#One time the gang was on their scooby doo and they needed information out of this one girl

[deleahtarte]

Q&A 2: What is something that your partner does that makes things ‘challenging’? [Part 2]

Butters: Kenny likes to hide his history with girls. Sometimes we'll get approached by a lady he used to be with, and he gets nervous because he thinks I'll get upset with him. He tells me constantly he ain't like that no more, that he changed, that he regrets everyone he's been with before me, but I don't really mind. I already knew who he was before me. I don't really get jealous either, because he proves me to me everyday he's all about little ol' me now. But I don't think Kenny sees that, so he tries to never talk about anyone he was with before me. (Correction: Kenny is afraid that Butters will be upset AND not want him anymore because he is 'used up.' He only thinks this of himself)

Kyle: Stan doesn't know how to ask for help. And on the rare occasions that he actually does, it's usually after everything goes to shit. I think it's because he wants me to see 'the best' version of himself, so he gets really embarrassed when I see something I'm not supposed to. I usually have to pry it out of him or investigate myself.

[roses-r-rosie3]

Buttons

Jason Todd x M!Reader

Warnings: Smut, Semi public sex, blindfolding, handjob, spit as lube,

Requested by anon:

detective reader with jason todd? the readers really good at investigating and have a lot of important intel on a crime boss that jason is also targeting, when the detective is alone in the office jason is waiting there in the dark ready to get some info, but the reader is very reluctant to give sensitive information to a vigilante. so jason fucks it out of the reader over his desk? until the reader is begging and babbling out information so easily also i'd say this is their first time meeting ok thanks have a good day/night

A/n: This was the fic I was talking about when I posted this 😭

Quote: “You know… I was just going to force you to give me the information, but it looks like you want me to fuck it out of you”

✁ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You were one of the best detectives in Gotham. ‘Why?’ You may ask, well it was because your skills at investigating. As a kid you always loved watching shows like scooby doo. You would constantly try to guess who was behind the mask (you were right most of the time). So it didn’t surprise your parents/friends when you got a job at the gcpd.

When you joined the gcpd, you were one of the youngest rookies at the time, so whenever you would try to input some of your ideas, your superiors would immediately shut you down. It wasn’t until you broke a career-defining case that you earned everyone’s respect, even Bruce himself was impressed. Because of that, you eventually became Gotham’s best and youngest detectives that there was.

So when news broke that there was a new crime boss in town, you were first on the case. However, Jason was also interested in this new Crime Boss, and he didn’t really feel like investigating, so he decided why not just try to get Information from you. Of course, Jason could’ve just asked someone like Tim but everyone else was too busy with their own problems that they didn’t have time for the Crime Boss.

Jason obviously knew about you, youngest detective in Gotham blah blah blah… but the problem was, the two of you have never formally met before. But who knows maybe Jason would get lucky and you would just hand over the information, even though Jason knew the chances were very low (but hey a boy could only hope).

You were in your office, staying overtime to investigate. It was currently 4am and your body was basically running on coffee. You were super invested in this case and nothing was going to stop you. However, you eventually decided to give yourself a little break to use the restroom and get some more coffee.

You said your ‘hi’s to your co-workers before walking back to your office. When got to the door you waved to everyone before walking in and closing the door behind you. After you placed your beverage down on your desk sensed someone behind you. You immediately pulled out your gun from your belt and pointed it at the figure.

“Who are you? And what are you doing here?” You asked.

“Damn, not bad detective” the figure chuckled.

“Answer me goddamn it who are you” you growled.

The figure walked forward, closer to the light in the office. The figure was revealed to be red hood. You knew who red hood was, I mean how couldn’t you know who he was! He was a famous vigilante and he made your job a lot harder than it already was.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, with your gun still pointing at him.

“I’m here because of the new gang leader in town” Jason answered.

“He’s a crime boss” you replied snarlingly.

“Yeah, yeah, you know what I meant” Jason rolled his eyes.

“What about him?” You said.

“I need you to give me some information about him” Jason replied.

“I can’t tell you that, it’s classified information” you said, gripping your gun tighter.

“That’s what I thought you would say, but I’m afraid I’m that I’m not taking no as an answer” Jason said as he walked closer to you.

“Stop! Don’t come any closer! I’ll shoot!” You said.

Jason let out a chuckle before quickly knocking the gun out of your hand. Jason started to slowly walk towards you, until you felt yourself bump into your desk behind you.

“What’s your answer now detective?” Jason said as he towered over you.

“No” you said, standing your ground.

“Why are you making this so difficult?” Jason sighed before he put his hands around your throat as he choked you lightly.

You tried not to make any noise, but a moan slipped out of your mouth as his grip tightened a little. And if that wasn’t bad enough, a bulge started to form in your pants too. Eventually you got so hard to the point where Jason could feel your cock rubbing against his.

“Oh, you pervert” Jason smirked behind his mask.

“You know… I was just going to force you to give me the information, but it looks like you want me to fuck it out of you” Jason whispered against your ears as he slowly started to rub your crotch.

“N-no it’s not like that, you’re not getting the information” you tried to say as he started rubbing your crotch at an even faster rate.

“Are you sure about that detective?” Jason chuckled as unzipped your fly and slipped his hands into your boxers.

You moaned loudly as Jason rubbed your tip, spreading your precum. You whined, bucking up into his hand. Your eyes hung low, squeezing shut as he brushed over your tip.

“It seems to me like you’re enjoying this quite a bit” Jason said as continued teasing you.

All of a sudden, Jason started stroking you fast and tight around your sensitive dick. You whimpered as he stroked your cock faster and faster. Just when you were about to cum, Jason swiftly pulled his hand away. But before you could even complain, Jason quickly took the tie around you neck and wrapped it around your eyes.

“Can’t have you seeing my face now can I?” Jason smirked under his mask.

Jason took of his mask and tossed it to the side before sloppily making out with you. You were completely under his control at this point, I mean you were completely blinded what else could you do (and it felt good too).

Before you were being bent over with your ass facing Jason’s direction. You shivered as you felt Jason pull down your trousers and boxers. Jason spit on his fingers and slowly inserted his fingers into your hole, smirking at your reactions.

You huffed, your fingers clawing the table and a tight sound escaping him as Jason pressed his slick fingers into your hole. When Jason felt like you were loose enough he pulled his fingers out and slowly started to pull out his cock.

You were now impatiently waiting as Jason took his sweet time. When you finally heard Jason pull his cock out, he started teasing your hole with his tip. You gasped as you felt his tip teasing your hole.

“Last chance to tell me the information before I destroy your hole detective” Jason said.

“I-I’m not telling you s-shit” you said, still trying your best to stand your ground.

“You brought this on yourself” Jason sighed as he pushed himself all the way inside of you.

Jason slowly started to roll his hips, hearing as you whimpered. He started pulled out slowly, but suddenly he harshly slammed back into you, causing you to let out a loud moan. Jason gripped onto your hips tightly, undeniably leaving bruises as he ruthlessly pounded into you.

Pleasure took over your mind as you were being ruthlessly fucked by Jason on your desk. You were trying hard not to moan too loud because your co-workers were right outside the door, and god forbid if one of them came inside your room. Jason however, did not like the fact you were trying to silence yourself, so he started thrusting faster and deeper, hitting your prostate.

While Jason was pounding you, he hit a particular spot that made you let out a loud moan. He smiled to himself before pulling out and then ramming down on the same spot repeatedly. You were a mess at this point, you were begging for him to fuck you harder as sweat coated your body. And before you knew it, you were mindlessly muttering out the information.

“W-warehouse… Ah! At- p-please~ M-Miller Harbor…” you mumbled.

Jason chuckled to himself. You, a detective with a phenomenal reputation, falling apart and becoming a whiny mess just because of Jason. You could feel ever pulsing vein on Jason’s cock as he fucked you.

You see, before this whole fiasco happened, Jason was doing some research on you. He found out all sorts of things about you, one of them being that you were in the running to be the next captain. So while he was thrusting into you, he thought why not taunt you with this information.

“Do you really think they’ll make you captain after this? Gotham’s best detective giving out information, just because he’s being fucked like a slut” Jason smirked against your neck.

You were as dicked down as one could be, the tie around your eyes was soaked in your tears, flushed cheeks, shaky legs, bruised hips, and covered in your own sweat. But you still managed to cling on to a bit of information, which was pretty impressive.

Jason could tell you were close, but he could also tell you still had pieces of information that he wanted. So he gripped onto your cock so that you couldn’t cum, and pounded faster. He pulled your hair so that your head was up against his shoulder.

“I know you’re close, so why don’t you just tell me a bit more information and I’ll let you cum detective” Jason whispered as licked up and down your neck.

You tried, you really tried to hold on, but the combination of Jason’s thrusts, and his mouth licking and biting at your neck and earlobe made you break.

“His first name is G-Gra-AH-nt, his last name is Mikhail, he came from R-russia and moved over to Gotham for weapon.. ngh… trading a drug deals j-just please let me cum!” You blurted.

“Good job, you earned it detective” Jason smirked as he started jerking you off at the same rate as his thrusts.

Before you knew it, you let out a loud whimper as you spilled your load all over Jason’s hands and your desk. Your brain was complete mush as Jason chased his release.

“S-so tight around my cock” Jason groaned.

Jason pulled your head towards his and pulled you in for a sloppy kiss as his one of his hands gripped tightly around your hips. He thrusted deeply into you, one last time before releasing his load into your wrecked hole.

Jason waited a moment to collect himself before pulling out. He chuckled as he watched his cum trickle out of your hole. He looked at his hands that was covered with your seed and tasted it.

“Damn, you got a pretty good load” Jason teased before cleaning both of you up.

After you were both cleaned up, Jason quickly left, leaving you there with the aftermath. You were too tired (your legs were too sore) to drive home at this point, so you decided to sleep in your office for the day.

When you woke up, let’s just say you were met with one of the worst days of your life. First, you had a really bad limp that would probably last weeks. Second, it turns out Jason took all that information and ended up putting the guy in Arkham Asylum. And third, he was getting all the praise for “solving the case all on his own”.

You were beyond angry. You had to get your payback somehow.

[random-note]

Alright, I’ve been having this thought lately and I just want to get it out there.

So this is all about Scooby Doo, in particular about how to make a good Scooby Doo show.

In my opinion Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated is the best Scooby Doo series of all time, so this is what producers or who ever is in charge should do if they want to top it.

1. They need an overarching plot for the show, no episodical narrative. I want a mystery that doesn’t get solved in one episode, something that drives the gang further and pushes them. And it would be even better if that after that mystery is solved an even bigger mystery is revealed to drive them on, like when mister E was revealed it just opened even more questions and deeper mysteries.

2. The show has to be set in the rough time of the 1970’s -90’s. The concept of the gang doing what they do is ridiculous in the modern age of technology, but back then it wasn’t as prevalent, making the concept more believable and interesting. Seeing Velma hack into security cameras to figure stuff out in the first few minutes would be boring. And if the show was set in the modern age watchers would question why she didn’t do that. I know it would be just a cartoon, but we have entered an age where these shows actually respect their audiences’s intelligence if they’re any good.

3. They need to make the gang have a defined reason for doing what they do, not just the ‘it’s fun’ excuse. They need a definitive explanation for why they do what they do and why they’re trying to solve the overarching mystery of the story.

4. They need to acknowledge the bravery of Scooby and Shaggy. They can’t just be characterized as cowards the whole show. As many have said bravery is not facing something without fear, it’s having that fear, acknowledging it and doing the thing anyway in spite of the fear. Scooby and Shaggy fit this to a T and I feel a good Scooby Doo show needs to acknowledge that.

5. They need the Hex Girls and other cool side characters. They make the world feel alive and like the world is ever changing. I also think they need to show how the gang knows all the side characters, flesh out the story. Another thing that is relevant to this point, I want old villains that the gang took down to show up again. Some will be in prison and the gang will have to visit them for information, others will be reformed or in the process of being reformed and they will willingly help the gang, maybe even apologize. Make the characters real, and not just the main characters. I want relatable villains and heroes.

6. Finally, I want real supernatural elements in the world that the gang slowly discovers, while not forgetting the non supernatural villains. I want to have one episode where the gang has to find and defeat a real ghost, and then the next villain they reveal that the fish monster was really a disgruntled fisherman or something. I just think that a cool balance would make the show better.

Well that was my rant, I hope at least one person likes this. Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

[wilygryphon]

Gryphonverse - Mystery Inc.

The main cast:

Fred Jones- The pure-hearted leader of Mystery Inc.  He has a passion for engineering, building complex traps, although for a while he needs Velma’s help with understanding the calculations.  He is also usually the one who comes up with the plans to catch the villain.

Daphne Blake- The social butterfly and public relations liaison of the team.  She is the best at gathering information through interviewing witnesses and related parties, and she also has a variety of practical skills, including a talent for using items on hand to put together whatever she needs to get out of trouble or pick a lock.  Her parents don’t approve of her preferred friend group or her mystery solving shenanigans, but they see that they make her happy, so they don’t argue too much (although they are often frustrated with the number of times they have to pay the teens’ bail for trespassing and breaking & entering).

Velma Dinkley- The chief bookworm of the team.  While her parents run a library and shop for the occult, Velma is more interested in seeking scientific solutions.  While she has difficulty with picking up social cues, she is fiercely loyal to her friends and family.  She tutors Fred in math, improving his already brilliant engineering feats by helping with the calculations.

Shaggy Rogers- Easygoing and fearful, Shaggy contributes to investigations with street smarts and common sense, while also advising his friends to exercise caution.  While usually afraid to face ghosts and monsters (real or human-in-disguise), he always faces his fears to help his friends.  He surprises his friends with an in-depth understanding of monster lore gleaned from movies and TV shows (he is genuinely a fan of horror movies), and he is a fan of Frank Sinatra.  He also displays a number of quirky skills that somehow always find a way to come in handy.  He adores his little sister Maggie.

Scooby-Doo- A frightful but fiercely loyal Great Dane and a lovable companion, he is Shaggy’s pet and the mascot of Mystery Inc.  He gained the ability to speak imperfect English due to being experimented on by the Barbera Foundation’s Spectral Division, which studied ectoplasm and sought to use it to enhance and empower human physiology.  He escaped when an agent of OWCA went undercover as a test animal and brought the operation down.  Wandering around, he was found by Shaggy, who brought him home where his moms let him keep the dog.  Seeing the SD tag on the dog’s collar from the Spectral Division, Shaggy named him Scooby-Doo.

Katia Goulash- An anti-capitalist ghost who, when alive, opposed the upper class figures who used fearmongering and made-up bogeymen to disenfranchise and persecute marginalized groups.  Returning to Coolsville in the present day through the Ghost Zone rift in the Crystal Cove, she torments wealthy and influential individuals who use ghosts and monsters as scapegoats for their own crimes.  She develops a respect for Mystery Inc. as she watches them solve the phantom hoaxes and expose the crimes of the rich, but she distrusts Daphne, believing her family to be the same as her ancestors who took advantage of her family.  Haunting Blake Mansion brings her directly to the gang’s attention, but the gang manages to clear up all misunderstandings, and Katia apologizes for causing trouble.  She becomes a friend and ally who uses her spectral powers to help the gang solve mysteries, offering services as a contact with other ghosts in town.

The Mystery Begins-

At first, the teens were only somewhat acquainted, but grouped up and had to rely on each other to avoid getting hurt when caught in an alleged haunting.  When Velma’s EMF detector picks up a signal that does not line up with usual ghost readings, and Scooby sniffs out a clue, they begin to think there is more than meets the eye and work together to investigate.  As they piece together the case, they get to know one another and bond.  Figuring out what is really going on, they inform the police, and Fred and Velma construct a trap.  The trap fails due to a fluke, but Scooby overcomes his fear and defeats the villain to protect Shaggy, and Fred unmasks the phony ghost and reveals his criminal plan and tricks.  Enjoying the experience of solving the mystery, they become a friend group and, when some peers come to them for help, form a junior detective business, Mystery Inc.

[queer-cosette]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤️

❤️❤️❤️ thankyou so much Stsi!!! This was such a nice ask to open when I got home from work! ❤️❤️

Top Five Favourite Fics By Me

I was born on the run (but I'll die holding your hand)

Rating: E

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Fandom: Heathers the Musical

Main Relationships: Jason "J.D." Dean/Veronica Sawyer

Chapters: 1/1

Completed: Yes

Word Count: 7,451

Summary:

“I figured I have until eight AM on Monday morning to have my last bit of fun before she ruins my reputation beyond repair, so… Iwasgoingtoaskifyouwantedtohavesexwithme.” JD stares at her, his mouth falling open slightly in surprise. She hopes to god it’s good surprise and not the bad kind. “Me…” he chokes out, after an agonizingly long silence that really only lasts ten seconds, “with… you?” Veronica feels her cheeks flush with mortification. She should never have done this. She should have just gone home and waited for Heather’s revenge to rain down on her - “Yes.” Alternative titles for this fic included Dead Girl Walking (one more time with feelings), Shameless Jdonica Fluffy Smut, and Fucking Hell I Can't Believe They Fucked In Comic Sans (Writer's Block Sucks).

So yeah, this fic is basically just. extremely fluffy canon compliant smut. But I'm honestly pretty proud of how it turned out, and I'm working on not being ashamed of writing smut, so yeah, it's going on the list!

On Se Sent Comme Par Magie

Rating: T

Warnings: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions of Violence

Fandom: Les Misérables - All Media Types

Main Relationships: Cosette Fauchelevent/Marius Pontmercy, Enjolras/Grantaire, Combeferre/Courfeyrac, Bahorel/Éponine Thénardier, Feuilly/Jehan Prouvaire, Joly/Musichetta, eventual Bossuet/Joly/Musichetta

Chapters: 82/?

Completed: No

Word Count: 488,777

Summary:

15 years ago, a young woman uses her powers to send her infant daughter to another dimension to protect her. It sparks off an adventure that won't start until the girl turns 16... Cosette is a normal girl who accidentally stumbles upon a world of magic. And when she finds out just how intwined she is with the magical world's destiny, she knows she has to do everything she can to protect the future of the Universe. A Les Mis Winx Club AU

On Se Sent Comme Par Magie is technically 5 or 6 fics in a series, but asking me to choose my favourite one out of them is like asking me to choose my favourite child. I've been writing this story since I was 17 and it's kind of a part of me at this point.

The Mystery Solvers of Derry

Rating: T

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Fandom: Derry Girls (TV)

Main Relationships: Clare Devlin & James Maguire & Michelle Mallon & Orla McCool & Erin Quinn, James Maguire/Erin Quinn

Chapters: 8/?

Completed: No

Word Count: 22,179

Summary:

Kathy Maguire's announcement that she's returning to Derry to work on a new monster-themed tourism campaign isn't greeted with enthusiasm by her son... ...mostly because he's part of the teenage mystery solving gang dedicated to debunking the city's supernatural activity. When James, Erin, Orla, Michelle and Clare stumble on a secret catacomb hidden beneath Our Lady Immaculate College, they think it's just the start of another monster-themed caper to cover up a crime. But when Erin finds a lost locket and can't connect it to the case, a mysterious figure known only as 'C' informs them that they've unwittingly stumbled upon the real mystery hidden in the Derry catacombs... (A Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated! AU)

So this fic is really fun to write, and I need to get back to it! It's, as the summary says, an AU where the Derry Girls are the Scooby Gang, and they stumble on a mystery that could spell doom for everyone in Derry - unfortunately, they're all sixteen and act like it. It's a fic that I've so far always smiled a lot while writing, and the response from the fandom has been so so nice <3

Dear Diary...

Rating: M

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death

Fandom: Total Drama (cartoon)

Main Relationships: Courtney/Duncan

Chapters: 13/13

Completed: Yes

Word Count: 34.423

Summary:

"Dear Diary - My teen angst bullshit now has a body count." Heather Chandler. Gwen Duke. Lindsay McNamara. Courtney Sawyer. Together they make up the most powerful clique at Westerburg High. Most people would die to get into it. Courtney would kill to get out of it. Enter Duncan Dean. He has a way with women, a way with words, and a very special way with a gun. "It's God versus my boyfriend, and God's losing..."

Total Drama is such a good fandom to get into if you want to write AU fic, and me being obsessed with Heathers, I had to write a Heathers AU. It fits so well too - the main characters are a good girl who struggles with bitter anger and dark thoughts, a bad boy who walks the line between charming and sociopathic, a queen bee so thoroughly shallow it almost passes for depth, a perky and immature cheerleader who slowly realises she's being dragged down by the people she hangs out with, and a quiet, bookish loner who is so convinced she's in the right that she can't see her own capacity for cruelty.

mArinette

Rating: T

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Main Relationships: Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Marc Anciel/Nathniël Kurtzberg

Chapters: 8/8

Completed: Yes

Word Count: 27.326

Summary:

Marinette tells a lie. A pretty big lie. And soon one lie turns into another, and before she knows it, she's going out of her way to keep the lie going. When Lila lies, it's sloppy. But Marinette's lie is all too believable. At least no one else is getting hurt by her lie. But Marinette's about to find out how hard it is to be known as the school slut. An Easy A AU.

Gosh. Where would I be without mentioning mArinette. This is the fic I'm most divided about, because I love it, however I also got a massive amount of negative backlash as a result. I guess that whole "10% of every group are assholes, so the bigger the group, the louder the assholes start sounding" thing is true. Anyway, this fic is deeply personal to me, but it's also silly, campy, romantic, angsty, and fluffy.

Again, thank you so much for this ask, Stsi!!! Muchos gracias ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[abbygrabska]

The Age of Steel

The Doctor points the power cell at the Cybermen, which fires a shot of golden light that bounds off one of them and onto the others, they are all disintegrated.

“What the hell was that?”

“We’ll have that instead, run!” We run off the lawn and Mrs. Moore arrives in the van, “Everybody in!”

The van is driving along at a steady speed now, relatively calm.

I listen to the argument happening in front of me passively.

“That’s the only reason I was working for Lumic. To get information. I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Services, and what do I get? Scooby-Doo and his gang. They’ve even got the van!”

Mickey chimes in, “No, no no! But the Preachers know what they’re doing. Ricky said he’s London’s Most Wanted!”

“I’m London’s Most Wanted for… parking tickets.”

I look at Gabby, she avoids my gaze.

“They were deliberate! I was fighting the system! Park anywhere, that’s me.”

“Good policy. I do much the same. I’m the Doctor, by the way, if anyone’s interested.” “And I’m Rose. Hello!” 

“I’m Gabby, Abby’s variant from this universe.” Gabby smiles at them, turning to look at me, “I still can’t believe I made contact with a telepathic spaceship.”

The Doctor looks intrigued by this, “What?” “Oh, Gabby here is just brilliant, she made a machine capable of multiversal communication. It made contact with the tardis, that’s why she crashed us here, cause she saw into Gabby’s mind and knew this world needed help.” I tell him.

He raises his eyebrows, “That’s certainly something.”

“Oh, not nearly as cool as your people inventing time travel.”

“I’d argue that multiversal communication is a bit more important than time travel.” He grins.

“Oi! Stop flirting with my girl!”

The Doctor looks at him, “Your girl?” He looks between them, “You two are dating?”

“Have been for three years.” Gabby smiles proudly.

“Isn’t that how long you’ve known me?” Rose whispers.

I nod, “Yeah, weird to think that without you that happens.”

We walk along the street, watching the people march in the same direction.

“What the hell?”

“What’s going on?” 

“It’s the ear-pods. Lumic’s taking control.” “Can’t we just… I dunno, take them off?” Rose reaches up to one of the men to take his ear-pods out, but the Doctor stops her.

“Don’t! Cause a brainstorm. Human Race, for such an intelligent lot, you aren’t half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit. Sometimes I think you like it. Easy life.”

Jake calls us over, “Come and see.”

We join him and Ricky in looking around the corner. A row of cybermen march alongside the people under the control of the ear-pods, still heading in the same direction.

“Where are they all going?” Rose asks.

“I don’t know. Lumic must have a base of operation.”

“Battersea. That’s where he was building his prototypes.” Pete responds.

“Why’s he doing it?” I ask.

“He’s dying. This all started out as a way of life by keeping the brain alive. At any cost.”

The Doctor and Rose whisper about the origins of Cybermen before Pete snaps them out of it, “What the hell are you two on about?”

“Never mind that. Come on, we need to get out of the city.” Ricky says.

The Cybermen are fast approaching down the street.

“Okay, split up, Mrs. Moore, you look after that bloke. Jake, distract them, go right, I’ll go left, we’ll meet back at Bridge Street. Move.” Ricky runs off in one direction, Jake in the other. 

Mickey turns to Rose, “I’m going with him.” He kisses Rose briefly and follows Ricky.

“Come on, let’s go.” Mrs. Moore says.

We all run off. The Cybermen marching towards us.

“There!” We run down a side alley.

We crouch behind a pile of rubbish and dustbins. I clutch Gabby’s hand. The Doctor points his sonic screwdriver in the direction of the Cybermen that have followed us down the alley. It bleeps and they go on their way.

We all stand warily and watch the Cybermen march off into the distance.

“Go.” The Doctor whispers.

We creep out from behind the dustbins and run in the opposite direction.

Soon enough, Jake joins back with us.

“I ran past the river. You should’ve seen it, the whole city’s on the watch. Hundreds of Cybermen all down the Thames.”

Mickey runs towards us, alone.

“Here he is!” Mickey doesn’t reply. He comes to a halt.

Jake furrows his brow, “Which one are you?”

“I’m sorry. The Cybermen, he couldn’t…” “Are you Ricky?” Gabby lets go of me and stares at him, “Are you Ricky?”

“Mickey, that’s you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” 

Rose runs to him and throws his arms around him. Jake is silent.

“He tried. He was running…”

Gabby’s eyes fill with tears, and she turns away.

“There were too many of them.” 

“Shut up.” Gabby looks in pain.

“There was nothing I could do.” She spins around, “I said shut up! Don’t even talk about him.”

The Doctor speaks calmly, “We can mourn him when London is safe. But now, we move on.”

We nod miserably.

We walk up a slope that overlooks the river - Battersea is on the opposite bank.

“The whole of London’s been sealed off, and the entire population’s been taken inside that place. To be ‘converted’.”

“We’ve gotta get in there and shut it down.” Rose says.

“How do we do that?” Mickey asks.

“Oh, I’ll think of something.”

I scoff, “You’re just making this up as you go along!”

“Yup. But I do it brilliantly.” He grins at me.

I look at Gabby and we both roll our eyes.

Mrs. Moore has her laptop out, and has a 3D model of the factory on the screen, “That’s a schematic of the old factory. Look, cooling tunnels… underneath the plant… big enough to walk through.”

Everyone crowds around the laptop on a bench, except Jake, who stands some distance away.

“We go under there and up into the control center?” 

Mrs. Moore nods. “There’s another way in.” Pete starts, “Through the front door. If they’ve taken Jackie for upgrading, that’s how she’ll get in…”

Jake finally walks over to us, “We can’t just go strolling up.”

“Or, we could… with these…” Mrs. Moore takes out a set of ear-pods from her bag. The Doctor takes one.

“Fake ear-pods. Dead. no signal. But put them on, the Cybermen would mistake you for one of the crowd.”

“Then that’s my job.” Pete decides.

“You’d have to show no emotion. None at all. Any sign of emotion would give you away.” The Doctor tells him.

Rose looks to Mrs. Moore, “How many of those have you got?”

“Just two sets.”

“Okay. If that’s the best way of finding Jackie… I’m coming with you.” She gets up and stands next to Pete.

“Why does she matter to you?”

“We haven’t got time. Doctor, I’m going with him, and that’s that.”

The Doctor stares at her, “No stopping you, is there?”

“Nope.”

The Doctor chucks the ear-pods to her, “Tell you what… we can take the ear-pods at the same time. Give people their minds back. So they don’t walk into that place like sheep. Jakey-boy?” He leads Jake further up the hill for a better look at Battersea and the zeppelin stationed above it, “Lumic’s transmitting the control signal, and it must be from over there…” He points the sonic screwdriver in the general direction. It bleeps. “There it is… on the zeppelin, see? Great big transmitter. Good thing Lumic likes showing off. Reckon you could take it out?”

Jake smiles, “Consider it done.”

The Doctor pats him on the shoulder and goes back to us, “Mrs. Moore… would you care to accompany me into the cooling tunnels?”

“How could I refuse an offer of cooling tunnels?”

“We attack on three sides, above, between - below. We get to the control center, we stop the conversion machines.”

I share a look with Mickey and Gabby, “What about us?”

We’re standing slightly apart from the group, forgotten. Everyone looks over at us like they’ve only just remembered we’re there. “Ah! You can… ahm…”

I get angry, “What? Stay in the van so I’m safe? No way.”

Gabby puts her hand on my shoulder, “She and Mickey can go with Jake. I’ll go with you and Mrs. Moore.”

A trap door opens into the cooling tunnels. Mrs. Moore descends a ladder followed by the Doctor and lastly Gabby. Her foot slips on one of the rungs and she falls. The Doctor stabilizes her by putting his hand on her waist, “You alright?”

She nods, brushing his hands off, “Fine.”

“It’s freezing here.”

“Any sign of a light switch?”

Mrs. Moore laughs, “Can’t see a thing. But I’ve got these…” She rummages through her bag and hands the Doctor a light that can be tied around his head, “A device for every occasion…”

“Ooh!” 

“Put it on.” She finds one for herself and gives one to Gabby.

“Haven’t got a hotdog in there, have you? I’m starving.”

Gabby gags, “Of all the things to wish for! That’s mechanically recovered meat!”

“I know. It’s the Cyberman of food, but it’s tasty.”

Mrs. Moore hands him a flashlight, “A proper torch as well.”

“Let’s see where we are.” He switches the flashlight on and takes a few steps forward. The first thing the light falls on is a Cyberman. There are hundreds of them lining the cooling tunnels, but they are lifeless, “Already converted, just paralyzed. Come on!” He walks forward, ready to start the journey down the cooling tunnels. After a moment's hesitation, Mrs. Moore follows. The Doctor pauses and raps one on the nose (or where the nose should be) which elicits no response.

“Let’s go slowly. Keep an eye out for trip systems.”

They edge slowly and warily down the tunnel, past lifeless Cyberman after lifeless Cyberman.

Jake has climbed a ladder to the roof of the building, over which the zeppelin is parked. Mickey and I follow him. Jake creeps stealthily behind a wall to avoid being noticed by the guards standing beneath the zeppelin and beckons to us.

“Two guards. We can take them.” Jake says.

“Don’t kill them.” Mickey stops him.

“Who put you in charge?” Jake asks.

“If you kill them, what’s the difference between you and a Cyberman?” I counter.

Jake pauses, “Well, I suppose we could use these.” He hands Mickey a small corked bottle.

“Smelling salts?”

“Bit stronger than that. One of Mrs. Moore’s little tricks. Should knock them out. Three, two, one…” They run out from behind the wall and creep up behind the guards. They grab them from behind and shove the ‘smelling salts’ under their noses. They’re unconscious in seconds.

“There’s gotta be more guards on board.” I tell them. “Then let’s go get them.” Jake smiles.

We start to climb the ladder to the zeppelin.

The Doctor, Mrs. Moore, and Gabby are still making their way stealthily along the tunnel.

“How’d you get into this, then? Rattling along with the Preachers?” The Doctor asks.

“Oh, I used to be ordinary. Worked at Cybus Industries. ‘95. ‘Til one day, I find something I’m not supposed to. A file on the mainframe. All I did was read it. Then suddenly, I’ve got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night. Life on the run. Then I found the Preachers. They needed a techy, so I… I just sat down and taught myself everything.” Mrs. Moore answers.

“What about Mr. Moore?” Gabby asks.

“Well, he’s not called Moore. I got that from a book, Mrs. Moore. It’s safer not to use real names. But he thinks I’m dead. It was the only way to keep him safe. Him and the kids. What about you? Got any family, or…?”

“Oh, who needs family? I’ve got the whole world on my shoulders. Go on then, what’s your real name?”

“Angela Price.” Mrs. Moore reveals, “Don’t tell a soul.”

“Not a word.” He smiles.

Mrs. Moore turns to Gabby, “What about you? I’ve known you for a few years and I still don’t know much about you, other than you’re from America.”

“Not much to tell, moved here when I was thirteen 'cause my family died, didn’t end up going to school past high school, met Ricky when I was nineteen, been with him and the Preachers ever since.” Gabby frowns.

“But how did you figure out multiversal communication if you didn’t go to university?” The Doctor asks.

Gabby shrugs, “I don’t know, I’ve always believed in things that most people don’t. The multiversal theory has been around for ages, I’m hardly the first one to think about it.”

“Still, you must be incredibly intelligent to create a device that’s capable of communicating with other universes.”

“I’m not that smart. I’ve always been interested in radios, and when the earpods started coming out I got a pair and took them apart. Then I hooked ‘em into the radio I built from scraps, and started messing around with the frequencies. It only worked after I hooked it into the power grid, and even then it was only for a minute, and apparently, it reached the Tardis in your universe.” She explains.

Before they can continue the conversation Mrs. Moore notices a Cyberman’s hand twitch, “Doctor? Did that one just move?” “It’s just the torchlight. Keep going, come on.”

Another one, just in front of them, definitely turns.

“They’re waking up… run!”

They run down the cooling tunnel as fast as they can. As they go, the Cybermen spring to life, one after another. They begin to march forwards just as they reach the ladder at the end of the tunnel. They scramble to get up it.

“Get up! Quick! They’re coming!”

The Doctor attempts to open the seal with his sonic screwdriver.

“Open it! Open it!”

He succeeds and tosses the door aside.

“Get up!”

They climb up the ladder as fast as they can.

“Quick! Quick!” “Come on! Come on!” They climb out of the trapdoor, the Cybermen are following, but they manage to slam the door closed just in time. The Doctor seals it with his sonic screwdriver.

“Oh, good team, girls!” They nod.

Having successfully drugged another guard, we enter the control room of the zeppelin.

“Nice one.” Jake sees the room deserted, “Nobody’s home. Find the transmitter controls.”

“What do they look like?” Mickey asks.

“Well, I don’t know, they might have ‘transmitter controls’ written in big red letters, just look!” Jake shrugs.

We all look around the control room. Mickey turns and jumps to see a Cyberman standing in a dark alcove.

“Cyberman!” Jake points his gun at it. 

But it doesn’t move. Confused, Jake moves closer and turns a light switch, illuminating the alcove. Mickey and I take a few steps closer to examine it. 

“It’s dead. I don’t think it was ever alive.” I tap it on the head, and it sounds hollow, “It’s empty. No brain. It’s just a robot suit. It’s for display.”

“Okay. Transmitter.” Jake nods.

We head off in different directions to search for the transmitter.

The Doctor, Mrs. Moore, and Gabby edge along a dark metal corridor. Suddenly a Cyberman steps out in front of them. They all jump.

“You are not upgraded.”

“Yeah? Well, upgrade this.” Gabby throws a small metal device at the Cyberman - it sticks to its chest. It sparks and causes the cyberman to be electrocuted. It shakes and jerks, and then slumps to the floor. The Doctor looks delighted.

“What the hell was that thing?!” 

They approach the body.

“Electromagnetic bomb. Takes out computers, figured it might stop the cyber-suit.” She shrugs.

“You figured right. Now, let’s have a look.” He takes out his sonic screwdriver, bends down, and holds it to the Cybus logo on its chest, “Now… know your enemy… and the logo on the front… Lumic’s turned them into a brand.” He takes the logo off so they can see inside the Cyberman, showing the two women, “Heart of steel… but look…” He puts his fingers inside the Cyberman and draws out some bodily tissues.

“Is that flesh?”

“Hmmm… central nervous system. Artificially grown and then threaded throughout the suit so it responds like a living thing. Well, it is a living thing. Oh, but look…” He carefully fingers an electronic chip, “Emotional inhibitor. Stops them feeling anything.”

“But… why?”

“It’s still got a human brain… imagine its reaction if it could see itself. Realize itself inside this thing. They’d go insane…”

“So they cut out the one thing that makes them human.” “Because they have to.”

“Why am I cold?” The Cyberman speaks.

“Oh, my god. It’s alive. It can feel.”

“We broke the inhibitor.” He leans over the Cyberman, and touches its head, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” “Why so cold?”

“Can you remember your name?”

“Sally, Sally Phelan.”

“You’re a woman…”

“Where’s Gareth?”

“Who’s Gareth?” Gabby asks.

“He can’t see me. It’s unlucky the night before.”

“You’re getting married.” Mrs. Moore realizes.

“I’m cold. I’m so cold.”

“Sorry. You can sleep now, Sally. Just go to sleep.” He points the sonic screwdriver just inside the suit. The blue light inside goes out. 

“Sally Phelan didn’t die for nothing.” It dawns on him, “‘Cos that’s the key. The emotional inhibitor, if we could find the code behind it, the cancellation code, then feed it throughout the system into every Cyberman’s head…”

Mrs. Moore and Gabby nod.

“They’d realize what they are…”

“And what happens then?” Gabby asks.

“I think it would kill them.” His brow furrows, “Could we do that?”

“We’ve got to. Before they kill everyone else.” Mrs. Moore tells him, “There’s no choice, Doctor. It’s got to be done.”

She stands. The Doctor is still staring at Sally’s body with Gabby. None of them notice that a Cyberman is standing behind Mrs. Moore. It grabs her by the neck and kills her.

They stand in horror, the Doctor pushing Gabby behind him.

“No! No! You didn’t have to kill her!” He speaks furiously.

“Sensors detect a binary vascular system. You are an unknown upgrade. You will be taken for analysis.”

The Doctor, looking disgusted by them, allows himself to be led off by two other Cyberman, Gabby following behind.

Jake goes over to Mickey and me who are standing by a panel that is indeed labeled ‘transmitter controls’.

“The transmitter controls are sealed behind here, we need a blow torch or something.”

“Oh, no I forgot to bring it with me.” Jake speaks sarcastically.

“Well, then what do we do?” I ask.

“We’ll crash the zeppelin.” Jake says it like it's obvious.

“With us inside?” Mickey asks.

“We could set it to automatic and then just leg it! Let’s have a look.” 

The two of them go over to the controls.

Jake taps on the keyboard and shakes his head, “It’s locked. There’s gotta be an override…”

Mickey shoves Jake out of the way, “Let me have a go. I’m good with computers, trust me.”

Mickey taps on the keyboard and we stand watching.

“Almost there.”

“Not bad work.”

The Cyberman steps out of the alcove.

“It’s moving!”

We all back away.

“You said it was dead!”

“Yeah. But it’s still a steel robot.”

Jake points his gun at it.

I push his hand down, “Wait a minute. Hey, Cyberman! Over here!”

The cyberman turns.

“Come on, you brainless lump of metal.” It stomps towards us, and I beckon it forward.

“Come and have a go!”

The Cyberman raises its fist, ready to strike, We all duck out of the way at the last second, and its fist slams into the transmitter controls. It explodes with blue electricity, destroying both the controls and the Cyberman.

“The transmitter’s down!”

We all hug.

“Hold on, I’ve logged on to Cyber Control.” Mickey has managed to hack into a security camera overlooking Cyber Control where the Doctor is.

“They’re alive! The Doctor and Rose, there they are!” Mickey speaks in excitement.

“Never mind them, what the hell is that thing?” Jake points to the Cyberman in an elaborate chair.

“Shh. Has this thing got sound?” Mickey taps on the keyboard, giving us audio.

“I will bring peace to the world. Everlasting peace, unity, and uniformity.”

“And imagination? What about that? The one thing that led you here. Imagination, you’re killing it, dead!”

“What is your name?”

“I’m the Doctor.”

“A redundant title. Doctors need not exist. Cybermen never sicken.” The Doctor steps forward, “Yes, but that’s it! That’s exactly the point! Oh, Lumic, you’re a clever man… I’d call you a genius, except I’m in the room. But everything you’ve invented, you did to fight your sickness. And that's brilliant. That is so human. But once you get rid of sickness and mortality, then what’s there to strive for? Eh? The Cybermen won’t advance. You’ll just stop! You’ll stay like this forever. A metal Earth with metal men and metal thoughts. Lacking the one thing that makes this planet so alive. People. Ordinary, stupid, brilliant people.”

“You are proud of your emotions?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Then tell me, Doctor, have you known grief, rage, and pain?”

“Yes. Yes, I have.”

“And they hurt?”

“Oh yes.” “I could set you free. Would you not want that? A life without pain?”

“You might as well kill me.”

“Then I take that option.”

“It’s not yours to take. You’re a cyber controller. You don’t control me or anything with blood in its heart.”

“You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own.”

The Doctor puts his face in his palm, “You just don’t get it, do you? An army’s nothing. ‘Cos those ordinary people, they’re the key.” He glances at the security camera, “The most ordinary person could change the world.”

Mickey nods at this.

“Some ordinary man, or woman… some idiot…”

Mickey’s head jerks up. He stares.

“All it takes is for him to find, say, the right numbers… say, the right codes… say, for example, the code behind the emotional inhibitor. The code right in front of him. ‘Cos even an idiot knows how to use computers these days.”

Mickey’s mouth is open.

“Knows how to get past firewalls and passwords… knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under… what was it, Pete? Binary what?”

Pete speaks loudly, “Binary 9.”

Mickey repeats it in a whisper, beginning to type. The code starts to appear number by number on the screen.

“An idiot could find that code. The cancellation code. And he’d keep on typing. Keep on fighting.” The Doctor looks meaningfully into the camera, “Anything to save his friends…”

“Your words are irrelevant.”

The Doctor grins, “Talk too much, that’s my problem. Lucky I got you that cheap tariff, Rose. For all our long chats. On your phone.” 

“The phone…” Mickey takes out his mobile.

“You will be deleted.”

“Yes, delete, control, hash, all those lovely buttons.”

Mickey types the numbers into his phone as a text message.

“Then, of course, my particular favorite, send.”

Mickey presses send.

“And let’s not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the

 first place.” Rose’s phone beeps.

“By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else…” He loiters on one particular computer.

“It’s for you.” Rose chucks him her phone.

He catches it, “Like this.” 

He shoves it into a port. All hell breaks loose and the Cybermen clutch onto their heads, moaning. The code flashes on every single computer screen.

We jump up and down in delight.

“Yes!”

What have you done?” Lumic asks furiously.

“I gave them back their souls. They can see what you’ve done, Lumic! And it’s killing them.”

The Doctor, Rose, Gabby, and Pete run from the room.

Jake begins to turn the wheel of the zeppelin.

“What’re you doing?” Mickey asks.

“We’ve gotta get away. If that factory blows up, this balloon’s gonna ignite!”

“Take it back!” I shout.

“Abby, they’ve had it!” “I said, take it back!”

The zeppelin starts to drift away.

I shove Jake away from the wheel, “Mickey, hold him.”

He does what I ask.

I call Rose on speaker, “Head for the roof Rose!”

“Abby, where’d you learn to fly that thing?”

“Playstation. Just hold on, Rose. We’re coming for you.”

I find the lever for the hatch and pull it, releasing a rope ladder down to the roof.

The next morning…

Mickey, Jake, Gabby, and I walk up, Mickey holding the Doctor’s suit.

“Here it is! Not a crease.”

He takes it, “My suit! Good man. Now then, Jake, we’ve gotta run. But one more thing; Mrs. Moore. Her real name is Angela Price. She’s got a husband out there. And children. Find them. Tell them how she died saving the world.”

Jake nods, “Yeah, course I will.”

“Off we go, then!”

Mickey and I share a look.

I turn and walk over to Gabby.

“You’ll be okay right?” I ask.

“Yeah… Eventually, I suppose.” She smiles, “I’ll miss Ricky of course, but he’ll always be with me in a way.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Not sure yet. Probably work more on my multiversal communication, maybe even try multiversal travel.”

“I wish you luck.” I smile.

I bring her into a tight embrace.

Before we separate she whispers, “You should talk to him about how you’re feeling.”

“Watch it!” Mickey shouts.

We both turn to look at him.

I turn back to look at Gabby, “Goodbye.”

I walk back to the tardis and go inside.

[irvinenewshq]

Mindy Kalings Velma HBO Max Grownup Animated Collection Trailer

Screenshot: HBO Max The New York Comedian Con 2022 panel launched the primary teaser for the HBO Max grownup animated collection Velma, which is able to dig into the origin of the smartest member of the Scooby Doo gang. Earlier at the moment, The Hollywood Reporter dropped the information that filling out Thriller Inc. are Glenn Howerton (It’s All the time Sunny in Philadelphia) as Fred, Sam Richardson (Hocus Pocus 2) as Norville (aka Shaggy), and Constance Wu (Hustlers) as Daphne. Kaling and showrunner Charlie Grandy will government produce. Right here’s the trailer for the HBO Max launch unveiled at NYCC 2022, which Mindy Kaling launched on the con by exclaiming, “It begins with a homicide, bitch!” Velma | Official Teaser | HBO Max io9’s Linda Codega was on the panel and bought to see the pilot episode, which follows the early days of characters earlier than they grow to be the long-lasting gang. We uncover that Velma will get her second to hold huge most important character power that Kaling described as a “reality teller:” she speaks her thoughts and type of additionally has anxiousness induced spooky hallucinations when making an attempt to unravel mysteries. She overtly flirts with wealthy child Fred—who’s kinda a jerk, and perhaps flirts with Daphne, too. (Although there was no affirmation of whether or not or not this model of Velma will likely be queer, like she is within the just-released Trick or Deal with Scooby-Doo Halloween particular, we do be taught that Daphne has lesbian mothers.) The present was pitched as a “love quadrangle.” Norville/Shaggy, who has a crush on Velma, additionally will get a serious change: he’s very anti-drugs—however Kaling and firm shared that it doesn’t imply it’ll keep that method. The character’s “shift from straight edge to burnout will likely be earned,” in line with government producer Grandy. Alas, there’ll be no Scooby, as Warner Bros. didn’t allow the usage of the beloved mascot because the present’s very grownup tone focuses extra on raunchy hijinks and violence. Official first seems to be at Fred, Daphne, and Norville had been revealed as nicely forward of the panel. Extra solid contains Melissa Fumero, Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, Ken Leung, Russell Peters, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, Cherry Jones, Bizarre Al Yankovic, Fortune Feimster, Yvonne Orji, Sarayu Blue, Nicole Byer, Ming-Na Wen, Shay Mitchell, Debby Ryan, Kulap Vilaysak, Karl-Anthony Cities, and Frank Welker (voice of the unique Fred and Scooby) as Fred’s dad (whose an absolute DILF). The present’s synopsis as described by HBO Max reveals that, “Velma is an grownup animated comedy collection telling the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the unsung and underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Thriller Inc. gang. An authentic and humorous spin that unmasks the advanced and colourful previous of one in every of America’s most beloved thriller solvers.” Velma is ready for streaming on HBO Max in 2023. Need extra io9 information? Take a look at when to anticipate the newest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and every little thing that you must find out about Home of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy. Originally published at Irvine News HQ

[hearteyes-for-killmonger]

Black Panther x Scooby Doo Crossover

"Raggy!"

"Scoob!"

Scooby jumped into Shaggy's quaking arms. Shaggy was a skinny stoner yet somehow still able to catch a 70 lb great dane on a reflex. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, he was white as the ghosts he saw on an almost daily basis. Scrabbling in mid-air for five seconds, his panic finally drove him away from the threat in a flash.

"Red! Raphne!" Scooby ran on his own four legs knocking down the blonde ascoted himbo. He'd no time to dodge the large great dane barreling dead at him.

"Hey," Fred yelled trying to gather what the hell was this dog's issue now. Had he run out of mustard for his hotdogs? He'd only eaten about 75 for lunch. "Scoob, what's goin on?"

"Rooaaaaasttt!" Scooby was obviously shaken. Despite the fact that most "roasts" were merely criminals in "rasks"..

"Aw Scoob, you probably just stumbled on an old sheet or something." It was Fred's way to be dismissive but Daphne stepped in.

"Fred, maybe we should go check," she insisted using her ginger charm. Fred had a thing for the ging and she knew it. He was wrapped around her press-ons.

Scooby led the way with Shaggy not far behind him as Fred and Daphne escorted them back to the location where the ghost had appeared.

"Well, I don't see anything," Fred pointed out. Indeed there was nothing.

"Hey," a voice called from above. Up in a tree, sitting on a branch sat a man. A black man. They were all confused, never having seen a black man climb a tree. They still hadn't seen it... Somehow he'd just gotten up there... "Y'all are the Mystery Squad," he stated.

"Yeah man," Shaggy stepped forward no longer afraid.

"I thought so I used to watch this show all the--Uh--You know what, nevermind. I didn't mean to scare you guys, I'm kinda in a situation.. Maybe y'all can help?"

The four friends searched each other for any dissent. It was fuck Velma, she'd catch up later if they ever ran into her again. For all they knew she was crawling somewhere searching for her glasses. Why she didn't keep them on a string or wear contacts they'd never know. Maybe she just liked tooting that ass in the air with her skirt on. She surely never wore a scort.

"We could give it a shot," Fred spoke for the group considering himself the leader. "When you say situation..," he paused for the story which the stranger went into as the cameras they were oblivious to blurred and cut to the next scene.

The group now had the complete story and the identified man was none other than Erik Stevens, a man they never heard of because they were created by different studios.

"So you're stuck in our world..?" Fred repeated it like a typical confused man only capable of breaking down small and simplistic bits of information at a time. He needed Velma afterall to state the obvious more clearly in a way that he could understand.

"I don't know what happened," Erik explained once more being used to working with men. "One minute I'm at a Travis Nott concert going through a demonic ass portal of human sacrifice and the next I'm here. I think I really went through a portal and now I don't know how to get back to my own world and time. I ain't got time to stay here, it's nice and all.."

"You must have a good reason why you're in a rush to get back," Fred offered. If only that were the case, Erik had a bank to rob to fund his more noble activities.

"Yeah," he smiled awkwardly as the camera panned to his face, his eyes darting to meet the audience.

"Well, we've never turned down a case yet. Time to do our thing gang," Fred enthused with the equal excitement of the group.

"Roo you pray rasketrall," Scooby microagressed upon seeing Erik's height as he jumped down from the branch. Seems that's what happens to brown dogs raised with white owners. Erik let it slide, not trying to flex a cartoon dog, especially not Scooby. He meant well.

Erik followed the group around the supposedly haunted fair grounds the portal had spit him into. The mystery squad was in town to investigate the recent mysterious happenings. Apparently the old owner had refused to sell the newly haunted grounds and now he was missing. With him gone, the grounds would be sold. The team had to figure out two things. One, what ghost was haunting the grounds scaring away customers. Two, where on earth was Mr. Fairfax the grounds owner. There had to be an answer, they only had about 20 more minutes of programming time to figure it out.

"Really," Erik stared while the crew searched for clues. Poor Velma had finally appeared but wouldn't find an answer until the last minute and Erik refused to be in 2 episodes though he loved the show, he had things to do. "Velma I know you got this," he offered throwing her a bone since she looked like she wanted to jump his. He didn't figure her for a fan of the chocolate. Ascoted himbos seemed more her speed.. "But I'm a go ahead and solve this now if you don't mind. I think Fairfax was kidnapped and the same people who grabbed him are the same ones trying to scare people away from the fair grounds. It's whoever's trying to buy it. Find them you find your culprit and you'll find Fairfax. There's your motive. There's your case. Now let's focus on getting me back to Oakland.. MY Oakland."

The squad stood completely stunned to silence as Erik stared back.

"Y'all good," he asked.

Fred blinked and checked his watch. They hadn't even gotten a chance to run in opposite directions across the scene to decade-specific theme music. He felt robbed.

"Jinkies," Velma exclaimed in awe. She'd never met anyone intelligent before. Her thirst intensified.

Sighing, Fred agreed to end the bullshit early and rescue poor Mr. Fairfax instead of making him wait cramped up in a random closet or storm shelter or wherever it was he was being held. It ended up being a closet and as Erik said the culprit was exactly who they expected. Somehow they were still surprised on the unveiling. They all gasped in shock and though no one called the police, they suddenly appeared.

"Officer arrest this man," Fred pointed proudly at the villain, turning in confusion when they cuffed Erik instead. "Uh, officers? You've got the wrong guy," he explained full of caucasian innocence.

"He fit the description," the cop retorted squeezing the cuffs extra tight and using unnecessary force.

"HEY," Fred yelled protectively with Shaggy and Scooby backing him for support. Suddenly Shaggy and Scooby had bass. "This is WRONG," Fred stated eloquently somehow changing the hearts of the officers who released Erik letting him go with bowed heads hung in shame.

The true villain left in police custody and Erik shook himself off with a new respect for his friends.

"You guys," Velma pointed having finally cleaned her foggy ass glasses after an entire episode. "There's a portal!"

Erik looked at the rift in space and time and back to the crew who had treated him more kindly than most. He understood on a deeper level why he loved this show so much. They smiled at him, seeing him off, waving as he walked into the void getting sucked into it.

"Byeeee," they all yelled, their voices turning into one sound.. the sound of an alarm. He was back. It was night and he was in bed, watching Scooby-Doo. Well.. It was watching him.

He looked at the calendar on his iPhone. He hadn't missed anything. The heist was still on. It was funny actually. He laughed to himself. Solving a case with a criminal in a mask only to come back home and become a criminal in a mask.

Good thing the police in the real world were equally as stupid, he smirked laying his head back down. He flexed his toes feeling warm and toasty. Big day of theft in the morning, he needed his rest.

The End

[starryevermore]

scooby doo! and the overdramatic youtubers: the investigation (2) ✧ sam and colby

scooby doo! and the overdramatic youtubers ✧ a parallel universe snc au | ao3

summary: the gang + snc get close to wrapping this whole thing up. 

word count: 1,633

warning(s): fred is pissed at colby

The gang settled at a table in the library, calm now that the adrenaline from being nearly killed by the Shieldmaiden had worn off. Except, Fred still looked ready to kill Colby. And this disdain for Colby certainly was helped when, after the coast was clear, Daphne hugged him tight and declared her thanks a hundred times over. Yeah, Fred was pissed off, and Colby was praying that they solve this mystery ASAP so that their mission could be complete and they could return home, lest Colby return home in a body bag. 

“So, uh, what did you find out, Velma?” Sam asked, fiddling with his thumbs. 

“More than you did when you ran off with Scooby and Shaggy,” she said, smiling slightly, not looking as angry as her words would suggest. 

“In our defense, we just wanted to find the Shieldmaiden,” Colby said. “And it’s always the ones who break off from the group that find the monster first, so our logic was sound.”

“Hm, I suppose,” Velma said, flipping through her notebook that she had jotted down clues in while they had been researching. “The history of the Shieldmaiden is a bit fuzzy. As far as I could see, there is no real historical roots in her existence. There have been rumors over the last hundred years or so, but nothing that was of note. It mostly surrounds a—”

“Let me guess,” Sam interrupted. “It’s some ghost story about a Shieldmaiden who once took over Little Denmark, destroying effectively everything. She wanted power, and the only way to get and enforce that power was by ruining everything that the town prided itself on. And once she got that power? She made sure that no one could take away. At one point, a rebellion rose up. But it failed so horrifically, with so many lives lost, that no one dared challenge her again. The townsfolk never forgot them, though, and what they had sacrificed in order to try and get some semblance of peace. Eventually, the Shieldmaiden wasted away and, with no heirs, so did the town.” 

Velma blinked. “Actually, yes. The ghost story basically faded away after a while, save for some journals detailing everything. That’s essentially where all of the information came from, so who’s to say if it’s real or not.” 

Colby frowned. So, in this universe, the Shieldmaiden story was purely legend? Whereas in his and Sam’s universe, people were trying to pass it off as fact? Interesting…

“Anyways, the story has seen some resurgences over the years, namely when similar legends have made the rounds online. None of this was any issue until a few months ago, a real Shieldmaiden ghost made its first appearance in town. And ever since her first appearance, she seems to be going after a very specific type of infrastructure in town.”

“And what’s that?” Sam asked.

“Well—”

But, before Velma could finish her thought, the Hex Girls threw open the doors to the library, running over to their table, earning a loud “shhh!” from the librarian. They ignored the librarian, only stopping when they reached the table. Colby felt his face grow warm when Thorn stopped just behind him, her hand on the back of his chair as she tried to catch her breath. 

“What’s happening?” Daphne asked. 

“It’s the Shieldmaiden!” Thorn said. “You need to come quick!”  

“She attacking again!” Dusk added. 

“Follow us!” Luna said, grabbing onto Velma’s hand and tugging her out of her seat. 

The rest quickly jumped up, following the Hex Girls to the scene. 

As they walked, Colby slowed so he and Sam were at the back of the group. When he was sure that no one could hear them, he asked Sam, “Do you think something’s going on between our universes?” 

“Because the Shieldmaiden stories have overlapped? I’m not sure,” Sam admitted. “It’s strange. Maybe it has something to do why we were given this mission?”

“Like, if the Shieldmaiden isn’t stopped, she’ll do something in our universe?”

“Maybe?” Sam paused. “I wish Ard—Lux. I wish Lux was here. She would know what was going on.” 

“I just wish Lux would talk to us,” Colby said. “She’s left us in the dark, probably gave us this mission, and she just…I don’t know. I thought we all got close in the Karate Kid universe, but I guess it more one-sided than I thought.”

“I mean, she’s got an intense job. We should know better than anyone how hard it is to keep in contact with people while we’re working. We can’t exactly fault her for that.” 

“I know. It’s just…I miss her. Like, more than I thought I would.”

Sam nodded. “I get that. You did spend more time with her than I did, but…You just gotta trust that she’ll come around when she’s able.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Then what else can you do?” 

They’d accidentally fell so far behind that, when they caught up to the rest of the gang and the Hex Girls, they’d already finished talking to the witnesses. Shit, they were really fucking bad at doing this mission. What would happen if they didn’t keep up? Would they fail? And what would that mean for their universe? 

When they reached the gang, Velma was saying, “Well, gang, looks like this mystery is just about wrapped up?”

“Huh? What did we miss?”

“Shoot, shoot, shoot!” Sam cursed—or, at least, tried to curse—as he got his foot stuck in some elaborate trap that resulted in him dangling in a tree outside of the cathedral. Why couldn’t he curse out loud? Was this a result of them being in a cartoon universe? ‘Cause if it was, he couldn’t wait until he was out of this hellscape. 

“Sorry!” Fred apologized, running up and quickly untangling him. Sam landed on the ground with a quiet thud! “That wasn’t meant for you…” 

“Yeah, I figured it was for the Shieldmaiden…” 

“Oh, no, it was for your friend.” 

Sam blinked. “Colby? Why?” 

Fred scoffed, resetting the trap in the event that Colby came back. “He tried making a move on Daphne earlier, and now everyone thinks they’re about to be some power couple. There’s even headlines already—Meet Little Denmark’s Newest Powercouple: #Colbne! As if Daphne would ever date him. I mean, why would she, when she can have someone tall and good at traps and blond and good at traps—”

“Listen, brother, you don’t have anything to worry about. Colby was just trying to save her, not trying to make a move on her. Trust me—”

Before Sam could finish his sentence, he heard the frightened shouts of Colby, Shaggy, and Scooby, who’d been used as bait to catch the Shieldmaiden. 

“Wait, they’re supposed to go to the other trap! Where the girls are!”

“Well, change of plans, Fred, ‘cause the Shieldmaiden’s gonna have to go into the trap meant for Colby!” Sam said, gesturing for the the guys to run toward where they were so that the Shieldmaiden would get caught.

And, thankfully, Colby at least seemed to know what was up, running towards them before jumping out of the way last minute so that the Shieldmaiden, who was hot on his heels. Unable to stop herself, she fell right into the trap, a relatively simple design where her foot was caught in a loop of rope that flew up, dangling her upside down from the tree.

She trashed around, trying to free herself, but Fred let her fall easily, knocking her head against the ground so that she was disoriented when she sat up.

By then, Velma, Daphne, and the Hex Girls had rounded the building. 

“Jinkies, you caught the Shieldmaiden!” Daphne said. 

“Good job, Freddie! Now, let’s unmask this gal and so who’s been behind this mess all along,” Velma said, She reached over, pulling off the zombie mask off the Shieldmaiden. 

“Jacklyn Ann?!” everyone cried out. 

By now, the authorities had arrived and began to place handcuffs on the now un-masked villain. 

“Ah, just as I expected!” Velma said. She turned her attention to everyone else and explained, “The Shieldmaiden has been targeting tourist destinations all over Little Denmark. If you recall, when we met Jacklyn Ann earlier, she expressed her hatred for the tourist industry.”

Jacklyn Ann scoffed. “Well, can you blame me? Tourists ruin everything they touch! They have no respect for where they visit! They trash everything, they have no respect for history! They prioritize their fun over all else, and it cheapens the town! Then, when the town’s resources are drained, the town suffers!” 

“Well, we can’t fault your reasoning, but surely you could’ve taken a different route, a more legal route to achieve your ends?” Colby said. “I mean, isn’t your dad the mayor? Couldn’t he have done something?” 

“Oh, Daddy doesn’t listen to me! This was the only way for him to see that tourism is evil!” she shouted. “And I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids!”

“Yeah, yeah, we get that all the time,” Shaggy said. 

They watched as she was carted off in a police car, the car driving away. They stood still for a moment, before Velma turned to Sam and Colby said, “I told you there was no such thing as ghosts.”

“One instance doesn’t disprove anything,” Sam said, shrugging. “You never know what’s out there. And, uh, we should probably be heading out. Got more investigations to do, you know.” 

“Wait!” Thorn said. “Before you go, would you like to be in our music video? It’s the least we could do to repay you, all of you, for helping out here.” 

Sam and Colby shared a glance. Then, Colby said, “Sure. Don’t see why not.” 

[after-witch]

Let’s Split Up, Gang [Yandere Hawks x Reader]

Title: Let’s Split Up, Gang [Yandere Hawks x Reader]

Synopsis: You have a stalker. Thankfully, your boyfriend Hawks is there to help you investigate. 

Request from @damtoti​: Hawks with horror movie trope “let’s split up and investigate”?

Word Count: 1300ish

The forest was not altogether unpleasant. The cool breeze, the scent of leaves and dirt and natural things, was almost relaxing. At least, it would have been relaxing, if it weren't for the reason you were in the middle of all that nature in the first place: investigating your potential stalker.

A stalker that would hopefully become a past tense situation, something to cringe and laugh and perhaps be wary about, but past tense all the same. You'd received mysterious letters proclaiming his love for you. Items went missing from your house--clothing, makeup, even sentimental things. You received packages with gifts, some nice enough (a necklace) and others a little more... worrying. (Your stolen panties, soiled with--well.)

You were embarrassed, ashamed. Afraid. But when your boyfriend found out about your terrifying secret, he--to your relief--offered to step in immediately. 

This wasn't something to fool around with, he'd told you--and who better to handle a creeper than one of the best heroes in the world? 

You couldn't deny that having Hawks personally investigate your stalker made you feel more at ease. When you'd told him that a friend helped you attach a little GPS tracker to your new lingerie, a pair which was swiftly stolen from your drawer, he even offered to come with you to make sure everyone stayed safe. (Though he’d told you that was a stupid idea, and to never try something like that again. He was really in the know, so to speak, about these things.) He was so thoughtful, that way.

Which brought you to your current situation. You, Hawks, and a group of friends in the middle of the woods. The tracker led you to a seemingly abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't even a road nearby, so you'd had to park the car and hike most of the way.

Your thoughts rushed back to the present when you heard your boyfriend land softly in the crunchy leaves slowly rotting on the porch.

"All clear," he said. "No one's home. Let's go inside, yeah? But stick by me, just in case." He pushed open the unlocked front door and turned to face the rest of you.

One of your friends shook their head. "No, let's split up. We can cover more ground and get out of here faster that way."

Hawks sighed. You recognized the annoyance on his face, slow and stretchy. But you knew it was because he was used to these types of investigations, this type of work. He knew what to do and what not do, after all.

"Listen, there's strength in numbers. If this creep comes back, do you want to be alone or with me?" He looked at you, but you didn't want to step in between your friends and your boyfriend. Taking sides was never your strong suit.

"I've got a pocket knife and we'll yell if we need you. Seriously, we got this."

You saw Hawks' face twitch for a moment, just a microsecond, before he offered a resigned, don't-say-I-didn't-warn-you grin. "Okay. But we're all meeting back here in 15 minutes."

Everyone nodded and walked up the creaky wooden stairs into the lonesome home.

You gave Hawks a glance. You almost wanted to go with him--having a stalker was creepy enough, but walking around in their empty house by yourself? But f he noticed your thoughts, he didn't acknowledge them. He merely gave you a low thumbs-up and said, half-teasing: "See in you a bit, babe. Don't do anything stupid."

With that, he headed down the dark stairs towards the basement, his steps thudding quieter and quieter as he descended.

Your other friends were already off on their own, which left you to explore. You tried to ignore the deep, sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. This was a bad idea. No, not just bad--it was a dumb idea. You should have insisted Keigo go to the police station instead of letting him talk you into looking for evidence himself first. You didn't want to get hurt. You didn't want him to get hurt.

But it was too late for regrets and second thoughts, you realized. You were smack-dab in the middle of it now. You walked aimlessly towards an open kitchen area. The house was rustic, but not abandoned. The floors were unswept, but they weren't filthy. A tidy pile of leaves sat idly in one corner, and you could see wipe marks on the countertop. So your stalker cleans, you thought, but they were apparently shit at picking streak-free cleaner. Clearly key information to remember.

A strange sound interrupted your thoughts. A beeping sort of sound. An alarm, maybe? It was coming from above you--from upstairs.

You glanced at your watch. 10 minutes left. You peaked around the corner of the kitchen, looking at the staircase that-- as far as you knew--no one bothered going up yet. 

You kick aside an errant remote control without batteries that had been left on the floor and head for the stairs. They creak as you walk up and you hope the house really was occupied, otherwise they might be rotting and the next thing Hawks would have to do was get your ass out of a literal hole in the floor.

The upstairs was fairly small. There looked to be only three rooms--an open door revealing a (thankfully clean looking) toilet, and two closed doors. You heard the noise again, coming from behind the nearest of the closed doors. You took a breath and opened the door.

It was a bedroom. Sparse, impersonal. A twin bed with crisp sheets and a single flat pillow. A dresser. A desk with a laptop and a box on top, with the lid half-off. You heard the sound again, and realized immediately what it was: a notification on the laptop.

You couldn't deny the sudden urge to flee. This was wrong. This was wrong. This was wrong. You should yell out for Keigo or one of your friends. But something pulled you to the laptop like a puppet on a string. Curiosity, a desire for closure, even a little bit of pleasurable fear. When you got close enough to see the screen, however, your stomach dropped. 

The screen had pictures--no, videos. Videos of your apartment. Your bedroom. Your kitchen. Your bathroom. And it was recording live.

Your world spun, threatening to collapse around you. You felt your knees buckle and you reached your arms out towards the desk to steady yourself. The half-open box was inches away from your face, and even though everything inside your screamed to get the hell out of there, call for Keigo, call for Keigo. Instead, you slid lid off and looked inside.

Oh, you thought. Those are my things. The recently purloined lingerie set. A ring your mother gave you, passed down from her nana. A small teddy bear you'd slept with since you were 5. The sight of an old toothbrusth, crusted with toothpaste you didn’t rinse off good enough, made you want to throw up.

"Babe?"

You shrieked and whipped around, half-falling to the floor before you caught yourself on the desk chair. Then you felt shame rush through your face--you were immensely, ridiculously stupid. It was just Keigo. In a second, he was at your side, wrapping his arms protectively round you.

"Babe, what's the--"

He saw the screen. He saw the box. And he whistled, low.

"This... is really fucked up," he said.

You didn't know you were trembling until he pulled his arms tighter around you to calm you down.

"Okay, babe. That's enough of this. Time to call in the professionals to take over your little Scooby Doo gang thing going on here, all right? I'll contact the precinct for you."

You nodded, unable to speak. You looked up at him, eyes watering, and are glad for the feeling of his arms wrapped around you. It’s warm and comforting. You’d never been more glad to know he's there to protect you from stalkers, from weakness, from everything else bad in the world. 

He gave you one more comforting squeeze before escorting you from the room. As he ushered you through the doorway, you didn't notice him glancing back at the box in relief.

If you'd had the time to dig any further, you might have seen one of his feathers nestled inside.

[gra-sonas]

Just as her character Maria DeLuca was being challenged on Roswell, New Mexico (blame the alien Jones, played by Nathan Dean), Heather Hemmens was as well (blame the weather), stepping behind the camera to direct the September 6 episode, “Goodnight, Elizabeth.”

“It was one of those moments where you’re challenged to do time management beyond the hours in a day, but it was a really, really great experience for me that taught me a lot of skills that now that I’ve done it, I can take forward and conquer with,” Hemmens tells TV Insider of the experience.

“[It] came about from hours and hours and hours of shadowing behind the scenes, directing short films, so this was years of preparation meeting opportunity for me,” she continues. “It really was a great time to grow within the show especially behind the camera. So I’m really excited to do that on my home court.”

Heading into the episode, Maria remains in a coma after her encounter with Jones (not Max, also played by Dean, as they’d all thought). But at least everyone knows who they’re really dealing with now… right? That doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to stop him.

Below, Hemmens talks directing — she’ll helm another episode later in Season 4 — before previewing the rest of the season and Maria’s slightly reckless behavior.

Where does this episode find Maria in her fight against Jones?

Heather Hemmens: We find them very well matched where she has unexpectedly met him in the mindscape, but she is holding onto her powers for dear life. Right now she’s just buying time until she can outsmart him. They’re very well-matched because Maria’s strong-minded and determined and she’s just as good as Jones as evil, so it’s going to be an epic battle between them.

What’s everyone else up to now that they know they haven’t been talking to Max, but to Jones?

Heather Hemmens:  Everyone is frantically searching around for the real Jones and trying to stop him from whatever he’s set out to do. It’s a really fun storyline where the Scooby-Doo gang is setting up traps and different schemes to try and get ahead of Jones’ agenda. At the same time, they’re trying to receive psychic messages from Maria, helping them figure out what his motives are and also to help them get her out of this coma. This all is going to culminate with showdowns and explosions and big reveals that people who have been watching the show for years will never see coming. And it’s just going to be jaw-dropping turns that will take us into the rest of the storyline for the season.

There is quite a bit going on in this episode – the Jones storyline, Alex [Tyler Blackburn] is trying to get answers, Rosa’s [Amber Midthunder] still figuring things out about herself. What were your favorite and the most challenging scenes to direct?

My favorite scenes were Rosa and Isobel [Lily Cowles] in the cave where they have a real sisterhood bonding moment. That was such a joy just to have a scene where it wasn’t about special effects or anything sinister. It was just about two women connecting and having this great dialogue. It was really just such a joy to work with both of those actors, who are my close friends, and we had a lot of fun with that.

One of the more challenging scenes is this showdown. There’s so much going on. There’s a bunch of characters in the scene. There are explosions, special effects, all kinds of things happening, and it felt like a major movie set. It was really, really fun to film and we got rain right in the middle of it. We ended up being more crunched for time than I was supposed to have, and I was just really happy that I had prepared for that day in a way that I was able to still finish one of the most important scenes of the episode without having to sacrifice.

The scenes that I was in as an actor had special effects in them. And I also had to make time to watch playback and spend an hour and a half in hair and makeup before I got into director mode. So those were also challenges that I was happy to explore, that new skill set for myself, and just try to enjoy it along the way.

Speaking of great scenes with two women this season, one of my favorite relationships right now is Maria and Isobel’s. Are we going to continue to see more of those two together?

Heather Hemmens:  Absolutely. These two strong women are realizing that they’re even stronger together. They have such a fun dynamic. They have witty banter and they have great ideas and they also still have that competitiveness that makes them really fun to watch. I’m happy for the storyline and for the characters that the catty nature of their relationship has been overcome and now we’re into seeing two empowered women support each other. I just think that’s a really beautiful dynamic, and we’re going to see a lot more of it throughout the season.

It seems like Gregory [Tanner Novlan] has adapted pretty well to everything going on in Roswell. What can you say about his and Maria’s relationship?

Heather Hemmens:  I think the reason that Maria loves hanging out with Gregory is that he’s so easygoing. He has taken everything in stride. He’s been a support system. He’s been a really warm presence and just a good friend throughout all of this and Maria really needed a rock. He’s very stable. So I think that is the initial attraction and it could be budding into something romantic. I think it’s at a good starting point in friendship to be able to grow into that. … He may be crushing a little bit harder than her at the moment. But I think when he’s showing his true colors that he really cares for her and he has her back when she’s not well, that could go over pretty good with Maria when she catches wind of it.

We saw how far Maria was willing to go to trigger another vision earlier in the season, and she’s in a coma right now because she couldn’t sit and not do anything. Will we continue to see her push herself to or beyond her limits?

Heather Hemmens:  Absolutely. Maria is now on her own journey with her alien powers and with this alien storyline, whereas in the past seasons, we’ve seen her really supporting the other characters’ experience of this. Now she is on a rampage to fulfill her own destiny and discover what that is for her powers, so she’s willing to go pretty far to figure it out. I think she feels that no matter what the danger brings, she can’t not know.

I love Maria and everything she’s doing this season, but at the same time, I’m like, where’s your sense of self-preservation?

Heather Hemmens:  Yeah, she’s gotten a little bit reckless because she’s in dire need of answers. I think sometimes the hardest thing in life is not knowing and that can outweigh the expense of any maybe physical harm that she can endure and survive. But the most important thing to her is just having those questions answered that constantly plague her mind.

Everything’s building up to this funeral with the Valenti crest on the coffin. What can you tease about that funeral and what we’re going to see going forward?

Heather Hemmens:  It’s one of those mysteries that everybody comes together as a group because not only do they all care about who could be in the coffin, but it could be them. They still have no clarity that any of them is safe, and so in order to protect themselves, they also have to protect each other. That’s just one of the more lovely storylines that bonds them all, this group effort to keep everybody safe.

How certain can we be of anything that we’ve seen in those visions?

Heather Hemmens:  I’d say that they present accurately, but hindsight is 20/20. So just because they’re presenting accurately doesn’t mean that the supporting evidence doesn’t change the dynamic.

What else can you preview about the rest of the season and how it’s going to set up next season?

Heather Hemmens:  This Jones character is very determined to wreak havoc, so he’s not going away, and they’re going to have to battle it out with him for the next chapter of this story. They find different ways to do that and each character comes in to fight that beast. That’s a really, really fun storyline that plays out. And we’re gonna dig a little bit more into Maria’s family history as well and how it connects to everyone else and how it gets specific with this day in time that Jones is trying to find a memory for. Maria has a very big role in whether or not he gets that that piece of information he’s searching for.

[roswellnmsource]

‘Roswell, New Mexico’: Heather Hemmens on Directing, Why Maria & Jones Are ‘Very Well Matched’

Just as her character Maria DeLuca was being challenged on Roswell, New Mexico (blame the alien Jones, played by Nathan Dean), Heather Hemmens was as well (blame the weather), stepping behind the camera to direct the September 6 episode, “Goodnight, Elizabeth.”

“It was one of those moments where you’re challenged to do time management beyond the hours in a day, but it was a really, really great experience for me that taught me a lot of skills that now that I’ve done it, I can take forward and conquer with,” Hemmens tells TV Insider of the experience.

“[It] came about from hours and hours and hours of shadowing behind the scenes, directing short films, so this was years of preparation meeting opportunity for me,” she continues. “It really was a great time to grow within the show especially behind the camera. So I’m really excited to do that on my home court.”

Heading into the episode, Maria remains in a coma after her encounter with Jones (not Max, also played by Dean, as they’d all thought). But at least everyone knows who they’re really dealing with now… right? That doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to stop him.

Below, Hemmens talks directing — she’ll helm another episode later in Season 4 — before previewing the rest of the season and Maria’s slightly reckless behavior.

Where does this episode find Maria in her fight against Jones?

Heather Hemmens: We find them very well matched where she has unexpectedly met him in the mindscape, but she is holding onto her powers for dear life. Right now she’s just buying time until she can outsmart him. They’re very well-matched because Maria’s strong-minded and determined and she’s just as good as Jones as evil, so it’s going to be an epic battle between them.

What’s everyone else up to now that they know they haven’t been talking to Max, but to Jones?

Everyone is frantically searching around for the real Jones and trying to stop him from whatever he’s set out to do. It’s a really fun storyline where the Scooby-Doo gang is setting up traps and different schemes to try and get ahead of Jones’ agenda. At the same time, they’re trying to receive psychic messages from Maria, helping them figure out what his motives are and also to help them get her out of this coma. This all is going to culminate with showdowns and explosions and big reveals that people who have been watching the show for years will never see coming. And it’s just going to be jaw-dropping turns that will take us into the rest of the storyline for the season.

There is quite a bit going on in this episode – the Jones storyline, Alex [Tyler Blackburn] is trying to get answers, Rosa’s [Amber Midthunder] still figuring things out about herself. What were your favorite and the most challenging scenes to direct?

My favorite scenes were Rosa and Isobel [Lily Cowles] in the cave where they have a real sisterhood bonding moment. That was such a joy just to have a scene where it wasn’t about special effects or anything sinister. It was just about two women connecting and having this great dialogue. It was really just such a joy to work with both of those actors, who are my close friends, and we had a lot of fun with that.

One of the more challenging scenes is this showdown. There’s so much going on. There’s a bunch of characters in the scene. There are explosions, special effects, all kinds of things happening, and it felt like a major movie set. It was really, really fun to film and we got rain right in the middle of it. We ended up being more crunched for time than I was supposed to have, and I was just really happy that I had prepared for that day in a way that I was able to still finish one of the most important scenes of the episode without having to sacrifice.The scenes that I was in as an actor had special effects in them. And I also had to make time to watch playback and spend an hour and a half in hair and makeup before I got into director mode. So those were also challenges that I was happy to explore, that new skill set for myself, and just try to enjoy it along the way.

Speaking of great scenes with two women this season, one of my favorite relationships right now is Maria and Isobel’s. Are we going to continue to see more of those two together?

Absolutely. These two strong women are realizing that they’re even stronger together. They have such a fun dynamic. They have witty banter and they have great ideas and they also still have that competitiveness that makes them really fun to watch. I’m happy for the storyline and for the characters that the catty nature of their relationship has been overcome and now we’re into seeing two empowered women support each other. I just think that’s a really beautiful dynamic, and we’re going to see a lot more of it throughout the season.

It seems like Gregory [Tanner Novlan] has adapted pretty well to everything going on in Roswell. What can you say about his and Maria’s relationship?

I think the reason that Maria loves hanging out with Gregory is that he’s so easygoing. He has taken everything in stride. He’s been a support system. He’s been a really warm presence and just a good friend throughout all of this and Maria really needed a rock. He’s very stable. So I think that is the initial attraction and it could be budding into something romantic. I think it’s at a good starting point in friendship to be able to grow into that. … He may be crushing a little bit harder than her at the moment. But I think when he’s showing his true colors that he really cares for her and he has her back when she’s not well, that could go over pretty good with Maria when she catches wind of it.

We saw how far Maria was willing to go to trigger another vision earlier in the season, and she’s in a coma right now because she couldn’t sit and not do anything. Will we continue to see her push herself to or beyond her limits?

Absolutely. Maria is now on her own journey with her alien powers and with this alien storyline, whereas in the past seasons, we’ve seen her really supporting the other characters’ experience of this. Now she is on a rampage to fulfill her own destiny and discover what that is for her powers, so she’s willing to go pretty far to figure it out. I think she feels that no matter what the danger brings, she can’t not know.

I love Maria and everything she’s doing this season, but at the same time, I’m like, where’s your sense of self-preservation?

Yeah, she’s gotten a little bit reckless because she’s in dire need of answers. I think sometimes the hardest thing in life is not knowing and that can outweigh the expense of any maybe physical harm that she can endure and survive. But the most important thing to her is just having those questions answered that constantly plague her mind.

Everything’s building up to this funeral with the Valenti crest on the coffin. What can you tease about that funeral and what we’re going to see going forward?

It’s one of those mysteries that everybody comes together as a group because not only do they all care about who could be in the coffin, but it could be them. They still have no clarity that any of them is safe, and so in order to protect themselves, they also have to protect each other. That’s just one of the more lovely storylines that bonds them all, this group effort to keep everybody safe.

How certain can we be of anything that we’ve seen in those visions?

I’d say that they present accurately, but hindsight is 20/20. So just because they’re presenting accurately doesn’t mean that the supporting evidence doesn’t change the dynamic.

What else can you preview about the rest of the season and how it’s going to set up next season?

This Jones character is very determined to wreak havoc, so he’s not going away, and they’re going to have to battle it out with him for the next chapter of this story. They find different ways to do that and each character comes in to fight that beast. That’s a really, really fun storyline that plays out. And we’re gonna dig a little bit more into Maria’s family history as well and how it connects to everyone else and how it gets specific with this day in time that Jones is trying to find a memory for. Maria has a very big role in whether or not he gets that that piece of information he’s searching for.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico Review

Another one of the Scooby movies that I have watched dozens of times as a child. Those feel like a greater challenge than the ones I’ve only seen once (or never) because I am a little anxious about how well they will hold up. Well enough, it turns out, at least in this case. A spoilerish review below the cut.

The mystery is both interesting and also a bit scattered. I am not sure how they managed to be sufficient on both of those fronts and yet, they somehow accomplished it. Once the clues really start showing up, the whole ordeal makes sense but the fact remains that the very reason for them starting to even find clues was a combination of luck and a bad strategy on the part of the villains. Sure, they had a couple clues before the museum ordeal but they would have never solved the mystery just by those and the rest were handed to them by the two factors I mentioned above. It is a little disappointing because the mystery is otherwise not bad and has several great aspects to be built on (more on those below). Once it picks up, though, this movie really picks up. There are many different elements thrown in to the point where it starts to feel a little excessive at times. It is busy and the story could have worked without some of the elements that were presented. It just feels a little clustered compared to the first 3/5ths of the movie and there is no room for the different threads to breathe in the last half an hour. There’s just information constantly thrown at you to tie up all the loose ends. It speaks negatively of the structure of the movie and that could have been handled better.

The villains are... an interesting case here. Tbh they don’t seem very competent because, if you think about it, had they not kidnapped Daphne in the museum, the gang probably wouldn’t have gotten enough clues to solve the mystery. So in a way they handed themselves over to the investigation which probably would have failed if they’d just stayed put and not given more opportunities to the gang for gathering clues. And tbh the monster does not seem nearly as scary as it could and should have been. Chupakabra is supposed to be a goat vampire and if the monster was creating significant hardship for the livelihood of the people aka destroying their lifestyle and opportunities for profit, it probably would have been more effective in driving them to sell their land than just instilling a vague sense of fear in the locals. However, at the same time Charlene was engaged to Louis and pretending to be in love with him to get his land while she was always in love with another man which I have to say is waaaaay more disturbing than the movie ever bothered to make it. And that leads me to my next point.

Look, I get it that this is a kids movie and a Scooby Doo movie and you can’t ask a lot of maturity from them BUT they already have some going on! I was actually surprised by the very fact that they are making this mystery revolve around attempts at buying out the land of the natives cheaply in order to build business there. It is a serious topic and not something you’d expect in a Scooby Doo movie. Not to mention that it’s handled pretty well even if not in much detail. It is presented as exploitation and deception without excusing it at any point. I still feel like the movie itself is exploiting Latin American culture to an extent but it still manages to present the issue somewhat objectively and maturely which was definitely a big surprise. Coupled with Charlene’s con and the fact that Shaggy and Scooby nearly died and could have killed several others when the van’s brakes were cut, it makes for a sufficiently dark tone to the movie... or it would have if they had let it. I know that they can’t go too dark with a Scooby Doo animated movie but a) the cat creatures from Zombie Island (need I say more?) and b) those elements were already included in the movie but were not fully explored. The issue with buying out the land was handled best but the other two points were just brushed away. There wasn’t much commentary on how what Charlene did to Luis is terrible and traumatizing in numerous ways and the scene with the van’s brakes was played for laughs. Tbh I don’t think that they needed to make it super dark and gritty, especially considering the vibrancy and energy of some of the other sequences and plot points in the movie but they could have gone a little darker. That way the lighter parts could have balanced it out while you still get an atmosphere of danger and mysticism.

I was disappointed by how quickly the movie turned back to comedy during some of the serious scenes instead of letting the emotions and atmosphere set in. Especially considering that some of the humor here is not great. What is funny is funny, but what isn’t funny, really isn’t and that can be very jarring sometimes. It sticks out even more when they switch from a suspenseful moment to a poorly thought out joke just because they are afraid of letting the audience follow a little deeper into the darker implications of the movie. Again, I understand that you can’t expect too much from a Scooby Doo movie but they had the opportunity to add a little more to the darker aspects of the story and instead, they wasted it on humor that did not lend well in several instances.

The characters are pretty surprising here. It is amazing how much is done with the supporting cast and mainly Alejo and Luis. There’s a lot of information about their characters, their lifestyle and even their past to an extent. That was a really pleasant surprise. On the other hand, the Scooby gang feels a little neglected here. Fred mainly stands out with his adventures at becoming bilingual. I think it’s nice that they gave the interest in learning new languages to someone other than Velma but I think that they could have shown some kind of connection between the fact that Fred is studying a new language and Velma knows several languages, ancient as they might be. I kind of support the idea to give the romantic interest to Scooby here. It isn’t focused on too much and works well enough when it is in the forefront. Daphne is an interesting case here. They gave her the generic crush on a pop star only in a glimpse in the beginning of the movie and then proceeded to put her in the role of the damsel in distress in the weirdest way yet. I am not entirely too sure what they were going for with her. Velma is a little neglected and there isn’t nearly enough focus on her passion for exploring a foreign culture even if it was hinted at and Shaggy just doesn’t really have his own thing in this movie. They probably could have done a little better with the gang but the focus on Fred and the supporting characters kind of compensates for that.

[justgottafinishthischapter]

Know-It-Alls are Lazy Writing

The Know-It-All is a trope in fiction where the Smart Guy of the team becomes a walking encyclopedia. There’s nothing wrong with a character being intelligent, but this character  is almost too knowledgeable. It’s the intellectual equivalent of a soft magic wizard with no limits to their magic. If there’s nothing they can’t fix, then the story loses tension because they can pull any information needed out of thin air, regardless of whether it makes sense for them to know this information or not. Pidge from Voltron Legendary Defender is probably one of the most egregious versions of this trope by the sheer volume of her fields of study. Among her list of know-it-all topics, she can reprogram alien tech she’s never seen before and yet she has to study how to speak Altean, bypass alien technology without having to study it first, she knows how to code programs, speaks fluent binary, can recognize mechanical messages inside organic spores, knows extremely advanced mathemathics and science on par with college level advanced coursework, and she’s 14. Granted yes, Pidge lives in the future. The Voltron Earth is ahead of us technologically. And yes, prodigies and geniuses exist. Except here’s the difference. Most prodigies and geniuses have an area of expertise. One particular field they excel at. If Pidge was just good at physics and like astronomy, that wouldn’t be such an issue. If she was just a hacker, that wouldn’t be such an issue. The issue is that if it’s an intellectual endeavor, Pidge will pull the information out of her butt. Occasionally, they do manage to circumvent this by having Allura and/or Curan be the exposit faucet, but it’s usually Pidge. Now, Voltron is not abysmal. In the later seasons, when introduced to Lotor’s nanny, it’s not Pidge who immediately seeks information, it’s Hunk. And it’s not Pidge who pulls a solution out of her butt. It’s Hunk. Using the information about Galra culture that he took the initiative to learn. And I think this is where Hunk gets under utilized. Hunk is the engineer. He’s a mechanic. If they’d altered it so that Hunk was the hacker tech guy, Hunk would have a more defined role in the group. As the mechanic who does the physical techy stuff, while pidge does physics, makes calculations, and understands the science behind outer space anomolies. But because Pidge does all the hacking, Hunk is just kind of there. Curan needs to fix the warp drive but does the MECHANIC go to help repair it? No, they send the math nerd. Because Pidge hogs all of the intelligence for herself, no one else can really show their own areas of intelligence. Keith’s an ace pilot, he knows the terminology for flight maneuvers. Yet does he ever instruct his teammates to use these maneuvers, or execute attack formations? Of course not because the only kind of intelligence in Voltron is the hard sciences. Nobody uses any other kind of intelligence. And when they do veer into other topics like Altean Alchemy, the specifics of this intellectual field of study are conspicuously absent to the surprise of absolutely nobody.

Velma from the Scooby-Doo franchise is the other egregious example. Scooby-Doo is a series where three friends and a dog fool around while Velma literally solves the entire mystery by herself. More recently, the franchise has tried to flesh out the gang and give them more defined roles. Sure, Fred’s the leader, Shaggy and Scooby are the heart of the team, and Velma solves the mysteries, but what is Daphne’s role? Some have argued that because she’s rich, she bank rolls the gang’s mystery solving. Sometimes she provides the Mystery Machine, other times it’s Shaggy’s van. Daphne has become more of an athlete since Grey Griffin took over her voice role, knowing martial arts, being a surfer, and playing volleyball. Mystery Incorporated expanded on Daphne’s rich upbringing by having her know some things about high culture, such as fashion, art, and cuisine. But even this knowledge was rather shallow, and nothing really seems to stick. Heck, in Be Cool Scooby-Doo, they reduced Daphne to a cloudcoocoolander comic relief character. They can’t seem to figure out what to do with her. Shaggy and Scooby know a bit about food but that’s about it. And Fred knows about traps. Meanwhile Velma is an expert on History, Math, Science, Biology, Linguistics, Coding, Hacking, Robotics, Chemistry, Forensics, and that’s just what I can remember. I mean, in Mystery Incorporated, she pulls the ability to read Mayan or Aztec or Incan (I can’t remember anymore) out of her butt because she took a course on it and boy isn’t that convenient? Frankly, if given a chance to create a series for the franchise, I’d make it so that each member of the gang had an area of expertise so that they can all work together to solve the mysteries as a collective. Have Fred want to be a detective, so he’s studied forensics and criminal psychology to profile suspects. Have Daphne with her theater kid background know about make-up, costumes, and special effects to figure out how they’re pulling off their disguises. Have Shaggy be a loner weirdo conspiracy theorist with a knack for hacking and coding, thus why he’s a coward when confronted with a physical threat, yet remains on a mystery solving team out of a thirst for the truth. Lastly, leave Velma with her nerdy pursuits. Chemistry, engineering, math. This way, Velma’s not robbed of her role as the “team nerd” but it stops feeling like Velma’s the only one pulling her weight on the team. By giving everyone something to do, you make each member feel important to the job, and that the mysteries can’t be solved without each of them contributing. This is the crux of the know-it-all. If one person knows it all, what does the rest of their team know?

[air-in-words]

My Sorting Hat Chats System Debutante (Scooby-Doo Housing)

I found a new favorite toy.

The @sortinghatchats personality system is so incredible. It does exactly the thing that frustrated so many that MBTI couldn't do: actually describe your personality. MBTI is wonderful for understanding a person's thought process and mind, but, as anyone who really knows MBTI knows, it can only tell you so much about how a person will actually behave in life. And while still plenty useful, most people go into personality typing to try and discover the different ways we actually behave in life, not just the way our minds thrum along.

I highly recommend looking up how the system works if you don't know, but essentially everyone gets a PRIMARY and a SECONDARY house. The primary house speaks to the WHY we do things and the secondary speaks to the HOW, referring to problem solving. This system is also unique as it accounts for the elasticity of the human mind by introducing things like MODELS, PERFORMANCES, BURNT HOUSES, and even the recently suggested EXPLODED HOUSES (I first heard of this through @wisteria-lodge . If they didn't think of it first, please let me know who did!) I'm not going to take the time to explain those in full here, though I may reference some of them below, and would direct you to both of the aforementioned blogs to learn more.

So, I'm doing my first housing venture using the system, and I've become recently re-obsessed with Scooby-Doo, so I thought they'd be perfect to practice/demonstrate. I'd love any criticisms or suggestions! Thanks!

Scooby-Doo Housing!

Fred Jones: Gryffinpuff (Gryffindor Primary, Hufflepuff Secondary)

Fred is a great example of a Hufflepuff Secondary. He is a hardworker and, most importantly, is heavily invested in the gang. He's always at their side and expects them to be at his. He balks at the idea of taking shortcuts on mysteries and would rather work all night than besmirch the good name of Mystery Inc with shoddy work. But, the gang is his life more than any other member, because as a Puff Secondary, he sees them as extensions of his own hands and ability to hell others. He has a great balance between the "acts of kindness" Puff Secondary and the "hardwork and toil" Puff Secondary. In fact, his Hufflepuff Secondary is so strong, I almost thought he was a True Hufflepuff. But, a great indicator of difference between Gryffindor Primaries and another primary whose motives they align with is whether they would allow other people to live the way they want. Fred is a big time believer in justice, fairness, and helping other people, but he would not be comfortable knowing someone else disagrees and no one could argue him out of those beliefs. An actual Hufflepuff Primary may quietly disagree, but Puff Primaries, by nature, believe in allowing other people to live how they want, and they would never cause a ruckus over a hypothetical. Unless you're actively hurting someone emotionally or physically, a Puff will leave you alone. But, not Fred. Fred has that Gryffindor Primary fire that he needs to share with the world and he cannot be wavered.

Daphne Blake: Ravenpuff (Ravenclaw Primary, Hufflepuff Secondary)

Daphne and Fred get along best through their secondaries, though Daphne is a better example of the "acts of kindness" Puff Secondary. She is always looking for an opportunity to help someone or make someone happier or more comfortable, like carrying around Scooby Snacks for the boys, and she is almost as invested in the gang as Fred. But, compared to Fred, Daphne gives off a less passionate and fiery vibe; in fact, she is far more even-keeled and level-headed than any other member of the gang, in my opinion. She is difficult to ruffle and has a natural curiosity, leading to her Danger-Prone Daphne moniker. There's a reason one of Daphne's original limited poses was her with her hand under her chin like the Thinker; she is a thinker and highly logical, making decisions based on evidence and rarely through initial emotional responses. This would make her a Ravenclaw Primary, the voice of reason and calm amongst the gang. I would say her current adopted reality system comes primarily from Fred (whether you ship Fraphne or not. Lol.) As he's the "leader" of Mystery Inc, she has taken on his love of fairness and justice, but with a healthy dash of friendly Claw skepticism.

Velma Dinkley: Gryffinclaw (Gryffindor Primary, Ravenclaw Secondary)

This one may cause some contention. Lol. No one would argue that Velma is a Ravenclaw Secondary. She's definitely a collector and user of tools, her primary tool being research and knowledge. She is a planner and always does her research before taking on a mystery and has saved the gang's skin more than once by coming prepared. So, as for the Gryffindor Primary, I used the same method I used to pick out Fred. Is Velma passionate or dispassionate? Well, compare her to Daphne, an actual Ravenclaw. Daphne is slow to blame or create an opinion, feeling she needs all the information first before she makes a judgement. Meanwhile, Velma is usually one of the first to begin naming names and claimjng she has the answer, whether or not she does. She is also far more active compared to Daphne, looking closer to Fred's level of passion to solve the mystery quickly rather than Daphne's desire to sit back and take her time. So, Gryffindor is the only one that felt right. She is out here to catch bad guys and kick ass, just like Fred, compared to Daphne who is here to observe and discover the truth.

Shaggy Rogers: Hufflerin (Hufflepuff Primary w/ Slytherin Primary Model, Slytherin Secondary)

Okay. Here we go. Believe it or not, Shaggy Rogers has the most complex housing out of all of Mystery Inc. I know, I didn't expect it either. First off, his Slytherin Secondary is fairly obvious. He is a shortcut finder, a skillful liar, and a lover of mischief. He's always looking for the next opportunity to get what he wants, and fares best against the villains when thinking on his feet and improvising. But, his primary was less obvious. I went into this assuming he would be a True Slytherin, with the gang and, primarily Scooby, as his chosen people, where he truly doesn't care about anyone else. But, as we've learned through extended characterization throughout the years, Shaggy grew up very lonely, without many friends, until he met Scooby. When Scooby entered his life, he wasn't lonely anymore, but meeting the gang was even better. Now, he had MORE friends! Meanwhile, in most media, Scooby is portrayed as taking longer to warm up to new people than Scooby. He doesn't particularly like sharing and doesn't seem to feel a need to make many friends. But, not Shaggy. Shaggy really does enjoy meeting new people and building a wider friend group. But, that alone does not a Hufflepuff Primary make. Some Slytherins enjoy larger groups of chosen people, some don't. Instead, I thought of the multiple circumstances where Shaggy has had to fight against his desire to help everyone and his need to keep Scooby happy. Scooby is certainly his favorite friend, and for Scooby's sake he lives in a Slytherin Model fairly often, acting as though Scooby is really all that matters to him. But, without fail, Shaggy ends up having to get on Scooby's level and explain that he has this need to help and not run away that he can't ignore. Shaggy's love for people and inner need to reach out and help speaks to the Hufflepuff Primary under the Slytherin Model he's created to make Scooby feel more secure.

Scooby-Doo: True Slytherin (Slytherin Primary, Slytherin Secondary)

Scooby's representing the green and silver from top to bottom! His Slytherin Secondary is equally as obvious as Shaggy's. They're both the kings of avoidance and dodging confrontation. Although he may be afraid, put him in a situation armed with nothing but his ability to improvise, and he'll come out on top. But, he is truly a Slytherin Primary, compared to Shaggy's model. Shaggy is truly the center of his world. The rest of the gang is certainly part of his inner circle, but the moon hangs on Shaggy for Scooby. If he's doing something, it's in some way for Shaggy or related to Shaggy. He goes back into the fray not out of an overarching desire to help people, like Shaggy, but because it's that person. He helps Shaggy because he's Shaggy. He helps Fred because he's Fred. And so on and so forth.

So, those are my thoughts! I'm not totally happy with my ability to explain my thought process, yet, but I wanted to get something out there with simple, recognizable characters. Let me know your thoughts!

[orderoftheavengers]

Wanda’s Vision 

A Mysterious Package

As if losing her true love wasn’t cruel enough, Wanda Maximoff can’t even burry him. Instead, the chunks of Vision’s broken stone body are being studied in the Alchemy Department in the Ministry of Magic, as if he’s nothing more than a crumbled statue. Fighting back tears, she picks up her scarlet broom, and heads back to Hogwarts. Since helping to save the universe again, she’s been granted the chance to return and finish her schooling, But the Ravenclaw Commonroom feels empty without is Chimera Prefect.

Wanda should be in class, but instead she drifts up to her empty dorm. There, she finds a tall, tombstone-shaped package standing in front of her blue canopy bed, covered in brown paper. Tied to it is a simple, unsigned note: Enjoy!

Curiously, she takes off the wrapping, to find a tall mirror with an elegant golden frame. The curved top of the frame is engraved with the words:  erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi

Wanda’s eyes drift down to the glass. Instead of her reflection, she sees static, like on an old Muggle TV set. Then, the static clears, to a black-and-white sitcom. The Mirror of Erised broadcasts “WandaVision,” where she sees herself and Vision living an ideal life, in a setting reminiscent of the vintage Muggle sitcoms Wanda and Pietro used to watch with their parents.

The tears finally come. In her grief, Wanda slams her fist into the glass.

A normal witch or wizard could probably not damage the Mirror of Erised, but Wanda Maximoff is no ordinary witch.

Her grief turns to shock when her fist breaks through the glass, and a hurricane-like wind begins sucking her and everything around her into the mirror…

Breakfast

Next thing they know, Wanda and Vision are in their black-and-white Commonroom, getting ready for class. They don their robes, and get their chrome-covered wands and school bags. They head for the Great Hall for breakfast, accompanied by a laugh track. Once there, they have trouble finding the Ravenclaw table, due to the fact that all of the scarves, ties and tablecloths are in grayscale.

“Well, I don’t think it’s either of those,” Vision muses, gazing at two tables locked in a violent magical food fight. The Gryffindors and Slytherins are all Greasers; their black, leather, studded robes bearing large patches of lions or snakes depending on their “gang.”

The next table they look at is filled with beatniks, sharing poetry about peace and unity. “I think that’s Hufflepuff,” Wanda says, noting the badger in the middle of the table playing bongos.

The last table is full of nerds in bowties and horn-rimmed glasses. Figuring this is their stop, Wanda and vision have a seat and begin their breakfast. They’re almost immediately interrupted by the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Agatha Harkness. Wanda is clearly her teacher’s pet, and Agatha says she can’t wait to see what Wanda is capable of on the test later today. "Is my best student gonna Ace this exam, or is that a stupid question?" Professor Harkness gives an irritating "gossipy neighbor" sort of laugh. "Remember, we're doing Patronuses!" Agatha takes out her wand and says with a smile, "Expecto Señor Scratchy! ...Oh, bowtruckles and doxies...Scratchy sit!" Agatha excuses herself, to chase her silvery rabbit Patronus, which is now wreaking havoc across the table.   Wanda smiles and nods, secretly trying to remember this exam she hasn’t studied for.

To make matters worse, the school’s Head Girl and Boy, Victoire Weasley and Teddy Lupin, have decided to join Ravenclaw for breakfast. They ask Wanda and Vision where they’re from, when they began dating, and so forth, with the pair unable to answer.

“What year are you?” Teddy presses on, adjusting his cute wolf-themed sweater. “Are you Purebloods or Muggleborn?  Did you transfer from another school?”

“Any mixed heritage?” Victoire adds.

Wanda and Vision are saved from having to answer when Teddy starts to choke on a werewolf hairball; Vision saves him, using his phasing powers. The frightening moment passes, and suddenly breakfast is over.

“Oh, look at that, it’s time for the game already!” Teddy declares. “Come on!”

Very confused, Wanda and Vision follow the crowd out of the Great Hall and outside, across the gray grass, to…

The Quidditch Pitch

As they near the Quidditch field, the roar of screaming girls makes it nearly impossible to hear each other speak.  Wanda gets out her wand to attempt an ear-plug charm, and notices it looks different than before; instead of that slick chrome covering, her wand now is covered in psychedelic flowers.

When they find their seats, they notice that many of the girls have beehive hairdos, and many people’s cloaks have claps shaped like peace symbols and Yin-Yangs. Vision and Wanda move through the Hufflepuff box, where Teddy Lupin and his comrades have apparently traded their barrettes and scarves for beads and hippie hair. Next, they find a box full of nerds, that they hope is Ravenclaw; with everything still in grayscale, the only way to be sure is to look for an eagle crest somewhere. Vision and Wanda have a seat next to a friendly new girl with a beehive hair, introducing herself as “Geraldine.”

“To be honest I don’t know if I’m in the right box either,” Geraldine reassures Wanda.

“What House are you?” Wanda asks conversationally.

Geraldine’s face falls. “I…don’t know.”

The conversation is cut short when Madam Hootch, dressed like Ed Sullivan, announces the start of the game. The Gryffindor players all have moptops, and quip each other while during the game in thick Liverpool accents. The Slytherins are a bit rougher looking. Slytherin Seeker Albus Severus Potter comments about blowing up Moaning Myrtle’s toilet, and Scorpius Malfoy boasts about snorting his father’s ashes.

The Golden Snitch, for some reason, keeps flying past Wanda and Vision’s part of the stands. And something about the Snitch looks out of place. Wanda finally stops it in midair with her telekenesis, and summons it towards her for a better look. The Golden Snitch really is gold—it’s in color!—and there’s a red symbol on it: a sword, circled by two lions and a huge elegant "G."

“I think they need that!” Geraldine quickly snatches the Snitch from Wanda and expertly chucks it back into the field, as if pitching a baseball.

The Quidditch field is starting to look different. The Quidditch balls and hoops are morphing into colorful, psychedelic cartoons. As if trying to compete with the trippy animation, Al Potter takes out his wand and starts levitating furniture, toilets and animals from the castle to come flying into the crowd. This prompts the Gryffindors to make more awful puns at each other, while trying to retrieve the Golden Snitch from Ringo's nose.

“How is anyone getting through this sober?” Professor Harkness laments over the chaos.

Wanda excuses herself and makes for one of the restrooms in the Quidditch stadium. The toilets have all been blown up by Al Potter, but she doesn’t need to “go,” she just needs to think. In the restroom, she is confronted by queen bee Dominique Weasley, who seems to be implying that Wanda is guilty of something.

“I mean you no harm,” Wanda insists.

“I don’t believe you,” the young part-Veela replies, matching Wanda’s intense stare.

That’s when both girls are interrupted by a muffled voice, apparently coming from the mirror.

Superimposed over their reflections, Wanda can just barely make out the ghostly image of a young man, and hear his distant voice calling, “Wanda, who is doing this to you?”

The eerie message repeats, and Wanda’s anxiety rises, until the glass mirror suddenly shatters, startling her and Dominique. Dominique suffers a cut to her hand, getting some crimson blood on her Gryffindor scarf.

“Gosh,” Dominique says chipperly, as if their intense conversation never happened, “At least blood stains don’t show up as much against Gryffindor colors!”

The girls return to the bleachers, to find that the game has finished. It’s unclear who won, as both teams seem to be celebrating the game in their own way.  The Gryffindors give a cute, uniformed bow, while the Slytherins enthusiastically smash their broom sticks on the ground.

By the time the crowd is leaving the stadium, everything is now in color. Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley have their long hippie hair flowing in bright mind green and shimmering Veela gold respectively. The flowers on Wanda’s wand are now bright shades of red and orange. But the biggest shock of all comes when she and Vision return to the Ravenclaw common room, and realize that Wanda is four months pregnant!

The moment is interrupted by a noise from outside the Commonroom. Peering into the hall, Wanda and Vision see a cloaked figure emerge from a secret passageway behind a gargoyle (shaped like a Blue Meanie). The figure turns around, and Wanda sees that sword symbol once again, on the back of his cloak.

“No,” she mutters, and with a flick of her hands, literally rewinds time.

“Congratulations!”

…says Madame Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing. “You’re having a healthy baby.”

Vision stammers, “But isn’t this happening a little…fast?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, only Muggles stigmatize teen parents. Us wizards still live like it’s the Middle Ages, remember.”

Wanda tries delicately, “The baby having some Phoenix or Chimera heritage wouldn’t be affecting anything, would it?”

“I don’t think so. But you can check the school library for more information if you like.”

The soon-to-be teen parents decide to do just that.

Wanda and Vision enter the library to find themselves now dressed like Scooby Doo characters under their school robes, which have the cut of droop-sleeved Disco gowns.

Geraldine strides in, sporting a fro, with her Gryffindor necktie tied around her head like a scarf. Teddy Lupin and Victoire sit nearby, sporting a mint-green afro and a silverly shag respectively. Lysander and Lorcan Scammander are putting up a sign on the library wall, protesting the pollution of the Forbidden Forest. From the open window, one can see that a new Quidditch game is already afoot; the Gyffindors and Slytherins, in House-colored disco suits, violently toss flying disco balls at each other, while talking like Nick Fury.

No one besides Wanda and Vision seems to notice anything amiss. That is, until Wanda suddenly goes into labor, in the middle of the “P” isle.

Vision runs to get Madame Pomfrey, while Geraldine delivers the baby. Vision returns with the nurse just too late to see his son’s birth. This is remedied a moment later when Wanda goes into labor again! They end up with two healthy baby boys. Wanda and Vision decide to go the Weasley route, and give them simple names: Tommy and Billy.

Geraldine helps Wanda turn the trunk at the end of her dorm bed into a cradle for the twins.

“I’m a twin,” Wanda remembers. “I had a brother, named Pietro.”

Geraldine then adds slowly, “He was killed by Ultron.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

Wanda looks at her friend again, suddenly suspicious and angry. She notices suddenly that the patch on Geraldine’s robes does not depict the usual Gryffindor icon, but instead, that suspicious sword symbol. Ignoring Geraldine’s stammering pleas, Wanda sends the Gryffindor flying through the stone wall, out of the Ravenclaw commonroom.

Geraldine flies backwards down the hall, until she smashes through another stone wall.

She crashes through the wooden wall of the Quidditch pitch.

And finally, she crashes through a massive wall of glass, with a shattering sound that echoes eerily.

“Geraldine” lands on the wet grass. She pushes herself up, as Ministry wizards and witches gather around her. It is dusk, and they’re in the middle of an empty clearing in the woods. Not too far off, the Mirror of Erised magically repairs its own shattered glass.

Monica Rambeau sees the Mirror of Erised standing alone in the empty field, and it all starts coming back to her...

Here’s What Really Happened

...Monica Rambeau’s mother, Maria Rambeau, founded the Sword of Gryffindor: a division within the Ministry of Magic, tasked with threats by non-human magical beings. Monica, a recent graduate of Hogwarts, had just begun an apprenticeship under her mother, when she (Monica) was turned to ash by Thanos’s Dusting Curse.  After she “Blipped” back, and learned her mother had died in the summer she’d been gone, Monica needed work to keep her mind off of her shock and grief.

Her new mission concerned Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which had seemingly vanished overnight—along with the lake, the Quidditch pitch, and even Hagrid’s hut. All that was left was the Mirror of Erised, standing alone in the empty field. And the Mirror seemed to be malfunctioning. Its gold frame was replaced with a chrome and neon 1950s juke-box aesthetic. It’s iconic message now glowed above the glass in the form of a cursive neon sign. All the Ministry workers strongly desired to see where Hogwarts had gone; but all anyone could see in the Mirror was static.

Jimmy Woo (a former Hufflepuff Prefect now with the Ministry) gave Monica a rundown of the situation. “The Ministry’s so desperate, they’re even bringing in a Muggle, to see if one of their ‘TV microwaves’ or something might be interfering with the Mirror’s magic.”

Dr. Darcy Lewis, one of the few Muggles allowed to not only know about the wizarding world, but work with it, finally arrived. Most of the Ministry folk scoffed at the Muggle. But after a quick examination, Darcy had an answer.

“Looks like someone or something has turned your Magic Mirror into an old TV set.”

The project’s supervisor, Director Blandonius Genericus Phucknugget, snorted. “Codswallop and hippogriff dung.  Your Muggle technology doesn’t work in areas like this, where there’s high concentrations of magic!”

“Wrong,” Darcy said, drumming her fingers on the Mirror’s neon frame. “Electricity doen’t work around magic. But you guys make cars and motorcycles fly with magic all the time. You even use cameras, for Treebeard's sake! So this TV-mirror isn’t plugged into anything, but it’s still running, probably on magic. If someone can enchant me a pair of old rabbit-ear antennae, I can probably get this show broadcasting for ya. And if one of you magic dudes can conjure me up some coffee, that’d be cool too.”

Director Phucknugget begrudgingly adhered Darcy’s request. A retired Arthur Weasley was happy to donate some parts from his Muggle collections to the cause. Within the hour, everyone was watching what seemed to be an old Muggle sitcom play out in the glass… set at Hogwarts! Jimmy and Monica soon determined that, somehow, the castle and all of its inhabitants had become trapped inside the Mirror of Erised. Since Wanda Maximoff and Vision Banner-Stark were the stars, and Vision was supposed to be dead, it stood to reason that they had something to do with it.

Monica then made a bold, and arguably stupid, move. She blasted the glass with different powerful spells, until she managed to put a crack in it…and ended up getting sucked into the show.

While Jimmy, Darcy, and the others watched Monica join the main cast, the frame around the Mirror began to change. The jukebox aesthetic was soon replaced by a psychedelic pop art motif, resembling something you’d see on an old CD cover, or a “Yellow Submarine” poster. Monica, Jimmy and Darcy tried different ways to get in touch with Wanda. They tried sending an enchanted Golden Snitch into the Mirror, containing Mad-Eye Moody’s old eye, to survey the situation. Jimmy tried a mirror-enchanting spell, to send Wanda a message. But nothing seemed to work.

By midafternoon, the frame had changed again to a banded ‘70s border with rounded edges, it’s top lettering now spelled out like the opening credits of an “exploitation movie.” And the show was now in color. Soon after that, Monica Rambeau came crashing back through the glass, knocking Darcy, Jimmy and Phucknugget into the grass.

It has all come back to her now.

Lying on the grass in her Disco robes, Monica breaths, “It’s Wanda! It’s all Wanda!”

Care of Magical Creatures

The sky above the Quidditch Pitch is the color of Floo Powder, tuned to a dead fireplace. The frame around the Mirror of Erised is clunky robotic junk, smattered with flickering neon. The castle halls have become a glittery labyrinth, and echo with David Bowie music. Goblins from Gringotts are discussing business with Headmistress McGonnagall, demanding a baby as payment if they don't get their gold.

Billy and Tommy are old enough to start their first year at Hogwarts, even as their parents are still finishing up year Five. The boys adopt a cute three-headed Cerberus puppet (yes, puppet--The "Dark Crystal" kind) that they name Sparky. Everyone now has frizzy ‘80s hair, and wizard robes now have built-in shoulder pads.  Professor Harkness continues to give Wanda top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts, where students practice wizard duels in 80s workout gear.

Wanda finally “breaks the fourth wall” again, albeit less literally this time. Excusing herself from her family, she goes to the restroom, and looks directly into the mirror, at the Ministry wizards outside. For a few moments, they talk as if there is only glass between them.

“Is this yours” Wanda says, tossing the Golden Snitch back through the glass.

Catching the Snitch, Monica begs Wanda to listen to reason. But it’s no use.

Meanwhile Vision, is getting suspicious. He manages to free Lysander Scammander from Wanda’s control. The hysterical first-year frets that he hasn’t received an owl from his parents in what seems like ages, and that having Wanda in his head all the time is painful.

But just as Vision confronts Wanda, they get a surprising visitor: Pietro Maximoff! …or is it? Something seems off, but Wanda wants to believe it’s true.

Defense Against the Dark Arts

For their Midterm Exam in Defense Against the Dark Arts, everyone suits up. Vision dresses like a Mexican wrestler, while Wanda dons a red leotard under a red cloak and tiara.  Billy and Tommy are advancing in their magic classes with alarming speed. Pietro suspiciously looks, sounds and acts very little like the brother Wanda remembers. But how many other male part-Veelas can be out there?

Back in the real world, Monica, Jimmy and Darcy clash with Director Genericus Phucknugget. The three are eventually taken off of the project for not being big enough assholes, so they set out to break some rules. Darcy “hacks” into Phucknugget’s “files,” by which we mean, she swapped his Pensieve out with a chamber pot when he wasn’t looking. Around a camp fire in the Forbidden Forest, the trio examine the memories that their shady boss didn’t want them to see.  Turns out, he doesn’t have anyone’s best interests in mind, bar his own quest power.

Monica wants to try re-entering the Mirror, but there’s another problem.  

“You’ve gone through that class twice,” Darcy warns. “Your body is cursing with the magic of a Flaga.”

“How do you know about the Flagae?” Jimmy asks.  

“Muggles can read books too you know.” Darcy produces a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scammander.

Flagae are spirits that live inside magic mirrors, often acting as familiars for witches like Snow white’s evil stepmother. Darcy theorizes Wanda and Vision’s “Mirror children,” Billy and Tommy, may in fact by Flagae. And Monica is turning into one too. If she makes a full transformation, she might never be able to leave the glass again.

But Monica stands her ground. “I won’t stop until I help Wanda.”

Back in the Mirror, Vision investigates the edges of Hogwarts' grounds. He finds both the Forbidden Forest and the train platform inaccessible, blocked by a wall of shimmering magic glass.

Outside, the Ministry wizards see Vision begin to emerge from the Mirror. He pushes painfully, with his hands pressed against the frame, but some force is holding him back. Vision himself begins to shatter, as if he’s made of glass. Darcy, who has tried sneaking back onto the project, yells at someone to help him, as a Ministry Auror holds her back.

Billy, a Legilimens like his mother, senses his father’s distress and alerts her. To save her husband, Wanda creates a powerful wind to pulling Vision back into the Mirror…and takes most of the Ministry witches and wizards with him.

Modern wizards

When the winds die down, nearly all of the Ministry wizards are now inside the Mirror, and have been recast as House Elves, Leprechauns, and decorative Cupids.  Darcy is recast as a bespeckled House Elf in a blue bellhop’s uniform.

Wanda and Vision give interviews about their ongoing life problems, to no one in particular.  Vision finds Darcy, and restores her memories and human body, though she keeps the silly suit. Darcy fills Vision in on his life before the Mirror. Yet still, he can’t remember any of it. They ponder the possibility of a Memory Charm, or the simple resurrection amnesia that often plagues newborn vampires.

Monica and Jimmy remain safe outside the Mirror of Erised, but Monica is now adamant that there’s no other way to reach Wanda and stop their evil boss.

This third push through the magic glass makes Monica feel like she's shattering. All around her are the voices of her dead mother, and her absent “Aunt Carol”—Monica’s “Erised.” The temptation to just let herself melt into the glass and give up on reality is strong. But Monica is stronger. Monica finally emerges into Erised-Hogwarts, a new being. Her eyes glowing a spectrum of colors, Monica is now like a person jacked into the Matrix; the laws of physics in the world of the Mirror no longer apply to her.

It was Agatha All Along!

It’s supper time, but Billy and Tommy still aren’t back from Defense Against the Dark Arts. Wanda heads to the classroom, to find Agatha, stroking the silvery fur of her apparently corporal Patronus.

“Where are my children?” Wanda demands.

But when she attempts magic, she fails.

“Highest marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but an F in Ancient Runes!” Agatha taunts. “Only the witch who casts the runes can use her magic in the area. Every first year should know that!”

Agatha then forces Wanda to join her in entering a Pensieve, filled with all of Wanda’s worst memories. Yes, Wanda is now inside a Pensieve, while inside the Mirror of Erised. Agatha wants to know what makes Wanda’s magic tick, so she can harness it for herself.

Wanda sees her entire life play out. She and Pietro are children, living in their magically-hidden hole-in-the-wall apartment in Sokovia. Their father tries to make a living by magically burning vintage Muggle sitcoms into wizarding photos and paintings, that will play out the episodes, which he sells to wizard and witches that are Muggle enthusiasts. Then their home is destroyed, and their parents are killed.

Wanda sees herself in the dungeons of Durmstrang, approaching the glowing cauldron, and listening to her instructors tell her how to enter the experiment. She dips into the glowing cauldron like a bathtub, with the Mind Stone shining from the bottom like a light in a jacuzzi, clutching her phoenix-feather wand. There's an explosion of light, as she and her wand are fused together. And the premonition she sees of herself, as one of the most powerful witches alive... “There’s an entire Prophecy about you, in the Department of Ministries. Well, not anymore,” Agatha smirks, showing Wanda the ancient book she (Agatha) has stolen from the Ministry of Magic. "You're the Scarlet Witch!" She sees everything, from the death of her brother to the death of her lover. Finally, she sees and remembers how she ended up inside the Mirror of Erised, accidently sucking the entire castle in and casting a memory charm on everyone, including herself. And how from her emotions and memories, she accidently created a Flaga, in the form of her dead lover, Vision.

Wanda now realizes what she must do. It will be agony for her; but she cannot continue to imprison and torment her peers, just to keep her fantasy in the Mirror of Erised alive. And Agatha must be stopped.

The Darkest of Magic

The two witches start to duke it out in the sky above Hogwarts Castle, in a wandless witch's duel. Both conjure their Patronuses, straight from their hands. Señor Scratchy goes "Watership Down" on Wanda's firefinch, which retaliates in Hitchcock fashion. The corrupt Ministry wizard and his cronies make a bad situation worse, when they send their own twisted creation into the Mirror—the real body of Vision, now an unpainted white gargoyle, bent only on destroying its counterpart inside. But Erised-Vision knows that the best way to distract himself has always been philosophy, so he wins over his alter-ego with a lecture on the Ship of Theseus, some musings about the workings of Time Turners, and the parallels between Nargles and imaginary numbers.

Monica frees “Pietro” from the Imperius curse that Agatha has paced on him, and watches the Polyjuice Potion she forced him to drink wear off. Turns out, he’s just a Muggle named Ralph Boner.

Everything is going to chaos inside the Mirror of Erised (except for the two Visions, who are having a quiet discussion about the reliability of Divination, in midair in the Library). Wanda uses her recent lesson in Ancient Runes to incapacitate Agatha, and then dives into the older witch’s mind...

...Agatha is centuries old. Haling from the Salem Witch’s Institute, she was shunned by her Coven, and even her own mother, for “studying the Darkest of Magic.” Agatha then unleashed a Killing Curse on all of them. Once the heinous crime was done, Agatha’s Horcrux was made. She plucked the pendant off of her mother’s body, and pined it to her own cloak.

Agatha is brought back to the present, just in time to see Wanda’s firefinch devour Señor Scratchy. The scarlet magic shooting from Wanda’s hand briefly flashes bright green.

Goodbyes

Hogwarts has been restored. Everyone is free from the Mirror, save three people: Vision, Billy, and Tommy. Agatha lies dead on the grass outside the Mirror of Erised—or at least, her human body does.  Using her powerful Scarlet Magic, Wanda fuses the pendant Horcrux into the golden frame of the Mirror of Erised, trapping what’s left of Agatha. From now on, Agatha can only exist in the role of other people’s fantasies, when they look into the Mirror. “No one will ever bother you here,” Wanda assures her enemy, through the glass.

Oblivious, the fraction left of Agatha’s soul smiles from behind the glass, in her 1950s getup. “Fabulous! See you in class, Sugar!”

Wanda apologizes to Monica, and all of her peers from Hogwarts, while Director Phucknugget is hauled off to Azkaban by the Dementors.

Headmistress McGonnagall assures Wanda that she is still welcome at Hogwarts, provided more precautions are taken with her powers. But Wanda chooses to leave the school.  Before leaving the castle, Wanda pays her family one last visit.  The Mirror of Erised stands in a large empty room. Separated by glass, Wanda tearfully bids goodbye to Vision, Billy and Tommy.

“Thank you for choosing me to be your mom,” she tells the boys, before they go to bed.

“Wanda,” Vision presses against the glass. “Darcy called me a ‘Flaga.’ Am I a ghost? Or just a fantasy?”

“You’re a spirit I created,” Wanda finally admits out loud. “You are my memories, and my pain. But most of all, you’re my love.”

For a moment they are able to kiss, as if the glass isn’t there. Then Wanda leaves the room, and doesn’t look back.  

Epilogue

Monica is still mostly Human, but like Wanda, she is now a hybrid—in her case, part Flaga. And it turns out, there is a battle being fought in the Mirror Realm, and Monica can help.

Wanda, meanwhile, creates herself a cabin in the woods, where she studies that Prophecy book—out of body. She is interrupted by the voice of one of her sons, calling from every mirror in the house, “Mom…!”

AN: An AU of an AU! Bloody hell.

This was a nightmare, both to "draw" and write, even with most of the work "cut out" for me. But worth it.

Because life is short, the images in this picture were largely traced, or straight up pasted clipart.