, 31 Jlaireby?

And until I reblog this meme again, this is the last of these prompts I'm answering for.

19. Summer Camp AU

31. Birthday Fic

I've always headcanoned Toby as having a birthday sometime during late June or July, so it'd be a fic where all three of them are camp counselors and they're celebrating Toby's birthday together.

Fanfiction Trope MASH-UP (no longer accepting)

#toby domzalski #jlaireby #tales of arcadia #trollhunters #claire nuñez #jim lake jr #wolflight13 #answered ask

[aces-to-apples]

Fanfic trope mashup, please! Soulmate AU and Innocent Physical Contact, or Scars and Curses, pairing of your choice!

For the Fanfiction Trope Mash-Up ask meme

Soulmate AU [24] and Innocent Physical Contact [85], in the omne trium perfectum ‘verse

-

Commander Bly whistles when he cleans his equipment.

It drives Aaylas’ecura mad, wanting to add her own tune to his, wanting to tell him in any way she can that she’s right here, but whenever she opens her mouth to say it—she remembers. The Code is not forgiving, and the Order is not lenient. As much as she wishes to soothe her commander’s lonely soul, she cannot.

When the war ends, when they may all rest again, perhaps.

Until then, she places a gentle hand on his shoulder, smiles, and tells him stories of Kit that make him laugh and muse about one day meeting the one who shares her soul-tune. Aayla does not flinch at “one”, does not cringe at her duplicity; she breathes and breathes and says, “One day, I hope you will. One day.”

-

My AO3

#ask meme #answered asks #fic bits #sw fic #by apples #norcumii #star wars #the clone wars #blyla #aayla secura #commander bly #kit fisto #blylasto #??? #omne trium perfectum #soulmates au

[amethystina]

For the mash-up: 94. Hair Brushing/Braiding & 100. Accidentally Saving the Day Cougar/Jensen

Not going to lie, this was the trickiest of all the mash-ups and I’m not even sure why? I think it’s because I automatically try to make it into some big, epic story when, really, it doesn’t have to be. That’s just me being an over-achiever.

To be honest, I’ve always wanted to write a fic where JJ braids Cougar’s hair. I have no idea why I haven’t done that already and I need to find a fic to add that into at my earliest convenience.

ANYWAY! More about the story below the cut! (this one is a lot shorter than most of these, but still — I don’t want to cover your entire dash).

To put it simply, I would turn this into the fluffiest ficlet that ever ficletted (that’s probably not a word, but let’s just roll with it). Like, just mountains of fluff and casual touching and Cougar and Jensen being their usual selves, i.e. so close and in sync and stupidly in love without daring to admit it. 

Like, they both LIVE for those little touches and keep telling themselves that it’s normal — at least normal for them — and it’s no big deal. Because of course best friends like to sit close whenever they can and always turn to each other for comfort. And Cougar is only trying to help those times when he ends up standing behind JJ’s computer chair, gently rubbing the soreness out of his neck until Jensen is boneless and pliant underneath his hands. And Jensen is used to helping Beth with his hair so he doesn’t mind combing Cougar’s for him — it’s not at all that he loves how Cougar relaxes into it, trusting and just so content that JJ’s chest feels tight with love and longing. Or those soft noises of pleasure he makes when JJ braids it for him. Of course not.

To be honest, I think I’d write this from an outside POV, just to make it all the more obvious how stupid they’re being. Also, pining can come across really well from an outside POV (and I’d like to practice on it). So, like, Jess, Clay, or Pooch’s POV, I think? Or all of them. One each! Plus one with Cougar in the beginning (to set up the scene) and the final one from Jensen’s POV (because that one should be from one of theirs, because of story climax reasons). So five short chapters.

As for the accidental saving of the day, I think it would be something simple and in line with the fluffy atmosphere. Like, Cougar accidentally ending up coaching The Petunias to a victory they hadn’t expected. Just... something cute and sweet that will make JJ fall in love even more and make him want to burst with the need to pull Cougar close and kiss him.

And he’ll end up doing that, later, when they’re back at Jess’s house and everyone else has gone to bed and JJ just can’t take it anymore. He’s so in love with Cougar it hurts and he knows he might ruin everything but he can’t hold it back anymore. They’re alone, the house quiet, and Cougar wishes him goodnight with that soft, fond smile of his and JJ just reacts without thinking. A hand behind Cougar’s neck and a slight tug is all it takes and suddenly their kissing, Cougar’s lips warm against Jensen’s.

Naturally, Cougar is stunned for a second, but then just melts into it because yes, this is what he’s wanted for years. As if he’s going to say no?

So they kiss and confess and all is well and happy and fluffy. Because that’s how I roll and I think we all need more fluff in our lives.

Fucking fight me.

(except, you know, don’t)

Aaaaand yeah. That’s what I would do. Perhaps a bit of a letdown after the huge, sprawling epics I’ve spawned for other mash-ups, but, uh, yeah. I just love my fluff, okay?

#Amethystina Does Memes #Fanfiction Trope Mash-Up Meme #The Losers #Jake Jensen #Carlos 'Cougar' Alvarez #This isn't my best work #I will admit that #But sometimes you just want fluff okay? #scriggle-scraggle

[achangeinpriorities]

-slides in late with hot chocolate- Bodyguard AU + Fake Dating for Hartley/LI of your choice?

Oh you gave me too much leeway on this one! I know (and ship) Hartley's more common ships, but for some reason this combination made me think Hartley/Mark Mardon, because it would be good for Mark and piss off the Rathaways tremendously (and that's always a worthy goal):

As he comes of age (before he comes out), Hartley's parents decide he needs a bodyguard. It's a dangerous world out there for a young, rich man, especially one as pretty as Hartley, and they wouldn't want anyone trying to hurt him.

Out of a large pool of applicants, they select Mark Mardon. This is an excellent gig for Mark, who was never formally trained - he cobbled together a training out of classes he could afford, and from his experience on the street. However, he comes highly recommended, by virtue of the fact that this man *never* leaves a fight unfinished. Upon meeting him, the Rathaways are annoyed to find that he obviously comes from a poor background - he's blunt, he doesn't know his way around formal events until instructed - but he's obviously willing to go to great lengths to protect someone. They'd accept nothing less for their darling boy.

An unintended side effect: Hartley takes one look at Mark Mardon, and all the months of questioning if maybe he might be gay reach a thunderous conclusion. Yes he's gay, and *damn* Mark is attractive.

They bond slowly. Hartley is still himself, caustic of wit and slow to trust. He's equal parts annoyed and intrigued by the fact that Mark doesn't take his shit; he's never before had someone threaten to spank him like he's a bratty kid. (He's never been more intrigued by the idea of being spanked like a bratty kid.)

In the intervening length of time, there's an attempt on Hartley's life, and Mark goes above and beyond in the line of duty. He ends up hurt, for which Hartley's parents give him a generous bonus (all of which goes toward putting Clyde through a good school). Hartley is left utterly bewildered. He never thought he was worth taking a bullet for. He'd always assumed that the moment he was in a situation where he became deadweight, the other person would look to their own needs first - and if that meant leaving him behind, so be it.

In addition to the newfound awe for Mark, the attempt on Hartley's life leaves him shaken. He's forced to confront the fact that he doesn't want to die without having lived authentically, and he thus enlists Mark's help on a grand endeavor: to pretend to date him and see how long it takes for his parents to catch them. He cautions Mark that he'll no doubt be fired, but Hartley will likely be disowned at the same time, so they'd both be risking a lot. Mark can't begin to fathom how this weird rich guy's mind works, but by this point he too is feeling spiteful toward the Rathaway parents (and is a little bit in awe of his charge, who stood his ground while threatened even though he'd have gotten his ass handed to him in two seconds flat).

And so they begin to fake-date. The Rathaways remain oblivious for a shocking amount of time, brushing off the surreptitious touches as a way Mark checks in on Hartley rather than a sign of affection. It takes them walking in on an actual kiss (Hartley's first) to figure out what's happening, and much chaos ensues.

In the aftermath, Mark ends up taking Hartley back to his place. Hartley might be weird, and sort of a pain in the ass, but Mark isn't going to make anyone live on the street. And besides, he admits when Hartley confronts him, the dating may have been fake, but finding Hartley hot wasn't.

They start properly dating about a week later, after Hartley has processed his feelings around leaving home. Hartley has never been happier or more himself, and Mark doesn't regret this turn of events in the least.

#hartley rathaway #mark mardon #what even is their ship name #fanfiction trope mash up #fanfiction ask meme #oh this was a lot of fun to write!