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#I’ve been traveling all day and it’s jacked my entire system up
xxmolls · 5 months
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Guess who just got an MCAS reaction from GOING PEE?
Well … guess I can’t go to the restroom anymore without going into the beginning stages of anaphylaxis…
Can’t make this shit up… Oyyyyyy
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lmelodie · 1 year
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Chance and Choice BTS
Behind the scenes stuff! I have A LOT of notes about the making of Chance and Choice from unreleased Beta to the latest chapter! Please enjoy the notes that simply cannot keep to myself anymore.
Pre CC (Runner-up):
Originally originally, the very first almost beta version of CC was just going to be Jack's origin story lol. Like straight up in chronological order, a series of events spanning his entire life as a closer look into his fall from grace. Really heavy handed on the psychology aspects of how his mind works (because I love nothing more than psychoanalyzing people/characters)
I had a whole idea about if i ever dropped this fic that the accompanying art would just be Jack himself promoting the story as if it was his own autobiography. Celebrity biopic release vibes. Buy my book!
This rough beta version was called Runner-up. And I got all the outlining done when I realized that by the end of the story Jack still would’ve been a villain (and in banishment) and I ended up thinking that the aftermath of his banishment with Lucy would've been a more attention-grabbing story.
As much as I enjoy hurting this man, I also want to see him heal, so Runner-up was promptly scrapped (but somewhat currently still used as a rough guide for any of Jack’s inner machinations/past experiences)
In the tail end of planning Runner-up, when Killian was starting to come more into his own and not just a background character, apparently, I wrote it down that him and Jack were only supposed to have romantic tension and for their official relationship to start way later after he’s already reformed. 
I think the idea was to have them just hate flirting with each-other while the whole story goes on around them? But you can also do that AND be bitter exes at the same time. Very glad I changed this little bit.
A concept that also did not survive the Runner-up days was the idea of Jack having some kind of Ice based healing powers! Most akin to the water bender healers from Avatar. 
He would've had this whole thing about swearing off using the healing powers for whatever reason and ends up burying the lead that he ever had them in the first place. Until a situation comes up where he’s forced to use them in front of people, unearthing the secret. This idea was cool, but then I reworked the whole magic system so this idea had to go.
Chapter 4:
Fun Fact! This meeting where Jack and Mother Nature actually talk for the first time since banishment will be the last time they directly speak to one another until the very finale. They will be going another two weeks without talking before reconciling at New Years.
I've had the idea for the Bypass for a while, but the way it looks is closest to The Great Exhibition hall of 1851. Just way bigger and with portal arches and FIVE MORE FLOORS. This place is HUGE you guys it's like a whole town in of itself.
I wanted the teleporters to accommodate a full-sized dragon because as a species they would be very limited in available airspace without getting spotted by humans. So, to quick travel they mostly use the teleporters.
I am going to be very honest with you guys. I really did only give Jack a journal of sorts so that I could maybe spin that off into The Misadventures of Exile kinda thing. Because nothing really physically happens to him (besides the polar bear) but he goes through a lot of mental wear and tear, and I thought I should give myself a little window into his head for possible future use. 
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Chapter 5:
The flashback scene with MN and Jacks fight, these exchanges:
“When all the realms turned against me, what did you do? Nothing!”
“You were not meant to have a holiday that is not my fault!”
“Not your FAULT!?”
Is directly taken from Kung Fu Panda, the first movie where shifu and tai lung recount their falling out as they fight. Tai Lung (and his and shifu’s dynamic) is so interestingly complex and served as a HUGE inspiration for Jack’s character and his relationship with MN.
ANOTHER line that I kinda ripped off was this remark from Jack:
“How could you possibly bring me lower than this? What more can you take away from me?!”
That one I got from The Incredibles when Bob threatens Mirage when he thinks his family is dead :)
A line that I also really REALLY wanted to include but didn't was from Steven Universe. Where Amethyst and Pearl are fighting in the kindergarten and amethyst says:
“I never asked for it to be this way! I never asked to be made!”
I wanted to give that line to Jack as he was fighting MN SO BAD! But I just couldn't find anywhere to fit it.
Originally Jack’s visceral injury would have been a single very sharp root straight through the shoulder. Literally clean through him; just one major puncture wound. But I ultimately thought that was lacking something, so i ended up changing it to something way more violent.
That whole fight scene I’ve had in the chamber for A WHILE, before most of the plot of CC was ironed out. And like I’ve said before, legendary fisticuffs are COOL AS SHIT so I have a lot to say about that passage in particular.
Chapter 6:
I had three separate ideas for Jack’s beginning nightmare sequence for this chapter (mostly because i’ve really liked coming up with very metaphorical and emotionally poignant scenarios for Jack to be in (psychoanalyzing yet again) ).
The final one of the following voices was my personal favorite and was planned to be put somewhere far later in the story, but i ultimately decided to treat myself and write in prose about Jack’s internal struggle :)
The other two nightmares I think I will keep mostly a secret if I ever choose to use those for future sequences. But! The other two (in the vaguest of terms) are
Mother Nature Lapis Lazuli inspo
Playing very weird chess and loosing horribly.
The main note that I’ve had for this, and the next few following chapters is just: EMOTIONAL LABOR! And that’s literally it lol. Thats the only note I need for this next stretch of the story lol.
Fun Fact! The weight of Lucy’s staff is actually different depending on the personal harmony of the one who’s holding it! It always maintains a level of heaviness that Lucy doesn't experience, but depending on someone’s inner balance the staff will be lighter or heavier depending on who’s holding it. Charlie has little difficulty holding for its weight in Chapter 5, because he has little to no internal struggle. He’s very confident in who he is and where he’s going in life and all that jazz. 
Whereas Jack in this Chapter, is nearly taken down by the thing because he is all kinds of out of whack internally. Banishment has been nothing but one big internal seven-year struggle and it shows in the weight of the staff. He’s way-out synch and therefore the staff is way heavier than it should be.
Chapter 7:
I had to rewrite the beginnings of this chapter a fair few times with how exactly Lucy finds out more about Frostmas as a thing.
One of the times she would've found herself in the hall of timelines to learn about Frostmas that way. It was a huge room of clouds and different clock faces representing all the major alternate universes. I had a whole convoluted way the books updated themselves by pulling straight from the clocks to double check the series of events that have technically never happened.
But this was WAY too complicated of an idea to execute without having it feel overly clunky. So, it must be scrapped.
AND I KNEW that THIS was the most opportune time to name drop everyone else’s amazing work! As mostly a treat to myself, but I had it penned down to AT LEAST mention CS here. Because I was dying to do that at some point and NOWS THE TIME! THERE YA GO BITCHES! Technically canon? But actually, not really.
Killian and Chimera’s intro was A BITCH AND A HALF to nail down. I went back and forth on the logistics of this scene a lot. Where it was gonna fit in the story and if I'm introducing this new character/element too early or too late. This one was a thinker.
BUT THEN I remembered that there's an actually seven-year-old at the north pole that he could scare! Keep it closer to the main cast and switch it to full nighttime hours at the end of the day and BOOM! He’s here! In the story! Jack and Luce are gonna run into him later for the confrontation OF A LIFETIME. Very hype about that
For Killian’s intro I had an idea for Chimera to call him on the crystal ball, but he accidently left the sound on so it flashes colors AND Toxic by Brittney Spears would start playing very loudly in the middle of the night. This was really funny to me, but ultimately undermined the whole buildup of him being scary and threatening so I had to scrap it.
Misc:
Whenever I get to the redlining stage in the editing process, I try and do it physically as often as I can. I literally print out all the pages, staple them together, get a red pen and go to town! Usually with a lined sticky note as well for when a passage really needs to be deconstructed. I do this because it gives my eyes a break from staring at a screen and helps me spot mistakes easier. I keep them all in a little accordion folder and save them as sweet little mementos :)
(I don't do this for any of the snowdrifts because those are relatively low stakes, but I did do it for Solstice just because it directly ties into CC in a somewhat more important way.)
A couple of key inspo’s for Jacks character in exile (as I imagine him anyway) were Tai Lung (as previously stated), Loki and a touch of Bojack Horseman. I rationalize any out of character things he does with “Oh but he’s in exile, he’s been banished for seven years now, I think he’s bound to act just a little different.”
Some of the names that were in the rotation between Runner-up and CC include:
Polar Opposites
Vice Versa
Hope and Heartless
Flip Side
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Bets With a Vegas Boy
summary: When Spencer and Reader make a bet with high stakes, their stubborn sides show, but when a consulting officer has his eyes on reader, Spencer has to step in.
word count: 4.9k
warnings: SMUT (breeding kink, daddy kink, a bit of degradation, semipublic sex,) unrequited flirting, criminal minds style violence, suggested cannibalism, reader has multiple tattoos
Pairing: Spencer Reid/Female Reader
A/N: This took me forever to finish as I was on vacation! I hope you all enjoy it!
“Y/N, have you ever met Reid? You’re supposed to be smart, why would you willingly sign up for this?” You scoffed at JJ’s words. When Penelope Garcia is involved it seems that no news traveled slowly, proven by the entire BAU’s new knowledge of the bet you had made with boy genius after bickering about which of you was more clingy. “JJ, you really underestimate me that much?” She shook her head in disbelief “You know that’s not it, but come on Y/N! Seriously, he’s banned from every casino in Vegas! Why would you bet against that?” “JJ, he was banned because he can count cards. It’s not like we’re playing Black Jack for christ’s sake!” She weighed the idea for a moment and you could see the wheels turning in her head. “Okay that’s true, but still. He’s the most stubborn man I’ve ever met. I seriously hope whatever he has in mind for your forfeit isn’t as bad as yours.” You laughed, imaging Spencer in the predicament you were positive he would be in the thick of by the end of the week.
“I think he’d look good with one, you don’t agree?” JJ rolled her eyes as you both made your way out of the elevator towards the glass doors. “That’s not my point Y/N, don’t you think it’s a little harsh? I mean he’s not like you, how do you know he’d even want one?” You smirked, remembering the first time you’d met Dr. Spencer Reid. You had been brought on to the team a few short years ago after an implemented policy that required an even amount of field agents so there were partners for every investigation. You thought it was a bit condescending, requiring the most brilliant minds in the nation to follow the buddy system, but it gave you a job and for that you were thankful. It had its perks though, one of which being your immediate pairing with Reid. You were as young as him and not far behind in brilliance. What you lacked in eidetic memory and forgein language fluency, you more than made up for in marksmanship and street smarts. You and Reid got along fine, even if it was a bit tense at first. He was thoroughly convinced he didn’t need a babysitter.
“I’m a grown man! Why would I need to be watched every second of the day? The last thing we need is a liability.” you remembered the words like it was yesterday. You had been approaching him from behind, and overheard his rant. “Well, technically since we’re the same age, I’d hardly consider myself a babysitter. Would you trust your child’s care with someone their age?” Spencer had turned himself around so fast he’d almost fallen off the desk he was perched atop. “Y-you must be Agent Y/N! It’s uh nice to meet you?” He cringed at the tone of his voice, and you burst out with giggles before shaking your head. “Don’t worry Dr. Reid, I understand it must be a difficult situation for you. I mean, if I were the resident genius I wouldn’t take too kindly to the idea of being shown up either.” The dark-skinned woman who had previously been engaging him in his sour mood let out a surprised chuckle and you watched his face turn from embarrassment to shock and finally settle on disbelief. “Wh- Excuse me?” You felt your stomach begin to cramp as his reaction made you laugh further and you clutched your files against your chest. You fought to catch your breath for a few seconds before regaining your composure. “Excuse my reaction, Dr. Reid but I couldn’t resist. No hard feelings?” He nodded mutely and you saw a soft smile crack through his mock stern expression. You turned to introduce yourself to the woman next to him, Tara Lewis. You made small talk for a few more minutes while Reid scribbled away at his desk before Emily called all of you to the round table with a case.
Nerves had struck you then, and you stood frozen instead of joining Tara in her stride. “Y/N, everything okay?” You jumped slightly as you heard Reid’s voice from behind you. “Oh! Yes, sorry!” You moved out of his way, trying your best not to stumble over an empty desk and failing miserably. He stretched his hands out and caught you, much to your embarrassment. “Are you sure you’re okay? Are you feeling ill?” You shook your head quickly. “No! No, I'm fine, really.” He looked into your eyes and you tried to ignore the sparks you felt deep in your chest. “Y/N you’re working with profilers now, lying that poorly will never work around here.” His joke succeeded in its attempt to lighten the mood and you let out a soft laugh despite your anxiety. “I’m just a little nervous I guess. I didn’t expect to have a case so soon.” He nodded and his thumb absentmindedly rubbed soothing circles on your sleeve. “I understand. We all felt that way at first. I won’t say it’s easy, but we’re all here to support you. Take a few deep breaths.” You did as he instructed and you felt your nerves ease as he consoled you. “That’s better. Besides, what could you have to worry about? You have the best partner here.” You laughed, and he released your arm. “I’ll meet you in there.” and with that he left you standing there trying to lock down the feelings he had just arisen in you. “Nice Y/N, crush on your partner first thing. What a great start.” you muttered to yourself
A few moments later you joined the rest of the team at the table and quickly reviewed the case, before lifting off 45 minutes later to a small town in Georgia. Everything felt like a whirlwind and you did your best to keep up. True to what Spencer had said, the team helped you get your bearings and by the end of the night you were making great strides along with the rest of them. It was near midnight when Emily dismissed you all to the hotel a few blocks away to get a few hours of rest. You were thankful, having poorly attempted to drown your tiredness with watery coffee from the small pot at the station, and you made your way to the hotel as swiftly as you could manage. When you were all gathered in the lobby, Emily handed out the keycards and it quickly dawned on you how the room assignments would work. You tried to shake off the thought and prayed that the night would go quickly. It made sense to just put the partners together, it made keeping track of everyone easier and allowed for quick communication between the team. You told yourself all the reasons it was logical as you made your way up to your room.
Spencer left you to your thoughts, but he could see how hard you were focusing. He unlocked the door and the lights switched on as you both made your way towards your beds. You heard him ask you something, and turned awkwardly to face him “Sorry, what’d you say?” He looked at you, a mix of amusement and concern on his face. “I asked if you wanted to shower first. Are you okay?” “Oh! Yeah, thanks. I’m okay, just thinking about the case.” You hoped you had lied better this time and were relieved that he seemed to buy it. “Just try to shut your mind off of it for now, I know it’s hard. Trust me, you’ll feel much better when you’re refreshed.” You nodded at his words and pulled some pajamas out of your go-bag. “Thanks Spencer. I’ll try not to take too long.” He shrugged you off “No worries, take your time.” You shut yourself behind the door and tried to shake the feelings out of your head. “Get a grip Y/N. You’re being crazy.” You scolded yourself before showering. You hurried despite Spencer’s insistence and quickly made your way out of the shower to dry yourself off. You applied lotion to your ink-covered skin and slipped on your shorts and t-shirt before drying your hair as fast as you could and making your way out of the bathroom. You dropped your folded clothes on top of your bag, alerting Spencer that you were done.
“That was fast, you really didn’t have to-” his words died in his throat as he looked up from the file in his lap and caught sight of your legs, covered in the intricate artwork that stretched across the skin. You tried to ignore his watchful gaze. “It’s no problem! I wanted to save you some hot water.” He thanked you quietly and made his way to the bathroom hurriedly, trying not to look at you again. You tried to fall asleep but you couldn’t get him out of your head. A few more minutes passed and he made his way over to his bed, trying to will the awkward tension out of the room. You both eventually managed to fall asleep without speaking another word.
The tension continued to grow over the next few months and the rest of the team were getting sick of watching you two dance around each other. You both denied any advances, shot down the chance to go out on any of the numerous blind dates members of the team offered to set up, and chose instead to trade glances across the bullpen and divulge your personal lives over breakroom lunches. Eventually, they made plans for a team outing and convinced you both to attend. Penelope made reservations at a nice restaurant, announcing that everyone just had to try their food. That night however, you showed up to Spencer waiting awkwardly at a table for two in the back corner with a sour face. “Where’s the rest of the team?” You asked him, taking the seat across from him. “Apparently they’ve all had to cancel. Luckily, the reservation was for two.” His eyes narrowed in suspicion and you made a mental note to scold Garcia. “Well, since we’re here I’m happy to eat. I’m starving.” Spencer’s eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly, agreeing with you.  After an evening of great food and better wine, the rest was history, and you found yourself thanking Garcia the next day instead. You and Spencer had been dating for just over two years now, though he’d be able to count it down to the second you’d showed up looking angelic at the restaurant that night. You both complimented each other perfectly and you had a relationship stronger than either of you could have dreamed of.
“Hello?? Y/N are you even listening to me?” JJ’s words and nudge against your shoulder brought you back to present day and you snapped your eyes back to her face. “Yes! Sorry JJ I was just thinking… Anyways, we’ve talked about it before. He loves all of mine, and he’s talked about getting one. He’s just afraid of the pain, and too indecisive to choose what he wants.” You blushed softly as you thought about the many nights spent in your shared bed, Spencer tracing the black lines with his fingertips. He adored them and thought they made you especially unique, not to mention he found them extremely sexy. He favored the black sun on your ribcage, shaded to perfection. Even when you were clothed he would run his hand along the fabric that covered the piece.
“Well still, if you do happen to win, I can’t imagine he’ll go along with it.” You smirked and shook your head. “We’ll see about that JJ.” You both sat at your desks, and began to work through your piles of paperwork. You were thankful there was no case that needed your immediate attention, but paperwork always made you feel like a nap by the time lunch came around. You pushed yourself away from your desk, and stood to find yourself nearly chest to chest with your boyfriend who had stood at the same time. “Oh, sorry Spence. I just need coffee.” You maneuvered your way around him, missing the way he would usually grab your hips to aid you. He followed you to the break room and you poured him a cup as well leaving plenty of room for sugar. Instead of handing it to him with a quick peck on the cheek however, you left it on the counter to be picked up. “You really think you can go a week without touching me?” You heard his voice from the doorway. “It’s already been 3 days.” You said uninterestedly with a shrug, and he eyed you suspiciously. “Okay fine, no. I just think I can go longer than you can.” You finally admitted, smirking back at him.
He grabbed the mug from the counter, adding several teaspoons of sugar before taking a sip. “We’ll see about that. You’re the one that’s always curling yourself around me.” You rolled your eyes playfully. “Oh yeah, like you hate it. You’re the one that’s always rubbing my back and holding my hand under tables. Even when we’re on the metro home you’ve got your hand in mine.” He narrowed his eyes at you and stuck his tongue out, making you chuckle. “Very mature Dr. Reid. I can’t wait to win.” He opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted by Luke who stuck his head in to alert you both of the new case you’d be working. You let out a long sigh. “So much for paperwork.” The three of you made your way to the round table and sat, Spencer curling his hand into a fist to keep himself from subconsciously reaching over to place his hand on your leg.
“So, we are assisting in a local case this time, with Washington state PD about a string of murders in the homeless community. However, there’s been hefty construction in their field office so they will be joining us here.” Penelope quickly took the lead after Emily’s announcement and filled you all in about the details. She ran through the few details the local PD managed to uncover on their own and the team had only managed a few minutes of brainstorming when a group of police officers made their way through the glass doors of the BAU. There were only a handful of officers which surprised all of you, and Emily led the rest of you out of the conference room, beelining her way to the chief. “Hello, Landon. It’s nice to see you again.” She shook his hand briefly. “Likewise Emily, though I wish it was under different circumstances.” “As do I. I’m sorry for the miscommunication, I was under the impression that your entire force would be joining us. Is that not the case?” The chief, Landon Bridges you now knew him as, shook his head. “We knew you had a pretty tight space and we have a lot of members. I brought a few people from each department and figured it’d be easiest to fill everyone else in periodically. We didn’t want to overflow your space and leave no room to work.” Emily nodded and rested her hand on his shoulder. “I appreciate the thought, thank you. This is the rest of my team. SSAs Jennifer Jareau, Luke Alves, Matt Simmons, David Rossi, Y/N Y/L/N, Drs Spencer Reid and Tara Lewis, and our technical analyst Penelope Garcia.” You all gestured as Emily quickly introduced you, and a short time later you were all acquainted and working throughout the bullpen. You and Spencer were just beginning to start the geographical profile when one of the Washington police officers, Kline, made his way over to you. “Pardon me agents, do you need any help?” You looked up from your section of the grid lines and smiled at him which he returned brightly, but before you could answer, Spencer dismissed him. Kline’s face fell slightly but he nodded and made his way over to where Tara and Luke were reviewing the last known areas of the victims.
You turned and stared at Spencer in disbelief. He looked up after a few seconds, feeling your eyes burning a hole through the top of his head. “Yes?” You glared at him harder, before railing into him in a hushed tone “Don’t ‘yes?’ me. That was insanely rude. They’re here to help us! Quit acting all high and mighty.” He stared back at you and you saw the stubbornness light up his eyes. “Why should I? We could solve this case twice as fast without them getting in the way.” He knew he was talking too loud, and was more than aware of Kline who was staring at his back with  a sour look resting on his face. “Spencer! I don’t know what your problem is, but you need to fix it. You’re being an ass.” He rolled his eyes and you both let out a sigh before looking back down at the maps covering the desktop beneath you.
A few hours passed before you and Spencer finished the geographical profile, and you gestured Kline over to ask him a few questions about the area you’d narrowed down. Spencer noticed he had made his way to your side and bit his lip to keep himself silent. “Officer Kline, can you tell me anything about this area of the block? It seems like a lot of our victims were last seen in this area.” He eyed the map where red ink stained the paper and pondered for a few seconds. “Well, there’s not much out there really. A few older shops and some construction to the east” he gestured to the empty spot of land on the map “but nothing of real interest. We don’t usually get calls for the homeless population over here either. There’s not really much shelter so they don’t usually go towards this way” Your brow furrowed and you nodded, thanking him but before he could get another word in Spencer piped up. “Kline, if the homeless population doesn’t “Go that way” he mocked the officer in front of you, and Kline tensed up in response “then why are they all disappearing from the area? Does that make sense to you?”
Kline struggled to respond and you glared at Spencer before assuring Kline there was no need for him to pay Spencer any mind, excusing his behavior with a rambling about late nights and too little coffee. Kline walked away and you stared Spencer down for several seconds before making your way towards the main group to deliver the geographic profile, leaving Spencer to sulk. You continued to avoid Spencer until you were sent out to investigate the block you sectioned off with Emily and JJ. You opted to drive which left Spencer in the passenger seat, fuming at your silent treatment and JJ and Emily trying to fight the tension in the SUV to no avail.
You parked the SUV a few blocks away and the four of you walked the rest of the way to avoid raising too much suspicion. You were standing in the center of the unsubs hot zone when you noticed a line of people clustered in front of one of the more rundown buildings. The building had wide front windows that had been taped over with brown paper, as well as the glass doors. You and Spencer approached the group warily, trying to get closer to see the poorly written signs on the door.
“DISCOUNT MEAT - PRE-COOKED”
“12pm-12am”
You gestured Emily and JJ over and the four of you quickly aimed to disperse the crowd much to their displeasure. After several minutes of arguing and multiple badge flashes you managed to succeed and stood outside the door ready to investigate once the owner opened his doors. Fifteen minutes had passed without any sign of movement from the inside and Spencer began to shift anxiously, causing you to do the same. A few more seconds passed and you heard the locks on the door click, reaching your hand around to rest on your holster automatically. As soon as the door opened, Emily pushed through holding her badge and announcing the reason for your investigation.
The shop owner immediately demanded you leave and not return unless you had a warrant. “Actually, because this is no longer a registered business it becomes property of the town and therefore is subject to any kind of local or national investigation under Property law 14, sections 3a-3f go more in depth about the issue if you feel the need to verify.” Spencer explained the situation while sifting through the counter drawers, leaving the man to sit in silent rage while Emily and JJ questioned him. You bent over to fiddle with a padlock on a hollowed bench seat on the far wall and pulled one of the pins out of your hair to pick it. A few seconds of tampering later, the lock gave way with a satisfying click and you pulled the bench open. A rancid smell hit your nose and stomach before you could process what you were seeing. Body parts were wrapped in butcher's paper and poorly taped, and you fought to keep your breakfast down as you slammed the bench shut. Emily then stood the man up and cuffed him, while reciting the miranda rights. JJ followed her out and you followed her quickly, trying and failing to erase the memory from your mind.
Back at the office, the rest of the team and several of the officers had already begun processing the unsubs case and there was little left to be done by the time you returned. You filled out your files and quickly wrote out your account of the incident before heading to the breakroom for a cup of coffee. You pulled your mug down from the shelf and pressed your favorite individual pod into the machine and pressed the button to let it run. You were digging in the fridge for your creamer when a deep voice startled you
“Little late for coffee isn’t it?” You turned swiftly to find Kline standing in the doorway and you let out a small sigh. “When you work like we do, it’s never too late for coffee” You smiled and made your cup to your taste, taking a long sip. You expected Kline to just grab what he wanted and leave, but instead he continued to make awkward conversation despite you going so far as to begin scrolling through your phone. “So, that Spencer guy is really a piece of work huh?” You fought the urge to roll your eyes and instead remained focused on your screen, telling yourself that he just didn’t get the chance to see the good side of Spencer like everyone else there had. “He’s really not a bad guy, he’s just had a long day. We all have.” Kline nodded but moved closer to you, so close that you could smell his headache-inducing cologne. “I’m just saying, if I had the opportunity to work with you every day, I wouldn’t waste my time arguing with you. I’d treat you right.”
You shifted uncomfortably, praying he would pick up on your uneasiness and back off but instead he moved to corner you against the counter. You tried to excuse yourself but your voice caught in your throat.
“Kline, I really overestimated you. I figured even a man as dimwitted as yourself would be able to tell when a woman isn’t interested but here we are.” Your head snapped up towards the doorway where Spencer was standing. Kline turned around and prepared himself to tell your boyfriend off when he froze. Spencer had the look in his eye that sent chills down your spine and made it very aware to Kline that there was no use fighting. He quickly left the room and you and Spencer held eye contact for several seconds before he spoke again “Meet me in the storage room at the end of the hall in 2 minutes.” His voice made your legs feel weak and you nodded, dumping the contents of your mug down the drain, keeping your pace in check as you slipped into the hallway.
You had barely unlatched the door when Spencer pushed it the rest of the way open and you felt yourself being dragged into the dimly lit space. You barely had time to let out a surprised squeak when you felt his lips against your throat, turning your noise into one of pleasure. His kisses quickly turned sharp, applying the expertly rehearsed amount of pressure to avoid marks but to still send shockwaves of heat to your core. “Spence” his name left your lips in a whine while he busied himself unbuttoning your blouse. “Spencer, you just lost the bet.” You felt a smirk grow across your face that disappeared as he hiked your skirt up to your hips while rubbing your clit through your panties. “Fuck the bet, Y/N. I’m sick of seeing you walk around here clueless. You know I’ve been all over Kline’s ass, little girl?” His voice dropped lower and he lifted you up to push you against the wall. “It’s because he couldn’t stop looking at yours.” You let out a moan as he pushed your panties to the side, slipping two of his fingers into you.
“Fuck baby, you’re so wet. Did me getting all protective of you turn you on? You like making daddy jealous?” You shook your head as well as you could manage, trying to keep your volume in check. “Answer me pet, or you’re not gonna get daddy’s cock in you like I know you’re desperate for.” You whimpered at his words  “No! I-I wasn’t trying to make you jealous daddy I swear!” You stuttered as he began to spread you further with his fingers. He smiled against the exposed skin of your chest before removing his fingers. “That’s my good girl. You ready for daddy?” You nodded as he fiddled with his belt buckle, moaning in anticipation as he released his cock from his slacks. You bit your lip as he ran the tip over your folds, sucking in a harsh breath as he pushed himself deep inside you. He let you adjust for a moment while he sucked at your neck again. “Daddy, please move. Please, I need you.” He let his hips move, pulling almost all the way out of you before slamming you forward into the wall again. You let out a moan as he thrusted in and out of you. You felt like your skin was on fire, the lack of touch over the past days made everything more intense.
A few more minutes passed and you felt yourself growing dangerously close to the edge. “Spence I’m gonna cum” you felt his pace grow even more rapid and he circled your clit with his thumb. “I’m gonna cum inside you angel. I’m gonna fill you up with my kid. You want that huh? Want everyone to know that you belong to me, don’t you?” You moaned at his words “God yes, please daddy. Please cum inside me!” You felt his hips stutter under you and a familiar warmth as you finally climaxed. Your toes curled and your head fell back against the wall, trying to catch your breath.
“God Y/N that was amazing.” You let out a soft whimper as he pulled out of you and lowered you back down to your feet. He kissed you, pulling you closer than before. “I love you Spencer. Only you.” He touched the tip of his nose to yours and returned your words, while you both caught your breath. A few minutes later you both exited the closet, and tried to smoothly make your way back to your desks. Washington PD had finished the bureau required paperwork and had already left so things were much quieter.
You had just sat down when JJ looked up from her computer. “So Spence, whatcha gonna get?” His head snapped up and your cheeks flushed. “Wh-What?” he managed to stutter out. “From the diner? Garcia said she would run out and get dinner.” You both let out simultaneous sighs of relief and told her what you wanted, settling in for a long night.
The next weekend you had free, you found yourselves in one of your favorite spots. The low pitched buzzing added to Spencer’s anxiety as he tried to divert his focus to the bright neon signs. You held his hand, stroking it with your thumb as you waited for your tattoo artist and best friend, Vannessa, to finish Spencer’s design. You tried to distract him but before long she called you back to the table and you heard his breathing quicken. You helped him get settled on the table while Vannessa applied the stencil. She adjusted it until Spencer and you both approved and then she started. Spencer tightened his grip on your hand as she traced the lines while you murmured words of encouragement in his ear. Half an hour later, she was running Spencer through the after care process while wrapping his forearm up. You paid her and made your way out of the shop after thanking her.
Slipping into the driver’s seat, you watched as Spencer carefully maneuvered his way into the car, fastening his seatbelt and resting his arm against the door. The streetlight shining through his window highlighted his forearm perfectly, revealing the perfectly mimicked shape of a shaded black sun.
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bakugoulovesme · 4 years
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BNHA as MBMBAM quotes
Dabi: I mean, there's a drain right there. It's practically a toilet you stand up in to get clean.
Hawks: The shower is a toilet you stand up in to get clean. Exactly!
Shigaraki: No matter what, no peeing in the sink.
--- 
Midoriya: Kacchan is very much into the following: Bullying me.
Iida: Okay, that's a big one.
Midoriya: Dabbing, of course.
Iida: Naturally.
*Midoriya dabs*
Iida: That's a dab? That's fresh as hell.
Midoriya: Yeah, it's a good dance.
--
All Might: We'll close our eyes and then Shoto you stand behind the hero that you want to be mentored by.
Best Jeanist: Go with who you think's gonna give you the brightest future. This is the most important decision you'll ever make.
All Might: There is no wrong answer.
Endeavor: There are two wrong answers.
--
Kaminari: "What is Wendy's policy when you're lost? Is it true that if you go through the drive-through at Wendy's and say you're lost, they have to give you a free cheeseburger?"
Bakugou: ...What?
Kaminari: 'Hey, I don't know where I am and I thought I was supposed to be here, but I'm not, so-' 'Yes sir, pull around. You know the drill. Get your free cheeseburger.'
Bakugou: But not directions?!
Kirishima: No!
Kaminari: No. No, no, no.
Kirishima: Look under the bun, Bakubro.
--
Present Mic: Do you have any questions for us?
Jirou: Uh, how old are you guys?
Present Mic: Nothin' but a number, right guys? ...I'm thirty-one.
--
Uraraka: If I wanted to be a horse, then I would still- I think I would still be classified as a furry.
Asui: No, you would be everyone.
Hado: Those beautiful sons o' bitches.
---
Midoriya: Stop. Stop. This needs to be addressed. My first thought was the tunnel of love, right? Okay, but stop for a second and think.
Togata: Oh my god - holy shit Midoriya! You're right!
Midoriya: Seriously though. Media has perpetrated a lot of lies on us growing up as kids, especially like, old cartoons. I've never, in my entire adult life - I've traveled all across this great land of ours, I've never, ever, ever seen a tunnel of love. I've seen a fake Mario Brothers castle that kids could run around in and fall and die. Like, I've seen a spaceship that spins around so fast that you stick to the walls. I've never seen a tunnel of love in my entire life.
Togata: Because essentially what a tunnel of love is, is a timed hand-job challenge. Are you tough enough?
Kirishima: Can you jack it?
Togata: You have 118 seconds, go! Uh-oh, look up ahead. Do you hear the clown music? You better hurry! You better hurry and finish to the clown music!
Amajiki: That's when the camera flashes.
--
Midoriya: I don't fuck with raw cheese.
Bakugou: So wait, it's gotta be grilled or no? That's it?
Midoriya: It's just- no, it's gotta be melted. I don't like the texture of raw cheese. I like cooked cheese. Pizza, yes. Grilled cheese, yes.
Bakugou: I got you a fuckin' fondue set for Christmas once. I did not know I was getting you...essentially, a mandatory cheese, like, conversion device.
Midoriya: Right, right. That fondue set is the Ellis Island of my cheese.
--
Iida: I like sex, um. Sex. Weird sex.
Todoroki: That's gross, Iida.
Midoriya: That's horrible.
Todoroki: You pervert.
--
Uraraka: Can you just sequester it?
Iida: What do you mean?
Uraraka: I mean, just like, make it never see other horses again.
Iida: A life without looking at horses?! You might as well send it to hell!
--
Jirou: So you've brought approximately 200,000 spiders into the training area, which is a cool thing.
Koda: Right, this one-
Present Mic: Oh, that's such a big spider. Hey, I just had an interesting thought.
Koda: Yeah?
Present Mic: Actually, fuck this.
--
Present Mic: My voice is a little rough, but not from sickness. Just from, just laughing and screaming in joy.
Aizawa: Well, I'm glad to hear that, ‘Zashi, you big shithead.
--
Aoyama: One thing we're bumpin' up against is gettin' the word out. Just gonna pitch this to you: Wondering if we can just borrow the emergency alert system or-
Principal Nezu: No. That's a no.
Aoyama: If a tornado happens today, you put out the alert, 'Tornado's a-comin', get down to the bunkers', but then I come in right at the end after so I'm like, 'Oh by the way it's class 1A’s concert tonight, we're gonna put on a great show down at the gym, get down there, 10 a.m., be there.'
--
Monoma: We made you this card from our hearts, we made that with our own hands if you would read it out loud.
Principal Nezu: Happy U.A. School Festival  Mr. Principal, we love you very much. All of class 1B is now legally better than class 1A...yeah. The fact that I'm saying this out loud makes it legal.
Monoma: Perfect! Excellent.
--
Dabi: Once upon a time there were three villains, named Dobi, the handsomest villain, and also his sidekicks, Thrice and Owls.
Twice: Now some folks believed that Thrice was actually the handsomest. They said he had the body of both a Greek god and a Roman god.
Hawks: Owls had angel wings and could fly, and also a ten-inch ding dong.
Dabi: Dobi lived in a mountainous landscape, near his leader, Shitaraki. One day, after polishing his, uh, eleven-inch ding dong, Dobi realized that it had been quite a while since he had used his cool flames to fly very, very fast to go see his fellow villains Thrice and Owls.
Hawks: Owls was usually busy, gettin' up on the hoop. Look at him go now! Look at him jump up high and dunk in two hoops at once with one ball!
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The Phantom Origins
Okay, so I know probably a bunch of people have already done this, but I wanted to rewrite Danny Phantom, from just before he got his powers to maybe when he tells his parents.
 I’m tired of waiting for a reboot that may never come, so here is what I picture the reboot would look like. 
I’ve always thought it would be darker and more horrific, that the ghosts he fights are more monstrous and demonic.
 That there would be a little bit more of a medical concern for Danny’s humanity being affected by his ghost half. Is he becoming more ghost like? Is he gradually getting sicker and sicker, and his ghost DNA ravages through his body like cancer? 
Would Vlad be not only a sexist, creepy, abusive old man, but contains a thirst for deception and power that he poses a real, apocalyptic threat on Earth and the ghost zone?
Are ghosts actually the spirits of the dead? Or are they a different breed of human that lives in a completely separate dimension, that’s is layered and hidden within ours?
What about Danny’s mental health. He has to keep this big secret from his parents because he absolutely FEARS what would happen if they found it to the point he’s scared they wouldn’t believe he was their son and try to kill him as a result, or keep him hostage in the basement, slowly torturing him and dissecting him until he’s dead? What would the world think of him? A prophet? A demon? Would they accuse his parents for experimenting on their own children? He would have so much fear and anxiety that he’d have to be on edge all the time, falling into depression, panic attacks - not to mention the PTSD he’d get from it all while battle nightmarish monsters and the hanging question over his head of what he is now. 
These are just SOME of the questions I’ve had that Butch Hartman will never answer. He set up such a great plot and characters but carried it out pretty poorly over the show (which may or may not be his fault since they wanted to keep it kid friendly.)
I hope to get into the deep and dark and nitty gritty details of Danny Phantom we’ve imagined but never get to see. I wrote the first chapter below, and I plan to write much more. :)
I hope you guys enjoy it!
Follow me over at Ao3 
Summary:
Dr. Madelyn Fenton and her husband, Dr. Jackson Fenton, have just built the world's first portal to the Ghost Zone - an alternate dimension where undead linger for all eternity. The only problem is no one believes in what they are doing. The townspeople call them the Fenton Freaks and the rejection letters from the National Science Foundation are piling up. Not even their own children can tolerate their ghost obsession. Their 14 year old son, Danny, does what he can to separate himself from his parents. Mocked by his peers and judged by his teachers, he keeps his head down and stays out of the spotlight. 
It comes as no surprise to Danny when his parents' machine fails to work on the first test run. Discouraged, they leave empty handed for the weekend to go to the Ghost Hunter's Expo, where they were expected to present their portal during their panel. As soon as his parents leave, Danny invites his friends over to give a tour of yet another one of his parents' failed experiments. When he gets dared to walk inside the machine, he triggers something that turns it back on, and for the first time ever, his parents have an invention that works. But that's the least of the surprises when Danny emerges from the portal himself...
To Whom It May Concern,
To the esteemed members of the National Science Foundation, myself, Dr. Madelyn Fenton, PhD., and my husband, Dr. Jackson Fenton, PhD., write to you today to consider us for the New Exploratory Scientific Research Grant Award. Our combined decades worth of research within paranormal scientific research fields have led us to believe that the “ghost” entities that haunt our very Earth, could in fact be the missing link to creating new technology, curing human illnesses, and prolonging human life on Earth.
The term “ghosts” is defined as a religious or spiritual being, or the hypothetical soul of the human body, separated from physical forms, usually that of a person recently deceased. Dr. Jackson Fenton and myself have a different theory about the “ghostly” entities that visit our Earth. We have sufficient evidence to prove that ghosts are in fact not the spirits of the dead, but an entirely new species of the human race. We believe they exist in an alternate dimension - a separate plane of existence that is not unlike ours. Recent developments have also shown the possibility of dimensional travel -  we believe ghosts are able to pass through into our plane of existence for a temporary amount of time. Through our rigorous research, construction, and experimentation, Dr. Jackson Fenton and myself have created what would be a “portal” to this plane of existence, to the “Ghost Zone.” By exploring and studying the ghost zone, we could collect a limitless amount of research and data that could be used to benefit humanity for the rest of our existence.  
We have provided within our application our twenty years of research and development, along with video recordings of our experiments as evidence of our work in progress, as we humbly request your consideration for the New Exploratory Scientific Research Grant  Award.
Sincerely,
Dr. Madelyn Fenton, PhD. in Quantum Physics and Paranormal Studies
Dr. Jackson Fenton, PhD. in Theoretical Science and Paranormal Studies
From the Grants and Admissions Office of the National Science Foundation
To Dr. Madelyn Fenton and Dr. Jackson Fenton,
Thank you for your interest in applying for the New Exploratory Scientific Research Grant Award. The New Exploratory Scientific Research Grant Award (NESRGA) is an esteemed scholarship opportunity that looks to provide funding for ground-breaking scientific research to scientists working within small and local laboratories. After carefully reviewing your application and research, we have come to the regretful decision to decline your request to receive the NESRGA.
We unfortunately could not approve your request due to the following issues:
Insufficient or lack thereof evidence or proof of scientific research of ghostly entities and/or undiscovered species, the “Ghost Zone” dimension in which these entities exist, or possible travel to said “Ghost Zone.”
Insufficient of lack thereof peer review research and laboratory data.
Paranormal entities and alternative dimensional research is not recognized under the National Science Foundation as factual scientific work.
We are thrilled to hear that you share such enthusiasm, passion, and ambition in the pursuit of scientific exploration, research and development. You are a part of a wonderful community, and through your tireless efforts, you will help bring our Earth into the future.
We welcome you to apply for the NESRGA again next year.
Sincerely,
Barbara Keaton,
Director of Grants and Admissions
National Science Foundation
GHOST HUNTERS EXPO - THIS LABOR DAY WEEKEND
To Drs. Maddie and Jack Fenton,
We are excited to have you return to speak at the Ghost Hunters Expo this coming labor day weekend. We have reviewed your Ghost Zone Theory and we anticipate your presentation of your research.
Please note: due to new regulations we cannot allow the following into the convention center:
Ecto-infused food, inanimate objects, or animal mutations of any kind.
Alarm or defense systems that release a form of knock out gas, ectoplasmic goo, ectoplasmic foam, spoiled meats, or  live rodents. All alarms and defense systems must be turned off while inside the convention center.
Samplings or gifts of homemade cookies or other food, beverages, or gifts to bribe the judges.
Disclosed weapons that are not a part of your presentation and/or not approved by the convention prior (we will have metal detections at all entry points of the convention hall)
Asking for audience volunteers unless approved by us prior your scheduled presentation time.
Ghost claims targeted towards convention guests, judges, or other presenters.
All presentations and inventions must have been tested and approved by a judge prior to your presentation time (i.e. no last minute or surprise inventions).
Fighting or displays of physical aggression.
Destruction of convention hall equipment, the building’s foundation itself, or other presenters equipment and or inventions.
We thank you in advance for your compliance and full understanding of the new regulations.
We look forward to seeing you!
Best,
Trevor Martin
Ghost Hunters Expo Coordinator
“Did you see this?” Jack Fenton asked, waving the notice from the Ghost Hunters Expo. He scoffed. “New regulations...I wonder who were the bimbos that made them enforce these rules.” He crumbled up the notice and threw it carelessly on the floor.
“How’s that portal coming, sweet cheeks?” he asked his wife.
Maddie Fenton was deep within a hexagon shaped chamber carved out of her laboratory converted basement wall. The interior was lined with a colorful array of wires and tiny blinking lights. At the end of the chamber, sheets of metal and hardware fanned in on itself. Maddie was kneeled on the floor, wrestling with a few cords.
“I’m just struggling to connect these last couple of wires,” she answered, pinching the two cords together. With a last bit of strain, the cords connected with a satisfying click.
Wiping the sweat off her brow, she came out of the chamber. “Hopefully that will stabilize the gravitational pull of the Ghost Zone once we get the portal running.” She briefly thought back to a dark memory from their college days when their first Ghost Zone prototype had malfunctioned and the toxins from the Ghost Zone leaked out of the portal, resulting in displacing one of her lab partners for the remainder of their college career.
“We got it this time, baby,” Jack said confidently. “There is no way we could make the same mistake twice.”
Maddie sighed as she walked over to the control panel to record the ecto-readings. “I just wish we knew for certain what had gone wrong that day. All of this guess work is driving me crazy.” She picked up her notebook and briefly reviewed her meticulously hand written notes before adjusting some dials.
“Okay,” she huffed, satisfied. “I think we’re ready for a test run.”
Jack clapped his hands. “Excellent! I’ll go grab the kids!” He ran to the basement steps and shouted, “Jazzy-pants! Danny! Get down here!”
A few minutes later both of their teenage children shuffled down the basement steps.
“Is this gonna take long?” Danny asked, disinterestedly. “Tucker and I were in the middle of planning our next battlefield strategies for Doomed. There’s only a few days left of summer vacation and we still have so much planning to do if we want to beat the other online players and achieve the seven Keys of Destiny.”
“And I was in the middle of an important breakthrough in my self therapeutic psychology research,” their daughter, Jazz promptly stated. In her hands she clutched an open copy anxiety and phobias workbook. “Did you know that high functioning anxiety in adulthood is caused by childhood trauma from never feeling safe in your own home? This would explain so much about me and Danny -” she paused in her speech when she saw the machine her parents were working on.
“Oh, no.” She snapped her book shut and pinched the flesh between her eyes. “ Please do not tell me you called us down here to witness another one of your experiments. Don’t you remember what happened last time?”
“Oh, Jazz, relax,” Maddie said, waving her off. “Those burn marks from the last ectoplasmic gun experiment healed eventually. And look!” She walked over to a closet in the back of the room and pulled out two polyester jumpsuits. “We made you both your own custom fitted, lab safe, jumpsuits!”
Jack appeared beside Maddie. “And we matched them with ours! Jazzy-pants, yours is teal to match your mother’s. And Danny, yours would have matched mine but the store didn’t have orange.” he held out a plain white jumpsuit with black gloves and boots.
“And I haven’t even shown you two the best parts!” he grabbed the jumpsuits from Maddie and spun them around. Crudely pressed onto the fabric of the jumpsuit was a cutout of Jack Fenton’s smiling face, emblazoned on the chest.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Jack grinned.
Jazz was the first to respond. “Dad there is no way you’re going to get me to wear that,” she said while backing away and shaking her head. “How about Danny and I will just go upstairs and you can call us down after  you’ve tested it? That way we’ll be safe and not have to wear those hideous jumpsuits.”
Danny silently agreed with her while struggling to conceal his own disgust at the suits. It was one thing to be forced to wear a jumpsuit like his parents but it was an entirely different level of lame to have to wear his father’s face across his chest. What if his parents insisted he wore it all the time, like they did? Involuntary images of him becoming the laughing stock at his new high school was surfacing in his mind, more than he already was for being the son of the city’s eccentric ghost hunting husband and wife team. He was already struggling to stay above the pathetic nerd social ring in his class. They’d have to create an entirely new category of nerd just for him if he wore that suit. The thought of it made him want to crawl away in a hole and be left there to die.
“Mom, Dad, I have to agree with Jazz,” Danny said. “The suits are kinda...lame.”
“Oh, nonsense,” Maddie dismissed. “These jumpsuits are the latest fashion that every ghost hunter wants.”
“And when we reveal these babies with my face on them, everyone will be scrambling for one. We’ll be rich!” Jack stated proudly.
Jazz snorted. “Um, I somehow doubt that. Look, we’ll just go back upstairs and you two can let us know when it’s safe, okay?” She looped a hand around Danny’s arm and started pulling him away.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Jack clamped a hand on both of them  and spun them back around. “You two are being given the chance to witness scientific history! And we are not going to let you pass up on this.” He tossed the jumpsuits to Jazz and Danny. They unwillingly caught them.
Jazz glowered at Danny. “If you take any photos and post them on the internet, I will kill you.”
Danny held out his suit reproachfully. His dad’s smiling face seemed to be laughing at him, like all of the students as Casper High will be if they ever found out about this.
“Don’t worry about it.”
A few minutes later, Jazz and Danny stood alongside their parents in their matching jumpsuits. Jazz stood with her arms crossed, silently fuming, her foot tapping impatiently. At her mother’s insistence, Jazz was forced to tuck in her long, red hair and wear the hair sealing head cover and thick, dark eye protection goggles that came with it. At equal height, Jazz and Maddie were identical in their suits.
At least Danny couldn’t match his dad. Jack’s suit was bright orange and about twenty sizes larger than Danny’s, due to his father’s obsession with Maddie’s homemade fudge and cookie inventions. Danny’s own white suit was slightly too large for him, and hung in odd places due to his skinny frame. He didn’t have to wear a hood and goggles like his sister either - another thankful shortage from the ghost hunter’s clothing warehouse. He picked at his dad’s pressed on face design on his chest as he waited for his parents to get the machine ready for its test run. His dad had tried ironing it on, but had done it poorly, so that with a bit of a tug, it was already beginning to peel off.
Jack and Maddie Fenton ran back and forth across the lab, double checking last minute calculations. Machines whirred and beeped around them, the hum of electricity warm in the stagnant air.
Danny had a good idea of how this was going to go. If this would be like any of their past experiments, it would fail miserably. The experiment would go haywire, probably spout ectoplasmic goo everywhere or accidentally giving ecto energy to the nearest food item. One year, their parents had tried making the Christmas Turkey in their newly invented Ultra-fast Instant Pot and instead infused it with demonic ghostly energy and reanimated it. Danny remembered hiding underneath the kitchen table as Jazz had to beat it back with a pastry roller, screaming for their parents.
The ghost zone portal was their most ambitious project yet. For most of Danny’s life, they had dinner table discussions, weighing mathematical equations and scientific chemical balances in hopes of being able to one day engineer the world’s first ghost zone portal. He was fairly surprised when he found out at the beginning of the summer that they were finally constructing it, and even more so when they claimed last night it was completed. They had been rushing to get it done in time to present it at the Ghost Hunters Expo this weekend.
He glanced at the table beside him looking at the pile of papers his dad had haphazardly stacked among the beakers and ghost weapons. Sitting on top of the stack was the rejection letter from the National Science Foundation.
“It means that they don’t think what they’re doing is science,” Jazz had interpreted for Danny after reading it when their parents’ back was turned. “And who could blame them? There is zero evidence supporting the existence of ghosts. It’s just superstition.”
That’s all it was. Superstition. And  yet, his parents had at some point in their youth latched on to the idea that ghosts were more than a myth, and even though they’ve never actually seen one in person themselves, they were determined to prove ghosts were real. What amazed Danny the most is the amount of people who also believed in the same theory. In the years past when his parents had dragged him and Jazz to the Ghost Hunter’s Expo, the crowds always seemed to grow bigger and bigger. Scientists, hunters, enthusiasts, and even ghost cosplayers gathered under the same roof for a full weekend, exchanging theories, stories and footage of what they thought were ghosts. The most ridiculous rumor he had heard at the last ghost hunter’s convention was one of a young, blue haired female musician, who became an overnight sensation after one performance at a local carnival. She had also disappeared quite suddenly after the performance, which raised a lot of speculation. Ghost hunters claimed her unusually pale skin and hypnotic vocals were a part of her ghostly powers. Jazz had stated that it was simply because she was a successful female in the patriarchy they had to deem her as a ghost to explain it.
Danny didn’t want to say anything else after that.
“Jack,” Maddie called from across the room, typing away at a computer. “Did you remember to pour in the ecto-purifier?”
“On it, baby!” Jack cried while fumbling with a control panel. Danny watched as grabbed a can of diet cola, which sat next to the similar sized gray cylinder labeled “EP.”
“Uh, Dad?” Danny called. “I don’t think that’s the ecto-purifier.”
“What’s that?” Jack asked. He turned to look at the object in his hand and barked out a chuckle.
“Thanks, son! That was a close one.” He placed the can of diet cola down and picked up the correct cylinder. “Who knows what would have happened if we purified the toxic ghost energies with diet cola. Could you imagine?” He poured the bright green liquid into the appropriate chamber.
In the corner of his eye, Danny saw Jazz shake her head. “Idiot,” she whispered.
Jazz believed she was the only mature Fenton in the family. At some point during her high school career, she had decided it was up to her to convince her parents that ghosts were not real, and to force them to change their careers to something more normal or socially acceptable. She had tried to get them interested in just about any other scientific field she could think of, such as deep sea diving to discover creatures living on the ocean floor, to NASA’s space engineering program. When those didn’t work, she tried to build a case proving the psychological damage they were causing to her’s and Danny’s upbringing. Over the summer, when she wasn’t preparing herself for the SATs she’d have to take later that school year, she poured over every psychological book she could get her hands on from the library. No matter how many times she argued about the permanent damage her parents were inflicting on their amygdala by creating an unsafe environment for her and Danny to grow up in, their parents would say it’s all worth it for the sake of scientific advancement.
Danny tried desperately to stay out of their fights. Most days, he was too focused on trying to survive a day without being called “that ghost geek” by his peers, no matter how many times he told his classmates he didn’t believe in his parents’ work. Maybe it was because of his small, bony limbs that made it so easy for his classmates to mock him. Or the fact that his only two friends in the entire world were also considered a variety of nerd within the social climate. His best friend Tucker was a little too obsessed with the latest technology and his other friend, Samanatha - Sam for short - was the only school’s goth girl, who filled her entire personality and outlook with dark and depressing outfits and literature. In a weird way, it did make sense that the girl who loved to read about the dead, and the boy who loved technology, would want to be friends with the kid whose parents called themselves ghost scientists. Still, they were his best friends and he wouldn’t trade them for anyone else.
He had been telling them about the portal his parents were building all summer. Just like he was, his friends were also doubtful it would work. They deliberated about what the inventions would actually do. Tucker still brought up the time Danny’s parents were testing out an anti-ghost gravity spray, to temporarily make a ghost lose their flight ability. The morning they were testing it out, Danny had woken up in a hovering bed. It had shocked him so much, he fell off his bed and face-planted onto his bedroom floor, breaking his nose. At some point, Tucker and Sam started placing bets about the outcome.
“Maybe the portal will just blast a hole through the wall and you’ll send up in the Amity Park Sewer System,” Sam guessed last night after he told them his parents were getting ready for their first test.
“Bet you five bucks that Danny will lose all of his hair this time,” Tucker had joked.
He absentmindedly ran a hand through his exposed hair and briefly wished he had a head cover and goggles like Jazz. He couldn’t help but notice there was something different about his parents this time. They didn’t have the same, bubbly and excited energy they usually had when showing off a new invention. They seemed more focused this time. Even his dad’s goofy banter towards Maddie had taken a back seat as his dad frowned over the controls. It was weird to see his dad actually concentrating. Maybe it was the hundredth rejection letter they received from the National Science Foundation, or the pressure to present this weekend at the Expo, but it seemed like they were seriously trying to make this thing work. They did not want to fail.
“Okay everyone!” Maddie ran over and started waving her hands. “Backs up against the wall.”
Jazz sighed and turned to walk over to stand behind the boxed in yellow line, the “safe” spot in the lab. Danny thought  a metal containment center with a viewing screen would have kept them safer, but supposedly his parents didn’t have time to build one. Danny followed his mother and sister.
“Almost…” Jack muttered at the controls, typing away. Suddenly there was a loud click that echoed off the basement walls. Machines roared to life and lights winked on. Inside the portal, the metal fans began to spin.
“YES!” Jack punched the air, triumphant.
“Jack!” Maddie called to her husband, gesturing towards the safe zone. He jogged over and squeezed himself in between his two kids.
“This is it!” he shouted over the noise, which was gradually becoming deafening.
All around the room, machines and computers turned on. Attached beakers and graduated cylinders filled up with green, bubbling liquid. A wall lined with dialers bounced up and down. Puffs of smoke expelled out of exhaust pipes. The portal itself began to crackle with electricity, its interior fans spinning faster and faster until it started emitting a bright green glow. The pressure in the room changed, popping Danny’s ears. He felt the tips of his hair begin to rise with the electric waves.
The whirring of the fans inside the machine began to ring out a high pitch squeal as the machine glowed brighter, and brighter, blinding Danny’s naked eyes. He squinted and held out a hand over his eyes, peeking through his fingers. The air around them grew warm and staticky. His father clamped a hand tightly on Danny’s shoulder, as if to hold him back from running away.
It was working. Danny couldn’t believe it. Not once in all of their years of inventing ghost machines and hunting equipment, they may have actually been able to build something that worked like they wanted it to.
What would this mean? That ghosts actually existed? That his parents were not the crackpot fools the town took them for? And if they did exist, there was the one question that no one has been able to answer.
Were ghosts dangerous?
He looked up at Jazz. Her expression was unreadable through the head covering. He looked at his parents, wild and furious excitement in their eyes.
Then, when it seemed like Danny’s ears couldn’t take much more of the screeching noise, a BOOM exploded from the portal. Light poured out of the machine and flooded the room. Danny yelped and turned away. Jack stepped in front of his family and hid them with his massive torso from the explosion. Then, very suddenly, the room went dark. Every light and machine that had been just buzzing with life, died. Danny’s hearing rang in the abrupt silence.
“What the heck?” Jack was the first to say something.
“I got a flashlight, hang on,” Maddie said next. Danny heard her fumbling around her utility belt and a small light winked on. She shined it around the room. Curls of smoke rose up from the machines. The glow from the ecto-purifier had also faded.
“I don’t understand,” Maddie said, dumbfounded as she gazed around the room. “This should have worked.”
“We checked every calculation,” Jack said, equally mystified.
“And tested every single machine.” She threw up her hands. “I even made sure the damn computers turned on!”
“Well, obviously, this wasn’t going to work,” Jazz suddenly said, her anger returning. “You guys were trying to open a portal to nothing . Because ghosts don’t EXIST.”
She ripped off the hood and goggles. “I’m going back upstairs to change and burn this stupid jumpsuit, and work on processing this trauma that you have inflicted on us, yet again.” Without waiting for her parents to respond, she stomped back upstairs, her footsteps echoing off the silent basement walls
Jack shook his head. “What is her deal?”
“Oh, never mind her, Jack,” Maddie said. “We need to figure out what went wrong. We only have a day until the expo and we promised to present this.”
Danny’s parents turned their back on him and began working to restore the power, jumping right into a deep discussion. Danny took the moment to quietly slip away back upstairs.
The second he was back into his room, he let out a long exhale. Suddenly remembering he was wearing the jumpsuit, he hastily ripped it off and then threw it in the trash bin in the corner of his room.
He flopped back onto his bed, and lay in the stillness of his room for a few minutes to collect his thoughts. He stared up at the plastic, glow in the dark stars and planets stuck on his ceiling.
He couldn’t believe there was a moment back there where he thought the machine was working.
He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if ghosts were real. There were no real scientific facts about them. All those convention attendees at the ghost hunters expo all had different theories about what ghosts are - the religiously damned, aliens, spirits with unfinished business, souls that died before their time, another species - no one could settle on a single argument.
But if they did exist, what would happen then? Would they swarm the Earth, like cicadas after their years long sleep? Would they haunt each and every home and building in towns and cities, and try to claim it as their own? Would the world be plunged into a ghost apocalypse, where every human had to fight for their own human survival and soul? Were ghosts malicious or peaceful?
His parents might be arrested for creating the portal in the first place, if it did turn out bad. Or the government might force them to work alongside them to rid the Earth of the ghost population. What would happen to him and Jazz? Would they be put into juvie, just for being the kids of the Fenton Freaks? Would they be put into foster care, once the government decided Jack and Maddie were unfit parents for him and Jazz?
What if the human population adopted a sick fascination of ghosts? Businesses would try to profit off the ghosts by selling fake anti-ghost protection devices or offer tours inside “haunted” houses. There might even be a community in which some would fall in love or even want to become a ghost themselves.
The world would become absolute chaos.
Danny shuddered at the thought. He didn’t understand what his parents saw in trying to prove their existence. What good would proving the undead existed bring to the world?
His anxious, spiraling thoughts were interrupted when his computer dinged. Danny got up and sat down at his desk. He wiggled his mouse to wake up his computer. Tucker had sent him a message.
Still have all of your hair?
Danny chuckled and wrote back.
Yep. Nothing happened though. But the power in the basement blew.
Damn ,  was Tucker’s response. And I had just invested in a 25 pack of markers to color your head in Lancer’s class when you fall asleep.
Danny laughed out loud. I can only imagine all the pensises you’d draw.
I had planned no less than 50. Two for each color.
Well I hope you kept your receipt cause I still have a full head of hair. Unlike you. Danny made a jab at Tucker’s own buzzed haircut. He had tried growing out dreads for the school year, but his mother forced him to shave it off after he got caught staying up on the computer way too late one night. She paid the barber to give him a military buzz cut.
Shut up, dude, Tucker typed back. While you were away not getting your hair fried off your scalp, I was devising up a new battle plan to defeat Chaos.
Danny smiled. Oh yeah? Lay it on me.
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melofanish · 4 years
Text
Drunk In This Love They Have
@carlosreyesweek Day 7: Writer’s Choice
Summary: Owen wakes up with a start. He's not sure what exactly roused him, but he's awake now. He rubs his eyes, taking a moment to stretch out on the bed. The flicker of the clock attracts his vision, and he reads the blue "1:23 AM" with a frown. Why did he wake up after midnight?!
The lights inside turn on, and the door finally closes. Owen takes a few moments sitting in the car alone, in the dark. He supposes he should feel some loneliness, but he doesn’t. All he feels is happiness and giddiness for his son, amusement regarding the entire situation, and hope for the future that TK and Carlos will be sharing together.
Tags: Carlos Reyes, TK Strand, Owen Strand, Established Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Soft Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Sweet Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star), Drunk Carlos Reyes, Good Parent Owen Strand.
Warnings: Drunk flirting and awkward dad existence. 
This is such a crack, dumbass fic but I love it so much. It has just been finished too. I have two settings apparently. Finish a fic a month before the event, or three hours before the end of the event.
This idea came from the  "Mi Amor Tarlos" discord server. Major kudos to Kate <3
As usual, @lire-casander is the best human to ever exist. I am, once again, writing this as she goes over the final edit of the fic. She's beauty, she's grace, she's right about the best thing I've gotten out of this fandom <3
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters depicted, they belong to their creators. I'm writing just for the fun
Read on AO3.
---
Owen wakes up with a start. He's not sure what exactly roused him, but he's awake now. He rubs his eyes, taking a moment to stretch out on the bed. The flicker of the clock attracts his vision, and he reads the blue "1:23 AM" with a frown. Why did he wake up after midnight?!
He turns to a side, pulling his blanket up around his shoulder and trying to find a position that'll send him back to slumber when his phone pings. He decides to ignore it, the edges of sleep tickling his consciousness when it pings again, and again.
With a sigh, he reaches forward and grabs his phone, the glare of the screen blinding him for a moment until he turns on the bedside table. He looks back at the phone, finding five messages from Carlos.
A chill runs through Owen. For a moment he thinks something happened with TK. But then he remembers that they're both off for the next day, and he knows that TK is asleep in his room down the hall. He relaxes immediately, only to frown again when his phone pings with yet another message. He opens the thread.
Carlos Reyes: HIIIIIII TJ
Carlos Reyes: TL***
Carlos Reyes: TK********
Carlos Reyes: i drank sooo mucj
Carlos Reyes: i am frunk
Carlos Reyes: i lobe yoi sooo muvj
Owen stares at his phone, blinking in confusion. Carlos is… drunk, that much he's sure of. And he loves his son, which he's glad about. But he also seems to think that Owen is actually TK. Which is unfortunate. He's about to reply with a clarification when he gets four new messages in quick succession.
Carlos Reyes: i niss tou too
Carlos Reyes: van i see yiu when I het hone?
Carlos Reyes: i wamma cuffle
Carlos Reyes: cuddle
He can't help the smile that graces his face. Seeing how Carlos still thinks about his son, even in a drunk state, warms a deep corner of his soul. It's the kind of love he's always hoped for his son.
Carlos Reyes: amd kiss tou
Carlos Reyes: ans fuck yoi
And then it's no longer wholesome. He groans, dropping the phone and covering his face, as if that'll somehow erase the image that's been painted in his mind. He moves his phone away, putting it down on the table when it pings again, and again, and again.
He groans out loud again, reaching for the phone as he takes a deep breath. Two more pings come in during the time it takes him to do that. He turns the screen on, bringing the thread back up.
Carlos Reyes: uoire thw best thinj to eber hapoen to me
Carlos Reyes: i wanma lobe yoi forevr
Carlos Reyes: ill dhow yoi wiyh endless kissed
Owen glares at the phone, as if it can travel through the phone and reach Carlos. He sees the three dots bubbling about and he makes a decision, bringing up his own keyboard to type a reply.
Owen Strand: Carlos, this is Owen. You're texting the wrong Strand.
The bubbles pause for a moment, and Owen thinks he's going to get an apology text, or maybe even he'll get ignored and that will be tomorrow's problem. But they come back on the screen three seconds later and then he's getting a message.
Carlos Reyes: anf lobing sex
Carlos Reyes: yoi shoufl pivk me up do we cab habe s fucj
In a decision made over a split second, Owen is getting out of bed and marching down the hall to TK's room. He pauses at the door, straining to listen for movement. When he doesn't hear anything he softly knocks on the door. He gets a soft "hmm" almost immediately. So he swings the door open.
He finds TK in bed, blanket crowded at his feet and a book in his hands, eyes wide and awake. He pauses for a second, he was sure TK would be asleep. They did just return from a twenty-four-hour shift a few hours ago. He’s about to ask when TK beats him to it.
"You okay?" TK asks, looking at the clock on his bedside table. "It's almost one-thirty, dad. Why are you still awake?"
Owen sighs, remembering the reason he came in search of TK in the first place. There's a lot of things he would have seen himself telling his son, his own blood and flesh, at an hour after midnight. This is not one of them. And yet.
"Your boyfriend is drunk and wants to have sex with you," he says, going straight to the point.
TK stares at him, head turning to a side in pure confusion as his forehead creases into a frown. "My what? What?!"
"Your. Boyfriend. Is. Drunk. And. Wants. To. Have. Sex. With. You," he repeats.
"Wait, how do you know, what are you talking about?!" He asks, putting the book down and coming to a weird half-seated position where he has one leg half bent out in front of him and the other is tucked underneath him.
As if on cue, Owen's phone pings two more times. He brings the phone up, reading the messages quickly and then he's stepping into TK's room, scrolling up to the beginning of the messages and handing the phone over.
Carlos Reyes: r u oivking me uo?
Carlos Reyes: ill oay you eith sex
He watches as TK's eyes move from one side to the other on the screen, smiling at parts and then eyes widening at others, before he ends with a hand to his face, hiding away behind his palms.
"Oh, god," he groans. "He's so drunk."
Owen can't help the snort that rises through his throat, shaking in head in amusement. "Yes, that's an understatement."
The phone rings again in TK's hand. They share a look before TK turns the screen on and reads the messages. Owen doesn't want to know what the contents are when they're the cause of a bright red flush that takes over TK's face and neck. Still, he can't resist when the opportunity presents itself like this.
"What's he saying?"
TK stutters, looking up at Owen then down at the phone. "He's asking if I'm picking him up. The designated driver is drunk too."
Owen might have not been there for the large part of his kid's life, but he still knows when he's hiding something. And right now, TK is hiding something. But he understands; he knows his relationship with TK isn't usual, he knows that they are way too comfortable discussing their sex lives, but Carlos isn't. And Owen can't do much more than nod in acceptance when his son is trying to protect and respect his boyfriend's dignity.
"Okay, get dressed. Be at the door in ten minutes," he gets off the bed, heading to the door.
"Wait, wait, what?" TK calls. "Where are we going?"
Owen turns around slowly, facing TK, as if the answer wasn't obvious. "We're going to pick him up. You don't have a license yet, so I'm driving," he explains. "So let's go, your man is waiting."
It takes TK a moment, but then he’s getting on his feet and moving around the bed into his closet. Owen closes the door and walks to his own room, changing his pyjama pants to sweatpants and slipping into a pair of sneakers. He’s at the front door in minutes, keys and wallet in hand. TK comes barrelling through the house behind him in seconds.
They’re in the car, Owen turning the ignition on, when a quick succession of four or five messages ping through. TK glances at him out of the corner of his eye before he focuses back on his hands and turns the screen on. Owen catches the edge of a picture, and, from what he could tell, it’s just a selfie of Carlos and his partner, Jack. He decides to focus on the task in hand, asking TK for the location of the bar and swerving out of their driveway.
The drive isn’t that long, the bar a mere fifteen minutes away from their home. They spend the ride singing along to the music coming from the Bluetooth speakers, until a few messages ping through, at which point TK would stop singing, pull up the messages, type something in reply, and then get back to the singing.
They’re about half-way there when the ringing sounds around the entire car. Owen recognises the call notification and presses on the reply button a little too fast for his brain to remember that Carlos is texting him right now, and this is probably Carlos calling, and the phone is connected to the car’s Bluetooth system.
“HIIIIIIIIIII!” Carlos’ loud, clearly drunk and slurring voice fills the car a bare second after he’s pressed the button on his steering wheel, his tone so high-pitched Owen finds himself wincing.
“Hi! Hi, baby, hi,” TK is already screaming in reply, bringing the phone to his mouth only to pull it away when he realises it’s all around him, and then just saying it into the void. “Are you okay? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, everything is perfecto,” Carlos answers with a sigh, his voice muffled and mixing with the bar around him now that he isn’t screaming. “I just miss you, so, so, so much. And I’m sad.”
Owen glances at TK, the look of worry on his face mirrored on TK’s.
“Why are you sad? Is everything okay?”
“Jack is hugging and kissing Alana, and I’m here, alone and lonely,” Carlos replies in a tone that makes Owen right about a hundred percent sure that he’s pouting. He shakes his head as TK chuckles.
“You’re not lonely baby, you’re there with your friends,” he reminds Carlos.
“But my friends are kissing each other and making out and I think Alana has her hand in Jack’s pants and I’m here without your hands in my pa-”
The rest of his sentence is cut by a short scream from TK as he fumbles with the phone, finally pressing the button that disconnects the Bluetooth. Owen manages to resist laughing out loud but he has no power against the grin that splits his face wide. He feigns ignorance as he listens to TK whispering his replies. Somehow, even through the phone and the distance, he still hears Carlos, loud, loveable and oh so drunk.
A few minutes later and they’re finally pulling up the bar, pulling into the parking lot. Owen finds the closest free spot, putting the car in park and turning to face TK, who has his head down, the phone still pressed to his ear. He seems to have not even realised that they’ve arrived at their destination.
“Hey,” he nudges TK, nodding towards the bar when TK looks up at him. “Go get him.”
TK smiles at Owen, opening the door and dropping his phone into the seat. “I’ll call you if I need anything?” he asks, closing the door and moving towards the bar when Owen nods.
He follows TK until he disappears into the threshold of the bar, then closes his eyes and rests his head on the backrest of his seat as he sighs. He isn’t sure how his night came to this end, but here he is. He’s also sure he would have never done the same for any of TK’s previous boyfriends. But Carlos isn’t any boyfriend. Carlos is… Carlos is good. Carlos is a different type of man than the ones TK has been with. Carlos is nice, and respectful, and sweet. Carlos loves his son.
He supposes that’s what this all comes down to. The fact that he knows that Carlos loves his son, the way he always knew TK deserves to be loved. And he knows that TK loves Carlos, too. It’s the love that he’s only ever dreamt of TK having, a dream that seemed to get farther and farther away with every new man TK introduced him to. Until Carlos walked into TK’s life. He doesn’t want to undermine TK’s own work and tribulations to make himself better, but Carlos has no doubt been a large part of the support system he’s had during that time.
And so, if Owen has to wake up at one-thirty in the morning to drive his son to a bar so he can pick up said son’s drunk boyfriend, he’s willing to do that in a heartbeat.
A dull crash against the side of the car has Owen opening his eyes in alarm and looking at the side-mirrors of the car. He doesn’t see anything in the driver’s side of the car, but when he looks towards the passenger’s side, well, he sees TK, back pressed to the side of the car. And he sees Carlos, hovering over TK. And he sees two tongues fighting in the middle of the space between them before their mouths slam back together. And then, through the car, he hears the loud, unmistakable moan.
“Oh, no. No, no, no,” he groans, looking back in front of him. It’s one thing for him to read what Carlos wants to do to his son, it’s a completely different thing for him to see it starting to happen. He takes a few deep breaths, glancing at the mirror every few moments. When he sees that they’re still in the same position, he leans over the console, knocking on the window until TK breaks the kiss and turns around.
His eyes widen when he sees Owen, hands coming up from wherever they are to hold Carlos around the shoulders. TK might have seen Owen, but Carlos seems to still be in his own fairyland; he trails kisses down TK’s neck until he gets to a spot and then his head stops in there. Owen doesn’t need to guess what Carlos is doing right now, the way TK’s eyes flutter shut tell him all he needs to know.
But no, this is too much. He leans over, knocking on the window again until TK’s eyes open and takes a deep breath, hands tightening around Carlos’ shoulders as he slowly pulls him away. Owen did not need to see the line of saliva connecting Carlos’ lips to TK’s neck.
He hears them exchange a few sentences, voice low and sultry, if he has to guess. Carlos’ eyes are blown wide, a smile permanently glued on his face, even as he nods and shakes his head in reply to whatever TK is saying. He hears Carlos giggle one last time and then TK is moving them back enough to open the back door.
“Hello, Mister Strand,” Carlos greets him the moment the door is open, words slurred, smile wide and eyes bright. “How ya doin?”
“I’m all good, Carlos, how are you?” he asks, chuckling as TK helps Carlos settle in.
“I’m fantastic! Did you know that TK came to pick me up because I asked him to?!”
This time Owen really can’t help the laugh that booms out of his chest. He hears TK snicker as well, Carlos joining in at the end. “Did he now?”
“Yes, yes, he did,” he nods his head almost aggressively. “He’s the bestest ever. I love him so much.”
“I love you too, baby,” TK replies, kissing Carlos softly on the lips as he finally finishes securing the seatbelt. Owen turns around, focusing on turning on the car -as if it takes that much concentration- to give them a moment alone. He hears them exchange “I love you’s” a few times and then TK retreats, closing the back door and opening the front one to get his own self into the car.
TK is barely a foot into the car when Carlos calls from the backseat. “TK?”
“Yeah, what’s up?” he asks, turning around in his seat to look at Carlos.
“Why are you so far away? How am I supposed to hold you?” Carlos speaks in the same tone as earlier, the one Owen thought was coming from a pouting face. Looking at the rearview mirror, he sees that there is indeed a pout on Carlos.
“I’m right here, baby,” TK answers, extending an arm to rub at Carlos’ curls.
“But, you’re so far away. I’m all alone in this big seat! You should sit here! With me! You can even sit on m-”
“OKAY!!!!” TK interrupts yet again. “Let’s not do that, baby. We need to be safe.”
Owen hears a sigh and then Carlos is mumbling his approval. He waits until TK is twisted back in his seat and has put his seatbelt on before he starts the journey back.
It’s only then that he realises they haven’t discussed where they would be driving back to.
“Where are we going, TK?”
“TO SEX LAND!” Carlos screams, and a perfectly coordinated groan leaves both the Strand men.
“Carlos, no!” TK retorts.
“Carlos, YES!” Carlos says back.
Owen sees TK opening his mouth from the corner of his eye, but Carlos evidently isn’t finished speaking.
“Hey, Owen, you should take us to my house, that way we can make as much noise as we want,” he says, much to the dismay of everyone that isn’t Carlos. He doesn’t seem to realise what’s wrong with what he’s saying, he just keeps talking. “TK gets really loud at times, and I do too to be honest, and it’s so hard to stay quiet when we are in your house, so we should go to my house.”
As funny as this entire situation is, the conviction with which Carlos says it leaves Owen no choice but to respect him, even as TK tries to sink deeper into his seat in an attempt to blend with the upholstery.
“Okay, Carlos, I’ll take you guys to your house,” Owen says, shaking his head at both Carlos and TK’s shenanigans.
“Thank yooou, Owen,” Carlos says. Owen is about to focus back on the street when Carlos gasps, and the sound of skin hitting skin echoes around in the car.
Owen looks through the rearview mirror, finding Carlos with his hands covering his mouth, and eyes wide, as if he just saw something from his nightmares. The empty streets make it easy for Owen to cross two lanes and stop in the sideway, both Strands turning around to face a now teary-eyed Carlos.
Owen turns on the overhead lights as TK fumbles with his seatbelt, trying to get it undone, even as he keeps his eyes on Carlos, asking him what’s wrong. It’s only when he’s in the backseat with him that Carlos unclutches his face and wipes his tears.
“I was rude to your dad, TK. I was so rude to your dad, my mom is going to be so mad at me,” he whispers. “I didn’t say mister, TK.”
Owen feels the concern -so thick a moment ago- melt and dissolve into nothing. He sinks into his seat, turning to sit straight. TK stays back with Carlos, wiping his tears and whispering sweet nothings as he assures him that his mother would not be mad at him. Carlos tries to fight him on it, saying that she most definitely would be, but he stops pretty quick once TK asks if he trusts him.
He uses the distraction to grab his phone from the glove compartment, where TK disposed of it earlier. He brings up the camera, making sure that the flash is off, and presses on record.
He can’t see the screen and what he’s filming, but through the rearview mirror, he sees TK wiping Carlos’ tears, forehead leaning on him as he presses kisses to his temple in between whispers and smiles. He sees Carlos hold onto TK’s arm, looking up at him with a soft smile and wet tears. A few moments later Carlos giggles and TK smiles at him, pressing a final kiss to his forehead before he straightens up and buckles himself next to Carlos.
He’s about to turn off the camera when Carlos presses a kiss to TK’s shoulder and lays his head onto it. His hand runs along TK’s arm, intertwining their fingers. “I love you,” he whispers.
TK takes a breath, a soft smile gracing his face as he turns his face to another kiss atop Carlos’ curls.
Owen turns off the screen, putting the phone away and switching off the light. He turns on the car, focusing back on the journey.
By the time he’s pulling up into Carlos’ driveway, the back seat is quiet. He switches the car off, looking back to find Carlos -head still on TK’s shoulder- with his eyes closed and mouth open in soft, almost inaudible snores. TK has the fondest expression on his face as he looks down at Carlos, a hand wrapped around his, the other sweeping around Carlos’ head, playing with his curls.
He almost regrets bursting their bubble, but he doesn’t think the car is the most comfortable place for them all to be right now. So he lays a hand on TK’s knee, waiting until he looks up at him, looking almost dazed. “We’re here,” he whispers.
TK looks out of the window, recognition dawning on him. He nods in reply before he focuses down on Carlos, whispering to him softly as his eyes flutter open and he slowly rouses from his doze.
Carlos looks up at TK, a brief moment of a smile coming onto him before he stretches his limbs out as much as the car allows and then he curls back into his place, mumbling incoherence.
“Come on, baby, we’re here,” TK whispers. “Let’s go inside.”
Carlos opens his eyes at that, staring up at TK. “We gon’ cuddle?” he asks.
TK chuckles, shaking his head, the loving look never leaving his face. “Yeah, let’s go cuddle.”
Owen watches as TK helps himself and then Carlos out of the car, and then holds Carlos around the waist as they walk up the porch. TK takes a moment to slip his hand into Carlos’ front pocket, producing a set of keys that he inserts into the front door lock.
As they move into the house, TK turns and nods at Owen, and he returns it. When Carlos looks at him though and turns to do the same, with much more enthusiasm, waving at him, face scrunched with a wide grin, Owen can’t help but repeat it to him, waving back at the giant dork.
The lights inside the house turn on, and the door finally closes. Owen takes a few moments sitting in the car alone, in the dark. He supposes he should feel some loneliness, but he doesn’t. All he feels is happiness and giddiness for his son, amusement regarding the entire situation, and hope for the future that TK and Carlos will be sharing together.
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beardycarrot · 4 years
Text
I, lying awake in bed because that’s how it always is the day before you have something important to do... am going to try to guess what the plot of Bioshock Infinite is, based on what I’ve seen in the first few hours and with knowledge of the other two (and a half?) games. Spoilers for the entire Bioshock series, except maybe Infinite, but I intend to knock it out of the park.
So. The first Bioshock is set in a futuristic (by 1950’s standards) city at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, created by a hardcore libertarian named Andrew Ryan as a way to once and for all live in a society free of government regulation. I won’t get into all the “sea slugs that produce a gene-altering wonder drug” and “child slaves brainwashed to drink corpse blood” stuff; very interesting, very important to the plot, but if I tried to explain the world of Bioshock I’d be lying here typing on my phone until the sun comes up. That stuff aside, the major plot points are that you’re not actually a guy who just happened to crash-land near the entrance to the city but are, in fact, Andrew Ryan’s son, and the guy who’s been guiding you through the city was actually using a Manchurian Candidate-style activation phrase to manipulate you into doing whatever he wanted. It’s a big, mind-blowing reveal (as is the realization that your character is actually about four years old... science fiction, man).
Bioshock 2 didn’t really have any big plot twists... or plot, for that matter ...but it was developed by an entirely different team, while the original’s team also did Infinite, so I’m expecting a return to form. Just as an aside, Bioshock 2 had a short DLC campaign called Minerva’s Den, which had a fantastic story, and a twist that the player can figure out on their own if they’re paying attention. Your goal is to get a very smart computer (for 1968) out of the underwater city and back to the surface so you can use it to cure all the victims of the slug-borne gene manipulation, and you’re guided over radio by the computer’s creator. At the end, you learn that the one guiding you was actually the computer itself, and that you’re its creator, slowly recovering from brainwashing. For the record, the endings to all three of these have made me cry.
So! With those kinds of twists in mind, what am I expecting from Bioshock Infinite? Well, I went into the game only knowing the names of the protagonists, that rather than underwater it was set in a floating sky city, and that there was some kind of religious theming but also a lot of old-timey Americana. As it turns out, the people of this city worship— no, have DEIFIED the founding fathers, and are lead by a man called Father Comstock. I’m pretty sure that name is a reference to the Comstock Act, similar to Andrew Ryan being named after Ayn Rand... but he could actually be called Father Cornstalk and I just haven’t been paying attention.
Anyway. Just a few minutes into the game, I noticed that a statue of Comstock looked suspiciously similar to my character... before deciding that I didn’t actually have that clear of a mental image of my character, they wouldn’t pull the “secret son” thing twice, and as much as I love it there probably isn’t going to be any time travel. Le sigh.
UNTIL!
So, your goal is to get a girl named Elizabeth out of the city, and there is some legitimately weird stuff going on with her prison. Like, they have some of her personal possessions from various points in her life in containment: a teddy bear, a diary, and a bloody cloth labeled “menarche”. Gross. Why would you keep that. Well, when an electric current (or something visually similar) is applied, the bear and diary change color, and the blood disappears from the cloth. The reason I’m not sure if it’s electricity is that there’s some kind of siphon system set up, it looks like a bunch of subwoofers, and it’s absorbing... something? When she sings, maybe? Is the energy being siphoned what changed the quantum states of those objects, or whatever was happening? There was also a chart showing that when she hit puberty... something, really spiked, which is what forced them to build the siphon. I can’t claim to know what’s happening here, but when I finally saw her she was day dreaming about Paris, and.. I guess opened some kind of portal, TO Paris? But then a bus or something barreled towards her, so she quickly closed it. In the couple seconds that the portal was open, I saw the marquee on a movie theater that... well, was in French, but I’M PRETTY SURE said “Return of the Jedi”. I should probably mention that this game is set in 1912. That smells like time travel to me, baby!
So, this is where it gets interesting, and confusing, and complicated. I think Elizabeth is Comstock’s daughter, from various signs and posters about Comstock’s seed being their salvation, and The Lamb of God being locked in the tower, and such... and signs about a “false shepherd” who would try to take her away (again, lots of weird divergent Christian sect stuff). One sign showered the false shepherd’s hand as having the initials AD branded on the back, which the protagonist Booker does indeed have. Before rescuing Elizabeth, Comstock confronts you, and seems to know all about Booker’s past, including his wife Anna (who died in childbirth), and claims to know his future as well. Being a prophet and such. Thing is, the way it’s presented, that whole thing could’ve all been in Booker’s head...? Shortly after rescuing Elizabeth, you run into someone who mistakes her for someone named Annabelle. Hmm HMMM. I’ve also run into a diary by someone named Rosalind Lutece (I think she’s one of the creepy twins who keep popping up everywhere) talking about physics and what sounded like the concept of quantum superpositioning, as well as a little informational kiosk in which she claims quantum mechanics are what enable the city to float. There were also a couple diaries that seemed to imply Elizabeth came from... somewhere else, and a part of her might still be there, or something?
SO. Finally, we get to the part where I theorize on what’s going on. In short... iunno.
Okay, well, I feel like my idea should be obvious by now. I think Comstock might be a future, or ALTERNATE REALITY FUTURE, version of Booker, and Elizabeth is... either a past version of his wife, before she went back in time and married him, or an alternate-reality version of his daughter? But then who is the Annabelle that the girl thought Elizabeth was? Did Booker’s child not die along with his wife, and was secretly wisked away to skytown? Comstock’s wife is consistently referred to as Lady Comstock, but what if her name is Annabelle too? Maybe it’s the same concept as the Heinlein story By His Bootstraps, with the protagonist only realizing that he IS now the old man from the beginning, and has to get his younger self into this weird time loop in order to live the life he’s lead?
I might be going a little off the rails; I mean, I’m pretty sure that the statue of Comstock I saw earlier actually reminded me of Handsome Jack, a character from another game I haven’t played who happens to wear an outfit similar to Booker’s. That said, there’s DEFINITELY some kind of time travel or dimension-hopping shenanigans going on here. There are good writers on this game, and I refuse to believe the Annabelle/Anna thing is a Batman v Superman-level coincidence.
The weird part is that in the tower where they were keeping Elizabeth, they have documentation of her dating back to one year old, so she was clearly exhibiting... something, unusual, even as a baby. The game also has yet to explain Vigors, its versions of the Plasmids from the first two Bioshock games, which were basically superpowers granted by the substance produced by those sea slugs. If I had to guess, Vigors are... a result of some kind of quantum something-or-other, which they made from whatever it is they were siphoning off of Elizabeth? Maybe it’s a Scarlet Witch kind of thing... you don’t actually change yourself, you just find yourself in an alternate reality where everything else is 100% the same, except you’re a version of yourself who can shoot crows out of your hands.
Right, so. My... official theory is... that... I have no idea what’s going on. Yeah, sorry, something in that mess up there is bound to be close, but when you get into time travel and/or dimension-hopping, all bets are off the table. Or all bets, a literally infinite number of bets, are on the table. Which is a lot to try to comprehend.
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Lesson 30
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I learnt the importance of being unapologetically ME! I read a quote recently that said something along the lines of that in life we aren’t finding ourselves, we are becoming ourselves, which I loved, but at the same time didn’t entirely agree with. For me, I think sometimes in life, we do get lost. Lost in the expectations of others that we think we ought to be living up to. Lost when we are in different relationships, personally and professionally. And at times we need to rediscover ourselves, which I understand in a sense is how we become our authentic self. For me, turning thirty was a defining point in my life where I first remember I truly felt I was ME!
I saw a psychic medium in my late twenties and one thing that really hit home for me, was when she suggested I needed to release the self-made guilt, responsibility and loyalty. She told me to release old ways of doing things — old ideas, beliefs and notions. It made me reflect on the person I was and the decisions I was making in life; whether or not they were for me or to please the people around me. I came to see that the ‘plan’ I had for my life was created based on the ideas and beliefs of others and what society said was ‘normal.’ The greatest internal battle was the desire to be who I wanted to be and who I knew I was versus who I thought my family, friends and society told me I should be.
This realisation that I was living a life for others and not completely for myself wasn’t entirely a bad thing. I realise now, that some of my best qualities and characteristics have been shaped by my family and loved ones. I had to reconcile the idea of who I wanted to be with the person (I thought) others wanted me to be and ensure I wasn’t compromising me in the equation. In an episode of ‘The Secret Life Of Us,’ Dr Alex Christensen returns to her high school to speak to current students. She explains the weird feeling she got when she was called ‘Doctor’ for the first time and how she hadn’t yet seen herself as a doctor. She said:
“I understood that people were seeing me from a different perspective from the way that I’d always seen myself. And so, in a way, I had to rethink my own view of myself. It’s a critical moment for us all. But what’s more important, I believe, is how we use this realisation. When we understand this, when we embrace all our contradictions, only then are we equipped, fully equipped to find our true place in the world.”
After seeing the psychic medium, I felt a confidence to embrace the contradictions of who I was, rather than feel ashamed and hide them. For so long I had felt afraid to express certain parts of me, for fear of people not being accepting of who I was. This in turn made it hard for me to like the person I was, because it was a person I was pretending to be. Savage Garden’s song ‘This Side Of Me,’ explores this idea of wanting to showing one’s true self. Darren Hayes sings:
And in the dark I want to find that golden glow within
’Cause I am not afraid to let you see this side of me
It was after seeing the psychic and turning thirty that I feel I began to take steps towards truly becoming happy with who I was and the me I wanted to be and have people see. I began the work of getting to know the me I wanted to be and letting that side of me shine.
When studying to become a teacher, it’s made clear that you need to be very reflective. It’s drummed into you that you need to be reflective at the end of each lesson, of your teaching style, your behaviour management, how you set up the room, the list is endless. I have no doubt that reflection is a natural part of all professions, but it’s showed me the importance of using this skill in all aspects of who I am, not just the teacher in the classroom. If we aren’t reflective, we can’t grow. David Chang discusses the importance of self-reflection in his memoir, ‘Eat A Peach,’ using the analogy of a lobster. He says:
“There’s an old myth that lobsters are immortal. They never show signs of getting old. They don’t slow down until they day they’re cooked and eaten. Lobsters grow by molting. They shed their old shell to reveal a new, soft shell that will eventually harden around them. By the time they’re done, there’s no sign of the lobster they were. It’s an exhausting, dangerous process. It takes a tremendous amount of energy and leaves them exposed and vulnerable while they’re in the middle of it. Want to know the only sign a lobster is dying? It stops molting. Never again would we fear the gruelling work of breaking ourselves down and gluing ourselves back together again. That cycle of building and destroying and rebuilding is not something to overcome. The human equivalent of not wanting to molt is trying to make life easy, refusing to grow or be self-reflective.”
Sometimes we are forced into situations that allow us the time and space to look inward to ask ourselves if we are on the right path. The global pandemic has been one of those times that has allowed us the opportunity to do so. No matter where we are in the world, Covid-19 has had an impact on us, some more so than others. I really enjoyed the conversation between @taylorswift and Jack Antonoff as they discussed recording ‘folklore’ during this period of time. Jack said:
“In our dismantling of all our systems of life that we’ve known in the pandemic we’re left with two options. Either cling to it and make it work of just say “Ok, I guess I’m gonna turn a new path and get a frontier mentality. Everything’s a blur so I’m just gonna rewrite it.”
I know for me it was a great opportunity to think about what was important to me and what I could leave behind. Letting go of all those things that weren’t contributing positively and productively to the person I aim to be. It made me think about how I spend my time and the notion that I had to ‘use up’ my whole weekend seeing people and doing things, otherwise it was a wasted two days. It made me realise the importance of prioritising the things I love and how it’s more about quality over quantity. It’s a sentiment that @taylornation reflected on with Jack, saying:
“There’s something about the complete and total uncertainty of life that causes endless anxiety, but there’s another part the release of pressures you used to feel. Because if we’re going to have to recalibrate everything, we should start with what we love the most first.”
It reminded me that in times of any disaster, whether it’s a global pandemic, a health scare, losing a job or the breakdown of a relationship, the importance in taking the time to discover who you are. Finding yourself in order to become who you want to be. And sometimes that may take time, as Taylor Swift sings in ‘happiness’:
And in the disbelief I can’t face reinvention I haven’t met the new me yet
It may take some time to find the new person you want to become after a disaster. Similarly, we can find ourselves changed in the blink of an eye after a completely unexpected event. Things happen that will change us and Katharine McPhee’s song ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ is a good reminder of that.
I found love when I least expected it I found faith from a night of no regrets I found me in a place too crazy to mention Let’s say that life is stranger than fiction
I found love from the strength of letting go I found faith from the nights spent on my own I found me in a place too crazy to mention Let’s say that life is stranger than fiction
Another thing that I’ve learnt is to be open to all experiences and how they might influence and change us. Never be so rigid in our own mindset, that the things around us could change us for the better. It’s one of the things I love most about travelling, especially when I go outside of my comfort zone, travelling alone. I know for a fact that part of who I am today, I’ve become because of the people and places I’ve met on my many overseas adventures, especially those unplanned moments where a crazy chance of coincidence lands you in the right place at the right time with the right person.
Sometimes the circumstances of life, will force you into situations where you begin to forget who you are and the person staring back at you in the mirror is unrecognizable. In the musical ‘Waitress,’ the protagonist, Jenna comes to the realisation she has ended up in a life, not of her choosing. She sings in ‘She Used To Be Mine’:
It’s not what I asked for Sometimes life just slips in through a back door And carves out a person And makes you believe it’s all true
It’s easy to believe sometimes we are the person based on the circumstances life lands us in. I love the quote, “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” We don’t have to be defined by the failures we’ve faced, the health diagnosis we’ve been given. We choose who we want to be. I love Jenna’s epiphany in the song where she is determined to make a change for herself.
And you’re not what I asked for If I’m honest I know I would give it all back For a chance to start over And rewrite an ending or two For the girl that I knew
We will inevitably face people who will try to tell us who they think we are or should be, based on information they’ve heard (whether it’s true or baseless rumours). They’ll make assumptions about us before they even know us. We have no control over the version of ‘us’ that other people choose to see us as, because the truth is, we only ever know the version of a person that they chose to show us. At the end of the day, we should not put too much time and effort into the thoughts and opinions others have of us. I’ve always loved the saying “Lions don’t lose sleep over opinions of sheep.” Billie Eilish reflects on this very thing in her song, ‘Not My Reponsibility’:
Who decides what that makes me, what that means? Is my value based only on your perception? Or is your opinion of me not my responsibility?
I’ve learnt to drop any mask that I’ve worn, choosing to be unapologetically me. What you see is what you get. And if you don’t like it, you don’t have to be around me. I’ve come to really LOVE ME! I’ve seen different variations of self-love quotes over the years and have remixed my own that I’ve used in countless pep talks to students, colleagues, family and friends over the years.
“The one person that you will spend your entire life with, is yourself. So you better love yourself as much as you can.”
So whether you are finding yourself or becoming yourself, the most important thing I’ve learnt is to base it on what you love. We attract what we are, so it makes sense to embrace the things we love and let go of the nuanced complexities we create to fit into different groups we think are cool or popular, but just aren’t us. In the closing words of Taylor Swift’s song ‘Daylight,’ which closes the ‘Lover’ album:
I wanna be defined by the things that I love Not the things I hate Not the things that I’m afraid of, I’m afraid of Not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night I, I just think that You are what you love
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whittakerjodie · 5 years
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Can I Cut In? ( 13th Doctor X Reader )
prompt: “Heyo! I hope you're having a good day! I was wondering if I could request a jealous thirteen? Maybe an alien flirting with her while the fam is on a mission. Thanks!” Requested by @oster-hagen​
A/N: A Lot of these types of requests tend to make the flirt-er a jerk/predator figure, so I figured I'd give us a break and give us a nice, swell flirt-er that we all deserve. Much love, thanks for the request!!! this is probably my favorite thing I’ve written thus far
Words: 2k :O
Warings: none. Reader isn’t gendered but is said to be wearing a dress. 
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   Your muscles ached in protest as you tried to get the elaborate outfit on. Usually, you liked dressing up in whatever the TARDIS wardrobe could conjure up for you, but your most recent adventure left you more than worn out. Despite your current urge to throw yourself onto the nearest soft surface and sleep for however long your body would allow, you had places to be. A party was being thrown by the village you and the fam had saved as a way to thank all of you. It'd be rude not to attend. 
   Your eyes scanned your body in the mirror. You hadn't seen any materials or patterns similar to the ones you currently wore, so you gave yourself a long minute to admire them. The door to the wardrobe opened and you turned to see the Doctor standing there, taking in your appearance. You felt yourself shrink under her gaze, even if it was soft and appreciative. 
"Um... Your turn?" You asked, lifting your arms to show off more of the fabric.  
"Not quite" The Doctor replied, hurriedly turning to a different section of the room. "Suits are more to my liking." 
   You watched her busy herself with trying to find a suitable outfit, throwing clothes across the room left and right. You caught some in your hands but let others fall to the floor, unsure of if you should wait for her or not. You blushed at the thought of watching her get dressed and opted to let her have her privacy. You didn't know what to think of the eyes that you felt on your back as you walked out. 
"Wow... just.. Wow" Nora, one of the villagers that had been a big help to you and the fam, gawked at you. "I've always had a bias for my village’s fabrics but seeing them on someone such as yourself..." 
You felt the blood rush to your face and avoided the fam's quizzical looks. You and Nora had been paired together for this adventure, and she'd been nothing but nice (borderline flirtatious) all day. It was fun, and it felt nice to be appreciated that way. Nora held out her hand and you stared at it, not wanting to be rude. You placed your hand in hers and she smiled, leading you forward. 
"Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?" Yaz asked, watching the two of you walk off towards the party. 
"I really don't think the Doctors going to like this," Ryan said. 
+++
   You sipped from the drink Nora had gotten for you. The warmth of it contrasted with the cool night air, making you shiver. 
"Are you cold?" She asked from beside you. She sat close to you, on a bench you'd found near a nice flower bed. You nodded and she unwrapped her shawl, draping it over your shaking shoulders. You sighed happily at the shield from the cold, thanking her. 
   Some ways away, on the trail you'd taken to get to the flowers, the Doctor was making her way towards the party. She watched Nora carefully give you her shawl, leaving her arm to rest over your shoulders. She stopped mid-step, feeling jealousy well up in the pit of her stomach. She'd noticed you and her joking around earlier, but she'd assumed it was more of a Jack Harkness situation, not something serious. She could hear footfall behind her and turned to see the fam making their way down the same trail. 
“Headed to the party, doc?” Graham asked. She gave a curt nod and turned sharply, stomping away. Ryan hit Graham on the shoulder and pointed towards you and Nora. You laughed loudly; every five seconds Nora seemed to have a new joke to tell you. It was a miracle that you were able to understand them at all, considering the entirely different lives you lead. 
   You didn’t know how long it’d been since you had a conversation like this. Most of your time was spent with the Fam running away from monsters or having short catch-up conversations that ended as quickly as they began. It was comforting to sit down and truly converse with someone. There was a song change in the distance, and Nora smiled brightly, pulling you onto your feet. 
“Come,” She said eagerly. “I want to get at least one dance in before you go.” 
+++++
   The party was at its height by the time the two of you arrived. Nora had repeatedly stopped along the way to pick a flower alongside the road. She’d gathered quite the collection, and they all currently rested somewhere in your hair. Your eyes scanned the room, looking for your fellow travelers. At a table overflowing with food, you could spot what you believed to be the Doctors blonde bob. You examined her suit; it was a three-piece but styled with a long jacket similar to the one she always wore. Its surface was covered in the same geometric pattern that everyone else wore, but it seemed to shine differently on her. 
“So.. about that dance?” Nora held out both of her hands as an invitation. You glanced at the Doctor again for just a moment before accepting her offer and letting her lead you onto the dance floor. 
“I don’t know how to do the dances they're doing,” You confessed, talking about her peers. They were all dancing beside you in a way similar to slow dance, but their steps and sways matched to the beat differently. 
“Then don’t do them. Show me how you dance on your planet” You blushed at her low tone and the idea of setting your hands on her waist. A pretty girl was a pretty girl, and dancing with a pretty girl was always a nervous (albeit wonderful) affair. You tried your best to push past your nervousness and showed her the basics. She put her hands on your waist and let you take the lead. 
   The Doctor turned as soon as she felt your eyes leave her and watched the two of you sway. She fought the urge to spring forward and take Nora's place, leading you in the dance instead. At least you looked like you were having fun, she thought. Or maybe that made it worse. She scowled and tried to focus on something else, each time failing and remaining glued to the two of you. 
   She’d thought she’d been making progress in showing more affection towards you. She’d given you an intricately beaded bracelet from a star system that reminded her of you. She’d given multiple compliments ranging from your laugh and hair to anything and everything about you. Maybe she’d messed up and made you uncomfortable? But the Doctor failed to identify anything that she could’ve done wrong. She also couldn’t wrap her head around what made Nora so much better than her. 
   You’d managed to match your swaying to the beat, despite its otherworldly origin. You were smiling at each other in a way that, in any other circumstances, would be heartwarming. But the Doctor was getting more and more restless by the moment, fidgeting where she stood. As the song continued the jealous fire within her swelled and swelled until she could feel it burning through any control she had. 
   Suddenly, she swiftly moved forward, reaching you in record time. The two of you jumped at the sudden intrusion, your hands falling from Nora’s shoulders. 
“Doctor?” 
She nervously shifted, as all the planned words and actions had suddenly scrambled out of her mind. 
“Uh..” She turned to Nora. “Nora! You’re brilliant, good job today. But I really, really need to cut in. Could I? Cut in, I mean” 
   You felt your cheeks heat up and disappointment briefly passed across Nora's features. She glanced between the two of you and you moved to apologize but a light flickered behind her eyes, ignited by a sudden understanding. She nodded and stepped aside, quickly swept up by another party-goer. You wiped your sweaty palms against your dress hoping the Doctor wouldn’t notice just how nervous you were.
“I’m guessing you know how to slow dance the way we do?” You asked, voice cracking a little. The Doctor nodded and placed her hands on your waist. You jumped slightly at the warmth, your hands landing haphazardly on her shoulders. Slowly you two started to sway, getting back into the groove of the song. 
“I never got to tell you how much I love the dress.” The Doctor said gently.
‘And I never got to tell you how much I loved the suit” She seemed to relax more, relieved. You giggled. 
“Doctor, why did you cut in like that?” 
She tensed again, looking off to the side sheepishly. You trembled on the edge of making what you believed to be a bold assumption. 
“Was it Nora?” As you said the other alien's name, your eyes locked. Her grip tightened on your waist a little. “Doctor, it's okay if it was.” 
“It was” She admitted quietly. “Do you like her?” 
   You took in her uneasy expression. You didn’t need to consider the question much; Nora was wonderful and treated you kindly, but she wasn’t the Doctor. You’d likely never see her again after the TARDIS flew off to your next adventure. The Doctor was always with you, giving you gifts and saying wonderful things that made you hope for something more. You leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her cheek, feeling the skin warm under your touch. When you leaned back she was red, eyes as wide as saucers. 
“Not as much as you, Doctor. Don’t worry about other people.” You wanted to lean in and kiss her on the lips this time, but you felt too many eyes on you. The song ended and you let yourself fall out of the Doctors warm embrace. You squeezed her shoulder and pushed past the party-goers, buzzing back to the TARDIS. 
+++++
   The villagers all said their goodbyes before the five of you could leave. Just when you thought you’d gotten through every last person, Nora approached. 
“I just thought I’d say goodbye as well,” She said. She looked into the TARDIS, smiling sadly. “I wanted to let you know… I’m very happy that someone like you has found someone who cares for you as much as the Doctor does.” 
You felt your chest swell with different emotions as she took your hand in hers.  
“Hang on to her, traveler, and goodbye” 
   You watched her leave, happy that she wasn’t hurt by what had happened. Her words lingered in your mind and you glanced at the Doctor. She was hunched over the console, poking away at various buttons. You were beyond happy to have her. Someone who truly loved you. She met your gaze. 
“Coming?” 
You stepped forward, linking your hand in hers as she sent the TARDIS soaring back into the universe.
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fishoutofcamelot · 4 years
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(for the ask thing) any book/tv show/movie/song recommendations?
BRO! I heckin got you man! Now, I’m gonna skip the song and book recommendation bit because that sorta thing isn’t really my scene. BUT! In terms of TV? My rec list is like a mile long. I’m gonna include a read-more line, actually. 
BBC Merlin: You know I had to put this on the list. But the fact that you’re on my blog means you’ve probably watched this one, so I won’t go into detail about it. Available on Netflix
Mob Psycho 100: Just a cute, sweet story about a bunch of psychic kids trying to kill each other. A story with this much fighting has no right to be so wholesome. Mob is just a good boy, he doesn’t deserve all this! Fair warning, its messages about identity, self love, and growth WILL make you feel Emotions. Available on various anime pirating websites
Red vs Blue: The found family game is SO strong in this one. By far the best found family plot/dynamic I have ever and will ever experience. The characters are all so solid, yknow? Like it took me three rewatches to understand the plot, but I didn’t even care because I loved the characters SO MUCH. It’s also really, really funny (although some of the jokes have aged a bit poorly tbh). Basically about a bunch of space marines who goof off and accidentally dismantle corrupt governments along the way. Available on Youtube
Supernatural: Is it cringey? Yeah. Does the fandom suck? Also yeah. Is Destiel overrated? BIG yeah. But it’s got monsters, magic, family, and a plot that doesn’t revolve around romance - and really, what more could you ask for? And sure, a lot of people don’t really like the later seasons, but idk I actually prefer them. Season 15 has me THRIVING. I mean come on - character vs author?! Fighting the guy who literally wrote you into existence because he doesn’t want to give your story a happy ending?! Say what you will about Supernatural, but it’s one of the most imaginative shows I’ve ever seen. Available on Netflix
Avatar the Last Airbender: You like stellar animation, intricate worldbuilding/magicbuilding, and a perspective on war that is surprisingly mature for a kids show? Check it out. This show is without a doubt one of the best animated series of all time. Go on. Watch it. It’ll change your life. Available on Netflix
The Umbrella Academy: Time-travelling assassins. Superheroes. Ghosts. Talking monkeys. Murder mysteries. Baller soundtracks. This show will never give you what you expect. I don’t even think I could properly describe it to you. Available on Netflix
Detective Conan: An anime. It’s about a teen detective - think Nancy Drew but bloodier - who witnesses a crime and is fed an experimental poison in order to keep him from telling anyone. But instead of killing him, the poison turns him into a 6-year-old. So now he’s got to solve crimes and take down a criminal organization while in the body of a child. Naturally, shenanigans ensue. Fair warning, the main character becomes a bit of a Mary Sue in later episodes, but the first 300 or so are pretty fun. A few episodes are available on Netflix, but not any of the good ones. You’ll need an anime pirating website for that
Knives Out: My favourite movie ever, of all time. It’s a murder mystery that both subverts and pays homage to its parent genre in all the right places. It’s funny, it’s intelligent, and has a spectacular ending! Although I do wish the fandom would stop being so horny for Ransom, I mean he’s literally racist...No clue where you can find this tbh, I saw it in theatres
Derry Girls: Now I’m not normally a big fan of realistic fiction/sitcom stuff. Despite how funny they are, I’ve not even watched The Office or Parks and Rec because that normal daily life stuff just doesn’t peak my interest. And yet, somehow this story about a group of Irish high schoolers just has me enthralled. Very funny, very well-written, give it a watch. Available on Netflix
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Another anime. Phenomenal animation? Check. Fascinating plot and characters? Check. Detailed magic system that gets my lore-obsessed heart fluttering? Big heckin check. So basically two kids try to use Fantasy Science to bring their mom back to life, only the experiment fails and has some pretty nasty consequences - one boy loses his arm and leg, while the other loses his entire body and has his soul bound to a suit of armour. Now they gotta go through government conspiracies, ethical dilemmas, and Daddy Issues to try and get their bodies back. Available on Netflix
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K: Yet another anime. I know, I know, I’m a nerd, get over it. This show doesn’t have a complex plot or even complex characters, tbh, but what it does have is some amazing humour. It’s extremely funny, and it’s also just a nice show to kick back and relax to. Basically this guy who’s so op that he could rewrite the laws of reality on a whim is stuck dealing with relationship drama in high school despite being very, very asexual and very, very tired. Mostly he just uses his powers to avoid people and eat junk food, which is honestly a mood. Available on Netflix
Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Honestly I’d recommend almost anything that’s Scooby Doo-related because that was my childhood obsession. I used to have like 20 of the movies on DVD before my mom gave them all away. To this day I still love Scooby Doo, and watch it whenever I get the chance. But if you ask any SD fan, they’ll probably tell you that Mystery Incorporated is the best, most intelligent, most creative installment in the franchise. And they’re right (although I do wish there was less relationship drama...) Available on Netflix
Evil Genius: This is a documentary series about the Collar Bomb Robbery. Now, despite what the above list might indicate, I actually watch a LOT of documentaries, and if I were here to recommend all of them then we would be here all day. Not really ‘funny’ like the other entries on this list, it’s actually rather tragic, but definitely a cerebral viewing experience. Available on Netflix
Screwball: Now this is a documentary that IS funny. It’s about drug scandals in baseball. But the dramatic scene re-enactments are done with child actors that are all wearing fake beards and pretending to be drug dealers. It’s not only a fascinating subject, but it’s got amazing editing and visuals that have me in awe. Available on Netflix
Behind the Curve: Yet another documentary. This one’s about the rise of the Flat Earth movement. You’ll spend most of the time on the verge of having a stroke because of how stupid it all is. Available on Netflix
The Movies That Made Us: Okay okay okay last documentary on the list I swear. This one’s exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a series talking about the behind-the-scenes production of iconic movies like Home Alone and Ghostbusters. I eagerly await the second season. Available on Netflix
Monster Factory: If you’re familiar with the McElroy brothers and their brand of humour, you’ll love this. Griffin and Justin team up to make the most disturbing avatars they can create using video game character creators. The origins of the Final Pam meme. If I had a shirt with a quote from Monster Factory on it, I’d die a happy man. Available on Youtube
Baman Piderman: The dumbest show I have ever watched, but it’s so adorable and stupid and I love it so much. It doesn’t really have a plot, but later episodes allude to the presence of one and I’m upset because there are so many mysteries/questions hinted at and we’ll never get answers because it’s been abandoned. PLEASE watch it. Available on Youtube
Stranger Things: Okay, season 2 was a bit of a let-down imo, but season 1 was ICONIC and the Scoops Troop subplot in season 3 deserved its own freakin spinoff. I’m not joking. I didn’t even like s3 all that much, but the only reason it’s my favourite is because the Scoops Troop plot was so great. People call this show ‘horror’ but I don’t think it’s scary enough for that, although it is admittedly kinda spooky. If you like 80s nostalgia and the horror aesthetic, then I’d give it a watch (Do it for Scoops Troop. Do it for Robin). Available on Netflix
Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart: Despite my overwhelming love for this film, I’ll be the first to admit it’s kinda mediocre. The plot is weird and the romance feels forced, but despite its flaws it manages to be one of my favourite movies. Mostly I just like it for the unique concept and beautiful ending. Also the music is off the par man. Probably because the writer/producer of the movie was the lead singer for a French band called Dionysus (what? I do my research). Available on Netflix
Wakfu: I haven’t seen past season 3, but so far it’s pretty good. You go in thinking it’s just a wholesome action/adventure show about a kid who can create portals - but then it just. Sucks you in. From its bopping theme song to its fantastic found family to the unique worldbuilding, you very quickly fall in love with it. It’s got a cool plot and also talking dragons, and it doesn’t get better than that. Available on Netflix
Mystery Skulls Animated: Technically not a TV show so much as it is a series of animated music videos with a plot, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t one of the greatest things of all time. It’s basically Scooby Doo but if Shaggy got possessed by a demon and killed Fred, causing Fred to become a ghost hellbent on revenge-killing Shaggy in return. And if Scooby was an ancient Japanese spirit that bit off Shaggy’s arm, forcing him to wear a metal prosthetic. Yeah, MSA is wild. It’s only got three videos out so far, with a fourth one coming out this October, but there’s already so much lore! Available on Youtube
Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared: Ah yes, yet another cringey entry on this list. But you know what? Cringe culture is dead!!! And despite its fandom being...like that...DHMIS really is a cool show. Think if Sesame Street was like haunted or something. The episodes about creativity and telling time remain the most unsettling, imo. Definitely worth a watch. Available on Youtube
Inanimate Insanity: Oh boy. Am I seriously recommending you dip your little fingies into the object fandom? Yes. Yes I am. This show is so obscure it makes freakin Detective Conan look popular. At its core it’s a parody of Total Drama Island and Survivor but with anthropomorphized inanimate objects as characters (hence the name). Season 2 is actually really, really good and surprisingly competent. You just gotta get through season 1 first. Available on Youtube
The X-Files: Wow, a live action series on this list? Who woulda thought??? But seriously, this show is really fun. Memes and jokes aside, I love it. Scully and Mulder are fun characters with great chemistry (both platonic and romantic), the Lone Horsemen are hilarious, and every episode is a unique adventure into the most creative acid trips the human mind could conceive of. Phenomenal from start to finish (if you ignore the last season). I have no clue where you would watch this. Pirate it, probably
Buzzfeed Unsolved: Two idiots investigate cold cases and haunted locales while being utter dumbasses about it. You know the “hey demons it’s be ya boi” meme? That came from these guys. Available on Youtube
Kingdom: Ngl, I didn’t go into this expecting zombies. Or for it to take place during Korean feudalism, for that matter. But mediocre dubbing aside, this show has such a clever concept. It takes the zombie apocalypse genre and gives refreshing, unique twists to old tropes that they feel like something new. Seo-bi is my wife and she deserves all the love and appreciation in the world, and those are just Facts. Available on Netflix
My Hero Academia: Superhero high school anime. I personally am not a fan of later episodes/arcs, but the first three seasons are pretty dang good. Diverse, colourful ensemble cast that you easily grow to adore, interesting commentary on disability (although I’m not qualified to give any actual takes on that), and a school curriculum that makes me very, very concerned for the wellbeing of these children. Plus all the superpowers - aka ‘quirks’ - are super imaginative and, well, quirky! I just wish people would stop shipping the main character with his childhood bully...You’ll need to pirate this one too lmao
Danny Phantom: The highlight of this show is its ‘phandom’, because unlike someone (*cough* Butch Hartman), we’re not a bunch of cowards. It’s about a guy who messes around with his parents’ lab stuff and accidentally acquires the ability to die! Well, half-die. He can turn into a ghost and fight other ghosts. Although the show never explores the existential, traumatic fallout of being kinda-sorta-dead, the potential for something deep and emotional is there. Plus there is a LOT of accidental subtext for a Big LGBT+ Metaphor. So much so that the Trans Danny theory is basically canon. Uhhh not available on Netflix anymore so it’s time to whip out your pirate hat, matey
And there you have it! Like I said, I have a lot of TV recommendations. And I just KNOW I’m forgetting a ton, but this is already really long so we’ll have to cut off here. 
Thanks for the ask! <3
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Fanfiction - The Loud House's Sonic the Hedgehog: The Fastest Thing Alive
[A panorama of Great Lakes City appears, and shows Sonic running away from a hovercraft with advanced technology that is trying to hit him with a laser beam. The chase is stopped]
Sonic: [narrating] So, I know what you're thinking. "Why is that incredibly handsome hedgehog being chased by a madman with a mustache who is destroying an entire city just to catch me?"
[The chase continues]
Sonic: [narrating] Well, to be honest, it feels like I've been running my whole life. And I will not lie, I only ran away several time in my life. Do not believe me? So let's go back a little bit in time, to 5 years ago.
[The story goes back five years ago. An island in the middle of the ocean appears. A young Sonic travels across the island]
Sonic: [narrating] This is Christmas Island, the island where I'm from. It had everything: sandy beaches, cascading waterfalls, public access to loop-the-loops! It was an ideal place to live, except for one person.
[Eggman appears]
Eggman: Hello Sonic, how is your miserable life?
Sonic: [narrating] This is Doctor Eggman, he is the madman with a mustache who I mentioned earlier. He wants to steal my powers to take over the world. But I won't, because I'm too quick for him to catch me.
Sonic: Well, until you show up.
Eggman: Guess what, today is when I catch you, hedgehog.
Sonic: You think, Egg Head.
Eggman: If that's how you think... ROBOTS, ATTACK!
[Eggman's army robots attack Sonic, but the hedgehog destroys them]
Sonic: There's no use using your robots, Egghead. You'll never catch me.
Eggman: If I can't capture you, I will destroy you!
[Christmas Island starts to explode, Eggman runs away]
Sonic: That's not good! I have to get out of here, and fast!
[Sonic picks up a bag full of rings. He uses a ring to open a portal, leaves Christmas Island and stops in a forest of oak trees]
Sonic: No.
[Sonic sees through the portal, Christmas Island sinking into the ocean. Then the portal closes. Five years have passed, Two boys appear talking in a park]
Lincoln: Clyde, have you read the new Ace Savvy comic? It's amazing!!!!
Clyde: Of course Lincoln. I especially loved the ending, where Ace Savvy and his faithful sidekick One-Eyed Jack fight the trash monster, and it looks like it will be continued.
Lincoln: [looks at the watch on his wrist] Look at the time! I have to go home! See you tomorrow, buddy!
[Lincoln leaves]
Clyde: See you tomorrow, Lincoln!
[Clyde leaves too. A turtle crosses the street and is almost hit by a car, but Sonic saves it]
Sonic: Whoa, buddy. You almost got yourself killed out there. What are you, some kind of adrenaline junkie? Must be rough, being slow all the time... Tell you what, today is your lucky day.
[Sonic starts running with the turtle in his hand, with Don't Stop Me Now from Queen playing in the background]
Sonic: Woohoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Have you ever felt so alive?! [lifts the turtle in his left hand] This is great, you're doing amazing!
[The turtle falls from Sonic's hand]
Sonic: Oh, jeez!
[He quickly runs back, grabs it and continues his run]
Sonic: Good recovery. Whoo-Hoo!!!
[Sonic leaves the turtle in the forest]
Sonic: This is going to be our little secret, Okay? [whispers] You didn't see me, I was never here.
[Sonic runs to his cave, and starts to play inside it]
Sonic: [narrating] So, did you think you were struggling to survive? Well, your mistake. I am living my life quite happily!
[Sonic reads several comic books...]
Sonic: [narrating] I have a library,
[... runs into a washing machine...]
Sonic: [narrating] A home gym,
[... and plays with nunchucks]
Sonic: Whoa!
Sonic: [narrating] and a state-of-the-art security system!
[Sonic plays ping pong with himself]
Sonic: [narrating] I even have a ping pong table!
[Sonic drops the bag of rings]
Sonic: Oh no.
[Sonic gathers the rings that have fallen to the ground]
Sonic: [narrating] And if something goes wrong, I use my rings to go somewhere else. But I won't need to use them, this is Royal Woods, the best place to live on the entire planet.
[Sonic runs from the forest to Royal Woods]
Sonic: [narrating] I am their favorite creature, even if they don't know about me. My favorite person is Lincoln Loud. We have several things in common, for example, we are pre-teens, we like comics and video games, and sports. Despite his strange white hair and, sometimes, his selfishness, he is a good person.
[Lincoln arrives at the Loud house]
Lincoln: DAD! MOM! I GOT HOME!!!
[Lincoln's sisters go down the stairs]
Lincoln's sisters: LINCOLN!!!
Sonic: [narrating] He has a large family, and how big that family is, he has TEN sisters! They are: Lori, the older sister; Leni, a little confused; Luna, the guitarist; Luan, the family comedian; Lynn, the sportswoman; Lucy, the goth; Lisa, the scientist; the twins Lola and Lana; and the youngest Lily. Their parents are Lynn Loud Sr. and Rita Loud.
Lori: How was the comic convention?
Lana: Did you get an autograph from Bill Buck?
Lynn: How many comics did you buy?
Lincoln: Okay, no more questions. Now I'm going to take a shower.
[Lincoln starts up the stairs]
Lori: Hey, Ronnie Anne called and said she was going to come here tomorrow.
Lincoln: Okay.
[In Lincoln's bedroom, Sonic spies Lincoln talking to Ronnie Anne on the laptop, through the bedroom window]
Sonic: [narrating] He's a friend of Ronnie Anne Santiago, the toughest girl he's ever met. These two are in love with each other, even if their families don't know it. And there's no point in them denying it, because I know the truth.
Lincoln: How's it going in Great Lakes City?
Ronnie Anne: [via laptop] Okay here, there were some confusions, but they have already been resolved.
[Lincoln chuckles]
Ronnie Anne: [via laptop] Lori warned me that I'm going to visit you tomorrow, right? Why am I going to beat you on "Dance Battle".
Lincoln: Are you sure? Let's see who's the best!
Ronnie Anne: [via laptop] That's right. Smell you later, lame-o.
[Ronnie Anne ends the video call. At another point in the previous day, Lincoln and Clyde watch a ghost hunter program]
Sonic: [narrating] Lincoln's best friend is Clyde McBride. They do a variety of things together, such as playing video games, reading comics and watching ghost hunters programs.
[In a cafeteria, Crazy Carl shows a drawing of the "Sanic" meme to a police officer, Lincoln and Lynn Sr.]
Sonic: [narrating] There is one person in town who's actually onto me. He calls me the "Blue Devil".
Crazy Carl: I almost caught him last night.
[At last night, Sonic makes pranks with Crazy Carl in his traps]
Sonic: [narrating] Say hello to Crazy Carl.
Crazy Carl: [trapped in one of your traps] I know you're out there, and I know you're real!
Sonic: [screams from within the forest] NO, I'M NOT!!!!
[Back at the Loud house, now at night, the whole Loud family is gathered in the living room watching a movie on TV, while Sonic watches hidden behind the door of Lynn Sr. and Rita's bedroom]
Sonic: [narrating] The movie night is my favorite, but as the TV is from coast to window, I sneak into the house through the window of Mr. and Mrs. Loud's room, and watch the movies through the door.
[Sonic plays a psychologist at a dentist's office]
Sonic: [as a psychologist] Don't you think your prolonged isolation is driving you a little crazy? [as a patient] Crazy? Of course not, Doctor! You understood all wrong! [as a psychologist] Despite all that you call friends, deep down, [starts to feel sad] you still feel alone?
[Back at the Loud house, Sonic leaves, saddened]
Sonic: [as a patient] That's I'm afraid to be alone, forever.
[Next day, in the morning, at the Loud house, the doorbell rings]
Lincoln: Who is it?
Ronnie Anne: [outside the house] It's me, lame-o.
[Lincoln opens the door and Ronnie Anne enters the house. Lynn runs out of the house]
Lynn: LEAVE THE FRONT, I'M LATE FOR AN IMPORTANT GAME!!!!!
[Lincoln and Ronnie Anne look scared Lynn leaving]
Lincoln: Let's Play?
Ronnie Anne: Let's go.
[Lincoln closes the door to the house. The same morning, at the Royal Woods Football Field, the soccer game between the Royal Woods Middle School and Tomball High School. Sonic sees the game hidden in the trees]
Sonic: Wow, is Lynn's team playing?
[Sonic goes under the stands and sees the game, which Royal Woods Middle School apparently won. Mid afternoon, the game is over and Sonic goes to the center of the pitch, sees the soccer equipment and starts playing football with himself]
Sonic: [as a announcer and as a player] And the Sonic team needs another victory to win the championship. But they did not have the Sonic team, which wants to end their game unbeaten record. And the game begins, Sonic gives possession of the ball to Sonic, but Sonic catches the ball and runs towards the goal. Sonic gives Sonic a cart and passes the ball to Sonic who dribbles one, two, three, FOUR PLAYERS, now it's just him and the goalkeeper, he'll kick, kick, and it's GGOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!!!! SONIC TEAM WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!! [only as a player] WHOO-HOO!!! WE WIN, WE WIN!!!!! YOU COME, FANS????!!!!
[Sonic returns to reality and sees the field empty]
Sonic: [saddened] I really am alone… [crying] All alone... Forever.
[Sonic runs across the field several times, and then emits an electromagnetic pulse that turns off all the energy in Royal Woods and nearby cities. At the Loud house, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne continue to play "Dance Battle". Then, the energy runs out]
Lincoln: What happened?
Ronnie Anne: I think there was a power outage.
[The energy comes back]
Ronnie Anne: See, it was just a power outage.
Lincoln: How strange, it is usually the people who cause this.
[Lynn comes home]
Lynn: Guys, did you see the blackout that happened?
[Back to the Royal Woods Football Field]
Sonic: [scared] Let's pretend that this electromagnetic pulse did not exist and that everything was back to normal, right?
[Sonic runs back into the forest. Meanwhile in the Death Egg, the computer signals the electromagnetic pulse]
Eggman: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DAMN COMPUTER THAT KEEP ON BEEPING????!!!! [looks at the computer] It can't be, I haven't seen an electromagnetic pulse like that for 5 years! I wonder if he... Orbot! Cubot! send the drones to scan the Royal Woods area, and prepare a laboratory truck for me to use!!! [whispers to himself] If he is alive, I will dissect him piece by piece, and then use his power to take over the world.
[Minutes later, in Sonic's cave...]
Sonic: [talk to himself] I need to get out of here, and fast. I let you see what I take... The rings, the beanbag, the nunchucks, the radio, my comics... Wait a minute, Sonic, don't be worried. It looks like a lot of robots will go after you.
[Eggman's drones appear and scan the cave]
Sonic: Dang it! Me and my big mouth. [whispers to himself] You know what, I'll just take the rings, but where am I going to hide? [had an idea] I know where.
[Sonic arrives in the garage at the Loud house. Meanwhile, at home, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne continue to play]
Lincoln: What was that noise?
Ronnie Anne: It looks like it came from the garage.
Lincoln: I'll go and see.
Ronnie Anne: I'd better go with you, the way you get scared.
[Back to the garage]
Sonic: [talk to himself] Okay Sonic, just choose where you want to go, it could be Paris, Seul, even Tokyo! But I don't want to leave here. [picks up a ring and prepares to use it] Here we go.
[Lincoln and Ronnie Anne appears]
Lincoln: Stopped! Whoever it is!
Ronnie Anne: We have a baseball bat and a super powerful ball launcher!
[The two look at Sonic]
Sonic: Uh... Meow?
[The three scream in fright. Lori appears]
Lori: Ronnie Anne, your mother called saying that it is time to go back to Great Lakes City. [She sees the three in the garage]
Lori: WHAT THE...?!
[Lori throws the baseball bat that Ronnie Anne was holding onto Sonic's head]
Sonic: OUCH! [dizzy] Great... Lakes?
[Sonic drop the ring and a portal to Great Lakes City opens. Sonic falls to the ground unconscious and drops the bag of rings inside the portal, on top of a skyscraper. The portal closes]
Lori: Literally... What just happened here?
[Sometime later, Sonic wakes up tied to a chair and with the whole Loud family looking at him]
Sonic: What happened? And why am I tied? OUCH! And why is there a dog biting my leg?!
[Rita removes the dog from Sonic's leg]
Lincoln: Do you speak?
Sonic: Of course, Lincoln.
Lincoln: You know my name? How?
Sonic: A- I know the name of everyone in the town, B- I kind of watched you for five years.
The Loud Family: FIVE YEARS????!!!!
Lynn Sr.: So Crazy Carl was right all the time! The "Blue Devil" really exists!
Sonic: Now they can call him Carl "Eagle-Eyed Eyes". Now, can you let me go?
[Luna unties the rope]
Sonic: Thanks.
Lisa: What animal are you?
Sonic: I am a hedgehog, I thought you knew that.
Lana: Can I touch your fur? [get a Sonic quill]
Sonic: HEY!!
Lynn: Do you like boxing?
[She punches Sonic in the belly]
Sonic: OUCH!
[He falls, but then gets up]
Lynn: Yeah! I won by knockout.
Luna: What is your favourite song?
Lucy: What kind of poem do you want me to read at your funeral?
Sonic: What?
Leni: I loved your shoes!
Lola: [about the shoes] Very tacky.
Luan: Why did the hedgehog cross the street?
[The questions increase, and Sonic begins to lose his temper]
Lincoln: Calm down with the questions, girls. He's already going crazy.
Sonic: [sigh] Thanks, Lincoln.
[Sonic realizes that he lost his rings]
Sonic: Oh no, I lost my rings!
Ronnie Anne: Rings?
[A black truck appears in front of the house]
Rita: Why a truck is in front of the house?
[Sonic goes to the window to see the truck. Eggman gets out of the truck. Sonic, startled, quickly closes the curtains]
Sonic: Oh no! Not him again!
Ronnie Anne: What happened, uh... what's your name?
Sonic: My name is Sonic. It's Eggman, and I have to hide.
Lincoln: For what reason?
Sonic: He's the reason I'm hiding in Royal Woods.
[The doorbell rings]
Eggman: [outside the house] Is this the Loud's residence?
Lincoln: [whispers] Go to the attic and stay hidden there until he leaves. Okay?
Sonic: [whispers] Okay.
[Sonic runs into the attic. Children go to their rooms. Lynn Sr. opens the door]
Eggman: Hi Mr. Loud, I'm Dr. Ivo Robotnik, and I came to investigate your home.
Lynn Sr.: Why are you seeing only my house? And why did you just come here today?
Eggman: Why your home is a special case. [enters the house] I believe that you are HOSTING the cause of the blackout.
Lynn Sr.: Hosting who? We don't even know what happened!
[Meanwhile in the attic, one of Eggman's drones scans the area. Ball-shaped, Sonic is hiding]
Sonic: [whispers to himself] Okay, I'm a ball. Just a normal ball. I'm blending in like a ball. Shh, stop talking. No, you stop talking. Be quiet, Sonic. You be quiet, Sonic!
[Another drone arrives and scans the area]
Sonic: Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out…
[The scanners for the two drones are about to scan Sonic]
Sonic: I'M FREAKING OUT!!!
[Sonic rolls out of the attic and falls down on the second floor hallway]
Eggman: What was this?
Lynn Sr.: It must be the children playing, no big deal.
Eggman: Okay, there's nothing to see here.
[He pushes Lynn Sr. up the stairs and sees the children playing while Sonic is hiding in Lincoln's room]
Eggman: Here's the thing, I'm never wrong.
Lynn Sr.: Everyone has a first time.
[Eggman looks at Lana...]
Eggman: Hey little girl, what's this thing with you?
[... and picks up Sonic's quill that was with her]
Lana: HEY! That's mine!
Eggman: HA! Look at that. I was right. Note the lack of surprise.
[He calls for a drone, which aims various weapons against the Louds]
Eggman: You have FIVE seconds to tell where the hedgehog is! Five…
Luna: What hedgehog, dude?
Eggman: Four…
Leni: Are you sure it's not a blue toothpick?
Eggman: Three…
Lincoln: We don't know about any hedgehog, you can check the whole house!
Eggman: I know he's here because I'm holding the evidence. TWO!!!...
[Sonic leaves Lincoln's room]
Sonic: WAIT! It doesn't hurt them.
Eggman: [surprised] How can you be ali…
[Lynn Sr. knocks out Eggman]
Lynn Sr.: Lori, take Ronnie Anne back to Great Lakes City! The rest comes with me.
[All the Louds leave the house, Lori and Ronnie Anne go to the van and the others go to Lisa's bomb shelter. Back on the second floor of the house, Eggman regains consciousness and gets up]
Sonic: Hey Egg Head, look here!
[Eggman's drone launches several missiles at Sonic, who escapes through Lincoln's room window, which then explodes. Lincoln sees his room explode]
Lincoln: MY ROOM!!!
[He goes back to see his room destroyed. Eggman's drone goes flying and aims the guns at Lincoln. Sonic realizes what's going on]
Sonic: Lincoln!!!
[Sonic picks up Lincoln and they both get in the van]
Lori: What are you doing here?
Sonic: TURN ON THE CAR!!!!!
[Lori starts the van and they leave for the highway. Eggman leaves the house and sees the van leaving]
Eggman: Don't worry Sonic, [looks at Sonic's quill] because your days are numbered. MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
[On the highway...]
Lincoln: Now... explain to me why you hid in Royal Woods all this time.
Sonic: It all happened 5 years ago ... I lived on an island where there was everything, even loopings! after a battle with Eggman, he blew up the entire island, which sank in the middle of the ocean. I thought I was a forest and I used a ring to come here, and I didn't even know that Royal Woods existed.
Ronnie Anne: Now, about the rings.
Sonic: Rings are mystical objects that allow people to teleport anywhere in the world. And taking advantage of you going to Great Lakes City, I will go with you.
Lori: What do you mean you literally go with us to Great Lakes?
Sonic: Why the rings fell on a skyscraper in the city.
Lori: Oh, that's a fair point.
Ronnie Anne: I know a skyscraper there. When we get there, I'll take you there.
Sonic: Thank you for helping me, [saddened] you could be the best friends a hedgehog could have.
[Everyone is moved by Sonic's speech. Shortly thereafter, Eggman activates the truck]
Eggman: Hmm... Eeny, meeny, miny... MAYHEM!
[Eggman chooses a tank to chase the van. Back to the van...]
Lincoln: You mean you spied on everyone in the Royal Woods for 5 years?
Sonic: To be honest, not all. I am fast and I can stay in several places, but not in all at the same time. I see something in one place, but I miss what is happening on the other side of the town.
Ronnie Anne: So you don't know what happened at Jean Juan's French Mex?
Sonic: No, what happened there?
Lincoln/Ronnie Anne: [both sweating and embarrassed] NOTHING!
[Sonic looks at them suspiciously]
Sonic: Why are you embarrassed? I just asked what happened at... I think I know what happened.. You kissed in the middle of the restaurant and in front of everyone who was there, right?
Lincoln/Ronnie Anne: [both sweating and embarrassed] How is it?
Sonic: There is no use denying it, that was the topic of the moment for a whole week! And thanks to you, I remembered that. Tell me how it went, go!
[A harpoon hits the van]
Lori: What the...?
[Everyone looks at the tank]
Eggman: [inside the truck] POW!!!!
Sonic: Go, tell me how was that kiss!
Lincoln: Have you noticed the harpoon trapped in the van?
[The tank pulls the harpoon and the van close to it]
Lori: Everyone holds on to something!!
Sonic/Lincoln/Ronnie Anne: Why?
[Lori accelerates the van, Sonic is thrown out of the vehicle, turns a ball and destroys the tank. Lori brakes the van and turns back]
Lincoln: Sonic??!!
Ronnie Anne: Sonic!!
[Meanwhile, Sonic keeps spinning and stops being a ball]
Sonic: [gets up] Uh... I think I had an extra life.
[Sonic realizes that he destroyed the tank and heads towards the wreckage]
Sonic: Oh yeah, baby! Sonic, one! [doing the floss] Big tank, zero! I'm sorry, did we get that on camera?!
Lincoln: How are you not dead?
Sonic: [dancing] I have no idea! Do you see me dancing?!
Lincoln: Yes, I saw you dance…
Sonic: [looks at the tank] HA!! Is that all you got?
Eggman: [inside the truck] No, but thank you for asking.
[Eggman activates another robot. Sonic returns to the van. The van starts to move. A mini-truck comes out of the tank]
Sonic: Did that tank have a baby?
[The mini-truck begins to chase the van and launch discs with small electromagnetic pulses, Lori diverts the van from all discs]
Sonic: Dang it, here we go again.
[Sonic goes to the broken van window]
Lori: Where are you going?
Sonic: Just drive there, let me take care of the rest.
[Sonic jumps out of the van and slides through the disks, grabs one and jumps into the mini-truck]
Sonic: Hey, everyone! Welcome back to my livestream! Today, we're destroying robots! Step one…
[Sonic uses the disc to burn the mini-truck's circuits and returns to the van. Then the mini-truck overturns and explodes]
Sonic: We did it!
[A one-wheeled robot only gets out of the mini-truck]
Sonic: Ah, come on.
Lincoln: Okay, now it's our turn.
[Lincoln throws several things from the van on the robot, and damage it]
Ronnie Anne: Lori, slow down!!
[The van slows down and Ronnie Anne wrecks the robot with a car wreck]
Eggman: [inside the truck] OHHHH! GIVE ME A BIG FAT BREAK!!!
Sonic: Whoo-Hoo! Next stop, Great Lakes City!!
[At night, the four arrive at Casagrande Apartment, in Great Lakes City. Bobby and his mother, Maria, wait outside the building]
Lori: [get out of the van] Boo-Boo Bear!!
Bobby: Babe!!
[The two embrace. Ronnie Anne gets out of the van]
Ronnie Anne: MOM!!!
Maria: ¡Mija! Are you okay?
Ronnie Anne: I'm okay, mom.
[Lincoln and Sonic get out of the van carefully. Sonic sees thrilled Ronnie Anne and Maria hugging]
Lincoln: What's up Sonic?
Sonic: It's just... I've never had a family, I've been lonely since I was born. [saddened] And to see a mother hugging her daughter…
Lincoln: Oh…
[Bobby sees the van partially destroyed]
Bobby: What happened to your father's van?
Lori: Well... It's just that some mad scientist tried to kill us because he's after him.
[She introduces Sonic to Bobby and Maria]
Sonic: Uh... Hello?
Bobby: [surprised] He's a talking hedgehog!
Sonic: Because only he knows I'm a hedgehog?
Maria: It's late. Why don't we go in the house?
Everyone: Okay!
[Everyone enters the building, goes up the stairs and goes into the living room]
Maria: MAMA!! RONNIE ANNE HAS ARRIVED, AND WE HAVE VISITORS!!!
Rosa: [inside the kitchen] And who are they?
Maria: Lincoln, Lori and a friend of theirs.
[Rosa came out of the kitchen]
Rosa: And who would this new friend of theirs be?
[Rosa looks scared at Sonic and drops some dishes. Sonic, with his speed, picks up the dishes before they break on the floor]
Sonic: Wow, you almost had a loss with these dishes.
[Rosa still scared, keeps looking at Sonic]
Sonic: So... how many rooms are still available?
Rosa: Uh... three. Why do you want to know?
Maria: They're running away from a mad scientist who wants to capture this hedgehog.
Sonic: Can we hide here? It's just for one day.
Ronnie Anne: Please, Abuela.
[Rosa think about it for a second]
Rosa: Alright, you can stay here.
Lincoln: Yeah!
[Everyone except Sonic goes to their rooms. Moments later, on the roof of the building, Sonic looks at the stars]
Sonic: [thinking] Should I go somewhere else, I don't want to be alone again, but I don't want to leave my friends in danger. In fact, they are not even my friends, they are just helping me to escape. [eats a Chili dog] But I care about them! I think getting out of their lives is the best thing I can do.
[At that very moment, in the truck, Eggman puts on some headphones, goes through the playlists and chooses the song Where Evil Grows, by Poppy Family. The music starts to play. Eggman spins in his chair, clearly enjoying himself. At the workplace, a mechanical claw holds the quill. The doctor grabs it, pushes a few buttons on a nearby computer to prepare a feeding tube, before taking a pair of connecting cables and connecting them to the blue thing. Failure in the lab. The doctor returns to the board, holding a lighter and looks for the fuses. He opens a metal box on the wall with the circuit breakers labeled "Self-Destruction", "Badniks" and "Evil Lab". He reactivates the lights, closes the lighter and starts the song again… to dance while the quill is placed on the tube by the mechanical arm. Eggman then moves all-in, activating a holographic display of a snowy hill behind him, and he pretends to ski it. Then, the image changes to a hologram of a T-Rex, which "chases" the doctor. He pretends to run, before throwing the headphones on. He turns and lowers his head, looks like the dinosaur has bitten. The lights start to flash and the dance continues. turns around again and raises his arms. In the next letter, it swings back and forth. Some beeps are heard. Eggman run to the force tube, where the "Power Analysis: Unlimited" and "Sonic Found" warnings are displayed above it]
Eggman: So you're already in Great Lakes City, Sonic? Live your last moments of freedom. MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!! ORBOT!!! READY THE EGGMOBILE!!! With this kind of power, my machines can finally reach their full potential…
[Casagrande Apartment, 7:00 A.M. All the Casagrandes are in the living room having breakfast. Lori appears]
Lori: Good morning guys!
The Casagrandes: Good morning, Lori??!! LORI!!!
Carlota: What are you doing here?
Lori: Lincoln and I, along with Ronnie Anne, were on the run from a mad scientist who tried to kill us and capture Sonic.
Frida: I understand. But who is Sonic?
Lori: It is a talking blue hedgehog that literally runs at supersonic speeds.
Carlos: A talking blue hedgehog that runs at supersonic speeds? THIS IS A GREAT SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY!! Where is he?
Rosa: Carlos, don't even think about studying about that erizo, especially now that he's being chased.
Bobby: Yes. But stopping to think now, where is he?
Maria: Exactly. And where are Ronnie Anne and Lincoln too?
[At that same time, in the center of Great Lakes City; Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, and Sonic, disguised with a cowboy hat and the shirt that Bobby wore when he worked at Gus' Games and Grub walk towards the skyscraper]
Sonic: Are you sure Bobby won't be annoyed that I wear his shirt?
Ronnie Anne: Of course, he doesn't even work at Gus' Games and Grub anymore.
Sonic: Ok then.
[Halfway through, they buy three ice creams]
Sonic: Now that there is no one behind us at the moment, you could tell me how that kiss happened.
[Lincoln and Ronnie Anne are embarrassed]
Ronnie Anne: [embarrassed] Why do you want to know how it happened if you know we kissed?
Sonic: I wasn't there at the restaurant, so I didn't see anything.
Lincoln: All right, I'll tell you how it happened.
[A flashback about the "Save the Date" episode begins]
Lincoln: It all started the day before at school. Some boys kept making fun of our friendship, saying we were dating. I always want to insult her, saying she was rude and gross and totally annoying, and I even said that I would rather lick the bathroom floor than kiss her.
[The flashback is interrupted]
Sonic: That's rude, Lincoln. Keep talking.
[The flashback continues]
Lincoln: Then she told Bobby everything, who broke up with Lori. And in order for the two of them to get back together, Lori and I would have to go on a double date with them so Bobby could see me being nice to her.
Sonic: And... What happened?
[The flashback is interrupted]
Ronnie Anne: The boys who intubated him went to the restaurant.
[The flashback continues]
Lincoln: They started mocking us again and I insulted her unintentionally again. So I decided to apologize to her in front of everyone who was at the restaurant. But instead of saying…
[The flashback is interrupted]
Sonic: You kissed her in front of everyone!!
[The flashback continues]
Lincoln: Exactly!!
[The flashback ends]
Sonic: Wow! I wish I could have seen that!
Ronnie Anne: You should have seen what happened at school the next day.
Sonic: I should have seen what?
Lincoln: She slapped me in the face.
Sonic: Wow! Is it all just because of a kiss?
Lincoln: Yes and no.
Ronnie Anne: The boys upset him again, and for them to stop, I slapped Lincoln in the face. And then the boys thought we'd broken up, and they stopped disturbing him.
Sonic: And so, the "Date Saga" ends. Wait, why didn't you guys really date to make fun of them?
Lincoln: [embarrassed] Well, it's just that we, being a couple…
Ronnie Anne: [embarrassed] Me and Lincoln dating? Well, I'm not sure it…
Sonic: Shh... I understand. Maintaining a relationship is difficult, but starting one is even more difficult, as there will always be someone jealous to make fun of you.
[Lincoln and Ronnie Anne did not understand what Sonic said]
Ronnie Anne: It's okay.
Lincoln: Now, talk a little about yourself.
Sonic: I already talked about me, in the van.
Lincoln: Oh, that's right.
Ronnie Anne: So, talk about your powers.
Sonic: My powers? I was born with them, and even today I can't control them. When I get too emotional, I create a so-called electromagnetic pulse that can cause a blackout in a giant area.
Lincoln: So it was you who caused that blackout, was it?
Sonic: Yeah.
Lincoln: But why?
Sonic: I was hidden for 5 years, without anyone knowing about my existence. I was sad and very lonely, and to unload that sadness, I started running in circles on the Football Field. I ran so much that I released that electromagnetic pulse.
Lincoln: It must be boring to be alone, with no one to talk to, play a game…
Sonic: Yeah, it's really boring.
[The three of them arrive at the skyscraper]
Ronnie Anne: Yeah... we're here.
[Sonic, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne go to the top floor of the skyscraper, totally crowded]
Sonic: [saddened] So... I think it's goodbye.
Lincoln: You don't want to leave, am I right?
Sonic: Yeah. But I need to leave, not only for my life, but also for yours. Only then will you be free from Eggman.
Lincoln: It's okay, Sonic. No matter where you go, your friends will always be [points to Sonic's heart] here.
Sonic: Want to say that you... you two... are going to be my friends?
Ronnie Anne: Uh... yeah.
Lincoln: We will be the best friends you never had, even if you have to go.
Sonic: Woah! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
[The three embrace. Then, one of Eggman's drones appears, prepares its weapons...]
Ronnie Anne: Watch out!
[... and launches a missile at the skyscraper's window. Everyone who was on the scene, except Sonic, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, run away]
Sonic: What is going on?
[Sonic takes off his disguise. Several drones surround the building. A highly technological hovercraft appears and opens the cockpit, q revealing that it’s Eggman, now in red overalls]
Eggman: Hello Sonic, how long ago.
Sonic: Eggman? How is it…
Eggman: I found you? Well, let's say you left something behind.
[Eggman samples Sonic's quill that he picked up at the Loud house]
Ronnie Anne: Lincoln, isn't that…
Lincoln: The quill that was with Lana?
Eggman: The time for talking is over! It's time to push buttons.
Sonic: Your technology may have improved over time, Dr. Eggman. But let's face it, you'll never catch me.
Eggman: Confidence! A fool's substitute for intelligence.
[Eggman activates the drone's weapons]
Sonic: That's not good.
Lincoln: Uhh, Sonic? I know you've got the super speed, and everything, but Ronnie and I?
Sonic: Totally defenseless? Probably gonna get blown up?
Ronnie Anne: Pretty much, yeah.
Sonic: Don't worry. I know exactly what to do. [whispers to Lincoln] When you get to Royal Woods, let your sister know, okay?
Lincoln: What?
[Sonic throws Lincoln and Ronnie Anne off the skyscraper. Eggman looks down at them in surprise, then sits back]
Eggman: [surprised] I was not expecting that... But I was expecting not to expect something, so it doesn't count.
[All of the drones open fire at Sonic, but they slow down and stop, just as they're about to hit the hedgehog. Still in slow motion, Ronnie Anne and Lincoln falling and Eggman reaches out to press the red button]
Sonic: Look at this! I took nine million steps today.
[Sonic waves some of the rockets out of the way, grabs two of them and drums down the bullets flying towards him. As Sonic dismantles the drones, Eggman's finger inches closer and closer to the button. When he presses it, the Eggmobile is charged up and flies straight upwards. Just as Sonic pushes two of the drones around so that they will fire at each other...]
Sonic: [doing finger gun gestures] Pew! Pew, pew, pew! Pew, pew, pew, pew…
[... the machine flies back down and pulls out a laser. Sonic's eyes widen in horror as it is fired. He tries to get out of the way, but the beam blasts him out of his bullet time. Sonic, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne are in free fall. Sonic picks up a ring and teleports Lincoln and Ronnie Anne to Royal Woods. In Royal Woods, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne fall into a pool near the Loud house. They emerge from the pool]
Lincoln: Let's go! We need to call Lori and let the others know.
Ronnie Anne: Okay.
[The two leave the pool. In Great Lakes City...]
Sonic: Whoa, whoa, whoa!
[... Sonic skids, falls down a tree and lands on the sidewalk. The broken drones and rubble fall down around him. Then, the Eggmobile appears]
Eggman: Sonic, can I give you one genius piece of advice? Don't run. It'll only hurt more if you do. And it's bad for your joints, they've proved it.
Sonic: All right, Eggman. You wanna get fast? Let's get fast!
[Sonic starts running]
Eggman: The hard way, it is.
[Eggman begins to chase Sonic. The chase scene begins. The Eggmobile charges after the target. Running through the streets of Great Lakes City, Eggman fires his laser constantly, but they miss due to Sonic's agility. The chase is stopped]
Sonic: [narrating] So, here we are again. We've been through so much together! Now you understand why there's a psychotic robot doctor chasing a superSonic blue hedgehog! Wanna know how it ends? Yeah, me too!
[The chase continues. Sonic and Eggman saw it on a corner]
Eggman: That was an illegal left by the way!
Sonic: This is impossible! [picks up a ring] No one has ever reached me before.
[In Paris, a mother and daughter are looking at a mime, because of course they do. The child seems particularly uninterested, until the mime makes a circle with his arms, revealing the ring portal Sonic just made]
Sonic: Coming through!
[The hedgehog speeds through the ring, passing the three occupants. The mime ducks]
Mime: "Sacré bleu!"
[Eggman follows afterwards]
Eggman: "Excusez-moi, monsieur!"
[Another portal opens on the Great Wall of China. Both Sonic and Eggman fly through it]
Sonic: Here we go. Road opening up!
[The Eggmobile swirls around, but Eggman is still able to keep up, even though the blue hedgehog jumps around and runs along the walls of the passage. Sonic quickly throws out a third ring, leading them to Egypt]
Sonic: I can't lose him.
[Eggman shoots a sphinx and tries to hit Sonic. The hedgehog skids in the sand and has an idea]
Sonic: If you don't beat him, blind him.
[He swirls around the plain of sand, circling Eggman's machine. A sandstorm flies up, blinding Eggman...]
Eggman: I lost... the visual contact!
[... but then he sees Sonic, running up the edge of the Giza Pyramid]
Eggman: You're not allowed up there! That's one of the Seven Wonders!
[He speeds out of the tornado. Just as Sonic throws out another ring, Eggman activates his laser again, blowing Sonic through the portal. In Royal Woods, where it has become night and in front of the Loud house, the other end opens and Sonic falls through it, landing on the asphalt, ruffled and defeated. His ring pouch slides along the road, out of the hedgehog's reach. From inside the Loud house, Ronnie Anne sees the ring through the window]
Ronnie Anne: Sonic?
[She and the rest of the Loud family leave the house towards the sidewalk and see Sonic lying on the street]
Luna: What happened?
Lynn: Is everything okay with him?
Lucy: Did he die?
Lily: Wonic?
Lincoln: [thinking] What happened to him?
[Lincoln looks down, sees the bag of rings and picks it up. The Eggmobile slowly exits the portal]
Eggman: MUHAHA!! You're an astonishing little creature! It'll be fun to take you back to the lab for a litany of invasive exploratory procedures. Any last words?
Sonic: N-no. [passes out]
Ronnie Anne: But we have.
Lincoln: Leave him alone, Eggman.
Eggman: WHOHOHOOO!! A pre-teen couple protecting a hedgehog? This is so cute. I hate cute things.
Sonic: W-what are you two doing?
[Sonic passes out again]
Eggman: Tell me, how are you two going to stop me?
Lincoln: It will not be alone.
[Royal Woods citizens begin to appear. Lori and Bobby arrives in a Casagrande Market's van]
Bobby: What's going on here?
Lori: It's him!
[The two get out of the van and see Eggman being surrounded by the citizens]
Lynn Sr.: You want to catch the Hedgehog, you're going to have to go through me.
Rita: And me.
Clyde: And me.
Albert: And me.
Mrs. Johnson: And me.
Scoots: And me, moustache.
Lori: And me.
Bobby: And me.
Officer Schoffner: [points a gun at Eggman] And me.
Crazy Carl: [raises a chainsaw] It messed with the Blue Devil, it messed with Royal Woods!
Lincoln: [whispers to Ronnie Anne] Come with me, I have a plan.
[The two go inside the Loud house]
Eggman: [chuckles] YOUR FOOLS!! DO YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME??!!
[Lincoln and Ronnie Anne go through the portal and jump on the Eggmobile, without Eggman noticing]
Eggman: I will take the power of this hedgehog and conquer the world, even if I kill you all!!
Lincoln: Hi!
Eggman: WHAT THE...?!
Ronnie Anne: "¡Sorpresa!"
[She punches Eggman in the face]
Eggman: You two…
[With two mechanical arms of the Eggmobile, Eggman grabs them by the neck]
Eggman: You really were meant for each other. So much so that they're going to die together now.
Lincoln: You wouldn't have the courage to kill us.
Eggman: Are you doubting me?
[The mechanical arms tighten the necks of Lincoln and Ronnie Anne a little more]
Ronnie Anne: Y-you should learn to shut up.
Lincoln: I know.
Lynn Sr.: ROBOTNIK, Let go of my son!!
Bobby: And my sister too!!
Eggman: [chuckles] How can you stop me? You only have one gun and one chainsaw! They'll get what they deserve for disrupting my plans, and the only one who can stop me is passed out!! Where was I? Oh, yes, I was choking you both. [to Lincoln and Ronnie Anne] Any last words?
Lincoln: L-Let her go.
Eggman/Ronnie Anne: What?
Lincoln: I just want to save Sonic.
Eggman: Sonic's fate already sealed, I want to know why I should spare her life.
Lincoln: The idea of jumping on the Eggmobile was all mine, she only accompanied me because I called her. I deserve to die, not her.
Ronnie Anne: Why are you doing this Lincoln?
Eggman: Really Lincoln, why are you doing this for her? Say Lincoln.
[Lincoln looks seriously at Eggman]
Eggman: SAY!
[Lincoln still looks seriously at Eggman]
Eggman: Wants to know? There's no need to say, I think I know what it is.
Lincoln: And what is it then?
Eggman: Love.
Ronnie Anne: [surprised] What? Lincoln Loud has secretly fallen in love with me? Well, we already kissed once. But what you said. Now you've gone crazy... [to Lincoln] Isn't that right, Lincoln?
[Lincoln still looks seriously at Eggman]
Eggman: He will not say because he is afraid of not being reciprocated. Even though you two are best friends, Lincoln feels that you are his soulmate, as you both have several things in common, in addition to both having a very good and long-standing friendship. [to Lincoln] Isn't that right, Lincoln Loud?
[Lincoln stops looking seriously at Eggman and lowers his head with his eyes closed]
Lincoln: [sigh] Just please... let her go.
Eggman: [whispers to Lincoln] Because of you... she's going to die too.
[Mechanical arms tighten around Lincoln and Ronnie Anne's necks again]
Bobby: Officer Schoffner, can't you just shoot him in the head?
Officer Schoffner: I can't, I can end up hitting the kids.
Bobby: Dang it. [to Sonic, still passed out] Sonic! You need to wake up now!
Lynn Sr.: [to Sonic] They need your help!
Rita: [to Sonic] Especially now!
Lincoln: [short of breath] H-help, Sonic!
Ronnie Anne: [short of breath] S-Sonic, wake up!
[Sonic wakes and gets up]
Sonic: Let... them... go, Eggman.
Eggman: Why? You don't even have the strength to stand.
[Sonic begins to have lightnings through the body]
Sonic: Let... them... go... NOW!!!!
[The lightnings around Sonic increase. Eggman loose Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, and holds the mechanical arms. Eggman is surprised by the power of Sonic]
Lincoln: He's all yours. [whispers to Ronnie Anne] Come on.
[They get out of the way]
Officer Schoffner: Everyone, get back!
[All of Royal Woods' residents step away, safely out of Eggman's line of fire]
Sonic: I think you have something that belongs to me.
[The hedgehog makes a fist, lightning flies from the Eggmobile to Sonic's fist. Eggman struggles a bit, until the glass around the quill inside the machine breaks, disabling it]
Sonic: This is my power. And I'm not using it to run away anymore. I'm using it to protect... my... friends!
[Several rockets appear along the rims of the ship and laser pointers crawl over the asphalt, towards their target. Sonic gets down on his hands and knees, both of them are ready]
Eggman: You're mine, Hedgehog!
Sonic: You'll never catch me!
[After a moment, the doctor makes his move. The rockets fly away to Sonic, who evades them and launches himself against the Eggmobile. He reaches the accompanying wall, bounces of it and attacks again. He goes on and on, ricocheting around the ship in a haze of blue. Eventually, he slides back to his starting position. The Eggmobile is severly damaged]
Eggmobile Computer: System error! System error! System error!
Eggman: Now you've done it!
Sonic: Guess what, Eggman?! I'm not leaving Royal Woods, you are! [to Lincoln] Lincoln?
[Lincoln takes a ring and creates a new portal. Both Sonic and Eggman speed towards each other. Sonic, in his ball form, hurls himself against the nose of the ship, completely wrecking it. The impulse causes the doctor and his device to fly through the ring, to the Death Egg. Eggman screams as the portal closes. Sonic's powers gradually dim down and the lightning disappears. The crowd cheers. Lincoln and Ronnie Anne run back to their friend]
Lincoln: Yeah, you did it.
Sonic: No. WE did it.
[Sonic and Lincoln greet each other with a High Five]
Lincoln: I think these belong to you.
[Lincoln returns the bag of rings to Sonic]
Sonic: Thank you very much.
Lincoln: And don't throw people off the top of a skyscraper.
Sonic: You know I can't promise that.
Lincoln: You did well, hedgehog.
Sonic: Thanks, "Ultra Instinct".
[Everyone starts laughing]
Sonic: I think someone wants to talk to you.
[The two look at Ronnie Anne]
Sonic: [whispers to Lincoln] Good luck.
[He goes to the Loud family]
Lincoln: [whispers to Sonic] Wait... Sonic.
Ronnie Anne: Hey.
Lincoln: [a little clumsy] So... What do you want to talk about?
Ronnie Anne: It's about that moment on the Eggmobile.
Lincoln: Oh..
Ronnie Anne: Were you going to die for me?
[Lincoln starts to feel embarrassed]
Lincoln: [embarrassed] Well…
Lynn: [by far] Kiss her, you coward!!
Sonic: [by far] I'm waaaaaaaaaaaitiiiiiiiiiing!!
Lincoln: [embarrassed] Shut up!!
Ronnie Anne: [chuckles] I guess I was wrong, you're not as scared as I thought.
Lincoln: [embarrassed] Uh... Thanks.
Ronnie Anne: And one more thing. Was what Dr. Eggman said true? You love Me?
Lincoln: [embarrassed] A-as well? As a f-friend or…
Ronnie Anne: Or…
Lincoln: [embarrassed] Or... as a girlfr…
[Ronnie Anne interrupts Lincoln by putting her finger in his mouth...]
Ronnie Anne: [repeating what Dr. Eggman said] Wants to know? There's no need to say, I think I know what it is.
[... pulls Lincoln by the shirt to her and kisses him on the lips]
Lincoln's sisters: Aww…
Sonic: Yeah... It makes up for what I missed at the restaurant that day.
[Bobby receives a message on his cell phone. It is his mother, Maria, warning that he and Ronnie Anne should return to Great Lakes City]
Bobby: I have to go, Babe. [kisses Lori on the cheek] I'll call you later.
[Bobby walks over to the Casagrande market van]
Lori: Goodbye, Boo-Boo Bear.
[Bobby gets into the van and starts honking]
Bobby: [inside the van] Ronnie Anne, let's go!!
Ronnie Anne: I'm going! [to Lincoln] Someday we'll finish that game, okay?
Lincoln: [embarrassed] O-okay.
[Ronnie Anne walks towards the van...]
Ronnie Anne: Smell you later... Lame-o.
[... and gets into the van]
Lincoln: Goodbye... Ronnie Anne.
[The Casagrande Market's van leaves. Sonic goes to Lincoln]
Sonic: So, what has happened now?
Lincoln: I don't know, it looks like she's changed, she hates being kissed in public.
Sonic: But it was she who kissed you.
Lincoln: Exactly! That was very strange.
Sonic: Yeah, very strange. When's wedding day, Lincoln?
Lincoln: [visibly blushing and a little irritated] Ha-ha, very funny.
Sonic: 🎵"Ronnie and Lincoln sitting in a tree…"🎵 [giggles] 🎵"K-I-S-S-I-N-G."🎵 [giggles]
Lincoln: [visibly blushing and a little irritated] Wow, how much maturity.
Sonic: But seriously, when will the two start dating?
Lincoln: [visibly blushing and a little irritated] Won't you stop?
Sonic: Okay, okay. [chuckles] I stopped now.
Lynn Sr.: [by far] WHAT HAPPENED TO MY VAN??!!
Sonic: Who's going to tell him partly that Eggman detonated the van?
[The two begin to laugh]
Sonic: [narrating] From that moment on, my life had changed for the better.
[One week later. Sonic runs through Royal Woods and greets the citizens]
Sonic: Hi, Officer Schoffner!
Officer Schoffner: Hi Sonic! Slow down, or you'll get a traffic ticket!
Sonic: Okay!
[Sonic sees Clyde walking down the sidewalk]
Sonic: Hi, One-Eyed Jack!
Clyde: Hi, Blue Blur!
Sonic: [narrating] I could finally stop hiding, because everyone knew about me, and accepted the idea of ​​a superSonic blue hedgehog who talks about living among them.
[Sonic arrives at the Loud house, and sees Luna and Sam playing guitar in the garage]
Sonic: Hi, Luna. Hi, Sam. Cool jams.
Sam: Thank you Sonic. We were actually making a song for you.
Sonic: Wow! I thank you for making a song for me.
Luna: The name of the song will be "The Fastest Thing Alive".
Sam: Yeah, and the refrain is like this, listen.
[The two begin to play their instruments]
Sam: ♫ "Sonic, He can really move;" ♫
Luna: ♫ "Sonic, He's got an attitude;" ♫
Luna/Sam: ♫ "Sonic…" ♫
Luna: ♫ "He's the fastest thing alive..." ♫
Sam: ♫ "He's the fastest thing alive..." ♫
Sonic: ♫ "He's the fastest thing alive!" ♫
Luna/Sam: Yeah!!!
Luna: Rock n Roll, guys!
Sonic: The lyrics are amazing, girls! When they finish let me know so I can see the two sing.
Luna: Okay, dude.
[Sonic enters the house and goes to Lynn, who has a stopwatch timer]
Sonic: Hey Lynn, how long has it been?
Lynn: According to the timer, you ran through the entire town in 25 seconds.
Sonic: WOO-HOO!!! [doing the floss] World record!
[Lincoln, on the second floor of the house, sees Sonic and runs to the attic door]
Lincoln: [whispers] Is ready?
Lisa: [whispers] Affirmative, Male Sibling.
Lincoln: [whispers] Okay, I'm going to bring him.
[Lisa closes the attic door]
Lynn: Can you be the fastest swimmer in the world?
Sonic: No, I hate swim.
[Lincoln goes down the stairs]
Sonic: Hi Linc.
Lincoln: Hi Sonic! What are you doing here?
Sonic: I came to see how long I run for the entire Royal Woods.
Lincoln: Cool. Come on, we have a surprise for you.
Sonic: Wait, how do WE?
Lincoln: The whole family has created a surprise that you will enjoy.
Sonic: Uh... Okay!
[The two go up the stairs]
Sonic: So, where's the surprise?
Lincoln: In the attic.
Sonic: Let's go!
[The two enter the attic]
The Loud Family: SURPRISE!!!!
Sonic: Oh, my…
[Sonic sees in the attic all his things from his cave]
Sonic: Are you kidding me? I can't believe it... How did you... It's... It's all here... Look at this! Are you kidding? And the beanbag?! No way! Oh-ho-ho! How did you even get this... And you got it all the way over... Oh!
[Sonic runs happily through the attic]
Sonic: [happy] I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it!
Lincoln: Well, welcome home.
Sonic: Thank you... so much.
[Lynn and Luna enter the attic]
Lynn: Did we miss something?
[Everyone starts laughing, then the outside of the Loud house appears]
Sonic: [narrating] I'm Sonic, a little blue hedgehog with extraordinary super speed powers, who is chased by a crazy mustached scientist, and has several friends who live in a small town in the northeast United States! And you may be asking yourself, "Has this hedgehog's life improved?" I reply to you, "I'm living the best life a hedgehog can have! I wanted friends and fate gave me a family! And there's nothing that can ruin my new life."
[Meanwhile in the Death Egg...]
Orbot: Uh... Boss, Are you fine?
Eggman: If I'm fine? If I'm fine?! [angry] I almost lost my entire fleet of state-of-the-art robots trying to catch a hedgehog, and you ask if I'm fine?!! I WANT TO SEE YOU ASK IF I AM FINE WHEN I DISASSEMBLY YOU WHOLE, YOUR PRINTABLE OLD CAN!!!
Orbot: [scared] O-okay, boss.
[Orbot leaves]
Eggman: You may have beaten me now Sonic, but don't forget that your archenemy is Doctor Eggman. So get ready, because soon, your powers will be mine and I will take over the world!!!
[The outside of the Death Egg appears]
Eggman: MUAHAHAHAHA!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
THE END
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vagrantblvrd · 5 years
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@rogueghost​ Tumblr’s still acting weird for me so I had to do the old DIY reply to your ask, but here you go. :D?
Oh, friend! There’s so much lore to Destiny that I haven’t kept up with myself because ~lazy. The AUs I’ve written are a mishmash of Destiny universe and ~artistic liberties on my part, so yeah.
(There’s an amazing video here about the lore thus far that I hope to watch One Day? But, again, lazy and lack of time to sit down to properly absorb it.)
Quick background on the games/Ghosts for those who don’t play the game/want to see me ramble on about A Thing:
The game tells us is the Traveler (giant white space orb/messiah/McGuffin showed up in our solar system which resulted in what’s called the Golden Age where human technology advanced like whoa. (But surprise, surprise, the Traveler was being pursued by an enemy referred to as the Darkness and things got messy for humanity, something that happened to several races that happened to run into the Traveler before us.)
There was an extinction level event several centuries before the events of the Destiny games called The Collapse when the Darkness caught up to it. The Traveler “died”, creating the Ghosts as it did to seek out Guardians...who tend to be dead at the time (they get better) who then join the ranks of the Guardians (who for the most part) fight to save humanity/the universe and/or engage in shenanigans such as flinging themselves off the Tower for funsies and the whatnot. (Guardians have no common sense, btw. Also, lunatics.)
BUT.
Back to your amazing prompt???
It would be this entire Thing on its own because I want to set it before the games back in the days before there was a Vanguard, which from what I gather from the lore I have read was not unlike ye olden medieval days/wild west with sci-fi twist, because yes. (Also, it was referred to as the Dark Ages, so yeah.)
Geoff and Jack are among the first Lightbearers that are referred to as Risen in various bits of game lore, right? Before the Iron Lords and the whole “Guardian” business with the Vanguard and the Tower and all that good stuff.
Back in the days where there were some like them who abused their powers over those who weren’t like them. Grabbing land and wealth for themselves and gaining followers through fear and the whatnot?
They spend a long, long time trying to figure out what the hell is going on because no memories of their past lives and this hellish world they’ve been brought back to with Fallen and God knows what else wandering the lands.
Just these little glowing balls of Light and sass nagging them about finding shelter and armor and weapons,  getting them into hiding when Fallen patrols or other bandits go past.
Abilities before there were proper classes and sub-classes and all that.
Geoff and Jack both lean more towards the floofy jumps and glides of Warlocks. (not that they know what a Warlock even is at that point, of course.)
Jack’s abilities and whatnot lean more towards a support role, but he’s not defenseless, oh no. He learns to use his Light as a weapon and that goes for Geoff too.
They carry guns and knives and in a pinch whatever is at hand.
Run into each other in a little settlement somewhere and at first it’s this Thing where they’re keeping their Ghosts out of sight – Warlords and so on who flaunt their little Ghost friends and the way people have learned to react to them. (And also? Just smart not to go about advertising the fact you’re harder to kill than most, that if they don’t know you have a Ghost you won’t stay down once someone tries to put you in the ground.)
There’s an attack, Fallen or human bandits or some Warlord’s goon squad trying to terrorize the settlement into rolling over for them. Pay a tax or whatever they’d call it back then to “protect” them from the roving bands of Fallen and other enemies.
Can’t do much without giving themselves away – and why would they? They don’t owe these people anything, and that old woman scooping her wares off the ground where her booth’s been knocked down tried to shortchange Geoff less than an hour ago.
The asshole with the weapons parts Jack needed is – okay, he’s kind of dead now, but he lied to Jack’s face about not having them in stock. Said he’d have to ask around, and wouldn’t you know it that would cost more. (Jack can see the parts he was after spilling from a box hidden at the back of the guy’s booth and into the grass, blood all over them and what a mess.)
Still.
Jack quietly takes the parts he needs and leaves the money he would have paid fairly for them and a little more with the boy crouched beside the booth. (His mother’s a settlement over, said she’d be a bit before joining his father with the parts she was bartering for there.)
Sighs as he looks down the road the goons left on and starts after them. Geoff’s munching on an apple he got of a nearby tree and watches him go, all thoughtful about it because there are people mourning here and they don’t owe them a damn thing, and what does that idiot think he’s going to do about it?
So of course he follows, just to see.
The end up killing everyone at the Warlord’s little castle, wherever he’s holed up because none of them will listen to reason and the man’s a blowhard. Full of himself because he’s clearly been chosen for a reason, and what else could it be than to rule over the weaker, lesser people in this section of the world?
And Geoff, God, Geoff.
Died several times getting to this asshole, right? Snipers and assholes with knives and other melee weapons and he was in dire need up upgrading his armor before he waded into this fight, but he’s got his trusty Ghost buddy and this stubbornness that just won’t quit. Smiles because this pathetic weasel playing king and is just like, “Oh, buddy, have I got news for you.” and behind him Jack pops his super, Radiance lighting up the Warlord’s pitiful little throne room.
Geoff lets that sink in for a moment before he fricking nova bombs the Warlord in the face.
It kind of hurts a little, when they see the asshole’s Ghost hiding in a corner of the room waiting for the right moment to resurrect the bastard, because their own Ghosts and the bonds they’ve built with them, you know?
But the little Ghost floats out to the center of the room, looks down at the body of its chosen and sighs because it knew a long time ago it chose poorly. (Maybe the Warlord could have done great things with this second chance, but he chose to do terrible things instead.)
They could kill the Ghost, make sure the Warlord didn’t come back, but -
There’s no point to it now. The Ghost is surprised at their decision, maybe disappointed. (Easier for things to end and not have to consider everything that went wrong because of its choice of course. Having to go on however long with that hanging over it? Nothing like mercy, is it?)
So.
They leave the Ghost behind, and all the dead in the halls and rooms where they fell. Find the path that leads away from the settlement and that small little Warlord and keep walking. (Swear they see a light in the woods along the castle grounds following them for a distance, but they leave it be and eventually it vanishes, wandering as aimlessly as them.)
And then!
They kind of fall in together after that, aren't really friends but there aren’t that many directions to go in, you know? And sometimes the Fallen patrols and whatnot are tricky for one Risen to deal with alone and it’s just.
Convenient.
They’re not bad guys, really, certainly no villains, but wouldn’t you know it? There are a lot of people out there who claim they are?
All these warlords with their bounties and other thieves and grifters with grudges to bear against them. Settlements who aren’t sure what to make of them and are wary of strangers because it pays to be paranoid.
And sometimes they kind of do bad things, pilfer some goods off a settlement where the leader’s an asshole and it’s doing well enough for they won’t miss just a little and so on and so forth. (Ignore the fact they maybe stop ‘round a poorer settlement or homestead kind of place to barter their stolen goods for a place with a roof over their heads for the night and so on. Because unimportant and definitely not a Good Deed or anything.)
Eventually they happen on this little asshole of a Hunter, a kid, really. (Well, no. Just. Young.)
Skittish, almost, the way he acts around them and after they win his trust by sheer dint of doing nothing he joins them beside the campfire they’ve set up.
Well, not nothing. Just. Something?
They set up camp in a clearing of the forest they’ve found themselves in this time. Tired after crossing a snowy mountain rage and it’s warm enough where they are they won’t freeze to death at night. (Once was enough, thanks.)
Hunt and fish and forage for food and leave the Hunter they spot lurking about alone when they realize he’s no threat to them.
Eventually Gavin gets curious enough, or maybe something else because he comes to their campfire with tidbits of food of his own. Treats and delicacies he’s made himself or bought or traded for somewhere else to supplement whatever Geoff and Jack caught/foraged for themselves.
They share stories, mostly Geoff and Jack about their adventures up to then. Little ones, because they’d hate to spook Gavin, scare him back into the forest and probably gone off somewhere they don’t stand a chance of finding him again.
After a while Gavin offers up some of his? Mostly advice for the area around them, dangers to look out for like Fallen patrols and the like.
Geoff asks after this human bandit encampment he heard about from a settlement nearby and Gavin goes quiet. Shifts uncomfortably before he tells them it won’t be a problem anymore and leaves it at that.
They don’t ask because they have stories of their own that end like that and it would just be rude after the goodies Gavin shared with them, so they don’t press.
The three of them wander around the forest for a few days, a week. Headed the same direction to another settlement nearby and it’s pretty nice having someone else around for a change, you know?
But once they reach the settlement Gavin vanishes on them and knowing how skittish he is, they don’t go looking for him.
A few years – twenty, thirty, maybe more – go by before they run into Gavin again.
They’ve left Earth a few times since then, gone wandering in these Jumpships that fell apart on them before too long and they ended back up on Earth.
By that time there’s a new group of Risen calling themselves the Iron something or others, and they’re out there giving the Warlords a time of it to hear the stories.
(A few from this shady guy who owns a bar in this little settlement that grew up to be a tiny town. Tells them about this lady named Efrideet responsible for the hole in the ceiling of his fine establishment, but he doesn’t seem too annoyed about it, so it’s probably fine.)
Run across this kid in a town somewhere, angry as hell and taking on some Warlord’s stooges with just his fists. Seems weapons would just slow him down because he’s doing just fine resolving whatever argument or debate he’s engaged in by punching the shit out of his opponents.
When it’s over they buy him a drink because it saves them the trouble of handling things themselves – picked up a bounty not too far away the kid took care of for them – and they offer to split the reward money since he did all the work.
And Michael, okay.
Squints at them because he sure as hell doesn’t know them, but who is he to turn down a free drink?
He agrees to taking a quarter of the reward because it seems they won’t accept anything less, but whatever. He would have have kicked the shit out of those assholes anyway for trying to bully the people here and this way he’ll have a little extra money in his pockets. (Whatevers.)
They part ways there, but he tells them if they need a hand they’re welcome to in touch with them.
Geoff and Jack wander a little more. Hear about these Iron Lords or whatever they’re calling themselves these days and are understandably concerned because the warlords business and who says these idiots are going to be any better?
(Say they’re out to protect people and all that, but entire settlements, towns, have gotten caught in the crossfire between them and the warlords and the only ones to walk out of it are these Iron Lords. So. Yeah. They’ve got some trouble thinking anyone’s a good guy in that scenario.)
More time goes by and they’re at some little outpost somewhere when Gavin pops up out of nowhere.
Strained look on his face and eyeing Michael who’s with them warily.
Says, “I could use your help,” which is a first because whenever they run into him he’s the one helping them out.
Hell of a sniper and no one better they’ve met when stealth is needed and anyway, anyway, they say yes because of course they do.
Like this little idiot who creeps around the wilds like it’s second nature, goes delving into Darkness Zones looking for God knows what. All kinds of trouble he gets up to and no one watching his back and just.
They worry, okay? They do.
More so with the way he’s all wound up about something. Won’t even tell them what it is until they’re out of the outpost and miles into the woods. Ghosts telling them no one’s around to listen in and even then he’s nervous.
Michael, who’s been quiet through all this loses his temper, snaps at Gavin to get on with with it already, fuck’s sake.
Jack goes to rein him in because Gavin and skittish and just, not what they need right now?
Only as it turns out, it kind of is because Gavin just.
Spills this story about coming across a crashed Fallen ketch in the mountains nearby. Too deep into Fallen territory – and treacherous terrain besides – for anyone to have reason to go up there.
But because Gavin’s an idiot and his Ghost is just as much of one, they went up there anyway.
Snuck past Fallen patrols and the whatnot to get into the ketch and found a Ghost in an odd little device that kept it from transmatting somewhere safe. Little thing begging them to find its chosen because the Fallen had caught them by surprise.
Overwhelmed them in an ambush and caught the Ghost in the cage it’s stuck in, kept its chosen because they thought he had answers they wanted.
Gavin glosses over the interrogations the Ghost told them about, how they’d torture its chosen to the point of death and have it resurrect him to do it all over again and the worst part is its chosen honestly didn’t have the answers to the questions they kept asking him? Resurrected a year ago a most when they were captured and wandering through the area by chance and just bad luck all around.
Anyway, anyway, he knows they don’t know this poor bastard, but Gavin can’t just leave him there, okay? He can’t get the guy out himself, but if they don’t want to help that’s fine, he understands, he’ll find a way -
Geoff and Jack are just like, no, you little idiot no, we’ll help. Just. Don’t do anything stupid okay?
Gavin is like “...okay?” because he didn’t know if they’d say yes – none of their business and sure, they’ve been pretty vocal about not getting involved things that don’t involve them, but that’s all just talk.
(They’ve been getting into trouble that didn’t concern them for a long damn time before now, and hey, Gavin’s kind of their business because they like him okay?)
Michael doesn’t know what Gavin’s deal is, but he’s always up for a fight and nothing better to do and when Geoff and Jack ask if he wants to go along he’s just like, sure, why not?
Gavin isn’t sure about him because Michael is a stranger to him? But he doesn’t seem too bad and Geoff and Jack like him and anyway, the more the merrier?
Thy follow Gavin up to the Fallen ketch, take out Fallen patrols and whatever else in their way headed there. Gavin has to sneak in ahead of them because there are traps and security measures the others would trample their way into and just.
“Be back in a moment,” and goes invisible because he’s got all them Hunter abilities and the whatnot.
There’s this uncomfortably long bit of time where the others are in hiding to avoid being detected and wondering if Gavin got caught by the Fallen. This whole argument about having to break in and save him too, which is when Gavin reappears, all “Took longer than I expected, but it’s all clear now,” and scares the bejesus out of them because Hunter and stealth and where the hell did he come from?
Gavin shrugging and totally not laughing at them as he takes the lead.
They get pretty far in before they’re noticed, and then it’s all fighting and shooting and maybe dying once or twice to be resurrected by their Ghost or picked up by a teammate.
Gavin makes for the trapped Ghost first, figures they might need it by the time they reach this captured Risen which, yikes? (But also smart, and also it’s easier to get and on the way and just. It works out.)
The Ghost they rescue sticks close to Gavin and his Ghost, nervous little thing after all it’s gone through and then there’s more fighting and the whatnot to get to this idiot who got himself caught.
Dicey moments and definitely some dying on their parts because there’s a Fallen tank in the ketch - naturally - and all these Vandals with their fricking wire rifles they don’t see until it’s too late, and anyway.
It’s a hell of a fight to get the guy.
Have to deal with a Kell, because of course they do, but four Lightbearers deal with him better than one or two would have and then they get to rescue the poor bastard.
His Ghost tutting and fussing and Ryan – because of course it’s Ryan – is just like, I’m alright, stop worrying and also?
Suspicious of his rescuers because he’s never seen them and four Lightbearers? Makes him Concerned, okay.
Things aren’t as bad as they were before the Iron Lords or whoever showed up, but it’s still.
He’s not very trusting, is the thing.
Grateful for the rescue and all, but not super friendly. (Which, understandable considering his recent experience.)
The group sticks together for a few days after they get out of the mountains and back down to a nearby settlement. Aren’t surprised when Ryan goes his own way – tells them he owes them one and goes off with his Ghost for more adventures or what have you.
No one is surprised when Gavin follows him all stealthy-like.
Well. Not as stealthy as he could be, because he doesn’t want to make Ryan jumpy about feeling like he’s being watched? But Gavin kind of bonded with Ryan’s Ghost a bit when he first ventured into the Ketch. Couldn’t sneak out right away and ended up living inside it avoiding Fallen for a few days. Crept down to see Ryan, talk to him when he could to tell him he’d find a way to get him out of there, you know?
(Hiding out in some little corner somewhere in the Ketch – too risky to sleep or too paranoid and there’s one or two Fallen watching Ryan he can sneak around to see him. Think about how it’d feel if he was the one in Ryan’s position and how easily that could happen to a lone Lightbearer and how awful it is that Ryan’s been there all that time and no one knew and just. He’s attached now, alright?)
Ryan too out of it most of the time to know about it, but his Ghost tells him about the idiot who went snooping where he really shouldn’t have been. Lurking about the Ketch even after he could have gotten out to make sure he had the layout and patrols memorized before going for help and just.
Everything.
So he’s not worried when the same idiot follows him when he goes on his own way, getting more bold or just bored/curious when he stops pretending he’s not following Ryan and walks into the little camp he makes somewhere.
The two of them traveling around together for a while, a few years, maybe more before they get a call from Geoff and Jack because Michael’s in a situation thanks to this asshole he fell in with somewhere.
Nothing too dire, just need the extra firepower and they help get Michael and his buddy Jeremy out of a Cabal base somewhere.
And then they go somewhere to celebrate and just. Stick together for a while?
Nothing more pressing to deal with – the Iron Lords have things pretty well in hand and all, warlords mostly gone and a semblance of order to things.
But there are still baddies out there, places the Iron Lords don’t have resources to protect just yet and they make a living out there.
Bloody, ugly living sometimes because baddies who were born that way and no one else to handle things and they’re not the bad guys here, but they’re not good either.
The SIVA clusterfuck happens and there’s this...chaos, panic for while. Things get hectic, threaten to go back to the way they were before the Iron Lords and it’s awful right?
This little group of Lightbearers out there doing what they can to keep things from getting too bad even if it means liberating goods and supplies from people hoarding them, refusing to share with those in need. Stopping the more aggressive assholes from trying for power grabs and the lot.
Maybe a few of them think twice about forming the kind of bonds they have when they see what happened to the Iron Lords because they’re not invincible even with their little Ghost buddies, you know?
But they keep on keepin’ on and watch as more and more Lightbearers show up, the City grows and Titans built its walls and the Vanguard come into being. Lightbearers start calling themselves Guardians, of all things.
And that gets derisive snort from Geoff because pretentious much? But the Guardians grow in number, fight against the Fallen and whoever – whatever – else threatens humanity. (Their City.)
Put out patrol beacons and organize strikes and all that nonsense and all these freshly resurrected Guardians going out and doing good things with their second chance. (Some driven by the desire to help mankind and all that, others by the promise of loot and prestige, and those with nothing better to do and a Ghost nudging them in the direction of being helpful.)
Still they hold out for a while, not wholly trusting in the staying power of the Vanguard and what they’re doing in that City of theirs or their Tower after seeing what happened before them.
Eventually though, they get curious.
Or maybe the Vanguard’s heard about them and they got curious.
Whichever one it is, they end up running a few strike together. Do some patrols on the side because guaranteed glimmer for some menial task they would have done for free. (Would have gotten parts and supplies anyway, handful of glimmer, but now? Better pay and earning trust in the bargain.)
Stop having to scavenge for the stuff they need and – this is bonus in Gavin’s mind at least because he’s never forgotten what happened to Ryan – someone besides one of them who’ll notice if they’re in trouble or go missing.
Who will send others to look for them (how many times have they done the same for the Vanguard already? Asked to find some wayward Guardian who bit off more than they could chew) and mourn them if they can’t be saved.
To be honest, Geoff and Jack are all about that side of things with the idiots they’ve joined up with, you know? Michael and Jeremy are one thing, get into trouble for the hell of it sometimes, but Ryan and Gavin?
Those two get up to trouble because they’re too damn stupid. Go off on their own into Dead Zones and everything else all the damn time, wander the wilds for weeks on end where communications are spotty and they won’t know they’re in trouble until long after the fact.
Ray’s even worse, but he’s one of the most capable Lightbearers any of them have met so it’s. Bad, but the whole trust thing?
(And anyway, there won’t be a time they aren’t worrying about any of their idiots, so. Yes.)
Maybe this Guardian business isn’t such a bad thing after all.
Still takes a while before they decide to throw their lot in with them, move to the Tower, but eventually they do.
Have this hidden base of sorts in the wilds all nice and locked down in case something goes wrong – Cabal attacking the city and cutting off their link to their Light, for example – and other hidey spots and boltholes all over the system because.
Paranoia for good reasons and being prepared, and anyway, anyway.
They have this little section of the Tower for their group, little clan, if you will. Pick up new Guardians every so often. Freshly resurrected or ones they hit it off with when the Vanguard sends them on strikes and the whatnot.
Lindsay and Trevor and this whole slew of new idiots Geoff and Jack watch over in their own way.
Gavin is thrilled at not being the only Hunter in the bunch when they find Alfredo. (Or maybe he finds them???)
Anyway, there’s this feeling of safety, security they have now they didn’t before being part of something bigger than themselves. (Not perfect, because the Vanguard can be horrifically shortsighted at times, but they’re doing their best.)
Also?
Loot.
Lots of loot and glimmer and that’s the important thing.
Really.
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turtle-steverogers · 5 years
Text
Summer Nights
HOLY SHIT ME??? POSTING A FIC??? wow.....
warnings: alcohol, smoking, abuse mentions...would y’all believe me if i said its actually really fluffy? also, the use of ‘pal’ as a term of endearment because i’ve been reading way too much stucky
ship: sprace
editing: actually, yeah
word count: a whopping 4038
-
May 
“So where’d you get your fake ID?” Spot startles and chokes on the glass of Jack and Coke that he had been nursing.  His throat burns as the vile liquid travels down his esophagus much faster than he would have liked and he looks with watery eyes at the person who had spoken to him.  
The guy is tall and somewhat lanky with blonde hair that seems to shoot out in various directions.  His eyes glint behind a pair of black framed glasses and are highlighted by the bags that hang underneath them.  His face is set in a permanent smirk, but there’s a tired essence about him.
“Excuse me?” Spot manages, trying to suppress the coughing fit that threatens to overtake him.
“There’s no way you’re older than me,” The guy scoffs, “So I’m wondering how you managed to get your drink.”
Spot’s gaze travels down to the cigarette perched between the guy’s fingers, nose scrunching as the smell hits him and his neck tingles with desire.  
The guy seems to notice his stare and he scoffs, “You want one?”
Spot shakes his head, “I shouldn’t.”
“But you do want one,” The guy says slowly, raising his eyebrows, “Don’t you?”
Spot gives him a half-hearted shrug, raising his glass to his lips and taking a small sip.  
The guy chuckles, “Suit yourself,” he takes a drag, settling on the stool next to Spot.  Spot gives him a side glance as a bartender swoops past, asking to see the guy’s ID, before sliding a glass of rum and Sprite over to him.
“Where’d you get yours, then?” Spot asks, eyes flicking down to the glass as the guy snubs out his cigarette in one of the provided ashtrays.
“Hm?” The guy doesn’t seem too bothered as he knocks back half of his drink in a single gulp.
“Your fake ID.”
“Oh,” The guy says, swallowing, “A friend.”
“Oh,” Spot pauses circling his drink around for a few moments, peering at its contents, “I’m almost 21.”
The guy looks at him, eyebrows raised, “Yeah? How old are you, then?”
“Twenty,” Spot says, “My birthday’s in December.”
“You’re still like,” The guy furrows his eyebrows, thinking, “7 or so months out then.”
Spot shrugs, “Close enough.  How old’re you?”
“I’m nineteen, turning twenty in August.”
“Cool,” They fall into an awkward silence, although the guy looks generally at ease.  Spot clears his throat, motioning for the bartender to bring him another drink.  Another glass is passed to him and he brings it to his lips, intoxication swirling in his gut.
“You live around here?” The guy asks.
Spot nods, “Just got home from school.”
“Ah,” The guy nods, understanding flashing across his face, “S’that why you’re here?”
“What?”
“Well the last semester just ended, like, last week,” The guy points out, “At least it did for me, so we haven’t been home very long.  Are you already sick of it?”
“Sick of what?” Spot squints at the guy, dumbly.
“Being home,” The guy’s voice had turned from jovial to unsettlingly serious.  He fixes Spot with a hard, knowing look.
Spot squares his shoulders, turning to face the guy all the way, “Why,” he demands, “are you?”
The guy seems to shrink in on himself a little bit and Spot feels a pang of guilt shoot through him before he remembers that the guy had started it.
“What’s your name?” The guy asks, shaking out his shoulders, his smirk returning to his face.
“I don’t even know you,” Spot says, warily.
“Hi,” The guy sticks out a hand, which Spot shakes briefly, “I’m Race.  There, now you know me.  What’s your name?”
“Spot.”
“‘Cause of your freckles?” The guy, Race, blurts out.  His eyes widen and he backtracks, stuttering over his words, “Unless that’s not, like, a nickname and-”
Spot quirks an eyebrow, amusement playing on his lips, “No, you’re right,” Race’s shoulders sag in relief, “My old foster brother started calling me that when we moved in together.”
“Oh, nice.”
“Yeah,” Spot says, “Race?”
“Yeah?”
“No,” Spot shakes his head, “Why Race?”
“Oh,” Race blushes, “I don’t really know.  My dad always told me I was racing to catch up with my head and it kinda stuck.”
Spot nods, tucking the information somewhere in the forefront of his mind, but not answering.  The silence that stretches back out between them is welcome this time, a new sort of familiarity in it.  Something dynamic in the pause strikes a chord with Spot, a rare understanding bounding between them.  Race’s presence no longer renders a threat, although the mischief that seems to emanate off the other boy doesn’t go unnoticed.  But as they sit there, idly sipping their drinks, Spot becomes increasingly aware that the mischief isn’t directed at him.
“Well,” Race grunts, sliding his glass away with a sigh and checking his watch, “I’m outta here,” he hops off his stool, briefly stretching his shoulders, “see you ‘round, Spottie,” he pauses for a moment, eyes boring into Spot intensely before lightening, “try not to commit arson in your home or something.”
Spot barks out a startled laugh, “Same to you, pal.”
But Race is already gone.
XXX
“I quit last year.”
Spot skips the pleasantries, gesturing to the cigarette that Race was currently working to light.  His head is buzzing minutely, nothing to be entirely concerned about, but the alcohol didn’t fail to make its presence in his system known.  He’d lasted a few days sober in his home before he gave into the seedy bar’s beckon call and strolled out the front door, looking for an escape.  
Spot couldn’t necessarily say he’s surprised to see Race back- he seems the type to frequent the place- but his presumptuous aura is absent as he startles, wide, red-rimmed eyes fixating on Spot’s.
Spot’s eyebrows furrow, but Race looks away before he can speak. 
“Fuck off, I don’t need shitty life advice right now,” He grumbles, pocketing his lighter and inhaling a tangy lungful of smoke.
Spot raises his hands in mock surrender, “No life advice, got it.  You okay?”
Race scoffs, gaze still cast to the side.  Spot can see the misty lamplight twinkling in his eyes, but the playful light that had been there last time is nowhere to be seen.  It’s disconcerting.
“You wanna talk about it?” Spot asks casually, moving to lean against the damp, brick wall next to Race, “Believe it or not, I listen pretty well.”
Race doesn’t look at him as he takes a long drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out in a long, thin line, “I don’t even know you.”
“You know my name,” Spot smirks, “that was enough for you the other day.”
Race doesn’t seem to have an answer to that.  He takes another drag, then holds his cigarette up to the light, studying it with a resentful eye. 
“I don’t like smoking,” He concedes, “It’s just the only thing that can ever-“
“-Keep you sane?” Spot guesses, knowing all too well what he meant. 
Race spares a glance at him, “Yeah.”
Spot skips letting him know that he gets it.  Hell knows Race probably doesn’t want to hear it.
Instead he asks, “Does anything else keep you sane?”
Race scoffs again. He seems to do that a lot.  Like the world is sad and laughable.  It kind of is. 
“Uh,” Race scrunches up his nose, dropping his arm to his side, cigarette still secure between his nimble fingers, but momentarily forgotten, “Writing.” 
Spot carefully avoids letting his surprise slip, “What kind of writing?”
Race shrugs, fingers going loose.  Spot eyes flick to the falling cigarette.  Something sort of like pride wells in his chest.  The hardest part is already done.  Letting go.  
Not that quitting is going to be easy in any respect from here on out, but that initial admission to the notion is key.  And it looks like Race has given in. 
“Anything.  Stories, memoirs, thoughts,” He trails off for a moment, thinking, “just not poetry.  I suck at poetry.”
“Poetry is overrated, anyway.”
A moment of silence.  Race carefully stomps on the butt of the cigarette, “I guess.”
June
“I haven’t smoked for two weeks.”
Spot looks up from his bottle, something he could almost mistake for fondness swelling in his chest.  Race slides onto the stool next to him, waving over the bartender and gesturing for a beer.  The bartender hands it to him and sidles away.
Spot allows his gaze to scan over his new friend, noting that while he looks exhausted, there’s a healthier quality about him.  The bags under his eyes have let up a bit and the sallow, stretched skin of his cheeks have become fuller- redder.  He catches sight of the notebook that’s cradled protectively in Race’s grasp, but doesn’t say anything.  If Race wants to show him, he will.  
“I’m proud of you,” Spot says genuinely, taking a sip of his beer and facing forward again.
The now expected silence settles over them again.  
“And I’ve been writing more again,” Race admits, sheepishly holding up the notebook.  He delicately opens it, flipping through the pages slowly until he lands on one that has been bookmarked by an old movie ticket.
“I don’t usually let anyone see it, but…” He turns it towards Spot and thrusts it into his grasp, “If you want, uh, you can look.”
Realizing the underlying establishment of trust that accompanies the gesture, Spot takes the notebook, being careful to keep his expression judgement free.  He reads the passage- a short, choppy piece that doesn’t entirely make sense to him.  It’s a memory, that much is clear, but key details are missing.  It’s more of an imagery work, bringing Spot to an old park somewhere in Race’s childhood.  He isn’t sure exactly what importance or deep-felt symbolism the park may hold, but it’s obvious that it’s special to Race.  And if it’s been keeping Race from smoking, well, that’s a win then. 
“That was brilliant, Race,” Spot says genuinely as he carefully closes the notebook and hands it back, “Has it helped?”
Race looks at the notebook, a small, half-smile on his face, “So far.”
XXX
“Wanna take a walk?”
This time, Spot isn’t surprised to see Race standing expectantly next to him.  The notebook is back in his grip, but it seems to be more of a comforting presence than anything else.  Race is fiddling with the movie ticket bookmark that peeks out the top, running his thumb over the worn, leather bounding.
“Sure,” Spot answers before he can give too much thought to the notion.
Race’s face breaks into a wide grin and Spot finds himself mirroring it.
“Awesome, c’mon,” Race says, taking the glass out of Spot’s grip and replacing it with his hand.  
He pulls Spot out of the bar and doesn’t let go as he leads him down the street.  It’s decently late and as they venture further away from town and closer to the surrounding neighborhoods, the company of people surrounding them ceases.  They take a sudden turn into a little cul-de-sac and Race slows their pace as they cross to the other side of the street.  In front of them sits a small playground.  It looks old.  Everything is made of wood or metal and Spot can see pieces of paint chipping off the sets.
“Oh,” Spot murmurs, mind venturing to the passage Race had shown him the other day.
“Yeah,” Race says, leading Spot to the swingset and nodding for him to perch on one of the swings.  They sit, rocking back and forth in companionable quiet, “Why did you decide to quit?” Race asks after a moment.
Spot thinks for a moment, tilting his head to look at Race.  Race is watching him intently.
“I was tired of not being in control,” Spot says, honestly, “I had lost my mom and my dad was being shitty and so I started smoking to help ease off the edge, but after a while it just made me feel more out of control.  So, I quit.”
Race hums, eyes shifting to his own hand clasped around the chain of the swing, “Was it easy?”
Spot watches him fidget with the chain for a moment, “Is it easy?” 
Race looks back at him, “No.”
“Then there’s your answer.”
“But it can be done?”
Spot smirks, “I quit, didn’t I?”
Race nods and Spot allows himself to smile, “Then there’s your answer.”
XXX
“I like you, Spot.”
Spot blinks, turning his head to look at Race.  They’re back at the park, this time in the early morning.  He wasn’t sure when they’d gotten so close, but sometime between the last park visit and now, phone numbers had been exchanged and bonds tied tighter.  What they seemed to have was nice.  Never had Spot felt so real and raw with a person before, but in the span of a few weeks, Race had wormed himself into his life.  They didn’t talk very often about themselves, but the understanding of each other they seemed to have meant they didn’t have to.  They just got it.
“I like you, too, Race,” Spot says, bemused.
“No, like, I like you,” Race holds eye contact and Spot feels his stomach flip.  Race’s bluntness has always impressed Spot and he doesn’t think he’ll ever truly get used to it.
“Oh,” Is all he can think to say.  It isn’t that he doesn’t like Race back, it’s just that he hasn’t given his feelings much thought.  He’s mostly just run with what feels good in the moment. 
“I think I want to kiss you,” Race continues, gaze never wavering.
Spot feels his heart leap to his throat and he swallows, “Okay,” he manages.
Race raises an eyebrow, “Okay okay? Or just...okay.”
Spot nods, “Okay okay.”
Race smiles and stands from his swing, closing the short distance between them until he’s directly in front of him.  He grips one of the chain handles and rests his other hand on the side of Spot’s face.  Spot stares at him, memorizing the movements.  His own hand finds the taller boy’s hip.
Nothing happens for a moment, then Race leans down, capturing his mouth in a tentative kiss.  Spot hums a little and it’s all Race needs to deepen the kiss.  They move in tandem, feeling out each other’s presence for what could be an eternity.  Then, Race pulls back.
Their foreheads stay pressed together and Spot smiles.
“Thank you,” Race breathes.
“For what?” Spot whispers back.
Race shrugs, “For being here.”
“Thank you, too.”
July
“Why do you like the park so much?” Spot asks one day as they walk away from the bar.  He’s always wondered, but asking seemed too personal.  But now that whatever they have has been solidified, it seems appropriate.
Race doesn’t answer immediately.  Spot didn’t expect him to.
“Went there a lot as a kid,” Race says, “always had been an escape.  Still is.”
Spot nods, “Neat.”
Race laughs, squeezing their conjoined hands, “Neat?  What are you, 50?”
“Maybe,” Spot teases, eyes crinkling as he looks up at Race, “What are you gonna do about it?”
“Ewww,” Race whines, scrunching up his nose, “I do not want to think about kissing on an old man.”
“You brought it on yourself, pal,” Spot says, shaking his head.
“I know, but you- ugh, nevermind.”
They take their usual seats on the swings, hands still clasped together between them.  Spot smiles.  He’s happy.
XXX
The first setback happens a month after Race initially pledges to quit.  Spot had been expecting this.  Granted, lasting out a month without a cig was incredibly impressive, but it still wasn’t a surprise when Spot’s phone rang on a Tuesday afternoon.
He furrows his eyebrows, staring for a moment at Race’s contact photo before sliding his thumb across the screen and lifting his phone to his ear.
“Race?”  He sits up when he hears a jagged cough on the other end, “Hello?”
“Spot,” Race rasps.  He isn’t crying, at least, Spot can’t hear it in his voice, but he sounds miserable, “I fucked up.”
Spot purses his lips.  He knows what he’s talking about- it’s obvious enough- but he wants Race to say it.  Needs to have him talk it out.
“What happened?” He asks, already tucking his phone between his ear and shoulder and pulling on his shoes.  
“I smoked,” Race says.  His tone is dull, plain.  He sounds utterly defeated.
“Did something happen?  Or was it just urges, or-”
“My uncle hit me.”
“Goddamnit,”Spot paused in tying his shoes, taking a moment to draw in a measured breath.  Race didn’t talk much about his home-life, but Spot knew the basics.  He knew that his parents had passed in a car crash and Race had been sent to live with his aunt and uncle.  He knew that things had been good at first, but quickly physical abuse had reared its ugly head and Race was subject to things that no kid should know.  He didn’t know much, but he knew enough to make his blood boil.
“Sorry,” Race’s voice was still lifeless and Spot almost wished that he were crying.  This was just plain scary.
“I’m not mad,” Spot quickly reassures him, “I’m actually proud that you got this far without a smoke.  I’m coming, hang tight.”
“I’m at the park,” Race says, “In case you didn’t figure that already.”
Spot had figured, but he bites his tongue, “thanks, don’t go anywhere.”
He spots Race immediately, sitting on top of the monkey bars instead of the swings.  His head is turned outward, glazed eyes staring at the treetops.  There’s a nasty bruise forming on his left cheekbone, still red and glaring.  Spot’s shoulders sag.  
“Hey,” He calls carefully, not wanting to startle Race into falling.  Something tells him that wouldn’t be especially appreciated right now.
Surprisingly, Race turns towards him.  Spot had speculated that it would take a little coaxing to pull him out of his mind.
“Hey,” Race calls back.  His voice is scratchy and Spot vaguely wonders how many cigarettes he’s had.  Though, looking closer, there’s no sign of a pack or any stubs on the ground.
“I threw them in the forest,” Race mumbles, gesturing aimlessly, “S’why you can’t see any.  I didn’t wanna see any.”
Spot raises his eyebrows.  He’s got a million questions, a million concerns, but he elects to simply say, “I’m proud of you for throwing them.  How many did you have?”
“Only two,” Race watches him as he climbs up next to him, settling down on one of the bars, “only two…”
“That’s...not as bad as I thought,” Spot admits, “good job.”
Race scoffs, “Don’t praise me for messing up.”
“I’m not,” Spot says firmly, tapping his chin to get him to look at him “I’m praising you for realizing that it was a mistake and actively preventing yourself from having another.  I couldn’t even do that when I was tryna quit.”
“Oh,” Race looks down at his hands and Spot reaches out to grab one, “Okay.”
“Lemme see,” Spot says gently, lifting a careful hand as Race turns his head to the side, allowing for a full view of the abrasion.  Spot gingerly runs a finger over it, immediately stopping when Race winces, “Hurts still?”
Race nods, “He got me good.”
“Wanna talk about what happened?” It was probably a ‘no’, but Spot always offered, anyway.  Just to let Race know that he could.
“No,” Race mumbles.
“Alright,” Yep, as predicted, “Let’s get you some ice.”
He climbs down, waiting close by to help Race if he needs it.  A moment later, they’re walking towards town, hands linked together in Spot’s jacket pocket.
August
“Hey, happy birthday,” Spot greets Race with a smile, handing him a small parcel.  Race looks up at him from where he’s sitting at the swing and Spot is instantly reminded of their first kiss.  His smile grows.
“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Race says, biting his lip to hold back a smile of his own.
“Yeah, I did,” Spot rolls his eyes, stepping forward so that Race’s knees were resting against his shins, “Open it.”
Race blushes a little, bowing his head as he unwraps the gift.  Spot watches as his fingers slip underneath the tape, carefully unsticking each fold.  It always baffled Spot how meticulous Race is.  He emanates such boisterous chaos that Spot would have never pegged him for the gentle type.  But with Race, the surprises never really stopped.
“Fuck,” Race breathes, jaw going slack as he takes the new notebook out of the paper.  It’s a little bigger than the one he has at home and in much better shape.  He holds it to his nose, closing his eyes as he notes that the leather smells real, “this is beautiful, Spot.”
Spot’s grin turns into something a little more gentle, “I knew you were running out of pages in your other one, so I thought…” Spot takes Race in as he opens the notebook, running the pads of his fingers over the crisp, yellow pages, “Oh and here,” Spot digs into his pocket and pulls out a small pack of .5 mm pens, “these might be a little more fun to write with than a mechanical pencil.”
Race takes the pack and glances up at Spot before cracking open the lid.  He takes one out and uncaps it with his teeth, focusing intently on his paper as he writes out a short message.  His handwriting is surprisingly good and looks even better in the fine, black ink.  He tears out the paper and hands it to Spot.
Spot eyes him amusedly before reading the message,
Much love for you...thank you
Spot smiles, as Race pulls him down by the front of his shirt, “I love you, too,” he mumbles, already closing his eyes.  Their lips fit together like puzzle pieces.
XXX
Spot looks around at the boxes in his room, taking a deep breath as he goes over a mental checklist of anything he might have missed.  
“You all packed?” Race asks, wrapping his arms around Spot’s waist from behind.  He tucks his chin on Spot’s shoulder, pressing a light kiss to his pulse point.
“I’m 99 percent sure,” Spot says, turning to wrap his own arms around Race.
“Good,” Race leans down, pecking a kiss to the tip of his nose, “I’m gonna miss you.”
“S’just college Racer,” Spot says, kissing his chin, “We’ll both be back for Fall and Winter break and shit.”
Race scrunches his nose, an impressive pout forming on his face, “But that’s so long, Spottie,” he whines.
Spot chuckles, “I know, I’m sad, too.”
“One day,” Race’s pout melts away, a smirk spreading across his lips instead, “I’m gonna marry you and college or anything can suck my dick.”
Spot laughs loudly, head tilting back, “You do that.”
Race pulls him back in, capturing him once more in a kiss, “Oh, I will.”
6 Years Later
“Racer, I got the garlic!” 
Spot pushes the door to their apartment closed with his foot, holding the grocery bags above his head as their dog, Linda, bounds up to him.
“Hey, hey, no, Linda- down, babygirl! This food isn’t for you,” He transfers the bags to one hand and shoves Linda off with the other.
“Thank god,” Race pokes his head out of the kitchen, “I was worried that this chicken would have to go herbless and our taste buds would suffer tragically.”
Spot shakes his head, plucking the garlic pod out of the bag and tossing it to his husband, “Drama queen.”
He puts the groceries away, then joins Race at the stove.
“This all smells really good,” Spot says, dipping a finger in whatever pasta sauce Race is making.
“Hey, get your fucking fingers out of my sauce,” Race chides, hitting Spot lightly with a wooden spoon and getting pasta water on the sleeve of his henley.
“Asshole,” Spot bites, but there’s no real malice behind it.
“Mmm, you love me,” Race says, turning back to one of the pots.
Spot gently grabs his elbow, turning him and leaning up to kiss him, “Indeed I do.”
-
hehe
thanks for reading, chiefs
hmu to be added to my tag
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jackdawyt · 5 years
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Happy N7 Day 2019 guys! ICYMI, I made a video a while back delving into Mass Effect’s future from here on out. Check it out! 
Today I'm once more looking into the future of Mass Effect, plunging into where the franchise will go since Andromeda's ramshackle attempt. Honestly, I respect Andromeda for trying to create a new narrative for the Mass Effect franchise, arching into many games. However, it's the direction that the game took, and the sheer lack of knowledge of games design from BioWare Montreal that, for the lack of better words, screwed this spin-off.  
Andromeda didn't have the heart and soul of a Mass Effect game, and that's simply because the team had no experience with creating the previous entries. Though, now that Casey Hudson, the original trilogies director has since returned to BioWare, there's hope for the future now. Mass Effect has his vision, and under his supervision, perhaps we could get a return to this beloved franchise in due time, repairing the mistakes of Andromeda with a new entry in the series crafted from the same team as the trilogy.
With that, I guess we've got to ask ourselves what's next for Mass Effect?
Over the years, I've gathered and constructed many concepts and ideas for where this franchise could go from here, so lock yourselves down guys, because we're heading at ludicrous speed into the future of Mass Effect! First up:  
Mass Effect Milky Way Spin-off:
This is probably the best possible way for Mass Effect to return in my opinion, this concept revolves around returning to the beloved Milky Way Galaxy as a new character surrounding an entirely new plot-line in a spin-off fashion.
I’ve always been enchanted by the idea of playing as one of the many races in Mass Effect, embarking on a grand space adventure, perhaps as a mercenary with a small crew, against a more localized threat. At least that's my pitch for now regarding such a spin-off!
This title would encompass origin stories just like Dragon Age: Origins, as an example, if the player we’re to be an Asari, perhaps they've lived a life on the streets of Omega, fighting for scraps and living in poverty, experiencing the true harshness of this urban lifestyle that Omega entails.
This could be a completely different narrative as to someone else who perhaps plays as a Volus growing up on Illium, or a Quarian living nomadically on a fleet. Either race the player picks, they'd always end up with the same goal.
From any lifestyle, perhaps the player would become a highly-skilled mercenary or freelancer, acquiring a ship for the first time in their life, building a squad and opposing a smaller threat within the Milky-Way. Just a quick, role-playing influenced idea there...
However, on the flip of that, perhaps the player and their squad are able to fit the role of anti-heroes within the galaxy, fulfilling a sort of 'Guardian's Of The Galaxy' archetype, allowing the squad to be slightly more antagonistic than ever before.
Even scrap that idea and let the players just be antagonists in this world, let's have a Mass Effect game where we can be villainous, and stir up trouble in the Terminus System! I'm not rightly speaking on being a grand evil, I'm more for the idea of playing as a mercenary leader, experiencing a life of crime in a condensed space opera tied to this plot of backstabbings, betrayal and complete espionage.
Perhaps sneaking thorough the backstreets of Omega, assassinating contracts, smuggling and stealing resources, hacking into operations and even just blatant bank robberies, in Mass Effect's fashion of course!  
It'd be a complete change-up from the previous Mass Effect titles, and the way I see this concept, it's more of a back to the roots of BioWare. They'd be a huge emphasis on character creation and freedom, with a story inspired by pen and paper role-playing games, inspiring more of a D&D feel than anything!
In any case, this scenario would allow me to fulfil my many fantasies of playing as one of the very many Mass Effect races, with a fun, jaded and morally grey narrative to boot, right back in the Milky-Way! With even the possibility of coming across so many of the beloved Milky Way characters that appeared in the original trilogy.
Perhaps not as simple as it sounds, but possibly this title could be a 'Mass Effect 4' set after Mass Effect three's events, this could be done if BioWare gave way to retconning three's ending. After accomplishing that, perhaps you could just pop this concept within the time-space after the Milky-Way is saved thanks to Shepard and Co.
Again though, this is just one of my fantasies, I could talk about this concept all day, perhaps I may do another video one day just on expanding this idea, for now though, we've got other ways to consider!
Andromeda Sequel - a continuation of Mass Effect Andromeda's narrative, crafted by original dev's:
The next possibility surrounds the Andromeda Galaxy, within the game - Mass Effect Andromeda, the developers did a great job of opening up and setting this galaxy as a new narrative. The team were expecting on creating a trilogy within that space, they've planted plenty of seeds for the future of Andromeda.
So, perhaps with the original developers of the trilogy on hand, we could potentially return to the Andromeda Galaxy.
Of course, I've got a few ideas of how this could work!
The simplest concept is just a basic Andromeda sequel, perhaps fulfilling the repressing role as Ryder once more and picking up where things were dropped off. It'd be simple, however, I don't think it'd be a good idea just considering the flack both Ryder and Andromeda's narrative got. it's still an idea though!
A better and more efficient way for Mass Effect to return to the Andromeda Galaxy is to simply set the events of the next title 500 years ahead. Allowing all of Andromeda's ongoing political turmoil, misguided narratives and just general settlement of humanity and other species on this Galaxy. No more Ryder, no more dull companions, a new palette in a Galaxy that could've changed dramatically since it's the very origin.
With centuries ahead since the last game, new threats and species may have evolved, more characters, different technologies, varied biotic capabilities, etc. A completely unique perspective on Mass Effect, just with the same original team working on this one. Perhaps a different protagonist, not related to the Ryder family with a fresh cleanser of a world, this could be a blank canvas for the Mass Effect franchise to start again.
In the same vein as this concept, however, slightly adapted considering Andromeda's flack...
Andromeda Galaxy meets Milky-Way:
​Perhaps the Andromeda and Milky-Way Galaxies could convey a way to correspond and transport - to and from. Sharing an experience with both world-states, creating an incredible way to amalgamate the main games and spin-off together, creating an adventure and narrative that could sprawl between two Galaxies, perhaps there could be an even more apocalyptic threat that risks more than just the destruction of worlds, but instead Galaxies! Rivalling an opponent with the capabilities to wreak supreme havoc, with the help of both the Andromeda and Milky-Way Galaxies, the narrative could easily over-arch, creating a huge space-opera scale of a story!
With this narrative set so far in the future, Mass Effect as a franchise would be recreating itself, with no more tie in's to Shepard or Ryder's adventure, this would be world's apart from either story. Which I guess could be a good or bad thing... Anyhow, onto the next concept!
A reboot of the franchise:
In a similar vein to games like PS4's God of War, 2013's Tomb Raider and Legend Of Zelda, Breath Of The Wild. Mass Effect could reboot itself following a similar a fashion, each of the mentioned games has accepted the past game's narrative and lore, however, don't particularly regard it, it's not necessary for its new forwarding narrative. God of War, for example, Kratos' previous narrative with the Olympian Gods, doesn't really have much influence in his remembrance of his lover, and new fatherhood revelations. Breath Of The Wild, hardly any of its previous stories sway much within that game's narrative... perhaps Mass Effect could attempt such a reboot for a future title.
Simply done by creating a new title, set it in the Milky-Way disregarding the previous events and continuing on a new adventure. If that doesn't intrigue you, perhaps an entire reboot of the original trilogy, or (as we'd all prefer) perhaps a reboot of Andromeda's story. Taking this new direction towards the discovery of the Andromeda Galaxy into an exciting, encapsulating narrative with the OG team helming the way, as it was supposed to be.
At best, this concept works as a retconning for a future title, ignoring or only subtly mentioning the past, perhaps as a reboot of the previous games, or a new adventure entirely!
Prequel:
I agree partly to this concept, I'd love a prequel of Mass Effect, simply so I could go back and witness key events and characters that have shaped the experiences we cultivate in the trilogy. For instance, It'd make for an encapsulating story if we, as a human we're to be one of the few to travel into the first Mass Effect relay for the first time in history, going through that Charon Relay with an entire squad of humanities best, would be an enthralling experience!
Witnessing character's like Alec Ryder, Ashley's grandfather, etc. We'd see Jack Harper, before he became the Illusive Man, fighting in a galactic war against the Turians. Plenty of previous narratives could unfold, setting the way for the trilogy, and as much as that sounds like a great idea, we all know the ending of it all.
This narrative's been told thousands of times within the games, books, comics, etc. It's a sold story, I feel to go back to that, maybe slightly underwhelming, I think it's a great idea, especially seeing previous characters before they develop, witnessing their origin stories, but again this ship has already sailed, we know those plots already. It'd just be a rehash in my opinion.
Anyhow, guys, that'll do it for me today regarding the future of Mass Effect, tell me down below where you'd like to see this shelved franchise going from here on out. But for all your things BioWare, you're already in the right place!
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welcometophu · 5 years
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Into the Split: Reinforcements - Interlude
Twinned Book 3: Into the Split
Reinforcements - Interlude
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Summer, ~30 years ago
Alia,
Well, I’m home. Honestly, I think you’d like it here. Yes, I know, you’re reading this and objecting and complaining about not wanting to be surrounded by Mages. You don’t mind me, do you? Think about how utterly bored you’d be if we hadn’t lived on the same floor this year. Admit it, you were glad when you smelled me out. You walked into my room growling and wrinkling your nose and then you sat down and stayed, even though Megan really thought you were nuts.
I wonder what it would be like if they knew who we were. If they had any idea what we are, and that we’re right here living among them. Mages. Clan. Everything. I just wonder—how can they have no idea?
Anyway. I’ve got three months of farming, cooking, planning, and everything else I’m expected to do for summer work. It’s a good thing I’ve got a good scholarship because kids in my community don’t get outside jobs to pay for school. But we’re kind of a commune, so it works out. They say it takes a village to raise a kid, and in our case, the whole village sends that kid to college, too.
Say you’ll come visit.
Peace and magic,
Val
Val,
You do realize that I am just as busy as you are over the summer, yes? I’m expected to spend time in the fields, and time with the little ones, particularly those who are having difficulty with their shifts. I also work with the textiles. I knit and weave, and I am learning dyeing, although I hate the stench of the dyes. They reek, and I can’t get it out of my clothes.
I’ve been swimming in the river, though. I think you’d like it. There’s a place where it opens up and the current moves swiftly down one side, while it’s lazy on the other side. We take inner tubes out there and just rest and laugh.
Your commune is as small as mine, isn’t it? There are a few others my age. Three who have come back from school in the years ahead of me, and more who stayed out. I don’t have to come back until I graduate. It’s not required, but I like it here. Out there is interesting, and yes, I met you, but here… this is home.
There are only two others from my school year here, and both of them went far further for their schooling. Eddie is happy to be back and isn’t sure he wants to leave again in the fall when his next semester begins. Mary thinks she wants to be a veterinarian and is petitioning to stay at school longer in order to bring those skills back to our community. She’s smart; I think she’ll be able to do it.
I’ll see if I can visit. I can’t easily explain where I’m going.
- Alia
Alia,
Okay, so, I know you just left and I’m already writing a letter. You won’t get it for a week anyway, with the way mail travels from VT to rural NY, right? Well, a few days. But the point is: it was awesome to see you, and I’m so glad you were able to come, and thank you for visiting. I’m glad we’ll be going back to school soon, because I miss you already.
Jack’s been asking about you. Yes, already. I think he was flirting with you. Did you notice? He’s kind of cute, I guess, if you didn’t have to grow up with him. You could do worse. Well. Except that he’s a Mage and I’m sure your family would have a fit about it.
Did you tell them who you’re rooming with next year? I really don’t want to have my throat ripped out before fall semester starts.
I’m going to keep this short because I want you to get something quick after you get home. This world needs something better than letters and carriers that move as a snails pace for communication. Yes, I could call, but if I call your house, I might have to talk to your parents. Which… I have a feeling that wouldn’t go well. You didn’t even tell them the truth about who you were visiting.
I miss you already.
Peace & magic,
Val
Val,
I told them I was going to Burlington, which was not a lie. I brought them back information from the school of Agriculture, so the trip was considered productive. They fully expect me to visit again in the future.
Tell Jack I’m not interested. Thank you.
I miss you, too. It won’t be long before we’re back.
And no, I haven’t told my parents anything other than the truth: I have an apartment with three other girls from school. They won’t be with me when I return in the fall. I’ve spent part of the summer working with my Uncle Danny on a car. We’ve gotten parts from the local junkyards to rebuild the engine. I was going to keep it as a surprise, but well, you asked, and the truth is, I’ll be driving out on my own. My parents don’t like leaving Haverhill and I don’t like having them at school. They think it means I’ll be home more often, or able to drive up to Burlington to meet with the school again.
They’re sort of right, I suppose. I’m sure we’ll think of plenty we can do with a car at our disposal.
That reminds me. I’ve never seen New York City and I was thinking that maybe we could go down for a weekend during the fall. If you want to.
I’ve heard it smells terrible, but I’d like to see it with you.
- Alia
Alia,
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m sticking to you through thick and thin. I will go to the ends of the earth with you, whether that means disappointing Jack (he’s so sad now) or driving into the den of iniquity that is the City. I’m with you.
We should see a play while we’re there. Are your tender senses up for it? I’ll protect you. I’ve heard we can get cheap tickets through some booth in Times Square if we don’t care what we see.
It’ll be our adventure. Clan and Mage together, exploring the world. Wherever you want to go, I’ll be by your side.
Peace & magic,
Val
~20 years ago
Val,
Congratulations on your engagement. I know you will be happy.
- Alia
Alia,
Seriously, that’s all you say? I suppose I should be glad you wrote back. I miss you, you asshole. Why did you stop writing to me?
We should start talking on email. It’s a thing now, if you’ve got a good phone line and a dialup system. Well, and a computer. It’s a lot faster and more reliable than letters. You won’t even have to go to the post office.
I mean it, though. I miss you.
Tell me you’ll be here for the wedding.
Peace & magic,
Val
Val,
I’ll be there for the wedding.
Email, however, is not going to happen here. We do not have a good way to do so.
In the wake of my father’s passing, things have been difficult here. The Council wants someone else to take over, but I’m strong enough to hold my position for now. I’m good for our community, and my mother continues to support me, as does my uncle. The problem is, they’re old. One day they’ll be gone, and I think everyone is waiting for that to happen.
They want me to make a mistake.
They might think traveling to a community of Mages is that mistake.
In case you’re wondering, I don’t agree.
School seems so long ago, doesn’t it? It wasn’t, really. Ten years since we first met, and an entire world has come and gone it feels like.
Tell me about him, Valentine. Tell me he makes your heart sing. Tell me about his magic, and about his courtship. Tell me that he worships the ground you walk on.
Tell me that he is good for you.
I miss you as well.
- Alia
Alia,
Enclosed please find one (1) dress and a pleading, begging entreaty for you to stand by my side when I make my vows. I can’t do this without you.
He’s good, Alia. We started dating a year ago, and it’s gone by quick, but when he asked it felt right. I’m here, he’s here, and I think I want to have kids. I never really thought about that before. It seemed like such a far away idea, but now sometimes when I sit and think, I see a small boy with his eyes and my smile, and it seems like it’s supposed to happen.
I wonder, sometimes, what it would be like to be Predictive and have glimpses into the future. How far do they see? I think about this child, but that’s only a few years down the road. Who knows, in ten or twenty years everything could be completely different all over again.
Like you said, it’s not that long and forever, all at once.
I need you here, Alia. Can you come before the wedding? Can you be with me for this?
I could sneak away. We could go to the City.
Would you come with me?
Peace & magic,
Val
Val,
I am extremely sorry to send this at this late date, but we have an issue here in our Community, and if I leave now, I may never be able to return.
Haverhill is my home, and I must keep it safe from those who would try to change it for the worse.
I am sure you are beautiful as a bride, and I hope you send pictures.
The dress you sent is very nice. It looks strange on me, but you know I don’t dress up like that often. I think you made my mother cry.
She knows who you are. What you are. She still thinks you are good for me, and that gives me hope that my community can be better than we are now. Which is why I have to stay here. I want my home to be a haven for anyone who needs it.
Love him with your whole heart, Valentine. And he’d best love you.
- Alia
~10 years ago
Val,
I need your help. I can’t trust anyone else.
- Alia
Alia,
I promised you once that I would stick to you like glue, so yes, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Things look dire, but we’ll make it through. I am by your side, no matter what, through thick and thin.
Love, peace, and magic,
Val
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myheadisinvaded · 5 years
Text
On With The Show… chapter 5/and so it begins..
Word count- 2,068 maybe more
Warnings- curse words,drugs,drinking, I don’t know what else to list as always
A/N- feedback is appreciated, thanks for giving me a chance (if you read it) I apologize for it taking me longer than anticipated but life. I’m kinda better now anyways let me know what you think. there will be a playlist for this so far the first song is Heaven by Julia Michaels, On With The Show by Motley Crue, and Fuck Feelings by Olivia O’Brien. I’ll do links later.
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Blair’s POV
Show time. We all have a good buzz going, some of us are pretty high but it’s the norm. I watch the boys from the side of the stage, my job is to be their personal assistant, and sometimes a babysitter when they’re off stage and when they’re on and it’s show time, I’m with Doc, learning the backstage part of things. I may not make it big but having this on a resume, it’ll get me a good show biz job. Doc calls me over to him, he’s over by part of the sound system. He tells the sound guys to just show me some things and then he leaves, giving me a knowing look. He doesn’t approve of me partying like the boys and can actually tell when I’ve had my share of some blow that night. He normally won’t say anything though, as long as I do my job, like I said, I’ve got good at functioning.
I pay attention to what their saying and showing me, turn the knobs this way to adjust pitch, they’re labeled. This controls volume, this one controls Tommy’s headset, this section controls some sound effects, it’s labeled too, don’t touch this, it will shut everything off.. Pretty easy and simple, having done tech theater in high school I already had an idea of what it would be like. I took some notes in the little flip notebook I have on me. Once we are done, I walk away to grab a small glass of jack daniels. I take it back with me to the side of the stage where I was watching the boys earlier. Doc comes back this way.
I sip on my drink as he stands beside me, I can feel him looking “How’s it going?’ he asked, leaning down closer to me so I could hear him. I give him a shrug and lean up to talk to him as well “Pretty great..” He nods and looks down at my hand that's holding the whiskey. I take another sip and give him a grin. He chuckles, shaking his head. ‘You’ve changed just a little bit.” I give him another shrug and nod “I guess I have” I hold up my drink and finish it. He nods “Be careful..” He begins and seems to change his mind about whatever he was going to say “I do need you to stay sober enough tonight to help get the guys ready to travel to the next city.” I nod “I’m sober enough.” He looks at me for a minute and just nods, we both stand there for the rest of the show.
The guys run off stage, sweaty, running make up, and pulling of some of their clothes already. I grab a few towels and throw it at them. Nikki, Tommy and Vince are jumping and full of energy, ready to go start partying. Nikki comes over to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek, I pretend to be grossed out “Ewwww you’re so fucking sweaty!” He just laughs, running to grab a bottle of whiskey. Doc and I, mostly Doc, gather them up and get them to shut up for a few minutes. “Alright guys, I know you want to party and have fun but we have to get going, so you can drink and party on the bus all you want but I need you on it in 30” They all groan and mumble, except Mick, knowing it would only give them enough time to make sure all their shit is packed. I laugh softly as I watch them run off. Mick stays behind and Doc immediately runs after them to make sure they don’t try anything stupid. I stay with Mick. “How was tonight back here?” He asks as people around us are beginning to pack up. We pass by ‘Uncle Oz’ drinking what’s left of the alcohol backstage. “It was great, Doc let me shadow the sound guys tonight. I thought about fucking with you guys” I joke and smile. Micks laughs “I would’ve fucked you up, kid.”
An hour later everyone is on the bus, Doc isn't too happy but at least it didn't take as long as it usually does. I’m on the same bus as them, I was in charge of going out and purchasing enough drinks for everyone for the whole ride. I have it all set on the small fold down table, Mick had come along with me so he got an extra 2 bottles of vodka, in addition to the other 2 I bought. Everyone is drinking, doing drugs, Vince has a couple girls in the back room. I see Nikki stand up and go back there with him, I just take some of Mick’s vodka and he looks at me. I can tell he’s trying not to laugh at me so I just flip him off. I don’t want anyone else thinking I have a crush on Nikki, thankfully Tommy is too busy with his new girlfriend for this week that he didn’t see anything.
I’m sitting next to Mick, I see him grimacing so I stand up, “Lay down, old man” I say, holding back a smirk. Now it's him who’s flipping me off. He lays down but leaves room for me to sit with him. He uses one of the pillows to prop himself up some so we can still talk “Have you got over him yet?” I stare at him, giving him the fuck you look I learned from the man himself. He chuckles “Don’t use that against me, you know I’m just fucking with you” Slowly I start to smile. I just roll my eyes as I take another drink of vodka. He sighs, closing his eyes and crossing his arms vampire style, as per usual. “You will, sooner or later.” I look over at him as I leaned against his legs, I just nod and finish the bottle of vodka, I’d done some lines earlier with Vince and Nikki, the vodka should hold me over for now. Doc probably wants me sober later. I guess I’ll sleep. I get comfortable on Mick’s legs, the room is occupied and the bunks are way too close to it but I don’t want to think about that right now.
Nikki’s POV
Vinney and I have been doing lines off of these groupies and fucking them. I’m super fucked up and just having fun like always. It’s not a fivesome, he gets the bed and I got stuck on the couch, I'm making it work though. Sometime during the night I pass out. Some naked girl on top of me, I wake up hours later with the sun in my face, it’s hot and stuffy in the room. I look over and see Vince with two girls on either side of him, all three passed out. I look back at where I am and huff, pushing the girl off of me as I stand up, stretching and pulling my pants back on, I almost never wear underwear. Too many layers.
I grab a bottle of jack daniels that is sitting on the nightstand and head out of the stuffy room. I pass the bunk beds and only see Tommy and his girl. Mick? Blair? Where are they, what time is it? I check the time on the clock above the curtain that leads out of the bunks, 06:39. Morning? Ugh. I walk out into the rest of the tour bus and see them, Mick sleeping on the couch with Blair’s head resting on part of his leg. She had to have passed out there, cause there’s clearly an available couch on the other side.
I watch her for a second and feel a small twinge of jealousy, they’re super close and I don’t know why. Sometimes it’s weird because he acts like her dad or something and other times she’s just one of us, one of the guys. Not to me… I want to see her as something more. Sometimes. I don’t know… I keep watching her. I just don’t know… it’s this constant inner debate, do I just want to fuck or do I actually have feelings for her. It’s the only reason I’m having sex less, a guy can’t stop but I did slow down on it a little.
“Quit staring at me you creep” She is waking up and stretching. I look away and laugh some, hiding behind my hair “I wasn’t staring, I was just uhh.. Thinking.” I look back at her and she gives me a skeptical look “You? Thinking. Really Sixx?’ My jaw drops “Bitch.” She shrugs, “You can’t tell me I’m not right… It’s not like you use your brain very often.” she’s right. Damn I like it when she’s like this. I watch her walk over to the mini fridge we have. She pulls out some wine and orange juice. She turns to look at me and holds them up. I nod and grab two glasses. “A nice morning drink” she smiles, pouring some of each into each glass. “What is this again?” She shrugs “I dunno, my mom would drink it all the time”
We’ve almost gone through the entire wine bottle by now, just sipping and talking. It’s only like 7 in the morning now so it’s gonna be a while until everyone begins waking up. “Have you been having fun?’ She looks at me, it seems like she's trying to figure out how to answer, I notice her eyes go to the back of the bus and she just nods “Yeah, it’s been great, I’ve been learning a lot from everyone.” She smiles this time and looks at me. “How ‘bout you? Did you have fun last night?” She nods over towards the back, I get what she’s talking about. I shrug as I pour some more blow on the table for us. “I guess so, just another groupie.” I see a flash of something in her eyes, what did I say? I do a line and she does hers. “Don’t you ever get tired of it?” her voice is soft, softer than usual. “Tired of what?” She’s looking at me now, right at me and I can’t look away. “Tired of not having someone, tired of it being just groupies.” it feels like she’s staring into my soul, I don’t know how to answer that. Of course I do. It is tiring being surrounded by so many people, friends but then at the end of the day I still feel alone.
“I do get tired of it sometimes” I watch her face, she just looks away and nods. “Sometimes I do want to have that someone ya know..” I continue and she looks back up at me. This is my chance. I don’t even know if I should take it. Should I try to be a relationship kind of guy. “It sucks feeling lonely but it sucks more when you like someone and you don’t know if they like you back” She starts laughing “What?” my voice definitely a little defensive. She shakes her head “Nothing, it just sounds like something a second grader would say.” She stops laughing but is holding it back. I look at her and we bust out laughing  “You’re right, yeah” I nod as we laugh. She stops again “But yeah, I totally get it”
I kiss her. It catches her off guard, this time she almost immediately starts kissing back. My hands rest on her hips and hers are on my chest. I can taste the orange juice and alcohol, it feels nice, nicer than most. It’s not sloppy, rushed or with a stranger. I pull back, an idiotic smile on my face. She’s smiling too. This time when I look into her eyes I get this weird nervous feeling in my stomach. It’s happened before, with her. We both stay quiet and the bus comes to a stop.
“Pit stop. There’s a Denny’s” The driver calls out to us. I stand up, offer my hand to her and she takes it. I don’t let go of it, not while walking to the door, not after I helped her off, not even when sit down. It’s a warm feeling, this us time. No one else woke up, it’s just us right now. Damn I really feel like Tommy now.
This is only the beginning. What they are feeling right now, they’ve craved before, they’ll continue chasing it.
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