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real-jane · 4 years ago

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nftn: tequila and consequences

(bucky barnes x female!reader, shield)

summary: three times tequila was a choice, and a catalyst, of sorts.

warnings: drinking, sexual innuendo, bucky and bruce hash it out finally, sam mistakenly thinks he knows more about bucky than you, everyone conspires to get sam a date, clint barton is a flirt, everyone in this story is a little fruity, and i will not apologize. this is just brain crack.

word count: 6,761

a/n: part seven of ‘nostalgia for the new’. (we will get back to the actual arc of the plot next update) this takes place at *some point* within the timeline of the last few updates. i don't go into what happened with nat and bruce, but we're assuming she got hurt and it caused a rift between them. imagine what you will. once again and for all time: no beta, we die like sam's confidence after too many tequila shots.

Edit: huge s/o to my muse @peterhollandkait for the convo which inspired this 😘

series masterlist

The first time you had tequila with the gang, you provided the bottle, as repayment to Sam.

It was expensive--your first mistake--and Sam was doling out the servings. Your second.

Everyone became intoxicated far quicker than seemed reasonable, except that two of the people in the room were five times older than the legal drinking age and incapable of getting drunk… and the other three were competitive. Between you, Sam, and Natasha, the bottle was drained quickly… ninety-dollars tasted an awful lot like Bucky’s lips with a hint of lime…

Apparently many embarrassing things had been said. And done. The whole group had made a pact not to ever speak of what really happened, but for a long time afterwards, Bucky would choke anytime someone mentioned you and Nat in the same sentence. You and she had made a separate agreement to be proud of it… whatever it was. Steve was mum, but he also had a hickey below his collarbone the next morning which told its own story. You were fairly certain you had nothing to do with that. It wasn’t your tooth pattern, and Bucky had his own—definitely your fault—on his left pec to prove it.

You were responsible for the aftermath in the washroom of your suite. Bucky insisted that you were beautiful, as you disposed of the contents of your stomach, and that you had only pouted a little when he forced you to shower without him… because you apparently had, quote:

Kitten-claws which would put Alpine to shame.

You woke up the next morning very sorry to have ever looked at tequila, to be alive in a universe where tequila was a thing that existed in order to hurt innocent people, like yourself.

Sam was barred from bartending for all time. You were barred from buying.

***

He could feel your eyes on him across the lounge, and Bucky couldn’t help the flush on his cheeks. Three drinks into the second attempt at margarita night--Sam’s idea--and you were telling Bucky things with your eyes that he wasn’t even sure you realized you were saying. Nestled on the couch beside Steve, you were giggling, and all the while, your eyes kept tracking back to Bucky. He was mainlining root beer like it might distract him from your very soft, beckoning smiles.

“So.”

Sam considered his friend over the rim of his red solo cup, which was still full to the brim of margarita (his fourth, technically, but Steve took charge of dispersing the booze this time, so there was only one shot per drink).

Bucky raised a brow. “Got something to say?”

“I just… want to congratulate you,” Sam said softly. He held up his cup. “I don’t know anybody who deserves a good woman more than you, buddy.”

“Booze makes you sentimental.”

“Doesn’t mean I ain’t right. You’ve been through a lot, and… I’ve been there for only a tiny fraction of that time but you got a good heart, and I’m glad I get to see somebody else recognize that.”

Bucky cleared his throat and looked away from his rambling friend. You were laughing with Nat, clutching Steve’s arm… yeah, he sure had it good.

As if you sensed it--and maybe you did, you saw him in ways that sometimes made him wonder if you were just a little bit prescient--you met his eyes. It was like your whole air changed, and whatever was making you laugh had faded into something purer… softer.

It reminded him a little bit of the first time you met. Even as he had tried to scramble away, completely mortified to be found sleeping outside your door, you were just so. Curious. And gentle. And now it wasn’t quite so secret how you made him feel, which meant he could relax among friends. You held out a hand to call him.

He side-stepped the kitchen island and went to you. “James Barnes, as I live and breathe!” You cooed when he met you to grasp your hand.

“Oh boy,” he chuckled.

“Y/n and I were just saying that you have a lot of names,” Nat said, eyebrow crooked. “James. Buchanan.”

“Barnes,” you added. “Bucky.”

“White Wolf!” Sam called, and your head snapped to him.

“Yes!” Your eyes sparkled. “That’s the best.”

Bucky chuckled. “You really like that one.”

“White Wolf. Pssh. That’s so you. So like… ‘i’m a little grumpy, and dangerous--”

“Might be a werewolf,” Nat interjected. Bucky rolled his eyes. “What? Heals fast. Prefers night time. Absolute bastard during a full moon.”

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” Bucky moved to go back to the safety of the kitchen, but you held fast to his hand.

“Nooooo, no! We’ll stop. We like you. I love you, they like you.”

“I also love him!” Sam called.

“I’m afraid I, too, love Bucky,” Steve said, holding up his beer.

“You’re okay,” Nat winked.

“How abouuuuut… ‘Jamie’?” You tugged on his arm more insistently, and Bucky sat on the back of the couch to accommodate you.

He wrinkled up his nose. “Only my sister called me Jamie.”

“She’s definitely not your sister,” Nat laughed.

Cap snorted. “Thank goodness for that.”

You kissed yours and Bucky’s clasped hands. “Benny. I call you that sometimes.”

“Doll, you can call me whatever you like,” he said. Bucky smiled so warmly, you even got a flash of teeth.

“Are you people like this when there’s nobody else around?” Bruce Banner scoffed from the kitchen.

“Yes,” Bucky answered without pause.

Banner snorted like of course you are. He had shuffled into the kitchen and made himself known, but he looked quite annoyed; a bathrobe, matching striped pajamas, and faux-sheepskin-lined slippers could not soften the discomfort of the good doctor. Even when Bucky had seen him at group gatherings, he tended to keep largely to Tony’s company, or spoke softly with Pepper or Clint. He largely avoided Nat, for reasons nobody had made clear to either you or Bucky, and he didn’t often let himself step away from Medical. He was perhaps the only full-time employee of SHIELD--or maybe the only one who acted like it. Bruce Banner gave Fury a run for his money.

“Bruce!” Sam called in delight, despite Bruce being mere inches from him. “You got my invite, man!”

“...Uh huh. Certainly didn’t just come up for air after ten hours in the lab to have dinner by myself,” the doctor said with a grunt. “What prompted this debauchery?”

“Nothing. Just a quiet evening!”

“I could hear you all from the elevator. You, specifically.” He gestured to you, and you made an innocent gasp.

Bucky felt a swell of defensiveness. “Hey, man,” he said softly, trying not to clench his teeth. “We’re not trying to ruin your night. Just enjoying each other’s company.”

“Yeah, Bruce,” Nat added. There was just the slightest twinge of pain in her voice. “Why don’t you try it?”

He shook his head at her. “Sure, Natasha. Thanks for the advice.”

“It’s the least I can do for an old friend.” She stood abruptly and glanced at Steve, who was studying his hands, folded in his lap. She snorted and pushed past his legs and yours, shoving the door out to the balcony open and letting it settle behind her with a clang.

You followed her wordlessly, giving Bucky a worried look. He sighed. Steve stayed stock-still.

“You gonna do anything about that, or.” Bucky leaned down with his hands braced on the back of the couch.

“She’s okay,” Cap said softly. “It’s a show she puts on.”

“For whose benefit? His? Certainly not yours--”

“Buck--”

He put up his hands. “Whatever you say.”

Bucky looked back at the doctor. Bruce was staring into the refrigerator like something might jump into his hand which was appetizing after the palate-cleansing exchange between him and the Black Widow. Sam was fiddling with the bottle of tequila--once again empty, but this time something classified as gold, with no claims to a celebrity brand deal or anything remotely ‘authentic’. He was trying very hard not to look awkward. He was failing.

Bucky scratched his cheek. Fuck.

“Doc--can you step into the hallway, for a moment?” he asked quickly, and Bucky strode for the hallway without waiting to see if Bruce followed him. The soft shuffling of his slippers kept pace down to the far end of the hall, near the elevator. Bucky sat on the bench and rubbed a hand over his face.

“What do you want, Barnes?” Bruce took a wide stance and crossed his arms.

Bucky mirrored the pose. “I know you helped kill the Lazarus project. Y/n said you dodged her requests, but I saw your signature on the condemnation, and… I just want to thank you. I know you don’t like me, and I respect that. Haven’t given you much reason to.”

Bruce looked down. “Yeah. Well… the project had a stupid name, anyway. It was doomed from the start.”

“Sure,” Bucky huffed.

“And now I don’t have you using up valuable time for my nurses every week, not to mention the sheer amount of hours the lab spent synthesizing it--wasted money on traitor blood.”

Bucky’s stomach dropped. “Aha. Well. Thanks, anyway.” He stood and stepped around the other man.

“You’re not special, Barnes.”

Bucky stopped walking.

“Just because Rogers is your best friend--Captain America himself--it doesn’t mean people have to forgive what you did, or that they even should.”

“I know.”

“We’re very lucky that Congress is on our side, for now… it would make it a lot easier for them to trust us if you weren’t around.”

Bucky looked over his shoulder. “Your opinion would weigh more if you had been around when Steve first brought me here.”

��Oh,” Bruce laughed wryly, “I was. I was told my opinion didn’t matter. So. I stay in my med-bay like a good boy, and I say nothing, and then your girlfriend gets hurt and you threaten me--”

“I was out of line.”

“Yeah. Big time. I hope you understand why I want nothing to do with you.”

Bucky gritted his teeth and took the sentiment on the chin. He let Bruce go without another word, and the truth of what the doctor had said sank into his bones. The thing was, Bruce was absolutely entitled to think that; Bucky felt like his feelings were more justified than anyone else’s. After all, wasn’t that what Bucky thought about himself?

He didn’t want to walk back into a room of people who would come to his defense. Sam and Steve would take one look at him and know that words had been exchanged--he was certain that they were arguing about it that very moment, trying to decide who would come after them and break up whatever altercation they were imagining. As if on cue, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

DOLL: You ok, B?

You. Sweet and wonderful, tipsy you.

He didn’t regret what he had done when you were hurt that first time. Bruce had been so cagey about your condition that it made Bucky fear that you were worse off, that the bullet had actually found its way to your heart instead of just settling itself in your shoulder socket--you hadn’t been made aware that he loved you yet. You were still a new thing for him, someone who might have been plucked out of his life with the collision of one well-placed bullet.

He had acted out of panic. Bruce seemed to harbor deeper animosity, and he saw little chance of winning him over, now.

Bucky replied to your text; he wasn’t great at composing the short little messages, but he managed:

😓

You replied almost instantly.

DOLL: Specify?

“tired. being alone sounds good”

DOLL: you need to be alone, or you need ME alone + maybe a movie?

“you”

DOLL: where are you?

“by the elevator”

DOLL: Gimme 3 minutes.

“sorry”

DOLL: Hush.

“love you”

DOLL: let me put a handful of crackers in my pocket before we go? Steve ate all the chips and I’m starving.

“I’ll order 🍕”

DOLL: you sure?

“youre a hungry drunk, im a great planner, match made in heaven.”

“plus im also hungry”

DOLL: wow, look at you! thinking about your own needs and everything.

“sorry maam won’t happen again”

DOLL: one minute till go time. I’m not drunk.

“tell that to your sweater bettie page”

In the midst of the pleasant part of the evening, you had shed your sweater in the silliest possible way, leaving you with your head and shoulders stuck. It had required an intricate dance to free yourself, and had inspired Nat to suggest everyone play strip poker--which Steve and Bucky immediately shot down as a recipe for a repeat of ‘Tequila 1’ as they had come to refer to it.

It had been incredibly sexy as an idea--and in no way inspired Bucky imagining what you’d look like in something small, black, and lacy. Definitely not using the Google app to research such accoutrement as he stood back observing in the kitchen, in anticipation of the upcoming gift-exchanging-holiday, and certainly not putting several charges on his credit card with brands who had more ‘X’s’ in their name than necessary. Modern technology was a marvel.

His phone buzzed again.

DOLL: are you sure you’re ok? Bruce came back in here looking like he saw a ghost

“no love”

DOLL: i’m coming.

A shriek sounded in the distant lounge, followed by Sam’s cackling laughter. It took approximately ten seconds for you to round the corner; you were smiling with pink cheeks, hair trying to escape from your braid and floating in your face… but when you caught sight of Bucky, you immediately sobered. You strode for him and grasped his wrist, tugging him quickly towards the room which bore his name on the placard. Bucky allowed you to place his thumb on the bioscreener, and then yank him inside.

“What happened?” You cupped his face.

Bucky groaned. “I tried to thank him. For signing the condemnation.”

“And?”

“He made it very clear where he stands with me.” Bucky looked at you finally, and he sighed. “Forgive me, but… you know that a lot of people feel like he does--that I make things much harder for SHIELD to be trusted--”

“How is that any different than how they see the fucking Hulk, himself? Or Nat? Or hell--even Steve? Honey…” You stood on your tip toes and linked your hands behind his neck. “As much as Bruce Banner likes to think so, the public doesn’t operate on a binary in regards to the Avengers. They’ve all done serious damage, and that exists in duality with the good that they’ve done trying to protect people. Besides: you have lived in the compound for years, now--where hundreds of SHIELD agents work and live. If Congress, hell if Fury thought you were truly that much of a threat to those lives, let alone the reputation of the work we do… don’t you think they’d have put you on The Raft by now and had done with it?”

Bucky pressed his forehead to yours. “I guess so.”

“You’re not that special. Sorry, baby.” The wry tone of your voice had him fighting back a smirk, even as he let your words wash over him. Bruce had said the same, but coming from him it had sounded like you’re not special, you’re the problem.

“I’m not, huh?”

“Nope. I mean… don’t get me wrong--handsome as sin.” You kissed his brow. “Hell of a lover. Excellent taste in women. But… not the kind of threat to SHIELD that Bruce Banner wants to believe. And that’s on him.”

Bucky kissed you softly. “...you’re gonna go talk to him, aren’t you.”

“Oh yeah. Give me ten minutes.” You patted his butt lovingly before slipping out of the room.

Bucky sat on his bed and braced his elbows on his knees. He couldn’t help but feel like this is what he got for getting comfortable, letting his guard down. What he wouldn’t give for the ignorant bliss he had almost found, surrounded by friends slinging jokes, to come back again?

Still… he pulled up the app in his phone which made it possible for him to order your favorite pizza without having to speak to a living person on the other end of the phone. He made it extra-large, with extra cheese, just the way you like it. As soon as he hit confirm order, Bucky tossed his phone to the side.

You had looked so hurt to hear what Bruce had said. He didn’t want you to be sad, but your reaction justified his. It made it okay for him to have a sensitivity to such treatment. Love had opened up his capacity for more emotions than anger. One time, you told him that he didn’t have to be comfortable with pain, just because he was used to it… Bucky thought about that a lot. But boy--he was becoming mighty comfortable with love.

You did not return in ten minutes. It took twenty. But when you did, you weren’t alone. You shoved a sullen Dr. Banner forward as Bucky opened his door. He had one very red cheek, and his hair was mussed. His bathrobe was missing.

“Before you ask, she did not have the pleasure of slapping me,” Bruce ground out.

You laughed dryly. “Unfortunately.”

“What can I do for you?” Bucky asked.

Bruce sighed. You nudged him. “I haven’t spent any time around you. So. I don’t know what you’re like. I know what I heard when the Winter Soldier was terrorizing my team, and how you acted when she got shot. That’s all. So. Maybe... it isn’t fair of me to make a call about what you deserve.”

“Uh. Wow,” Bucky said in disbelief. “Well, I… appreciate it.”

“And?” You asked expectantly. Bucky’s eyes flicked to you, but you were pointing a finger at Bruce in warning.

“After Y/n got shot, you asked for what would be a reasonable accommodation for any concerned partner.”

“Oh, we weren’t--”

“Right. Not yet.”

“Not until after I got back from Siberia, and chewed Shaw a new asshole,” you said proudly.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Okay… regardless… your concerns were valid. I should’ve seen them for what they were.”

“In your defense, I didn’t know what it was coming from, either,” Bucky said, feeling slightly flushed. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry that was your only impression of me. If something had happened to her--”

“Nah. I--I get it.”

“She’s important to me,” Bucky said. He looked at you, then. You grinned, and it filled him with such pride.

“It’s not easy watching someone you care about get hurt,” Bruce muttered.

“She’s okay, Bruce.” You clasped his shoulder. “It sounds like it wasn’t easy for either of you.”

“I hope she’s happy.”

“She is.”

He nodded once. Bucky realized what you were alluding to, but he wasn’t about to pry (especially when he knew that you’d fill him in once Bruce had gone). He held out his hand to the other man. Bruce took it, and they shook.

“Next time we have family night, will you come?”

Bruce’s focus shifted to you and he raised his eyebrows. You nodded in reassurance.

“Uh. Sure.”

“Thanks, Bruce.”

The doctor excused himself and made his way down the hall--not to the lounge, but to his own room. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he and Bucky had lived on the same floor for a while. He just didn’t make himself known. Bucky couldn’t help but let out a long breath of relief.

“Sorry it took so long,” you said, pushing on his chest so he backed into the room. You shut the door and stood with your back to it. “I sort of sicced Nat on him, and… you should know that she really loves us. You and me. She told him all about it. Said you were the best thing to happen to me, and then slapped him. Really hard. We all got sympathy pains.”

Bucky winced. “Christ. I can’t help but feel like I put a damper on the night.”

“Stop giving yourself so much credit!”

“Sorry.”

“You’re getting good at texting, though. I think it’s very sweet how much you like emojis.”

His phone buzzed. Bucky checked it after you nodded.

STEVE: Buck, you were right. I am going to do something about Nat. It’s what you would do.

Bucky’s eyebrows attempted to climb into his hairline. He held up the screen so you could see it. You covered your mouth and squealed.

“I may have told him that women don’t wait around forever,” you murmured. “But… I dunno. I would have.” You pushed off the door and stepped up to Bucky, smoothing your hand over his heart. “Lord knows I’m grateful I don’t have to.”

“Nat’s less patient than you,” Bucky chuckled.

“Nobody in my whole life has ever called me patient. Everything is different with you.”

“Yeah?” He picked you up, urging you to wrap your legs around his waist. He turned and pressed you against the wall. You looked down at him with heavy eyelids, squirming against his vibranium arm at your back like a cat arching to be touched.

“It’s not just the super-soldier thing--although...”

He gasped in mock-indignation. “You’re only with me for my cool accessories.”

“I haven’t had a drink in two hours, and all I can think about is that thing we tried last night…”

“Oh. Oh. You like the upgrades, then?”

You rolled your eyes. “Yes. This is me very unsexily asking you if we can go upstairs already--”

“No, I got it. Let’s go.” He transferred you to his back and bolted from the room. Steve and Nat were turning down the hallway, so he diverted towards the stairwell, leaving you to wave and cackle in farewell.

The guard in the security booth heartily enjoyed your pizza when neither of you answered the buzzer.

***

The third time tequila came out on family night, Sam was successful in inviting the largest number of people thus far; for once, everyone (everyone who Sam considered “everyone”, aka you and Bucky, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Tony, Pepper, and Clint) was home for the weekend, so.

That’s how the floor five lounge turned into a glorified bar on a rainy Sunday evening. Sam wasn’t bartending. But Tony sure tried! ...Which is also how, two heaping drinks in, Sam and Tony had you cornered with James Barnes-themed Trivial Pursuit.

Somehow, they had both gotten the impression that they might know Bucky better than you did. The audacity of the thought. Steve had put fifty-dollars on you for the win, and Bucky was helpless to stop it. Try as he might. He had even resorted to inserting himself between you and the two grown adult men waving their fingers in your face… you weren’t drinking, but only Bucky knew that, so you were putting on quite a show of being tipsy, which meant hugging Bucky around the waist and shouting your answers from behind his back. You had decided that you enjoyed your rare evenings with everyone together when you weren’t distracted by matching Sam shot-for-shot. Made it a lot easier to focus on winning, too.

Sam was not taking his near-constant loss well.

“His favorite movie—“

“Field of Dreams!” you called. “Easiest question ever.” Bucky’s love of emotional sports movies gave you an inordinate amount of entertainment. Sure, he was down to watch any artsy french film you could throw at him, but put Kevin Costner on a baseball field and he wept.

“Survey says?” Tony pointed to the source.

Bucky held up his thumb in confirmation. “Correct. My father looked like Ray Liotta.”

“Could’ve sworn you were gonna say Ocean’s Eleven!” Sam exclaimed.

Tony snorted. “Allergies?”

“Idiots,” you laughed.

“Wrong. Penicillin.”

“She’s right,” Bucky said. “I get hives from idiocy. Penicillin just makes my throat close up.” He patted your hands and dislodged your hold so he could pull you around in front instead. You snuggled up against his chest and he fixed you with a serious scowl--complete with glinting, amused eyes.

Sam slammed the rest of his marg and wiped his mouth in annoyance, gesturing to you with his empty glass. “This isn’t cool. You’re getting these answers through osmosis--”

“Are we sure she’s not a telepath?” Tony’s teasing nudge did not improve Sam’s demeanor.

You cackled. “He’s just jealous. And I know my next three answers, so before you even ask: Corn dogs. Winnie Larson. Keanu Reeves, or Gene Kelly, if he was still alive.”

Bucky held up his fingers to count them off. “My last meal on death row. Ma’s name. Who’d play me in my biopic.”

“I’m sorry--Keanu I get. But Gene Kelly?” Sam shouted. Ah, yes. Tequila volume. “Give me five good reasons why that tap-dancing sonofabitch is anything like you, mister two-left-feet-one-metal-arm.”

Bucky scoffed. “He’s strong. Handsome. Funny. Looks good in tight pants--”

“If he was still alive, he’d be like a hundred and fifty!”

“One-oh-three, and that’s only three years younger than me right now,” Bucky said, completely straight-faced.

You tapped his cheek. “You must drink a lot of water, you look great for your age.”

“Why, thank you, ma’am.” He kissed your forehead.

Sam blinked. “Seriously. Not like… Brendan Fraser, or--”

Tony slapped Sam on the back so hard he coughed. “Ooh, yes! He could absolutely do the Big-Muscles-No-Brains thing!”

“Wow, Stark. Hurtful.”

“Listen, Brendan Fraser is a sexy man,” Sam said seriously. “You could do worse.”

“Fine. Fraser may also play me, if Reeves is unavailable.”

Tony sneered. “Classic Pisces answer.”

“...Creepy. I’m not enjoying this. Y/n wins. Game over.” Bucky picked you up, exiting the conversation with a middle finger over his shoulder. He set you on your feet again in between Steve and Nat, where they sat on stools at the kitchen island.

“Hey guys,” you laughed, as Bucky patted your head.

“Leaving the arena of play is forfeiting!” The Falcon hollered indignantly.

Nat raised an eyebrow. “What’s his shoe size, Sam?”

“...That is a man’s private business!” Sam grumbled something else to Tony that sounded an awful lot like I’ll have you know we could share shoes if that wasn’t unhygienic.

Steve reached into his pocket. He slapped fifty dollars on the counter in front of you. You picked it up gleefully, making a big show out of smelling it, and then turning around and tucking it seductively into Bucky’s shirt pocket.

“What is your shoe size?” Nat asked, as Bucky rounded the makeshift bar to prepare you another beverage. As he performatively left out the tequila, and heavy-handedly sugared the rim of your glass, he glared at her.

“He’s enjoying himself, ignore the scowl.” Cap looked to you for confirmation, and you nodded.

Of course he was--Bucky had rolled up his sleeves, a sure sign of his comfort level (and an added benefit of a free gun show, both artificial and naturally-honed), and he was especially affectionate… which wasn’t new around his friends, but he just wasn’t guarded in the way that he could be when he was feeling in any way at risk. He wasn’t quiet, he wasn’t hiding off to the side, and he even tolerated being the center of attention (if just for a few minutes at a time). You smiled as you watched him shake your drink--90% margarita mix, 9% fresh squeezed lemon and orange juice, 1% sugar--what a beautiful man. He deserved a night of this. Levity.

“You’ve got it bad,” Nat murmured. You glanced at her.

She wasn’t looking at you.

Instead, she was playing with the cuff of Steve’s shirt, studying his face as they said things to each other without words. He rested his hand on her knee, absent-mindedly rubbing the bone with his thumb. Neither of them were imbibing, either. The sober clarity of her gaze was tinged with a hint of sweetness, too. It was heady. Intimate. Being in the intercepting wave of unspoken affection gave you just a little taste of what it was like for these people to be around you with the Tin Man. You could not remember ever having seen them touch, before. But here they were.

You made a little hum of acknowledgement as Bucky handed you your drink across the island. He winked at you.

“We should find Sam a date,” Nat suggested. You practically choked on your drink, but Tony had come over to get a refill of his own and he crowed at the idea.

“What’s Birdman’s type?” he asked. Bucky reluctantly handed over one of the three tequila bottles the rich man had provided for the party, and Tony uncorked it with his teeth. He spat the cork like a rocket into the sink and took a massive swig.

“Ooookay--” Pepper tugged the bottle away from her husband, who protested with a childish pout. She took a sip of her own. “Let’s take a deep breath, Mr. Stark.”

“I love when you call me that--I love when she calls me that--”

“Sam likes blonds,” Bucky volunteered, loud enough that the Falcon’s head swiveled fully from its perch on his canted shoulders. He was leaning forward, chatting rather privately with one Clint Barton. A cool, sandy blond.

“I what?”

“When was the last time you had a date?” You asked gently.

“Considering that I was your proxy until Robo-Cop got his shit together, it’s been awhile.” Sam drank indignantly from his nearly empty cup.

“I can share,” you teased. “If you miss him.”

“No thank you. He’s broody. It’s exhausting.”

“I love you too,” Bucky said.

Sam glared and stuck up his middle finger.

Bruce had made his way over to the island, too; his presence in the room had been tense at first, but he and Nat had hugged. He had shaken Bucky’s hand. He did a shot with Sam and Clint… and then he relaxed, and became a soft-spoken but enjoyable addition to the party. He had even spent a little time in conference with you and Pepper about the idea of a children’s ward in Medical. Just about everybody knew she and Tony were trying for a baby, and given the number of children you had seen pulled out of horrid sleeper cells, you and Pepper had a lot of ideas about the sort of environment which would best serve children in the compound. Bruce was receptive. Apparently he liked children a lot. Especially babies.

Bucky wordlessly gestured to the host of bottles before him (everyone had brought something and it made for a dangerous spread). Bruce pointed to the whiskey, and held up two fingers. The White Wolf slid the Hulk his tumblr back with two fingers of Jameson on ice, and the men silently clinked their glasses together.

When Bucky and Bruce looked back to the group, everyone pretended like they hadn’t been watching the two with rapt fascination.

“Tony, you have a press junket at 7 am, we should go.” Pepper showed her husband the time on her smartwatch. He leaned much too close to see the digital numbers. When he realized that it was in fact, after midnight, Tony’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

He patted her cheek. “I’m glad you bought stock in Pedialyte, sweetheart.”

“Me too,” she laughed. “Come on.”

“Whatever you say, Mrs. Stark!” Tony blew kisses to the crew as his extremely patient wife pulled him from the kitchen. “Oh--metalman--you are an excellent mixnologins. Mixcolumnis!”

Stark’s exclamations about Bucky’s greatness echoed down the hallway, despite being absolutely unintelligible other than he’s got a nice girlfriend!

“That’s as good as a declaration of love from Tony Stark,” Nat laughed. “You won him over.”

“I had nothing to do with it.” Bucky pointed at you over the rim of his whiskey glass. You pushed off the counter and walked around the island. He wrapped his arm around your shoulders. “She created an app that he almost couldn’t hack.”

“You’re cool by association,” you said, squeezing his waist.

“Your taste in women speaks to your character,” Steve agreed. He held out his hand to you, and grasped it gently in affection. Bucky was more than pleased to see how much closer you and Steve had grown since your interrogation.

“Speaking of,” Bruce said. “Barnes mentioned you’ve been fighting tendonitis in your shooting hand.”

You glanced up at Bucky who shrugged. “Yeah. Standard issue pistols have rigid grips, they fuck with an old injury.” You pointed to the meaty part of your palm which always ached for a week after a mission.

“I’m working on adaptive suit mods with spec tech if you’re interested in testing some gloves. Obviously field testing will happen in the future, but the goal is something that stabilizes while retaining its flexibility.”

“I don’t usually wear gloves,” you said.

Bruce nodded emphatically. “That’s perfect. I need to know if they’re sensitive enough to behave like skin.”

“He designed my knee braces,” Nat said. “Haven’t dislocated one since.”

You breathed out in amazement. “Well, shit. Sure, I’d love to.”

“Great. Come by tomorrow, I’ll get you fitted.” Bruce held up his glass like he was toasting you. He finished off his drink and saluted everyone. Then, Dr. Banner retreated for the night.

Bucky’s hand made lazy circles on your back. He kissed your temple, and you yawned.

“Getting tired?” he whispered.

“Mmhm. It’s about that time, I think.”

All of a sudden, Sam was up and out on the balcony, pacing like a man on a desperate phone call. Except he wasn’t on the phone. He was talking… to himself. Running his hands over his face, very likely cursing.

“What happened?” you asked, pulling out of Bucky’s arms, ready to go to Sam’s side.

At the table in the corner, Clint sipped his martini and shrugged. “I offered.”

“OH my god, Barton!”

“What, Nat? I’m a free agent.”

Sam came to a standstill on the balcony, hands on his hips, staring out into the darkness.

“What?” Clint asked again. “You said he likes blonds.”

Bucky and Steve shared a look. At the same time, both men kissed the cheek of their respective partners (leaving you chuckling, and Nat blushing like crazy) and went out on the balcony with their friend. Tentatively, Bucky approached.

“...you good?”

Sam didn’t speak. Steve touched his shoulder and Sam about jumped out of his skin. “Christ! Scared the shit out of me.”

“Just getting some fresh air?” Steve asked. The Falcon nodded, glancing between his two best friends, both of whom were doing their level best to remain stoic. Bucky thumbed over his shoulder.

“Everything good?”

“I think I’m going to lay off tequila. Just. Forever.”

“Yeah?” Steve took one shoulder, while Bucky took the other, and they guided Sam to stand at the railing so he wasn’t stealing anxious glances inside.

“It's got me thinkin’ all kinds of ways,” Sam whispered. “And like… I dunno. It’s easy for y’all. You found your person, and you don’t have people wondering what’s wrong with you that you aren’t, ya know. Trying.”

Steve glanced at Bucky and winced. “Um. It’s not… easy.”

“No,” Bucky agreed. “You saw we went through.”

Sam huffed. “Yeah. Somebody asking how you were all the time, heavily invested in your well-being. Sooooo difficult, Barnes. Your girl is incredible. I think everyone’s a little in love with her.”

Bucky couldn’t help but glance into the kitchen over his shoulder. You were talking to Nat, but when you realized he was looking at you, you smiled. He winked. What wasn’t to love?

“Maybe Y/n is not a good example, but… Nat is,” Steve said softly. He knew how easy it was to hear through the glass from the kitchen. He leaned against the railing with both elbows. “Do you know how long I have loved that woman?” Sam shook his head. “Years. I have spent so much time trying to get her to just… let go, let me in. She has told me countless times to give up. After everything she’s been through, she’s still fairly certain that every person in her life is going to leave, so. I stayed. She is the only possible person in this world, present company accepted--” Steve gestured between Sam and Bucky-- “who gets what sacrifices come with this life. I have loved before, and don’t get me wrong… a piece of my heart will always belong to Peggy.” He shrugged. “And Nat does not make it easy for me, we constantly bicker; she takes missions without telling me, and half the time I don’t know which way is up, but I finally told her: I’m not running. I’m not leaving. If she walks away, that’s her choice, but I won’t let her go easily.”

Bucky patted Steve’s shoulder behind Sam’s back, and then gripped the Falcon’s. “It’s not easy to be alone when you do what we do,” Sam said.

“It’s not easy to be alone,” Bucky revised. “Period.”

“Yeah.”

“Yup.”

Sam was silent for a long time. He looked out over the dim lights of the compound, which glowed red so they didn’t interfere with visuals for night-flights, eyes tracking back and forth but not taking in much. He pulled his sleeves down--it had stopped raining, but the air was biting.

“Maybe I’m… scared.”

“Of?”

“Somebody actually looking at me.”

“Most terrifying part,” Steve agreed.

“You could do worse than Barton.”

Sam shook his head, but he smiled. “Well he is blond.”

“And you’ve both got the bird thing going on.”

“Bird thing? Now you ruined it.” The three men chuckled together. Sam wheezed. “Thanks... I fucking hate tequila.”

“Same,” Bucky agreed.

“Alright, enough. Go off to bed with your beautiful women and leave me alone.”

“What are you gonna do?” Steve asked.

Sam shrugged. “No good decisions can be reasonably made after midnight, so I will not be deciding tonight. I’ll get back to you when my mind ain’t addled by blue agave.”

“Just…” Bucky took a moment to formulate what he wanted to say. “Let yourself trust people. When they say they wanna be in your life. Best thing I ever did.”

“It’s how you got Me.” Sam gave his shoulder a soft punch.

“Damn right.”

“Okay, get out of my face.”

Sam shooed both of his friends back inside. Steve went straight to Nat’s side. Bucky paused by the table, keeping his back to Sam.

“Give him twenty-four hours,” he said lowly to Clint. Hawkeye smiled, but his eyes shone with a glint that said the moment you’re out of this room, I will not do that, and he nodded. Bucky gave a gesture of farewell.

He met you at the island--you and Nat had tidied up so all the bottles were safely stashed on top of the fridge. Nat had both arms around Steve’s waist, and she was standing on his shoes, speaking quietly to him. You bounded up and leapt onto Bucky, wrapping arms and legs around him with glee.

“Oof!”

“Sorry!” You kissed his cheeks, and then pecked him sweetly on the lips. “Is Sam okay?”

“He will be,” Steve said.

“Tequila,” Bucky added, as if that explained anything at all. Well… it did.

Because a moment later, Sam opened the door looking very serious, and stepped inside. He put one hand on his hip and gestured to Clint with the other… not unlike how he beckoned Bucky over after a particularly rough boxing session. As if to say we have a score to settle. You patted Bucky’s shoulder so he’d turn away and leave Sam to his privacy. Bucky stayed rooted to his spot.

Clint stood and leaned forward, bracing both hands on the table. The two men spoke quietly. Hawkeye’s eyebrows raised. Sam coughed. They both straightened, and then Clint bowed. He sidled around the table with his empty martini glass, and handed it off to Bucky on his way out of the kitchen. Sam watched him go with both hands in his pockets.

As soon as the elevator dinged, signaling Clint’s departure to his suite on the sixth floor, Sam put his face in his hands.

“So much for twenty-four hours!” Steve laughed.

“What the fuck am I doing?” Sam groaned.

You detached yourself from Bucky, and went to Sam’s side to comfort him. Nat poured him a large glass of ice water. Steve and Bucky resigned themselves to being awake for another few hours… for moral support.

Needless to say… tequila was banned from any and all family gatherings after that.

Part 6

Part 8

tag list: @peterhollandkait @morticiaofthedead @hogwartsahist0ry @harrietbaudelaire @general-kenobi357 @hawsx3 @subwaysurf45 @nahthanks @sergntbarnes

message, comment, or reblog with request to be added to the tag list! :)

#bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #james bucky barnes #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes fanfic rec #bucky barnes fanfic recs #sam wilson x clint barton #sam x clint #nostalgia for the new by realjane #nostalgia for the new

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theprissythumbelina · 3 years ago

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In keeping with my recent update, worldbuilding time! I created this map on Inkarnate. Tagging @thetruearchmagos and @jacquesfindswritingandadvice , hope you enjoy worldbuilding without plot and dumb naming conventions because I Am Bad At Names.

Alyss was born and raised, and fought, for Ritania, an island nation with a limited monarchy and a long history of disagreements with Espala, another island nation further south. After the succession crisis in Ritania and the coronation of High King Ephraim, most eyes were on the conflict with Espala. And yet the Army has been deployed not against Espala, but the Gresian Republic.

The Gresian Republic is a relatively new nation, born from the shattered remnants of North Bresia after the first civil war. Bresia is a monarchy, with established church-state relationships. Gresia, as it is also known, is a representative republic and liberal approach to religion. Gresia takes its name from the second son of the hero Bresen, Gresii.

Bresia is a monarchy, and the fading glory of the northern continent. Legend claims Bresen founded the city of Bresia, which later became the Bresian Empire, and now is the capital of the nation of Bresia. Once an empire and the center of a huge religious authority, Bresia's Imperial Commanders first lost the island of Espala to an offshot of the royal Family. Ritania was next, though technically it was gifted to an ambitious royal cousin. Hadria was allowed to become a vassal state around 150 years ago. At this point, the only question is whether Bresia will gently fall apart, or explode spectacularly (hint: it did not go quietly).

The Democratic Union of Republics, home to Nicolette, was originally a small grouping of nation-states comprised of outcasts from other, more settled nations. The DUR collected under one banner 86 years ago in response to threats of invasion by Rougnier and Espala. While economically powerful, the DUR prefers to stay aloof from conflicts, especially whatever mess is going down between Bresia and the Gresian Republic, though many citizens support the Republic over the monarchist Bresia. The House of Republics runs the DUR, which has recently made a huge step forward in announcing an Inter-Republic Investigation Organization (IRIO) to deal with organized crime.

#don't you @ me for the names #if rome can have Romulus and Remus I can have Bresen and Gresii #its realistic #countries have stupid names anyway #I don't even care about the names #I just want to have a setting for my conflict #I'll deal with the conflict next #probably #I'm trying to be more chill and spontaneous with my wips #I am a perfectionist #which means I just don't finish things often #nicolette wip #priss writes #worldbuilding #writeblr community

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ftf-appreciationweek · 3 years ago

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Questions and answers were taken from Ursa’s telegram chat

Chaos wielders can freely move the paths of chaos to any distance, or can they go crazy from it too?

Ursa: Read more about Chaos in the new update of our exciting journey to a nervous breakdown :DD oh. I mean, in the new chapters of Tiamat.

Did Nikkal tell Su about the night she spent with Kingu? Will there be a scene where you can discuss your love interest with her?

Ursa: Communicating with minions about scenes with other minions is difficult within a novel. I try not to push them together until a certain point, because it gives rise to sooooo many difficulties - both technical and plot. It’s just a shame to spend an insane amount of lines on LI's reflection. This, of course, is very beautiful, but not always justified within the framework of the novel.

When fighting with Kingu in the stable, Nikkal slashed him with a sword - she wanted to hurt him, was she aware that she could seriously injure him?

Ursa: She was scared, she believed that her life was in danger and she defended herself as best she could. And Kingu has never looked frail.

Is Nikkal's mother an earth mage?

Ursa: Yes.

How soon will we learn about the comet and its impact on the plot and characters?

Ursa: :DDD I'm afraid only in the book.

And will it be possible to bring other characters together if we are not following their branch (for example, Niall and Ereshkigal?) Or Niall and Su?

Ursa: Yes to me, no to you.

Can you describe the next update in one word?

Ursa: My nervous breakdown. Or "watch a screenwriter work 14 hours a day"

Will we see more initiative from Kingu in the future on the branch with him?

Ursa: I think so. He doesn't show any initiative because he doesn't think he has the right to push Nikkal into a relationship, but if that's her choice...

Question about Kingu's makeup: does he really like this way of expressing himself? And if so, why?

Ursa: I'm going to tell you a terrible thing... Without makeup, the art was not so interesting :D

Will there be hints of a relationship among the LIs, without a branch?

Ursa: I don't think they will have a relationship.

Is this Nanna really harmless?

Ursa: Depending on what is considered harmless... Nanna is a bit patriarchal. Although he is cute and funny, I don't like him one bit :")

Who promises Ereshkigal souls? The people themselves/mages or someone who can do it for them?

Ursa: Mmm... spoiler.

Ereshkigal was very upset that he would go in and out without giving anything in return. Could she arrange this on a regular basis? Niall, entering Irkalla, would this harm his soul?

Ursa: She doesn't control Irkalla the way you think. If she had control, she would be able to calmly enter and exit. But she feels her moods and desires well: and yes, for me, Irkalla is also a character, with her own desires.

Was Niall born in Ur or was he a foreigner?

Ursa: Ur is not the only city, but he was born in the lands of the Five, yes.

What subject does Niall teach? And does he teach in addition to the main subject?

Ursa: Not an "object". He teaches self-control well, can show any combat technique, air magic techniques and movements, techniques of other types of magic. Private lessons - well, yes, Nike gives lessons! Lessons are given...

When Niall first called Nikkal a spark, then there was a text that she associated this appeal with a blanket and honey... Is this a direct association, that is, a kind of memory? Or did your brain just randomly associate this nickname with coziness because it's cute?

Ursa: There is a little scene about it. About Nikkal's training, about her failure, and how he called her Twilight and comforted her after her failure. I won't tell you in full - suddenly I'll describe it beautifully somewhere.

Why does Ethan call Nikki a sprout? Is it related to his element?

Ursa: He considers her the youngest even though they are twins. There is something patronizing in the "sprout".

Is the question about Kingu calling Nikkal “lady” a spoiler?

Ursa: Wait for the new chapters.

Will we see Nikkal stroking Niall's hair?

Ursa: Oh well... we can do it, why not.

Was Enlil joking when he asked Nikkal to stay with them? Or was he and Shamash really not against her company?

Ursa: If she agreed, it would not be a joke. And no, it's not about/not necessarily about 18+.

#tiamataw #q&a #the flower from tiamat's fire #rc appreciation weeks #romance club #rc tiamat #tiamat appreciation week

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tsukikoayanosuke · 3 years ago

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Behind the Fic: TW:OPT - Chapter 151-156

Happy birthday to me. Here’s a Wallmart chapter update instead of the TW:OPT Finale I wish I can do *yeets chapter*

WARNING: This will contain a bit of spoiler for the newest chapters of my fan fiction Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure.

So, the line might be blurry. I should’ve written my notes after each chapter. So, spare me if I forget a lot of details.

Chapter 151: Grim Grinning Ghosts Come Out to Socialize

This chapter is Kalim’s POV because I want to make it an at least smooth transition from the previous arc to the next. While Kalim is not a big player in the arc, he’s still there.

So, there is an idea about the spell that Kalim mentioned. "Postestas Destruam'' comes from two Latin words: "postestas'' means "authority, Power, control, Dominion, force, might'' and "destruam" means "tear down". This is a spell that can break mind control spell/power, for example, Jamil’s Snake Whisper.

The idea was, that if in the future, there are more hypnotists involved, Kalim, who has experienced them, can break it. So, you can take this as he’s maybe traumatized from what happened in the training camp. However, I assure you that this doesn’t mean that he doesn’t trust Jamil anymore. Just a safety precaution.

I actually really like the parallel between Azul/Jonah dan Kalim/Jamil, that’s why Azul commented how Kalim changed a bit because himself had changed as well.

The fight scene here is really short. I think my friend suggested a fight from the Power Ranger series so I just took a random compilation clip.

So, yeah. Jonah got kidnapped. Told you so.

A small throwaway line from Rook. Yes, I will be giving them some idol outfits for their VDC performance because it’s a crime not to!

Eliza’s full name is taken from various names of the Beating-Heart Bride since it seems that’s Yana’s inspiration. Those names are “Mélanie Ravenswood” from the Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris and “Elizabeth Henshaw” from The Haunted Mansion 2003 film.

Now, let’s talk about the whole reincarnation thing. Originally, I’m keeping this for future chapters, however, I think because of the flow of the chapter, I decided to write it. The whole thing is my Retelling Doctrine, which will be explained more in the final episode.

However, I did hint about some cycles. One example is in Chapter 116 with Vil. But I’m taking liberties for the reason why the plot follows the Disney movies.

Chapter 152: Desired Requirements for the Bridegroom

This chapter is in Riddle's POV. I forget the reasoning, but I think honestly I can't pick, so we go with Riddle default. Besides, he has a major role in the arc. Also, I need to have at least one Riddle POV since, you know, his crush is kidnapped lol.

The return of BirdDad lol

Yes. Sam tried to fight the ghosts when they kidnapped Jonah and Idia. You guys will see it in Chapter 155.

Now, this is where I kinda struggle between the original scenario where "Eliza has this too much standard" and the new "Eliza wants the man with the same soul", so all these criteria are meaningless. However, I think this when I decided "wait, what if the prince charming is real, but with a twist?" So, this is the birth of "Eliza has two people she once in love with before Jonah." You'll see this in Chapter 156.

And that is how we still use the original "Eliza has this too much standard" plot point while still applying " Eliza wants the man with the same soul". A bit flimsy? Yeah, sorry about that.

Actually I once forgot to copy-paste a whole section (I think it was where Cater asked about what if the ideal prince gives the ring), but it was fixed how. Well, that was embarrassing.

Chapter 153: Changing the Topic at my Own Discretion

Vil POV chapter let's go.

Now, remember in canon Vil changed from "atashi" to "boku"? Similar to Indonesian Floyd, the change of speech wouldn't work well in writing form compared to the visual/audio form. Most writing I think would just ignore that line and technically I did as well.

To substitute this, I decided to show the whole "future headmaster Vil" thing because we hadn't seen this since Chapter 140

Relating to what Azul mentioned in Chapter 127, Vil knows various secrets of the school, including secret passageways.

When writing headmaster!Vil, I do have a vision that he has more authority than all students. Like, he can expel a student with the agreement from Crowley.

Floyd is not scared of normal!Vil, but is threatened by headmaster!Vil.

I mean, I always see Vil as someone who would probably be placed in the top-rank student. Also, considering this is something that Neige doesn't have, he would work hard for it as well. Imagine an idol being a headmaster. So, he knew more spells, including barrier spells as mentioned many times below.

Eliza is the same here, however, canon never said her real age (to be fair she's a ghost). I always headcanon him being a teen around the same age as the main cast which is why she would marry Idia and is quite a brat. Like, don't deny that all of us are selfish brats during our teen years (I know I was). However, I kinda de-aged her again, so now she's thirteen years old, a tween, and even more of a brat lol!

Obligatory Hamilton reference. Like, come on, her name is Eliza! This song fit her! (and watch this cute animatic) And Vil rapping because why not. I might change the lyrics when I'm editing this.

Chapter 154: Fakes Who Don’t Understand a Maiden’s Heart

There's not much change between this chapter and canon since this is just retelling the next slapping scene.

Trey POV honestly came out of nowhere. Like, I'm trying to pick someone's POV and Trey seemed to be the easiest.

And then I ended up making Trey a bit as a jerk...? Mostly the reasoning is he doesn't know Jonah much so his feeling (platonic) toward him is weak. Which, yes, like what I mentioned in the Jonah’s relationship chart I made, I do intend to not make Jonah close to everyone since, again, this is not a harem story. Trey in is the category of 'acquaintances with Jonah' compared to Riddle 'friend to Jonah', so there is still this distance between Trey and Jonah.

You think the groom will be Idia, but it was him: Jonah! Told you there’s going to be a twist here. I’ve planned this for a long time!

Chapter 155: Please Marry Me, Dear Ideal Prince

The return of Jonah Argentum after not appearing since Chapter 149 (but honestly is role in Kalim's Disappearance Arc is also a bit minor)

This is the first chapter I've ever wrote for this arc and is intended to be the first chapter. However, after the end of the previous arc, to make it flow better, this chapter served as a flashback chapter. Which I think was our first ever full flashback?

‘Kyoto Nya Nya’ is a parody of Tokyo Mew Mew. I headcanon it’s a Queendom of Rose magical girl series lol

There’s a tiny influence from Barbie a Fairy Secret. Because it also involves kidnapping an unwilling groom (Ken)

Sam to the rescue!

I asked my Discord friend whether I should give Sam a gun like I did in the Kingdom Hearts AU, and it was a hard yes. The difference is KH AU Sam has two guns like a cowboy while OPT Sam has a musket like the American Revolution War gun (thanks, Hetalia).

Sam's unique magic is made up. The chants came from the Friend from the Other Side, the name is the word “facile” from Dr. Facelier, and the concept is similar to Bungou Stray Dogs Ryuunosuke Akutagawa’s Rashomon.

Sam’s fight against the ghosts is based on Mami Tomoe vs Gertrude from Episode 2 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime

Jonah's groom's suit is inspired by Noctis' final wedding suit from Final Fantasy XV ending.

I may or may not have tried to make Eliza more likable. I already love her from the beginning, but the accidental lore makes me want to add more to her while still maintaining that childishness we’ve seen in canon. We shall see in the next chapter.

Chapter 156: Boy, You Got Me Helpless!

The original title of this chapter was 'Once Upon a Dream'. You know the Sleeping Beauty song. But I changed it again to continue with the Hamilton references train.

Now. Why even bother giving Eliza a full-chapter backstory? Honestly, even if this arc is a lighter tone, there are some important plot points here and there. And Eliza with Jonah's ancestors is one of them. I'll explain more in the final episode.

Another thing is I do want to explore one possibility of why Eliza is like that. I don't want it to make Eliza just some lovesick brat with no things backing her up. So, why not make her story somewhat of a tragedy?

However, I do admit it was weak, because: 1) Heartbreak story was never my strongest suit, (2) I am on a time crunch. I'll be probably editing this in the rewrite.

Actually, there was a difference from the first draft. Originally, Eliza and Felipe were genuinely in love with each other (inspired by Noctis and Lunafreya's relationship in FFXV), but Eliza was killed on the way to the wedding. However, this contradicts the other plan of having Jonah as the groom and his ancestor thing, so Eliza's story was changed so Felipe, who fulfilled his criteria, rejected her, and Jonah's ancestors renewed that love.

The names in Eliza's past are inspired by some England royal family. We have King Henry VIII (King Heinrich (the dad)), Anne Boelyn (Queen Anna (the unnamed mom)), Edward VI (Prince Eduard (the unnamed brother)), Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Felipe), Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (King Andreas (the prince's father)), Princess Alice of Battenberg (Queen Alissa (the prince's unmentioned mother)).

I gave Chubby a real name Christopher. My first thought was Christopher Robin.

We don't exactly know how old Eliza is but what we know is that she's a spoiled brat who doesn't take 'no' for an answer. Huh, that sounds like something a teenager or someone younger would do. Thus, she is now a ghost of a 13 years old princess. Like, when else are you gonna find a petty brat, especially on the internet?

Also, Eliza being 13 and Felipe being 16 is a Romeo and Juliet reference.

More Hamilton reference. We're still using 'Helpless' for this so for the title and "1 week later, 2 weeks later". I decided to stretch it to one month. Still, one month of a long-distance relationship through letters is still a short time.

Ad the last part "she looks like a horse" is from the TV show The Tudors. No, I never watched it, I just found a compilation of the queens and saw King Henry called Anne of Cleves that.

So, about Jonah's ancestor, Nathan Ferrer. They are twisted from the same character (which will be revealed in the finale), but the name has an influence from Nathaniel Flint from Treasure Planet.

The first name is taken from Nathan Drake, or “Nate”, The protagonist of the video game series Uncharted, which includes four main games: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The last name is taken from Jaume Ferrer, a Majorcan sailor and explorer who sailed from Majorca to find the legendary "River of Gold" on 10 August 1346, but the outcome of his quest and his fate is unknown.

When I'm making Nathan Ferrer for the first time, I honestly don't know what he would look like. But then I remembered One Piece existed. So, I decided, since Shanks kinda has Jonah's looks, it's only fair that Nathan Ferrer has Monkey D. Luffy looks.

Actually, relating to the whole early Retelling Doctrine, Nathan's name was not supposed to appear at all. His name would only be revealed in the last episode of this arc. But because of the change in Eliza's backstory, he was namedropped in this chapter.

This is also related to Eliza's backstory change. Because there were two love interests, it would be better to not get confused.

Azul and Riddle's last-minute appearance was not supposed to be there, but I had trouble ending the chapter, so have a cliffhanger.

#twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland fanfiction #twisted wonderland fanfic #twisted wonderland fic #twst fanfic #twst fic #twisted-wonderland: our precious treasure #behind the fic: tw:opt #eliza (twisted wonderland)#Kalim Al-Asim #riddle rosehearts #vil schoenheit #trey clover #jonah argentum (my oc)

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iamthenightcolormeblack · 4 years ago

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Pride and Prejudice 1940: "When Pretty Girls T-E-A-S-E-D Men Into Marriage"

Made during the Great Depression, this classic black and white film is loosely based on Austen's novel and is set in what is likely the 1830s rather than the Regency Era (late 18th century to early 19th century). It is an escapist piece which capitalizes on nostalgia for a simpler time by transporting its viewers to a chocolate-box vision of the past, while paying homage to Austen's social satire by delivering plenty of laughs along the way.

Overall Thoughts on the Film:

The first time I watched this movie, I was confused because the plot as well as the setting was revised significantly (the events after Darcy's first proposal are changed to hasten the happy ending; Darcy's letter and Elizabeth's visit to Pemberley are not included in this movie). This changing of plot points makes the 2005 movie a much more faithful adaptation in comparison with this version, in spite of the creative liberties both take with the novel.

Production Design:

The movie is a typical example of Golden Age Hollywood productions, with beautiful actresses and melodramatic flourishes added to increase the drama. Some of the lines are delivered very quickly, in keeping with the comedic style of the time.

The music: definitely not historically accurate. A lot of sentimental, "ye olde timey" string arrangements that emphasize emotions or fast-paced waltz music for balls/parties.

The 1830s costumes are beautiful; it seems as if no expense (or quantity of fabric) was spared in making them. The bonnets are way taller and have more decorations than typical 1830s bonnets. Some of the patterns/fabric choices are very 1930s, and the costumes are exaggerated in such as way as to make the wearers look like fancy turkeys.

Hair and Makeup: very 1930s, with finger/sausage curls, plucked eyebrows, lipstick/lip makeup, and long lashes.

The sets: the dollhouse-like interiors are lavishly gilded and made to look as opulent as possible. Outdoors scenes are lush, with lots of flowers and bushes; the garden in which the second proposal takes place is gorgeous. The set design transports the viewer into an idyllic vision of the bucolic English countryside.

The Lead Actors:

With the exception of Laurence Olivier, the majority of the actors are American, since this is a Hollywood production. Many of the characters in the film's imaginary vision of pastoral Britain speak American or make clumsy attempts to imitate British English.

Greer Garson: while she is definitely too old for the part, she perfectly conveys Elizabeth's intelligence, outspokenness, and sarcasm. Her facial expressions are killer as well; with the arch of an eyebrow along with a snarky side eye, she captivates us all. All in all, Garson effectively shows off Elizabeth's impertinence through her nonverbal acting (this reminds me strongly of Jennifer Ehle's Elizabeth Bennet).

Laurence Olivier: he effectively conveys Darcy's pride while hinting at his deeper feelings beneath the surface (I can see why Colin Firth spoke so highly of Olivier's portrayal of Darcy). Most importantly, the film emphasizes Darcy's intelligence; he is certainly Elizabeth's intellectual equal. While this portrayal of Darcy is very accurate to the book, Darcy's pride does go away pretty quickly (he and Elizabeth form a tentative friendship early on) and his social awkwardness isn't immediately obvious thanks to his charm. Also the unflattering hairstyle with the greasy hair and painted on sideburns makes me sad.

Key Scenes:

Opening scene: The title card appeals directly to the audience's nostalgia for a sentimental, romanticized past: “It happened in OLD ENGLAND (this was actually capitalized), in the village of Meryton…” The Bennet women are at a fabric shop, where they gossip with aunt Phillips about the rich people moving into Netherfield Park.

The carriage race: this scene, which isn’t in the original novel, represents the rivalry between the Bennets and Lucases. The mothers both want their daughters to be the first to snag the rich bachelors.

The first ball: There is a historical anachronism as the music is a waltz by Strauss, who became popular in late 19th century, specifically the Gilded Age; far too early for the Regency Era or 1830s England. Other changes from the original novel include Elizabeth meeting Wickham before Darcy; other events from Aunt Phillips’ ball (which isn’t included in this movie) and Wickham and Darcy’s confrontation are included in this scene.

Elizabeth’s impression of Darcy at the ball: she puts on airs and mocks his casual dismissal of her as tolerable (definitely a parallel with the 1995 version, where Jennifer Ehle does the same, but privately with Jane).

Great comedic change: Darcy introduces himself to Elizabeth after calling her tolerable and asks if she will dance with him (this originally takes place at Mr. Lucas' ball). Right after rejecting Darcy, she instantly agrees to dance with Wickham; in a humorous moment, Darcy evacuates to a corner of the room to sulk while seeing Wickham dance with Elizabeth.

The “Accomplished woman” scene: the dialogue lifted directly from the book for the most part. Darcy, in a departure from his trademark seriousness, shows off his playful side when reacting to Caroline Bingley's "turn about the room." I particularly like this added repartee from Elizabeth Bennet to Darcy, which is clever but also foreshadows her prejudice: “If my departure is any punishment, you are quite right. My character reading is not too brilliant.”

Elizabeth can't stand Mr. Collins: After twirling about his monocle, he pronounces that: “It might interest you to know my taste was formed by lady Catherine de Bourgh.” The best part of this scene is when Elizabeth plucks a wrong note on her harp when Collins gets really annoying.

The Netherfield ball (which is now a garden party):

Elizabeth running away from Mr. Collins: She looks rather ridiculous, almost like an overdressed turkey, in a white dress with puffy sleeves as she runs away from an overeager Collins. Then she hides in the bushes while Darcy helps her to hide, telling Collins he doesn't know where she is. It's fun but most likely not something a proper lady and gentleman would do (two people of the opposite gender out alone, shock!).

The archery scene: Darcy attempts to teach Elizabeth how to shoot a bow and arrow, even though he doesn’t hit the bullseye. She goes on to impress him by perfectly hitting the bullseye every time; Darcy learns his lesson: "Next time I talk to a young lady about archery I won't be so patronizing." Caroline Bingley, very passive aggressive as usual, shows up for her archery lesson right after and it's absolutely perfect.

Mr. Collins attempts to introduce himself to Mr. Darcy: Laurence Olivier captures Darcy so perfectly in this scene (really set the precedent for Colin Firth). When Mr. Collins starts talking (inviting Elizabeth to dance with him) Darcy tries to keep himself well-composed but has a pained expression on his face as if he’s about to pass out. Olivier masters the way Darcy can look so miserable but also disgusted and proud at the same time.

Mr. Collin's proposal to Elizabeth: I like the added touch of Mrs. Bennet pulling Elizabeth back by her skirt when she tries to run out of the room. The dialogue is taken directly from the book, and the scene is made even funnier when Collins holds on to Elizabeth's hand desperately and doesn’t let her get away. My only quibble is that Elizabeth isn’t indignant enough when Mr. Collins doesn't take no for an answer.

Elizabeth and Darcy at Rosings: I like that Olivier subtly indicates that Darcy is clearly affected upon seeing Elizabeth at Rosing, hinting at deeper feelings beneath the surface. I also like how the scriptwriter emphasizes that Darcy indirectly praises Elizabeth and enjoys their conversations, while she remains convinced that he hates her. Sadly, the original dialogue of the piano scene is not included, which is unfortunate as it allows Darcy to reveal his introvert tendencies, calling into question Elizabeth's assertion that he is unpardonably proud.

First proposal: The famous opening lines are mutilated with awkward punctuation: “It’s no use. I’ve struggled in vain. I must tell you how much I admire and love you." While the rest of the dialogue matches up closely with what happens in Austen's novel, both of the actors aren’t emotional enough; instead Elizabeth cries very daintily, and Darcy remains serene, which conflicts with the book's description of both of them being very angry and defensive at each other.

THE SCRIPT:

The first half of the film up to Darcy's first proposal follows the events of the original book closely, though certain blocks of dialogue are moved elsewhere and other events such as Mrs. Phillips' party are skipped over. The most significant changes, besides updating the setting to the 1830s, are made to the second half of the book to squeeze the key events of the story into the movie before delivering the inevitable happy ending.

Brilliant Quotes:

Mr. Bennet's reaction to Mrs. Bennet's despair over the situation of their 5 unmarried daughters: “Perhaps we should have drowned some of them at birth.”

Darcy insists Elizabeth cannot tempt him: “Ugh. Provincial young lady with a lively wit. And there’s that mother of hers.”

Darcy is an arrogant snob: “I’m in no humor tonight to give consequence to the middle classes at play.” (Technically the Bennets are part of the gentry; they just are less wealthy than Darcy).

Elizabeth's reaction to Darcy pronouncing her to be tolerable at best: “What a charming man!”

Elizabeth rebuffs Darcy's offer to dance after overhearing his insult: “I am afraid that the honor of standing up with you is more than I can bear, Mr Darcy.”

Elizabeth favors Wickham after witnessing the bad blood between him and Darcy: “Without knowing anything about it I am on your side.”

Mrs. Bennet's comment after she sends Jane to Netherfield under stormy skies: “There isn’t anything like wet weather for engagements. Your dear father and I became engaged in a thunderstorm.”

Mr. Bennet's reaction to Jane's fever: “Jane must have all the credit for having caught the cold…we’re hoping Elizabeth will catch a cold and stay long enough to get engaged to Mr. Darcy. And if a good snowstorm could be arranged we’d send Kitty over!”

The sisters' description of Mr. Collins: “Oh heavens! what a pudding face.”

Caroline Bingley at the Netherfield garden party: “Entertaining the rustics is not as difficult as I feared. Any simple childish game seems to amuse them excessively.”

Darcy reassuring Elizabeth after helping her escape Mr. Collins: “If the dragon returns St. George will know how to deal with it.”

Darcy learns his lesson after Elizabeth beats him at archery: “The next time I talk to a young lady about archery I won’t be so patronizing.”

Elizabeth comments about a curtain: “Oh that’s pretty. It’s a pity you didn’t make it bigger. You could have put it around Mr. Collins when he becomes a bore.”

Elizabeth on Kitty and Lydia: “2 daughters out of 5, that represents 40% of the noise.”

Elizabeth sees Lady Catherine for the first time: “So that’s the great lady Catherine. Now I see where he learned his manners.”

Lady Catherine's attitude towards philanthropy: “You must learn to draw a firm line between the deserving poor and the undeserving poor.”

Darcy takes Elizabeth's advice: “I’ve thought a great deal about what you said at Netherfield, about laughing more...but it only makes me feel worse."

Elizabeth and Darcy have a conversation with Colonel Fitzwilliam: “He likes the landscape well enough, but the natives, the natives, what boors, what savages … Isn’t that what you think, Mr. Darcy?” With a smile: “It evidently amuses you to think so, Miss Bennet."

CHANGES FROM THE BOOK:

The first half of the film up to Darcy's first proposal follow the events of the original book closely, though certain blocks of dialogue are moved elsewhere and other events such as Mrs. Phillips' party are skipped over. The most significant changes, besides updating the setting to the 1830s, are made to the second half of the book to squeeze the key events of the story into the movie before delivering the inevitable happy ending.

With the exception of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the portrayals of the characters are (generally) true to the book.

As I said earlier, the film neglects any sort of historical accuracy when setting the story in romanticized "Old England," where genteel people pass simple lives that revolve around dresses, tea parties, social gossip, and marriages. A lot of Austen adaptations present an idealized vision of Regency life, where people are dressed immaculately, flawlessly adhere to "chivalry," and find love in the ballroom. This contributes to the misconception that Austen's novels are shallow chick-lit books with flat characters who live for lavish parties and hot men, instead of stories of unique, complicated women who happen to be well-off but aspire towards love, respect, or independence instead of being content to make economically advantageous marriages. Austen's novels are character novels and she doesn't waste time writing about dresses or tea parties; balls, while exciting, are just another part of daily life for her characters rather than some Extremely Big Special Once In a Blue Moon Event.

Austen's multifaceted view on marriage turns into a game of matchmaking. She recognizes it as necessary for women to survive in the patriarchy, since they cannot provide for themselves unless they marry well, but at the same time, presents marriage as a means for freedom if it is a loving partnership between two people that respect each other. In contrast, marriage is a game of manipulating the partners into wanting to marry (ex. Lady Catherine and Darcy's trickery). Also, it seems to be a given that Elizabeth will marry for love, unlike in the book where it is uncertain whether she will achieve this.

Kitty and Lydia's antics are viewed much more sympathetically as those of young people having fun; in the book, their behavior harms the family's social reputation, reducing the chances the Bennet daughters have of making good marriages.

Louisa Hurst, Georgiana Darcy, and Aunt and Uncle Gardiner are not in the movie.

Wickham is introduced much earlier than in the book; he is friends with Lydia from the very beginning. Interestingly, he doesn't begin to trash-talk Darcy until Bingley leaves; in the book he does so much earlier, before the Netherfield ball.

Darcy is more considerate towards Elizabeth at the Netherfield party (ex. rescuing her from Collins), until he overhears Mrs. Bennet scheming to get the daughters married. Elizabeth forms a tentative friendship with him until finding out that he separated Jane from Bingley.

Jane is more obviously heartbroken over Bingley's departure than in the book, where she keeps her pain to herself. In the movie, she runs away to cry, which is uncharacteristic of her.

Collins is a librarian instead of a clergyman. I dislike this change because some Austen scholars/fans think that Collins being a clergyman is a deliberate choice as part of Austen's social criticism. Collins is representative of how hypocritical the Church is, since he worships Lady Catherine's wealth instead of God, and preaches moral lessons instead of actually using religion to help people. My theory is that the change was made because of the Hays Code, which led to the censorship of movies for "unwholesome" or "indecent" things; the religious criticism could have been offensive.

Elizabeth reacts rather too kindly to Charlotte marrying Collins by showing concern for the loveless marriage. While she does worry about the lack of love in the marriage, initially she is extremely surprised, outright shocked, and confused.

The scene where Darcy tries and fails to talk to Elizabeth (the "charming house" scene in the 2005 movie) just before the proposal is removed.

Darcy's letter is skipped over and Elizabeth overcomes her prejudice of Darcy very quickly, as shown when she tells Jane she regrets rejecting his proposal. This is contrary to the book, where overcoming her prejudice is an emotionally exhausting and slow process that continues all the way up until the second proposal.

The Pemberley visit is removed; instead, Elizabeth returns home to the news that Lydia has eloped. Visiting Pemberley is very important as part of Elizabeth's re-evaluation of Darcy's character and provides an opportunity for Darcy to show Elizabeth that he has changed for her. The visit is key in increasing Elizabeth's love for Darcy, and removing it means that the characters have less personal growth (also wouldn't it have been great for the audience to be treated to another gorgeous estate of "Old England?"). Instead, Darcy visits Longbourn on his own and offers his help in finding Lydia. When the news comes that Wickham accepts very little money in exchange for marrying Lydia, it isn't as shocking as it is in the book because Darcy had already expressed his intentions of helping Elizabeth earlier.

Here's the change that bugs me the most: Lady Catherine becomes good; though she is a busybody, her main priority is Darcy's happiness. Her confrontation of Elizabeth is a scheme hatched between her and Darcy as a test to be certain of Elizabeth's love. This does not make sense on so many levels: first, Darcy insists that "disguise of every sort is my abhorrence," so why would he resort to trickery, however well-intentioned, to find out if Elizabeth still loves him? Second, Lady Catherine is a social snob and objects to Elizabeth's low connections; also she has an arranged marriage planned for Darcy. Third, in the book, because Elizabeth likes Pemberley and gets along really well with his sister Georgiana, Darcy would have had some evidence that Elizabeth, in the very least, cared for him. And the added claim that Lady Catherine approves of Elizabeth because she likes rudeness and thinks Darcy needs a humorous wife irritates me further because the marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy is revolutionary since it was made in defiance of societal rules!!! Why, why, why in the name of comedy did they have to do this?!

Darcy kisses Elizabeth (in a stagey and melodramatic way) after she accepts his second proposal. Seems a bit uncharacteristic of him.

All the sisters get married at the end. Happily ever after.

CONCLUSION

This movie certainly was not aiming for faithfulness to Austen's novel; it ignores her detailed portrait of Regency era society and its attitudes and focuses on the "light, bright, and sparkling" aspect of Pride and Prejudice that gives the story its timeless appeal.

All in all, this comedy of manners is definitely a classic thanks to the clever dialogue and jokes within the script, along with some great acting.

@appleinducedsleep @dahlia-coccinea @princesssarisa @colonelfitzwilliams @austengivesmeserotonin

#pride and prejudice 1940 #pride and prejudice #pride and predjudice #jane austen #movies #movie review #laurence olivier #classic movies #we stan p&p 1940

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cherrybracelets · 5 years ago

Text

dance in the dark (one)

words: 4.5k | warnings: 18+ content. smut, drugs and alcohol mentions. mentions of blood, weapons, serial killers, cults, etc. DO NOT interact with this fic if you are under 18

masterlist | requests

pairing: professor!spencer reid x student!reader

an: this is part one of a continuing prof reid fic, i have no update schedule for this so please bare with me lmk what you would like to see also send more prof reid requests i wanna do little non plot side blurbs to this fic with your ideas!!!!

What do you think the crowd at a sleazy downtown bar on a Wednesday night looks like? Here’s a hint- it’s pretty pathetic. If you’re at this place on a week day, really any night at all, you’re probably not in the best place. And that was true, for you. Although from the outside it appeared you had everything completely together, the truth you tried so desperately to lock inside was clawing it’s way out- and you weren’t sure how much longer you could hold yourself together.

Tomorrow was the start of your last year in grad school, something that should be a major accomplishment. But you were transferring here, after some unfortunate events that happened last semester. You’re not talking about that, though, remember? It’s a new year, a new city; you had the chance to move on from your past. But the only way you could do that is if you... kept it locked inside.

But you’d been doing that all summer, pretending to be someone you’re not, even using a fake name with strangers. You could completely reinvent yourself, and no one would ever know. And as you downed another jack and coke, you stared in curiosity at the lonely man on the other end of the bar, flipping through pages of what seemed like an exceptionally boring book.

He caught you looking at him, to which you quickly glanced away to pretend you weren’t, but you caught a slight smile out of the corner of your eye. You stared at the rows of alcohol behind you, avoiding looking in any direction, especially his. But you felt yourself smiling, a handsome man who had no idea who you were. Who didn’t know your name. That was something you couldn’t say before you were here.

“That guy down there bought this for ya,” the bartender huffed, his deep and raspy voice perfect matching his large and intimidating exterior. You smiled down at the glass, a perfectly mixed Jack & Coke with a lime. You raised the glass up to him and shook it, letting the ice clang against the glass.

“Thanks for the drink,” you said, raising your voice so he could here you.

“I’m not... super great at the ‘walking up to a pretty girl and saying hi, thing’. So I figured that was my best bet.” He smiled, taking a slow sip of his own drink, which looked like scotch.

“Can I come sit with you?” You asked, looking at the empty seat next to him.

“Of course,” he grinned, clearing his papers and readjusting himself in the seat. “I’m, uh, Spencer, by the way.”

(Y/N),” you responded, playing with the straw in your drink.

“Can I ask you something, (Y/N)?” He asked, a serious tone to his voice.

“Of course,” you replied, hesitantly.

“Are you having an exceptionally bad day?”

“Hmm,” you thought, your eyes locked on the handsome man in front of you. “I think I’m having an exceptionally bad year, maybe years plural.”

He laughed quietly, a deep chuckle, a relatable response. He knew more than anyone how miserable life could be. But this week, and most specifically today, has been exhausting for him. And he saw you, he saw the perfect way to relieve some stress.

It didn’t take much longer until you were back at his place, making out on the overly expensive leather couch in the living room. His hands climbing up your body, nails digging into your flesh each time he grinded himself into you. Your hands were tangled in his hair, the smell of fresh strawberries and a hint of coconut from his shampoo.

By the time you were both completely naked, he already had his mouth exploring your clit, his tongue playing games with you. He bit down on your inner thighs, sucking and nibbling at your lips. He added two fingers into you slowly, curling them perfectly to hit the right spot every time.

“I think I’m gonna cum,” you moaned, your body writhing with pleasure, his mouth and fingers still taking care of you. He quickly stopped at your words, sitting up and pulling his fingers out of you. He licked his hand, tasting you, a devilish grin on his face.

“You can cum when I tell you to cum. Turn over.” He commanded, grabbing your hips and flipping you over to him. He pushed on the center of your back and you arched, pushing your ass up for him. You could feel him position himself at your entrance, and slowly sliding himself in. You were surprised by his length, a slow whimper escaping your lips.

“Am I too big for you, baby? Can you handle it?” He sounded concerned, but an underlying tone of sarcasm and gloat in his voice.

“I’ll be fine,” you muttered, determined to take him. You felt the palm of his hand on your ass, rubbing the cheek slowly. It quickly lifted off, and came back down hard, a loud slap as his hand hit your bare cheek. You whines loudly, a mix of pain and pleasure overcoming you as he started to fuck you faster and deeper.

You felt him deep inside of you. He was the biggest you’d ever had, and with ever pump into you he seemed to climb deeper. The feeling of being under him, his length fully overcoming your body- you felt so submissive, you belonged to him. His hands gripped tightly into your hips, pulling you back into him as he pounded in and out.

“Can you handle this baby girl?” He yelled out, his hand grabbing a fistful of your hair and pulling your head back towards him. You yelped as he did that, the feeling of your hair being pulled sending shivers down your spine.

“I fucking love it,” you responded, feeling the need to praise the man who was in charge of your body right now.

“I want you to cum,” he instructed, his voice stern. You worried about what he’d do if you didn’t follow his instructions. You let yourself succumb to him, giving him full control of your pleasure. You started to feel a warmth spreading through you, preparing your body for a high of pleasure. After a few more seconds, you finally reached your peak, loudly announcing it to Spencer and whoever else could hear.

The sound of the pleasure he brought you, Spencer came quickly after that, pulling himself out of you at the last minute and cumming on your back. He pushed you down flat afterwards, and you laid there with him for a moment. He stared at you, covered in him, his property. In that moment, you belonged to him.

After you cleaned yourself off, you threw your clothes back on and got yourself together.

“I gotta go, I’m starting class tomorrow,” you explained, trying to sneak out without being awkward.

“I’ll see you again soon. Our story isn’t over,” he muttered, pointing towards the door and winking. You laughed initially, but realized how weird the comment actually was as you were walking out.

Luckily, your Uber only took a few minutes, and didn’t force you to talk. You scrolled mindlessly through instagram, thinking about classes, the thought of Spencer still stuck in your mind. As weird as it was to say, you truly didn’t think it would be the last time you saw it. You had a weird feeling deep inside that he was a very important person.

But, it didn’t matter, because you lived in a city with 700,000 people, and the chances of seeing him were slim to none. You didn’t even have a last name to find him on socials. You didn’t know his job, if he was even from here. In fact, you were quite surprised to realize you had just let a man you barely know fuck you like that. But damn, you did not regret it.

You crashed as soon as you got back to your apartment, setting your alarm for class tomorrow and passing out as soon as your head hit the pillow. You had your usual string of nightmares, waking up every few hours, covered in sweat, your heart beating through your chest. You took a few sips of water and fell back asleep, only for the whole cycle to repeat a mere hour later. When your alarm finally woke you up, you were groggy and nauseous, another night of no sleep taking effect on you. You dragged yourself out of bed, silently hopped in the shower and let the hot water cleanse the night away from you.

You brewed a weak cup of coffee, poured it into a travel mug and headed out the door. You were terrified of today, a heavy pit sitting in your stomach. You kept your headphones in the entire commute to the school, drowning out the conversations of others around you. There was no possible way they could know you here, but you still always felt that the whispers were about you. You avoided as much eye contact and interaction as you could, walking through the campus.

Luckily the building where your class was wasn’t too far, and you got there relatively quickly. Your first class was called Mass Atrocity: Early Warning and Prevention, technically and elective course, but something you were extremely interested in. Your program was called Conflict Analysis and Resolution. You wanted to be badass, take down cults and serial killers, talking them off a ledge. You wanted to go back in time and prevent Waco. You knew you could do all of these things, you knew you could be the best, because your brother was a killer.

It was why you moved from your hometown. After he was found out, it was unbearable to be around people who knew you. You couldn’t escape the hate, the public humiliation. You hated him just as much as anyone, but that didn’t matter. People were convinced you two were killers together, especially since everyone knew what you wanted to do with your life and knew you to be a huge true crime junky.

You had to get away from there, escape your past identity. You could’ve stopped him, if you knew what was happening. But the truth was, you had no idea. And you hated that, you shamed yourself every day for not catching on to him. You, of all people, should have known. But now, you will spend the rest of your life stopping anyone you can. You had too, you couldn’t let them hurt their families the way your brother hurt yours.

So here you were, in a brand new city, a new last name, a new life. You had a chance to start over, be a new person. You could learn from some of the best professors, at one of the best schools in the country, only a few miles from DC. Homeland security, the FBI, CIA… everything you had ever wanted, right here. Sitting in this classroom, people filling in around you, you had your whole life ahead of you. Your future was unfolding itself right in front of you.

And then he walked in. A brown leather briefcase to match a blue suit, his hair sloppily pulled behind his ears, a tie loosely around his neck as if he got ready in a hurry this morning. He probably overslept, since he was out late at a bar and brought a girl home. You stared at him, your stomach flipping as he took his laptop out of his bag and began to set up for his lecture. You tried to get up and leave, turn around and pretend you never saw him, but you were trapped on either side, unable to escape. You slouched in your chair, hiding behind your laptop.

“Good morning everyone,” he said, his voice raspy and low, a clear sign of exhaustion. “I am Dr. Reid, although I would prefer Spencer. I teach a lot of the courses for Conflict Analysis, so you better get used to seeing a lot of me.” Spencer laughed lightly, his eyes scanning the crowd to see his new students. He looked approving, nodding over the people, and then his eyes caught you.

He stopped in his tracks, locked on your face, your eyes moving quickly in random directions to avoid his gaze. You finally caught him, and he furrowed his brows at you, a look of disappointment. He looked away quickly and scanned the rest of the crowd, still looking discontent as he tried to shake the confusion away and begin his lecture.

He didn’t look at you once through the entire class. You were smart and took your notes silently, not asking questions or making a sound. He was an extremely captivating person, his stories and the way he taught so encapsulating. He was brilliant, by far the smartest person you ever had the pleasure of meeting. There wasn’t a thing he didn’t know the answer too, and you had so much you wanted to ask. You knew he could answer so many questions for you, specifically about your brother. But you vowed to never speak of him again, especially to a professor that you not only admire, but recklessly fucked just the night before.

Spencer wrapped up class, giving everyone a few final notes and instructions before saying his goodbyes. Before everyone was out of their seat, he interrupted the shuffle to say one final thing.

“Miss. Isaacs, could you speak to me for a moment regarding your registration?” He looked up at you for the first time in ninety minutes, and looked desperate. Your fake last name still rang odd in your ears, and it took you a moment to realize that he was asking for you. You nodded to him submissively, walking out the aisle and down the stairs to meet him at the podium.

“Do you mind if we go to my office?” He asked loudly, making sure the other students heard him speaking normally to you.

“Sure,” you whispered, following him out the door and down a hallway of offices. He stopped at his, fumbled with the keys, and opened the door to a very tidy office. You closed the door behind you and sat on one of the two chairs that were for visitors. He walked behind the desk and sat in his chair, a frustrated groan as he sat back.

“We need to talk about this.” He snapped, knowing that you knew exactly what he was talking about. “I can’t have slept with… a student.”

“Listen, I promise I won’t say a word, okay? I can transfer out of your class too, make it not an issue…”

“You have to take my classes to graduate. I’m…” he softened, leaning back in his chair and taking a deep breath. “I’m not gonna ask you to do that. You’re extremely bright… I remember getting your application. You deserve a spot here… I just don’t want you to lose that because of this…” He rubbed his hand over his chin, trying not to raise his voice too loud.

“Thank you for saying that. You were brilliant out there today… I was completely enamored by you. Why did you leave the BAU to teach?” You asked abruptly, only realizing how inappropriate it was to ask that after it had already come out of your mouth.

“You know, that’s probably pretty personal, you don't have to answer that.” You covered your face awkwardly, wishing now you could just leave and not make this interaction any worse.

“No… it’s okay. There was just… so much pain all the time. And most people take that as ‘I couldn’t handle that pain anymore,’ but truthfully, I had become so numb to it, it scared me. I needed to get out so I could learn to feel again.” Spencer looked at you, his heart feeling a thousand times lighter after speaking his truth. “I’ve never told anyone that. Not quite sure why I told you.”

“I… I’m really sorry. Sometimes it is really easier to pretend things don’t affect you than deal with your true feelings. I can really relate to that,” you laughed, remembering all the pain you were currently trying to escape.

“You are very, very beautiful,” Spencer interjected, his eyes exploring you, his mouth slightly open in concentration as he focused on your almost perfect facial features.

“Thank you, Dr. Reid,” you whispered, feeling a creeping heat on your face as your cheeks began to blush.

“I’d appreciate it if you called me Spencer.” He moved his eyes from your body to your own eyes, staring right through you. You felt completely unlocked in that moment, like he could see right into your brain and read your thoughts and secrets like a book. You knew you could close yourself up, hide away from him, but a part of you didn’t want to. The exhaustion of holding a heavy secret around ate away at you, and it would be more than nice to have someone who could carry that weight with you.

But not him, he was your Professor, and this was your future. You broke your gaze with him and sat up straight, looking away. You scanned through pictures on his wall, the same group of people in multiple photos. He had many books on the wall, some in languages you didn’t even recognize. There were piles of magazines and papers on the floors, a layer of dust on the frame of the floor, and a fireplace that was littered with ash. The air held a musty stench, with a hint of air freshener trying desperately, and failing, to make the room smell good.

At first glance, this office seemed tidy, that of a person with their life together. But the details were where that theory fell apart. He was holding on to his exterior, pretending he was okay, but inside this man was a mess. He was exhausted, overworked, and due to the multiple empty scotch glasses lying around, heavily drinking.

“You alright?” Spencer asked, his voice breaking you out of your own thoughts.

“‘Sorry. Zoned out for a second…” you muttered, still looking around the room, trying to notice any other displacements. “I should probably get going.” You stood up quickly, grabbing your jacket and bag and heading for the door.

“You’re in another one of my classes tomorrow. I checked your schedule,” he hesitated, looking at his computer for confirmation. “Will I see you?”

“I guess I don’t have a choice, right?” You raised your eyebrows at him, waiting for another comment, but he had none. You left after a few seconds, closing the door behind you as you left. You leaned up against the wall outside of the office, trying to ground yourself. You took a few deep breaths and checked the time, realizing you needed to get to your next class soon. You quickly walked to the stairs and headed towards your next class, your head still buzzing from Spencer that you weren’t even sure if you’d be able to comprehend anything. You took a seat in the next room, putting your head down in embarrassment as you waited for class to begin.

The next day you got to sleep in a bit more, but it didn’t make much of a difference. You still spent most of the night dealing with nightmares of your brother, but you had a new dream that scared you more than any of the others. You were sitting in one of Spencer’s classes, taking notes casually as he lectured. As he continued his powerpoint, the lights went dark and the slide changed to a picture of your brother. Everyone started pointing at you, calling you a killer, screaming profane things about your family. A light shined on Spencer, who was pointing and laughing with the rest of the crowd, walking towards you and pointing a gun to your head. Right before he pulled the trigger, he whispered “No one will ever love a killer.” His finger pressed down, igniting the gun, and…

Bam. You woke up. You felt sick, your heart racing and the contents of your stomach lurching around. You ran to the bathroom, vomiting as soon as you reached the toilet. You sat back against the cool tub, the cold feeling amazing against your hot flesh. You checked the time- 2:43 AM. You walked back to your bed and grabbed your phone, scrolling through instagram and twitter, trying to calm your mind. You had made brand new accounts with your new persona, paying bots to follow you so it looked legit. You didn’t want to post anything anyways, but you did love looking at baby animal pictures on the internet.

You were still feeling kind of out of it, and you reached onto your nightstand to grab your bowl. You smoked a little bit, trying to calm your body down enough to fall back asleep. Sometimes the marijuana and sleeping pills are the only things that calm you down. But you were feeling a little loopy tonight, and as you stared at your phone and tried to shove your anxiety deep down, you made a fatal mistake.

New email:

To: Dr. Spencer Reid, PhD

Subject: Empty

What do you do make the pain go away?

Sent from my iPhone.

You locked your phone and placed it down on the nightstand, curling up in your bed and falling asleep. You surprisingly slept through the rest of the night without issue, waking up from a deep sleep as your alarm went off a few hours later. You had effectively forgotten about the email, and didn’t have any reminder of it since Spencer had yet to respond. You casually made yourself breakfast, preparing mentally to see Spencer in class again this morning.

You left promptly after cleaning up, making sure you wouldn’t miss your bus to campus. You rode the commute with your headphones in, still ignoring the conversations of the strangers around you. You felt better today, at least knowing you’d be more prepared to see Spencer today than yesterday. All of that confidence immediately drained from your body as your phone vibrated, alerting you to a new text. Who the hell could be texting you? Almost no one knew this number.

Maybe: Spencer Reid

In regards to your email- you can never get rid of the pain. I wish I had a better answer.

You stared in awe at your screen, rereading the message a thousand times. At first you were confused, what email? But then you remembered, the fuzzy letters on the screen as you emailed him last night. Fuck. This wasn’t good. You opened the message, but didn’t respond, hoping he would see that if you read it and didn’t respond he would get the hint. There was no way you could go walk in class right now and go see him. But your bus stopped, right where you needed to get off, and although you desperately tried not to, your body got up and walked off the bus.

You continued to walk all the way to your classroom, sitting suspiciously close to the front. A part of you wanted him, the part of you that craved destruction and drama, the part of you that you saw your brother in. It scared you, because each and every day you felt that part of you come to the surface a little more.

Spencer walked in shyly, immediately scanning the crowd to find you. When your eyes locked, his face read a bit of relief, as if he was worried you wouldn’t come. He, too, wanted to see you. In all honesty, he couldn’t stop thinking about you since that night you spent together. He didn’t look at you long, realizing he had to start class at some point. He went through a similar introduction as yesterday, changing up a few things to meet this course’s curriculum.

When he started teaching his content, you became just as lost in his words as you did yesterday. You listened intently to every word, felt the emotion as he did, even found yourself on the verge of tears as he wrapped up his lecture. You were stuck in awe, unable to move from your seat as he finished up class. He didn’t ask to speak to you this time, he just walked out the door without another glance in your direction.

You needed to speak to him, at least to explain the late night email. You left the room and headed in the direction to his office, hoping you could catch him before a mob of other students. You could imagine you weren’t the only one who was engulfed by him. He was hot, and there were plenty of other girls in your class who would have their eyes on him. You started wondering how many students he’d fucked before you and felt sick, a wave of green envy washing over you. It was weird, how hurt you’d been at the thought of him with someone else, considering you aren’t even together.

You made it to his office, and luckily there wasn’t anyone else around. You knocked lightly on the door and heard a muffled “Come in.” You opened the door to Spencer writing on some paper, his demeanor slightly surprised as you came through the door.

“Mind if I close this?” You asked, motioning to the door. He nodded and put down his pen, sitting back in his chair.

“What can I do for you?”

“The email… and the text…” You looked down at the ground, now feeling embarrassed in his presence.

“Sorry to have texted you out of the blue… I got your number from the student directory. All the, uh, staff emails are monitored, and I figured it would be best if we kept our conversation… private.” He bit his lip submissively, playing with his nails.

“Why does it need to be private? It was nothing bad…” you enticed, watching the small smile on his face as you spoke.

“I’m afraid that it might end up there.” He dragged his eyes up to yours, meeting your gaze, seemingly digging into your soul once again. “Why?”

“You know why.”

“Tell me.” You waited for his response, trying yourself to now see through him, read what he was thinking.

“I don’t think I can stay away from you. Something is drawing me to you and I can’t pull away anymore.”

You stood up from your chair, walking slowly behind his desk and standing in front of him. He uncrossed his legs and looked up at you, your head tilted down as you looked at the man in front of you. You bent down on your knees between his legs, taking his face in your hands and kissing him. He kissed you slowly at first, surprise lingering in his lips, before embracing you, moving with much more aggression as he pulled you into him.

You broke away from the kiss, leaving him confused as you stood up and walked to the other side of the desk. You sat back in your chair and stared at him, waiting for him to say something. Anything.

“Can I take you to dinner tonight?” He asked, breathlessly.

“Of course. 8PM work?”

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #fanfic #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader

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kaypeace21 · 5 years ago

Text

DID theory part 3: St novels/comics/spotify list analyses

*read part 2 of DID theory-first! You’ll be lost otherwise, seriously XD. First, I’ll say -I find the ST comics/ books as canon as the st movie inspirations . I don’t consider the books/comics ‘literal canon’ (cause they contradict the show ( like Max and billy meeting a year before s2 in runaway max - but meeting as little kids in s3, or El’s age being wrong in suspicious minds, in the d&D comic Will’s friends instead of him /Jonathan building castle byers, etc) .

So I think we shouldn’t take it literally - but more like the st movie lists - filled with foreshadowing/symbolism and other eastereggs (That the Duffers may have told them to add). So here’s some more (possible) alter / DID hints...

‘Suspicious minds’ novel

- Brenner equates k*lling rabbits to h*rting kids. And he’ll hurt (kid) Kali (the bunny in the analogy) if Terry tries running away from him . I wonder if Lonnie used a similar threat against jonathan? Jon could be giving only a partial truth to why he cried for a week (about the bunny story)?

-Kali “hops” like a bunny then talks about tigers obsessively (linking her to rabbits/tigers similar to the other alters/Will/Lonnie). Terry also imagines tigers and kali says to Alice they can all be tigers together.

- one of the only male psychic experiments (who can see the future) is gay

- Terry is into lord of the rings, like Will. Has her and her boyfriend dress as sam & frodo (m/m ship). Terry calls her and her friends “the fellowship”.

-when Terry/Alice were injected with d**gs -they hallucinated rainbows.yikes.

- Alice (like Lonnie) is a car mechanic. She can see the future like Will the wise and says “monsters of course my mind has them as long as they stayed in there, everything would be alright? Wouldn’t it?” (in her visions she saw the demogorgan).

(completed) graphic ST novels (by Jody Hozer) so far (+ other st comics).

*Jody Hozer writes all the graphic novels (every novel is 4 chapters each) - the will byers comic, number 6 comic , into the fire comic, and at the moment she’s writing the d&d series and the summer camp series (which isn’t done yet). Then there’s the occasional 1 chapter st comics not written by her.

- Number 6 has (the ability to foresee the future like Will the wise/Alice) and has an ab*sive dad.

When having a nightmare of the demogorgan ...she says as she wakes up “screw you dad” (another hint the demogrgan -aka in d&d means ‘deep father’ ...is Lonnie).

- when number 6 and others run they say they’re’ “rabbiting”(which yes technically makes sense but I found such an uncommon phrase odd.)

- The (summer camp and d&d graphic novels aren’t completed yet) but they establish d&d creatures are based off real life people the boys don’t like in real life. Or that d&d is used as an outlet to explain true events from their pasts -but they just give the true stories a d&d fantasy slant.

- Which brings me to the halloween oneshot(not by Hozer),taking place before s1. Will tells a scary story told to him by Jonathan, and originally told to him by Lonnie. Says the boys have to keep it a secret cause it was something he was never supposed to tell to anyone. Mike says he has to finish the story he started. It’s about a “ch*lld-eater” monster first attacking a boy near the quarry (like where Will was found) and attacking kids in a library (where Will was also found in s1).When the child sees the sheriff she bangs on the library door begging for help-he ignores her , walks away, and tells the other cops to never speak of what they saw as she screams for help. Because the previous sheriff was in kahoots with the monster. It def had some ... uh questionable imagery too 0_0

The vine in the mouth is also like the one in Will’s mouth (when Joyce found him in the library).And of course Dustin asks whether or not something like that could be covered up.

- In the “bully comic” (about troy) also not by Jody. We focus on Troy and his ab*sive dad (who encourages him to fight/ditch his best friend). The dad has a drinking problem (gets fired), calls Troy a “mess” , pushes him, and constantly encourages Troy to be vi*lent/macho. He pretty much tries sabotaging the relationship Troy has with his friend (which I could see Lonnie doing in the future with byler).The dad/troy is framed similarly to when Billy gives Max a ride home- after both ab*sers give bad advice saying not to hang out with their friend (after witnessing them fight in the school parking lot). Dad also laughs about almost k*lling a squirrel (a trait we see troy mimic)- and we see El feel guilty about k*lling a squirrel in s2. At the end of the comic- Troy (like Will) after making up with his bff james- moves leaving his best friend behind.

- (into the fire) Twins: (one was normal with no powers living in the real world and the twin with fire powers is trapped in a dark sunless “cold” world styled like a psych facility/medieval fantasy) . pics in link.She hated her reflection cause it reminded her of being betrayed by her normal non powered twin who left her behind in the ‘cold’ place. She’d call herself a ‘hunter’ who would defend herself and attack others to never be hurt again. Her powers being unleashed were described like opening “a door.” And she loves her twin deep down and just wants friends . And fire twin goes to the “other side” to reunite with her reflection and find happiness in the real world. *also there’s sunflower/bunny symbols which she lights on fire-which can relate back to Will/Terry/Lonnie etc. The twins = Will & Will the wise (mf)

Mirrors also connect to Will and Will the wise via the canon spotify playlists too.

Will playlist (song: mirror in the bathroom)-Mirror in the bathroom Please talk free.The door is locked -Just you and me.Mirror in the bathroom recompense for all my crimes of self defense.Cures you whisper make no sense!Drift gently into Mental illness.

Demogorgan playlist ( from perspective of Will the wise aka the mf) (song: are you dead yet? )-”polluted soul through a mirror I behold.Throw a punch, shards bleed on the floor. tearing me apart. but I don't care anymore.Should I regret or ask myself are you dead yet?Wake up, don't cry. Regenerate to deny the truth. The fiction you live in blindfolds your eyes. Disclosure, self loathing, this time you've gone too far.Or could it be, my nemesis, that you are me?

(*st ‘into the fire’ comic. the fire powered twin’s thoughts echo the song)

*I think this foreshadows the later plot points of mf (will the wise ) and Will interacting via mirrors. The fire-wielding twin and the non powered twin had a lot of mirror imagery. Including the fire powered twin (Who denies reality/and imagines herself in a fantasy world) punching her reflection because it reminds her of her non-powered twin. Here’s some cover art from the novels showing how much they emphasize mirrors.

*And in s4 movies Black swan - “the black and white swan twins (two halves of the same person-Nina)” had creepy mirror imagery. In long kiss goodnight the women with DID talks to her “ (supposed)dark 1/2″ via a mirror (in a dream). in ‘the visit’ the teen girl who’s dad abandoned her when young- refuses to look in the mirror (and it’s never explained why she hates her reflection). So yes I think we’ll see this in s4 or 5. We already see the mf take on the appearance of Billy when talking to him.

- Will in “zombie boy” comic is afraid he’s a monster.

also lets appreciate the lil byler moment of Mike and Will being the only zombies and mike comforting him. honestly , though, the characters were pretty out of character for most of this 1 ch comic (until the end) tbh.

- in the “d&d comic” mf is (possibly) described as a “protector” (aka like how i said the mf is probably a perpetrator alter- which are misguided protectors).

*update now that it’s finished... hinting Will created everything subconsciously.

‘Runaway Max’ novel (before s3)

(I didn’t get time to read this book unlike ‘suspicious minds’ -so can’t show screen shots of everything others talked about. May read it eventually)

-Max compares Billy to ‘her monster’ and a ‘shadow’ that will attack anyone that comes close (mf parallel).

- Dart k*lled a cat, El’s papa tried to force her to k*ll a cat. And Billy when seeing a d*ad cat lights it on fire for a “viking funeral”. A connection to WW (who has fire powers) and El & dart.

-Max and Billy both are into cars and bond over fixing them (similar to Lonnie’s interest in fixing up cars). And since Lonnie tried to brag to Jonathan about fixing a car up and Will is into tech it wouldn’t be a stretch that Lonnie and Will were into fixing cars together (like Max/billy who would hang out at a autoshop in Cali) . Similar to Will ,max says hanging with Billy wasn’t always so bad- which made things more confusing to her.

- Max compares Billy being beat up by Neil: to ‘punching a pocket of a baseball glove’. This is interesting since this book was pre-s3 which was when they established the connection of billy and his dad to baseball (similar to s1 saying Lonnie taught Will baseball).

-Billy’s friend is a nice ‘music snob’ . He tries distracting Max with music while Billy is burning the cat. Which reminds me of Jonathan trying to distract Will from their parents fighting in the next room-with music

- Max’s bio dad is a criminal who takes her to shady bars, and Max fears he’d ‘get bored of her’. Max also ran away from her mom to her dad’s 2x.Which reminds me of Jonathan thinking Will ran to Lonnie’s in s1.

-Max mentions how Billy misses his friends after moving out of Cali. And he starts acting even worse-after the move. Which will probably be the case for Will (at least a bit) when moving to California.

-Billy tells Max Neil isn’t his ‘real dad’ either because Neil can’t be a father to anyone.

-Billy also tells Max who (at the time ) is 12 years old not to act “easy” and breaks her best friend’s (Nate’s) arm over someone joking he was Max’s boyfriend and also cause Nate tried to get in between Billy bullying Max. Eventually all her Cali friends ditch her cause they’re afraid of Billy.And Ugh- why could I see Lonnie doing something like this in the future with Will/his new friends.

- Creepily Max says Billy doesn’t fool around with her like other girls not because of her age or being family. But cause she wasn’t ‘attractive’. This whole excerpt gave me the heeby jeebies,on so many levels, honestly. Almost like he’s jealous- and controlling her cause he doesn’t want Max to have any love interests. Maybe i’m just missing the context? But ugh... excerpt:

Will byers secret Files

-Hopper gets scared by a pumpkin-scarecrow. And in Will’s canon journal when talking about the mindflayer and his nightmares draws the same scare-crow , Hopper saw. There’s also a lot of s4-5 foreshadowing in the book... but that’s a post for another day.

Darkness on the edge of town (Hopper novel)

*didn’t get time to read this (except the preview)

I think it’s more foreshadowing for future seasons though- cult/supposed ritual k*llings, people being wrongly blamed for those crimes-like the hellfire club , most likely. (similar to the guy number 3 in the number 6 comic) saint john in the novel also has the same brain control powers as 3- similar to the mf. .” When a blackout plunges the boroughs into chaos, Hopper must escape the the mobs in the streets to make sure his family is safe and stop Saint John from fulfilling his prophecy.” I already talked about here- how the next few seasons would start having more religious symbolism/a future apocalypse (based on what we’ve seen in the show/s4 movies). Although, i think there’s quite a few differences between (the novel’s) saint john and Will the wise. Hopper is also a star wars nerd like the boys (alter hint)

Canon spotify songs (posted after s2/before s3) hinting at DID/ alter /lonnie stuff-

Will and Will the wise (aka the mf) being an alter

*Used Will and the demogorgan playlist (which i think has perspectives of Will the wise aka the mf, demogorgan, and Lonnie).

Besides the mirror songs previously mentioned...

Will (cold inside)-Doctor the problem's in my chest.My heart feels cold as ice but it's anybody's guess?Doctor can you help me cause I don't feel right?Better make it fast before I change my mind. Doctor can you help me cause I don't feel right?Better make it fast before I change my mindWell it's cold, cold, cold, cold inside. Darker in the day than the dead of night Cold, cold, cold, cold inside...Counselor give me some advice Tell me how hard will I fall if I live a double life?

El (ghost)-your ghost, the ghost of you.It keeps me awake.My friends had you figured out.Yeah they saw what's inside of you. You tried hiding another you.But your evil was coming through... living in the shade Your cold heart makes my spirit shake.

El (monster Lead me home)-I don't know what, what I was afraid of, I was afraid oooof...Monster take me somewhere...We walk in shadow.Monster lead me home.Where there is no place to hide.Stranger on the other side We walk in shadow.Monster lead me home.

The’ innerworld’/ other hints Max, El, Hopper, and Billy are alters of Will’s

Max (Logical song)-I know it sounds absurd. Please tell me who I am, who I am, who I am, who I am?

EL(Buzzcut season)-I remember when your head caught flame It kissed your scalp and caressed your brain ...nothing's wrong when nothing's true. I live in a hologram with you Where all the things that we do for fun . Play along (make-believe it's hyper real) But I live in a hologram with you.

Billy (broken bones)-Broken bones.Stay alone. If I see only what I believe -reality's bound by what I conceive

Max (Why can’t i touch it)-Well, it seems so real.I can see it.And it seems so real-I can feel it.And it seems so real-I can taste it.And it seems so real-I can hear it.So why can't I touch it?

Hopper (breakers)-Just to keep me from losing my mind .It's so easy to drown in the dream.Oh, and everything is not what it seems This life is but a dream.Shatter illusions that hold your spirit down ...From the inside, so it seems.Oh, I'm telling you it's all a dream It's all a dream It's all a dream It's all a dream It's all a It's all a dream.”

Max (comfortably numb)-When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my eye.I turned to look but it was gone.I cannot put my finger on it now.The child is grown.The dream is gone.I have become comfortably numb.

Max (Kids aren’t alright)-Still it's hard Hard to see Fragile lives, shattered dreams...What the hell is going on? The cruelest dream, reality.

El(team)-Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams. And you know we're on each other's team

Hopper (denial twist) ( just change ‘she’ to ‘he’)-Just because she makes you feel wrong she don't mean to be mean or hurt you on purpose, boy!Take a tip and do yourself a little service...by playing a different role Ya, by playing a different role, oh.The boat ya you know she's rockin' it.And the truth well ya know there's no stoppin' it.So what, somebody left you in a rut and wants to be the one who's in control.But the feeling that you're under can really make you wonder.How the hell she can be so cold?So now you're mad, denying the truth.And it's getting in the wisdom in the back of your tooth

El (the story)-You see the smile that's on my mouth.It's hiding the words that don't come out.And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed.They don't know my head is a mess.No they don't know who I really am.And they don't know what I've been through

El (hero) ( pretty much alludes to El being a construct of Will’s mind similar to his juju zombies in the d&d story he wrote )-Who knows what you'll find when you look inside (billy’s mind)?Haunted beach (billy flashback), roll the dice.The zombies in the corner aren't amused (d&d ref).Play the part of the blushing bride...Out of view, cloaked by night...My spirit dims, but I feel the force"No longer in my hands," (loses powers) .I say to you .I could've been a hero, I could've been a zero.Could've been all these thingsI could've been nothing, I could've had something.Could've been all these things.And if I am unable, tell him that I'll try but underneath the table will spin the wheel and hope for gold. Oh, and where it stops, nobody knows.

Max (it’s real)-I don't know who's behind the wheel.Sometimes I feel like I don't know The deal.But when I tell you how I feel-Believe me when I say It's real.I skated on a frozen Sea.It's real as far as I Can see?

Max (Halloween)-Because your role is planned for you there's nothing you can do.

El (White rabbit... alice and wonderland/lonnie ref)-And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall...When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead.

demogrogan(Dimensions of horror)-Gaze upon the ancient face you dread (lonnie)... Passing through the doors, into Dimensions Of Horror. Haunting visions from the past, rise once more.Realms of darkness, terror, death and gore.Scream in fear, your sanity is lost

demogorgan (SCHORCHED)-Terrorizing madness. Vivid dreams. internal. Hallucinating the unknown. Abstract entities prey.Through superhuman abilities.Fragments of memory erased.

demogrogan (Calling from a dream)-the shadow king...seven spirits (7 ref) Swarming around his head.Close your eyes.Listen to my call. Our bond will bring us together again.I will wait for you. For our hearts still beat as one.Listen to my calling from a dream. (integration?)

Maybe a coincidence or a hint at Will having both male &female alters?Billy (dude looks like a lady)- What a funky lady...Oh, he was a lady.Dude looks like a lady. Hopper (turn the page)-All the same old cliches,"Is that a woman or a man?" Max ( rebel rebel) (this was on her her pre s3 spotify list + post s3 “wrapped list”)- you got your mother in a whirl, doesn’t know if you’re a boy or girl?

SHIT DAD/ AB*SIVE FAMILY

*trigger w*rning ahead for dark themes like s**ual ab*se

demogorgan (my children)My children I never loved them.Why feel that way when their existence is my business?My children...feral vessals of my selfinterest...So don't lean on me man 'Cause I ain't got nothing to give.Don't lean on me man 'Cause I ain't got nothing to give.My children they're right behind you My children they're gonna beat you.My children if you let them Oh, oh, my children.

demogorgan (black dahlia-window): I’m not quoting the lyrics you can just look it up. it’s messed up.Based on the 1st person pov of Gilles de Rais -k**ler and p*d*rest who also kidnapped a cleric.

Will (creature comfort)-Some boys hate themselves.Spend their lives resenting their fathers... hate their bodies .Stand in the mirror (another mirror ref) and wait for the feedback.Some boys get too much, too much love, too much touch.

Jonathan’s Playlist- We’re happy family: “Eating refried beans (poverty). Gulpin’ down Thorazines (pills for a mood disorder). We ain’t got no friends (s2 ref). Our troubles never end. Daddy likes men. Daddy’s telling LIES.”

Jonathan’s playlist-Enter sandman: “Don’t forget my son. Sleep with one eye open. Gripping your pillow tight, Exit light, Enter night. Take my hand, we’re off to never-never land. Something’s wrong, shut the light, heavy thoughts tonight. Dreams of LIARS and of things that will bite, yeah. Hush little baby don’t say a word, and never mind that noise you heard. It’s just the beasts under your bed, in your closet in your head.”

Jonathan (The killing moon-guy sings this)-So soon you'll take me up in your arms. Too late to beg you or cancel it. Against your will!He will wait until you give yourself to him...In starlit nights I saw you.So cruelly you kissed me... unwillingly mine.

jonathan (haunted)-You and I both know that the house is haunted And you and I both know that the ghost is me. You used to catch me in your bed-sheets just a-rattling your chains.Well back then , it didn't seem so strange...In the midnight hour..I was busy trying to charm that snake. When the sun came up we had no place to hide...You and I both know that the house is haunted yeah you and I both know that the ghost is YOU! You used to walk around screaming, all slamming all 'dem doors Well I'm all grown up now and I don't scare easy no more But you and I both know.

Hopper (Confession)-Now I'm on the low Confession, to a virgin ghost Admission, force you know.

hopper (Tomorrow ) Yeah, and back when s*x and amph*tamines were the staples of our childhood physique.

Max (Last caress)-I got something to say.I k**led your baby today.And it doesn't matter much to me.As long as it's de*d.Well I got something to say.I r*ped your mother today.And it doesn't matter much to me.As long as she spread. (Lonnie pov? Neil?messed up song to be on Max’s list)

hopper House of the rising sun- And my father was a gamblin' man Way down in New Orleans... And the only time he's satisfied Is when he's on a drunk

Max Poor relations-An attitude, no patience, he's paper thin.Talking over everything you have to say...Don't correct the things he said, what's the use?Can't handle violence.Can't handle violence.Learning to love the abuse you can't live without.Your familiar oppression, your daily injustice...That loser man that belongs to you, he's ruling you.

el (sweet dreams are made of this)- Some of them want to use you ...Some of them want to ab*se you.Sweet dreams are made of this...Hold your head up.Keep your head up, movin' on.

Max (Alternative ulster)-They say they're a part of you.And that's not true, you know.They say they've got control of you.And that's a lie, you know.They say you will never Be free, free, free

max In bloom-”Sometimes at night I let it get to me.And last night it had me down and feeling NUMB...And thinking back upon those days Way way back when I was young.I was such a little shit.Cos I was always on the run.Well you know just what they say-Just like father then like son.Don't delude me with your sympathy.Cos I can do this on my own.And this will be the last time-That I break down and wanna crawl to bed. “(since Billy has a playlist I found this song choice being on hers instead of his interesting- in fact almost all of Max’s songs are from the 1st person perspective of a boy unlike the other gals.)

Max (comfortably numb)-The child is grown.The dream is gone.I have become comfortably NUMB.

hopper (numb)-Honey, here I go again Down that crooked road of sin.My momma locked me out again And hung me high to rust under the rain I am NUMB( 8x)....Little bluebird at my window Sing a pretty song for me Don't you know that you can fly, fly, fly away Don't you know that you can leave I am numb.

other psych songs

Hopper (life of sin)-Every morning when I rise I look in the mirror (another mirror ref) and despise the sight of everything and all that I've become. The level of my medicating some might find intimidating But that's alright cause' it don't bother me none.

Max (Moon over marin)- “Dive in my scalding wooden tub (connects to mf/el)...There, wasn't that a nice visit?Don't forget, a psychiatrist is on duty twenty-four hours a day in the blue room...Drink plenty of water when you take these.Now you can relax.” ( I wonder if stranger writers saying to “drink plenty of water” is secretly a line said by a psych person in s4?)

Max (Feeling ok)-My doctor says that I should take it -At least I won't have to keep faking.I know, someday I'll find it-Where I, I least expect it.Today I know I feel ok.

Max ( Going gets tough)-.No home since the fire.Me and the ash can't settle down...So I sink another round-Placebo for pain.And there's no one for to blame . I refuse to accept-That my work is all in vain...Still always remembering .When the going gets tough .That the labor of our love-Will reward us soon enough.

Max (Comfortably numb)-Hello? (Hello? Hello? Hello?)Is there anybody in there?Just nod if you can hear me.Is there anyone home?Come on now-I hear you're feeling down.Well I can ease your pain .Get you on your feet again.Relax // Now I've got that feeling once again.I can't explain . you would not understand.This is not how I am. I have become comfortably numb.I have become comfortably numb //Okay (okay, okay, okay)Just a little pinprick.There'll be no more, ah .But you may feel a little sick.Can you stand up?I do believe it's working, good.That'll keep you going through the show.Come on it's time to go// Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.

Explanations of Why the mf (WIll the wise)behaves the way he does

demogorgan (ww) (Cowards starved)- friends think of me as a priest.I had to show them that the weakest hands Can still make impressive fires. (aka MF = will the wise)

demogorgan (ww) (Unmerciful):I will be reborn...Tranquil demeanor.Now devoured.Surfacing malice...I can't reconcile the torment others bring unto me.I will not take any reproach.Turning the other cheek.Relentless hatred consumes.Control released.Absolved of all compassion.I am free .Look into my hate filled eyes and tell me What do you see?Surging aura of my rage Paralyzing you in fear.

Demogorgan (ww) (bodies-Beaten why for (why for)?Can't take much more.(Here we go, here we go, here we go).One, nothing wrong with me,Two, nothing wrong with me.Three, nothing wrong with me.Four, nothing wrong with me.One, something's got to give.Two, something's got to give.Three, something's got to give now...You're all by yourself but you're not alone...Driven by hate consumed by fear.

demogrgan (ww)-Orbs used as transmitters carry electromagnetic beams from above (affecting magnetic fields in the show).Silence, manipulated, tortured ...How immune is your system of suffering?Its in the blood of suffering (familial ref).Its in the blood.

Demogrgan (Monster)-I shoot the lights out..Whoa, just another lonely night...None of who you get it, ain't nobody cold as this.A zombie (will ref) with no conscience .Everybody knows I'm a motherfucking monster. Everybody wanna know what my Achilles' heel is? Love I don't get enough of it.

#stranger things #will byers #stranger things comics #did theory

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azaffranist · 5 years ago

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Deleted lines of dialogue in Frozen 2

We know that F2’s plot suffered from last minute changes and even leaks that we got before the release contradict the final material, but that’s another can of worms for another post. What I wanna talk about in this post is something I happened to notice a few days ago while watching the Frozen 2 Outtakes video available with the Blu-ray version of the movie. Here’s a link to it. My apologies if there’s a post out there already talking about this, but I haven’t seen one so I thought I might as well give it a go.

Basically, the video is a recollection of funny moments that arose when the voice actors were recording their lines. But… I don’t know if this was deliberate or an oversight on Disney’s part, or if they didn’t care too much about it at the end of the day and released it anyways. The thing is, we can see the original dialogue they were supposed to record as tiny subtitles, and good god, there are tons of deleted lines, including an earlier version of Some Things Never Change, and some point to the existence of completely different scenes from the ones we got. Here’s what I mean:

I don’t recall ever coming across deleted lines for Frozen 1 apart from the famous “That’s no blizzard, that’s my sister”, so this is pretty interesting.

But in addition to that, while digging through some old files I found recorded lines of a Frozen 2 book that came out before release (Specifically on October 4th, 2019, when the Frozen Fan Fest was being held with the first released merch). That’s a long, long time ago and I don’t remember the name of the book, sadly, but you can listen to the recording I made right here. If someone does remember the name of the book that’d be really cool. I think the original recording was provided by Snow on the Arendelle Kingdom Discord server, so credits to her.

UPDATE: The book was found along with other interesting pieces of info! It’s called Frozen 2 Read-Along Storybook and CD. Credits to @lovewillthaw-j and their amazing detective work! Here it is.

What’s particularly interesting about this one is that no merch released on October 4 had the ending of the movie. Every book was cut off at the moment Anna received Elsa’s message in the cave, with no mention of Show Yourself or Elsa’s death for that matter. Now, we don’t know if they were trying not to spoil the movie, or if they legitimately didn’t have a final ending at the time the books were made. Knowing how… messy Frozen 2’s development was, I think we can all sort of agree it was the latter.

Because of this, there is some really intriguing stuff. Nods to scenes that aren’t in the final movie, shameless hints to Elsa’s permanent death, events happening in a different order… I don’t know if these lines were recorded only for the book, but I doubt they were, because many of those lines are actually in the movie or are referenced in books and some have really slight modifications like changes in tone of voice. I guess we’ll never Find The Truth™, but we can analyze these lines too because they can give us an idea of what earlier versions of the movie were like.

So let’s look at them one by one. Looooong post ahead.

Frozen 2 Outtakes Video

“Should have left it to me. Love you too. You blew it Kristoff. Oh. I’m alone. It’s fine.” – Kristoff/Sven

This one definitely happens during Kristoff’s first proposal attempt. Before this line, Anna says, “She couldn’t act out ice?” and we can assume Kristoff absent mindedly responds with “Should have left it to me”. That makes sense, considering he delivers ice for a living and ice is his life. Then we got “Love you too”, which Kristoff says in the final movie, but then we got Sven dialogue as he tells him “You blew it, Kristoff.” “Oh, I’m alone,” is what would go before he finally says, “It’s fine.” The reason the dialogue is all mixed up is because Johnathan Groff is the one recording the lines and he does both Kristoff and Sven’s voices (well, technically, Kristoff).

_______

“Hey. What the—What is this? Hang onto me. What’s happening? Run. The mist is rising. We are being pushed by the…” – Kristoff

We can tell this happens when the Arendellian gang was crossing the mist wall for the first time. The scene was evidently going to be longer and more chaotic than what we actually got. Apparently they run and that would’ve been pretty cool.

_______

“The winds are restless. Like how I sometimes feel in the fall. But I’m not ready. I love these days, I’m grateful for them all.” – Elsa (Alternate Some Things Never Change)

Now this is what I call a quality deleted line. I recommend you guys watch the video to hear the little part that Idina sings to have an idea what Elsa’s part in Some Things Never Change was originally going to be like. Definitely a bit sadder than what we got. I think this line gives the idea that Elsa wasn’t feeling too comfy in Arendelle even though she enjoyed the company of her family immensely, or if we go with the idea that fall represents change, Elsa is feeling restless in the face of change. She’s not ready to ‘change’ and wants to keep enjoying her days in Arendelle. She can’t let them go. How ironic. Interpret it as you want!

_______

“I’d freeze this moment if I could find a way…” – Elsa (Alternate Some Things Never Change)

Same scene. Sadder atmosphere for her part of the song. It’s a shame we don’t know what goes next.

_______

“Water drowns with a stallion’s might.” – Elsa

Wowowowowow. Now this is interesting, because I have no idea where to place this line of dialogue meaning there might’ve been another scene foreshadowing the Nokk. In the final movie, the only moment we see the Nokk is during When I Am Older and it was very brief and played for laughs. But this line gives the idea that the existence of an angry murderous water horse was going to be mentioned earlier on. Now I have a lot of ideas as to what she might’ve referred to (maybe that’s just a comparison she made on the fly and didn’t know the water spirit was a horse? Maybe it’s like a riddle she solved to know what the water spirit was?) but to be honest I think there’s no way to know. Fun to theorize, though.

Also, total confirmation the Nokk is a male!

_______

“It’s magic. It’s amazing. There’s a voice. I need to follow it.” – Elsa

This line probably happened when they visited Pabbie and evacuated Arendelle. A different take on how she explained to Anna why she wanted to go on the journey. Honestly, I prefer what we actually got. She sounds quite desperate and hypnotized in this one. VOICE. I HEAR. MUST FOLLOW. I don’t know what you guys think. The actual explanation in the final movie is not great either but I prefer it.

_______

“Hey Elsa. It’s your mom. Remember, mothers are always right. Now, be who you are!” – Olaf (Longer Post Credits Scene)

We were robbed. This line and another one points to a longer post credits scene. I suspect they weren’t able to include it because of time constraints, because c’mon, this is hilarious. An animator on Instagram said that they were not able to model the inside of Elsa’s ice palace for the post credits scene because they ran out of time, so they used Ahtohallan pillars and changed the lighting so that it gave the ‘feel’ of the ice palace. I’m sorry I can’t provide a link right now because I don’t remember who the animator was, but if I find it again or someone else does I’ll update this.

UPDATE: The Instagram comment in particular was found! Thanks to @super-mam-te-moc for the screenshot.

Okay, kind of got derailed there. They didn’t have enough time to finish the post credits scene and that’s the only coherent answer I can find as to why this was deleted.

_______

“They’re all looking at us, aren’t they? Okay, got any advice? How do I free the forest?” – Elsa

Very similar to what’s in the movie but here Elsa asks Bruni if he knows how she can free the forest. The fact that Elsa asks a little cute salamander this… kind of gives the idea that Elsa was completely clueless, same as the rest of the gang, and the rest of the writers. Jkjk!

_______

“Emotional and slightly haunting memory of Mother? Is that you?” – Olaf (Longer Post Credits Scene)

Same as above. We were robbed. Twice.

______________________________

Unused Recorded Lines from Frozen 2 Book

“Teeth? Oh. Pillow fort! Disturbed! Aw, c’mon, you definitely look disturbed!” – Anna

Shorter or summarized charades scene. Anna never mentions a pillow fort in the final movie.

_______

“I know that rumble.” – Kristoff

This probably goes when Pabbie and the trolls appeared at the evacuation place. Seems like in an earlier version, there was more buildup before the appearance of the trolls. Kristoff hears the rumble of the rocks before anything else. Deleted scenes seen in trailers also point to a slightly different ‘troll appearance’ scene.

_______

“I won’t leave her side.” – Anna

During Pabbie’s visit. We know thanks to trailers Anna’s little talk with Pabbie changed a bit. Here Anna displays her worry for Elsa even more.

Here’s a comparison between the trailer:

And the final movie:

What’s particularly interesting about this is that a later point in the movie, during Kristoff’s third failed proposal, Anna suddenly remembers Elsa and runs off hurriedly saying, “I swore I wouldn’t leave her side”. Coincidence? I THINK NOT. She never explicitly says so in the final movie, but it seems like she did in an earlier version.

_______

“We’ll fix it together. / Together. / Together.” – Anna, Kristoff and Olaf respectively

Probably as they were going to go on the journey, considering the lines are said chronologically? They discovered the power of teamwork. Weird Elsa doesn’t say ‘together’. Maybe they left it out because, coughcoughtheydidn’tfixanythingtogether.

_______

“Uhm, I sense no way in, but this is fun nonetheless.” – Olaf

Definitely during the arrival at the mist wall. Olaf doesn’t say anything as he bounces off in the final movie.

_______

“Hah! It let us in, but it clearly does not wanna let us out.” – Olaf

Same as above. Anna is the one who says they’re trapped in the final version.

_______

“Your father was… / King Agnarr of Arendelle.” – Mattias, Elsa, respectively

In the final version Mattias immediately says “Agnarr”, while here Elsa finishes his words after his pause. To be honest, it makes more sense in the final version, considering Mattias would remember Agnarr’s name without a doubt.

_______

“I’m fine. I just… actually, I’m starving.” – Anna

This probably goes right after the “Don’t Run Into Fire” argument. I didn’t think much of this line at first but it’s actually really interesting, because in the final movie, right after Elsa and Anna’s argument, Elsa places Iduna’s scarf on Anna’s shoulders and with this perfect timing they find out she was Northuldra, leading to the whole “Vuelie” scene. But here, there’s no comforting with scarf, and it seems like this scene leads to the one after Vuelie in the final movie, with Anna eating as she talks to Mattias, and Elsa and Honeymaren talking about the spirits.

Which means… that in an earlier version, the discovery of Iduna being Northuldra was probably going to happen later on. Pretty crazy, right?

_______

“If I lost her… I think I’d lose myself.” – Anna

All right. I think that this line is one of the most important ones. Thanks to books having this line in them we can pinpoint exactly when Anna utters it: expectedly, when she was talking with Mattias. The delivery of this line is also particularly heartbreaking, so I recommend you guys hear the audio file.

I don’t wanna ramble too much but there’s a lot to be said about this line. But yes, I’ll actually end up rambling. Warning.

Along with “I won’t leave her side”, it seems like earlier versions of the movie showed Anna being even more anxious and worried about Elsa’s wellbeing. As we know, Anna and Mattias were talking about ‘doing the next right thing’, and being prepared when life throws you down a new path. This is obvious foreshadowing to The Next Right Thing. But why were these two cut? Don’t they deepen Anna’s character and show just how deathly scared this whole adventure had her?

Well, here’s some speculation. These two lines are obviously foreshadowing Elsa’s death. The thing is, there exists the likelihood that at the times these lines were written and recorded, there was no such thing as Elsa’s revival. We’ve known for a long time that Elsa was going to die for real in Frozen 2, but test audiences were left traumatized and probably in need of PTSD treatment, hating it so much that the ending and everything that came with it was rewritten around June. Including, I speculate, these two lines which blatantly foreshadow Elsa’s big oof.

There’s not much foreshadowing to Elsa’s death in the final version. That’s because it was a minor thing. She died before the climax of the movie and her death scene didn’t feel final nor dramatic enough to fool the audience and make them believe she was really, really, won’t-breathe-ever-again kind of dead. Some watchers didn’t even realize she died, because the scene was not supposed to feel like her end. Not even the score, Ghosts of Arendelle Past, has a final feeling to it. It just kind of ends there in an ominous tone and they stress the fact that she sent an important ice message before freezing, giving hope of events resolving themselves.

But these two lines do foreshadow of a terrifying event. One that’s not minor nor temporary. These two lines, probably among others we’ll never find out about, and Anna’s worried sick attitude in earlier versions, give more weight to Elsa’s death, Elsa’s permanent death, and ultimately, The Next Right Thing.

Or maybe not and I’m wrong and there was no need for a 4 paragraph long overanalysis of two lines. Maybe they just deleted them just cause. Who knows the ways of writers…

_______

“All this time… the four spirits. Right there.” – Elsa

Maybe this goes during Honeymaren’s talk about the spirits? Right there, meaning, they were all along depicted in Iduna’s scarf and nobody in Arendelle realized? We’ll never know.

_______

“You mean like a voice?” – Elsa

Probably happened when Honeymaren was talking about the fifth spirit crying out the day the forest fell.

_______

“She made it across the sea.” – Anna

“I know why the spirits evacuated Arendelle.” – Anna

“Olaf, I know how to free the forest.” – Anna

Okay, I’m gonna talk about these three at the same time because it’s the same scene. Obviously, these lines of dialogue take place in the cave as Anna receives Elsa’s message, right before The Next Right Thing. We know that for sure because The Next Right Thing was one of the first Frozen 2 songs to be written and the writers knew that’s where they wanted the story to go. This seems like a pretty different setup, but to be honest, it feels like a placeholder. Anna doesn’t even react to the fact that there was a statue of grandpa slicing an innocent man in two right in front of her which just feels weird.

And all in all, the lines just don’t have the sadness of the final version. Anna doesn’t sound nearly as disappointed and her voice doesn’t lower that much. She sort of sounds determined in the last line! So determined to wreck her home to pieces with a gigantic flood… ahaha Anna…

______________________________

Okay, it was pretty fun to overanalyze all 23 deleted lines that I managed to find. There are even more deleted goodies out there thanks to the merch, but we’re gonna leave that for another moment.

There’s no doubt that Frozen 2′s development had plenty of problems along the way and I think it’s pretty interesting to learn what it could’ve been and could’ve had. These lines are just the tip of the iceberg and I’m more than interested to know what exactly the test audiences saw in those infamous test screenings...

______________________________

UPDATE: More deleted stuff!

@theupsidedownpyramid collected more deleted lines found in the trailers right here!

@yumeka36 made a really interesting analysis of the Frozen 2 Novelization with even more deleted lines and scenes here!

#frozen 2 #frozen #elsa #anna #kristoff #olaf #sven #frozen 2 deleted scenes #frozen 2 deleted dialogue #frozen 2 outtakes

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uthseikoashx-inflamedme · 5 years ago

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Personal favourite HP (&FB) fanfictions (but unfortunately it’s mostly GGAD)

posted: 08-10-2020 edited: 08-24-2020

(really sorry for the mistakes! fanfics are better i swear)

I read several HP and FB fanfics during the last few months, and in order to sum up my favourite ones, here is this post. It’s entirely and obviously personal, and to be honest, it’s more something which is more supposed to help me than recommanding something to you

But I truly think those fanfictions are great, so if you didn’t already read them, you may enjoy them!

I might update it every now and then, by the way!

(most of them are already quite well-known though, sorry)

Put Your Guns Away, it’s Tea Time (52k) and Put Your Curse in Reverse (276k) (from the It’s Tea Time serie), written by ellizablue :

A very lovely, funny and well-written story which follows Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, Harry and Ginny Potter, the rest of the Potter-Weasley family and all of the surrounding people after the events of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

It’s technically canon-compliant - the author created an amazing story based on HPCC - and did it so well! I admit I was a bit disappointed about HPCC when it had been published, but It’s Tea Time “fixed” all of the things I was confused about.

Albus’ and Scorpius’ relationship is adorable, both of them are interesting characters. Harry and Ginny are amiable and attentive parents, they protect people they love. James Sirius and Lily Luna are also great - and to be honest, all of the characters are refreshing, complex, ect. I could talk about it throughout countless of pages. So many themes are brilliantly treated. I still didn’t read the third opus of the series!

(if I should recommand one only series of HP fanfictions, I would recommand this one)

Several fanfictions written by meanwhiletimely :

Illumine (10k) :

In Prague in 1914, Albus Dumbledore goes to a Gellert Grindelwald’s brillant speech. The political discussion between Albus and Henry Potter, how Gellert is able to enthrall a breathless crowed, Gellert’s and Albus’ very special and intense relationship, the wonderful Christian imagery and parallels, the description of the surrounding world and the ambiance, Gellert’s speech... It is quite marvellous, well-written and perfectly bitter-sweet - more bitter than sweet though. Eventual smut, very good, but imo, it cannot be considered as the very heart of the text, even though the sexual tension is omnipresent. I can't help but read it oftenly, and everytime I'm amazed - it might be my favourite GGAD fanfiction in fact. Brilliant.

Extreme Incantations (10k) :

In order to find clues about the Elder Wand story, Albus and Gellert try a “decadent, degenerate, deranged” ritual. A lot of smut, but again, their relationship and their psychology are absolutely central. I loved how they are portrayed, loved to discover Gellert’s thoughts and point of view. Again, it’s brilliantly bitter-sweet - even quite heartbreaking. Like Illumine, I have so much more to say, but I’ll stop here and just say: if you are interested by Summer of 1899 fanfictions, you could be delighted to discover it.

The Seer in the Tower (2k5) and Collateral (3k) are as great as Illumine and Extreme Incantations. In the first one, Tom Riddle meets Gellert Grindelwald after 1945 ; in the second one, Gellert and Ariana talk thanks the Resurection Stone. Light Bringer (10k), which sums up the Summer of 1899, is also amazing - incredibly painful, hopeless and horrendous, and Gellert Grindelwald is definitely not a good person - but still amazing.

Thirty-Five Owls (11k) by Letterblade :

After 1945, Albus and Gellert sent letters to each other - and I will add nothing more about the plot. A quite famous fanfiction - published in 2008 - and rightfully recognised as a brillant one. Beautifully written, the tag "Everything Hurts" is accurate, constantly breathtaking. I loved more than everything else the end - overwhelming, and yet so simple. Even canon-compliant, what more could we ask? In a nutshell, an unmissable work.

White (2k) (M) by Vandrerska :

“The story Gellert Grindelwald would tell if somebody took the trouble to ask.”, or a magnificiently well-written 1st person POV fic with Gellert talking about Albus and 1899. Here is the same vibe we already have in Thirty-Five Owls, but with the benefit of a heart-to-heart conversation between Gellert and the reader directly. Needless to say that both of the hearts involved in the conversation are broken. I love how it is written (but it is no surprise, well-crafted angsty texts like this one own my heart).

nobody else but me (5k) by Roflskate :

After meeting Percival Graves and starting a correspondence with the very head of MACUSA's Department of Law Enforcement in 1926, Albus Dumbledore thinks he's finally ready to move on from Gellert Grindelwald. Well, if you saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, you know he's not.

I'm fond of the plot: the way we, as readers, already know how that story is doomed to end, is the very heart of the text - and speaking of the end, I loved it - just like Thirty-Five Owls, simple and heartrending. Again, bitterness is back. Beware of the manipulation and the very questionable consent, it's literally the plot.

(btw, this work inspired this post: GG as Hogwarts teacher/librarian before FBaWtFT: where are the fanfics? (if someone wants to write it please i will be pretty happy))

(In every bloody fanfiction I recommend Albus is suffering, sorry about that) (and it's not going to end with the next fanfic) (suffering is inherent to the character though so)

The Trial of Albus Dumbledore (51k) by Aurora_xx :

In this post-FBCoG AU, Albus Dumbledore is questioned about his relations with Gellert Grindelwald. But before his trial, he unknowingly took Veritaserum. To be honest, I felt it first as a “satisfying” AU: people we don’t like became a bit ridiculous, people we like get through (well, mostly).

Nonetheless, it’s more than that: the trial scene is incredibly tense, the consequences are terrible, and we want to see what's going to happen next. Moreover, the character development is suprisingly remarkably well-done - Vinda Rosier has an amazing backstory, for example; Newt and Newt’s friends are also very likeable, complex, etc. We love to hate Travers, Grindelwald is a character we eventually support (for specific reasons, mostly because he’s powerful, self-confident, rather hilarious and badass, but also a bit more human than we could think). And all we want to do is taking care of Albus.

It’s definitely a really pleasant fanfiction - but not an “easy” one, there are a lot of hard themes and very tense scenes, etc. This story is still considered as a WIP, though the five first chapters are already enough.

Three fics of mautadite :

A Metaphor for Change (1k) (M) : I will just rewrite the summary here, so: "Five things Albus could not bring himself to say to Gellert. (One of them is a lie.)”. I really liked it, it is angsty - but the sweetest way, the very sad way.

To Be Great (0.3k) (G) : What Albus and the Sorting Hat said when Albus put the Hat on his head for the first time. Really a relevant and sharp character study. Again, I felt a hint of a sweet kind of angst. I wonder if I am the only one, you tell me.

Love Letters (6k) (E) : Scenes of Gellert’s and Albus’ life from 1995 to 1899 - often conversations, so say hello to well-crafted relationships between mc and other characters. Here comes the angst again (I think the author writes Albus and Gellert that way - or maybe, the characters are meant to be suffused by angsty undertones). The fact that we go back in time hurts a lot, because every smile they have are perverted by our knowledge of what happens next - the happiness won’t last, and really, it hurts. Canon compliant.

GGAD works of verivala (bloodtroth on tumblr)

Many short one-shots, from fluff to angst - sometimes droll, sometimes soft, often painful, quite always (a bit or a lot) bitter-sweet. You might at least find few of them interesting.

Grindeldore one-shots (22 works)

Grindeldore requests (5 works)

Grindeldore prompt fills (38 works)

L’Indiscible (190k) by Neaniver279

This one is a French one! Deux ans après la fin de la guerre, Percy Weasley - profondément meurtri par la mort de Fred, de laquelle il s’estime responsable - est renvoyé par une mystérieuse potion au 25 décembre 1975. Plusieurs élèves de Poudlard attirent son attention et son affection, voire un en particulier, Sirius Black.

Un pairing très inhabituel qui fonctionne bien ; un Percy Weasley passionnant - faillible, perdu dans ses doutes et sa culpabilité, mais avec une répartie, une malice et une sensibilité hors du commun ; des Maraudeurs et des jumeaux Weasley attachants, avec une personnalité définie et nuancée ; une idée originale géniale, car si le voyage dans le temps ouvre des portes à une nouvelle palette de réflexions et d’expériences pour Percy, il permet aussi d’intégrer un mystère et de la tension autour de la potion, l’Indiscible.

Pas d’underage, mais une relation prof-élève tout de même - tout du moins, pendant un segment de l’histoire. Intéressante, touchante, très drôle, amère, complexe et pathétique. WIP.

Thanks for reading, I hope it had helped!

Thanks to all of the authors also! You are brave, tenacious and doing an amazing work. Thanks a lot! :)

(And of course, beware of the tags, if you are triggered by specific content - homophobia, blood, hospital, violence, explicit sex scenes, manipulation, death, etc)

08-24-2020 edit: Thirty-Five Owls, nobody else but me and verivala’s works added. 02-18-2021 edit: White and mautadite’s works added.

(08-24-2020: i’m also currently interested by Kierkegarden’s works, an already quite inevitable GGAD author, I might add some of them later)

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desdemonafictional · 4 years ago

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2020 Fanfic Year End Summary

Hey ho let’s go

Nev does these every year and I think they’re interesting, so for the first time I’m gonna give it a go too. I feel like this has been the longest fucking year--the Zine feels like it was two years ago and last January feels like it was ten years ago.

I’m gonna answer some questions and do a little reflection on the year

This year I technically finished Icarus with 2k words of a 36k story, and after that I went on to produce 197k words not even COUNTING the stuff from GPAU which I do not know how to divide up for 2020.

That’s 23 fics in one year, 8 of which were cowriting projects. This year has been, objectively, insane. By comparison, in 2019 I produced 17 fics and at the time I thought THAT was doing pretty impressive work. Now it’s not my best year by sheer number of titles--2018 was an oil boom while I was into JTHM and I actually put out 25 fics that year, some of which were short oneshots and some of which were two- or three-shots. But in terms of words? 2020 knocked them all out of the park. Which is absolutely something I owe to my amazing friends who let me ride around in their brains like the parasite I am.

In 2018 I started cowriting with Chokopopo, in 2019 I started cowriting with Neveralarch, and in 2020 I just did a fucking ton more of that with no looking back. It’s so incredibly motivating to have someone to show your progress to! And to have someone to hand the project over to when you’re stuck. If I hadn’t had Nev to bounce off of, most of this fic wouldn’t have been thought up at all, let alone finished. And don’t even get me started on GPAU! Choko and Zephyr and me have done such amazing things with “Welcome! Everything is fine”, and I can’t wait to be able to wrap that up and leave it for posterity.

I switched job positions around July of this year, and it’s changed the way I produce fic. Not sure if it’s good yet or not. I was never actually under a stay at home order this year because I work for a state agency, so to a degree I’ve missed out on the ways that quarantine affected other writers. I think I was fortunate?

Best Title

Ahhh this is tough, I put a lot of effort into my titles this year--I promised myself in 2019 I was going to stop using song lyrics for fic titles because they make songs loop in my brain and it’s self inflicted torment, which is a promise I... mostly kept. “Dress Your Idol in Gold and Ashes” is the one I put most effort into probably, because I kept toying around with it trying to find something that was evocative of the right pagan imagery, and also the idea that got me started on the fic was a passage in a text book about the daily dressing of an idol statue in ancient Egypt.

“Broke My Last Glass Jaw” gets special mention because I named it after an essay that I wrote in undergrad for my African American Lit course, in which I broke down themes of the spoiled american dream via the lens of 90′s rap.

Worst Title

“Take one for the Team” is definitely my laziest title. It’s just super self indulgent kink fic, no character arc or anything, so I couldn’t find a good image or phrase to bring in for the title. Also I remember I really wanted to post it quickly, since it was a response to some art I was looking at, and I wanted the artist to see. I’m sure I could have done better with the title.

I did end up titling “Fear and Delight” after a song but I forgive myself because I literally only wrote the fic because the song existed first.

Best Summary

Some of these summaries I wrote and a some I did not, but of the ones that I wrote I think.... “ I'm All Full Up on Yesterdays, Don't Sing Me No More Blues” is the best one. It launches you directly into the action, while preserving the surprise reveal at the end of chapter 1. I actually wrote chapter one with this summary in mind, so it was baked in there from the start.

Jazz turned in his seat, cube at his lips, just in time to spot the white pursuit vehicle steaming and panting in the doorway. “Jazz of Staniz,” the enforcer shouted, “surrender the matrix and come quietly!”

Jazz knocked back his drink. “Well!” he said to the open-mouthed bartender, “time to split!”

Worst Summary

I mean, summaries are hard for everyone, right? That’s the thing we all universally struggle with, I think? I usually end up liking mine, and this year I was less afraid to just let a section of the story speak for itself. Anyway the worst one is “ Broke My Last Glass Jaw” by virtue of the fact that I had to come back months later and add another line because I wasn’t satisfied with how it was reaching audiences.

After the war, Impactor is at loose ends.

(They were friends once, weren't they? After all this time, Impactor wonders if Megatron hasn't managed to forget.)

I really wanted that one line to say it all, but honestly it requires a lot of trust in me as the author and most of the people who pass by the fic in the archive aren’t gonna know me from adam. The second line clarifies what kind of story it’s going to be in terms of tone and theme.

Best First Line

I’m pretty ambivalent about most of my first lines. Since Nev already pointed out the first line in “ Apotheosis”, I have to admit, it is pretty good. It gets off to a real jaunty start.

“Excuse me,” Starscream said, striding down the steps of the senate chambers with his cape flaring out behind him, “get your cowcatcher out of his face, you tin-plated amateur despot, he’s with me.”

I also like the audacity of a run on sentence that is the opening to “ Desecrate You”

Ratchet clicks the video because it was auto-recommended, and because First Aid is always dropping hopeful hints that he wants her to watch his show when he’s supposed to be grading papers, and because something about the title (“This is Definitely a Hoax! None of this is Real! Short Cut Footage Episode”) makes her wonder why the hell someone who runs a Ghost Hunting youtube channel would bill their own hard work as a hoax right out of the bag.

Worst First Line

Definitely the least interesting is from “Tantric Sex, and Other Mysteries of the Divine”. I guess it’s another fic where I was really eager to get to the meat of the fic, and so I just went back after I was done with the fic and wrote a paragraph of bare bones setting context so we could move on already.

It’s game night at Swerve’s, and Nightbeat is out in the thick of the crew for once, getting the lay of the land.

I have the same problem in a few fics, which probably arises from the fact that when I read a fic, I often skim the first paragraph or so to see if I really want to commit to the read. So I sometimes write like I’m expecting the audience to do that too. I probably need to work on that. Man, I even did it in Sexy Staycation.

Best Last Line

I like endings! I usually have a good gut instinct for where stories should end, and how to pace that, and what image I want to close the fic on. Often times I’ll be writing a story and feeling really lukewarm about it, and then the ending will come to me, and I’ll feel totally won over by it. That happened with my Suicide Squad fic years ago. So this is for the most part me picking the best of the things I already like. “Broke My Last Glass Jaw” has a good pithy one; I like how it isolates this moment as a moment of choice, and how it’s also ambiguous whether he will change because of this or whether he’s doomed to go back to his predetermined pattern.

And despite the unguarded door and the empty inviting streets beyond, where no one wants or expects anything of him but his feterless bitter trog onward into the next waiting prison cell, Impactor lays down, and Impactor does.

Special mention goes to “ The Sky Dark in its Eclipse : Orange Light Remix”, because the ending section is one of the big changes I brought to the remix, and I’m really happy with how it alters the shape of the narrative and also how it changes the focus of Rung’s arc. Most of the actual words in this fic were written by Choko in 2018, so this is like a collab in slow motion--I changed loadstone moments mostly, some of the framing, all of the backstory, and updated the setting for Cybertron. But the ending is all me.

On the morning of Intro to Psych finals, while Hot Rod hums and taps and scrolls back and forth through his test on the front row of the testing hall, Rung will sit behind his desk and brush the dust from the rotors of his fateful archetype, and start the long process of putting the pieces together once and for all.

Worst Last Line

Again, I like my endings, so this is really the worst of the best. The original ending line I wrote for “ All Our Urgent Restless Sighing” was:

Deadlock’s finials twitched. “...I am a reasonable amount of interested,” he said, “in this topic.”

And in the beta process, Nev came back in and added the line about Ratchet and cuddling, which was a big hit with the readers it seems like. So clearly I benefitted from some help there haha!

Looking back, did you write more or less than you thought you would this year?

you know what, I definitely wrote more than I thought I would. I didn’t see “Don’t Sing Me No More Blues” coming at all, and that was once a month for most of the year. I was hoping that I would be able to write a few things outside of Transformers, because I always worry that my long spans of hyperfixation are driving away my longtime readers... and I did manage to get one hxh thing written that was good, and one hxh thing started that is mediocre so far. So I guess I’ll call that good enough.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, just your favorite.

hmm I’m really proud of the Pharma chapter me and Choko put together for GPAU--the body horror, the tragedy, the lotus eater machine plot. But even though that felt like a whole ass story of its own, I guess it’s only a chapter at the end of the day. So my favorite story would be “Apotheosis”. It’s just SO much, and we had SO many things we wanted to do, and somehow we managed to do them ALL. Corpses! Children! God! It’s got everything! The only thing it doesn’t have is the idea that literally started us plotting out the fic. And that was “ritual public sex with Starscream and Rung”. Oh well. Maybe someday. Probably not.

Okay, Now your most popular story

Ha! I tend to view the success of a fic more based on its bookmark ratio than its hit count, but by the numbers, unsurprisingly, “ Don't Sing Me No More Blues” is my most popular fic of the year at a whopping 3k hits and 113 bookmarks. Well, it is jazz/prowl which means it has a built in audience of considerable size, and it also updated seven times this year which increases its net range, so no surprise. But I think people also just really vibed with it--it’s very much a product of the times we are living in, and I don’t think it could have been written in any year except for 2020.

“Dress Your Idol” has 58 bookmarks, by the way. I’m extremely proud of that fic for having such a high bookmark to view ratio. I guess the people who did read it liked it a lot.

Story most underappreciated in its Time.

Okay nothing is as under-exposed as the stuff I produced in JTHM, so I’m definitely not complaining. It’s hard to think about leaving TF because TF is such an enthusiastic community. That said, “ Neggnog Cozy” did not get eyeballs. I’m not surprised, it’s short and it’s gen, and Thundercracker doesn’t have the built in audience of say Starscream. Still, I thought it was really funny and cute and I would have liked it if more people would have given it a chance.

Story that could have been better

Oh, “ Melusine Among the Tombs” for sure. I went into that with only the first chapter planned and immediately after realized that I had no idea where the fic was going and also I had lost my grip on canon characterization after a couple years going rusty in other fandoms. I plan to finish it eventually, but I need a better plan than “wing it???” first.

Sexiest Story

I wrote SO much weird kink this year. Like. Shout out to past me for writing some pretty spicy JTHM fic, but this year I really leaned into how weird you can plausibly get with an all robot all alien cast.

“ The Sensual Machine” is the most unabashedly horny because it was written specifically for a weird kink themed zine that I was an editor on. “Desecrate You” is also quite horny but I almost exclusively wrote the frame device for that, so I don’t get sexy credit lmao. “Fear and Delight” was a big hit with all the hxh readers and I think it has an element of sexiness more so than pure horniness--its has a kind of glamour and style to it.

Most fun story

“Starscream's Sexy Staycation” is by far the most unabashedly comic and sexy and silly and low stakes. It has one of my favorite kinks, a beautiful stupid moment of Ratchet suffering, and Rung calling safeword which is something new and fresh and I want a lot more of it in the world.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

“ Lacunae” was given to me as a yule gift prompt with the express intention of explaining who the fuck Carmilla’s mother was, and what the deal is with Carmilla as well. This would have forced me to reevaluate my understanding of the novel except for the TEENSY insignificant fact that I realized I had never finished reading Carmilla, somehow, and ended up reading it for the first time in December in preparation for yule. So uh. Hmm.

I think “ Don't Sing Me No More Blues” made me think about Prowl in a different way. I wasn’t really expecting him to be this hard-edged idealist when I started out on the fic. He was originally going to be much more like the autistic coded Prowl of “The Cop and the Cryptid,” one of my favorite fics ever. Also, I started writing the fic about a month before the riots and police protest kicked off in America this year, and it really caused me to zero in on how Prowl being part of a system like that affects his relationship to the world and other characters.

Hardest Story to Write

“ Elegy for Actaeon of the Hounds” took me a total of six months to write from start to finish. I don’t know why. Well, It’s partly because there are three involved sex scenes and sex scenes are actually very difficult and time consuming for me to write. It’s also partly because I kept wanting it to have a character arc, and I kept getting stumped on how to handle that. Beauty and the Beast plot lift? Have Rodimus be a rabbit? Eventually I settled on the version that kept the cast tightly cinched down around Megatron and Rung, and I’m happy with the result.

Easiest Story to Write

When we were writing “Apotheosis” it felt like we were on FIRE, we were so productive and we started three other projects between us while it was in motion. But “Take One For the Team” was absolutely the most fun to write, it basically wrote itself

Most Overdue Story

“Champagne in the Final Days of Rome” was based off a conversation I had with Nev pretty early on in our friendship--Discord says it was June 2019, so that’s uhhh ten months between discussion to actual writing? And it still didn’t turn out to be the fic we were originally outlining, haha.

Oh god you know what was really the most overdue? The last chapter of “Icarus; or, Look Who's Digging His Own Grave”. It was literally a year, January to January, between chapter 12 and 13. For a while I thought maybe I was just going to have to leave it there, without resolving the time loop problem at all.

Did you take writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

Writing for the zine was a big risk. I remember Nev had to reassure me at least twice that what I was writing wasn’t too weird or off-topic or embarrassing to be part of the project. Now, of course, I’m very happy with it. But my god I was nervous to post something that was like.... straight up actually bimboification applied to one of the most popular toy characters of all time.

What I learned from this is that people love horny shit, are READY to take a chance on a weird fic when its in the right wrapping paper, and when in doubt you CAN sell people on a kink they’re not really into by making the kink actually a reflection of a character arc. Are you writing this down?

Do you have any goals for writing in the new year?

Finish GPAU!!!!!!

I’d like to FINALLY sit down and do some hard work on my original fiction. I’ve been kind of waiting for the tf hyperfixation to wane so I could move forward, and I think that process is in motion now. But who knows. If Rung shows up in the new comics I might get nerfed again.

Other than that I’d like to write at least one fanfic that isn’t TF, and I would like to get this really crunchy Rung/Pharma fic off the ground so I can make some people CRY

#2020 retrospective #fanfic

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world-without-authors · 4 years ago

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15th anniversary of our madness!

Yes, you read that right. Today, April 13th 2021, marks the 15th anniversary of when I was crazy enough to bring out the idea of a crazy roundrobin crossover on the Moony Witcher Forum.

When on that day, April 13th 2006, I made a post with the general idea for Mai Dire Fine I never thought I would be starting a saga that would be still ongoing 15 years later.

But here we are, with me and Aelit still working on its latest sequel of sorts, The World without Authors. Compared to back then, our writing skills improved a lot (Mai Dire Fine was not a good story) and, while there’s always more we can still learn, we are proud of our improvement.

So, where are we? We published recently the 10th chapter of The World without Authors, which is currently around 69.000 words – we’re already closing in towards Blank Sprite‘s length (77.000) and that’s just part of the first arc, Scattered Shards. Adding in the previous stories, we’re past 320.000 already.

Even with The World without Authors‘s “all-stars” cast, we still only have a total of five characters from Mai Dire Fine, only three of which (Sergio, Nikki and Kathleen) were part of the main cast as the other two (Faith and Virgilia) were introduced towards the end… well, technically there’s a sixth character, the mysterious “Professor”, but his identity is spoilers as of now. I believe there might be enough hints between The World without Authors and my older behind the scenes post for you to be able to guess his identity already, but the reveal is meant to be a nasty surprise that will set up the second and third arcs, Venezia Immortale and The Dove and the Crow. Yes, we’re planning (well… sort of planning) that far!

But enough of that, let’s head to the celebration specials!

Unfortunately, the Q&A session was a complete failure. We didn’t receive any question by the deadline, but the mailbox is still open! Feel free to ask us anything, we’ll make a Q&A post as soon as the question come in, and we’ll keep it updated every time new questions arrive.

We still have a few more goodies, though. The first is a bit of an experiment on my part, I took one of my early PPC missions, A Very Awkward Exorcism, alongside a couple scenes from the interlude set chronologically just before it, Planes, Guns, Clones and other usual PPC Stuff, and gave them a complete makeover into a comic. Yes, I made what I believe might be the first full PPC mission in comic form! You can download it in PDF format (Trigger warning for rape, contains some partial nudity) here. I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Another thing I made is a special anniversary illustration, in which our characters, and a few we borrowed, from all over our works enjoy some partying. With all the things happening due to the Unravel they deserve some off time, don’t you think?

Let’s start with the back row, left to right.

First one is Ai Minase, from Koikatu. She has the distinction of being the ��adopted canon character” of The World Without Authors – while we have other canons working with Strike Dove, she’s the only one who became part of the main cast on a deep level. While Hayate Yagami, her crew, the Razgriz and Long Caster also work with my main cast, they’re more of external allies. Her dress looks a bit like a tablecloth, but that’s a canon-ish outfit of hers: while she never wears it in her route, it is in her character card in the slot that gets used during dates in normal gameplay.

Next to her we have Keiko Caterina Turbo, Sergio and Nikki’s daughter with her own PPC spinoff, Wings of Canon: Second Strike. She is also the only survivor of the Second Strike cast, having lost Shiro and Saki in the Unravel, and as such the role of representative of her series is all on her. She also doesn’t like skirts, at all, why do you ask?

Then we have Hajime Irene Turbo, Keiko’s half sister/alternate incarnation from the timeline in which Sergio got together with Ami instead. She’s an original The World without Authors character, but still related to characters from my previous works. Fun fact: Keiko and Hajome’s birthday, April 13, in indeed based on the day and month we began Mai Dire Fine. If we consider HQ Standard Time (the PPC’s timeline) to coincide with the real world, they turned two years old today.

Next is Hajime’s mother, Ami Tanegashima. Mentioned first in I don’t like luxury cars to pave her way for her posthumous role in Blank Sprite, we can consider her the representative of my Blank Sprite original characters here. She’s now stuck with the absurdity of not only having a daughter she never thought she could have, but also of said daughter being currently only four years younger than her. Considering Ami’s small frame, there will likely be plenty of times in which she’s mistaken for Hajime’s younger sister… also, now that she’s 20 years old and of drinking age in Japan, she discovered she actually likes alcohol. And can deal with it surprisingly well despite her light build (as opposed to Sergio and Nikki who both can’t hold their liquor)… yes, she had more than a few glasses here. Luckily, she doesn’t drink very often.

Toasting with her is Aya Kibokami, the “fragment” that split off Madoka Kaname at the end of Blank Sprite. As such, she’s here as a representative of canon characters of Blank Sprite. Due to a certain scene of Madoka Magica, in which Madoka expresses a desire to go out drinking with her mother (who really enjoys drinking) once old enough, there is fanon of her eventually developing the same taste for liquor. While we’ll likely never know if the canon Madoka would, Aya is the other heavy drinker of my cast and here is depicted finally having a toast (or two… or a few…) with Ami to celebrate the success of their “Save Sergio and Homura from their spirals of self-destruction by making them defeat Vera and save Madoka together” master plan.

And, of course, fussing over Aya’s excessive drinking we have Kuroko Tenshimi, AKA the “split fragment” of Homura Akemi retaining the memories of the Blank Sprite Incident. While her and Aya haven’t featured yet, they did make it to the Unraveled World. However, I don’t plan on making them part of the main cast yet (in fact, I’m planning to reduce the amount of characters we’re following as the cast is getting too big), and I’m actually considering having them star in their own The World without Authors spinoff, but nothing set in stone yet. Oh, and fun fact about them, they did already have a bit of starring of their own as they were the hosts of the Third PPC HQ Hunger Games. How Nutmeg TV managed to get hold of them for that will forever remain a mistery.

Next, a character very few of you are likely to be familiar with. Nina De Nobili, the title character of the Nina, the child of the Sixth Moon book series. Acting as a representative of the Mai Dire Fine canon characters here, she’s been chosen since, as I said in the past, we started Mai Dire Fine on her author’s forum, and even received encouragement from her to keep writing at one point… despite the fact we were basically butchering her work. However, everyone has to begin somewhere, and Moony Witcher (real name Roberta Rizzo) knew that, so I’m glad she didn’t shoot down our hopes – I might not be here now with a 300.000+ words saga under my belt otherwise. Nina is not planned to reappear in the Unraveled Worlds, as she’s from a series intended for children that wouldn’t mesh well with our current plots.

The little guy sitting over the counter doing karaoke is Conan Edogawa from Detective Conan (anyone insisting on calling the series Case Closed can leave now). He’s again a canon character featured in Mai Dire Fine, but there are plans to involve him and some other characters of his series in the third arc. Also, as you can guess by Nina’s reaction, he’s a terrible, terrible singer.

Leaning on the couch we have Hiro Shirogane, our Gundam pilot. He’s a fully original character created for The World without Authors whose original concept was made by Aelit, although I was the one developing his backstory and relationship with Miksa. I admit that for a while we weren’t too sure about what to do with him, but I hope his current subplot will be enjoyable.

And now, the front row. Leftmost is Hanami, Nikki’s alternate from Kathleen’s alternate timeline (and as such a The World without Authors original). She’s been adopted by the Kinomotos (as she’s also an alternate of Sakura) and is now living with them. Something that debuted in this illustration are the glasses: those are her timeline’s Sergio, and she doesn’t actually have a need for eyesight correction. She had the lenses replaced with fake ones, and wears them due to them being one of the few things she has left of him, though they’re also a good way to differentiate herself from her “sisters”.

Then we have Sakura Kinomoto from Cardcaptor Sakura herself. If we go by name only, her first appearance in my works would be Mai Dire Fine, but that particular Sakura ended up becoming Nikki so it is safe to assume her first appearance was actually in the first mission of Wings of Canon, my main PPC spinoff, titled Don’t Forget The Canon, and she has been confirmed alive in the Unraveled World, in which she is now legally Nikki and Hanami’s younger sister. As in the comic I posted above, her hair is actually lighter than Nikki or Hanami’s as most CCS media have her with a light shade, but Nikki and Hanami both derive from the 1998 anime that had a darker brown as Sakura’s hair color.

Next to Sakura is Syaoran Li from the same series, who instead did appear as himself in Mai Dire Fine. He was badly OOC though, and if the The World without Authors incarnation of him does remember Sergio, things might a bit tense between them at first… though, hopefully, just until he gets explained that no, the “Sakura” Sergio was in love with was actualy Nikki and there’s no need to be jealous.

Then we get to Kathleen Leone. She is not the Mai Dire Fine incarnation of the character, but an alternate made for The World without Authors. Despite that, she started considering the main timeline Sergio as her own brother even before he had to kill her timeline’s, due to the latter’s descent into madness. We haven’t been able to give her much space until now, due to the action being mostly in the air, but that will change soon. I won’t spoiler anything, but Chapter 11 will be a big turning point in the story.

Of course, holding arms with her is Faith Leone, Everything I said about Kathleen applies about her too, as they’ve arrived in the Unraveled World together. We haven’t shown much on our plans to develop her so far, but trust us: we’re going to both fill in more of her bakcstory, and give her chances to shine soon.

Cutting the cake together we have Sergio Turbo and Nikki Cherryflower, both of which made their first appearances in Mai Dire Fine and appeared in all sequel works. For as much grief the Unraveled World is bringing them, it is arguable they’ve gained more than they have lost, as they’ve both got their families back thanks to it. Fun fact: their outfits are loosely based on the ones they wore during Chapter 7 of Blank Sprite.

Last but not least, Corolla. Introduced in Don’t Forget The Canon, she’s my most successful character. Defined by Aelit “Kathleen, but written well” way before we started working on The World without Authors, it isn’t a suprise they synergize so well together… much to Sergio and Nikki’s dismay. Here, is she more excited for the cake, or because they are cutting it together like it was a wedding cake? Probably both.

And that’s it, 15 years of writing, condensed in one image. We hope you’ll keep following us in the future!

#world without authors #blank sprite

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iwannawritepls · 5 years ago

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Writing Update 05

Guess who finished. guess. go on guess. That’s right it was me!!

It was pretty intense because my playlist had finished and so I was sat feverishly typing the last paragraph out in silence and then when I went round for the final spell check I was listening to Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths and it finished as I finished and it was a moment.

So so so. in total we have

69069 words (nice) and 102 pages spread over 23 chapters and 5 parts. I can actually go into the plot and stuff now too because I know what that is from start to finish. I won’t go into that here I’ll just talk about the last chapters. Buckle up this ones gonna be long.

Whence last we left off there were 17 chapters and now there’s twenty-three. Chapter seventeen also has an actual name too so yay.

Chapter 17 – Pinches of Catgut

Chapter 18 – Yours Forever, Echo

Chapter 19 – Ink’s Tarnish

Chapter 20 – Red Room

Chapter 21 – Crosshatched Scars

Chapter 22 – Chasing Sundust

Chapter 23 – Amen

Chapter 17 originally is now what chapter 18 and chapter 23 isn’t really an epilogue but it also is y’know? Like the last two chapters are the endings in their own right (I say as if I didn’t stop reading The Darkest Minds seven pages from the end)

But c’est la vie!

Chapter 16 (I can finally explain this stuff woo) we had the fallout to the guy’s being told they have to pay the devil – who isn’t really the devil and is actually a god in his own right but that’s beside the point – back for everything he’s done for them. this one focuses on Valentine and Albert having a bit of a moment where I realised ‘oh gosh everyone is a foil to everyone oh gosh’

Chapter 17 is kinda the same but from William and Basil’s side where they have their own conversation about who Will killed Charlie by accident….yeah…William is still baby he just killed someone that’s fine. This is fine.

Chapter 18 is where shit hits the fan because oh my god James is back!!!!! Idk if I mentioned this but James is Enoch’s dead bf who wasn’t dead at all and I’ve been hinting at it the entre god damned book. I almost didn’t include it but after a talk with one of my friends I realised that James’ being alive would bring in more tea than ever before and well,,,,,,why wouldn’t I?

Oh yeah James also tells Enoch that everyone is coming to find them.

The way I'm explaining this seems like stuff just happens, but I swear I do add threads throughout! I'm just disjointed in my thought process.

Chapter 19 is the beginning of the end. We have a rush to pack as they’re trying to get out and they would have more help from James but Basil doesn’t trust James, Enoch is drunk, William has lost a lot of blood and both Al and Valentine had been asleep so they’re slow and groggy and it’s raining because England and winter and the coast is just a great combination.

Enoch and James end up going ahead cus people are getting close and they need to get their stuff away from there. There were three cases left to tie but they didn’t have time so while James and Enoch go ahead the others are carrying the last three cases to the docks so they can tie and run.

Chapter 20 is where Enoch wraps his beef with Aristide up. kinda. He originally planned on just saying goodbye but then stuff happens and he feels bad for Aristide so he just gives him to the devil without the murder part of it.

Chapter 21 valentine kills his uncle and gets closure™

Chapter 22 this chapter is so good. I love it, I love it so much. I'm still kinda feeling funky about it because its got a flashback and the rest of the book hasn’t got anything exactly like this – unless you consider the small titbit in chapter 17 a flashback. But I really delve into Sebastian’s psyche and before then I kinda hated Sebastian but it feels like he's had a whole ass character arch and I love it. I really love this chapter so much.

And finally chapter 23 is them running and the last of the setup for the next book

I want to include memes but they’re all old stuff. If I have anything new, I’ll insert it if not I’ll keep 5 random facts about the boy’s as my transition.

Albert

When he was a bab he wanted to meet keats before he realised the mans is dead.

Can write in shorthand in both Russian and English just so long as he doesn’t focus too hard on it

Albert is his middle name, Lyonya is his first name

Is a cat person.

Orders the same meal at every restaurant even if they don’t serve it. if they don’t serve it he has a tiny crisis.

Also defo has one of the others order for him

Basil

Defo a gifted and talented student if he was alive today

He's technically an accountant and low key enjoys it

Can fight but is a pacifist by choice

Skipped class once and got bored and never did it again

When they were still at school he would look after the groups deeds to land and do all the legal stuff for them because they had no clue. He still has all of Valentine’s papers and so could technically steal valentines land and nobody would care.

Enoch

Isn’t gay is actually bisexual

Is really good at science but just doesn’t care about it

He ate leek and potato soup exclusively for three weeks on a dare

Once played Mercutio and tripped on stage. Managed to hide it pretty well but hasn’t lived it down.

Would live in an old theatre if he could just for the aesthetic and bragging rights

Valentine

His family is of German heritage

Bakes as a stress relief but gets hyper focused on one thing for ages (tarts is the big one of the year)

Is the mum of the group but wouldn’t ever admit it

Cannot do maths for shit. or much else. He can just speak a lot and paint.

It’s a continuous joke irl and in novel universe that he’s called Valentine, but his birthday is on February 15th because his parents thought it was still February 14th when he was born.

William

Allergic to honey but would eat it anyway

Joined classes three years after everyone else

Is the only one in the group that understands people

Has a really bad centre of gravity and falls over a lot

He's 6’7

Bonus – a wild Sebastian appeared.

Acts 50 is 20

Is just brine

In a constant state of identity crisis

Was he born or did he just appear fully formed? Nobody knows

Always stuck as Benvolio. No matter what. forever. He hates it.

Excerpts! –

“you are a walking disaster.” Basil sighed

“I'm your favourite disaster though.” He could hear the smile in Enoch’s voice.

I just like these lines. Nothing too deep just thought they were funny.

Basil placed a hand on his knee hoping the rain could drown out what the music that followed William could not.

My mans being a supportive friend

He finished pulling the manuscript together and reached for the box Albert kept all his current writings in. it was a small box with darker patches between the broken veins where ink had spit and flowed between the cracks.

i have nothing to say about this

They only had real tenderness with some of the fragile things. A school given copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream, a book by a man called Sashenka Potemkin, teacups with still blooming meadows painted onto them, a book about a monastery, a violin case that had nail marks embedded into the leather, an easel.

Y’know keepsakes are Important but if you’re running shouldn’t you pack light? Probably but these guys are sentimental bastards

The shops were alive with people, the two pubs were open and selling even the tailoress was in business. He wasn’t entirely surprised; worms came out during a storm. They thrived when the squawking of the gulls had disappeared.

We live in a society – Enoch 2019

The gate yielded under his hand, the closest he got to acceptance in the high walls. It seemed colder once he’d walked into the threshold, urging him towards the sickening feeling of unbelonging that sat in his gut. It made him want to turn away and never come back some of the time. How much he didn’t belong there.

Sebastian is yearning™

Basil reached into Albert’s pocket and pulled the crocus out. Albert didn’t react as he did so. he stared at it twirling it between his fingers staring at the petals and their untarnished glory despite having been used to kill them all at least once.

And while that isn’t the last line that’s the end of this. I'm taking a break from beginning anything big and while I want to move onto writing Adalius, Ariane and Adionis’ story I’ll wait for a moment before I do. just because I cant bring myself to think about how I'm starting this yet.

Anyway. That means no updates for at least 3 weeks. I know you’re all distraught. But yeah.

I hope you have a good day.

Thanks for reading this!

BYEEE!

#writing update #i finished something #its the end of an era #i miss my boys already #gosh #whats next #i dont know #i wanna take a nap #im gonna take a nap #thanks for reading this #and all of these #writingupdate #and i love my boys #sisyphus update

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