#so many people have asked for this today

[eyrieofsynapses]

hey, Leverage peeps, I've got a thought. I've seen a lot of posts and memes joking about Nate's inability to understand that his clients do not want money, they want revenge. I also find this funny. but I was thinking about it and I realized something: there's a personal reason behind it. there is a very, very good reason why Nate doesn't get that.

Nate's drive to lead Leverage, outside of the crew, originated from his son's death due to his insurance company's refusal to cover the bill for the required treatment. we all know this. if his company had paid for Sam's treatment, everything would've been fine.

…or, if Nate had been a little wealthier, had a little more change to spend… maybe he could've paid for it. maybe Blackpool never would've had a say in any of it. maybe Nate would've had everything under control from the start.

we've discussed at length in the fandom how money equals safety for some of the others in the crew (Parker and Hardison grew up with little to none and know its importance to survival, Eliot needs it to stay ahead of his old enemies, etc.), but I don't know that I've seen any discussion on how it's relevant to Nate. for him, however, money equals security in healthcare and in housing (he lost the house, remember?). Nate's older than the others. he remained in the same place for much longer, and he had a stable life for a while. the others haven't been in that position before. many of their clients, however, are at that place in life.

yes, for the others, money keeps them ahead of the game and it keeps them secure. but none of them ever lost a kid because they couldn't pay for healthcare. none of them risk losing the life of someone who is completely dependent on them when they don't have enough.

(Hardison, perhaps, has the closest understanding, considering he hacked a bank to pay for his Nana's healthcare. but he never lost her.)

Nate thinks ahead, you know? he has a long-term view of things. I imagine that for him, when clients refuse the money, they're not just refusing a month's worth of groceries, or a place to stay the night, or the ability to keep running. for him, they're refusing control over their hard-earned, stable, long-term living situation. they're refusing the potential to save a family member's life.

I dunno, guys. I think that's a pretty good reason to not understand why people don't want the money.

#leverage #leverage meta #nate ford #meta #ello folks it has been A While #but I saw another one of these memes today and couldn't help but ask myself 'why?' #and this came out #anyway I figure this is a fair reason to have more trouble Getting It #when you think about it Nate's probably gotten the closest to most of their clients' living situations #the rest of them have had Very Unusual Lives #but so many of their clients are PARENTS #they're people with STABLE LIVING SITUATIONS #they're ordinary middle-class people! #and Nate was the only one who lived as an adult in that situation! #he's the only one who understands what it's like to have a regular family depending on him to keep the household running! #no WONDER he worries more about this! #he understands the consequences better than the others do! #I dunno I feel like that gets overlooked a lot #anyway have fun playing with this #synapse meta

[incorrect-riordanverse]

It's really disheartening that Rick Riordan stance on the war I understand that he wants to be neutral on this stance but in my opinion by becoming neutral he only worsening the issue as many Palestines are dying that are mostly children, how the majority of Israeli are supporting the Genocide of Palestine, and how the government is trying so hard (but miserably failing) to justified the genocide. I will hold him accountable for what he said on this issue as during this period the choice is basically "you are with us or against us."

Part of me wishes he will realize what he said was wrong and understand the bigger issue that plays at hand. I will criticism for his actions as how can a man who promotes LGBTQIA and representation of minorities and disabilities in his books turn a blind eyes to Genocide of people. However we can only wait and see on his next move.

One last thing about your previous you said you don't group Riordan with other authors where do you would group him with? Also this is more on an opinion base answer but many people are boycotting companies that support Israel there as been another post on Twitter on boycotting authors. Rick Riordan happens to be one of them. Do you believed that he should be boycotted with other authors or he should be properly educated and apologized for his previous statement? If you believed he should be boycotted what do tou have to say to those who might have the mentality of "separate the art from the artist"

thank you for this ask, and i completely agree with you! it is extremely hypocritical of him considering what he preaches for in his books. i think he’s convinced he has properly addressed the apartheid by using very vague language that can be applied to anything, and in doing so, he’s addressed nothing really.

your first question on who i would group him with— probably other authors who are doing the exact same as him in their virtue signalling. i always like to link my other blogs to each other, so i don’t think it’s a secret that i have a red queen account and i’m pretty passionate about that. unfortunately, victoria aveyard is another fantasy author who has literally wrote a whole four-book series on the uprising against oppression but is now playing neutral in her address of the apartheid. rebecca yarros is in the same boat, although i haven’t read ‘fourth wing,’ fans have said there are large themes of oppression within the book. so if i had to group riordan it would probably be in the ‘i-like-to-write-about-it-for-profit-and-praise-only’ group.

in terms of boycotting, i think that’s a great idea! i would also like to remind everyone that the percy jackson tv show is coming out in a little over a month, but disney is a huge industry financially supporting israel as well ($2 million in funding), which is obviously far more damning than a poorly written address by one person. there is a boycott happening for disney as well— and the pjo show will be released on disney + . i implore everyone to not watch it on that platform!! personally i will be pirating it online (idk if i’ll get into trouble saying that here but lol oh well), because im pretty sure the boycott is only for withdrawing financial support, not simply consuming media.

i feel like separating art from the artist only works if that artist is… like, dead, and you’re using that art and its values as a historical insight to how the world was during its time. you can still like a piece of work that has a problematic artist, you can engage with the work (to an extent). but separating art from the artist barely works because either:

to engage with the art is to support the artist in some way, so that artist is making money based on your interaction with that (particularly in the case for singers and streaming of songs)

that artists’ views and values are so rancid that it’s literally embedded within the text itself. to ignore it is harmful.

harry potter is my all-time favourite example to use, because jkr is the scum of the earth, and her views are entrenched in her work. a lesser known example is sarah j maas and her books (she’s also not as dogshit as jkr, but then again, its not hard to be a better person than her). i’m not going to bag on these people for liking things by problematic people (would be hypocritical of me), i just think it’s cowardly not to address it when you come across it, or at least admit to it. to simply write things off as ‘separate to the artist’ is like purposefully turning off your critical thinking skills.

on whether boycotting or an apology is enough— if riordan did apologise and used specific language and not the nonsense he had in that blog, expressed his remorse for his ignorance and then actually did or said something to support the people of palestine then, yeah. that’s fine and that’s how we learn ig. but he should educate himself, too many activists, people from the arab community and especially palestinians are expected to be all-knowing and to educate everyone else on an already draining and personal tragedy. it’s been exhausting for me, i can’t imagine what they’re going through. if riordan (or anyone) needs to be educated, he should do it himself, and (at least in my opinion) i don’t think the info is very hard to find now. it’s just about weeding out the misinformation.

i think boycotting is a good idea as of now. it can serve to be a catalyst for self reflection for many people. also, as much as i hate most online discourses, talking about it online needs to happen. i don’t want these authors to forget, for a moment, about the ignorance they posted online during a time of international crisis.

#sorry if this is so messy. its 3am where i am rn #i finished two exams today and my brain is deaddd #but ty for this ask! #i have sooo many opinions about the whole ‘separate the art from artist’ and when to boycott something #because usually im actually not a big fan of boycotting. i just dont think it works most of the time (at least recently) #boycotting as a way of ‘canceling’ someone is something i think is a bit silly for instance. #esp when people gonna forget about what that person did in like. two months at most #but i feel like this issue (especially for corporations funding millions of dollars into genocide) is big enough to warrant a call for- #-everyone to abstain financially from things #like it isnt someone saying some dumb shit online. theres a whole country being wiped out. #unfortunately so many corporations fund israel. an insidious amount. so just do ur best to navigate thru it #riordanverse #incorrect riordanverse #rick riordan #hoo #heroes of olympus #percy jackson #pjo #trials of apollo #toa #ask #anon #free palestine #percy jackson disney+ #pjo tv show #rewriting

[hellsite-hall-of-fame]

umm so fun thing- an anon was mean again, but this one affected me more than normal for some reason, sooo I shall post less ✨personality✨ here bc pain, soooo pls follow @the-curators-bullshit for hhof personality. thank you and goodnight lol

#you can only get so many ‘just shut up and post legendary posts’ before it fucks with you oops #anyways I have that other blog #like that was the whole point of creating that blog anyway #but it doesn’t get enough regular interaction to be as fun #except people were like really nice on there today and aaaahhh #anyways yeah #ignore this lol #i’ll recover in like a week and probably go back to normal but still #but umm yeah I need to re-fill my hall of fame post queue anyway so maybe i’ll do that #it’ll be fine #also if people wanna send really random asks or scream into the void asks #I would like reallyyyyy like that bc that ask is at the top of my inbox and I don’t like looking at it but can’t delete it oops #so like I would love to bury it in scream asks lol #hellsite hall of fame curator’s bullshit #hellsite hall of fame curators bullshit

[skrunksthatwunk]

something he can't put into words.

#ANOTHER DAIGO POST!!!! <333 #also sorry for being like teehee yaoi dojima anyway daigo can't/probably shouldn't be close to his bio dad and latched onto this random #20 year old but Doesnt Quite recognize what is so wrong about sohei and so right about kiryu and how he should feel about either #meaning he cant fulfill his true desire (baby duck around kamurocho with his babysitter who's probably got better things to do bc people #always have better things to do than take care of him but at least kiryu pretends he enjoys it #for hours and hours and hours. some of the others ask him how he is or what he's up to at school but they don't really reach him like kiryu #does. he wants to impress him soooo bad. aughhh baby daigo you're annoying but you're also so emotionally neglected #haha latching onto mentors bc they're more involved/easier to connect to than parents haha who would do that not me ahem uh anyway #(skrunks be normal about and not project onto a kiryu + child dynamic challenge: impossible) #anyway he can't just say sohei's his father bc he's a big crime daddy but he hasn't really.. accepted? whats going on with kiryu yet either #i dont think he knows kiryu's his dad is my point #rgg #ryu ga gotoku #yakuza #dojima daigo #like a dragon #daigo dojima #ykz #i accidentally saved over soo many versions of this so i had to be like fuck it we ball. thats the final version of that panel now #gonna schedule this for later today bc i dont wanna stifle the kazumi posts but i also uh. am impatient #anyway more little daigo content he's such an ass but it makes so much sense why he's like that and he deserves a whole lotta love #also i just realized i used different name orders for kiryu and yayoi... sorry idk im just incapable of writing kazuma kiryu #uhOOPS POSTED IT EARLY NVM #yer gettin a loootta skrunk content today ig #skrunkart

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

sometimes i remember that gojo wanted to tell geto “we’ll meet again, right?” just before he died but forced himself not to knowing it would have cursed him and then i start thinking about how kind and thoughtful gojo is as a character and how he hasn’t been able to lean on another human being since geto defected and then i want to . Scream

#like. there’s something almost helpless about that question. because gojo doesn’t *know* the answer…. he’s asking for reassurance #he wants to know if they’ll ever meet again even though deep down he knows the answer #and it’s so… bare? so vulnerable. #if he had voiced it that would’ve been the first time in TEN YEARS that gojo truly bared his heart to someone and asked for help #but he knew it would turn into a curse and so he gulped the words back down. :(( #gojo is such a sincerely kind and thoughtful character and it breaks my heart that sooo many people in the fandom can’t see that 😭 #he isn’t a saint and he definitely isn’t selfless but above all else his goal as a human being is to make sure no one ever feels alone. #that no one has their youth taken away from them….. that everyone gets a Choice in how to live their life :(((( it’s so important to him. #i just genuinely don’t understand ppl who insist that he’s morally gray ….. gojo is a consistently Good person and that never changes #he wants to have fun and laugh and he wants his students to enjoy their youth. he wants them to think he’s cool. #he’s the big brother slash father Ever and i love him to death #i got sidetracked this was supposed to be abt geto 😔😔 anyway the final scene between them will always be my Favorite ever #and the key to understanding both their characters and love for one another #ty for coming to my ted talk i’m feeling normal abt them today 😇😇 #ari noises ✩

[exhaustedwerewolf]

when the dnd session was so insane you’re like “damn I want to rewatch that bit” but you can’t because it was not an incredible fantasy film but just you playing make believe with your friends

#INSANE SCENES THIS EVENING #dialogue echoing in my head includes: ‘resurrection isn’t my strong suit’ // ‘then make it your strong suit’ #‘oh darling! don’t scare me like that. come here. let’s go home.’ // ‘what the fuck have you done?’ #‘(laughs) oh yes. I’m sure if all those people had just had a sword and a shield that things would have turned out differently. I’m being #lenient but my patience is running out. so spare me the insult of your sword. cunt.’ #‘ten million is a big number. it should feel different to one body in a cage or one hanging from the rafters but somehow it… it feels the #same.’ #genuinely stopped typing to do a despair event horizon stare into nothingness #our dm can cry on command lads and he was weaponising that today :’) #so many unbelievably fucked up things happened I cannot believe it and I am having a conspiracy theory board moment trying to make sense of #it #DnD #so many other moments I have written down but can’t remember verbatim but also WHY DIDN’T THEY ASK ME… IF I WANTED TO LEAVE #@CASUALAGRESOR IF YOU ARE READING THIS HOW DARE YOU I AM SO SAD

[lvstharmony]

​beyond grateful for the people that are surrounding me in my life, just as i am grateful for the people i’ve parted ways with, for without them, i would not be the person i am today.

#i have left so many people throughout my life #and #if someone would ask me if i’d regret any choice i’ve made i would say no #i regret hurting people yet i wouldn’t change a thing if i could #without the suffering the sacrifices and the lessons i would not be the person i am today that i can finally say i’m proud of #whenever i read the question “would you want to be your friend if you’d meet yourself?” deep down my answer was no #i was a good friend and i always tried my best to be there for everyone #but i was so blinded and overwhelmed by my pain that i tried so hard not to project on others that it was exactly the thing i’ve done #i was extremely caring sensitive loving and selfless but my ”bad“ traits were just as extreme #my emotions were so overwhelming that they were scattered all over the place that it didn’t allow me to have any control over them #i used to be so terrified of being alone. all i’ve felt was a great loneliness that was residing within me #until i’ve gathered the strength to leave an entire friendgroup with people that meant the world for me #they weren’t good for me anymore just as i wasn’t for them #since that day i’ve grown a lot i became a better and healthier version of myself #i learned how to be alone and to find the peace in it and in myself #all i’ve had was Allah swt. and He is all i will ever need. #without the hardships in terms of friendship i wouldn’t have been able to learn how to be alone and love and enjoy it #without it i could not say that i could easily give up the people in my life #i could if i had to bc i have Allah swt. #but i’ve learned how to choose and to choose the right people #i don’t need you and never will but i choose you bc i want you in my life and i think that makes it so much more special #i can finally say that i love the person i am today and can’t wait to see myself grow even more as the cycle of growing is never ending #I still have so much to learn and I will let it come to me with open arms #an open mind and an open heart #above all the most precious gift i’ve earned is to learn how to have tawakkul. #everything that happens every trial that is afflicted upon us has meaning #and it’s beautiful. #being able to pick out the khair in everything is the biggest blessing #alhamdulillah for the things that bruised my soul alhamdulillah for the things that mended it #alhamdulillah for everything bc truly; Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear.

[agentravensong]

question for fellow good omens fans who are also r&g are dead heads: if david tennant and michael sheen were to star in a production of rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead...

#good omens #david tennant #michael sheen #ragad #rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead #the reason i ask this is because i have many thoughts on the parallels you can draw between r&g and the demon/angel couple #but those don't necessarily correlate 1-1 to the actors' best fits in this hypothetical #so i'm curious to see what other people think and their reasoning for it :) #this is a no stakes silly little poll #anyway today i learned that both of them have played hamlet (i knew dt had but not ms)

[marclef]

YOUR FROG PEPPICLONES ARE SO CUTEE AUUU

HUGGING AND PETTING AND GIVING THEM SMOL KISSES AND GENTLY SQUISHING THEM AUEWHDAGSVDGAHSVDGAWCDGSAVDSGAVHSA

aaaaaaaaa you are so nice thank you!!

#first ask i've ever gotten and y'all are so nice to me thank you! #its insane now. so many people have seen my art and a few big artists have liked it and a couple mutuals even???? #i have. very bad anxiety especially about posting art so. legit thank you so much for saying such nice things to me. #i postponed my charactober for today to draw this but iTS WORTH IT #LOVE YOUS #pizza tower #my art

[fluffypotatey]

Okay wait wait wait maybe I’m hallucinating but the dialogue in this show tends to parallel each other so like what if when Swk started taunting Mac about “screwing off to your master, the lady bone demon is waiting” like what if Mac before The Monkey Pancakening said something like that to Swk about “running off to the monk” v different context tho of course. Surprised there’s not much commentary abt how Mac literally doesn’t want to be working for Lbd and doesn’t care even after he said he wanted to be on the winning side and already had a taste of death and wasn’t a fan. He says it like nearly every fight. Is this one of those instances where it’s different for the show characters and I only care about the red flags as an outside viewer not getting attacked by a smoke monster 😭

dw anon you're remembering right! parallels in dialogue is a THING™️ in this show and it makes me so unwell (@imminent-danger-came has a plethora of #lmk parallels on their blog. thank you for all your hard work bestie)

that being said: WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU SAY THAT T^T DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID????? DO YOU KNOW THE DAMAGE YOU INFLICTED ON ME?????

but yeah, it would make so much sense to be a callback from what Macky said in the past to swk. it's like his way of throwing memories and Macky's own hypocrisy. he greeted swk by reminding the other about their argument under the mountain. so why not have that other reminder be from swk??? why fucking not!

#anyway #imma be thinking about this forever #thanks anon #lmk #asks #also yeah like there isn't a lot to be said about macky's self-preservation but tbh i always found that to be obvious #but also whenever he reveals his personal opinion it's always when there's a lot of stress going on in the story #like mk was tied up and powerless trying to free himself while macky monologued #swk was trying to distract macky from mk and the gang #too many other factors were around for many people to process what he said (in the story and maybe in the audience) #to me watching the show it was pretty clear that macky only agreed to lbd's deal solely to live and have some revenge as a bonus #like his actual purpose was to free her and he just left the key on the ground and dipped the moment he could #it was only when lbd WAS free that macky was stuck on the badend of the deal and there's that fear that when she dies so will he #he's literally a living corpse #that is not naturally possible or probably allowed #but yeah #sorry for any typocs the sun is very bright today and it's messing with my visibilty to read :( #lmk six eared macaque

[sarishim]

please embrace autism & not stare at the sun directly today

#— adinah's ramblings; ooc / tbd. #so many people have asked if we have glasses #our store specifically didnt get a shipment :( #im kinda sad i wanna see it #theres an eclipse in (most of) the us today

[acotars]

possibly an unpopular opinion but i feel like sjm’s writing/plotting have gone downhill, which is disappointing bc i enjoyed tog so much. i actually did like the first 4 acotar books and hoeab, but her most recent work feels like she’s trying to do too much with the maasverse and it’s not well thought out (i had so many issues with the larger world plot elements of acosf and the regression on bryce’s character arc in hosab…). it feels like as she’s gotten more and more popular, whoever her current editor is doesn’t do a good job at making her ideas work best for the overall story. i’m disappointed bc the premises have so much potential but haven’t lived up to it to me :/

send me your unpopular opinions and i’ll either let you in or not

#i haven’t read hosab but i fullyyyyy agree #people have been hoping for a crossover since acotar1 came out and i’ve been so against it since the beginning #like … i just. … :/ #the very concept of a crossover stems from the fact that her universes are all nearly indistinguishably similar #and i don’t know how much of that was originally intentional (my guess is zero lol) #so to see her now doing a whole sjmcu thing is … sigh. #personally i think she does this a lot — where she pulls a late-game move and acts like she was laying the groundwork all along #when ‘the grohndwork’ was actually just inconsistencies and plot holes that she capitalized on later jfkfkdkd #groundwork*** lol i can’t type today #that’s how i feel about mor/az and stay w the high lord and dorian’s dad having no name and so many other things fjfkdk #i agree w you for sure but honestly i think the lack of planning hit its peak in like 2018 and it’s been a battle since then lol #anon #asked and answered #hot takes #acotar #anti sjm #(tagging for peoples filters so i don’t get yelled at 😵‍💫)

[scattered-winter]

working retail is making me remember how much i hate stupid customers btw

#so i work in a tiny nonprofit thrift store. right. #its one room w concrete floors and very compact shelving because there is just No Room for anything. #and our office/employee backroom/breakroom is a little corner with wood+canvas dividers separating it from the rest of the store #with LOTS of signs saying employees only nothing is for sale here etc etc etc #and there was a customer today who went through the divider to ''shop'' in the ''other section of the store'' #and we didnt even KNOW someone was back there until she brought up one of my coworker's purses to ask how much it was </3 #im so baffled. there are so many signs saying its employees only. #not to mention that the office is full of notes and paperwork and my boss's computer and filing cabinets and the fridge and microwave #its CLEARLY an office/break room. even if you ignore all the signs. and YET. #there's also people who will literally just steal. anything and everything #which like. i will always support shoplifting from walmart or another big retail company. in fact i encourage it. #but a tiny locally owned NONPROFIT thrift store that supports local arts ???? HELLO ???????????????? #gah. i should be allowed to throttle one customer per day. i should get paid to do so #most of them are so so sweet. we have regulars who are in almost every day and they are the NICEST people ever #but its just those few who are absolutely the worst most selfish stupid people to ever live #woes from work #winter speaks #all complaining aside i do enjoy my job quite a bit more than i thought i would #i like my coworkers and i feel like im actually connecting with most of them #and i love my supervisor. i have so much respect for her she's an amazing person #you win some you lose some i guess. cool job i actually like but with stupid fucking customers who make me want to MURDER

[non-un-topo]

Talking to my sister can be one of the most aggravating experiences

#just allowing myself a few moments of self-pity today #because i'm a little overstimulated/sick of people talking AT me #i have begun to notice that i'm never asked anything... not a single thing. no questions about my life or interests or how school is going #no questions about my partner or our anniversary and no acknowledgement of the big haircut i just got #no questions about my BIL's wedding. none about my health. #every day it's just people talking AT me. kind of tired at the moment... #and this is made worse by my sister's holier-than-thou attitude about literally the smallest and most insignificant things #like washing clothes? and cooking rice?? idk she talks like a housewife now. #and i get to listen to her complain about her 35 year old boyfriend and not say ONE kind thing for 2 hours straight #not a single question for me. not a single nice thing. and i'm talked over constantly #it's not like i don't raise my voice or speak my mind lol #it's just that. between my family and my partner's family. it feels like no one knows just how smart i am and how much fun i can be. #my partner is perfect in so many ways. my best friend and the kindest and most compassionate person i know. #but i really could brag and boast like my sister does over absolutely nothing. because i have actual achievements. but i don't #because who does that lol. fucking annoying and rude people. #maybe my family just thinks i'm okay and so they never ask me anything or call me. ever. #but see.... i don't talk to them because i want advice or help or money. i talk to them because they're my family #and i would very much like to feel cherished and loved by them #/ end angst and self-pity boo hoo

[thegroundsofbrooklyn]

i sooo miss writing fanfiction <- unlikely to do anything about this

#consumed by the blorbos but unmotivated to write #well. unmotived to write fanfic #i need more sleep yall #in case anyone couldn't tel #l #anyways how are yall doing how are we out there #how are the little people in my phone #how are we feeling about THE LACK OF UKSIES grrr #it's fine i'm fine i'm totally completely fine #i feel like i've been neglecting my tumblr recently which is a sin tbh my poor baby #i've like run out of things to say or whatever #that's a lie i have so many things to say #and most of them are about jonathan larson #okay that's today's episode of mikey rambles in the tags over #byebye mwah mwah send me asks prompts thoughts rants rambles etc etc etc BYEEE

[firstelevens]

33 for Tyrone/Tandy from the new TS prompts list, please ⚜️

33. they'll judge it like they know about me and you

this is a Ty/Tandy entry from the Formula One AU, set around chapter 4 of the fic because I'm a sucker who can't walk away from things I love

“Tyrone fucking Johnson, do you even know how to answer a text message?!”

Ty startles, his head immediately whipping around towards the doors, where his very pissed off best-friend-and-maybe-more stands glaring at him.

He winces, scrambling to his feet as she stalks over. He vaguely notices Bucky’s surprise at Tandy’s entrance, but he’s too busy explaining himself to her to bother addressing Bucky’s confusion.

She looks furious, but by now Ty is fluent in the many moods of Tandy Bowen, and he can tell the difference between anger over something stupid he did and anger because she was worried about him. He still lets out a soft ‘oof’ when she throws her arms around him, but that’s more for show than anything else.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles into her hair, squeezing her as tightly as she’s holding him. “The stupid charger didn’t work last night and my battery died in medical and I didn’t know how to tell Chase to tell you without making it obvious that…”

He feels her nod into his chest and makes the decision to ignore the slight tremble in her shoulders for now.

There’s a loud scrape of a chair against stone, and Ty is suddenly reminded that they have an audience as Bucky stands to leave. 

He spares half a thought for how his and Tandy’s plan to keep their friendship under wraps is probably shot, but he can’t bring himself to care all that much right now. There had been a second today when his car was spinning out of control where all Ty had wanted to do was radio in a message to Tandy, just in case he wouldn’t be able to later. Then his car had smashed nose first into a barrier and fried his communications and it had gone from a practical concern to a hypothetical one.

It doesn’t change that he knew exactly what he would say to her if he had the chance. He just has to hope that she doesn’t bolt when he finally gets the words out of his mouth.

He’d had a hunch, but it becomes clear just how worried Tandy was when she pulls back to look at him with tears still in her eyes, huffing as she swipes them away. “They checked you over properly?” she asks, sniffling and looking annoyed about it. “No shortcuts so Victor could get around to lecturing you about wrecking the car?”

“No shortcuts,” says Ty. “And no lectures, either.”

She frowns. “Whatever. He’s still a dick.”

“You’re right,” he says with a laugh, “but I’m fine, T. I promise.”

He’s not surprised that this doesn’t seem to convince Tandy, who takes half a step back—Ty’s arms are still around her waist—and holds up a hand.

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Three,” says Ty. “The helmet did its job.”

Tandy is still frowning. “If you say so.”

“I do,” he says, “and so did the medics, and so did the doctor who came through after the medics, and so did Chase’s mom, who’s literally a neurologist.”

Tandy makes a face, but the corner of her mouth lifts a little. “Three opinions is definitely overkill, even for an overachiever like you.”

Ty smiles. “I had to be sure; I knew there was someone in my life who was going to want to triple check.”

“Well, whoever that is, they sound silly,” Tandy says, more to Ty’s shirt than to his face.

“Don’t call my best friend silly,” he says. “She beats up people who are mean to me.”

Tandy snorts, but she still hasn’t moved out of the circle of Ty’s arms, her hands resting flat against his chest.

When she’s quiet for a few long moments, Ty tells himself that it’s time to get what he wants to say off his chest. “Tandy,” he starts to say, “I wanted to–”

“I didn’t like it,” she says abruptly, cutting him off. Ty furrows his eyebrows, but she’s explaining herself before he can ask. “Seeing your car spin out like that. I didn’t– it felt like I couldn’t breathe, watching it happen. Like I couldn’t remember how.”

He finally moves his hands away from her waist, covering her hands with his where they rest over his heart. He wants to reassure her, but he also knows that if he starts talking, he’s as likely to spook her as anything else, and he really wants to know what she has to say.

“It was the worst,” she says, “and I’ve seen some pretty shitty things. I don’t know how people do it, all these spouses who come down to watch the races. I don’t get how you can watch that happen to someone and not hate every second that it could happen to the person you care about. I don’t think it would even be humanly possible if you had to watch something like that from the pit and not the stands.”

There’s a sinking feeling in Ty’s chest, but he tries to ignore it and hear the rest of what Tandy is saying. She’s his best friend before she’s anything else, and he owes her that.

Tandy takes a long, slow breath like she’s trying to steel herself for something. Ty doesn’t know what else to do, so he gives her hands a gentle squeeze of encouragement.

By some miracle, it works. She tilts her head up again so she’s looking him in the eye, and her voice shakes a little as she speaks.

“I was so sure that our plan was going to work out perfectly. That– that you could bide your time at Leone and then you could come to Scuda and it would all work out, but I can’t do it, Ty,” she says, and his heart cracks a little bit.

“It’s okay, Tandy,” he murmurs. “We’re okay. You’re my best friend and I’m the luckiest man in the world for that. You don’t have to worry about anything else.”

As facial expressions go, Ty is expecting to see sadness or acceptance or maybe irritation.

What he’s not expecting is to see Tandy’s big sad eyes go from tearful to completely baffled.

“Wait,” she says. “Wait, wait, wait. What?”

Ty furrows his eyebrows. “What, what? I just mean it’s okay, T. We’re friends and that’s plenty.”

She chooses this moment to finally step away from him, looking incredulous now. “Of course it is!” she says. “But I thought we were–”

“So did I!” says Ty, now just as confused as Tandy looks. “But then you said that you couldn’t do it, and I wanted to respect that.”

“Ty, oh my God, you have got to stop being so accommodating.”

“I know that’s not the lesson you want me to take away from a moment where I was trying to respect your wishes about something.”

Tandy crosses her arms. “Did you wait to hear my wishes before respecting them, or did you just jump right to being self-sacrificing?”

Ty presses his mouth shut. She may have a point, he realizes, and it’s also just unfair how cute she looks when she’s telling him how stupid he’s being.

She huffs. “I have to do everything myself around here, huh?”

“You do kind of have authority issues, so I’m not sure how well you’d take to someone else doing things for you.”

After a moment of pretending to think it over, she nods. “You might have a point.”

Ty shakes his head. “Tandy Bowen tells me I’m right and I don’t even have a working phone to record it.”

“I’ll buy you a tape recorder for your next birthday,” she says. He hasn’t missed the fact that she’s moved closer to him now, almost as near as she was when her hands were pressed over his heart.

“Tandy,” says Ty, because the suspense is ging to kill him. “What were you trying to say earlier?”

“When you and your hero complex were busy jumping to conclusions? That ‘earlier’?”

Ty narrows his eyes at her, but then a smile breaks across her face and he can’t help but give her one in response. “Yeah, that ‘earlier.’”

She takes another steadying breath before looking up to meet his eyes again. “What I was saying was that I don’t think I can do what we planned,” she says. “I don’t think I can be your engineer like we thought I could.”

It’s not what Ty expected to hear, but it still hurts. The entire time he’d been working towards a spot in Formula One, it had been his goal to drive on the track with Tandy in his ear. They would be unstoppable together; he was certain of that. He still is.

“I’m not trying to change your mind,” he says slowly, “but could you tell me why?”

At which point Ty is the recipient of one of the most classic faces that Tandy makes, lesson one in the textbook of the many moods of Tandy Bowen: she looks at him like he’s just asked a question with the most obvious answer in the world, and Ty has no idea what that’s supposed to be.

“Humor me, T.”

“Ty,” she says, and this time it’s Tandy putting her hands in his, “I can’t be your engineer because I’d be fucking terrible at it. Because every time I would tell any other driver to push through and overtake or speed up or drive on bald tires, I would tell you to make the safe choice. I can’t be your engineer because if it had to be a choice between you winning and me knowing that you weren’t going to get hurt, you’d never win a single race.”

Ty’s heart is hammering against his chest and making it very difficult for him to keep all of that banked up hope at bay. “Why?” he manages to ask.

“Because I might be reckless about everything else,” she says softly, “but I– I don’t want to be reckless with you.”

Her hands are shaking a little bit, but she doesn’t look away from him, and all Ty can think of is the hundred ways the world has broken both their hearts, and the fact that they’re still willing to risk that again for each other, and he just can’t be cautious anymore.

Ty pulls Tandy closer by their joined hands, tipping her chin up just a little. Tandy sees where he’s going like she always does and gets there first just because she can, dropping Ty’s hands so she can brace a hand against his jaw, pulling him down towards her. Like most places Tandy has drawn him to, he goes willingly.

Her lips curve up in a smile against his own, and when they break apart, they can’t stop laughing, something giddy filling the air between them.

“So it looks like we’re doing a really good job of keeping our friendship under wraps, huh?”

“We’re basically spies at this point,” says Ty. “The best way to avoid people accusing you and your best friend of a conflict of interest is to kiss them in a public place.”

Tandy looks back over her shoulder at the still-empty patio. “If they see us, they see us,” she says, with a decisive nod. “People talk anyway. Might as well give them something to talk about.”

“What happened to not being reckless?” laughs Ty.

“Some things are worth the risk,” Tandy says primly. Before Ty can feel too flattered about it, she adds, “And by ‘some things’, here I obviously mean ‘the chance to get into the WAGs group chat.’ They know everything.”

And Ty means to give her a flat look in response, he really does, but then he sees the pure delight in her face as she teases him, and he’s not sure how he’s supposed to do anything except smile back at her when she looks at him like this.

#me yesterday: i'm gonna write SO MANY short fics #me today: [whatever this is] #tyrone x tandy #@ sam and bucky SOME OF US have our romantic resolutions QUICKLY and QUIETLY and IN THE MOONLIGHT like civilized people #zainab does ask meme things #taylor swift prompt fics #my fic #birdhapley #sesamestreep