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passionate-reply · 3 years

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This week on Great Albums: a fresh look at quite possibly the 80s’ most hated band, A Flock of Seagulls! Spoiler: their music is good, people in the 90s and 00s were just mean. If you want to find out more about how having the absolute best hair in the business ended up backfiring on these poor sods, look no further than my latest video. Or the transcript of it, which follows below the break!

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, I’m going to be diving into a discussion of quite possibly the most derided and lambasted music group of the 1980s: A Flock of Seagulls. With a strange name, a perhaps painfully stylish aesthetic, and equally trendy and of-the-moment music, that was, for a time, inescapable in popular culture, their legacy forms a perfect target for the ridicule all popular things must face in due time. But even moreso than that, I think A Flock of Seagulls have become not only a punchline in and of themselves, but also a summation of everything that was dreadful and excessive about the early 1980s, with its “Second British Invasion” of synthesiser-driven New Wave. I can think of no better example of this kind of abuse than a famous line from the 1999 comedy film, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. The film is largely a love letter to the 1960s and its Mod aesthetics, and the protagonist, a super-spy unfrozen from this era in time, dismisses the history and culture of the 1970s and 80s as nothing more than “a gas shortage, and A Flock of Seagulls.” But at the time of this writing, we’re about as far away from Austin Powers as the film was from the release of this album, the band’s 1982 debut LP, so I think it’s been long enough that we can start to re-evaluate A Flock of Seagulls’ rightful place in music history.

While this self-titled album was the group’s first long-player, their first release was the 1981 single “It’s Not Me Talking.” Notably, this track was actually produced by the legendary Bill Nelson, who also released it on their behalf via his personal label, Cocteau Records. Ever since discovering this for myself, I’ve found the connection between Nelson and A Flock of Seagulls fascinating, and also satisfying. Despite the gulf between their respective reputations, I do think their work has a lot in common, at the end of the day: swirling washes of synth disrupted by screaming guitars, not to mention that shared interest in Midcentury rock and roll aesthetics.

Music: “It’s Not Me Talking”

These two acts would, of course, go their separate ways shortly after, and they ended up in completely opposite camps, with Nelson becoming a cult favourite with little crossover success, and A Flock of Seagulls going on to create what is, undoubtedly, one of the most iconic songs of the entire decade.

Music: “I Ran”

What does one even say about a song like “I Ran”? Over the years, it’s certainly gotten somewhat overplayed, but I can’t really hold that against it. It’s just a damn good song. Both ethereally menacing as well as catchy and rather accessible, “I Ran” takes the atmosphere suggested by “It’s Not Me Talking” and kicks it into another gear, with a harder-hitting hook and the introduction of that highly distinctive and of-the-moment echoing guitar effect. Some will hear it as little more than evidence that the song is hopelessly dated, but I’ve never thought of it as anything other than satisfying to listen to. If you ask me, I figure all art that exists is essentially “a product of its time”--nobody ever said Michelangelo Buonarroti’s David was a lousy sculpture, just because you can easily tell it was made during the Italian Renaissance. At any rate, I’d encourage everyone reading to go back and listen to it again, trying to maintain a little neutrality. I’d recommend the album cut of it, which is significantly longer than the single version, and features a rich intro that sets the scene before that famous guitar ever makes an appearance, which I think really adds to the experience. By some reckonings, A Flock of Seagulls are sometimes considered a “one-hit wonder,” but while they certainly are remembered chiefly for “I Ran,” this album’s other singles were moderately successful as well.

Music: “Space Age Love Song”

“Space Age Love Song” is perhaps the band’s second best-remembered single, and takes their sound in a markedly different direction than that of “I Ran.” “I Ran” won popular acclaim by finding a new home for the guitar, in the midst of a sea of synth, and pushed A Flock of Seagulls into a similar space as acts like the Cars and Duran Duran, who had enough mainstream rock sensibilities to sneak a lot of synthesiser usage onto American rock radio...much as one might sneak spinach into tomato sauce when feeding picky children. But I think “Space Age Love Song” is much more palatable to listeners of pop, synth- or otherwise. It’s softer in texture, and really almost dreamy, capturing the hazy, buoyant feeling of limerence as well as any pop song ever has. I’m tempted to compare it to another synth-driven classic, whose influence towers over this period in electronic music: the great Giorgio Moroder’s “I Feel Love.” Much like “I Feel Love,” “Space Age Love Song” combines simple, almost banal love lyrics with an evocative electronic soundscape, painting a picture of an enchanting, high-tech future where human feelings like love have remained comfortably recognizable across centuries or millennia. A similar theme of futuristic love pervades the album’s second single, “Modern Love Is Automatic.”

Music: “Modern Love Is Automatic”

While “Space Age Love Song” uses simplistic lyricism to portray the relatable universality of falling in love, “Modern Love Is Automatic” gives us the album’s most complex narrative. In a world where “young love’s forbidden,” we meet a pair of star-crossed lovers prevented from being together by some sort of dystopian authority. The male member of this union, introduced as the “cosmic man,” is apparently imprisoned for the crime of loving, but the text suggests that he may escape from this prison--or, perhaps, even be freed from it. The title, repeated quite frequently throughout the track, is perhaps the mantra of this anti-love society, a piece of propaganda being drilled into us as thoroughly as it is into these subjects: Modern love is automatic, with no need for messy, unpredictable human input.

It’s also worth noting that the song is consciously set in “old Japan,” deliberately locating it in the “exotic” East. While East Asia was strongly associated with refined, perhaps futuristic culture, I can’t help but think there’s a more pejorative sentiment operating here, rooted in stereotypes of Asian cultures unduly policing sexual freedom, and other forms of personal expression and self-determination. Ultimately, despite its futuristic trappings, “Modern Love Is Automatic” isn’t really a song about technology at all, but rather authoritarianism. “Telecommunication,” on the other hand, engages more directly with that theme.

Music: “Telecommunication”

“Telecommunication” was also released prior to the self-titled album proper, and was also produced by Bill Nelson. While structurally similar to “Modern Love Is Automatic,” with an oft-repeated title, brief verses, and a generally repetitive musical structure full of meandering guitar, its text quite plainly discusses the titular field of technology, in a seemingly non-judgmental fashion--though it could be argued that the fairly upbeat music suggests a positive outlook on things like radio and TV. The one hitch in all of it is the very end of the last verse, which sets the song in the “nuclear age”--a nod, perhaps, to the darker applications of 20th Century technology. “Telecommunication” is perhaps indebted less to figures like Moroder, and moreso to Kraftwerk, who first solidified the rich tradition of stoic synth thumpers about everyday machines like cars, trains, and, of course, nuclear energy. I’m also tempted to compare it to an earlier work of Bill Nelson’s group Be-Bop Deluxe, “Electrical Language,” another bubbly number that playfully bats this concept back and forth.

The theme of “quotidian technology” is also present on the cover of this album, which features an interior shot of a living room, centered around a television set. The TV displays a figure playing guitar--perhaps one of those heroic rock pioneers of the Midcentury like Buddy Holly, whom Nelson was so keen to imitate. But what’s most immediately striking about this cover is its beautiful colour palette, full of deep, saturated jewel tones, treated softly with an “airbrush” style effect. Despite being a somewhat mundane scene, the image also features fanciful, imaginative touches: the floor of this room is actually a miniature beach landscape, with the “floor” beneath the TV actually being the surface of the ocean, and the TV appears to be surrounded by a colourful, glowing group of birds. Given the beachy surroundings, we could perhaps interpret them as the titular seagulls. It’s tempting to think of this scene as a representation of how technology can sweep us away, out of our everyday existence and into something richer and more exciting.

But perhaps it’s not so simple--note also the open window in the top left, whose curtain appears to be agitated by some sort of motion in the air. Perhaps these birds are not the products of television fantasy, but rather have flown in from the window, and hence hail from the “real world?” Given how tracks like “Space Age Love Song” and “Modern Love Is Automatic” tackle the theme of the mundane meeting the fantastical, I think this complex and arresting image is a great fit for the album.

While their self-titled debut spawned multiple recognizable hits, A Flock of Seagulls never came anywhere close to recapturing its success. For the most part, they struggled to remain relevant as time wore on, largely abandoning the sonic footprint of their first album, and chasing after new trends in music technology such as digital synthesisers. They would eventually break up during the mid-1980s, and though they’ve reunited in order to perform live several times, the book is probably closed on A Flock of Seagulls. Personally, I can’t help but wonder what might have been if they had stuck to their musical roots a bit more. You get a bit of that on their third LP, 1984’s The Story of a Young Heart, which thankfully brings back that iconic echoing guitar, and does so without sounding too much like a simple retread of “I Ran.” Out of all their other work, it’s the album I would most recommend to admirers of this debut LP.

Music: “Remember David”

My favourite track on A Flock of Seagulls’ debut LP is “Messages”--not to be confused with the track of the same name by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark! Moreso than anything else on the album, “Messages” has this aggressive, insistent, driving quality, and feels less like yacht rock, and more like punk rock. Despite not being released as a single, I think it’s a very strong track that’s quite easy to get into. That’s everything for today--thanks for listening!

Music: “Messages”

#music #album review #album reviews #great albums #a flock of seagulls #flock of seagulls

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spiral-ingoutofcontrol · 3 years

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Where the Ocean is the Sky Part One: Memory

A/N: AHHH happy pride month! I’ve been sitting on this plot for a while and I figured, what better time to start posting a wlw wizard101/pirate101 crossover than pride month? This part is just shy of 1800 words and I hope y’all like it!

xxx

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Andy mumbled to Captain Avery as they watched Madame Vadima peer over her cauldron. His expression was distorted by the candlelight of Vadima’s enclave, but she could still see that distinctive grin. Nothing ever made that man happier than knowing that he was winning.

He scoffed, not even sparing her a glance. “You’ve had nothing but gold in your eyes since I told you how much the client is paying.”

Andy’s eyes stayed trained on Vadima as the woman dropped what looked like batacuda eyes into the potion she was weaving. Ew. “Maybe we should take some time to rethink the Grizzleheim angle.”

“You can’t sneak into a small community like that. They’d have you made in a second. The client said that this would work.”

She tried to keep her face from scrunching up in disgust at the way he talked down to her. Years building up her reputation and Avery still talked to her like he did when she first came stumbling onto the island, wide-eyed and on the run from the Armada. They were gone now, thanks to her, and Avery still refused to speak to her like she was an adult. The only time he even acknowledged what she’d done- not only for him, but most of the damn spiral- was when he wanted something from her. Clearly he knew she was one the best. He just refused to actually say it. Subodai was convinced that he had a grudge because she had clearly surpassed his own skill level. Bonnie Anne thought that he was just an asshole and Andy couldn’t help but agree with the fox.

“Still,” Andy argued, watching Vadima sprinkle crushed cammun root over the mixture. “I’m not exactly in the habit of trusting people that won’t even tell me their real name. Or you.”

Avery let out a boisterous laugh at the last bit, clapping her on the shoulder. “Scared that I made this all up to poison you?”

“I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“It is ready,” Vadima announced, catching their attention. “And it is not poison.”

Andy took a step toward the cauldron. What had once been the clear blue water of skull island had turned into a thick, silvery liquid that shimmered as it reflected the lights around it. A large bubble rose slowly to its surface and popped. It looked more like liquid metal than something that was actually ingestible. Still, if there was something she’d learned over the last few years on the island, it was to never doubt Madame Vadima.

She sniffed the potion slightly. Cammun root. Figured. “So I drink this and it’ll make me look like a ghost?”

Vadima looked unimpressed with her question. “It will mask your life force and allow me to transport you through the spirit’s realm.”

“So a ghost, got it.” She glanced over at Avery, the wisps of a nervous expression on her face. “This is a lot of work for some old man’s staff.”

“It’s a lot of work for a lot of money, which we’re splitting 50/50.”

Andy rolled her eyes at his last minute attempt to renegotiate. “Nice try. 70/30, my favor. And don’t think I forgot to tell my crew that you agreed to still give them work while I’m gone.”

“The Steel Heart’s crew still has a contract, Captain,” he replied with a sigh. “Although I would have preferred you to hand the reins over to someone other than that wretched fox.”

“We need to act before it begins to boil.”

She smirked at him with pride. She might have done that on purpose. “You’ll get over it.”

Andy looked back over at the woman and the potion at her interruption. “Right.”

Quickly but carefully, she began to remove anything that would immediately identify her as a pirate. Her hat, coat, and vest all had to go, leaving her in a loose white shirt and her tight fitting pants. Her weapons belt was the last thing she removed, tentatively placing it in Avery’s open palm. Andy suddenly felt a lot more vulnerable than she’d been in a long time.

“I’m coming back for those, Avery.”

“Of course you are, Captain.”

If she was more naïve she might have thought that he was trying to reassure her, but she knew that he was only assuring himself. He was sending one of his best contractors into unknown territory unarmed and underprepared. This was a big job and they knew next to nothing about it. Andy didn’t even know how she was going to get back home once she stole the staff that Avery’s buyer was looking for. She had no idea how long it would take her to case the joint, form a plan, and wait for the right moment to execute it. The only thing that was certain was that she was going to be gone for a while. It crossed her mind, as Vadima handed her the silver coated ladle, that this might be a convoluted plan to get rid of her without outright killing her. She pushed the thought from her mind, spoon raised to her lips. Avery loved money more than anything else, and she was probably his most reliable supplier of it. He’d sent her on plenty of death defying missions before. She would be fine.

Despite it’s strange list of ingredients, Vadima’s mixture tasted oddly like vanilla. She never really understood magic, and she didn’t intend to learn. She was perfectly fine with shooting, slicing, and leaving all of the mystical nonsense to others. The vanilla bit at her tongue.

“You should feel it begin to take effect-”

Andy lurched toward Avery as a wave of lightheadedness washed over her. She watched his arms reach out to catch her but never felt his hands. The only thing she could sense was the cold. Like a freezing hand was wrapped tightly around her heart and was dragging her through a thick pool of water. She couldn’t tell seconds from hours. It felt like everything was happening in the blink of an eye and in the passing of days at the same time. Then her lungs started to scream. They were collapsing and being filled to their bursting point at the same time. She moved her arms wildly, searching for some kind of purchase, but there was no way to know up from down. Her hand found a piece of stone that was so cold that it burned, but it was firm. Strong. She pulled herself up.

Andy coughed and sputtered as she hit the cobblestone pavement, fighting to regulate her breathing. She could vaguely register the screams around her as she popped out of seemingly nowhere, but she couldn’t be bothered to take in any of her surroundings. The icy darkness of the spirit’s realm was clashing hard against the heat of this world’s sun and her body was going into shock. It had happened before- deadly injuries were common in her line of work- but she had had her crew with her then. People that she trusted. All she had here was a group of strangers staring at her with wide eyes.

“Give her some room!” Andy didn’t see who said it, too busy dying on the sidewalk. Someone gently took her head in their hands, resting her on their kneeling thighs. All Andy could make out of their face was the way that the sun streamed around them like a halo. Her vision began to blacken. And that’s when her savior started to hum.

It was soft and airy, a melodic tune that she didn’t recognize but felt oddly familiar. The song was calming in an unexplainable way, Andy could feel her heartbeat begin to slow and breaths even out as the woman continued her song, fingers resting lightly on her temples. Warmth radiated from the girl’s fingertips and it tasted like oranges on Andy's tongue. Magic. It had that same powerful tinge as Vadima’s potion, but where the potion was sour, this magic was sweet. Like indulging in Karamellian chocolate on a blissful summer night.

The feeling tapered out as the girl stopped humming and removed her hands. Andy took the opportunity to sit up, fingers running through the tangles in her hair once as she turned to look at the girl with the sickly sweet magic. She thickly swallowed as she finally got a good look at her savior. The girl's long dark tresses and light brown skin stood in direct contrast to Andy’s pale hands and fiery red hair. Her angel’s soft, symmetrical features were almost as ethereal as her eyes, big and brown, with just a hint of gold running around the edges. Andy felt like she couldn’t breathe again, but this time in a way that made her heart sing instead of seize.

“Are you alright?” Even the way she spoke made Andy feel dizzy.

“I . . .” she tried to speak but came out as only a breathy whisper. “Thank you.”

The brunette smiled at her sympathetically before placing her hands on her own thighs and pushing herself into a standing position. And just like that the spell was broken. Andy needed to get it together. This was a mission. She was here to steal something, not stare doe-eyed at the first beautiful woman she ran into.

“Alright, show’s over everyone. Get to where you’re going.” Footsteps started around them along with a few annoyed groans as the crowd began to disperse. The girl reached a hand down and Andy gingerly took it, letting the girl help her to her feet. Andy swayed purposefully as she stood, stumbling into the taller girl’s chest like she was still dizzy. It worked like a charm, the girl quickly wrapping her hands around Andy’s shoulders and looking at her with concern. “Let’s find you a place to sit down.”

“By Bartleby, Nora, what’s going on out here?” Andy’s head swiveled to the new voice, taking in the old, bearded man who was wearing the most ridiculous set of clothes the pirate had ever seen. His blue star-spotted robes looked like pajamas and his hat seemed to defy the laws of physics to balance on top of his wrinkling head. In his left hand he held a staff that clearly doubled as a walking stick, the golden head curling around a glowing blue orb. She recognized that staff. Avery had shown a drawing of it to her three days ago when she agreed to take this job. “Who is this?”

The girl- Nora looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell them her name. Andy’s mouth went dry. “I- I don’t know.”

#wizard101 #pirate101 #p101 #w101 #wiz101 #wizzy101 #fanfic #fanfiction #fic #wizard101 fanfiction #wizard101 fanfic #wizard101 fic #Nora Sunheart #miranda west #oc #pride

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pixiealtaira · 3 years

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Snippet One

These are fics I need motivation on...so you get snippets

Glee and Criminal minds crossover

Spencer had only managed to set their base photos out and lay a bit of basic info onto the table in front of the first board before a small knock sounded outside the door.

“Excuse me,” a soft voiced asked from the doorway. “Officer Phillips told me I could find the people who came in from the FBI back here? Do you know if they are here yet?”

Spencer turned towards the soft voice and was surprised at who was actually standing in the doorway. First, despite the high voice, which Spencer had first assumed belonged to either a young lady or a much younger person the person in the doorway was a guy, a guy in his mid-teen at least. The grey coat and the purple scarf weren’t exactly highly masculine cut, but Spencer, contrary to popular belief, knew enough to know that both were rather high end designer items. The young man looked exactly that though, young…and nervous. He was fingering the strap of his bag and rocking on his heels.

“Yes,” Spencer answered, with a sigh. “This is where we are set up.”

The boy raised his eyebrows at Spencer. “You’re an FBI agent?”

Spencer raised his right back. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

The boy chuckled. He looped the bag off his shoulders and dropped it to the floor. Then he looked around for a coat stand before he started to remove his grey coat. Spencer gasped at the boy and blurted out “What the hell happened to you?”

The boy looked down and sighed. His grey sweater and white skinny jeans were more red and blue than their original colors. The boy took his coat to the coat stand and carefully hung it up as he started to talk. “Slushies six and seven. It’s been a long day. This is actually outfit five. FIVE! I will never be able to get the red out of this sweater either, since I had to sit through a whole class before even being allowed enough time to try to do anything about it! At least the teacher let me wash my face, but look at my hair! I’ll be lucky if it hasn’t stained. I really hate Mr. Lurch, and yes, that really is his last name. It’s not like ten minutes lost from AP World History would make it so I flunk. I am absolutely certain I hold the highest grade in there. Of course, most shouldn’t even be in an AP class, so that doesn’t say much. And even though I’m like the only one who knows what the man is talking about, ever, he only calls on me when he has exhausted all other options. ” Spencer smiled a little as the boy spoke. His hands were in motion the whole time and he had a gracefulness about his movements that Spencer enjoyed watching. Spencer pulled a chair over from the other table and set it to the side of the one he’d been sitting in while pouting. The boy kept speaking as Spencer worked.

“So my mood was not the best anyway. I was completely infuriated when I started to head home after I was informed by the principal, who watched these last two slushy attacks happen, that I could not stay at school because the representatives from Lady Margret’s were expected at any moment and I was simply no longer dressed as a good representative from McKinley and I needed to remove myself, taking the half day of absences, from the school grounds at once. Before lunch mind you, before lunch.”

The boy was ranting now; Spencer recognized the hand on the hips and quick speech. However Spencer also figured the boy needed the outlet, so let him continue.

“Granted, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to leading around any of the members of Lady Margret’s student council, because last year one of the girls who visited in our Science class was just plain rude, and that is saying something considering I go to McKinley and nearly everyone there is awful. But still it was somewhat of an honor escorting that student council around, supposedly, so it would have been nice to actually have been able to do so. I almost suspect Miss Rachel Berry to have orchestrated this last round of slushies, because now she gets to be the escort and she’d been complaining about not getting the privilege for a week and half… but I have been telling myself since slushies six and seven that there is no way she would stoop so low, and besides, it was Azimio and Rick the Stick and I don’t think she dares even speak to either for fear they’d get her first. Of course, I also suspect the honor was originally granted because I am one of the few who can actually afford to miss a few classes without my grades reflecting a missed class and not because anyone actually wanted me to talk to anyone from any other school. Rachel, in all her glory, is involved in a ridiculous amount of clubs and can’t miss too many more class hours, really.” The boy paused for a moment and looked around, noting the table on the far side of the room had piles of papers and such on it and the end of the table the chairs were at had boxes that were opened lined up. “Can I set my bag here or will that be an issue later?”

Spencer smiled. He was pleased the boy had thought and asked before acting. “If we keep things to this end it will be fine. It’d be better if you sat on the chair I pulled over. The one across from me is not very sturdy sounding.”

“Thank you.” The boy’s smile was exquisite. The boy walked back to the doorway and picked up his bag, continuing talking as he did so. “Anyway... just as I was leaving the parking lot, Chip called. So all in all, it actually turned out …well, rather perfect.”

“Perfect?” Spencer asked. He settled himself back into the chair he’d been pouting in earlier.

“Yes,” The boy said, “because even though no one wants to meet real life FBI agents looking like this in the long run it was a good thing, because frankly, I didn’t want to end up having to sneak in or skip school, or something else like that---things that were likely to get me grounded, just to see you guys.”

“Grounded?” Spencer asked.

“Yes. The Sheriff? He hates me, honestly hates me.” The boy looked Spencer up and down, had they been anywhere else Spencer would have accused the young man of checking him out. “He probably won’t like you, either. Sorry. Are you sure you are a FBI agent? And if you are, why are you dressed like that? That look does absolutely nothing for you. We could do so much better.”

Spencer sighed.

“SSA Dr. Spencer Reid.” Spencer stood and offered his hand. The boy’s hands were even slightly stained red. “How did you even know we were coming?”

“Kurt Hummel. It is a pleasure to meet you, don’t get me wrong. It’s just; you dress more like ‘absentminded college professor’ and not like what I’ve always thought FBI agents would look like. And, I was not thinking ‘men in black’, as hot as that would be in real life. More like regular suits…maybe nice ties…or maybe even less formal jeans you can move fast in and Henley shirts, kind of a rugged look. That is not to say you look like a college professor, still too young for that, but you kind of dress like one. Although, you almost carry the look, it’s almost like…”

Kurt trailed his sentence as he looked over Spencer once again and Spencer was pretty sure the boy was picturing him in clothing he imagined more suitable for an FBI agent. He could see when a thought of why he might dress the way he did and the realization of a reason for Spencer’s clothing choices took hold of the boys mind. Spencer suspected he had the right idea as well.

“Yeah.” Spencer said.

“Anyway, I knew you guys were coming because of your SUVs. Where ever they were fetched from so does not get any merit awards for their mechanic work. It was very nearly shameful. Chip, he worked at my dad’s garage during the summers when he was still in high school. It was nice; he was one of the good guys. Didn’t care that the boss’s weird son was there all the time working alongside his dad. My dad makes sure anyone who spends time working for him knows their stuff. So Chip knew just from the sound that those SUVs made as they rolled into the parking lot here that they needed help if they were to be safe for anything other than just the very basic use for very short distances. He called Dad and Dad told him to bring them over. However, it was just after closing and most Dad’s regular employees had already gone home. So Dad called me in and I came out to work with him. I haven’t worked full hours recently, so I could work without worry about overtime or anything. And I can always use the money. Don’t worry, I’ve been certified since Dad could legally get me certified. While we were working the Sheriff sat there chattering about why they were calling you guys in and I told him that I knew of something that connected all the deaths. The sheriff got asked to leave the shop due to the language he used as he told me you guys would never want to listen to me. Oh my stars, I thought for a few moments the Sheriff was going to just shoot my dad right then and there for daring to tell him to leave, but Dad just stood there looking at him and the sheriff finally made another slur and left the building. Dad says the shop is supposed to be one of my safe places, at least while I’m working there. Then Chip said that they were sending FBI agents who looked at things other than just fingerprints and stuff like that, so he’d get me into to talk to you as soon as he could because maybe knowing something that linked them all would mean something.”

“You say you know something that links all the deaths?” Spencer asked.

“All eight.” Kurt said. “I even went back and double checked last night.”

Spencer looked around for some paper and a pen, until he gave up and fetched paper and pen from his own satchel. “I’m going to have to get some writing utensils and paper in here, this is ridiculous.” He muttered, not quietly enough though, since the boy heard and smiled.

“Nice bag.” The young man, Kurt, said. “Good designer, rather old though. It’s held up well, that is the nice thing about good quality work, it holds up to wear well. Abuse well, too, if the material is right.”

“Take a seat.” Spencer said, pointing to the chair he’d set out for the boy. “Five outfits? Is that normal?”

“Nah, not even for most the others who get slushied at my school. Honestly it’s even a bit much for me. I always pack a spare or two, outfit wise. A change or two a day is normal, more than three is rare. High School is…there is a hierarchy, you know, and if you don’t fit in, sometimes it’s not a nice place to be.”

Spencer nodded. “Tossed in dumpsters and checked into lockers.” He said.

“Swirlies and slushies and shoving to the extent that you face plant. Exactly.” Kurt sat down and pulled his bag up onto the table. As he did, Spencer noticed a wince and wondered. “Outfit one was a loss even before school started, they served spaghetti for lunch yesterday and the dumpsters aren’t emptied until just before lunch tomorrow. Of course, even without the dumpster toss this morning I would have had to change…slushy one was grape and huge. Plus even before I managed to get to my locker to drop my bag off and extract a new outfit, I ended up slammed in to Locker 279. Luckily, I had a minor setback at home before I left and traded my good under t-shirt for one of the cheap ones my dad buys me and I had removed my good coat before the dumpster toss. Locker 279 met with some sort of trauma earlier this year and needs replacing. Like, the school year, not calendar year. Do you know first aid? I patched the slice across my back best I could and wrapped it in the remains of the cheap t-shirt, but it’s not feeling quite right.” Kurt scrunched his shoulders and rolled them before pulling his bag onto the table and starting to empty it. Spencer smiled again as the boy continued talking while looking through the notebooks, books, and folders he removed and pulling out papers here and there.

“Anyway, patched and redressed I almost made it to my first class except Puck’s trying to get his rep back up and was going to slushie Jacob the Creep…that is Jacob ben Israel and he is very much one of those makes the skin crawl creepy people-I try not to think about just where that boy might have hidden cameras lurking about in that school because my dad says I have to go to school and I cannot be homeschooled and if I think long about Jacob the Creep and his cameras I just start to freak out and so I just try very hard not to think about it …” The boy across from Spencer shuddered and grimaced before looking back down to the papers he was collecting from inside his pile of belongings. “Anyway, one of the Hockey Players pushed Puck and it got me. Puck punched the hockey player so I guess he sees me as a …friend maybe… which can only be a good thing. Puck’s in Glee club with me, and I think maybe the fact we’ve helped him out a bit with some of his issues this past little bit…we as in my dad mostly and me a little…has made him a bit less eager to make my life completely miserable. I was worried about that since I hadn’t really had a conversation with him for well over a week and the last one wasn’t exactly a good conversation and was well, rather weird. Totally thought I’d weirded him out so bad he’d never speak to me again. Outfit two down. Outfit three made it through first and second hour, but met its demise with slushies three and four right outside of the choir room. Glee club isn’t even going on really since we lost regionals and can’t compete in any other competitions until next school year and apparently that is what glee is about...instead of working starting now so we don’t lose next year… but we still have that hour scheduled for class so we still go and well, it’s become the most dangerous class to go to since we lost regionals, not that it was safe before. Apparently that is what makes us all targets, except half of us were targeted just as much, if not more, before we started up in Glee club, so really it’s just a handy excuse. Outfit four made it through glee, but not two steps past leaving the door of the choir room…slushie five and Karofsky. Only he has it down to the locker check and then slushie in face combo. I’ll have bruises from that, too. And outfit five never even made it into fourth hour.”

“Slushies? Like crushed ice drinks?” Spencer asked.

“Yes. They are horrid. The syrup stings your eyes and they are sticky and yet slimy and cold. There is a machine for them IN the school. It is ridiculous.”

“Thank God my high school didn’t have those. So, are your dumpsters the kind with the huge hard plastic lids or the metal lids?”

Kurt shivered. “Plastic, thank goodness. I’ve only had the lid shut on me twice though, both last year when I was a freshman.”

“I preferred those over the metal lidded ones, I think. The ones by the lunchroom at my school were plastic lidded, but smooth and hard to climb out of, but if you could get to the top they were easier to open. You’re pretty much tall enough that you probably can push the lid up without too much problem. I had to walk by the dumpsters at the side of the school where the offices were and they had metal lids. I was tossed in those pretty much every day, and they shut the lid every time - Not so bad on my clothing as the ones by the lunchroom, but the first day no one found me until Mickey the Janitor came out to toss some papers from the main office and finally fished me out, four and half hours after I’d been tossed in. I was too little to manage to get the lid to open even with the grooved sides that I could use to climb out. After that first day, every day ten minutes after second hour started, Mickey would fish me out of the dumpsters so I could get to my class. I think Mickey must have explained it to the teacher, as well, because even though I was ten minutes late every day I was never marked tardy.”

Spencer looked at Kurt, who looked back at him with an odd expression. Spencer raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” Kurt said, looking down and straightening the pile of papers he’d pulled from his various books and folders. The Kurt looked up again and met Spencer’s eyes. “It’s just…you get it. You’d understand it all, wouldn’t you?”

Spencer smiled. “Probably. I started high school right before I turned ten and graduated when I was 12.”

“Some sort of super genius, then. I should have guessed, I suppose. I bet the other kids hated you more than kids hate me. Was it bad all the way through high school?”

Spencer nodded. “Most of it. I was severely bullied my last year, until about mid December when I joined the basketball team and they won every single game for the rest of the season.”

“You played?” Kurt asked. Kurt was watching Spencer as he stuffed books and folders back into his bag.

Spencer tilted his head back and laughed. “No…just, no. I didn’t even go through a growth spurt of any type until I was like thirteen or fourteen. Late bloomer. I took over coaching. Basketball is fundamentally mathematics and physics. Angles and statistics. On your team, if you know who can make what shots consistently and you put your players in place and you teach them how to make the math work for them…you win. The team had lost all four games they had played, their star player had just been expelled for selling drugs, so when I brought them my plan, and the coach figured they had nothing left to lose, they put it to use. And they started winning every time they put my plans into play. The other thing I did was break down other teams shooting strategies, so we knew who and what to watch out for and how to foil the other teams’ plans. Most the bad bullying stopped after that.”

“Nice. I wish it would have worked for me. I joined the football team. Heck, I was the reason they won the only game they won this past year. Made no difference in the bullying, at all. In some cases it made it worse. Technically, I even won the Cheerios, that’s our cheerleading team, their national title. They probably could have won without me though….maybe. The coach signed me on solely for my singing voice. Nearly fifteen minutes of Celine Dion in French and that was only one of the six fifteen minute routines she made me learn perfectly. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t just sing. The coach made sure I could do anything she asked the other cheerleaders to do, as well….while singing. Everything, that lady is insane. Didn’t stop the bullying. The bullies were more careful about when they bullied, and I dealt with a whole lot more of being shoved and pushed and that kind bullying instead of the slushies…but that was because Coach Sylvester would have killed them if they messed the uniform up too badly.”

“I’m sorry you have to deal with that,” Spencer said.

Kurt shrugged. “C’est la vie, I guess. It’s what you get by being different, by being an outcast. You always hear it gets better. Did it get better?” Kurt asked.

Spencer cocked his head to the side and ran his fingers through his hair. “Most of the time I think so, but I still have issues.”

Kurt looked him up and down again and nodded.

“Well, I’ve always known I can’t expect miracles and that there will always be problems. But I rather hoped they would be less if I moved away from here.” He said with a sigh. He looked up at Spencer. “The murdered guys... those guys weren’t, you know. Outcasts.”

“What do you mean?” Spencer asked.

#Glee Fanfic #CM fanfic

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Venom: Let There Be Carnage – The Comics History of the Symbiote Rivalry

https://ift.tt/3APMTrk

Something that impresses me with a superhero movie like Venom is when it doesn’t rush directly into the expected villain. When there are four different Fantastic Four movies, and they’re all about emphasizing Dr. Doom, it’s a breath of fresh air when, say, Man of Steel only makes an Easter egg reference to Lex Luthor instead of going directly for that confrontation. The MCU Spider-Man has yet to meet an Osborn, guys like Thanos and Darkseid started out as ominous benefactors, and the existence of Heath Ledger Joker was merely a cliffhanger tease in Batman Begins.

Much like how the Justice League movie decided to take its time by giving us Steppenwolf of all people, the first Venom movie had Carlton Drake (who hasn’t appeared in the comics since the early 9’0s) and Riot (the most forgettable of all of Venom’s comic children). By letting Venom build himself up on his own, flanked by some rather mundane villains, it gave more meaning to Cletus Kasady showing up in the post-credits. Carnage, Venom’s main villain, gets more fanfare by appearing in the sequel where our hero is fully formed.

Since Carnage’s first appearance in 1992, the idea has always been to make a darker, scarier Venom. Venom was a villain at the time, sure, but he was also on the border of becoming more. Outside of his personal delusions and anger issues, he still claimed that he wanted to help the innocent and punish the guilty. Even when he was able to accept that Spider-Man was good, they couldn’t co-exist due to their different natures as vigilantes. Carnage was simpler because he was full-on evil and had no potential for redemption. He was something so sinister and malevolent that both Spider-Man and Venom knew it was worth it to put aside their differences and take this creep down.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage has hyped Carnage up as being out of Venom’s league and that was the initial push of the character. Over time, the two became roughly equals as Carnage became the go-to bad guy for Venom to punch.

So let’s take a look at the history of Venom vs. Carnage. For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to define “Venom” and “Carnage” as characters wearing their respective symbiotes (excluding Peter Parker), or the symbiotes themselves. I’m not going to count Eddie Brock as Toxin, or Flash Thompson as Agent Anti-Venom or whatever.

Carnage’s Debut

Not counting cameos and build-up, Carnage’s first major appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man #361, starting off a three-parter. Spider-Man came to realize that he wasn’t enough to stop Carnage and he was going to need help. Specifically, he was going to need Venom. This was an awkward decision as Venom was at the time living his best life on an empty island, thinking that he had succeeded in killing Spider-Man.

Once Venom fully understood the situation, he accepted the temporary alliance. In the very first Venom vs. Carnage confrontation, Venom and Spider-Man tackled Carnage, got slammed into each other, then thrown into opposite walls. Carnage then caused a distraction by putting a baby in danger so he could escape. While he was dominant in that very brief scuffle, he still needed to run off, so I’m calling this a draw.

The handicap match continued into the last issue of the arc at a rock concert. In one-on-one exchanges, Carnage had Venom’s number, but Spider-Man was always there for the save. Spider-Man was able to use the sonics from the amplifiers to take out both of them. Technically a draw again, but it’s also a situation where Carnage regularly kicked the shit out of Venom and Venom only survived because he had help.

Maxium Carnage

Insert your Green Jelly cassettes and press play because it’s time for Carnage’s big ’90s crossover story. After the previous story’s popularity, Marvel decided to add more heroes, more villains, and make the whole thing a whopping 14 issues!

As Venom was a San Francisco vigilante at the time, he flew to New York to stop Carnage’s reign of terror. The first fight wasn’t even shown, as after the reveal that Carnage had Shriek and Doppelganger on his side, it cut away. A brutalized Venom was later found passing out while knocking on Peter and MJ’s door.

As Maximum Carnage was filled with so much filler and extra characters, there were various fight scenes of a group of heroes brawling with a group of villains. Venom and Carnage talked smack a lot, but nothing much ever really happened in terms of fighting. The story finally kicked into gear when Venom used a stolen sonic gun and blasted Carnage while Firestar assisted with her microwave blasts. This would have done the job, but Spider-Man got in the way and Shriek simply cut Cletus’ face open, causing his symbiote to respawn and bring him back to 100 percent health. Carnage and Shriek overwhelmed Venom and carried him off, along with the sonic gun.

Venom spent several issues being tortured until coming up with the plan to sneak some of the symbiote into the sonic gun so that Carnage would splatter Venom with more Venom. He punched Carnage down and escaped with gusto, hiding the fact that he was in no condition to fight.

It isn’t until the last issue that we FINALLY got a real Venom vs. Carnage fight. Venom was physically busted a bit, but Carnage was mentally busted. The heroes hit him with some MaGuffin device that caused him to be haunted by those who screwed him up in life. Venom pretty much just kicked Carnage’s ass around the city while Carnage tried in vain to escape. Every now and then, Spider-Man would appear and go, “B-b-but Eddie! Killing is wrong!” for the sake of giving Carnage a second wind.

Eventually, Venom punched Carnage so hard that Carnage’s brain ghosts went away. Knowing Carnage was more of a threat this way, Venom tackled him into a transformer. After the explosion, Cletus was knocked out and Venom got to weakly sneak away. Hey, good for him!

Venom: Carnage Unleashed

Venom was so popular that we got Carnage. Carnage’s initial storyline was so popular that we got Maximum Carnage. Maximum Carnage was so popular that we got a Maximum Carnage video game. Then we got Venom: Carnage Unleashed, a comic based on the popularity of the Maximum Carnage video game. It…wasn’t all too popular.

Still, it did give us the rarely used plot device that symbiotes can travel through phone lines and the internet! Symbiotes really are like pre-Crisis Superman where you can give them whatever power and people will just go with it no matter how ridiculous. As Carnage escaped from Ravencroft and commandeered a security tank, Venom eventually caught up with him and they had a fight on a runaway vehicle through traffic. Carnage eventually won when Venom got slammed by an oncoming train.

Their final battle here is a big pile of “That’s not how any of this works!” The two characters send symbiote tendrils into the internet, which were rendered on the Times Square big screen as the two brawled in cyberspace. Venom destroyed a nearby heatsink, which blasted both and knocked them out of the internet.

Carnage was ready for another go, but his kidnapped psychiatrist set him on fire and caused him to fall out a window. Venom reached through the phone lines and out the window to catch the falling Cletus because dying is WHAT HE WANTS. Which… no, that’s not true at all. Hell, even in Maximum Carnage, Cletus was freaked out about the possibility of dying.

Venom: On Trial

So there was a big Spider-Man/Scarlet Spider/Venom team-up called Planet of the Symbiotes that culminated in a 40-foot-tall Carnage, but there was never a specific Venom vs. Carnage moment, so I won’t go into it. Venom’s ’90s antihero run did have a storyline where Eddie was arrested and put on trial for all of his many crimes. Cletus Kasady was brought in as a star witness, which was an invitation for him to freak out and go on a killing rampage. I mean, seriously, guys. Come on. You should know better.

This story went all-in on Venom wrecking Carnage. Again, Spider-Man would interrupt and give Carnage a chance to turn things around. This time though, Venom decided to ride the wave by sneaking away while Spider-Man and Daredevil took on Carnage. Realizing that the two didn’t have a chance, Venom picked up a couple syringes filled with dopamine blocker and sprung into action. He smacked Carnage around, injected the blocker into his neck, and watched as the symbiote retracted into Cletus’ body.

Venom Triumphant

Howard Mackie wrote Spider-Man comics for a long while and he had an annoying tendency when it came to storytelling. He would come up with an interesting, if nonsensical, idea that would shake up the status quo, but instead of following up on that and using it to tell an actual story, he would just forget about it and move to the next idea that popped into his head. He was one of the main reasons why the Spider-Man Clone Saga was such a mess.

In the 10th issue of Peter Parker, Spider-Man, Venom broke into the prison where Carnage was being held. Despite the legion of heavily armed guards with flamethrowers and sonic guns, Venom killed them all so quickly that the artist didn’t even show it. Cletus, for some reason, figured Venom was trying to break him out of prison, but instead Venom was there to absorb the Carnage symbiote. Carnage barely put up a fight. Pieces of the symbiote were on him, but he didn’t fully transform or try to defend himself. Venom simply pulled the symbiote off of him and ate it, becoming stronger.

After this issue, there was barely any follow-up to this.

Venom vs. Carnage

This miniseries came out at a really weird time for those involved. Carnage was just a couple months away from being torn in half by the Sentry and being written out of comics for years. Venom was appearing in Marvel Knights Spider-Man where Eddie Brock got rid of the symbiote and it bounced around to different hosts until landing on Mac Gargan. Meanwhile there was a Venom ongoing that was more about a symbiote clone where Eddie Brock only appeared for a couple late issues.

In other words, in the Venom vs. Carnage miniseries by Peter Milligan and Clayton Crain, even the creative team had no idea who Venom’s host was supposed to be. Luckily, the story wasn’t about Venom or Carnage, but a new character who would quickly fall into obscurity anyway.

Venom and Carnage swung around New York City, giving the exposition. The Carnage symbiote was pregnant and Venom was explaining that there was nothing to do to stop the creature from going into labor. Venom was all about protecting the new spawn while Carnage wanted to destroy it, immediately. Carnage got the better of Venom by flinging him into the distance. Regardless, the explosive birth wore out Carnage so much that he could only plant the baby onto a nearby cop and escape to rest up.

When the two had a rematch, Venom was there to save the baby symbiote (Toxin) and its host (Pat Mulligan). As if getting revenge for that Carnage Unleashed story, Venom brought the fight to the subway and pushed Carnage into an oncoming train.

And… that’s really all the Venom vs. Carnage we get in Venom vs. Carnage! Once Venom sees that Toxin is a good guy and capable of kicking Carnage’s ass, he gets afraid of Toxin befriending Spider-Man and decides to team up with Carnage for once.

Carnage, USA

Carnage returned from his maiming at the hands of the Sentry, albeit without a bottom half. By then, a lot had happened with Venom. The symbiote was removed from Mac Gargan and joined with war hero Flash Thompson. Agent Venom went on to join the Secret Avengers.

Carnage, USA told the story of Cletus expanding his symbiote to overtake an entire town in the middle of nowhere. When various heroes went to oppose him, the Carnage symbiote ended up taking over Captain America, Wolverine, Hawkeye, and the Thing. When gaining a moment of clarity, Cap called in Agent Venom for help.

Movies

Venom 2 Trailer Breakdown – All the Marvel and Carnage References

By Gavin Jasper

Comics

Venom: Who is Carnage?

By Gavin Jasper

In their first meeting, Agent Venom easily took down Carnage with some explosive projectiles that came with sonic shrapnel. Then when getting ready for the kill – say it with me everyone – Spider-Man got in his face and went, “No! Don’t kill!” Carnage recovered, and overwhelmed Venom with his army of Carnage’d heroes. Then another obscure symbiote hero, Scorn, popped in to run Venom and Carnage over with a bulldozer and bring them into a facility that would blast their symbiotes off the hosts.

While Cletus and Flash had a fight based around the novelty that both were legless, the Venom symbiote latched onto a gorilla and ran for its life against an entire zoo full of animals with the Carnage symbiote. After almost being taken down by a Carnage lion (Spider-Man with the save), the gorilla returned to Flash and gave him the power to bring Cletus into custody.

As for the town-wide Carnage symbiote, most of it was taken out by an airstrike.

Minimum Carnage

Following up on Agent Venom, he had his own team-up arc with Scarlet Spider (Kaine) with the fun dynamic of a Venom who doesn’t want to kill and a Spider-Man who does. The two chased Carnage into the Microverse, where Carnage was able to create an army of symbiote clones. While Agent Venom was able to decapitate Carnage, the villain had attained some level of power where his body is more overall fluid and animated. In this case, Carnage could just reattach his head with no problem.

Although Flash had sedated his own symbiote and lacked the monstrous advantage, he was able to wipe out a bunch of the clones by amplifying his own inner sorrow outward through the Venom symbiote. Strangely, that’s not the first time Venom was able to do that. What’s left of Carnage slinked away, cackling.

Carnage and the clones returned to Earth and Voltron’d themselves into a giant Carnage. As Carnage tried to devour Agent Venom, Venom shoved a sonic grenade down Carnage’s throat and let the blast do the rest, taking out the enlarged Carnage symbiote almost completely. In the aftermath, Scarlet Spider jabbed one of his claws through Cletus’ eye and lobotomized him.

Venomverse

Venomverse is about a series of Venom hosts from different realities coming together to fight beings called Poisons. Under normal circumstances, Poisons are harmless. If one of them makes physical contact with a symbiote and its host, it transforms them into a nigh-unbeatable crystal-like creature with the Poison in control. By this point, Eddie Brock was Venom again and joined with all sorts of random symbiote heroes to the point that he came off as just a regular dude.

With their back against the wall, Eddie came up with an idea. They brought in Carnage from an alternate universe as a ringer. At first, Carnage fought against the Venoms, but they were reluctant to fight back. Once he saw the Poisons and understood that the Venoms wanted him to kill an army of twisted superheroes, he gladly joined their ranks. He just let them know that once he was done with the Poisons, he’d kill them next.

He ended up being a huge help, especially since the Poisons had a hard time bonding to the Carnage symbiote. Carnage died in an explosion fighting Poisons alongside Poison Deadpool (who was able to bypass his Poison’s mental control).

There was a sequel to this called Venomized where the Poisons returned and tried to invade Earth. They kidnapped Cletus, forced him to bond to an alternate universe Venom, and then bonded that to a Poison. While he was referred to as “Carnage” at times, the Carnage symbiote was never involved, so I’m going to skip this one.

But where was the Carnage symbiote during all of this?

The Red Goblin

At one point, Norman Osborn became the host for Carnage to give us a climactic villain to finish off Dan Slott’s lengthy run on Amazing Spider-Man. Knowing that Spider-Man was out of his league, J. Jonah Jameson decided to fight fire with fire by calling up Eddie Brock and blackmailing him into aiding Spider-Man. This led to a brief fight of Spider-Man, Venom, and repulsor-wielding Mary Jane against the Red Goblin.

Venom and Red Goblin brawled for a bit, but Red Goblin appeared to be immune to the usual symbiote weaknesses, so only Venom took damage. While he got some hits in, Eddie was too exhausted to continue. Instead he offered the symbiote to Spider-Man to give him the extra boost. This brief team-up allowed the two vigilante enemies to finally bury their lengthy rivalry.

Absolute Carnage

Now we get to Donny Cates’ bonkers run on Venom. Cletus had been resurrected and turned back into Carnage via a bunch of cultists who worshipped Knull, God of Symbiotes. Carnage then started going around eating the spines of those who were once host to a symbiote, getting stronger by the meal. Dark Carnage first fought Venom in a subway and easily overpowered him. Still, Venom got the win by grabbing onto the third rail while holding onto Dark Carnage. It was enough to knock Carnage loopy while Venom could get away and seek out help.

Venom and Spider-Man sought out Norman Osborn (who believed himself to be Cletus Kasady after the Red Goblin episode) and were ambushed by an army of inmates possessed by Carnage symbiotes. Overwhelmed, the two heroes broke through a wall and swung off into the night.

Venom got involved in another big fight against an army of Carnages and could have killed Osborn, but instead chose to save a wounded Mac Gargan nearby and brought him to safety. The Venom symbiote wasn’t happy with this and later left Eddie for Bruce Banner, giving us a fight between Venom Hulk and Dark Carnage. This turned out to be a dire choice, as Dark Carnage tore into Hulk’s brain, caused him to shrink back to Banner, then ate his spine. Carnage was stronger than ever.

Meanwhile, mad scientist the Maker had a machine that took the “symbiote codex” stuff Carnage was looking for out of former hosts without the nasty “tearing out their spinal column” part. Eddie unleashed the codex collection onto himself, turning him into a more powerful version of Venom. As he took on Cletus one last time, Carnage made note that Venom was screwed no matter what. Either Carnage killed and ate Eddie’s son Dylan or Eddie killed Carnage, which would wake up Knull and drive him to Earth.

Venom summoned the Necrosword to cut through Carnage, destroying him once and for all. For a time, at least.

Prelude to Knull

Wouldn’t you know it, killing Dark Carnage caused Eddie to absorb the Carnage symbiote into himself. Soon he was separated from Venom and stuck on an island while being bonded against his will to the Carnage symbiote. Dylan was able to remotely control the Venom symbiote and transformed it into a giant Venom T-rex. Like it wasn’t even bonding onto a dinosaur or anything. It was just the size and shape of a tyrannosaurus just because.

Eddie and Dylan had a dreamlike meeting in their minds while Carnage Eddie chopped down at the Venom dino. Eventually, the power of familial love was enough to overpower the Carnage symbiote and blow it up. Eddie rejoined with the Venom symbiote, and a little piece of Carnage latched onto a nearby shark to swim off and fight another day.

Okay, then! Phew! Going by every Venom vs. Carnage fight, I’ve judged them so that there have been six draws, eight victories for Carnage, and nine victories for Venom.

Congratulations, black ooze. Here’s hoping your red offspring doesn’t turn the tide at the box office.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage will be released in theaters on Oct. 1.

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greatsagestonemonkey · 3 years

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A Game of Cat and Monkey (Part 1)

So @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off, @neonross, and @purble-turble... this is mostly all your faults.

I was taking a nap a few days ago while suffering from a bad migraine, and I had a dream about the Monkie Kid Pirate AU that’s been going on for awhile here that was a sort of crossover with my mainstream pirate OC and it was... honestly too epic to not write down and throw out there, so here it is! (the first part of it, anyway.)

It was supposed to be easy, not get complicated in a matter of five minutes or less. In and out. Not in, run around, then out with a spray of musket balls in his wake.

Wukong had sent him in the Monkey King get-up to fetch an astrolabe that was supposed to be magic, or enchanted, or something. Whatever. It did something special and he was supposed to get it. And it was supposed to be easy.

Breaking into the mansion of the collector was easy enough, most everyone had gone to bed and what guards there were seemed confident that no one would dare to try to break in that they were easy to slip past.

It wasn’t until MK reached the study, where the astrolabe was supposed to be, that the evening went hard about faster than a sloop catching a good wind.

He stopped dead in his tracks only seconds after closing the large doors behind him at the sight of a silhouette against the large, double-paned windows. He was half ready to relax after going tense at seeing it, expecting it to be a decorative suit of armor, or statue, or something, but that feeling never came as the glimmer of very real, deep, sea blue eyes glinted in surprise at his presence in the moonlight.

They tensed, crouched almost at seeing him as if hoping to shrink back into the shadows unnoticed, and MK reached for the rapier on his belt, drawing it out only maybe a quarter of an inch, just in case. His eyes traveled down the figure’s form, landing and locking onto the astrolabe clutched tightly in their fingers like the claws of an oriental dragon around a pearl. Even with his mask on, he gave his best, charming smile and raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that the figure could likely see his expression with the moonlight pouring into the room.

“Don’t suppose I can just ask you to hand that over nicely, can I?” he asked.

WHOOSSSSHH-CRACK!

He barely--barely--had time to register that something long, fluid in its motion, and metal from the way it was glinting, was flying straight at his head; like a blue serpent gliding through the air at lightning speed. He leaned back instinctively to dodge, back and neck arching back at a practically impossible angle to spare him the blow. His breath caught in his throat as the long object snagged the fabric of his mask, hearing it tear very near to the arch his nose made beneath it. He whipped out his sword, using the blade to smack the object away as it continued to stretch outwards in his direction dangerously and rolled back to safety, free hand flying to his mask to check just how much of it had been torn; and sighed discreetly in relief at feeling only a slight rip in the material while his eyes followed the object as it flew back to its owner.

A whip. It was a whip! As if the sound of the crack ringing through his ears wasn’t telling enough he had to nearly get his nose snapped off by it!

“Hey!” he protested, louder than he had intended. Not that it mattered, since the sound of that whip alone was enough to wake the dead! He was still so stunned by the brazen act that he couldn’t even think of something witty and whip related to say! Nor would he have the time to after completely recovering, either.

The owner of the whip reared it back again, cracking it a second time; but not at him. At the window behind them. The odd, blue metal shattered the glass like a heavy and well aimed club swing, sending it showering over the room and the courtyard below. To anyone who hadn’t seen the action itself, it might have seemed like the window just exploded! MK held up an arm to cover himself as some of the glass showered a little too close, then watched in astonishment as the figure lept right through the now apparent gap in the window ledge. He let out a choked sound of surprise and darted to the edge to watch their fall, flinching as he heard the whip crack again, and was just able to catch sight of it catching on the limb of a tree in the courtyard below, allowing the owner to swing--with almost supernatural ease--up onto the outside wall of the mansion.

MK could only blink and continue to watch in awe as they briefly glanced back at him before disappearing over the wall and vanishing from sight.

“Um… okay then…?” he murmured to himself, taking a moment to move his hat aside just enough to scratch his head in confusion.

He only had that moment though; the sound of running footfalls in the hall outside the room he was in snapped him back into reality and sent him out the window himself. Nice of that stranger to at least give him an escape route after stealing his mark right out from under him!

Now he just had to get back to the ship.

And explain everything to Wukong and the others.

Great…

~~~

Back at the Flowerfruit, MK couldn’t help but feel like a bug under a magnifying glass when he first climbed aboard, empty handed. It was only when he was taking off the Monkey King outfit that he was able to get enough of a word in as the crew bombarded him with questions on how it went, and all that. It stung having to explain when he didn’t know quite how to explain it himself, since he was still largely processing the situation, but he did his best.

“And they used a whip!” he exclaimed, pacing back and forth in the galley as the others sat and listened, watching him walk. “But it wasn’t like a cat o’ ninetails kind of whip, it was like a legit, long whip! Made of metal!”

“A metal whip?” Wukong asked, voice sounding skeptical as he raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah!” MK snatched up his mask and held it out for the others to see. “Look what it did to my mask!”

Tang took the cloth from MK before Wukong could, adjusting his glasses and squinting at the tear with a great deal of scrutiny.

“Hm… He’s right. This is a clean cut. A rawhide whip would have left more jagged tearing,” he said, finally passing the cloth to Wukong. “It had to have been made of metal. Sharp metal.”

“Sharp and strong enough to shatter glass even…” Wukong mused, sighing as he put the mask aside and crossed his arms. “And they got the astrolabe…?”

MK frowned, gaze falling to the floor. “I’m sorry…”

A weight on his shoulder made him look up at Wukong, who shrugged and was smiling at him.

“Relax, it’s not like we’ve lost it for good,” he said. “Chances are, whoever this character is, they’re still on the island somewhere. If it was me, I sure wouldn’t risk skipping port right away. I’d lay low, wait until the heat dies down and until the local constabulary isn’t searching everyone’s person for an astrolabe.”

“Yeah, something like that sticks out way too much to just pass off as usual luggage.” Mei said with a nod. “Like who even uses those anymore…?”

“Point is, we still have a chance of getting it back.” Wukong said, hand slipping off a now smiling MK’s shoulder. “We’ll sweep the town and ask around for a pirate who uses a whip. Shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

“Yeah!” MK nodded, fists pumping towards his chest excitedly.

“In the meantime, let’s get some shut eye. It’s only a few hours until sunrise, and we’ll start our search then.”

~~~

Morning couldn’t come soon enough. He was able to get a few winks at least, but he was itching to get back out there and find this mysterious whip wielding pirate.

It was kind of fun having a new player in the game; new blood to run up against, and he was eager to test his metal against them.

Even if the first time didn’t pan out so well… but that was only because he had been caught off guard! He could do better the next time around! He would do better.

They split up around the port, some of them on their own, some in pairs, to cover more ground. There wouldn’t be much need to go to the richer, or more high end districts in town, since it wasn’t very likely that the noblemen and their ilk would pay too much attention to a seaman wearing a whip. Or to a seaman in general. Taverns and boarding houses would be their best bet.

That didn’t mean it would be easy though. Wukong had been right; soldiers were searching the outgoing ships and any passengers on them. If they weren’t careful they’d likely be recognized, but thankfully their line of questioning wouldn’t likely tie in with the theft of the astrolabe. Even so, part of him was very tempted to just ask one of the soldiers what they knew at least to make this go faster…

He kept going over the previous night in his head. From the moment he entered the study to the moment he had to jump through the window to get away.

He tried to remember everything he could about the figure he encountered; not just the whip they held. Their stance, the way they tried to shrink into the shadows like that. They obviously knew how to sneak around, if they got into the mansion, so finding them might not be all that easy. But then there were the eyes. Blue eyes. Not all that common around these parts. At least not the shade he caught a brief glimpse of. Someone would have had to notice a blue eyes, whip-toting pirate around here at some point… or at least that’s what he would think.

MK snapped out of his thoughts long enough to look up and jog over to Pigsy as he saw him round a corner ahead of him.

“Anything?” he asked, somewhat hopeful sounding.

“Nada.” Pigsy shook his head, arms crossed over his chest. “Either they haven’t seen anything period or won’t say whether or not they have.”

MK sighed. “Maybe they really did skip port already,” he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“Maybe…” Pigsy said with a shrug.

A sound pierced the air that made MK practically jump. Pierced… no, cracked.

The same sound he heard last night.

Followed by a loud crash and a shout.

MK and Pigsy both turned around to see what was causing the commotion, as did a small crowd that gathered outside what looked like the back entrance to an inn. From what they could see, a large, bulky pirate had been thrown hard into a few supply crates and barrels, their contents now scattered over and around him as he laid dazed in a pile of splinters; but what caught MK’s attention completely was the sight of a long, blue, metal whip-like cord being coiled back up into the hands of its owner, and from where he was he could just barely see the same glint of sea blue eyes from last night.

“Maybe that’ll teach ya t’ keep your hands to yourself,” the voice, thick with an Irish accent, and that of a woman’s. “Especially when you’ve already been told t’ do so once, ya scut!”

She turned on her heel and marched off, kicking a broken plank out of her path, and attaching the strange weapon back to a holster on her sash-like belt as she went. Pigsy let out a whistle, which in turn snapped MK out of his state of shock.

“She’s got some gumption!” Pigsy said with a chuckle, grunting loudly in shock as MK grabbed and turned him so they were facing each other.

“Pigsy, that’s them! Her! The whip! It’s the same one! I’d swear on it!” MK blurted out, head turning rapidly between Pigsy and the direction the woman was headed off in.

Pigsy tore MK’s hands off him. “Okay, okay, I get it! So now what?”

“Uh…” MK shook his head, scratching his head a few times before looking back at the other. “You get back to the others and tell them we found her, and I’ll follow her and find out where she’s going!”

MK took off without another word, despite protest from Pigsy. He had to push through the crowd a little bit in order to follow the woman down the same road without losing her, his fear of doing so almost making him miss a deep, red gash on the chest of the poor soul who had angered her earlier. He grimaced a bit, mind flashing back to the night before and how that could have been his face… not that he was afraid of a good scar, he already had a handful of them, but still… just… Ouch.

He shook it off and continued to follow her, making sure to keep enough distance between the two of them that he could. She didn’t seem to be too concerned about being followed though, and with that whip of hers he could definitely understand why at least in some respect. Still, he couldn’t believe how easy this was turning out; and if his luck held he might be able to get the astrolabe back himself and redeem himself for last night.

She was heading for the jungle that surrounded the port town. A bit odd. There was nothing out here except… well, jungle. Maybe she had a camp out here someplace? Or was planning to meet someone out here? It didn’t really matter, either way he’d have to make sure to leave a trail for the rest of the crew to follow if they came along to try and find him. He kept the distance between himself and the pirate woman, making sure to duck behind trees and bushes large enough to hide him from her sight, snapping a few small branches in the direction they were heading; and stopping only occasionally to use his knife to leave relevant markings on a tree or two.

MK ducked behind a tree, holding his breath as she came to a sudden stop and turned back. He stayed stock still, only breathing again once he was sure he could avoid gasping from the initial startle, and only dared to peek around the tree he hid behind when he heard the foliage ahead of them rustle. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that her moving on meant she didn’t see him, which meant he just had to keep following--

He froze at seeing that she had disappeared entirely.

“What the…?” he looked around, even behind him, to see where she had gone. But there was no sign, nor trace, not even in the dirt where she’d been standing. The tracks just stopped! So where did she…?

Another crack that made him jump, the feeling of something tightening sharply around his ankle, followed by a sharp yank, one that sent him crashing to the ground before pulling him upwards into the air by that same ankle. He yelped aloud, unable to keep the sound from erupting from his mouth as he was hoisted into the air and left swinging like a pinata by one leg.

“Hey!” MK yelped arms flailing out around him before reaching up and attempting to free his leg from the whip coiled around it.

“I wouldn’t, if I were you.”

MK froze again temporarily when he felt cold steel stretch across his throat, letting himself fall backward enough to look at the woman; who stood, whip tight in one hand to hold him up and a blade in the other, glaring at him. MK glared back, unable to keep from making an aggravated, almost pouting sound at her.

“Seriously?! You use a metal whip and a knife?! Oh come on, that’s just cheating!” he whined.

“All’s fair when you’re a pirate, lad,” she said.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, we make our own rules, the code is more guidelines, all that stuff…” MK said with a roll of his eyes.

She let out a sigh. “How about we skip past the banter and get to the point; who are you and why are you following me?”

Shoot. MK had to think fast. Typically he had at least one of three go-to answers to a question like this… they usually worked really well on Red, but this wasn’t Red. This was someone with a blade at his throat and a crazy looking blue, metal whip around his leg, hanging him from a tree. He would have to come up with something else to save his neck… literally.

“I, uh… I-It’s nothing, really! I saw the way you handled yourself in the town back there and I… well, it was really cool! I wanted to ask if you could… you know, teach me how you… did that thing you did!” MK said, putting on as genuine a smile as he could.

“Oh really? Which thing was that?” she asked, lowering the blade only so she could crouch down and look at him at the same level. MK began to sweat. “For someone who wanted to learn a simple wrist flick, you sure were intent on not being seen back there…”

“...Okay, okay!” MK sighed, letting himself sag in the hold of the whip. “It was my friend who was watching you, he thought you were cute, but he’s pants at talking to girls so he asked me to do it for him! Happy!?”

She choked down what was undoubtedly a laugh. He wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not, but he was willing to take what he got.

“Can you let me down now? All my blood is rushing to my head!” he whined. Unbeknownst to her, he had one last trick up his sleeve, but it all relied on her letting him down, and hopefully she bought his second excuse so he could pull it.

After a pause, she spoke again, and he felt slack on his ankle. “Fine.”

“Thanks, I--” his expression of gratitude was cut off by a painful grunt as he fell to the ground beneath him with a hard thud. He rolled himself over and onto his knees as she stood back to full height, coiling up the whip again.

Go time.

“Ouch! Did you really have to just drop me!?” he asked, starting to stand, only to bite back a cry of pain and fall backwards again, this time clutching his leg where the whip had been coiled around it. “Oh come on!”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, an annoyed, but surprised tone in her voice.

MK grumbled to make it sound like he was swearing under his breath. “Your whip must have dislocated something…” he growled at her.

She sighed, rolling her eyes and reaching down to offer him a hand up, the same hand that should have been resting on her whip.

Just what he was waiting for.

MK took her hand firmly, typical of someone preparing to hoist themselves up with another’s aid, but instead he pulled as hard as he could, prankly yanking on her arm while his “injured” leg shot out forward at hers, knocking her feet out from under her. She fell with a startled cry, MK using her initial shock from the fall to twist and roll the both of them so that she was pinned beneath him; arm above her head so that she couldn’t reach for her whip again. He reached behind him and pulled out the small dagger he kept with him, intending to put it to her throat only as a means to keep her still, but to his surprise it was met with her own before he could set it in place. He’d been so focused on the whip, and just keeping her from using it again that he forgot about the knife entirely. But with how they were locked together now, it wasn’t like it was that big of a problem.

“You little sneak…!” she hissed, accent flaring with the anger in her voice.

“Easy, I don’t want to hurt you! I just want the astrolabe you stole!” MK hissed back, arm straining to hold her down as she struggled. “Hand it over and I’ll let you alone!”

“Pirate’s honor?”

“Of course!”

“Then no deal!” she growled, giving one hard, last effort shove to push him off of her. But MK was ready for it; all his training with Wukong hadn’t been for naught, after all.

He leaned back, using his weight to drag her up and off balance, still keeping his grip on her wrist so she couldn’t go for the whip. He briefly tucked the knife he held into his teeth, using the sudden momentum from their roll to flip her up and over him in a way that he had complete control of her movement. With another twist of his arm, and making sure to sweep his legs the right way, he flipped her onto her stomach, with her arm twisted behind her and him now sitting on her back. He heard her swear in what he assumed was Irish Gaelic repeatedly as he took the knife out of his teeth again.

“Phew! Good thing Wukong’s training paid off,” he said to himself, before pressing the blade to her cheek to still her as she struggled. “Look, I really don’t want to hurt you! If I did, I would have by now, so just, let me have the astrolabe and we can both just walk away without any bad feelings, alright?”

He paused as she arched her head to look at him with a skeptical look, and he felt himself blush a bit sheepishly.

“...Okay, maybe some bad feelings, but hey, give me credit, I’m trying here!” he said.

She sighed heavily and with agitation lacing her voice, letting her head flop forward slightly into the dirt and grass beneath them. “I don’t have it.”

“What?”

“I said I don’t have it!” she snapped back at him. “Do you really think I’d be dense enough to have it one me with soldiers searching almost everyone in town?!”

“Well then what did you do with it?” MK asked, pulling the blade of the knife back just enough to avoid cutting into her cheek. She grumbled under her breath and he sighed, pressing it back to her cheek with just the slightest bit more pressure. “Come on, I meant it when I said I don’t want to hurt you…”

“There’s a mile long beach south of here that’s right littered with rocky crags and tidal pools. That’s where I stashed it.”

“Hm… that’s actually pretty smart.” MK said, though he couldn’t deny the annoyance he felt. “It just means I’m gonna have to have you lead me to it yourself, rather than letting you go right away like I was hoping to.”

“So it would seem,” the woman hissed up at him.

MK sighed, briefly looking over his shoulder, half hoping someone from the crew would show up by now, thanks to the trail he left, but he couldn’t count on Pigsy finding them right away and filling them all in. He was probably on his own for now. Not that he couldn’t handle it… just so long as he kept his wits about him with this one.

“Okay, I’m going to let you up, and you’re going to lead me to the astrolabe,” he said, sheathing the knife but keeping his grip on her arm and staying on top of her. “But!” he added, using his now free hand to detach the whip from the holster on her belt. “I’m going to be keeping this with me so you can’t use it!”

With that, he got up off of her, quickly, and stepped back to let her up. He kept his hands tightly around the whip, examining it carefully and briefly as she pulled herself up onto her feet again and brushed the dirt off her vest.

It was like nothing he’d ever seen before; a light metal that felt way less durable than it probably was, segmented to allow the whip itself to stretch when swung the right way, and probably allowing it to cut all the more cleanly too. But what struck him the most was the color of the metal. It was a deep, blue-green color, veined with lighter colors that almost glowed and flashed like the surface of water under direct sunlight. He couldn’t help but whistle at the unique object before turning his attention back to the woman as she faced him, a scowl plastered onto her face.

“Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll make sure that you get some sort of reward to compensate, alright?”

“Keep talking like that and people will think you’re too soft to be a real pirate, lad. Now are we gonna move on or do you intend to make me chat with you for the rest of the afternoon?” she asked.

“Fine.” MK said with a sigh, gesturing her forward with his free hand. “Let’s go.”

He followed her through the jungle, keeping a tight grip on the whip in hand, an eye on her, and another eye behind them as they walked. He was still making sure to leave a trail so his crew could find them, but the fact that they hadn’t yet was really making him nervous. He tried not to show it, though. He tried his best to make it look like he was doing his best to memorize their surroundings, or something, just in case she pulled any tricks.

He glanced down at the whip in his hand again curiously, then back at her, clearing his throat a bit.

“So… what crew are you from?” he asked, the extended, awkward silence making him even more nervous, so he decided to try and break it. She wasn’t cooperating though, remaining silent. “Or do you work alone? Solo pirate, or just the treasure hunter type?”

He heard her sigh and could swear by the way her head tilted back slightly that she just rolled her eyes at him. He huffed in annoyance, rolling his own eyes for a moment before propping his arms behind his head casually.

“You’re from Ireland, right?” he asked, deciding to change tactics. “I can tell from your accent. From what part?”

“...My kin originally hailed from Louth, but my grandfather was born in Galway,” she finally replied, causing MK to perk up a little.

“Ah, I’ve heard of Galway, but not Louth… where’s that?”

“Further East. It was once known as Ulster...” she said, then clicked her tongue and looked back at him. “Is there a point to these questions of yours?”

MK shrugged. “Not really… just curious,” he replied. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’re an odd fish, you know that?”

MK shrugged again, continuing to follow her. “And you’re not? I mean… don’t take it the wrong way but I’ve never heard of a pirate using a whip before,” he said, glancing at the whip in his hands again briefly. “And what the heck is it made of? I’ve never seen metal like this before...”

“That’s what makes it so advantageous,” she said, looking back at him with a proud smirk. “No one who knows as much as they think they do about pirates would ever see it coming.”

“Can’t really argue with that…” MK said quietly, mind flashing back to the previous night, when she first caught him off guard, then looking at her again. “But you didn’t answer my last question.”

“And I don’t intend to. It wouldn’t be professional if I gave away all my trade secrets,” she said, smirking at him again and tapping a finger to her nose.

“Fair enough… but if you won’t tell me what it’s made of, then will you at least tell me where you got it?” he asked.

She shrugged, stopping to turn and face him, eyes falling on the whip itself. “I stole it from another pirate on my first venture as one, a long, long time ago. It’s got plenty of sentimental value for me…”

MK squinted at her and clutched the whip tightly. “Oh no you don’t,” he said. “You’re not getting this back until I have the astrolabe!”

“Worth a try,” she said with a defeated sigh, starting to turn back around, when she stopped, looking beyond MK and scowling slightly.

“What?”

“Your friends found us at last, it seems,” she said.

MK tightened his grip on the whip, making sure she wouldn’t make a grab for it as he turned around to look and see for himself. It was about time that they caught up! He had this well in hand, but he sure could use the extra help if he needed it…

A shadow darted behind a tree, and another behind a large stone, a bit too slow for him to not notice them, and to not ascertain that they were not members of his crew.

But he unfortunately did know who they were.

“Down!” he whispered loudly, turning and tackling the woman to the ground as gently as he could, while still trying to keep the whip out of her reach.

“What the bloody hell do you think you’re--?!” she almost snapped aloud, if not for MK slapping his free hand over her mouth.

“Sssh!” he whispered harshly, looking over his shoulder briefly before crawling off her enough to drag her behind a tree. “Those buccaneers are no friends of mine!” he whispered again, then looked at her, letting go of her mouth. “Unless they’re yours?”

She shook her head, a surprising look of alarm crossing her features. “But if they’re not yours, then whose are they?” she asked, voice hushed now.

“It’s a long story.” MK said, swallowing. “But basically their captain is… and old “friend” of my captain’s, and they…” he paused and sighed. “They know I’m important to him… so they’re likely here for me.”

“Well, if I’d known I was being held hostage by a celebrity I would have been more polite,” she actually joked, craning her neck to peer around the tree they were hidden behind.

MK bit his lip and chewed nervously, fist clenching around the whip in his hand, also craning his neck to look around the tree and watch as what looked like nearly a dozen different shapes and shadows seemed to be lurking just a cable’s length away. It wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen if they caught up with them, and that was where his brain did that thing where he started to think up all the different scenarios that he didn’t like to think about…

Firstly, he wasn’t sure if he could trust this woman to fight by his side if they were caught. For all he knew, she was actually part of Macaque’s crew and was leading him into a trap all along… but then again she didn’t seem the type. And another thing that bothered him was that if she wasn’t part of Macaque’s crew, he would be convinced she was with him, and there would be absolutely no way he’d be able to convince Macaque to spare her or just let her go. And if she wasn’t really part of this then he didn’t want to get her involved… even if she was his only key to getting the astrolabe back.

Stupid conscience…

He shoved the whip back into her hands quietly, crouching in a way that prepared him to jump up and run in another second. He watched her eyes go wide in confusion at his action, looking at him in further confusion as he took this stance.

“What are you…?”

“Look, they’re after me, not you.” MK said, past bared teeth. “So I’ll draw them off, and you make a run for it.”

“Don’t be foolish there’s at least a dozen of them!” she whispered back, but made no move to stop him. MK shrugged with what--to her shock--appeared to be a genuine smile.

“Heh, being foolish is kind of one of my better qualities!” he said, taking off before she could protest on his behalf again.

He didn’t really think as to which direction he was running in, just so long as he was gaining as much distance as he could. He didn’t really have a plan at this point, but he knew the coast was nearby. If he could make it there he had a good chance of being able to double back towards town and either losing his pursuers in the crowds or getting the attention of his crewmates. But of course, he had to actually make it without getting caught first… Pigsy was right, he should have probably waited for the others, but there was no time to worry about that now; he had to keep moving!

A shot rang out and he heard a branch he ducked beneath snap as he ran. He bit back a yelp and changed direction, sliding down a ditch in his path before continuing to run. That was way too close for comfort! But he liked to imagine that Macaque wanted him alive for whatever reason and was now either scolding the pirate whose shot came too close or cutting him down in some way…

And then the thought of actually being taken alive by one of Wukong’s greatest enemies made his stomach lurch. As did the thought of whatever the outcome of being captured alive would eventually be! That thought alone spurred him onward, pumping him with adrenaline that gave him a burst of speed that was just enough for his pursuers to lose sight of him…

But at a cost that he realized only too late.

It wasn’t until he was tumbling off the edge of the cliff that he even realized that it was there. The fall itself wasn’t fatal, just by the distance, but he hit the rocky ground beneath hard. Hard enough for something in his bones to crack, painfully. He cried out loudly and abruptly in pain, though manage to strangle the remaining sound by slapping his hand over his mouth, body curling on itself as his free hand shot to his now--quite clearly broken--leg.

No. No, no, no, not like this!

With some difficulty and still strangling any pain filled screams that tried to escape his vocal cords, he managed to sit himself up and drag himself to the base of the cliff. Tears of agony and frustration stung the corners of his eyes as he pressed himself against the rock, looking up and praying to whatever god was listening that none of his pursuers saw or heard him fall. Especially now that he couldn’t run anymore. Not with a freshly busted leg!

He chanced a glance away from the top of the cliff above to look at the leg, grimacing a bit at seeing it twisted in a way it… really shouldn’t have been. He’d had broken bones before… but usually from stupid stuff. Stupid mistakes or antics on his part, things he could laugh about later with his friends, or even be scolded by them for, but this was different. Serious. His friends weren’t here to help him set this, or to help him limp to safety, he was on his own.

On his own with a least half a dozen pirates led by one who would probably use him to get to his friends now that he was an easy capture with this stupid, broken leg!

A shadow briefly graced the top of the cliff, vanishing before he could get a good look, or hide himself against the rock better, and he felt his heart stop.

They’d seen him.

They would be down here any second.

This was it…

MK hesitantly reached for the dagger he had with him, hands still shaking from the pain in his leg. He wasn’t going to possibly meet his maker and say he didn’t go down without a fight, even if it was going to be a brief one…

“That looks bad, lad.”

The way she had snuck up on him was so quiet he began to wonder if she wasn’t some sort of ghost. He gasped aloud, catching his breath so he didn’t scream from surprise, his own held silence further helped by her placing a hand gently over his mouth, two fingers over her own with a whisper of “shush”, to him. MK set down the dagger as she pulled her hand away, sniffling and choking back a pained sob as the woman with the whip knelt beside him.

“Wh-What… are you doing here…?” he asked, wincing as she--as tenderly as possible--examined his leg.

“Irish stubbornness,” she replied. “I wouldn’t be a good daughter of Eireann if I just let you face such odds on your own.”

MK couldn’t fight a smile and a single, happy sob that escaped him. “H-Heh… thanks…” he said.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she said, pulling one of his arms over her shoulders to help him up. “Now let’s get under some cover and take care of that leg…”

The way the high tides had beaten the shore in past years left the cliff face jagged, full of holes and crags, plenty of places to hide, if you could get to them easily. Which, without help, there was no way he could have. The woman managed to help him under a ledge that would be just enough to hide them both, laying him out flat carefully, so as not to agitate his leg further. Once he was set down as comfortably as possible, she left his side briefly to pick up some pieces of driftwood they had passed on their way there. After that, she returned to his side, sitting in front of him, hands hovering over his leg.

“I have to set this,” she said seriously. “Brace yourself.”

MK nodded, bracing himself as instructed, fists clenching at his sides and gritting his teeth together. She nodded back, carefully taking him by his injured leg, and twisting it abruptly with a “snap” that he felt shoot up his whole body. He didn’t scream, though. He didn’t make a peep. It wasn’t the first time he’d broken something, after all. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, of course. It hurt a lot! He had to squeeze his eyes shut to fight a few tears that threatened to leak out, but he kept quiet, fists finally unclenching as the pain subsided to a more bearable level.

“You’re a brave one,” the woman said, an impressed tone to her voice as she undid the sash around her waist, tearing some of it off, which she then wrapped around his leg.

“Thought I was foolish?” MK asked, voice a bit cracked, but still managing a smile.

“Aye, that too. Still, not bad.”

MK chuckled softly as he watched her use the pieces of driftwood she’d gathered, and the torn parts of her sash to make a sturdy splint for his leg. He felt a few twinges of pain as she tightened the knots, making sure they would hold, but he was grateful that the worst was over at least. She seemed to be too as she sighed and brushed her hands together.

“There, that’ll hold for a while,” she said matter of factly.

“Thank you,” said MK, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m… sorry, about earlier. With the whole… taking you hostage, thing...”

She shrugged. “Eh, pirate’s life.” MK managed a chuckle.

“Fair enough,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But seriously, thank you for the help… um... I don’t think I caught your name?”

“Matilda,” she said, extending her hand to him. “But my friends call me Sea Cat.”

“Xiaotian.” MK replied as he took her hand and shook it. “But my friends just call me MK.”

“Cute.” Sea Cat said with a chuckle as they released hands. MK coughed down a blush he felt coming on.

“So, um… now what? I won’t be able to run with his leg…”

“Best thing to do is to just lie low until it starts to get dark.” Sea Cat said, settling herself down opposite MK. “Easier to slip past them that way.”

“Not if they find us before then.” MK said.

“Who said anything about finding us?” Sea Cat asked with a shrug, making him tilt his head in confusion at her. “Once I’m done catching my breath, I’m headed back up the cliffs.”

“You’re just going to leave me here?” MK asked, a bit horrified.

“With that leg? Don’t insult my honor!” Sea Cat said, winking at him. “What I’m going to do is try to leave a false trail for them to follow so they don’t find this little hideaway. Once it’s clear again, I’ll come back for you and help you back into town.”

MK sighed a sigh of relief he didn’t realize he had been holding in. “Oh,” he said.

“You’ll have to stay put until I get back though. And stay quiet.”

“Don’t worry, I will. But…” MK paused as she started to get up, crawling past him carefully so as to not accidentally jossle his leg. “What if your plan doesn’t work?”

She turned back to look at him. “I’m sure you’ll think of something,” she said, giving him a smile and another wink before vanishing from sight simply by stepping round the bend. MK opened his mouth to shout after her in protest, but decided against it, instead sighing loudly and leaning against the side of the small alcove.

“Bloody Irish she-pirate…” he murmured to himself.

End of Part 1

#hope you enjoy #my writing #crossover story?#monkie kid pirate au #my OC #@purble-turble i got inspired by your design/backstory for macaque #hope that's ok #@ninja-knox-ur-sox-off #@neonross #more to come!

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k7l4d4 · 3 years

Text

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Crossover Episode 1 Part 3

Hey, once again, Crossover time, with your host, me! Everybody clap your hands!!!

Lightning crashed, and thunder rumbled outside the ominous spire of stone and lost hope that was the Conformatorium. As Luz took in the sight before her, she turned a flat stare towards the smirking Witch next to her. “What was that you said about this place being super fun?”

Ignoring Eda’s chuckle, Luz panned her vision across the area, giving herself a rough idea of the layout for the building, before her eye caught on a poster tacked to a nearby wall. Walking up to it, she yanked it down to see an artistic representation of Eda and King, complete with Bounty. She let out a low whistle at the figure. “Wow, these guys really got the hots for you.”

“Yeah, but they’ve never caught me.” Eda preened with pride, deftly stuffing the flyer into her hair. “King’s got some moves of his own when it comes to giving people the slip.”

“Yeah! Just try and catch me when I’m greased,” King cheered, eager to talk about his skills. “I’m a squirmy little fella!”

“Heh, I’ll take your word for it.” Luz grinned.

Eda smirked, gesturing for Luz and King to come in closer. “Alright, I’ll make a distraction to keep Wrath and his goons preoccupied. You two will make your way to the Vault from above.” She paused to conjure up a platform, the transport they would use to ascend. “I’ll do my best to keep Wrath and the Guards from getting to you, but for that to work, I’ll need you guys to keep your heads down in there. Can I count on you?” She turned a solemn face towards Luz at her question.

Luz made a small show of mulling it over, before grinning brightly. “Don’t worry about it. This isn’t my first time sneaking around somewhere I’m not supposed to be, after all.”

“Ugh, enough with the emotions, let’s just go already!” King complained, eager to get inside.

With a huff of amusement, Luz leapt onto the platform, scooping up King with an indignant squawk, before signalling Eda to send them up. As Luz rose through the air, she calmed the giddy excitement bubbling up inside, letting her face and emotions go blank. She needed to focus, to prepare herself for the fight her instincts were SCREAMING was coming their way.

As the platform reached its apex, just short of the window they needed to get to, Luz dully noted, she once more picked up King, this time with only a slight grumble of protest, and launched them both upwards. As they soared through the window, Luz caught herself in a three-point landing, fist planted in front of her chest, legs spread to catch her weight, a practically superhero-esque look… and then King slammed into the ground next to her with a grunt.

Chuckling sheepishly, Luz pulled the small demon up. As they walked towards their goal, Luz couldn’t help but marvel at the interior; this place may have been an evil den of corrupt tyranny, but she couldn’t deny the place was stylish, in a “step out of line and get wasted” sort of way. One thing that bothered her, though, was how empty it was. Luz had been around the block more than once, and she was fully aware of how much crime could get up to in any civilization, especially one that cared more about preserving things a certain way than helping the people, so the sheer barrenness of the cells was… unsettling to see.

Finally, she broke the silence. “Hey King, where are all the prisoners?”

“Weh? I don’t know. Why do you ask?” King replied. He wouldn’t openly admit it, but he was kind of weirded out by how empty this place was himself.

Luz’s curious look gained a more serious edge. “Because, no prison, whether the prisoners deserve to be in it or not, should be this level of empty unless it’s abandoned.” Luz’s scanning of the surroundings gained a hint of nervousness at that point. “I just can’t shake the feeling that something bad goes on here. You know, besides the whole “imprisoning for failure to submit to societal norms” thing.” Her frank bluntness would’ve been funny, if the situation hadn’t been so grim.

King glanced around, now feeling far more nervous about being here. “Now that you mention it, a lot of people get dragged here, but you don’t really hear much about them afterwards…”

“Hey kid, how did you get out of your cell?”

Turning their heads in surprise, both King and Luz were mildly surprised to find actual prisoners ahead of them. The one who had called out, a Witch-girl with dusky skin, two prominent canines that bordered on fangs, and an almost sleepy look to her, was beckoning them closer. It made sense, no one liked being in prison, and Luz’s gut wasn’t giving her any warnings about her. So, with that in mind, Luz sidled up to the bars.

Luz cleared her throat. “Not a prisoner actually, also, not technically a criminal.” She ignored King’s shout of ‘Not Yet Your Not!’ “Mind if I ask how you all ended up in a dump like this?” Okay, maybe it was cheesy, but Luz wasn’t gonna not ask how a group ended up in prison; what other time would she get the opportunity?

The prisoner chuckled, a bitter sound, the type you hear from someone who doesn’t really expect to be happy ever again and is just going through the motions. “Never thought someone would have the time or desire to ask me that. I got stuffed in here for writing stories about food falling in love with each other.” She held up a notebook with an image of two vegetables kissing on the open page. “And I know you didn’t ask, but the name’s Katya. You’re the first person to actually care about me in a long while.”

“Same with the rest of us.” Commented the prisoner next to the now-named Katya, a pale-blue fellow with multiple eyes. “I got put in here for eating my own eyes.” He then demonstrated, preempting Luz’s question, popping out one of his eyes, swallowing it whole, and then regrowing it perfectly. It was as fascinating as it was disturbing.

A muffled thumping came from the last occupied cell. Turning to it, Luz saw a small, white, ball-shaped creature that seemed to be a head with arms and legs sticking out of it. A cloth gag was tied tight over what Luz assumed was its mouth, the thumping coming from the creature slamming against things as it furiously clawed and yanked at the gag.

Turning a questioning stare to the others, Luz asked, “What’s going with that one?”

Katya snorted, a tired humor in her eyes. “Yeah, she’s big on conspiracy theories. She ended up annoying the guards so much they gagged her to keep her quiet. Which I thought was kinda lame, she had some fun stuff to say. Also, she really dislikes the government, which probably didn’t help her either.”

Luz was furious. No, scratch that, she was beyond furious. She was so angry, all she could show was calm. King could physically feel the rage seeping off of her. Speaking in a voice so coldly furious, Luz bit out. “So, what you’re telling me, is that you guys haven’t actually committed any crimes, and got thrown in here for being different?”

Katya let out a sad sigh. “Pretty much kid. Wrath really likes throwing anyone he considers “unsuitable” for society in here. And we happen to fit his definition of unsuitable.” She gave a soft grin towards the still irate human. “But hey, at least we got the chance to tell someone, right? Not many get that chance.”

Luz hyper-focused on that last part, instantly trying to process that statement alongside her concerns from earlier. “What do you mean by that?”

Katya gave an ominous stare. “A lot of people come into this place, but it isn’t much of a prison. It’s more a waystop before they get shipped off to the Emperor’s Castle; whatever goes on in there, we don’t know, but some people come out, utterly broken… and others don’t come back at all. Because so few people are actually here at any time, there aren’t many guards, but considering how tough Wrath himself is, it doesn’t make much of a difference.”

Luz's blood ran cold. The details may have been sparse, but what little she had been given painted a rather… ugly picture. There was no way she could leave these guys here. Glancing around, she spotted the lever that would release the cells (she honestly wondered how she missed it at first), and started tugging on it. At the slight motion of the heavy piece of metal, Luz was torn between frustration at how slow-going it was, and satisfaction at being able to move it at all. Just as she felt she was making progress, she paused, the sharp rumbling of heavy footfalls approaching in their direction.

“What are you fools yammering about?”

The voice that spoke was sinister, rumbling, and had a grating edge to it that set every nerve in Luz’s body on fire. Just as the figure was about to enter visual range, Luz gave a leap, clinging to the shadow-cloaked walls above. The amazement the prisoners felt at watching her feat was quickly squashed as the source of the voice pulled into view. A hulking, muscular figure, what little of his body could be seen having a purple tone to it. His body was clad in a white tunic, a triangular badge displayed proudly across his chest; the plague doctor-like mask sent chills up Luz’s spine. There was no doubts, this was the infamous Warden Wrath.

The Warden loomed over his prisoners, an almost palpable ruthlessness bleeding off of him. Glancing down, he spotted what he assumed was the topic of their discussion. “Ah.” He pulled up what Luz could see was a copy of that same wanted poster of Eda she had seen before. “The Owl Lady.” He brutally crushed the paper in his grip. “She escaped me before, but soon, she will be within my grasp.”

Alarm bells began ringing in Luz’s head, and as she looked down and saw King, hidden in the dark corners of one of the cells, the blind panic in his eyes made it clear he felt that fear too. Suddenly a sharp gasp drew their attention. “Aiw!!! I can bweathe again!!” It was the last prisoner, having finally managed to work the gag off of her face. Refocusing on the present, the tiny inmate began a tirade at the sight of Wrath. “The voices of independence cannot be silenced!! We will suwvive, we will enduwe, we will cast off ouw oppwessows!! We will neveh be afwaid of you, you big old cweep!!!”

Speech impediment aside, Luz couldn’t help but feel impressed at the courage it took to speak your true feelings, even in such a bleak situation. That admiration turned to dread, however, when she saw the Warden move towards the lever to the cells. While he didn’t see her, she could feel the air hum around him as he easily lifted what she struggled to even budge.

As the doors to the cells opened, the smallest prisoner gasped in delight. “Hooway, I’m fwee!” Eager to take advantage of her apparent freedom, the conspiracy theorist took off like a bullet, only to be effortlessly snagged by Wrath. As Wrath ruthlessly pulped the prisoner in his hand, the resulting squeak more menacing than humorous as he laughed over it, he calmly stated something that would forever infuriate Luz, even years later: “Remember, there is no place for you in society if you can’t fit in.”

As Wrath wandered off, to where Luz didn’t care, still clutching and tormenting the small prisoner, Luz leapt down as silently as she could, King rushing to join her. As she opened her mouth, hoping to say something, Katya raised a hand to stop her. The light that had been in her and the other prisoner’s eyes? It was gone, that little spark of hope had been snuffed out. Still, Katya tried to pull off a smile. “Just go kid. Go and enjoy freedom for us.”

Luz and King traded sad looks, before walking off. King, he didn’t know what to do with this. He was used to feeling unstoppable, weakened form notwithstanding, so feeling… bad for someone was new to him; he didn’t like it. Luz, she was angry, furious, apoplectic, basically every word you could use to describe being angry she was feeling right now. Before everything happened, she was used to feeling like an outsider, like people didn’t want to be around her because she was different from everybody else, but even at her lowest, she was never made to feel as if being herself, that being weird, was unacceptable on par with the worst of crimes. Luz knew one thing; when this heist was over, she was going to bring this place crashing to the ground.

As Luz and King mulled over their conflicted emotions, Eda ran up, a mischievous grin stretched across her face. “Alright gang, the Warden’s distracted tormenting some tiny creature and- what’s with the long faces?” Her grin wiped itself away at the depressed aura surrounding the two.

Luz turned a nervous eye towards Eda. “Hey, Eda? How often do people get sent to this place?”

Eda blinked, a little confused at the question. “Fairly regularly, at least once a week I’d say. Why do you ask?”

Luz gulped, not liking what she was about to say. “Well, how often do people come back out? And, if people come here so often, why are there so few prisoners?”

Eda paused, considering the question. As the possible answer, or answers, dawned on her, she grew grim, face pale. “Okay, yeah, that’s something I hadn’t thought about before. We need to get that crown, and get out of here as soon as possible.”

Luz nodded, a look of concentration upon her face. “Yeah. We overheard the Warden earlier, and the way he was talking? I think this may be a trap to lure you here.”

Eda blinked at that, then facepalmed. “Ugh! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that! Well, we better make this quick then.”

King piped up at that. “Then we better get going! The sooner we get my crown, the sooner Wrath stops being our problem!” With that said, he stomped towards a pair of very impressive doors.

#the owl house #owl house au #fairy tail #fairy tail au #owl house crossover #fairy tail crossover #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #king the owl house #katya the owl house #tiny nose the owl house #warden wrath

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pseudoneiiric · 3 years

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meta post: ocd, mysophobia, and a revelation on my part.

not to mention that a really important part of lili’s backstory is… her germaphobia. she has persistent delusions accompanied by visual hallucinations where she sees people as “parasites”, which visually manifests as them rotting or decomposing. because of that, she wears gloves all the time and is repulsed by physical touch. but when she meets c (whose real name is vincent) in person, she pretty much instantly goes for skin-to-skin contact with him, where she takes off her glove and holds his hand. and like, sure, that’s sweet, but that’s really not how mental illness… works. in the slightest. she doesn’t react at all when his hand touches hers, despite the fact that she has literally had panic attacks in canon from touching things without her gloves. and it gives off this implication that mental illness can be cured with romance somehow, and that’s a really bad take!

this feeds into fandom understanding that like, well, if lilian sees vincent as pure and allows him to touch her, then Obviously she’d let him kiss her, they could probably have sex, etc. and like… she’s canonically asexual though! and that brings us to the other implication, that asexuality is somehow… caused by something. like, there’s nothing in canon to state that lilian experiences sexual attraction (or even really romantic attraction, like i know etherane went off in heaven’s gate and did a lot of ship tease, but she never really outright says she’s crushing on anyone), but judging from the way etherane handled lilian’s gender identity, i have a sneaking suspicion that she established lilian’s asexuality with her mental illnesses specifically in mind. lilian’s autistic, germaphobic, has severe ocd, and she’s been sexually assaulted in the past. therefore, she must be asexual! that’s the sort of vibes i get from the game, and im not here for it.

— me, circa november 2020

the other day, i was writing a crossover ship fic for lilian when i ran into a problem. namely, the Touch Aversion problem. at first glance, the reasoning behind lilian’s touch aversion seems really simple: she hates germs and dirty things, so she wears gloves and washes her hands so frequently that they blister. since she has ocd and mysophobia, it makes sense for her to be obsessive about cleanliness and for her passive skill to be listed as cleaning. she doesn’t touch q84 in canon even in life-threatening situations, except for the very end, because she hates touching people. when anri kissed her, lilian was so grossed out that she imagined anri as a parasite. and when it comes to her taking off her glove and holding vincent’s hand... well,

but upon replaying hello charlotte 3 and doing a little bit of digging with regards to the actual symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder and mysophobia, i realized something. and this “something” was a game-changer.

so let’s start off by defining some things. obsessive-compulsive disorder, shortened to ocd, has several diagnostic criteria, which you can read here if you’d like the full clinical definition. for the sake of length, though, i will only talk about the most important part to take away from the diagnostic criteria.

ocd is not a fear of germs. ocd is not a fear of germs. ocd. is. not. a fucking fear of germs. obsessions may involve cleanliness. compulsions may include wanting areas to be clean. it is entirely possible for ocd to be accompanied by mysophobia, but a fear of germs is not inherent to the diagnosis of ocd. what is inherent to the diagnosis of ocd is a repeated and pervasive series of intrusive thoughts which cause the person with ocd debilitating anxiety or distress, and a set of compulsions that the person with ocd performs in order to mitigate said anxiety. these compulsions do not need to correspond to the actual obsession. a lot of obsessions don’t. for example, your obsession could be around disliking cluttered environments, but your compulsion could be pacing a hallway fourteen times back and forth while mentally reciting the preamble to the american constitution. in some cases, the compulsion is related to the obsession but is generally considered excessive. remember that ocd is not characterized by a need for cleanliness and that it is instead characterized by ritualistic behaviour accompanied by obsessive thought patterns.

i also want to talk about this section in particular, taken from the website linked above:

D. The disturbance is not better explained by the symptoms of another mental disorder (e.g., excessive worries, as in generalized anxiety disorder; preoccupation with appearance, as in body dysmorphic disorder; difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, as in hoarding disorder; [ ... ] ritualized eating behavior, as in eating disorders; [ ... ] thought insertion or delusional preoccupations, as in schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders; or repetitive patterns of behavior, as in autism spectrum disorder).

Specify if:

With good or fair insight: The individual recognizes that obsessive-compulsive disorder beliefs are definitely or probably not true or that they may or may not be true.

With poor insight: The individual thinks obsessive-compulsive disorder beliefs are probably true.

With absent insight/delusional beliefs: The individual is completely convinced that obsessive-compulsive disorder beliefs are true.

i want to let the record show that lilian has several of these disorders. while i don’t believe that this disqualifies her from having ocd, i do think it’s important to note that there is comorbidity between these disorders.

i included this section on inslght because i’m going to go into depth why i believe lilian has absent insight/delusional beliefs. but in order to talk about that, we need to figure out just what it is that lilian is obsessively thinking, what it is that’s causing her so much distress. if ocd doesn’t inherently involve a need for cleanliness, then could it be that lilian’s obsessions revolve around her mysophobia? after all, mysophobia is germaphobia, so maybe she’s just scared of germs, and that’s why she’s always washing her hands.

so, let’s talk about mysophobia. it isn’t listed under the dsm v on its own, but it does exist (albeit not by name) under the umbrella term specific phobia disorder. you can look that up yourself, but from the research i’ve done, i can fairly safely say this: mysophobia, more commonly referred to as germaphobia, is not a fear of germs for the sake of fearing germs. it is a fear of being contaminated, sick, or infected, whether it be through other people or through the environment. symptoms of mysophobia include but are not limited to obsessive handwashing, an extreme avoidance of places that are deemed unclean, and excessive planning to avoid contamination. this separates it from ocd in that ocd involves ritualistic behaviours (like handwashing) to ease anxiety, whereas mysophobia involves these ritualistic behaviours to actually make the area cleaner. to summarize, mysophobic actions are directly related to the fear of contracting an illness.

okay, kids, what have we learned?

though ocd can be accompanied by mysophobia, the two of them are not synonymous. ocd is a pattern of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours designed to ease anxiety surrounding those thoughts.

there are lots of comorbidities present with ocd and other disorders lilian has, such as autism spectrum disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, eating disorders, and psychotic disorders.

mysophobia is more accurately defined as being afraid of being infected or contaminated. mysophobic compulsions relate directly to the desire to eliminate contaminants, rather than being a self-soothing action to reduce anxiety.

now that we’ve laid the groundwork for analyzing lilian’s behaviour, let’s dive into canon. what can we say about lilian’s anxious preoccupations? what excessive planning does she undergo to avoid contact with germs? and, most importantly, why is she perfectly fine with holding vincent’s hand? (it’s still bad writing, but i found an explanation that makes it better)

the most obvious sign of both ocd and mysophobia present in canon is lilian’s intense preoccupation with handwashing. we only see this happen once, in hello charlotte 2.

i’ve removed some sections for the sake of length, but here are some revealing lines from lilian:

My fellow students smashed my head into a worm soup.

I can’t [stop washing my hands]. I’ve washed off [most] of the soup, but I still feel dirtied.

In fact, everything I touch feels contaminated. I can’t just shake off the feeling of disgust.

between ocd and mysophobia, this reaction seems very solidly linked to the latter. lilian’s head was dunked into soup, and she felt disgusted and contaminated, so she began to obsessively wash the soup away. the only other place where handwashing is mentioned is in lilian’s mind exhibition in hello charlotte 3.

in this poem, lilian attributes her handwashing to her ocd, where she writes, “wash and repeat! it’s not enough!” she doesn’t state in this poem if she does this to reduce the possibility of getting sick or if she does this as a compulsive ritual. both interpretations are plausible, given the vague statement “it’s not enough!”. perhaps it’s not enough because she still feels contaminated, or it’s not enough because she has not been rid of the anxiety caused by her intrusive thoughts. maybe it’s a little bit of both.

however, excessive handwashing does not a disorder make. sure, lilian washes her hands until they blister, but why? what is she trying to avoid? in the example in hello charlotte 2, she’s washing off soup. this is a direct response to an uncomfortable situation and not to an anxious preoccupation. in her poem, she offers no hint as to what is causing her so much anxiety that she needs to wash her hands compulsively. and once you start to pick through her behaviour in search of a thread of obsessive thinking, it starts to become clear that there might not be one.

the truth is, lilian’s actions in canon are generally inconsistent given the definitions listed above. her touch aversion is implied to be caused by her mysophobia, but she has no real plan for avoiding touch besides wearing gloves, which she ditches anyway when touching vincent. in heaven’s gate, it’s implied to be more of an aromantic or asexual thing. (i say aromantic because the scene was a little weird about not dividing the line between romantic and sexual attraction, so even though lilian’s canonically asexual, the scene was actually talking about kissing and dating and might have just been a ploy to get nonconsensual kissing in because that’s apparently mandatory in like every game anri appears in.) but that doesn’t make much sense either, considering that platonic and otherwise non-sexual touch is also off-limits.

we return to the intense, excessive and obsessive nature of both ocd and mysophobia. passing fears of contamination or infection don’t classify as mysophobia, and vague and isolated anxieties don’t classify as ocd. the individual has to be intensely preoccupied by these thoughts. however, in canon, lilian is generally not preoccupied with getting sick or dirty until it actually happens to her. her goal in life is to become a doctor, a profession that involves repeated and close contact with infectious diseases. she also takes care of her bedridden mother, which in many cases involves helping the individual with their personal hygiene. her mother is the reason why she wants to become a doctor in the first place, and since anri knows about this dream, it’s fairly safe to assume that this is lilian’s own dream, not scarlett’s. however, in hello charlotte 3, when q84 is wounded, she asks lilian to treat her wounds, and lilian’s response is as follows:

this is further reinforced when q84 is decomposing after having used her wish, and umbrella man states that lilian is fighting the urge to vomit. however, in the infirmary scene, lilian is quite comfortable with being physically close to q84, even when there is a possibility for skin contact. note how charlotte’s hair (which has the possibility of carrying bacteria, skin flakes, etc.) is close to lilian’s face, but how lilian seems quite content, even relaxed.

this is stressful! what is the truth?

on top of that, we know for a fact that, despite being mysophobic, lilian has no issue (at least in hello charlotte 2) with using public bathrooms at school, something that is generally a huge obstacle for people struggling with mysophobia. in true realm, this is never addressed, which lends credence to the idea that she simply doesn’t worry about the transmission of germs in shared spaces like bathrooms, nor is she worried at all about using anri’s smartphone to take blackmail pictures when screens are generally a hotbed of germs. we could say that she makes such liberal use of her gloves that she doesn’t even think about the germs living on them (unlikely), but then she’d likely have a panic attack when she does things like touch her face, which she does in at least one of her sprites.

in fact, the only thought she has about cleanliness in true realm flashbacks is in one of the final ones. she thinks the following: “we lie on the floor for a long time. i briefly wonder if it’s properly vacuumed.” this is, like, a normal thought. i can’t stress enough how normal this thought is and how quickly this thought passes. i cannot stress enough how little she cares about the cleanliness of this floor.

so, like, what gives? why does lilian wear gloves? why does she say she’s squeamish in false realm or want to throw up when holding charlotte? and most importantly, how is she mysophobic when she doesn’t seem to fear germs at all?

the answer fucking blew my mind, folks. are you ready? here it is.

This world is swarming with parasites. Tiny. Invisible. Tenacious. Once they outwit your immune system, they eat you from the inside. Use you as an incubator for their offspring. Control your mind and alter your personality. They keep reproducing, and reproducing, and reproducing, endlessly reproducing. Until every single person is consumed by the disease.

from this excerpt, we can glean the following:

the parasite lilian is describing is a disease that targets the immune system;

the parasite functions by controlling its host like a puppet and altering aspects of their personality, potentially causing them to act in a way that is uncharacteristic; and

the parasite’s goal is to reproduce and to eventually infect everyone in the world.

these are the very first lines in the very first flashback to true realm. an echoing of these very lines are found later, when lilian is saying them to q84. note that, according to etherane, it has been many, many years since these words have first been uttered. but lilian manages to quote them verbatim. given that she can recite these lines perfectly years after her death, it seems that this is a comforting mantra about the world’s truths. and from that, we can gather that repeating this mantra is one of her compulsions, alongside handwashing.

this is it. this is the root of lilian’s mysophobia. these lines accurately explain a pervasive delusion that manifests both in lilian’s thoughts and in her visual hallucinations. more accurately, it is the mantra that describes the “o” in lilian’s ocd and the illness that causes her mysophobia. the parasite is the disease she’s afraid of contracting, and that fear is the intrusive thought that brings her so much anxiety. i tried to compile a list of all the times lilian or someone modelled after her has mentioned contamination, a preoccupation with purity, a parasite, a tumour, rottenness, or anything relating to this core concept, but there was just... so much. the entire world of hello charlotte is based around parasites and mind control. the deus ex machina of this world is a parasite itself. all charlottes have the disease. this world is literally obsessed with the delusion lilian’s held her whole life.

and now that we’ve framed it like that... is it any wonder that this is the obsessive thought? something we’d previously assumed to be a persistent metaphor is actually an intense preoccupation. lilian’s inconsistent actions in canon make sense because she’s not worried about contracting a physical illness, but rather a mental one that’s linked to a persistent delusion of hers. throughout canon, we see no instances of lilian questioning this belief, leading her to be classified as having absent insight/delusional beliefs.

before i continue, i want to mention that the pitfall many hello charlotte fans fall into, and the one i myself have fallen into in the past, is assuming that lilian was always unable to touch others. though she wears gloves throughout the entirety of the true realm flashbacks, she was actually alright with making contact with others up until a specific point in her life. and, interestingly enough, it was not vincent's death that spurred on this change. a full three months pass between his death and the time when lilian's mental health took a nosedive. the critical moment of change involves the very last flashback: 531 days before the trial.

lilian and anri decide to run away together. however, lilian was actually planning a double suicide. upon learning this, anri grows agitated, punching lilian and pinning her down to the floor. it's at this point that lilian realizes anri's feelings for her. after anri kisses her, she becomes a parasite. when lilian gets home, she checks on mother and realizes that mother has become a parasite as well.

from this day onwards, lilian begins to see everyone in her life as a parasite. she says it herself: "That moment I realized. I could never touch a human being ever again." this is the start of her intense touch aversion and marks the beginning of the end of her life. it’s at this point that lilian becomes physically repulsed by everyone around her and the environment she exists in, and these feelings generally persist, albeit on a lesser scale, in false realm.

but what is the parasite? in true realm, the parasite is only described in lilian’s mantra, but there are several nuances to the definition that go unexplained. however, in false realm, parasites take a variety of forms. similarly to how scarlett and umbrella man are reflections of lilian’s inner self that take shape as their own entities within false realm, lilian’s definitions for what a parasite is also breaks off and takes shape into various different forms after her death. when we examine what parasites are in false realm, we can begin to understand what makes someone turn into a physical deformity in lilian’s eyes and why she’s so afraid of the parasite in the first place.

there are three kinds of deformities in false realm. there is the oracle (left), the bullies (upper-right), and the faceless (lower-right). these are not all official terms, but they’ll be the ones that i use going forward.

the oracle is the entity that most closely follows the original logic of the mantra — it is an entity that rapidly multiplies (either through a race like the pythias or organically through cell division as it does in hello charlotte 3) and forms a collective out of several individuals. hello charlotte 2 explains that unification of a civilization is an arduous and painful procedure involving the slow loss of individuality until the race completely submits to the will of the parasitic host. the oracle is, to summarize, an entity that can “control your mind and alter your personality”. the oracle is the only parasite that ever enters another’s body. the other two forms of parasites are never called parasites themselves, but show visible deformities that house tenants and other important characters do not.

the faceless visually signify a lack of importance. these people do not do anything special. in some cases, they appear as a literal amalgamate, showing a hive-mindedness even if they are not being controlled by the oracle. these individuals are usually treated neutrally, and are not generally considered “bad”. they are simply narratively unimportant. by contrast, bullies do have faces, but they are vastly distorted and exhibit bright colouring. i may talk a bit more in a future post about colour symbolism and how it plays into both lilian’s and q84′s mysophobias, but to briefly summarize: the presence of colour is considered a contaminant, whereas white is considered an absence of colour and therefore “pure”. therefore, the brightly-coloured bullies are contaminated. these individuals show corrupted behaviour. they hurt others for personal gain, and are generally considered irredeemable.

in true realm, however, we see no such stylistic distinction. however, though they are not represented visually, the parasites in true realm show the same patterns as the oracle, the bullies, and the faceless. .

now that we have determined what the parasite is, we can determine how the parasite spreads. as previously stated, the parasite does not spread through shared surfaces or skin contact, as normal viruses do. lilian herself seems to treat it like it's just chance, like the parasite just chose to infect people randomly. but there are some things that she says that lends credence to the idea that the parasite is discriminate. after all, though her delusional belief is that the parasite will attach itself to any host it comes into contact with, this delusional belief did come from somewhere. and after examining the process of contamination over the course of the two or so years we see of her life, i believe this belief stemmed from her black-and-white views on good and evil and her penchant to see life as a narrative.

the first outcropping of parasites in lilian’s life were likely the faceless. she seems much less perturbed by them, and seem to view them as simply background pieces. this may be because of her belief in “protagonist” characters. in false realm, q84 makes liberal use of the term “npcs”, though all charlottes seem to have a concept of other students being faceless and subservient to them. this is a tenuous connection, but i believe lilian shares a similar belief. she may consider others "narratively unimportant”; that is, lacking direction or initiative, or perhaps simply not making an impact. she prides herself on being an observer, but she is undeniably the self-hating protagonist of her story. she says that if there is an afterlife, she doesn’t want to be its protagonist. this implies that on some level, she’s considered herself the protagonist of her own life. it’s definitely plausible given lilian’s tendency to project negative traits on others for her to see herself as comparatively good or blameless. by placing her own negative traits onto scarlett, for example, lilian creates a shaky ideal self. in other words, she creates a somewhat worthy protagonist.

and worthiness is incredibly important to lilian. a strong recurring theme in hello charlotte is the notion of “goodness”, especially when it relates to being polite. for example, in hello charlotte 1, a door refuses to open for you if you don't say please, and will call you insolent. all charlottes strive to be a “good girl” because their mothers told them to. interestingly enough, this is also what lilith tells lilian in true realm. since all charlottes have this strict adherence to being a good girl, this must have been very impactful for lilian. being considered “good” must have been very important to her. and being considered “bad” must have been similarly devastating.

knowing that charlotte is lilian's self-insert oc makes things even clearer. charlotte embodies an extreme selflessness, wanting to sacrifice herself for the good of others at any cost. any desire she has to be saved is rapidly dismissed as selfish, and she repeatedly states that she doesn't want to be a burden. charlotte's character makes a clear statement: good people are not burdensome. good people have faith in humanity. good people believe in others, and they help others even if the other person doesn’t deserve it.

the delusion is lilian’s failsafe. it’s her way of ensuring that she could never consider herself a bad person or a burden. in creating the narrative of a contagious parasite infecting the world, lilian is protecting herself from personal responsibility, both in herself and in others. instead of maintaining her belief that some people are evil, which she would consider a Bad Belief to have, she believes that they have simply caught a contagious disease. the bad-person disease, if you will. and since that disease alters the mind and personality of its hosts, these people are not directly responsible for their actions. here, lilian is absolved of hating people who hurt others. now, like charlotte, she can simply wish for their recovery. because they aren’t choosing to hurt others. they’re being manipulated into it by an invisible, malicious, contagious puppeteer.

a similar logic is applied to those lilian finds burdensome. since good people, in her eyes, can make themselves a martyr no matter the circumstances, it would be considered very bad if lilian could not do the same. this is evidenced when mother turns into a parasite. in that scene, lilian thinks the following:

It'd be easier if my mom was a workaholic who was never home. It'd be easier if we hated each other. It'd be easier if I didn't remember the days when she was still full of energy. Who would want to admit [to] their parent giving up on life and slowly rotting in the bedroom? Who would admit to thinking of their only parent as a parasitic existence? After that day, nothing was the same anymore.

in this instance, the word “parasite” is used to describe a leech, someone who constantly takes and never gives back. and in using this word to describe them, lilian relegates them in her mind as bullies, because she can’t admit to feeling burdened.

we see this also in anri. it’s not the physical action of the kiss that turns anri into a parasite. it’s the realization that anri has always had ulterior motives, that anri expects something of lilian. and lilian, feeling burdened, projects her own guilt about her lack of reciprocation onto anri. even at the end of her life, when she’s in the ocean, she reveals that one of her greatest regrets is not being able to reciprocate anri’s feelings.

vincent, on the other hand, is a charming stranger. he never gives lilian any reason to suspect that he may have ulterior motives. he’s successful, driven, popular, and talented. in many ways, he’s everything lilian wants to be. and since she doesn’t meet him for a long time, she can imagine him to be simply “the blinding icon on her screen“. she can project anything she wants onto him, and she chooses to project hope onto him. with his politeness, his charm, his compliments, he appears to be the ideal human. like lilian, he has managed to avoid being infected by the parasite. lilian grows attached to this interpretation, just as she grows attached to the mutuality of her friendship with anri, and just as she grows attached to her love for her mother. lilian doesn’t want to think of these people as parasites. in vincent’s case, he dies before he ever gets the chance to burden her. rather, he leaves her with the guilt of not being able to follow him and a misplaced idolatry of him and his beliefs.

the parasite, being a visual representation of perceived evil intent, seems to be non-contagious in nature. this doesn’t change, though, that lilian believes it is contagious. she wants to spend time with people she has deemed good, and to avoid bullies. however, the simple act of feeling burdened is enough to make lilian believe that the parasite is spreading at a breakneck rate and that the world she lives in is becoming more and more contaminated. once she feels she’s lost her support system, the parasite begins to spread, and she begins to feel less and less inherently good. it’s clear that the people around her had a stabilizing effect on her. but once she feels abandoned, her unhealthy coping mechanisms begin to catch up to her. lilian describes herself as filthy by the end of her life, and it’s very likely that she feared becoming a parasite herself if she were to continue down the path she was on.

the last piece of the puzzle is this: what saved anri and mother for so long, and what saved vincent from becoming a parasite altogether? after all, anri is a perfect candidate for developing the parasite, and arguably, so is mother. both of them rely on lilian for different things, and anri actively engages in blackmail. it would be simple as well to see c as disingenuous or fake. but lilian doesn’t entertain any of those thoughts, either for a very long time or at all. why?

the answer is simple. the people that lilian loves are less likely to be infected by the parasite. even if they are infected, she is kinder to them. after anri says she’ll leave lilian, after her confession and her subsequent contamination, lilian lets anri cuddle her. she even hugs anri tightly before they part, and keeps in contact with her until... well, just before she commits suicide. despite the relationship between lilian and her mother being one-sided, lilian holds onto pleasant memories of her mother because she doesn’t want to believe that she could feel burdened. and lilian is so attached to her love for c that she doesn’t see anything wrong with him.

all of this is to say that lilian’s touch aversion does not stem from physical cleanliness, but rather her perception of the other’s purity. this means that she’s not only willing to touch others if she deems them a “good person”, but that she is actively okay with it. this is evidenced even in false realm, where she is alright with exchanging casual moments of intimacy with charlotte and q84, such as in the “take my hand” scene and in the infirmary scene. since she loves these individuals, she sees them as inherently better people than she would if she viewed them objectively. this is a game-changer when it comes to touch-aversion. with respect to the charles/vincent ships where lilian’s okay with kissing... that’s a different story. even though saliva may not trigger her mysophobia, we’ve seen on multiple occasions both in canon and in heaven’s gate that lilian is indifferent to mouth-kissing at best. however, she is definitely comfortable with some displays of physical affection with those she cares for, and is generally willing to excuse much more when it comes to those she loves.

thank you for reading this post in its entirety! i did not expect it to get this long, so if you got to the end, i just want you to know i love and appreciate you SO much

#lilian eyler: study.#body horror //#unsanitary //#suicide //#long post //#the way that i still feel like i have more to say #this post got SO long but i care about her so much

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thornescratch · 3 years

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Alright, I'm here with mandalorian thoughts. So, up until now we've technically been following Din, but like really, we've been following Din and Grogu. So now there's 3 options: We follow just Din, we follow just Grogu, or they somehow end up together end and we follow both again. I think it's reasonably obvious we won't follow Grogu, because uh, it's called the mandalorian... (1/?)

It, to an uninvested disney exec, seems logical to follow just Din. We've set him up perfectly for another plot arc. He's got the darksaber, his covert is dead or scattered; there's definitely a story that can be made there. But I hope that they won't do that; because they'll probably quickly realise that people aren't all that in invested in just Din alone. People are here for him and Grogu. (2/?)

So, we're down to one logically option: somehow reunite Din and Grogu. But we have problems here. The one that first comes to mind is Luke. I looked up how the young luke thing was done (given the credits have Mark Hamill), and it's all CGI, not good makeup or prosthetics and a bit of CGI, or a double and a bit of CGI. That means having Luke is time consuming (because of all the CGI needed) and expensive (Mark Hamill + people doing the CGI). So logically, you want to cut down on Luke time

But if we cut down on Luke screen time, how do we reunite Grogu and Din? Yeah I dunno about that one... Maybe Luke decides he can't take Grogu? Or maybe that isn't actually a problem. The other slight problem is that Mark Hamill talked about this as a cameo, not as a cameo before a proper role. (Maybe there's stuff out there saying he's confirmed for season 3? idk I didn't really look).

Other thoughts I have: I can't imagine Gideon just being left. This can't be a tidy end to his arc. He's coming back. If he doesn't, what's the 'bigger, badder' enemy? Also, we haven't actually seen Luke leave the ship. We know 1 additional ship of dark troopers arrived. Do we really believe there's only one? Also there's still those TIE fighters out there.

So, my predictions are: We start on the ship again. Luke and Grogu go to leave. More dark troopers, or the TIE fighters, or both, or something else arrive. Luke returns to the bridge with the rest. They fight. Din either leaves with those two, or takes Grogu with him. Something happens and either Gideon reveals he's been working for someone and they're on their way, or he gets free or gets rescued. And then idk, I'm not that good at predictions

Now watch me be completely wrong about everything I just said...

I’m with you in that Grogu and Din and their relationship is not just the heart but also the bread and butter of the franchise, so I doubt they stay separate the entire season. (And since I think Disney is hopefully cognizant of the optics of implying that their cutest merch moneymaker gets brutally slaughtered by Kylo Ren some years down the line, I also doubt they go down that path to indicate that’s his future.)

I also agree they’re not likely to have a ton of Luke Skywalker because of the difficulty of the CGI needed for his appearance and because I don’t think they’re quite ready to pull the trigger yet on recasting him with a younger actor like Sebastian Stan or any of the other names tossed around. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that they would recast-- they did for Han Solo, after all, though that film was a bit of a dumpster fire-- but you’re talking about one of the most iconic characters of the franchise and fans already have, uh, strong opinions about how the character was handled in the most recent franchise sequels. Maybe whenever Luke does show up it’s in holograms or whatever; you could probably fake a bit more of the appearance that way; the deepfake wouldn’t look quite so uncanny, then.

(I’ve been spending way too much time on wookipedia figuring out the timelines of everything and how old everyone is, and while I’m sure Luke’s complete solemn frozen face act was mostly the CGI issues, it’s also kinda hilarious to think Grogu is his first padawan/force sensitive child pickup, and he’s been psyching himself up, all, “OKAY LUKE, ACT SOLEMN AND DIGNIFIED, BE A REAL JEDI, YOU GOTTA SELL THIS HARD, YOU’RE THE LAST ONE, YOU GOTTA MAKE THIS ENTRANCE DRAMATIC AS FUCK SO EVERYONE WILL TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY, YOU CAN DO THIS, NO SMILES. I SAID NO SMILES.” I kinda hope Grogu is the first, as that would work better, in my opinion, if he doesn’t have his school/temple set up yet-- it’s only, what, five years or so after Return of the Jedi. Given the almost foregone conclusion Grogu will be reunited with Din at some point, I kinda like the idea that Luke is just getting started there.)

I don’t think we’ve seen the end of Gideon either; though I imagine he goes on trial. Maybe he plays into the whole “Din trying to get out of being Mand’alor” by yammering about it and ruining Din’s ability to just hide the dark saber in a closet and sneak out the back.

ANYWAY. See, I’m going in the opposite direction for how they start season three; I suspect we’ll start season three with a time jump, and that way they kick the can down the road on showing Luke (and if you show TOO many cameos, they can lose their impact, though Favreau/Filoni have been pretty good at hitting the sweet spot of original SW nostalgia, Western vibes, and new shit) and they also don’t have to explain Gina Carano’s absence. I mean, she’s been fired, so they’re not gonna go right back to the bridge. Like, she’ll maybe just get handwaved as either back on Nevarro doing shit, or trying it out somewhere else.

My bet is that season three is going to be about Din either reluctantly becoming the Mand’alor, Din trying to get out of becoming the Mand’alor, or probably some combination of the two. I bet that’s the main plot line for the season, plus potential crossover with the Book of Boba Fett and maybe the Ahsoka shows. So, probably more Bo-Katan and her group, and more exploration of the different factions of Mandalorians, and maybe more on the culture.

Or maybe (I hope, anyway) they also plan to explore more with him reconnecting with his old covert, and part of the season is about him tracking them down, since now he’s technically fulfilled his mission with Grogu and I feel like it makes sense for him to return to that as his focus. Plus, with the whole helmet removal as a sort of Chekov’s gun thing, you gotta figure that’ll come up in some kind of confession/confrontation with the covert. (Of course, as stated, I doubt that his arc with Grogu is completely done, and we’ll see that come back into play.)

Favreau in this article seems like he has a pretty good handle on plotting things out in advance, so I’m willing to trust he knows what he’s doing. And those are My Thoughts on what’s ahead, I guess.

(obviously I also think Din and Luke should go through a weary bounty hunter/cheerful space twink courtship, get married, and raise a chaotic blended Jedi-Mandalorian family that could take over the universe and erase vast chunks of the sequel movies but that is a rant for another day)

#Anonymous #The Mandalorian #Star Wars

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hopes4gf · 3 years

Text

Thievery and Mischief- (a descendants/marvel crossover)

1 month later, me and Jay officially public! Which took extreme relief off my chest obviously. Everyone in my interviews constantly asks me about Jay and our relationship. Questions like: How do you spend time with him? What is he like with you? What are some cute things he does for you? Where have you gone together? So on and so forth.

To be very honest, it’s intimidating knowing that we were destined to be enemies and suddenly fall for each other AND try to keep it private. It’s super taboo among all the royals; Heroes and Villains hooking up and dating. Anyways, enough about that.

Among all the chaos of being a celebrity, I decided to mix some music and release an album. So, I usually head to the AV club to record.

While I’m writing some of my lyrics, I think of a beat to lay down. But then I remember that my producer, Yoongi is at interviews with Namjoon and the rest of the boys. Suddenly, almost like the gods above heard my thoughts, Jay walks in.

”I knew you’d be in here,” Jay says, opening the door and seeing me in the booth.

”I’m always here now,” I say with a smile.

He walks over and plants a kiss on my cheek.

”What’re you working on this time?” Jay asks.

”This damn album. I have a couple of songs done already with Yoongi and Joon but we had to pull some things. Drafts, in other words. So, now I have to fill those in with songs from scratch,” I say.

”Ah, I see. So then, what’s the theme of the album?” Jay asks.

”Unrequited love. So like cheating, fantasies, and low-key bad bitch energies,” I describe.

He chuckles at my description and takes my sketchbook from my hands.

”Hmm, unrequited love. That song you first showed me a while ago should work. And...how about this one? Fools? Never seen this one,” Jay says, stumbling on one of my pages.

”That song...I wrote when I saw Chad’s DMS. I wrote it in like...five minutes,” I note.

Jay’s eyes widened, impressed by my quick songwriting skills.

”Well then, we should put it on a beat,” Jay says, getting up to sit in the producers' deck.

”What’re you doing?” I ask, through the mic.

”I’ll whip something up for you, we’ll work on it if you want, put your vocals on it and we’d be done in like 20 minutes,” Jay explains.

”I have to record 4 songs,” I add, furrowing my brows.

”Bet, we’ll be done in 2 hours,” Jay says.

I roll my eyes at his antics.

I listen through my headphones and hear the different beats being mixed. The bass, the melody, the dynamics of the drums with the SFX.

I watch as he grabs an electric guitar and strums a couple of chords. I laugh as he catches me staring at him. His eyes focus on the strings of the guitar as he strums. Then, he switches back to the monitors, adjusting the bpm and tuning the guitar recording. I watch as he bites his tongue and furrows his brows as he focuses on the monitor in front of him.

He turns to me and presses the listen button.

”I’m done! Just listen to it,” He says.

He presses play and I hear some tropical whistles at the beginning leading to a synth beat. It’s a very head bop vibe, like a road trip song. I hear his guitar in the back very faintly behind the synth. Then a pause until the smoother synth emerges. My head hops along to the beat of the track. I look at him and smile through the booth window. He winks in pride as he sees me enjoying the song.

Then, it finishes.

”I think I’d like to lay some vocals down,” I say into the mic.

”Woah there, not too hasty. We gotta establish a melody first,” Jay says with a smirk.

I laugh and leave the booth, I join him by the desk with my book ready in hand.

We listen to the track over and over again. Figuring out what notes to hit, figuring out the tones, dynamics, and rhythms my voice is going to establish. While I’m humming along to the track, Jay suddenly stops it.

”I think you should start recording,” Jay suggests.

A nervous blush crosses my face.

”But we still have to figure out the backup and effects and-“

He covers my nervousness by kissing my lips. He lays a sweet and loving kiss on my lips and pulls away once I’m relaxed.

”Baby, you’ll be perfect. We’re gonna get these songs done, you’re gonna get this album done, you’re gonna get all the awards for this album and you’re gonna be a superstar. And don’t worry about me, because I’m gonna be right here when you do, okay?” Jay assures, staring into my hazel eyes with deep appreciation.

I nod, taking in his words.

He smiles and kisses my cheek.

”Get in that booth and knock 'em dead,” Jay says with a kind smile.

I get up from my seat and I walk back into the booth. I put on my headphones and take a breath.

”Let’s go,” I say to Jay, telling him to run the track.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

youtu.be/eY_eqNHguwg

After 2 takes of recording, we finished the track. We listen back to it a couple of times and adjust the tone of my vocals and the effects. I focus on the beat in the back to see if my voice lines up...and it’s super good.

"And who the hell taught you how to be such a good mixer?" I ask Jay.

He laughs at my question, "You don't have to know" Jay says as he stares at the monitor, saving the document and uploading it to the zip file of songs. I glare at him and he sighs.

"To be very honest, I learned through parties. On the Isle, we used to sneak out at midnight and go to Hades's lair to listen to music, do graffiti, and party. My dad would always fall asleep trying to keep an eye on me but I would always try to sneak out and go to those parties just to sit and watch from the DJ booth," Jay says.

"So you picked it up like a hobby?" I ask.

"Yeah, kind of," Jay agrees.

"You should really invest in this," I suggest.

He stares at me dumbfoundedly.

'Yeah, right. I'd rather be a Tourney coach in the future than selling music, I'm better at it, and plus, I'd rather have an all-exclusive contract with you so we can keep doing this," Jay says.

I laugh at his little joke about contracts.

"Anyways, we've got 3 more songs to record," I add.

"No problem, just give me the lyrics for it and I'll be done in a couple of minutes," Jay says, extending a hand to my sketchbook," Jay says.

I hesitantly pulled the book closer to my chest.

"Come on. I need material to work with. If we're gonna work together, you need to trust me," Jay says.

I hesitantly hand him my sketchbook and he takes it in his hands. He flips through the pages of the book past my art and gets to my lyric pages. He picks the ones he likes and focuses his attention back on the monitor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eventually, we finish recording the songs and we listen back to them. They're all perfect in my eyes and we send them to the zip file.

"Babe, thanks for helping me out with this, I couldn't have done this without your help," I say to Jay.

"Of course, Adri. I know how hard you work to do this stuff, and if you ever need any help just please ask," jay says.

I stare at him and smile. He looks back at me with admiration in his eyes. Then, he leans in to kiss me. I kiss back and our lips enter a passionate tango. To deepen the kiss, I stand and sit over his lap, straddling him in his seat. He wraps his arms around my waist and his hands graze over my body. But before we can progress, my phone starts to buzz in my back pocket. I pull away from the kiss and scoff.

"I'm gonna assume that's Katie," Jay asks.

I take my phone and of my pocket and nod. I answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Adri, pack your things. You've got a tour to prep for," Katie says through the phone.

My eyes widen at her words.

"Tour? We got approved by every venue?" I ask her, emotion building in my voice.

"Every single one," She says excitedly through the phone.

I pause for a second a smile emerges on my face. I turn to see Jay's reaction and he stares at my frame with a big smile on his face.

"That's perfect! And right on time too. I just finished up the album in the studio," I say happily.

"Awesome! So then we just have to send it through the admins and copyright and then you can start prepping the choreo for the concert," Katie says.

"Of course! And thank you for telling me this," I say before hanging up the phone.

I turn slowly and see Jay waiting for me to speak.

"I just got approved for a tour," I say out loud.

Jay lifts off from his seat and hugs me tightly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a month of preparation, we finally have a full-fledged tour with a newly released album and headliners! It was a big decision but I had decided to have Brendon's band, Panic! At the Disco, headline my tour. How could I not have one of my favorite artists on this planet headline for me? Anyways, the album has been a huge success for me. My single, "Home with You," has been on the Billboard Chart for 2 weeks straight! This debut has been an enormous success for my career so far, surprisingly my mom was even happy with the album too. Now, the day had arrived, the first leg of the tour. My debut.

I walk down the halls of the large stadium, watching as Panic's drum set is hauled down the hall, I feel butterflies enter my stomach. I walk towards Brendon's dressing room and walk through the door.

"There's my favorite girl!" Brendon says with a smile as he works on his iconic hair.

He puts down a bottle of hairspray and comes over to hug me.

"You know, the fact that you're here makes everything so much better," I say.

Brendon laughs at my comment.

"It's your first tour! I remember my first tour, I was your age, I was living out of my car with the band, and I had just left Vegas. I thought we were failures. But you, you are definitely not a failure. You are a boss! You've got talent, kid. Now, go and show it," He says, reassuring me.

Before I can respond, the door opens to Mike, the guitar player for Brendon's band.

"Yo, we gotta start tuning up," Mike says.

I turn to Brendon and give him a smile.

"Thanks, I needed that," I say.

He pats my shoulder and we start to file out to the hall. As we walk down the hall, the crew moves all the set pieces to the stage. Behind a crate, I see a familiar person. Then, suddenly my heart drops.

Hayley.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was 14 when I had my first kiss. But it wasn't Chad who gave it to me. It was Hayley Red. Daughter of Red Riding Hood. Absolutely badass, funny, adventurous. She was someone who made me really question myself as a whole.

There was always something about her that was alluring. Her eyes, her clothing, her personality. I was so keen on trying to figure out what made me so attracted to her. Then, when I met Chad I realized that my feelings for her weren't normal. After that damn party with the " situation," I had a feeling. A feeling that would change me.

She was the person I wanted to run to. So I did.

She comforted me, something I didn't think she would do since she always had this tough exterior all the time. She was the one who made me feel safe when everything in my life fell apart. She was the one who told Lonnie to take care of me. Hayley was someone who loved me unconditionally. One day she had to leave and eventually, we stopped talking after I fell into depression, Lonnie likes to remind me that her departure was what got my depression much worse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, absolutely glued to the floor. I realize that Brendon is now standing in front of her, speaking to her. My heart sinks into my stomach suddenly as she realizes that I'm staring at her.

"Adri?" She calls from across the room.

My legs start to walk towards her unconsciously.

"Hi, Hayley," I say softly.

"You two know each other," Brendon assumes.

"Of course, she was my first girlfriend," Hayley comments.

Brendon's eyes widen.

"Oh shit," Brendon says.

Hayley looks at my frame up and down.

"You've changed so much since then," Hayley chuckles through a smile.

"You have no idea how much happened for me to get here," I say.

"Hell yeah, I mean you've got this sick venue, you were a royal advisor, your album is currently number one. I'm sure there's been a lot," Hayley says.

Suddenly, I feel arms snake around my waist and I roll my eyes.

'Jay, stop it," I say awkwardly as Jay grips my hips.

"What? I can't help it that I love you," Jay says cheekily.

I pulls his hands from my waist.

"Hayley, this is my boyfriend, Jay," I say.

Hayley blushes softly and extends her hand.

"Shit, man. It is so great to meet you. Honestly, I didn't think she'd have a boyfriend after Chad," Hayley says cheekily.

I scoff at her comment and watch as Jay shakes her hand.

"I didn't think I'd be her boyfriend after Chad either, but I guess I'm just lucky," Jay tells her.

I roll my eyes at his words.

"So how do you know Adri?" Jay asks.

I blush heavily after he asks this, Hayley looks at my face and laughs.

"We're exes, but it's all chill now," Hayley comments.

Jay's eyes widen softly and he turns to me. "Shit, I'm sorry if this is kind of awkward," Jay says to me.

"You just realized?" I say through gritted teeth.

"Don't worry, it's all cool. Plus, she's a cool girl, and if she thinks she's found someone who makes her as happy as she deserves, I've got no problems," Hayley says honestly.

My brows furrow at the situation, Hayley stands next to Jay confidently and they watch for my reaction.

The speaker suddenly reminds the band that they have 5 minutes until the show starts. Brendon excuses himself, reminding us that he's been standing there. He winks at me and I roll my eyes at his action.

"Hey, can we talk?" Hayley says, tapping my arm.

I nod and I follow her into a dressing room. She closes the door and I stand by the wall.

"Fuck, I am so sorry for not texting or calling you after so long," Hayley says in relief.

My eyes widen at her sudden sigh.

"Lonnie keeps reminding me about you," I say.

"Of course she does. So, tell me. What've you been up to since then?" Hayley asks.

I gulp.

"If you don't wanna talk about it, it's fine," Hayley says, grabbing an apple from a fruit basket in the corner of the room.

"No, It's okay. So...after you left, I went into self-quarantine. I did classes in my dorm room. I had an eating disorder. I started having anxiety, so I got a relief pet. A tiger named Roxie," I start.

"So, was Sophomore year just a relief period?" Hayley asks, taking a bite of her apple.

"Yeah. Lonnie would check on me all the time, bring me lunch, talk to my brother about my health. Go to doctor's appointments, go to therapy, and by the summer I was fine. I started getting my friends back, reconnecting with my hobbies, I met people from the business, I started joining clubs, skating, and then by the start of this year, everything was pretty much normal...until Chad's restraining order expired. He started talking shit again and trying to intimidate me with his toxic masculinity. But then, Jay showed up and stood up to him for me. Then, we started doing things together and talking. Kind of like how we did, and then he started flirting a little more heavily than his regular playboy attitude and he asked me out with help of my brother and his friends. And we've been dating since then," I explain.

Hayley digests my information while biting her apple.

"Shit, man. Depression really can fuck you up like that. And you made music on top of that? And did school? That's badass. I'm actually proud," Hayley says.

I smile at her comment.

"That means a lot coming from you," I say softly.

"You know, I actually had a rough period myself. The reason I left was actually was because my grandpa had died. His death affected me a lot. Then, my mom found out about you and that I was lesbian, so she forced me to leave. She tried so hard to make me lose all that I had already established for myself. And on top of that, I had to be strong. It's tough. That's why I'm quite proud that you're doing so well after that. Me, I'm still a train-wreck," Hayley explains.

We continue our conversation later into the night, leading up to my performance, catching up like old friends.

#marvel #marvel x oc #descendants #descendants jay #descendants x oc #descendants novels #fanfiction #multifandom #loki #son of jafar #descendants 2 #descendants 3 #loki x reader #jay x reader

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thorne93 · 4 years

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Inside the Criminal Mind (Part 38)

Prompt: You’re married to Dr. Spencer Reid of the BAU, and are a distinguished doctor yourself on the team. You’re sent down to Miami, Florida for teaching and as a side request from the FBI, to investigate a string of missing persons. When you think you’ve figured out who the unsub is, your life becomes more complicated than you ever could’ve imagined.

Word Count: 3563

Warnings: (throughout the fic –>) death, blood, gore, killings, language, disturbing mental notions, mentions of rapes/murder/etc (You know, Dexter and Criminal Minds related business)

Notes: Thank you so much to @arrow-guy, @carryonmyswansong, and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo - without each of you, I couldn’t have finished, written, or properly navigated this story. Each of you helped me fish out details that were incredibly important to me. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo… Aesthetic by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo

This is a crossover of Criminal Minds x Dexter. First time writing Dexter.

Also, the timeline is after Season 1 of Dexter, but during season 14-ish of Criminal minds into Season 15. Enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two of you rode in tense silence all the way to the BAU, where you grabbed your things and stormed to your car, waiting for Spencer to get in the driver’s seat. The two of you rode again in a silence wrapped in thickness. You got home and now your home was tainted with Cat Adams and Maxine.

“What the fuck?!” you screamed as you got inside, throwing your purse and briefcase in the corner of the foyer.

“It’s not what you think, Y/N. I didn’t cheat on you.”

“Just because you didn’t make out with her or stick your dick in her doesn’t mean you haven’t been fucking ignoring me for her.”

Spencer responded by pressing his lips into a thin line.

“So is it true? Did you take her to your favorite museums? Buy her books?”

“I let her borrow some of my books. And yes, on some of our outings, I took her to a museum, but don’t listen to Cat. You know this is what she wants.”

“Don’t blame your actions on Cat Adams, Spencer! You’re the one who was running through the park with Max in your arms. And she didn’t even know you were married?! Why wasn't I ever brought up?!”

“My therapist told me to keep it separate from work--”

“I’m not work!” you roared, nearly deafening you both. “I’m your fucking wife! You should’ve mentioned me! At least once! And clearly, you were doing something that made Maxine upset that you weren’t single.”

“She must’ve gotten mixed signals. I never did anything inappropriate with her, I promise.”

“You never let me meet her. You had her in our house and I had no idea what she even looked like. You know, at least as soon as you found out about Dexter and me, there was no secret in our relationship. But all I knew was you were ignoring me to spend every waking moment with another woman. How do you think it makes me feel, Spencer?”

In an even tone, but laced with anger, he responded, “It probably makes you feel the way I did when you were doing that with Dexter.”

You flinched away from him. “I only started ignoring you with Dexter when you told me about JJ,” you reminded. “Don’t confuse reality with fantasy to make yourself feel better. You really didn’t see the problem? Spencer, for the last month, you’ve done nothing but text her, spend time with her, and focus on her. And if you weren’t talking to her, you were smiling. It was like no matter what I did, I couldn’t put that look on your face. I never made you feel that way with Dexter.” You threw your hands out to the side. “So what did I do to deserve this? If you're having second thoughts because of what I did, then tell me! Don’t distance yourself from me and start to fall for another woman.”

His face whipped up to yours, conviction in them when he said, “I’m not falling for her. I’m still in love with you and only you. If this is just about kissing Cat--”

“Fuck the kiss!” you shouted. “I don’t give a shit about that! You should know me by now! I know why you did that. I’m not an idiot. I was over that before you were done kissing. What I’m upset about is you being devious and sneaking around after we promised never to do that again. So what is it? If you don’t love Maxine, why have you been so obsessed with her? Doing things we should've been doing?”

“I don’t know,” he started, shaking his head, shrugging.

“You nearly had an emotional affair with another woman who was just in our house. I need more than ‘I don’t know’.”

“You want to know why I talked to her so much? I just wanted a conversation with someone who wasn't fighting crime. I wanted one conversation that wasn't burying the lead on a case, or some BAU case, or even JJ... I just wanted a non-messy human interaction for once…”

You tried to keep the tears at bay. “All I saw was you falling for a woman who is the polar opposite of me. If you’d just been honest and told me why you enjoyed your time with her…”

“I didn’t know how to tell you. I knew how it sounded. I know how it sounds now. I did flirt with her, but that’s as far as it went. It was stupid of me not to tell Max about you, and I should’ve introduced you two. I guess I felt like you had… have Dexter, someone outside of work, and I wanted that too.”

The tears were already flowing now, there was no stopping it. “A friendship with someone outside of work is one thing, Spencer, what you did tonight and every day for the last month is very different.”

“How?”

“You seriously don’t see the problem? You gave her gifts, Spencer. You had her in our home, without me here. You lied about being married. You texted her nonstop. When I asked you to do something with me, you blew me off to go hang around her. I never did that with Dexter, never. You were either always included or I asked you first. You were always my priority. I never made you feel like second best, even when I was lying about what I was doing. And don’t even mention when I was being distant, we both know why I was doing that.”

He stayed silent, his gaze dropping to the floor.

“I didn’t cheat though. I didn’t kiss her, I didn’t talk about a future with her, I didn’t--”

Your rage had hit a ceiling though. He was pretty close to defending his actions, and you weren’t okay with that. “You keep saying you aren’t cheating but everything you've said, done and reacted leads me to believe otherwise! I can’t fucking believe you don’t see the issue and you’re actually trying to justify what you did!”

“I know I fucked up, but you’re not even hearing me out. I can tell something’s not right, alright--”

“You’re right. Something isn't right and it's that my husband hid me and his marriage away to self-indulge with someone new who seems to be doing a better job at making you happy than I am so clearly there's more than you’re really saying."

“When have I ever lied to you?” he asked, offended.

“Hmm, where should I begin?” You threw your hands in the air. “When you kept fact that JJ confessed to you, that you and her seem to be hiding something still, now the thing with Maxine!” You were trying so hard to not let the tears slip from your eye. “I- I can’t deal with this..with you right now.” She walks away to their room to pack some things.

“Y/N, wait, let’s talk about this,” he called after you, chasing you up the stairs to your bedroom.

“There’s nothing left to talk about Spence, you lied, point blank.” You tossed your clothes into the bag you had pulled from the suitcase. “We promised there would be no more hiding and no more secrets.” You closed the bag and headed out of the room.

“That’s different. I meant about the killings. I know what I did wasn’t the best thing but I’m sorry for it. I made a stupid mistake. It’s nothing like what you did and hid from me.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” she turns around with a fire burning in her eyes. “What I did in Miami is nothing compared to what you're doing now, I didn’t go off to find someone to keep me entertained and feeling some type of way, for such a genius you sure are being an idiot. I hid my criminal activity from you and then I was totally honest about it. I confessed to murder so that you wouldn't think I was cheating. Do you get that? I was willing to go to prison before letting you think I was cheating...” You pushed him away from you. “And it wasn’t just about the killings. We promised it would be on everything!” the tears fell but she didn’t care.

“I’m the idiot? Lying is lying, Y/N. It doesn’t matter what it’s for--” Just then, he got a call from JJ. As he picked up the phone, you saw her name on caller ID and at that point, you weren’t sure you could even see straight anymore.

“Jesus, Spence! Not even a few moments two of the three of your other women are gone and the third one is already calling.” You stood there glaring at him waiting to see what he would choose to do. “Choose what you do wisely right now because this determines how this ends.” You crossed your arms.

He glanced at you for a moment before answering, keeping eye contact. “Now’s not a good time.” Then he hung up, still looking at you, not saying a word.

“Oh yeah and when is a good time, huh Spencer?” you seethed at him. “Between ignoring the shit out of me, going out with Max, your little girlfriend and seeing an old flame?" You grabbed your bag and walked out without an explanation.

“Y/n!” he yelled, trying to chase you, but you slammed the door in his face. He turned around and screamed. “Fuck!”

You got into your car and drove off to the nearest hotel. For the next few days, you stayed there, but came into work like normal. You spoke to Spencer as much as you could professionally. It was easy to separate the feelings of hate, anger, betrayal, and hurt from work. Your training with Dexter really helped to control your emotions, at least in this setting. At home was an entirely different matter.

One night, you couldn’t take it anymore, so you called Dexter. You needed a friend.

“Dex?” you choked out just before letting out a sob.

“Hey Y/N it’s been a while how are things?” He immediately realized things weren’t okay. “What's wrong is everything okay?”

“No, no it’s not.” Then you launched into everything that had happened since you got home. Spencer being distant, ignoring you, Maxine, kissing Cat, JJ still giving you issues. By the time you were done, you said, “I have no idea what to do. I think he’s going to leave me. I just… I wish he’d get it over with and not parade around with another woman.”

“Y/N, take things slower, don't try to analyze it all at once.” he started by telling you. “We know the thing with JJ is one-sided right? Put that to the side let's look into the other two.” He had stopped what he was doing to focus on you.

You took a deep breath. “Okay, you’re right. Okay the thing with Cat, I can mostly forgive and forget that. I know why he did it, and he had to be convincing. There was no time to hesitate or she’d see through ihm again.”

“And what exactly about the situation with Cat do you feel is wrong?”

“How passionately he kissed her. That’s reserved for us. He… He did it quickly, without reservation, and he did it with passion. I haven’t seen him that passionate since before he told me about JJ.”

“If I recall correctly he’s a man who uses his brain passionately not always with action especially outside of your relationship.” he nodded his head though clearly you couldn’t see it. “Alright and I understand how this might affect the situation but remember he did so to keep Cat in the game and not cause harm.” He could hear how you were breathing evenly now. “ if it weren’t a kiss it could have been something else that she’d want him to do. Now onto the next issue this Maxine person when did this exactly start?”

“Right after we came back, pretty much. He went to see his therapist, sheshe gave him homework to talk to someone outside of work, and he went out that day and found Maxine. So around a month ago… Why?”

“Well this helps me get a better understanding in terms of timeline.” he took a swig of his drink and continued. “What exactly was it that him and Max were doing in the time frame of the month? Do you know exactly where and what they did?” It was still a bit unclear as to why Spencer would do such a thing at this precise moment. “Besides the things that Cat has said and shown you, is there enough evidence to prove that he indeed is being unfaithful like say deliberately sneaking around to see her or making excuses as to why he’s never around?”

“All she did was show me what they were doing in their time together. Dex, I would ask Spencer to go out to dinner for a date, and he said he was too busy and he was going to see Maxine. I asked him to go to an opening of a museum and he said he was meeting Maxine. I made him a nice brunch one morning, but he ran out to go meet her. Even when we were sitting and watching TV together, he was glued to his phone, texting her, smiling, laughing. When I asked to meet her, he said he wanted to keep us separate because I’m related to work. So other than how I feel about how he’s been treating me, no, I don’t have proof he’s had an affair. All he’s done is shown he’s emotionally attached himself to her. You should've seen it. I’d make a joke and he rarely smiled. She texted him once and he’d be laughing on the floor. It was ridiculous. I felt invisible in my own home. ”

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe the recent events were too much to handle for him and he wants to be around someone outside of it all to find some peace of mind before fixing the issue?” he asked. “Now I'm not saying the way he went about it was correct or that he has a right to do so but aside from the arguments did you tell him these things you're telling me?” he sounded like there was more he wanted to say but kept quiet.

“For the most part, yeah, kinda. I didn’t tell him how I’m feeling. More so I tried to get him to admit that what he did was wrong.” You sighed. “But you think he’s right? I know I asked him to handle a lot these last few months. I know that. I told him that all the time. I thanked him for being by my side. But I just lost it when I saw his almost-girlfriend standing in our house, and it was a second after he kissed another woman.”

“And that's where you went wrong, Y/N. Getting him to admit that he did wrong when he didn't do that to you and letting your feelings be known are two polar opposites. I don’t believe that how either of you two are going about is right.” He sighed. “I believe that you two have put a strain on your relationship because of so many things that have happened far too close to one another that it’s clouded both your judgment’s.”

You nodded, regardless of the fact that he couldn’t see it. You took a deep breath then swallowed. “Yeah. I think you’re right. I… He shouldn’t have hid me from her, or hid her from me, but past that… I should’ve understood where he was coming from. I asked him to take on too much. I wish things would just go back to normal,” you sighed. “I need to make things right with him. I need to hear him out. Maybe then he can admit that he didn’t do things the right way, and I can apologize for doing the same thing. Thank you, Dexter. You’re always my rock.”

“I care too much about you Y/N to let something like this get the better of you” he smiled knowing you felt better about this. “What are best friends aside from killing together?” he joked hoping to get a laugh from you. “If you need to get a clear mind you where to find me.”

“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I’ll talk to Spencer and let you know.”

You two ended your phone call, and you went to sleep, feeling a bit better about the outlook on your marriage.

------------------------------------------------

But you didn’t get a chance to go to Spencer and apologize. The case for Everett Lynch launched into full swing just a few hours after your phone call with Dexter, and you and Spencer didn’t have a moment alone.

You’d been chasing Everett Lynch for a while now, and finally had him cornered at a woman’s mansion with his mother in the basement. It was a highly volatile situation. Spencer was able to get Roberta to release Olivia before she got hurt. While he was on the phone with Roberta, she apparently gave the all clear to let the team breach and Spencer gave the order. The SWAT crew moved in and you turned to JJ who was on the phone, to ask her why she looked confused. She glanced to you, then turned and screamed, “Spence! Wait!”

But it was too late. An explosion sent the team, and your husband, soaring back, where he hit the pavement hard.

Your heart stopped before you ran over to him, kneeling in front of him. “Spence? Spencer? Can you hear me? I need a medic!” you shouted. He was clearly disoriented, but he was conscious.

The paramedics on site looked him over, but there were no visible signs of any damage. They said he might have a concussion and you needed to watch him. You sat beside him on the plane, holding his hand, but he seemed distant, not talking to you. You were hoping that after a near death experience, it would bring you two closer, and he’d apologize for everything he did… But even then, he couldn’t say anything.

You two got home and you carried his bags inside. He seemed lost in thought still, so you sighed.

“Well, I’m going to go check out of the hotel. I should be here to watch you,” you said, the sadness in your voice.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah.” He was dismissive and he went back to thinking. Maybe he was thinking that his life was short, and he didn’t want to spend it with you any more. Maybe he really had moved on mentally with Max and was just waiting for the right time to bring it up.

You cried the entire drive to the hotel. You gathered your things, and checked out, driving back. Your marriage would end. Not by your doing, but by your husband’s. It was evident he had someone else on his mind all the time, even after he swore he wasn’t seeing her any more.

But the signs were clear. He didn’t fully apologize, he didn’t see anything wrong in his actions, he lied about JJ, he kissed Cat so easily… Clearly, you weren’t the woman he loved any more.

Just as you pulled into your driveway, it was early morning. It took all night to get home from the case, then to get all your things and check out. Hell, it was time for you to be in the office, but you assumed Emily and the team knew Spencer was hurt and that you’d be caring for him.

But there was another car in your driveway.

JJ’s.

You got out and slammed the door to your car. “The fuck are you doing here?”

“I came to check on Spence. He had a nasty hit yesterday. We tried calling both of you but didn’t get a reply. Where have you been anyway?”

“That’s none of your goddamn business.” You started to unlock the door. “Spencer’s fine, by the way. I just had to run an errand. I’ll be in the office in a little--”

But as you walked through your house and JJ followed you, you saw Spencer on the floor of your dining room floor.

“Oh my god. Spencer!” You gasped, running to check on him. “Spence? Can you hear me” In seconds, he started to seize out. “Holy shit. JJ, call 911.”

“On it,” she said quickly, pulling her phone out.

“Don’t do this. Don’t do this,” you begged. "No, Spence, come on. You have to be okay. You have to be. I can't fucking lose you." You held onto him, trying to keep him steady so he didn't hurt his head. Blood was spilling out of his nose.

You had to keep a level head, you had to keep Spencer stable and alive, and also fight off every horrible feeling racing through you. It dawned on you that the last few words you’d said to your husband outside of work would be about him loving other women, and you having no idea where you stood with your own husband. Were his last thoughts about leaving you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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#inside the criminal mind #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fic #spencer reid #dexter #dexter morgan #dexter fic #dexter morgan fic

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