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waklman · 1 year

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Glue Song (Pt. 2)

summary: you meet rooster and jake doesn’t know how to feel about it.

pairing: jake seresin x female reader

warnings: brief mention of death

a/n: more pining, friends to lovers, fluff x angst, rooster x hangman moment (?). part 3 comes next..!

word count: 2.2k

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Jake doesn’t know what gets on his nerves more.

The fact that Javy insisted to go help you grab more cookies from the kitchen, leaving him to brood in his seat alone or the fact that he’s been painfully watching Rooster struggle to squeeze his Bronco between your mini cooper and Jake’s very own Ford truck.

After a heated argument on which pilot should lend you a hand, Javy won on the basis that Jake should be the one to greet Rooster when he arrives. And so, Javy is able to escape the wrath of his seething friend with the most shiteating grin on his face as he got to follow you out back.

Replaying the scene back in his mind leaves Jake annoyed beyond belief, and now that he’s witnessing Rooster back out of the parking spot for the fifth time this evening, he feels his anger flare up even more.

Jake leans back in his seat, throwing his arms across his chest and watches his guest finally stroll through the front doors as if he’s not running late with another variation of his Hawaiin button up slung over his thick shoulders.

Rooster doesn’t know what to say as he carefully steps inside, spotting Hangman sitting by himself. He keeps a neutral expression on but doesn’t know what to make of his view. Hangman is waiting for him by a table of love-themed baked goods. He can't help but to imagine how Natasha would kick him in the balls laughing once he tells her what he’s currently seeing.

Rooster takes in Hangman’s appearance as he gets closer, bewildered that his hair is styled nicely, instead of being slicked back by five pounds of gel. And he can’t recall a time where he’s seen Hangman dressed so casually before. For the first time ever, he acknowledges that Jake looks pretty good.

As he takes his last step over towards the table, Rooster hesitantly speaks.

“Look man. I don’t know if you misunderstood what Mav said but—”

“Sit.” Jake asks through clenched teeth, peeved that Rooster would even assume he’d have any kind of romantic interest in him.

Though slightly horrified at the situation, Rooster obliges anyway—taking a seat, awkwardly adjusting himself in the tiny chair.

The sight was laughable. The two grown men were basically swallowing the small seats they sat in with an array of goodies displayed between them.

Jake looks across the table, his eyes silently trailing up and down Rooster’s body.

Rooster can’t tell if he’s trying to size him up or he’s simply curious about how many Hawaiian printed shirts he owns.

Both men clear their throats and flinch at their synced mannerism.

Before they get a chance to fester in an awkward silence together, Jake feels his phone ring repeatedly in his front pocket.

Jake immediately recognizes the unique text-tone he specifically set for your contact.

Rooster curiously watches Hangman, the man across from him practically shoves half his arm down his pants to grab his phone, a small smile replacing his previously annoyed expression.

Angel

Me and Javy are warming up the cookies now!!

Is that his truck out front???

I'm so excited Jack!!

We’re coming out soon I promose :))

His grin peers back at him in the reflection of his screen as he rereads your typos, you were so happy for him that you didn’t even bother to look over your own spelling.

“Who’s Jack? :(“ he quickly types out in response, shoving his phone back in his pocket.

Jake bunglingly shifts in his seat, attempting to find a comfortable position after realizing that Rooster had been watching him check his phone.

“Coyote is joining us in a bit, and my other friend too.” He speaks so fast Rooster would’ve never caught what he said if he wasn’t paying close attention.

“Oh, alright” he responds.

They both synchronously stare down at the food in front of them before making brief eye contact with each other.

Both men quickly retract their gaze, pretending to look around the shop–unsure if they want to make eye contact with one another again.

Rooster stares off in the direction of the kitchen and spots Coyote walking out, his head looking back over his shoulder to smile at a girl following closely behind him.

“Wait, watch where you’re going.” you draw back your smile, a worried look settling on your face as you kick at Javy’s ankle, alerting him to look ahead.

Pulled in by the sound of your voice, Jake quickly averts his eyes in your direction.

You and Javy are both wearing the new bear paw oven mitts he helped you pick out last weekend as you carry out red velvet cookies together.

He can’t ignore the way his throat tightens as you two make your way over.

Jake doesn’t know what’s gotten into him. He blinks to regain his composure, realizing that he spaced out so severely within the last few minutes that he didn't realize that you and Javy had already politely greeted Rooster and you had taken a seat next to him.

He drops his gaze down to your knee as it bounces nervously, unaware that your leg is slightly rubbing against the side of his jeans.

His eyes trail up to your face, and follows your line of sight. You’re eagerly staring down at the cookies you just put out with Javy, as the two pilots sitting across from you are engaged in friendly conversation.

“Try her stuff.” Jake speaks up, interrupting the conversation.

He quickly rams a cookie into his mouth with his right hand, as his left gently grabs your knee, halting you from giving yourself carpet burn from the way you were furiously rubbing against his denim pants.

Jake feels you look up at him appreciatively from his peripheral as he shovels a chocolate croissant into his already stuffed cheeks next, urging his fellow aviators to join him.

“Mmm so damn good,” he moans—closing his eyes, appreciating the way the chocolate swirls on his tongue.

“Yeah?’ Your shoulders shake, laughing at his reaction. Despite how many times he’s already tried your baking, Jake has never failed to display his enjoyment every time.

Rooster and Javy quickly reach for the closest treat as Jake shoots them a spine chilling look while you distracted yourself, trying to find a napkin from the empty table behind you.

Once you’re fully facing everyone again, you hand Jake his much needed napkin and place a napkin in front of everyone else too.

Javy thanks you by shooting a thumbs up at you since his mouth is full, and you Bradley shyly grins at your kind gesture.

Rooster then takes a big bite of one of your red velvet cookies and feels a wave of nostalgia hit him right in the chest.

“Oh wow. This is amazing,” he compliments you, wide eyed.

It tastes so much like his mother’s cookies that it makes his heart twinge.

“I don’t remember the last time I had something home-made. This is great,” he admits to the group with a smile.

Javy and Jake stills at his statement, knowing the reason why he hasn’t eaten anything home-made in awhile. The duo learned recently that his mother passed not long ago, and his father died in an accident involving Maverick while he was young.

“If you come around here I can whip up something for you. What do you like, Rooster?” you offer, lips pulled into a small smile.

Jake knows that you mean it too. It wasn’t just to make conversation or to distract from the topic—he can almost envision you keeping yourself past store hours to practice new recipes for Rooster.

“These cookies are great as is.” he returns your smile, appreciative that you didn’t attempt to pry or send him a look of pity he’s grown accustomed to receiving.

“How about you come around in the morning with Jake? Maybe it’ll count as bonding time to your boss.” you joke.

Jake feels himself choke on his croissant, Javy pushes a cup of water in his friend’s direction immediately.

Jake fervently nods his head no at your statement after clearing his throat with water.

“Jacob Daniel Seresin.” you scolded, appalled by his manners.

Bradley smiles watching the once cocky pilot he knew shrink in his seat like a kicked puppy as you stare him down.

“Sounds good.” Rooster agrees to watch Jake sulk further.

“Hey are you guys coming down to the Hard Deck next week? Phoenix convinced Penny to reserve the space for just the navy Friday night” Rooster suddenly brings up, picking up another cookie for himself.

“Oh. Yeah I’ll be there, what about you two?” Javy looks at you and Jake.

Jake can practically see the wheels in Javy’s head turning and he wants to splash the rest of his water on him to halt his scheming.

You bite down on your tongue, a nervous habit you could never rid yourself from. Jake has never really brung you around his friends, besides Javy and now Rooster. He knows you run on the introverted side, you’re comfortable meeting others in small intimate settings like this. But a bar–the Hard Deck? Full of boisterous members of the navy running on a couple beers? Jake even grows nervous for you.

“What do you say Hangman? We can have her as our plus one.” Javy offers, slightly provoking Jake.

He looks over at you, trying to decipher your expression but it's unreadable.

“If that's okay with you guys?” you combat his nervous stare with a smile, reaching down to play with his fingers that were currently splayed on your knee.

Jake relaxes a bit, feeling your fingers twist at his graduation ring–but the anxiety still sits at the back of his throat like bile.

You don’t want to disappoint Jake and rudely decline the invite. That was probably the last thing you wanted.

Who knows? Maybe you’ll have fun since Jake and Javy will be there. It’ll be nice to see Jake spend his weekend outside the walls of your apartment for once. You’ve been feeling guilty for keeping him inside so much, although he insisted there wasn't a place he’d rather be.

But you knew deep down, Jake was much more of a social butterfly than you were. He would thrive at a bar filled with people. Your chest warms, knowing that in a room full of others, Jake will always manage to shine and cast his presence onto everyone there like a mirrorball.

“I’ll take that as a yes” Javy grins as you both stare back at him.

Within the following days, Jake learns that he has to share his mornings before work with both you and Rooster.

He tries his best to be civil, making small talk with the two of you but he can’t help but to feel like he was kicked to the curb. His involvement in conversations grows less and less by the day, yet this doesn’t go unnoticed by you. You’ve attempted to pull Jake aside a few times but he insists that he and Rooster are already running late to base–leaving you defeated as you watch him walk past customers and make a beeline for the exit. You know there’s something clearly bothering him and you grow increasingly worried, watching him retract from you like this.

Unbeknownst to you, Jake has the same worried feeling weighing down on him.

Everyday, as you speak to Rooster–Jake takes the time to study your face, admiring your features, trying to commit them to memory–worried that one day he won’t get to see your face as often anymore. He feels his heart sink the second he looks over to Rooster and sees that the brunette has the same admiration for you in his eyes.

The feeling grows worse by the second–and Jake is unsure of what to do with himself.

You even tried to talk about it with him–but for some reason-Jake uses every excuse in the book to avoid the problem. Jake Seresin, a man who thrives off the thrill of confrontation can’t fathom the idea of having a possibly confrontational conversation with you. All because he doesn’t want to hear about what you think about Rooster. He doesn’t want to hear an ounce of praise for the man to leave your lips. He doesn’t want to learn that you grew close with Rooster like how you’ve grown close with him. It’s better if he doesn’t know anything, that would hurt less.

This morning he finds himself standing next to Rooster, dozing off as the mustached man animatedly speaks to you, his muscled body leaned over the counter you worked behind. The scene in front of him makes him feel so nauseous that he hasn’t even made an attempt to taste his latte, afraid that he won’t be able to stomach it.

“Jake?” you softly called out to him, pulling him out of his haze.

He looks up from his coffee and meets your stare from across the counter, he sees you bite down on your tongue–a nervous habit of yours. He feels even more sick.

“Am I still coming over to your place on Friday to get ready with you?” you look up at him hesitantly, afraid he’ll deny your request.

He feels guilt coat the roof of his mouth. You looked so scared to speak to him.

“Yeah I’ll see you Friday, Angel,” he assures you.

Your heart twists sadly at the term of endearment.

“And we’ll talk then?” you ask.

“We’ll talk then,” he reiterates.

thank you for reading, and as always-reblogs are greatly appreciated!

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lvrcpid · 1 year

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road trip! - modern!au

— something tells me y’all are going to disney

— everyone met up at the sully house at 4:30 am on the DOT

— neytiri threatened to leave lo’ak since he didn’t wake up on time

— jake didn’t feel like taking multiple cars cause he thinks gas prices are insane so he rented a huge caravan to attach to his truck

— he drives a ford F150 btw

— there isn’t really a seating arrangement but trust ronal, neytiri and your mom are in the back sipping wine/juice and gossiping

— your dad sitting in the passenger seat while jake drives and tonowari in the back seat since he called dibs

— alright let’s get into the funny stuff

— not even 10 minutes in and lo’ak is complaining he has to pee

— neytiri tells him “there’s literally a bathroom?”

— he doesn’t want to get up cause him and tsireya are watching the new season of ginny and georgia

— kiri is definitely in a window seat cuddled up watching her shows while tuk is next to her playing adopt me on her ipad

— you got stuck with aonung and neteyam

— they’re just glaring at eachother cause wtf i wanted them to MYSELF!

— rotxo could come this time (YAYYYY)

— but he was knocked out on the couch as soon as they got up there

— jake has the worst road rage

— he stay cussing someone out while tonowari is tryna defuse the situation

— your dad is just listening to sports podcasts

— baseball specifically

— neteyam bugging everyone to play crazy 8

— tuk ate y’all up every single round

— when it FINALLY came time to stop at a gas station, lo’ak was the first to get up

— he came back WITH THE MOST SNACKS

— i’m talking candy, chips. the whole 9 yards

— i’m too lazy to write the snacks everyone got but something tells me the men have hella slim jim wrappers in the truck

— you playing tic tac toe with ao’nung because he was bored and his signal went out

— speaking of signal, there was a point in time everyones signal went out for like an hour and it was pure chaos

— neteyam was probably reading when it happened so he didn’t even care

— a lot of “damn!” when jake swerves around someone

— neytiri calling him upset cause “there’s a pregnant woman and CHILDREN BACK HERE JAKE.”

— tsireya and kiri looking at ears they want to buy to match with the boys

— lo’ak and rotxo looking at them like ??? whatever makes you happy babe

— lo’ak knocked OUT. i’m talking snoring, spit on his shirt

— something tells me he sleeps like he has 4 kids and mortgage to pay for

— you and tsireya made a lot of tiktoks

— i mean a lot

— you , neteyam and aonung decided y’all were gonna be different and wear goofy ears instead

— ronal asks for a time check and only realizes it’s 7 in the morning and y’all have 8 more hours to go.

— cue a conjoined sigh

— tuk made you play those tiktok games with her and you actually had a blast

— tuk is so cool i love her

— i’m gonna stop here cause it’s getting long but if y’all want me to write one where they’re at disney then lmk 🤭

tags 🏷️: @23victoria @avtprint @bucky12345 @boilingpots @Marcswife21 @elegantkidfansoul @itsyogurl @stars4deku @stvpidscvpid @uniltsatirey @urdeadpoet @annamarieisbae @graysonmalik2550 @blueberryfailureclinic @jordan-network

#avatar #avatar x reader #awotw #neteyam x reader #jake sully x reader #kiri x reader #sully family x reader #loak x reader #neytiri x reader #tuk avatar #jake sully #aonung x reader #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #miles quaritch #modern!avatar #avatar 2009

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leverage-ot3 · 24 days

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okay I’ve seen a lot of posts about sterling just being crowley and. guys. the implications just hear me out 😭😭😭

bending lore slightly here BUT let’s say crowley’s body was once inhabited by a human and crowley is possessing the body (maybe he kills the initial inhabitant bc he doesn’t care)

but he still has the guy’s memories. he doesn’t bother keeping up appearances with his ‘ex wife’ because he is too busy building up his hell empire. BUT for some reason he can’t quite identify, he still feels something towards his ‘daughter’. he lets the divorce happen and doesn’t feel the need (or desire) to fight for custody, but he can never quite forget her, to cast her out of his mind for good

some hijinks ensue with the leverage team. it’s mostly because even a grind culture demon wants some off time every once in a while, and for him the insurance investigator stuff is more of a hobby. interacting with the leverage crew is very low stakes for him, and honestly, quite amusing. they aren’t on his level power-wise, but that ford character gives him the mental exercise he hasn’t experienced in, well, he can’t even remember

he can feel their frustration and anger when they learn he has become employed by interpol and feeds off it. it’s great, and relaxing in a way he is never able to achieve while conducting hell-related business

one year he gets wind that olivia is in a really bad situation associated with his ‘ex wife’s’ new husband. he’s selling vital hardware to terrorists, and while that might actually be the kind of chaos he would normally support or be entertained by as the king of hell, something feels wrong about letting olivia stay anywhere near that man

he calls upon the body’s adversaries. he wouldn’t admit it, even under duress, BUT he feels slightly fond of them. nate for the three dimensional chess they play, sophie for her ability to charm and disguise, parker for her chaos and slightly unsettling nature (it’s the autism swag and being bad with human interaction but he doesn’t know that lol), hardison for his unapologetic intelligence and eliot for his hardened violent past and take-no-shit persona (he’s fun to tease)

they perform exactly as he expected, right into his carefully crafted plan. and then olivia is under his care and things get more complicated. he keeps her FAR, FAR away from anything related to the supernatural (heh). no one can find out about her, ESPECIALLY not those imbecile hunter brothers (if for nothing else than the embarrassment in revealing he has a weak spot)

not sure how to work it into this post but I also want to add that somewhere along the way he develops feelings for nate and sophie. the frame up job is near and dear to my heart and you can’t convince me that isn’t fighting as flirting behavior. his interpol persona is more of a side hustle so to speak, but he finds it fun (relaxing, even) to fill that role. there aren’t any obligations of other demons, bothersome hunters, or anything like that. nate and sophie are low stakes, except, they aren’t, really. they make him feel things he can’t ever really remember feeling. his heart beats fast when sophie sat in his lap and cradled his face, his hands sweat when nate gives him that certain smug look. he’s exasperated by the way they can run circles around him like no one else has ever before. they annoy him and get under his skin in a way no one else can and it’s infuriating. but also not, at the same time. maybe he likes it

and then the long goodbye job happens

hear me out and suspend your belief here for a second, because I can’t remember if crowley supernaturally knows when ppl die/are dead or not.

so nate is in interpol custody and the interviewer is obviously out of her depth. (most people are, when it comes to nathan ford.) he walks in and pours the man a drink, but he’s fuming. somewhere along the way he came to care about the team. hell and suffering is literally in his (official) job description, but he can admit (only to himself) that he admires what they do. it’s not for him, not anything close to where his passions and interests lie, but he respects their drive and purpose. he is also aware enough to acknowledge that they are a family, a group of misfits that never belonged quite anywhere except to each other.

and nate fucking blew it up, ruined it, because his vice is being so obsessed with the end game that he is apparently willing to let his team, his family, the people that anchor him to reality, die because the ends supposedly justify the means.

not this time. not to sterling crowley

he is enraged. he can admit within the confines of his mind that he cares for nate, for sophie, even for the other three (though nate and sophie have somehow made it a hierarchy where they are more important to him. which he will dissect later in private. maybe.)

nate let them die, he let sophie die, and for what? the black book? hell below, crowley would have made things easier somehow, if he knew that this was where nate’s sights had lied. he would have prevented this somehow. he wants to have prevented this. he doesn’t want any of them dead and is too afraid to check and verify because that would make it real. the idea of sophie (or any of them) somehow making it to hell instead of heaven would probably break something in him he might not be able to repare fully.

he yells at nate- he’s angry. hellfire burning in his heart because everything is ruined. the deaths aside (however hard it is to set them aside in his mind), nate will not recover from this, not ever. this will be the start of the end, he is sure. a miserable, guilt-ridden existence where he drinks himself to death and nothing will save him. it plays out in crowley’s mind in a thousand different ways that are beyond painful to conceptualize, even in theory.

the story starts to unravel and there is a game afoot. a solemn, miserable, infuriating game because the con is still in session because parker is alive and in the building- which sets another fire alight in his chest. ‘parker even know you got hardison killed?’ he rages for her grief when she finds out. he knows it will double when she finds out eliot has perished, too, because he isn’t fucking blind.

but nate is a brilliant man, lest he forget too quickly. they are all alive, and somehow still the entire crew slips through his fingers. he’s not even angry (he never would have been- he doesn’t actually try too hard to catch them. it’s about the game, not the consequences). he lets them keep the black book because he’s fucking exhausted and honestly, they more than earned it.

‘now we’re even. tell sophie to drive carefully’. they will never be even, not really. crowley would never admit or agree that being human is the superior state of being, but that have made him feel human in a way he doesn’t actually mind. they keep him on his toes and match him in a way unique to them, they remind him that there are other things than the realm of hell. not necessarily bigger than hell, but maybe just as important in a different sense.

watching the van drive away, something inside him settles. when he walked into the interrogation room that day he thought this was the beginning of the end. it’s not the end at all, not an end to anything. it’s a continuation of their story. maybe, he thinks, a beginning to a new era in it

#before anyone says anything YES I KNOW HOW SPN LORE WORKS I WATCHED IT FOR MANY YEARS #I am just making this silly post for my own (and possibly your) amusement #I’m not digging too heavily into spn plot because I haven’t watched in forever and don’t trust my memory to make accurate commentary lol #also I know it’s probably layed but lied looked better somehow don’t worry about it #sorry this is so long I wasn’t sure where to break it to a read more bc all of it was too important to me 😭💀#tell me in the comments if you’d prefer a read more and where you think it should go #I haven’t been into spn for years HOW DOES THIS AU HAVE SUCH A CHOKEHOLD OVER ME #eliot spencer #parker #alec hardison #leverage ot3 #parker x hardison x eliot #(background)#nate ford #sophie devereaux #jim sterling #nate x sophie #nate x sophie x sterling #crossovers #leverage x spn #leverage x supernatural #supernatural #crowley spn #crowley supernatural #crowley #leverage #mine #not even queueing this I need it posted immediately. instant gratification #pls like rb comment etc I need the validation #I ended up putting a read more for the long goodbye job

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fishy--friend · 1 month

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HEADCANON TIME!!!

Sometime after Bill "died", Ford and Dipper (mostly Dipper) developed some form of demonic personality disorder where in Dipper's case whenever he gets hurt or are around sharp objects for a prolonged period of time, there's a chance he can act like how he did when possessed by Bill

For Ford, it's whenever he overworks himself so much that he physically cannot stay awake anymore

But they act a little bit warped depending on how he treated their bodies

So Ford would become obsessive with his work and easily irritable and Dipper would become masochistic and psychotic

They both handle this very differently, with Ford seeing this as a great opportunity to get more work done and Dipper would be worried about his physical well-being

ALSO: their eyes would most likely change to be Bill's eyes because drama

More nitty gritty details under the cut

OKAY SO NOW THAT YOU'RE HERE, TIME TO DISCUSS THE OTHER PARTS

This happens at like the worst times possible, like at family gatherings or doing something important. It's also not caused by trauma, but by Bill's weird demon soul being spread into the world and Dipper + Ford just so happened to be the people he possessed the most/did the most damage to.

The whole situation would also make it SUPER impossible for Dipper to do a lot of jobs like working at a fast food restaurant, since there's always a lingering threat that Bipper might appear come out show himself

MINI HEADCANON: Dipper's "Bill personality caused from leftover demonic essence in his soul" goes by Bipper for convenience

#gravity falls #gravity falls au #bill cipher #dipper pines #headcanon #stanford pines #bipper #mabel pines #this hc is so stupid and pointless but the angst demands it

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krakenartificer · 2 months

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Who wants a really sad Leverage headcanon?

Was re-watching the Gimme a K Street Job -- Season 5 Episode 5 -- and a couple of things stood out to me.

1) Nate says "Let's go steal some congresspeople", and then sends everyone on the team (except Parker, who's being a cheer coach) out to con one of their targets. But it feels like there's a profound mismatch in who gets which mark.

For the "not like other girls" feminist congresswoman who's inclined to dismiss cheer as worthless and demeaning, you need Eliot to come in looking like a man who very much knows what does and does not count as a sport, and be his tiny angry respect-women-juice self about how regardless of what you think of their choice of clothing they are working as hard as any other athlete and they deserve safety as much as anyone else. But instead they sent Hardison.

For the "Yes I am very busy and important; admire me" chairman, you need Sophie, who is better than anyone else on the planet at making you feel admirable when you're doing what she wants, and scummy and low when you're not doing what she wants. But instead they sent Eliot.

For the "Look I am trying, but I need corn subsidies or I won't be able to do anything else" newbie congressman, Hardison could happily have gone on an infinitely recurring series of fetch quests until he sees the place where they loop around and bottom out and every problem solves every other problem. But instead they sent Sophie.

2) Eliot struggles the most, so Nate works with him the most, but he doesn't help him out hardly at all; he just keeps saying, "So what's your next play?" and then revealing that he's already anticipated Eliot's next play and has all the materials in place to enact it. And of course, they do eventually get the dude on board, and it all works out, but afterwards, Eliot tells Nate, "I trust that some time soon you'll tell me why you had me slogging through all that when you already knew how to hook him."

And of course, knowing what we now know about how season 5 ends, it makes sense that Nate is trying to train the OT3 to work without him, looking for his replacement.

Except.

If the plan is to fuck off into the sunset with Sophie, then why did he throw Sophie into this uncomfortable not-my-wheelhouse scenario?

No, Nate's preparing the entire team to carry on without him. He's forcing them to learn how to plan, learn different ways of approaching problems, to think about bigger pictures and approach them strategically.

...

I think Nate just got the first diagnosis of the disease that's finally going to kill him. And again, we -- the audience -- now know that he's going to live for many years after that initial diagnosis. But he doesn't know that, at this point. He knows he's tested positive, and he knows it's eventually going to kill him, and he has no idea how long he has.

And in some sense, it doesn't matter how long he has. Three months or thirty years, that kind of revelation makes it stunningly clear that taking care of the people you love means making sure that they can take care of themselves.

So that's what he does: he throws them into new, uncomfortable situations where they'll have to grow and support each other without him, so that no matter what happens, they'll be able to keep going. Because he's not a nice person, Jimmy Ford's son, but by God does he know the importance of protecting your family.

#leverage #nate ford #nathan ford is not a nice man but he's the only thing standing between us and jimmy ford's son #headcanon #spoilers #leverage spoilers #leverage redemption spoilers #gimme a k street job

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mxydxyzway · 4 months

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jeffery woods

- jeff is an absolute piece of shit guy. i mean, what else would you expect from an edge lord serial killer?

- he doesn’t have an actual residence, he lives on the road in his old and shitty 1970 Ford F250 that he never has attempted to take care of.

- he truly is disgusting. he’ll go to strip clubs or red light districts in the city he’s passing through and pick up women. after their affair is done he kills them and steals their cash. thats where he gets his gas money, clothes, and food.

- his hygiene is poor but not as terrible as some would assume, he’ll go to truck stops and use the showers provided to make sure he’s not too grimey.

- jeff has no remorse and isn’t ashamed of the terrifyingly gross man he has turned into. if anything, he believes that the women are lucky to be murdered by him. because in his mind, he’s literally jeff the fucking killer who wouldn’t want to go down in history as one of his victims?

- but, don’t get arrogance caught up with ignorance. jeff is extremely smart so even though his shit might be sloppy he sure as hell is good at covering his tracks. the only way they’re able to identify victims as his is by the little signature he’s adapted. what is said signature? well, it’s cutting smiles into their faces.

- he is incredibly good at making sure no dna or traceable clues are left at the scene. this skill of his is directly related to the fact that law enforcement has yet to identify his vehicle, next intended location, and what he even looks like. time can change a person and nineteen year old jeff looks incredibly different from thirteen year old jeff.

- the only “close call” he’s had (if you even wanna call it that) is when he first started to figure out this little routine of his. he was picking up a girl in Chicago and it ended up being a sting situation. he had to get his hands a bit dirty there for a second but other than that he was off the hook.

- jeff doesn’t just kill women though, truckers are also not safe from this disease of a man. jeff likes the shirt a trucker is wearing? dead. wearing cool boots that look about his size? dead. oh, that trucker has a nice rig i wonder if his wallets pretty? yeah, jeff already got to him.

- as mentioned earlier, he has no remorse or shame. it’s his world and everyone else is living in it because he decides.

- when he meets little seventeen year old nina things get a bit wonky. he is interested in her infatuation with him, and sort of thinks “fuck it let’s see how long i can tolerate her”. he’ll most likely stay in her city for a bit and entertain her before he gets bored again, leaving her in shambles. while their fling was short it definitely was toxic as fuck but everybody knows that.

- after leaving ninas city he’s quick to jump to the next one. he doesn’t dwell on her too much because in his mind she was just a play thing. she meant nothing to him and was there for his entertainment. when things got a little too soppy is when he decided to leave, he was never made for settling down and automatically assumed that’s what nina wanted. if he had actually pulled his head out of his ass, he would come to find out that’s not at all what she wanted.

- anywho, he likes to think he lives that “rock and roll” life style when in all reality he’s just a greasy freakazoid who attempts to adapt a punk rock wardrobe.

#creepypasta #jeff the killer #jeffrey woods #he’s a bitch

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fanficimagery · 2 years

Text

Pretty Baked 1/2

When you decide to move and open up a shop in Charming, California, the local motorcycle club that runs out of Teller-Morrow Automotive practically adopts you and introduces you to their world.

PART ONE | PART TWO

Words: 8K Author's Note: Sons of Anarchy!AU. No Clay. I'm sorry if you like him, but he intimidates me more often than not lmao. And as much as I love kid fics, I've decided against Abel existing in this imagine. Just go with it.

When you were just fourteen, there was an unfortunate accident which claimed your parents' lives. The life insurance money for both of them was split between you and your brother, but neither of you could touch it until you turned eighteen. Your brother hit eighteen first and immediately left the care of your uncle, spending his money without a care in the world. And no matter how much you and your uncle told him to spend it wisely or invest, he didn't listen.

So when you came into your money, you asked your uncle for help. He helped you invest most of it and then you used a small portion of it to help put you through school. You went to school for a business degree, and when you graduated you used the recipes your uncle's girlfriend showed you to open up a small bakery and coffee shop. You only made and sold a few select items, and the coffee you brewed was plain. Many businesses sold fancy, expensive drinks, but you wanted to keep it original. The elderly locals of the small Texas town you grew up in adored you for keeping the prices affordable and in return they made Pretty Baked one of the best breakfast joints to eat from.

Over the years you slowly expanded on Pretty Baked, bettering your uncle and girlfriend's lives since they had looked after you for years. But then your brother started coming back around, asking for cash here and there when he couldn't make ends meet. And against everyone's wishes and your own better judgment, you gave him the cash.

You quickly grew tired of Texas and your brother's entitled attitude towards the cash you earned for a living, so you started looking for a place elsewhere to set up shop. You don't know what made you look into California, but you did and you looked for a small town that could possibly use a little boost.

Charming, California, in your eyes, was the perfect candidate. And after searching for buildings for sale, you found one that was within a decent price range, as well as a small three bedroom house too. So after leaving your uncle in charge of Pretty Baked's Texas location, you moved to Charming to open up your second location.

More worried about your living situation first, a few friends helped you load up a moving truck that your uncle would drive to California for you while you drove your Ford Explorer. Those same friends also made the drive with you, your two Great Danes, and your uncle, and they helped put together your bed and drop your dog's mattresses in one of the spare bedrooms before wishing you luck and leaving you to your own devices.

Furnishing your house was easy since you didn't care for anything fancy and everything you wanted was fortunately in stock there at the stores. You had new sofas, another queen sized bed for the third room, a kitchen table and chairs, a coffee table and a TV all delivered in one day. It took you a couple of days to get everything put together and on the day you've had your new refrigerator installed, you're surprised to hear your doorbell ring as you're in the middle of making a grocery list.

Your two Great Danes erupt into chaos, rushing the door and barking.

"Knock it off!" You shout. Immediately the dogs stop barking, coming to heel as they walk around you so they can see who the guest is as well. You sigh and then paste on a friendly smile as you swing open the door. The woman standing there is easily in her 40s, rocking a black skin tight long sleeve shirt whose sleeves are sheer, skin tight jeans that are tucked into knee high black heeled boots with a tupperware container in hand. Her brunette hair is curled and waved to perfection, blonde highlights added in here and there. All in all, she's one smokin' cougar. "Hello."

"Hiya, sweetheart," she drawls, amusement lacing her tone. Shit. She definitely caught you ogling her. "Name's Gemma. My son lives a couple houses down from you and I thought I'd welcome 'ya to the neighborhood. I brought you some treats."

You wince as your dogs immediately respond to one of their favorite words, their deep woofs making even you startle. Whirling around, you raise your pointer finger at them. "No!"

"Holy shit," Gemma exclaims.

You mentally laugh, knowing your two Great Danes paint a menacing picture. Both are pitch black with their ears clipped. Both have dark brown leather collars, silver plaques pinned to them with their names and your information on them in case they get lost. "She means treats for me, not you. Behave!" Once your dogs settle, you turn back around. "Sorry about that. I'm YN and the two bodyguards are Grimm and Reaper."

Gemma's eyes immediately sparkle. "You're joking."

"Nope."

She laughs. "I love it."

"Thanks." You stand there for a split second before you remember your manners. "Oh shit. Come in!" You say, gesturing her inside. "Sorry for not offering sooner. And sorry about the mess. I just had my appliances put in today."

"It's not a problem." She walks in as if she owns the place, heels clicking. You smile as you see her pat each of your dogs heads, obviously looking around as she makes her way towards the kitchen. "Wow. Place looks great."

"Been in here before?" You ask as you follow, Grimm and Reaper following behind you as well.

"Yeah. I thought my son would like this place, but he preferred something smaller."

You huff. "I would have to, but my dogs are my babies. I needed room for them."

"Oh yeah?" Gemma places the Tupperware container on your table, taking a seat. She looks you up and down before you take your own seat, smirking at you. "So where does Charming's newest resident hail from?"

You arch an eyebrow at her. This was probably the town's biggest gossip, but you didn't have anything to hide. "From an equally small town down in Texas."

"Reason for the move?"

"I'm opening up a second location for my bakery."

"Really?" She drawls. "Tell me more."

You chuckle at her. "You want my whole life story, don't you?"

"Well, aren't you a smart girl?"

"Fair enough. I'd wanna know all about the newbie too." You sigh, reaching for her Tupperware of treats and popping open the lid. Chocolate chip cookies are inside, and you readily bite into one, groaning in delight. "These are good." You shove the rest of the cookie into your mouth and then wipe the crumbs off on the bottom of your shirt. "So, uh, my parents died when I was young. My uncle and girlfriend raised me and my brother, but my brother split as soon as he was of age and came into possession of his share of our parents life insurance money."

Gemma scoffs. "Typical."

"Yep. Anyway, when I came into my portion of the money, I invested most of it and put myself through college. Afterwards, I opened up Pretty Baked. My uncle's girlfriend had some fruit kolache recipes that she taught me so we excelled at that. Then over time, I added in sausage kolaches, other various doughnuts and simple coffees since nowadays all everyone sells is the expensive shit."

"Good for you." She genuinely seems impressed. "So your business did well then?"

"It did. So well, in fact, that I was able to better my uncle and his girlfriend's lives as a thank you for stepping in when my parents died. But then I wanted a change in scenery, so I looked elsewhere to set up shop and Charming met the criteria I was looking for- small, but loyal."

"And you plan to keep this shop exactly like your Texas location?"

"Oh yeah. I'm gonna have to keep my menu very small right now until I can hire staff that knows what they're doing, but eventually- if business does well here- I hope to expand the menu to everything I sell down in Texas."

"Well I, for one, can't wait to try what you have to offer."

"Thanks. It's gonna be a while since I still have to order all the appliances for the shop, but I can make you a tester's tray to try a bit of everything."

"Yes. I love that idea." Gemma's phone vibrates from within her pocket and without even looking at it, she says, "That's my cue. I should get going."

"Oh. Okay." You stand up at the same time she does, tutting at Grimm and Reaper when they move to follow. "Thanks for stopping by."

"It was my pleasure, baby girl." She reaches into her back pocket, pulling out a business card and handing it to you. "My family and I own Teller-Morrow Automotive here in Charming. If you need anything or want to drop off some snacks, call the office. I'm the one who files all the paperwork and handles the phone."

"Yeah. I will." You smile at her, opening your front door and stepping aside so she can walk out. "It was nice meeting you, Gemma."

She smirks over her shoulder. "You too, baby. And if you do stop by the shop, bring those precious dogs of yours. I have a feeling my boys would love them."

The following day you finally get to go grocery shopping after having let the new refrigerator cool off overnight to make sure it was working properly. It was, so now you're anxious to stock it and your cabinets.

You manage to get everything you want, plus some snacks you're sure you don't need but desperately want, and load it all up into the backseat of your vehicle. Then after locking the doors, you take your basket back inside to go buy the dog food next.

An employee helps you get two large bags loaded into your basket when he sees you struggling, but unfortunately gets called away before he could help you out to the parking lot. Groaning, you head out by yourself and walk over to your Ford Explorer. Pressing the button for the hatchback to open, you wait until it's fully up before trying your luck with the too heavy bags.

You've only managed to get the first bag halfway out of the basket and on the edge of your trunk space when the basket starts to roll back, and you curse as you try to stop it with your foot. Stuck in an awkward position, you curse again. "Fuck my life."

There's a snort behind you. "Need some help there, darlin'?"

The voice is quite pleasant so you don't bother rejecting the offer. "Yes, please. Fuckin' dog food weighs a ton and I'm just one tiny person!" A man walks around to be in front of you, easily taking the bag of dog food from you and loading it. As he works, you quickly check him out- dirty blonde hair slightly slicked back, blonde facial hair and what appears to be some sort of motorcycle club vest over a plain white tee. As he loads the second one, you smile at him. "Thanks."

"No problem." He smiles and you do your best not to swoon. "I'm Jax. You new around here?"

"YN. And yeah. Just got in a few days ago."

He nods and then gestures to the dog food. "You gonna be good getting that off at your house?"

"Probably not." You chuckle. "I'll just back up to my garage and pull them out. I'll slide them into a corner or something."

Jax chuckles. "You sure? I don't mind lending a helping hand. We, here in Charming, look out for our own."

"Being in a new place and all, I should say no, but I'm from Texas where we help out anyone and everyone," you say. Shrugging, you then tell him, "Fuck it. If you're offering, I'll definitely accept the help."

"Well alright then. What's the address? I'll follow you on my bike." You rattle off your address to him and are surprised when his eyebrows raise to his hairline. "No shit? I live on that street too. In fact, I think I'm only a few houses down."

Something in your mind clicks and you give him a quick lookover once more. "You related to that hot, yet very intimidating woman that goes by Gemma?"

Jax barks out a laugh. "That's my ma. She introduced herself to you already?"

"Yep." You grin. "Brought me cookies to butter me up for my whole life story. I caved." Your blonde companion snorts and you shrug. "I couldn't help myself. She's really hot."

"Should I worry about you chasing after my ma?"

You shake your head and shut the hatchback. "Nah. I only appreciate good looking women. I don't sleep with them."

"Good to know." Jax's blue eyes sparkle and you curse your luck. Figures mother and son would be smokin' hot. "So should we get going?"

"Yeah! I have groceries in the backseat that I need to get home too."

"Well alright then. Lead the way."

After putting the basket away, you jog back to your vehicle and buckle in behind the steering wheel. The drive to your house is pretty short and you park in your driveway while Jax parks in the street. You open the hatchback and then walk around to open the back passenger door, grabbing as many bags as you can.

Jax manages to get one bag of dog food lifted up onto his shoulder and he readily follows you to the front door.

"Guard your nuts," you muse.

"What?" You smirk at his expression, throwing open the door and immediately step aside. The deep, menacing woofs don't startle you this time and you laugh at Jax when his jaw drops upon seeing your dogs rushing him. One arm holds tight to the bag of dog food and his free hand immediately covers his junk when Grimm noses his crotch. "What the fuck."

"You're new and you have their food. They're easily excitable."

"They're intimidating as hell, but not very good guard dogs."

"Wanna bet?" You grin and then look at your dogs. "Boys, sit!" Immediately, the Great Danes back off of Jax and sit, staring at you. You then point to the front door. "Guard." Your dogs get up and sit by the door, ears sticking straight up and not moving a muscle. You look back at Jax. "Walk towards the door."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Jax takes a moment to consider it before he takes three steps towards the door and both your dogs stand, growling menacingly at him. "Alright. I get it. They're good guard dogs."

"Damn right they are." You then look at your dogs again, softening your voice. "Alright, boys, go play." Their tails immediately start wagging and then they're off, rushing off into the house.

"Those are some smart dogs you have," Jax says, following you into the kitchen.

You place your groceries on the counter and then open the pantry door. "Put the dog food in there," you say. "And yeah. Grimm and Reaper are the best."

"What did you just say? What are their names?"

"Grimm and Reaper." Jax laughs. "Why is that funny? Even Gemma found amusement in their names." He turns around and it's then you take notice of the grim reaper on the back of his vest. "Oh. Is it like the mascot of your club or something?"

"Everyone around here and other MC's associate the reaper with the Sons of Anarchy." You nod, understanding their amusement now. "It looks like Fate brought you here."

You snort, pushing off the counter and heading for your door once again. "If you say so." Your cell suddenly rings and you pull it out of your pocket, frowning at the name that flashes across it. You silence the call and then shove it back down into your pocket.

"Boyfriend?" Jax guesses, watching you carefully.

"Nah. Brother." You shrug. "I'll call him back later."

Jax doesn't say anything else as he follows you outside, grabbing the other bag of dog food while you grab up even more groceries. Once everything is inside, you turn towards Jax who is crouched and scratching the necks of your dogs.

"So thanks for everything," you tell him. "Those bags of dog food would have been an issue for me."

"Anytime, darlin'." He stands, flashing that annoyingly pretty smile of his. "So I guess I'll see you around then?"

"Of course." You escort him to the front door so you can see him off. "After all, Charming is pretty small."

Over the next week, you spend a majority of your time cleaning up the shop that is set to become Pretty Baked's second location. Gemma had stopped by to check out the building and offer any help should you need or want any, but the work kept your mind and hands busy so you were perfectly content doing all the work by yourself. Then before she had left, the two of you traded cell phone numbers and you promised to call her soon to let her know you were heading over with breakfast goods.

You call in the orders for all the kitchen equipment you're gonna need, as well as tables and chairs and any artwork you can hang on the walls. The tables, chairs and artwork are going to come in within a week, but the kitchen equipment is set to be delivered within three weeks.

So in the meantime, you make good on that promise to Gemma one morning. And after making sure she's going to be in the office at Teller-Morrow Automotive by at least seven in the morning, you wake up at five in the morning to start baking.

You only have the stuff, and the time, for cheese sausage kolaches, as well as apple and raspberry kolaches. You have a bag of the special blend coffee beans that's really popular back in Texas, so you make a pot for Gemma to try and to get her opinion on it. You're not sure how many people work at the auto shop, so you figure ten each of the sausage, apple and raspberry kolaches should be good enough. Then after pouring the entire coffee pot into an enormous thermos jug, you grab a stack of styrofoam cups and whistle for your dogs.

Grimm and Reaper get put up in the backseat and the trunk space of your vehicle, and you load up the goods in the front seat with you. It's seven forty-five by the time you're pulling out of your driveway and find yourself on the way to Teller-Morrow Automotive.

When you pull up to the auto shop, Gemma waves you down and directs you to a parking space. You're not surprised to see various motorcycles parked alongside the side of the building or the few bikers groggily walking around.

"Well don't you look all bushy-tailed and bright-eyed," Gemma muses as you hope out of your vehicle.

"I've been up since five," you say. "And have had about five cups of coffee."

She huffs in amusement. "Did you bring your babies?"

"Of course." You open up the back door. "Let's go, Reaper." The Great Dane hops down, circling Gemma before sniffing her hand and taking a seat next to her. She smiles, scratching between his ears. "Grimm, you're next buddy," you say as you open up the hatchback. Grimm joins his brother and you slam the door shut, walking over to your passenger seat to bring out the goodies.

"So what'd you bring us?" Gemma asks.

"Cheese sausage kolaches, as well as apple and raspberry," you tell her. "Also brought some coffee for you to try."

"Excellent. Let's sit down at the picnic tables. I'm sure some of the guys will find us there."

"Okay. Are my boys good to explore?"

"Sure thing." As you and Gemma settle down at one of the tables, you set everything out. She sits, eying the goods as you take off the lids. "So what do you recommend?"

"Personally I love the sausage kolaches," you tell her. "It's good, especially if you're in a rush."

"Alright. I'll try one of those." Gemma grabs one, arching an eyebrow at the size of the sausage wrapped in a puffy breading. You shrug and she takes a bite, and you nervously watch as she chews and chews before swallowing.

"Well?"

She grins and takes another bite. "Not what I was expecting, but it's good. Especially considering it's breakfast food."

You exhale with relief and then fill one of the cups with some coffee. "Try this. It's one of the blends I brew and sell. I don't have sugar or milk, so you'll have to drink it black."

Her nose wrinkles, but she accepts it anyway. "I don't like my coffee black, but I guess I can try it since you took the time to brew it."

Gemma takes a drink and you smirk when you see her eyes widen. "Good, right?"

"Oh, honey, please tell me you have more of this stuff stocked somewhere in your house?" Gemma takes another drink, savoring it. "I don't think I can wait until your grand opening."

You chuckle. "Don't worry. This is my favorite. I have lots at my house."

"Whoa! Whose fuckin' horses?!" You turn around and watch a curly-haired individual, guarding his crotch and pushing the faces of your dogs away from him.

"Tig!" Gemma shouts. "Come here." The individual in question looks over, running a hand over his face as if he'd just woken up before heading in your direction. One of your dogs shoves his nose into Tig's stomach and he winces, attempting to shove him away.

You and Gemma chuckle, but you end up whistling sharply to get your dogs' attention. They perk up, awaiting a command, and you snap your fingers before pointing at the asphalt next to the picnic table. "Lay down." They trot over to do as they're told and then when Tig drops into the spot next to Gemma, you smile apologetically. "Sorry about that. Grimm and Reaper love greeting new people."

Tig sits a little straighter. "Did you just call them Grimm and Reaper?"

"I did."

Tig slowly smirks and Gemma introduces the two of you. "Tig, meet YN and her children. They just moved to Charming. YN, this is Tig."

You nod at him. "Hello."

He nods back and, before Gemma can tell him to try anything, he grabs one of the apple kolaches and shoves it in his mouth. He groans and you grin, and he grabs another before pouring himself some coffee. "Gem, where did you get this stuff?"

Gemma smugly grins at you. "Our newest resident and friend here makes them. She's opening up a shop pretty soon."

Tig groans some more, grabbing a sausage kolache this time and eating half of it in one bite. "Sweetheart, if you truly made these I'll be your first customer."

"I did and I'll hold you to it." You slowly grin at him.

"Do you know when the grand opening will be?" Gemma asks.

"Yeah, it's-" Your phone suddenly rings and you cringe, apologizing to them while quickly pulling it out. Seeing your brother's name, you silence it and set it down on the table top. "So, uh, the grand opening will be probably in about two months or so. My usual hours are from five thirty in the morning until two in the afternoon, but for the first day I'll probably open at noon until five so no one has to worry about waking up super early for something they've never tried before."

"That's smart," Gemma says.

The roar of motorcycles catches your attention and Gemma waves them off. "It's just Jax and a few others. They had a run a couple of days ago, so they're just returning."

You nod as if you understand what a run for them means, watching as the four men disembark their bikes. The tall man with a full beard and a beanie adorning his head is the one who nudges Jax and gestures in your direction, and you smile when you see recognition dawn on the blonde dreamboat. Grimm and Reaper notice him then, whining and twitching as if they're about to disobey your earlier command.

Rolling your eyes at your dogs, you grin and glance back up at Jax. "Guard your nuts!" You shout, laughing when Jax seems to brace himself and then cover himself. The other three men with him look curiously at you and the second you utter, "Go!", they freeze when the two Great Danes leap up and bound towards them.

"Holy shit!" The brown-skinned man with a mohawk exclaims. "These dogs are huge!"

Grimm and Reaper happily greet Jax before trying their luck with the other three, and you snort when two of them get noses to the crotch.

"You met my boy?" Gemma asks.

You glance back at her, nodding. "At the supermarket. I was having trouble with the bags of dog food. Jax offered a hand." She looks pleased about that tidbit of information, but before either of you can say anything, the men are joining you.

"Hey, YN. What are you doing here?" Jax takes a seat next to you, straddling the bench to your left while the bearded biker takes a seat on your right. Both men each have a dog interested in them.

"I brought some stuff over for your mom to try. She and Tig are fans."

He smiles. "Oh yeah? What'd you bring?"

Someone groans and you look over at the mohawked man who's clutching a styrofoam cup in his hands. "Goddamn that's some good coffee."

The other two men you don't know take that as their cue to reach for something to eat and drink, and Jax shakes his head at them. He makes introductions for you, gesturing to Happy, Juice and then Opie who's sitting on your other side. You smile at each of them and then at Jax when he grabs something to eat. Each of them are surprised and practically eat everything you've brought, and it's Juice who asks where you got the coffee from.

"I, uh, I have it flown in for my shop," you tell him. "Pretty Baked is still a couple months away from opening, but I got a few bags of the coffee at my house. I'll bring a bag so you guys can have some here."

"Pretty Baked?" Opie asks, lips twitching.

"My bakery," you tell him, chuckling bashfully. "I might have been a little stoned while brainstorming name ideas. My uncle thought it was hilarious and now I'm opening a second location here in Charming."

Your phone vibrates on the tabletop and once you see the name, you silence the vibrations. "You can get that," Gemma says. "That's the second call you've ignored."

"It's fine." You shake your head, grinning. "Just the brother." Out of the corner of your eye, you see Grimm set his big head on the table, staring at Happy who's shoving a pastry into his mouth. "Grimm! Head off the table." Grimm whines, but does as he's told. Only to plop his head on Happy's knee. "I swear they're better mannered. I just have a feeling that Happy fed him and now he's kissing his ass."

The table chuckles. Your phone vibrates again and you swipe it off the table, silencing it and shoving it into your pocket.

"Alright. Spill," Gemma says.

"Spill what?"

"You know exactly what. Why are you dodging your brother's call? You runnin' or something?"

"Not really." Your vague answer doesn't sit well with anyone and you sigh when you realize the whole table is expecting more. Glancing at Gemma, you ask, "So remember how I told you my brother split with his half of the life insurance money?"

"Yeah."

"Well when his half ran out, he came crawling back when he realized my little shop was bringing in some cash. He asked for money to make ends meet and I coughed it up."

Opie huffs. "Big mistake."

"Yeah, well he was my brother," you say in defense of your actions. "Everyone warned me not to, but I didn't listen. And then soon enough the cash I gave him went from paying his bills to paying for his drunken benders and hookups." You reach for one of the last remaining pastries and take a bite out of it. "Anyway, I finally put my foot down and stopped giving away my money. He had the audacity to call it family money as if he worked his ass for it and eventually I got tired of his pestering. My uncle gave his full support of me leaving Texas and here I am. The phone calls are probably just my idiot brother only now realizing that his personal ATM is no longer within a five minute drive."

"I'm sorry, baby," Gemma says. "That's no way to treat family."

"Yeah."

"You worried he'll come looking?" Jax wonders, gaze concerned.

You glance at him, shaking your head. "Nah. And if he does, I'll just have to deal with his nagging. I'm good."

You sit around a little while longer before the guys have to go. Jax squeezes your shoulder before he takes his leave, everyone else welcoming you to Charming before filling up their cups one last time, petting Grimm and Reaper, and then heading into the building connected to the garage.

"They like you," Gemma muses once it's just you and her again.

"They were probably just exhausted after whatever run they got back from and were grateful for the fuel."

"If that's what you want to think."

Your phone vibrates in your pocket again and you sigh. "I should get going and finally deal with my brother," you say. "We should do this again."

"We will. Keep me updated on your shop as well. If you need any help, you have my number."

Over the next couple of months, Gemma stays true to her word and helps you out around the shop. Even the Sons of Anarchy show up, doing some heavy lifting when your kitchen appliances finally arrive. Then after the shop was put together, you knew you couldn't do everything on your own. So after putting flyers out around town, you took a chance on hiring two newly graduated teenagers just looking for some easy money during their gap year- two teenagers who didn't cower at the sight of the Sons, but still talked to them with the respect that they showed everyone else.

The day of Pretty Baked's grand opening in California, you drop off Grimm and Reaper at the auto shop where the club's prospect Half-Sack happily takes over care for them for the day. Chibs, Bobby, Juice and Happy wish you luck, and Gemma rides with you to the shop to get ready. Emma and Todd, your teenage help, are already sweeping and wiping down the tables and counters when you get in.

At five minutes 'til opening, you glance out the front windows and are surprised to see a small crowd gathering.

"Chin up, sweetheart, and smile pretty," Gemma says as she slides an arm around your shoulders, leading you towards the door. "The local paper is here too. They want to do an article on Pretty Baked."

"Oh my god," you quietly groan.

Emma and Todd laugh, the two of them following behind you. Gemma squeezes your shoulder before stepping off to the side, and your two employees stand on either side of you. The small crowd quiets down, the only sound being the click and flash of a camera as you decide to address them.

You give a small speech, thanking them for coming out and giving your little shop a chance. The local paper's photographer asks for a picture of you and your employees posed in front, and then you're opening the door and welcoming everyone inside.

You have three different flavored sausage kolaches and four different fruit kolache flavors for sale, as well as three different blends of coffee. And while you dealt with the food sales, Emma and Todd handled the coffees since you taught them how to brew them properly. You weren't surprised that the sausage kolaches did well, but you were surprised with the fruit sales. Apparently the strawberry and cream cheese was a big hit, as was the coffee that some of your elderly visitors loved because of the low prices.

At around three, you find yourself in the kitchen making another batch of fruit kolaches. Pretty Baked was doing well and you were excited, as were the teenagers manning the front for you with Gemma keeping a watchful eye over everyone coming and going.

Just as you placed three trays into the oven, there's a knock on the back door. You frown, heading towards it a bit warily, but the grinning face just outside the small tempered glass window makes you sigh and roll your eyes.

You push open the door, shaking your head. "You do know the front door works perfectly well, don't you?"

Jax steps in, shutting the door behind him and following you into the kitchen. "Yeah, but then I'd have to stay out there like a normal customer and not be able to keep you company back here."

"Aw. Such a charmer, Mr. Teller," you muse in your best southern accent. "I'm the one from the South. Aren't I supposed to be the one charming your pants off?"

"You tryin' to get me out of my pants, darlin'?" His eyes sparkle and you throw a dish towel at him when his words make you blush. He laughs.

"You're cute," you admit, shaking your head in amusement and sliding over a tray of done pastries for him to snack from. "But I know a losing battle when I see one."

"Losing battle?" His eyebrow arches, but his gaze is set on the pastries before he chooses an apple kolache.

"Mhm. From the couple of parties I've been invited to, courtesy of Gemma, those women- what do you call them, sweetbutts?- have all laid claim to the president." He scoffs, filling his mouth with food. "And let's not forget the ex who's been circling, pissing off your mom every other day."

Jax frowns as his eyes snap to you. "Tara? She botherin' you?"

"She's not bothering me," you tell him, chuckling softly. "I've just seen her around a couple of times out and about in Charming. She seems perfectly capable of checking her vehicle all on her own, but the second a kutte is within sight distance, she acts like an oblivious female who has no idea how to change a tire." You shrug. "Your mom saw it on one of our shopping excursions and called her out. There was a whole yelling match about old heartbreak and manipulative cunts."

"Jesus." Jax groans quietly. Then quickly collecting himself, he apologizes. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with their bullshit."

"Don't worry about it. I might not enjoy being dragged into drama, but I do love to watch it unfold. And your mother," you trail off, laughing. "She's the biggest shit stirrer I've ever met. I love it."

"You and my ma are going to be trouble, aren't 'ya?"

"Who, me?" You set your elbows on the metal tabletop, clasping your hands together and then setting your chin atop your clasped hands. Batting your eyelashes, you say, "But I'm just a lil' 'ol bakery owner from Texas. I don't got a mean bone in my body."

Jax snorts. "Bull. I heard how you southern women politely insult others by blessing their hearts or some shit."

You laugh and push off the table, heading to the sink to wash some dishes. "I'm still not getting into a catfight over you, Jackson. My fighting days are over."

"Yeah? We'll see about that."

His words make you freeze, and when you glance over your shoulder his smirk is enough to get your heart pounding.

Stupid Jax Teller and his pretty smile.

Over the next few months, Pretty Baked did excellent for being in such a small town such as Charming. In fact, it did so well that you were able to expand the shop's menu pretty early on, adding breakfast sandwiches, doughnuts, and bagels to it. People only had good things to say about your shop and work ethic that no one really said a word about you associating with the Sons of Anarchy. At least not to your face they didn't.

Surprisingly, Gemma became a constant fixture in your life. You got to know the Sons of Anarchy, most of whom you came to adore, and their clubhouse became a second home for Grimm and Reaper when you needed a dog sitter or one of the men wanted to hang out with your two beasts. You knew there was more to their motorcycle enthusiasts' schtick, but you never cared to figure out exactly what it was that they truly did. You got to hang out in their clubhouse, much to the sweetbutts' displeasure, and confuse the hell out of everyone when you and Jax would flirt but never take it any further than that.

Soon all anyone can talk about is the Taste of Charming, but you opt out of putting up your own booth since you wanted to enjoy the festivities before participating the following year. The various businesses around the small-town set up booths, either selling food or handmade goods to raise funds for their shops and/or the local schools. It was very family orientated, so you spoke to the Chamber of Commerce who was putting on the small festival to make sure it was okay to have your Great Danes with you. And after making sure they were well behaved and would be on leashes, they granted you your request.

After stuffing a backpack full of necessities for your dogs to look after them and pick up after them, you dress comfortably in a tank top and shorts, and drive out towards the center of town. And when you find parking, you clip on Grimm and Reaper's leashes, and take off exploring. Many people ooh and aww over your dogs, and you're very grateful that they're well behaved as strangers pet and ask to take pictures with them.

After you've explored and spent some cash at various booths, you find your way to the Teller-Morrow Automotive booth where Gemma is serving up bowls of chili.

"So this is the infamous chili I've been hearing about, huh?" You muse. You transfer both leashes into one hand, reaching over to grab a tortilla chip from Juice's plate to dip into his own bowl of chili. He squawks and you grin, tasting the chili for yourself. "Oh. That's good."

"Told you." You glance over at Gemma as she smirks. "Now do you wanna get your ass behind this booth and help out?"

"What do I do with Grimm and Reaper?"

"Hand them over, gorgeous. Uncle Tig wants some quality time with his nephews."

Laughing, you shake your head as the eccentric biker takes the leashes from your hand, proudly marching off with your dogs and Juice in tow. Then turning back to Gemma, you say, "Let me just wash up and then I'm all yours."

Since half the booths set up are selling food, there's been a portable washing station set up. You walk up to it, washing and sanitizing, and then putting on gloves so you can handle the food.

Gemma ends up taking a backseat to her own booth, filling up the bowls while you deal with the people. And with you at the front of the booth, it's a bit of a shock that more people stop by.

"Typical," Gemma scoffs when there's a lull in the crowd. "I serve the food and we just get our regulars who have no issues with the club. You serve and everyone suddenly flocks to the booth."

You grin at the moody woman. "At least the club is pulling in some cash. Maybe this time you can actually beat the Fire Department."

Gemma glances at the booth in question, sneering at the firefighters who are grilling it up next to the police department's booth. "Yeah. Maybe."

You chuckle and then get back to work when a couple more individuals walk up to try the chili.

"What are you doing working the booth?" You glance up at the question, smiling at Jax standing there in his kutte, white tee and jeans. "I thought you wanted to explore."

"I did and then I decided to try your mom's chili. She roped me in."

"She's good at getting people to do her bidding."

You shrug. "It's fine. Tig and Juice took the dogs off my hands, and I was happy to help." Jax steps aside as a customer walks up, watching you smile and talk to the customer as politely as possible. "Where's everyone else?" You ask once the customer has walked off with their food.

Jax leans against the booth, accepting a bowl of chili from Gemma before dropping a bill into the tips container. "Around. Bobby volunteered at the dunking booth to raise money for the school, so Chibs and Happy are spending their cash trying to dunk him." You laugh. "And Opie's around here somewhere with his wife and kids."

"And then there's lil' 'ol you walking around all on your lonesome," you tease.

"I wouldn't be alone if someone would abandon their duties to a certain booth and walk around with me."

"And leave Gem all on her lonesome?" You gasp. "Never."

"Jax, leave YN alone," Gemma says. "She's the only reason all these new people are approaching the booth. Go bother someone else."

He rolls his eyes, grinning all the while. "Whatever you say, ma." Then looking at you, he winks. "I'll come back for you later. Don't leave."

"Yeah, yeah." And before Jax can leave, you say, "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"In my backpack, there are some collapsible bowls for Grimm and Reaper. Can you take them to Tig so he can give them water? I'm sure he's fed them anything he can get his hands on around here."

Jax chuckles. "Sure thing, darlin'."

After a couple more hours, the crowds start to thin when the sun dips in the sky and Gemma decides to call it a day. She has Half-Sack and Juice clean out the pots and utensils, and then has them dismantle the booth to stash away in the van while they continue to make their presence known around the festivities. Gemma sticks around Bobby as he counts the money the booth made, so Jax pulls you away to have a bit more fun. He tucks you under his arm so your arm closest to him slides around the back of his waist, and then the two of you are off browsing booths that are still standing.

There's a booth dedicated to the Elementary School that's selling friendship bracelets and other beaded bracelets that have different charms on them. The black beaded bracelets catch your attention, and you carefully peer at what charms the bracelets hold.

"Oh hey," you say when one bracelet catches your attention. "Look at the little skulls." You reach for the bracelet in question, stepping away from Jax so you can look for more. Every small bead on the bracelet is black, with the exception of a single white skull charm sitting in the middle. "I'm taking it."

Jax grins. "You a fan of skulls?"

"I'm a fan of lots of things," you tell him. There's another black beaded bracelet, but the single charm on this one is an iridescent lotus flower charm. You gasp in delight, excited when you find a second lotus flower bracelet so you can gift to Emma. Then grabbing a blue threaded friendship bracelet for Todd, you hand over the four bracelets to the booth attendant so you can purchase them.

"Seven dollars," the woman kindly tells you as she places the bracelets in a small paper bag.

And before you can reach into your pocket for the bit of cash you were carrying around, Jax hands over a ten dollar bill while grabbing your bracelets in return. "Keep the change, sweetheart."

The woman blushes as she stutters out a thank you, and then Jax is steering you away as he hands you the paper bag. You gently shove your elbow into his side, shaking your head at him. "You didn't have to do that, but thank you."

"Of course." He smirks down at you before once again you find yourself under his arm.

You walk around a bit more, buying candy apples for both yourself and Jax, and then Jax buying you a flower crown that has cascading multicolor ribbons that would go down your back from the florist booth. You spot Tig when you're walking around, happily chilling with your dogs still so you leave him be. And then when you make your way back to Gemma, she's looking far too smug while staring at the glowering members of the fire department.

"What's going on?" Jax asks.

Bobby looks up, chuckling. "Guess which booth just put an end to the fire department's reign of smugness?"

Jax laughs. "No way. We finally made more money than them?"

"Sure did," Gemma muses. "And we got our favorite little baker to thank for that."

You blush when she smirks at you, but before anything else can be said, someone's talking into a microphone atop a stage in the middle of all the festivities.

"Attention Charming residents," a man says, "this year, we decided to add a little more fun competition to the schedule and give out a little extra cash to the businesses who keep our little town on the map." Many people whoop and cheer. "It's a game of karaoke. Each booth vendor can send up one person to play for them and the winner will take home an extra five hundred dollars!"

As the people cheer, your jaw drops. "Holy shit."

"You can say that again," Bobby says.

"The karaoke game is a Finish the Lyrics game. We're going to play ten songs- songs that can be from any year or may be entirely from this year, no one knows except the one in control of the music- and the first to buzz in and sing at least ten seconds of the song gets a point towards whichever shop they're playing for."

"Fuck," Jax swears. "Who do we have that knows at least every genre of music?"

"There's Juice," Bobby grumbles. "He's into all this new age shit."

"Nah. He's into all that alternative shit. I doubt they'll play enough of it for him to pull out a win."

You chew on your bottom lip, not saying a word as you glance at the stage. Emma, the teenager who works for you at Pretty Baked, is standing behind a laptop and tapping keys here and there. When she glances up, she meets your gaze and smirks. She winks and then gestures to the microphone stands being set up on stage, conveying she thinks that you should play. You sigh and then glance back at Gemma and Jax who are still conversing about the extra cash when some of the boys from the fire department and police department pass by, knocking their shoulder into Bobby.

"Better luck next time, biker trash." Someone from the fire department sneers.

"Looks like we're gonna surpass your shitty little auto club again with this win," another one says.

Jax lunges for the fireman, but suddenly Happy and Chibs appear out of nowhere, catching him. The men from the fire department and police department laugh, heading for the stage.

"Are these the only participants joining us up here?" The man in charge of the game says. There's only three contestants standing around- one from the PD, one from the FD, and a teen girl from the florists booth.

You catch Emma's eye again and she gestures to the contestants, widening her eyes to urge you to play. You close your eyes, raising a hand as you shout, "I'm in!"

To be continued..

#jax teller x reader #jax teller imagine #sons of anarchy imagine #soa imagine #sons of anarchy #soa #jax teller #gemma teller morrow

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see-arcane · 2 years

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Lucy, Jonathan, Mina, and the Bastardization of Their Horror Story

I’ve been chewing on this one for a while. I thought it kind of went without saying among all us bitter bookworms when it came to the TV and movie treatments of Dracula and the characters/arcs therein. A lot is a given by now; a running joke. But goddamn if rereading today’s entry didn’t just tick me right off all over again. So here we go.

Lucy Westenra is best known by public osmosis as ‘Mina’s Hot Best Friend’ and/or the ‘Maneater/Heartbreaker,’ what with her small-scale Helen of Troy setup with the suitor trio and Dracula gunning for her first once he hits England. Most people know the Francis Ford Coppola version which not only distills a lot of her and similar damsels’ treatments in Dracula flicks, but also specifically includes…a lot.

Like this:

It happens for a whole blink, and is never mentioned again or returned to as any kind of meaningful romantic relationship beyond, ‘Lucy hot, Lucy gets around, Lucy makes out with everyone, lol.’ It also includes, and very much highlights, this:

TW: Sexual assault/implied rape/impaired consent

Yeah. That’s Dracula, halfway out of his wolf form. Doing that.

This is followed by her swooning away in bed, becoming more vampy (in both senses) and so forth. Is she still a victim? Yes. But the framework of it has been entirely distorted. She’s the Whore to Mina’s (Marriable! She’s the brainy brunette destined to be with Dracula!) Madonna.

“She was susceptible to Dracula’s seduction because she was already the hot/promiscuous one! It was practically a monsterfucker meet-cute, guys!” –Francis, probably

Then we turn to today’s entry. Hell, the past couple entries in which Dracula’s been zeroing in on Lucy. He abused her sleepwalking, yes, but ultimately resorts to visits, stalking, and—as with today—idly playing with his food by sitting in plain view, watching her watch him, knowing how her mind is struggling between the sleeping trance and the innate dread.

(I know those eyes. I know them. I know him. I fear him. Why?)

This girl, barely nineteen, has been made a target. She has a pliable medical condition being used against her, like pulling a puppet by its strings. She can’t not sleep. She can’t avoid his tugging at her. No more than she can hide from him now that he’s tracked her back to the home she’s sharing with Mina and her mother. And yet, for now, what does Dracula do?

He toys with her. Just a bat at the window. Just a little taste, dear. Back to bed now, I’ll see you tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. Because I can.

There’s no bodice ripping, no overt sexual assault, but the violation remains intact. Along with a far more palpable helplessness. Mina won’t be there to guard her forever or keep the room all shut up against Dracula’s visits. (No spoilers for future chapters, but suffice to say, the Count does not suffer being rebuffed very well or very long. Shit gets intense. Wait and see.)

We saw with the Demeter how Dracula behaves when it’s just a matter of gluttony with victims he has no interest in beyond casual cruelty. Kill, toss, kill, toss. It’s nothing to him.

Willing Lucy to open the window so he can drop the bat form, become himself, and get far more visceral in his playtime would also be nothing. But in Lucy’s case, as with Jonathan’s, when Dracula decides to take a true interest in a victim, he not only likes to savor the game, he prefers psychological torture. Especially with characters established as 24K sweethearts. (Sorry, Lucy. Sorry, Jonathan. Sorry, Mina.)

Right now? Lucy’s just barely at the start of her nightmare. And the most tactile the Count has been with her, period, is a couple nibbles. Everything else is down to the slowly shrinking noose of the situation she’s in. She doesn’t know that yet. Neither does Mina. Mild spoilers, there’s a period coming up where everyone will sigh with relief. They aren’t living in Whitby, after all. They’re on holiday. They’ll leave. Lucy will get better. All is well.

…Until Dracula gets moving too. Back to bloody business. And the volume gets cranked up past 11.

Now let’s swivel to the bizarre (if not unexpected) character flip of Jonathan and Mina’s situations. It’s been gone over a dozen times now just how screwed Jonathan Harker is in every adaptation. He’s either practically nonexistent or transformed beyond recognition into a walking snore. Explicitly ignoring the two months he spent as a captive with Dracula in one-on-one castle time. Canonically, this man spends the most time with Dracula in the entire book. His story could be its own book! Its own movie! And yes, Dracula gives some bullshit excuses about ‘learning how to speak like an Englishman,’ but the core of it was just…he wanted to.

He wanted to keep Mr. Harker in that big stone box with him, just to play mind games, savor that solicitor flavor, then pass him off to the Brides as a present before, presumably, forcing him to turn and join the undead girl gang. And while past directors have loved the idea of a trio of sexy voluptuous vampire babes pawing at a man and each other, that appears to be literally the only purpose Jonathan ever gets within a show/movie. Everything else gets scraped off.

They harvested his devotion to Mina and gave it to Dracula.

They harvested his fucked up Beauty and the Beast-style plush and predatory imprisonment—here, enjoy a cigar, some fine dining, a pretty room, lots of books, nonconsensual touching, being forced to lie to your loved ones, the cannibalization of two children, a woman eaten alive by wolves, knowing your own death date (Which won’t get you out of this castle! You’re here forever! We saved a coffin for you, buddy!), and all the Evil Monster Man Seeks Virtuous Damsel bells and whistles—and gave it to Mina.

Because if they kept to the book that’d look too Ell Gee Bee Tee. And not even in the hot unfulfilled lesbian way! Can’t have that. Nope, we’ll just hand all the creepy-amorous hospitality stuff to Mina.

And oh God. Mina. Poor, poor Mina.

The travesty of what gets done to her character in so many adaptations. She ranges from Classic Bland-Pretty Damsel to Miraculously Sensual-Spiritually Awakened Dracula-Wife (Not a sultry harem Bride, though! That’s for Lucy and the trio of sexy whats-her-faces in Transylvania. Who Dracula always seems to have no matter how romantic and suave he’s being. Can’t drop those standby chicks even for a reincarnation love story, eh, Francis?). We’ll see later how vital she is to the plot and tackling the problem of Dracula.

A problem she will be extremely vehement about destroying, considering the fact that this undead bastard is responsible for tormenting the two most important people in her life, in ways that are intended to terrify, convert, and low-key enslave the victims to a damned eternity. Once she’s clued in to all Dracula has done, our girl’s going to be livid and instrumental to helping the Vampire Hunter Gang in taking him down. But who needs that!?

Just have her go ‘Eek!’ or swoon into Count Fuckula’s manly liberated embrace!

Which really does sum up all of these characters’ crappy deals in media.

Lucy Westenra? Having a nuanced and increasingly horrifying ordeal situated on having a supernatural stalker walking you around like a windup toy in your sleep and preying on you in a fashion meant to ultimately destroy your happiness and humanity so you can join his undead sexdoll collection?

Who needs that!? Make her a redheaded Lilith caricature who barely needs a nudge to give it up to her sexy wolfman-monster-master! She’s the side chick anyway, who cares? :)

Jonathan Harker? Being the character who spends the most time of anyone in close proximity with the Count, the only one to share multiple conversations with him, gets forced into the damsel-in-distress role while Dracula and his Brides make sexually-coded predatory moves on him, gets traumatized by the death and horror he witnessed in the castle he barely escaped, all saturated with the driving force behind his determination being his love for Mina from start to finish?

Who needs that!? Just turn him into a stuffy English scarecrow who gets felt up by the Brides and then we can forget about him. Get that homoerotic shit out of here, we don’t need to see that. Oh, but keep that ‘Loving Mina to the Point of Corruption’ stuff—we can save that for Dracula. :) :)

Mina Murray? One of the earliest examples of intelligent and capable women in all of literature, let alone gothic literature, taking an active role in pursuing Dracula and being exactly as passionately in love with Jonathan Harker as he is with her, said love for him and Lucy being what drives her to participate in a hunt for a monster who wields the threat of not just death, but an infinite horror of existence, a fiend she loathes as much as fears?

Who needs that!? Slap a corset on her, heave up those breasts, and let’s make us a fine Victorian final girl for the Count to woo with his sexy badass vampire charisma. :) :) :)

Fuck :) you, :) Francis. :) And every book-bastardizing director like you :) :) :)

If someone wanted to do a real, fresh and, (yes!) romantic take on Dracula, I think the key would sit with two things.

One: Leaning into the healthy unconventional romantic relationships as much as highlighting the unhealthy/predatory undertones Dracula and the Brides bring to the table. It is possible, even while staying period-accurate.

Lucy can still accept Art’s proposal. But maybe point out that he, out of all the suitors, has the best financial arrangement—and that she and all the suitors basically stealth-conferred with each other. She, Art, and Quincey (Sorry, Seward, you came on too strong, too fast, too weird. Please reapply next year with a new polycule resume, sir.) are a throuple in as close a way as they can manage with Arthur ‘Son of a Lord’ Holmwood basically planning to set up a lifestyle in which they can all still remain together.

Hell, the Suitor Squad should have their own hints and confirmations among each other. Lucy might just be the latest addition to their group, who knows? Play with healthy large-scale LGBT and poly romances! Pool’s open!

Lucy and Mina? Lucy and Mina. In their case, I picture a somewhat past-tense romance, riding in tandem with Mina and Jonathan’s relationship, but open to renewing once all is settled with Mina and Jonathan’s wedding. We’ll say Mina has an open invite, Jonathan too.

Let Jonathan and Mina have the Most Intense Bi4Bi Gothic Romance of All Time the book explicitly lays out for them in coming chapters. They are sweethearts. They have been in love since childhood. They would die and kill for each other. (Yes, that is foreshadowing. Brace yourself, first-time readers.)

Let Jonathan flex his asexual/biromantic horizons. We all read into the ‘thing’ with him and Dracula, and even the hypnosis of the Brides—zero interest in reciprocating/invitation on his part. But if upcoming chapters are any indication, he’ll be firing sparks off with Quincey. Mild spoiler, they have a mutual love of knives! Fun! (Bigger spoiler, Seward, that repressed little bug of a man, is going to start having Thoughts once Jonathan enters the scene. You’ll know when you read it.)

Yes, vampiric and general monster media is often used as a vehicle to explore (or, sadly, demonize/fetishize) the Other. Carmilla did it with lesbians, Dracula does it with—gasp!—a male monster preying on/damselifying another man, the sultry and powerful women being monsters, and with the ‘evils’ of polyamory (No, not just the Bride harem thing. There’s a bit about blood transfusions that takes a unique turn. Again, you’ll know when you read it. Ugh.).

A new adaptation would win a lot of points in depicting all the positive reflections of non-heteronormative relationships and the heart of the last lap of the book, which is a group of good and valiant people taking on a dangerous task for others, and, I cannot overstate this enough, Jonathan and Mina’s love story.*

*Which I’ve mentioned before, could have taken a very spicy and sinister turn in and of itself. If any darkfic-loving directors out there want to take a chance…well. You know what to do with that kukri blade.

Two: Break the story up into three acts!

1. Jonathan—The two months in Castle Dracula.

2. Lucy—The perils of being Dracula’s first ‘special interest’ victim in England.

3. Mina—Everything coming to a big, grisly, race-to-the-finish crescendo.

If you want to add extra salt to the wound, have a prelude and/or interspersed highlights of the fact that, according to the text and its implications, Mina, Jonathan, and Lucy have been friends since they were little kids. Yes, really.

Three friends who have known and loved each other all their lives, all on the verge of their respective happily ever afters, attacked and tormented one after the other by the same immortal sadist. That’s a horror story.

Like it’s supposed to be, FRANCIS.

tl;dr: I respect a good monsterfucker narrative, but Dracula is absolutely NOT THAT STORY. It is horror, and it deserves to be portrayed as such. There’s a whole other essay in how absolutely unrecognizable Dracula himself is in so many media depictions, turning him from a formidable and horrifying entity into ‘Heehee Hoohoo Sultry Vampire Man, give me your love bite~~~.’ They pulled his fangs out and made him into a Ken doll. But that’s a ramble for another time.

#Francis meet me in the pit #lucy westenra #mina murray #mina harker #jonathan harker #dracula #dracula daily #adaptation #bastardization #francis ford coppola #(he is not the only director to do his shit but his is the most well-known/damning/influencing example)#rant rant ramble ramble #dracula spoilers

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pinesfamilyguidetotheweird · 7 months

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Gravity Falls Thoughts: Ford and Trauma™ Part 2 (Forced Insomnia)

Annnnnd here we are with Part 2 of Ford and Trauma™!

Last time, we tackled the likelihood of Ford living off of pills and coffee over the last 30 years. So, what’s the logical next part?

Perhaps one of the most popular Ford ships out there!

Ford x Sleeeeep!!!!

Or…his problems with it. Let’s go with that.

If Gravity Falls went a bit longer (like if it had 3 seasons), this could have been a running gag of sorts for Ford, his lack of sleep or at least the repercussions of said lack of sleep, such as him dozing off in weird places.

And you can blame a certain dream demon for that.

Not long after Ford learns of Bill’s true colors, Ford did anything he could to prevent Bill from having any control of the situation…that includes depriving himself of sleep due to his deal with Bill.

…Yeah…um…there is a glaring issue on that plan, I must say. And that is the fact that depriving yourself of sleep…will not be beneficial in the long run.

According to Healthline, there are 5 Sleep Deprivation Stages, each stage is determined by the many hours of no sleep.

Stage 01 is after 24 hours of no sleep. A personal fact here, y’all: I’ve done this before twice in my life, staying up for about 24 hours…it was not fun both times.

While not necessarily a cause for major problems, there will be some issues, such as decreased alertness, drowsiness, fatigue, increased risks of mistakes…

Stage 02, after 36 hours (A day and a half), and you’ll start experiencing severe cognitive impairment. Not to mention an overwhelming desire for sleep and the likelihood of having microsleeps (short bouts of sleep that lasts for about 30 secs) is possible.

Come Stage 03 (after 48 hours) and hoooo…boy, things aren’t lookin’ good at all! This is where hallucinations can start setting in. Which, in Ford’s paranoid case, is a definite cause for concern. And there’s depersonalization, anxiety, heightened stress levels, increased irritability, and extreme fatigue. Microsleeps becomes more of a guarantee. And you won't realize it.

At Stage 04 (after 72 hours), along with more frequent and longer microsleeps, the hallucinations could get more complex.

Then finally, at Stage 05 (after 96 hours and more), you’ll start to experience a little thing called sleep deprivation psychosis, when your perception of reality is severely distorted due to lack of sleep.

So…not much of a shock to see this…

And we don’t even know how long Ford had been trying to keep himself awake. Even Journal 3 (I have the regular edition) doesn’t provide the answer for this except for the mad scrawlings of CAN’T SLEEP and the hellish amount of coffee he drank.

This can also explain his insistence on preserving his journals instead of just destroying them. He’s not thinking clearly due to lack of sleep.

It is possible to recover from this, though, it will take a while.

It can take days or weeks to recover from a bout of sleep deprivation. Just 1 hour of sleep loss requires 4 days to recover. The longer you’ve been awake, the longer it will take to get back on track.

And considering that Ford got sucked into the Portal before he could have a moment for well deserved rest…kind of a similar situation to his crap diet while on the run, how often was Ford able to get a full night's rest? I mean...look how he sleeps now, in day wear with his coat, glasses, and boots on, like he has to be prepared to book it...

It’s honestly a wonder that Ford came back to our dimension without sporting some eyebags that would give Shouta Aizawa (or even Toshinori Yagi) a run for his money.

…Question: So, Bill had free reign of entering Ford’s mind when he sleeps, right? Did Bill still do that during Ford’s travels up until he got that plate installed?

...So, what should I talk about next? The bullying Ford had to endure? Father of the Year, Filbrick Pines? Possible complex PTSD? Major Guilt? Wounds and potential complications? Bill -fucking- Cipher and the abuse?

#gravity falls #stanford pines #ford pines #grunkle ford #trauma #gravity falls thoughts

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h-c-u · 1 year

Text

The kids are alright pt 3

Summary: You go into labor two weeks before the due date, while Ice is giving an interview on the live TV

Pairing: Tom "Iceman" Kazansky x reader

W/C: 4k

Rating: PG

TWs: Labor and all stuff that comes with it.

A/N: Sooo.... The baby is here :) And this chapter was inspired by that interrupted interview with prince Harry, when he was still in the military Also - someone asked me why I wasn't calling Bradley "Rooster", so I might address it here as well - it's because in this universe, he's not a pilot, so he didn't get that callsign yet :)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Masterlist | List of tags | Part 4

- Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! - you almost fell over when you felt a contraction. At first, you thought that it was Braxton-Hicks, but they were getting stronger and stronger over the last hour... Or was it even more...?

You were home alone, so the situation was less than ideal, but you didn't want to worry Ice, just in case it was nothing, because you knew he was doing an interview today. You also didn't want to call for an ambulance, because you felt like it would be an overshoot, and you definitely couldn't drive alone.

Another contraction came and you had to hold a kitchen counter as hard as you possibly could if you didn't want to fall.

- SHIT. FUCK. - weirdly, swearing helped a little, but when the pain retreated for a moment, you quickly dialed Bradley, because you knew that he had a day off. Since the memorable dinner, you two became much closer, and you treated him now as if he was your younger brother. That's why you sighed with relief when he finally answered. - Where are you...? - you were out of breath and he immediately realized that something was wrong.

- I'm actually on my way to you, I'll be there in like two minutes.

- Oh thank gods... You'll have to take me to the hospital, so don't even bother coming in. I'll be waiting outside... - you've said. Bag. There was an emergency bag prepared just for this occasion and you took it with you.

- Is everything ok? - you only groaned in response, because another contraction came.

- I'm... I think the labor started. - you've said through gritted teeth.

- Oh shit, it's early! - he sounded a bit panicked. - I'm pulling in... - he said when you were locking the door behind you. - I'm here, I'm here! - he run out of the car and was near you in less than a second, taking the bag from you, and offering you his arm, so the walk to the car would be easier. - How do you feel? - you only shot daggers from your eyes at him in response. - Not talkative today, got it. - he helped you get into the front seat and pushed it as far back as he could, while you disconnected the call between you two, and immediately called 911. - What are you...? - another killer look from you shut him up really quickly.

- Hello, My name is y/n Kazansky and I'm in labor. I will be in a blue Ford Bronco riding to St. Barts from the south, most likely over the speed limit. I don't know the exact route, but I would really appreciate not being... FFFFFFUUUUCKKKKKKKK!!!!! - you screamed while Bradley started the car and pulled out of your driveway. - Sorry about that. Contraction. I know it's not conventional, but we would really appreciate not being stopped or chased. - you saw the surprise on your temporary driver's face when he immediately started speeding up.

- I don't have any patrols in the area, but I'll relay the message. Wait... There is a firetruck coming down from the highway, I can ask them to escort you to the hospital. - the lady on the other end of the call was extremely helpful already.

- Yes! Thank you very much! - you tried to breathe as calmly as possible and not push yet, considering that your water didn't break.

- I will also let St. Barts know that you'll be coming, so the team will be ready for you. How far apart are your contractions? - she was surprisingly calm, but that must have come with the job; after all you couldn't just lose your temper answering the emergency calls.

- You're an angel. They started maybe two hours ago and are now 4-5 minutes apart. - you sighed with relief, while Bradley swirled harshly to the left.

- Just here to help, ma'am. Can you tell me how dilated you are?

- I can't exactly see and I'm not gonna ask the driver to look under my dress now... I'd rather just get there as soon as possible. I see the firetruck! - you exclaimed happily.

- That's good, I just got the confirmation that they noticed you too, so it shouldn't be too long until you'll be with your doctors. - she remained calm till the end.

- Thank you so much, really. I'm gonna hang up now because I have to call my husband and tell him what's going on. Thank you again.

- Happy to help, ma'am. Good luck! - you laughed in response and finally ended the call when the firetruck in front of you turned it's sirens on.

- I didn't know you could do that with emergency numbers... - Bradley mumbled under his breath, still in panic mode. - But good thinking! - you could only grab something and scream because another contraction came and almost knocked you out. - I'm so glad I won't have to give birth... - he realized what he said as soon as the words left his mouth. - No, no, no, no! I didn't mean it like that! I'll shut up now! - if looks could kill, you'd be currently in a car accident, because Bradley would have died behind the wheel.

You finally collected yourself enough to dial your husband's number and put your phone on speaker. And there was signal after signal; he wasn't answering. So you tried again. And again. Until you arrived at the hospital. Bradley jumped out of the car and helped moved you to a wheelchair, while your oby-gyn was checking how dilated you were.

- Thank you, guys! - you shouted at the firemen, who helped you get to the hospital in record time. Some of them waved at you, and a few gave you thumbs-up. - Hi doctor Montgomery! - you said when her hands were finally away from your... nether regions.

- Hi, y/n... I guess we're doing this early. Is Tom coming in? - she gave you a soft smile and took the latex glove off, while a nurse started wheeling you into the building.

- Bradley, grab my bag when you'll park the car! I'm in good hands! - you shouted behind you. Everything was happening so quickly that you had trouble processing what exactly was happening. - Honestly, doc... I don't know. He's doing... WAIT! - the nurse stopped immediately, and your doctor looked at you confused as you dialed another number on your phone. Someone crazy and maniacal enough to actually do what you'll ask. In the meantime, you pointed at the television in the waiting room, where your husband was currently speaking about the latest navy investment, 16 new choppers.

- MAV! You have no idea how happy I am you answered. How far you're from Tommy? - you asked; the nurse wanted to start moving again, but you swatted at his hand.

- I'm right there, why?

- Give him your fucking phone. Now.

- Now? He's on live TV... - he said cautiously.

- I know, I can see that. Do you honestly think that I would have asked if it wasn't imfuckING SHIT.... - another contraction came, and you felt your water finally breaking. Doctor Montgomery dove under your dress once again.

- Y/n, we have to move to a birthing room, you're 6cm dilated! - her voice told you there was no room for a discussion, and yet you still tried.

- One sec, doc! I promise! I'll be good, just let me tell him I'm in labor. - you saw Maverick showing up on the TV, whispering something in Tom's ear, away from the camera, and passing him the phone. - Tom! You got to come to St. Barts now if you don't want to miss the birth of our daughter. - you could see his face dropping on TV.

- Are you...? - he stuttered a bit, but you couldn't even savor this moment of him not being fully composed.

- I'm fine, Bradley drove me, my water broke, I'm 6cm dilated, and it's happening. Like right now. Little Ms. Kazansky decided to follow her dad's mantra that being early is on time, and on time is late. So get your ass here as soon as possible. - you were speaking faster than you thought possible, and yet he didn't have trouble understanding you.

- I apologize, there is an emergency. - you heard on the phone, and his lips followed with a slight delay on TV. You saw him taking off the mic, grabbing Mav by the elbow, and running toward the newest investment. You managed to catch the last sight of them actually entering one of the choppers before the view changed to someone in the studio. - I'll be there. - he said. - And now be good to doctor Montgomery. - you only laughed in response. - I'm hanging up now, because we're getting up in the air. I love you. - you couldn't help but smile.

- I love you too! - and now officially you could focus only on your labor. - You saw that dr. Montgomery? - you grinned, and the nurse started moving your wheelchair toward a birthing room again.

- I did! And if I'm being completely honest, that was impressive. Although I can't help but wonder where he'll land. - you laughed through pain. - Ok, let's get you out of that dress and into a gown... - she helped you get up and undress, and was ready with a hospital gown. She also helped you onto the bed.

- He's a fucking COMPACFLT, he'll figure something out. - you laughed, when you were finally in the correct position, while the nurses were attaching all EKGs and other stuff to you. - Sorry for the swearing, it actually helps with pain... - you mumbled, and leaned on the raised part of the beb. - I guess it's already too late for the epidural. - you savored those couple of minutes without any contractions.

- Unfortunately, yes. - dr. Montgomery put a drop of gel on your stomach and put a USG wand to it. She went silent for a moment, but eventually, she smiled. - Ok, everything looks perfect. She's in a perfect position, the umbilical cord is visible and out of the way, her heart rate is normal, and you're officially 7.5cm dilated. It looks like it's gonna be a quick one. - she explained and moved the USG machine out of the way. - Are you ready to do this...? - you heard a commotion outside of the room and Bradley's panicked and angry voice came through the closed door.

- You better let him in, because he honestly might break the door. - you laughed, avoiding replying to her question because you didn't want to start without your husband.

One of the nurses opened the door and Bradley almost fell to the floor.

- Y/N! Are you ok, what's going on? - he was holding your hand in an instant, but he chose a poor moment because another contraction hit you, and you couldn't help but squeeze your hands around his forearm as hard as you could. He let out a quiet squeal, but nothing more.

- I'm in labor. Without my husband next to me. That's what's going on! - you've said through gritted teeth.

- Y/N, she's crowning, you have to start pushing soon... - dr. Montgomery was serious, and yet your stubbornness wanted to fight her so badly. That was until you heard a chopper nearing the hospital.

- That's Ice and Mav, go get them! - you slapped Bradley's shoulder, and he followed your orders without even thinking of stopping and asking from where exactly he should get them. But that wasn't your problem now, because there was another contraction, and you really felt the need to push, but you did everything in your power not to... Just a few more minutes...

- Y/N, I'm serious, if you won't start pushing soon, you'll be putting your daughter in danger... - you looked at her worryingly and you clenched your jaw.

- He's gonna be here any second now... - you wanted to cry because you had a plan. And it just shattered to pieces. But you still were holding desperately to the most important part of it, and you just couldn't let it go. Not yet.

- I know, sweetie, I know... But when the next contraction comes, I really need you to push as hard as you can, ok? I'll let you know when that will be, but please be ready, ok...? - her tone of voice was kind and soft, and you finally nodded. - Great. I'm here for you, and Tom will be here before she'll be out, I can promise you that. - you smiled a bit and dried your forehead with your wrist.

- Ok. - you exhaled when the door to your birthing room slammed open and you saw Tom, who was currently more than out of breath and red in the face. You didn't even see Mav and Bradley behind him, completely focused on your husband, who basically teleported to your side.

- Contraction is coming... Are you ready...? - dr. Montgomery asked and you nodded, pulling your husband's arm close to your chest and holding it tightly, almost like a teddy bear. - Hi Tom. - she welcomed your husband but shushed the other two men from the room. It was a miracle that when the next contraction came, you didn't crush Tom's arm.

- Good, good! You're doing amazing! - the doctor smiled while checking the situation. - I can actually see the top of her ears now! Tom, if you want to, you can get behind Y/n on the bed, like we practiced. - you sighed heavily, too tired and in too much pain for expressing complicated emotions.

- I love you... - you whispered when Ice was behind you, and you leaned into his strong body, which relaxed you almost immediately; muscle memory working faster than your brain could. - And I'm really glad that you made it.

- I love you too... And we'll talk about everything later because Bradley mentioned something about a firetruck. - he chuckled and you couldn't help but join.

- Another contraction guys, be ready... - dr. Montgomery said, and Tom wrapped his arms around you and intertwined your fingers together, so you would have something to hold onto.

This time you cried because it was just too much... Your scream full of pain echoed in the small room, and you felt your husband's lips on your neck, which surprisingly helped. You leaned more into him, actively pressing against him with your whole body and you could feel his muscles tensing. You knew he was whispering something to your ear, but you were in too much pain to actually process what he was saying.

- And we have the head! - you couldn't help but laugh through tears because you knew the worst part was still ahead of you. The good thing was, that everything was happening so fast, your brain didn't have time to properly catch up to was happening, because you were still in managing the crisis mode. - Another contraction coming! - why the hell they were so close together!? And why the hell you didn't realize earlier that you needed to go to the hospital? You'd be all nice and numb, but instead, you were digging your nails deep into your husband's skin.

You didn't know where one scream ended, and another began because everything started blending together. There was a moment when you felt something cold being pressed to your forehead, and another to your lips, but you weren't sure who or why did that. It did help a little though.

- Ok, sweetie, one last time, the shoulders are almost out! - the promise in dr. Montgomery’s voice brought you down for just enough to focus on that one last push, and after the massive amount of pressure, there was almost an instant relief, and you heard your baby girl cry, which instantly made you sob. You could also feel Ice shaking behind you. - Tom, do you want to get here and cut the cord? - you turned your head to look at him, and you could just tell that he didn't want to leave you alone even for a second.

- Doc...? I know we talked about it being 20-30 minutes, but I feel the need to push... Like NOW.

- Oh! Then push! Now! Is everyone ok with me cutting the cord? - both you and your husband nodded, and you started pushing again. This time it took less than a minute and your placenta landed in the intern's hands, while dr Montgomery was checking and measuring your daughter. - Damn, that was quick! I'm a little bit jealous, not gonna lie! - she came back and put your baby girl in your arms. - She's perfect, all fingers and toes present, she's 48cm tall and she weighs 3.1kg. Lungs are fully developed and everything else looks good. I would still like to run a few more tests later, just because she's here 2 weeks early, but in my professional opinion - she's gonna be perfect. - You were registering what she was saying, but your whole focus was on this beautiful baby girl in your arms. She wasn't crying anymore, just looking at you with beautiful silver eyes. You knew there was a chance that this color would change over the next couple of months, but they could also stay the same since they were almost a perfect copy of Tom's eyes.

- Hi... - you said softly, and gently touched her nose with your finger and she fussed a bit. - It's nice to finally see you face to face... - you whispered again, completely ignoring the nurses who were currently cleaning you up because it simply didn't matter.

- She's perfect... And you were amazing.... - Ice whispered directly into your ear, looking over your shoulder at your daughter. - She's so tiny... - he added and gently cupped her head

- Oh, she'll grow... - you couldn't help but laugh. Considering how tall Tom was compared to you, you were genuinely surprised that she wasn't bigger.

- Did you come up with a name...? - dr Montgomery asked while she was filling up your file, and you looked at your husband and smiled.

- Yes, yes we did... Astrea... - he said and hugged you just a bit tighter, and placed a small kiss on the top of your head.

- That's a very beautiful name... Now I know we talked about it in detail, but I'm just gonna repeat it one more time... Try to feed her in the next hour, and try to get as much sleep as possible. How is your pain? - dr. Montgomery asked while she finished your paperwork.

- It's... manageable, at least with all the endorphins... - you replied, still lost in your daughter's eyes.

- I'm going to prescribe you something for it, and the nurse should be here any moment to help you with everything. I'm gonna go now, but I will be checking on you. And if you'll need anything else, just ask the nurses to page me, all right? - she smiled at you and nodded. - Are you ok with visitors? - you nodded again, gently cleaning your baby's head and face with a towel. You knew it was best to wait with a bath for at least a day, but that didn't mean she would have to be covered with amniotic fluid for that time. She was so quiet and so well-behaved. She didn't cry, just moved her arms a little, and just looked at everything around the room with those beautiful silver eyes.

- Do you need anything, dove? - Tom asked from behind you, also completely enamored with this little creature in your arms. He just couldn't fathom how such a perfect little thing was his daughter.

- Just... Stay there, ok...? - you leaned into him more, and allowed your head to rest on his shoulder. You were sticky from sweat and tears, but none of you cared.

- I'm not going anywhere... - he laughed quietly, and you hummed feeling the familiar vibrations behind you, and they did wonders in making you feel safe. He gently moved your hair from your face, and you melted into his cold hand.

- Hey guyyysssss... - Bradley whispered, a bit afraid that if he said something louder, he might scare the baby.

- Hi... - you replied and beckoned both of them closer. - Meet Astrea... - you couldn't stop smiling when you put her head a bit higher, so they could see her better.

- Hi Astrea... - Bradshaw's voice was still barely a whisper - It's a pleasure to meet you...

- Actually... We have something to ask you, kid... - Ice said, while the younger man still couldn't take his eyes off your daughter. You talked about it in detail over the last month and agreed on that; you just didn't expect that would ask about it so quickly. - We would like you to be her godfather...

- Hmmm? - he hasn't processed the request yet, still completely focused on Astrea. It was fun to watch his face catching up to his thoughts. - Are you serious? - he finally looked at you, still convinced that it might have been a joke.

- We're serious. - you replied and gently squeezed his forearm. - We figured that Mav already will have his hands full with you, and considering what huge help you were during this last month, we know we can trust you, and that's what's most important. - you smiled at him and only now you noticed tears gathering in his eyes.

- Yes! Of course, I will be her godfather! - he finally raised his voice above a whisper, and Astrea immediately looked at him with her piercing eyes.

- Then it's settled... uncle Bradley... - only now you noticed that Mav also had trouble keeping his face straight.

Since that memorable dinner, you had a serious, almost 4h talk about this whole situation, and - if you were completely honest - you felt more like a therapist than a friend... And there were moments when he wasn't treating you seriously, because how could you understand such complicated circumstance. He wasn't entirely wrong... But fortunately in the end everything was dissected, and discussed, and you two made peace about your intervention.

- Whoa, a lot of people! Is mama ok with that? - the nurse came in and was instantly the focus of the room.

- More than ok, thank you. They're family. - you smiled at Mav, while he tried to discretely wipe the tears that gathered in his eyes. He hasn't said a word since he came in, and if you knew that seeing a baby would finally shut him up, you might have gotten one earlier.

- Ok then. - she replied with a giant smile on her face. - How do you feel about a shower, dear? - she asked, and you honestly couldn't think of a better proposition.

- I'd love that... Ice, do you want to take her...? - you asked, but you already knew the answer. Of course, he would. And he did without batting an eye, finally holding his daughter for the first time in his arms. The nurse helped you stand up and only now you realized how much everything hurt, and that there was fluid running down your legs. - Bradley, my bag? - you asked and he pointed at the armchair, where your purple bag was.

- Are ok to take the shower alone, or would you like some help...? - the nurse asked, and you were far past any shame.

- Help would be great, thank you, because there is no chance I'm gonna reach everything. Also, doctor Montgomery was supposed to prescribe me something for pain...? - you've mentioned because you were slowly coming down from that high of endorphins that pushed you through the whole labor.

- I know dear, everything is ready. But in my opinion, it would be better if we waited with the IV after showering. Will you be able to wait till then? - you nodded, while you were taking your towel, toiletries, and your personal gown from the bag. - Ok, dad... Off the birthing bed, we're going to wheel it out and bring the regular one, with everything fresh. - the nurse offered you her arm for stabilization while she was bossing everyone else around, and as if she willed it into existence, two younger nurses came into the room and started quickly cleaning all the mess from the labor.

Before you entered the bathroom, you took one last look at your husband, in full uniform, now standing up and holding your daughter who looked tiny in his arms; you could have sworn that she was much bigger half an hour ago... Ice looked at you with a huge smile on his face and mouthed a short, soundless "I love you".

#my writing #TW: labor #Top Gun Fanfiction #Tom Kazansky fic #Tom Kazansky x reader #Tom Iceman Kazansky x reader #Tom Iceman Kazansky fanfiction #iceman x reader #🖤#Pete Mitchell fanfiction #Bradley Bradshaw fanfiction

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cheemscakecat · 19 days

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Y’know, I don’t usually talk about ships I dislike, but this is one I haven’t seen criticized.

So the Gravity Falls fandom is riddled with bad ships, ranging from “Ah yes, let’s ship the victim with the demon that abused them” to “Incest between 12 year old twins is so great”.

Which would explain why all the effort of criticizing ships is going to those infamous ones and not any others that might be less ugly by comparison.

Heck, that note to Mabel in journal 3, saying Bill would have thrown Dipper’s body off the water tower was probably the creator’s way of saying “Stop shipping Dipper with the demon Dorito.” She’s terrified of that thing from trying to get Stan over his fear of heights, and Bill ended the letter by asking if she wanted to join Dipper at the bottom.

StanChez is the lesser evil ship I’m talking about specifically. But keep in mind, I’m a Gravity Falls fan, not a Rick and Morty fan, so my knowledge of that show is from video essays and osmosis.

It’s not on the same level of awful as saying Ford and Bill should be a couple after watching the man get chained and electrocuted.

Or well drawn incest between the two main characters, who are based on the show creator and his sister.

But StanChez is toxic. And I’d like to explain why on Stan Pines’ behalf, because he deserves better. And I also don’t think they’d get along for more than a few days.

Reason 1: Rick is a different level of Criminal

People seem to gravitate towards this ship because Stan and Rick are both criminals and bad influences on those around them, but it’s more surface level than you’d think.

The most we know about Stan’s kill count is that he killed a llama and Bill. And in his words “that llama had it coming”. Other than that, his main crimes are swindling and conning, with tax evasion through false identities.

But if a state full of angry people goes after him, his response is to run away and start a new fake identity. Not attack the people he conned or the police. And even though his bad products gave people rashes, they never crossed over into something truly heinous.

youtube

He also tries to befriend other criminals and attacks them out of self defense, and not intent to kill. Stan knows how to fight, but his intention is very rarely to kill, and that’s a healthier mindset to have.

Rick is in the habit of ruining versions of earth with his experiments, and then running off to take his own place in another dimension instead of staying to try and help. That’s not running away from a minor con like Stan, that’s leaving billions of people to die, over and over again.

Rick is also in the habit of killing people who are an inconvenience to him, whether they pose a real threat or not. He’s so used to killing on sight that he doesn’t bat an eye at making Morty take someone’s life.

Stan is a different kind of bad influence than Rick that isn’t as heinous. Not by a long shot. Dipper and Mabel may have to go on a character arc where they stop swindling people, but they’ve never been taught to kill or maim. They’ve never watched Stan murder people and ignore their distress when he does it. Or been forced to bury a body.

Dipper and Mabel may become worse because of Stan, but it’s nothing so serious that they’ll never recover. But Morty? Morty is in a very toxic situation where he’s been traumatized and started to go numb inside.

Reason 2: Stan’s self esteem

Stan has a lot more in common with Morty than you’d think. He was always “the dumb twin” and “the screw up”. Sure, his Ma tried to negate his father’s terrible words, but one of his parents still made him feel hated and useless.

For goodness sakes, it was Filbrick kicking him out as a high schooler, telling him to come back when he made a fortune, that set him on the path of greed!

It’s also Filbrick’s terrible parenting that made Stan try to be tough with Dipper and favor Mabel, the way Ford was favored.

Stan’s self esteem is much lower than it looks on the surface, and prolonged exposure to Rick would only make it worse.

You see, Rick doesn’t explain what dimension they’re going to, what to look out for, and what’s safe before bringing Morty on an “adventure”. They’ll get there, Morty will start asking because he doesn’t know, and Rick will drunkenly call him an idiot and barely explain. But Morty is supposed to be the stupid one for it.

Rick also favors Summer, Morty’s sister over him. Even though he’s been dragged along on these traumatic adventures much longer.

Say what you will about Stan being a bad influence, but at least we know he does it out of generational trauma and still cares about Dipper. Instead of being harsher on him for no reason, Stan sees it as teaching him to be tougher by making him do chores.

Rick is just playing favorites. And he’s also well known for talking down to Morty’s dad Jerry for being stupid. To the point fans only recently started to see through it and respect Jerry as an embarrassing but happy normal person.

If Stan started hanging around Rick, he’d be talked down to and compared to his smarter twin once again, but this time by the “smartest man in the multiverse”. He doesn’t need another toxic influence to stomp on his self worth.

Reason 3: Think of the children

Stan never replaced anybody. Yes, he had the wax Stan, but he wasn’t calling it Ford. My theory is he was practicing what he’d do with Ford once he brought him back, and the wax funeral was him remembering that Ford might have died.

Stan is known for letting the kids go off on their own, but he also tried to convince them that the supernatural wasn’t real to protect them.

And when he saw they were in danger, he fought the undead to protect them. Most of the time, he just doesn’t see that they’re in danger because they’re off on their own.

He cares about Dipper and Mabel and Soos and Wendy. Heck, he even gave Gideon a pep talk in the shrink ray episode. Do you honestly think he’d be okay with cloning one of them if they died? Or worse, stealing some other Stan’s family in another dimension?

He was looking for his Ford, not a random one from some other timeline. If Dipper was thrown off the water tower, or Mabel snapped away by Bill, Stan wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. And he wouldn’t be able to replace them. The same goes for Ford, Soos, and Wendy.

So imagine him finding the Morty cloning facilities at Rick’s Citadel. And Rick trying to gaslight him into thinking it’s better to leave the evil Ricks to clone and kill as many Morty’s as they want, because it keeps them distracted. Or finding out about Rick replacing himself in other dimensions without telling the family?

Y’all remember that Dipper asked Ford how he knew Bill, and he said:

“I’ve encountered many dark beings in my time, Dipper.”

I bet the reason why Ford was erased with other memory tubes is because he found out about the cloning and got angry with Rick. Because despite his issues with Stan, he still remembers the little boy getting mistreated by his father.

Needless to say, Stanley wouldn’t be approving of all this either, once he knew Rick was a monster. But if Rick wouldn’t listen to “the smart” twin and erased the interaction, he’s way less likely to listen to poor Stan. Because he’s well used to talking down to people when they confront him or disagree with him. And if he’d do it to his own family, he’d sure as heck do it to Stanley.

So yeah, those are my reasons why StanChez is a bad idea/doesn't work. This isn’t going to become a series or anything, I just thought it was worth explaining.

#Gravity falls #shipping critique #weird ships #character analysis #Stanley Pines #This is NOT a Stancest post. Or a pro-StanChez post #Youtube

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corrodedseraphine · 1 year

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so close | one shot

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: Seeing the movie Enchated for the first time you let an image of romance form in your teenage mindset based on the story. When you watch the film again a few years later, the circumstances are completely different and the situation much more messed up. angst/fluff, friends to lovers, modern!AU

the one shot is also avaliable on ao3

8 428 words

songs that I used: So close and That's how you know from movie Enchanted | Lita Ford ft. Ozzy Osbourne - Close My Eyes Forever

here it is after I almost deleted it twice, here you have super corny, obvious and a little bit angsty love story, enjoy (or not, I really can't promise you will like it.)

eddie munson masterlist | general masterlist

"Jeff texted that he will be 20 minutes late," Eddie sighed, sinking onto the couch in the Harringtons' grand living room.

"That means we still have at least an hour before he shows up," Gareth laughed.

"A real star must have a good entrance" Steve commented while switching channels on the TV.

Steve, with much persuasion from Dustin and Eddie, agreed to let Hellfire hold its campaigns at his house from time to time. The rest of the group also took the opportunity to come and watch the game or just spend some time together. Your group of friends looked like a mass of mismatched jigsaw puzzles, each of you diametrically opposed to the other, but that didn't stop you from creating your own little "family."

When you saw the princess fall into the well to find herself a moment later in New York you jumped up on the couch.

"Stop!" you shouted, snatching the remote control out of his hand. "I haven't seen this movie in ages! God I was so obsessed with it!"

"There's no way we're going to watch some princess bullshit." Munson whined reaching towards you to take the remote from you, but you quickly moved away squashing Max in the process.

"Get lost Munson! We are always watching what you want!"

"Because my taste is amazing?"

"And mine isn't?" you muttered.

"And mine isn't?" he began teasing you in a high-pitched tone of voice.

"If you don't like it, there's the door," you pointed in the direction of the exit. "Today we are watching what I want."

"Fine!" He grumbled melting into the soft cushions of the couch.

El was watching the movie enthralled, and Max rolled her eyes every time a song started, but still smiling as she watched you sing along with the actors. Despite the mean comments, Eddie also couldn't get out of his awe at how word by word you kept up with the melody adding a bit of drama to it as if you were getting into the moment in the movie. Additionally, he felt somewhat enchanted by it, but he didn't want to admit it so he struggled to hold back the smile creeping onto his lips. Play it cool, Munson. He repeated in his mind. Just play it cool.

"Now the most beautiful scene in the movie." said in a disheveled voice as the ball scene began.

"Oh my gosh this is so corny. It is obvious, that Robert and this redhead will dance together and this will be the moment when they will realize that they came there with the wrong people." Eddie commented.

"This Redhead's name is Giselle. And even if corny, it doesn't change the fact that it's romantic! And that song? Purest magic."

As the first notes of So Close began to come from the speakers, the metalhead jumped off the couch, standing in front of you with his hand outstretched. "Get up." he said. "Dance with me." A wave of heat washed over you. You nervously looked into his eyes seeking reassurance that this was for real. "Faster before it ends."

Now, Without hesitating you grabbed his hand and walked away the couch so that you were standing behind it. Eddie gently rocked you to the beat. The smell of his colonge intoxicated you. You had never been so close to each other. So close. His large hand rested firmly on your back generating a pleasant warmth that further dulled your sanity. For several months you had been aware that your relation to Eddie was not purely friendly. Every time you managed to shrug off your silly crush, he would then do something like this and your every effort would be in vain. Did he just make one of your teenage dreams come true? Yes. How could you not fall in love with a man who unknowingly made one of the fake scenrios in your head from a few years ago come true? At that time, you dreamed that the real Robert was in Eddie's place, but this change didn't bother you one bit. This version was much better. You looked at him with disbelief and a kind of enchantment when you danced. When his gaze met yours he smiled showing dimples in his cheeks, making you feel that he was about to have to grab you even tighter because you wouldn't be able to stay on your feet on your own. Unfortunately, beautiful moments have a way of coming to an end very quickly. When the music died down he took one last look at you. His gaze went from your eyes to your lips. Did he want to kiss you? the quiet voice of hope in your head made you feel like your heart was about to explode.

"See?" he grunted suddenly snapping out of his trance. "Nothing special."

Your heart didn't explode. Your heart broke. Nothing special. For him. For you, it was special. Too special. Brutally brought down to earth, you returned wordlessly to the couch sitting down between Max and El. When a few single tears ran down your cheeks you explained that it was because of the movie and the touching ending. Everyone knew perfectly well that you were easily moved by movies, so they easily believed it teasing you later because of it. No one needed to know that you couldn't focus a bit on the end of the movie replaying in your head the moment when you had Eddie so close and still so far.

The next day was not the happiest either. Still feeling the weight of Eddie's words on your heart, which dragged you down to the very bottom, you spent most of the time in bed self-pitying. Unfortunately, you eventually had to get up to get ready for work. Not long ago, Eddie helped you get a job as a bartender at The Hideout by recommending you to the owner. So from now on you were present at every Corroded Coffin concert cheering them loudly from behind the counter, where you also had a perfect view of the guitarist, who ran around the stage like crazy and made all your attention not necessarily on the customers.

The bar was slowly filling up as Gareth and Simon sat by the counter waiting for Jeff and Eddie. Sitting with them were members of the band that always performed before the CC.

"So." said Gareth looking you deadly in the eyes. "When are you finally going to talk to him?"

"What are you talking about now?" you asked pretending not to know what was going on.

"Ugh, I'm begging you! I can't look at you two anymore!" He whined. "The latest dance-thing in Harrington's living room? Hello?"

"It was nothing special." You replied recalling Eddie's words to which Gareth rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure if we hadn't been there he would have stuck his tongue down your throat at the end!"

"It's obvious that you like Eddie, and I think the feeling is mutual." interjected Simon taking a sip of beer. As long as the guys played there for half free and paid for the drinks the bar owner pretended to be convinced that they were all 21 years old.

"Aww our little barmaid fell in love with crazy Eddie? How adorable!" at the very sound of her voice you winced. Diana was the bass player in the other band. From the very beginning there was no sympathy between you two and she was always looking for an excuse to get on your nerves. Now Gareth and Simon have handed it to her on a silver platter. Cursing in your soul, you ignored what she said.

"I think that's enough beer for you today." you said taking the drink from his hand.

"You should talk to him as soon as possible, for example today when he drives you home after work."

"There's nothing to talk about." Nothing special. Those two words haunted you on loop.

Never before watching their performance was so difficult for you. You had the impression that Munson was looking in your direction a little more often than usual. However, telling yourself that it was just a delusion caused by your stupid crush, you tried not to worry about it too much. What scared you more was the thought of the way home where you would be alone in his van. You always loved your comebacks. Especially when he took the longer route home because you were having a too-good-to-be-true conversation, or a song that was playing was too good to get out of the car. Now thinking about it, you felt anxious. It turned out that you sensed an impending disaster.

You left the bar accompanied by Gareth. Eddie had disappeared earlier saying he was going to pack his guitar in the car, but when he suspiciously did not return for a long time you decided that you would meet him in the parking lot. As you approached the place, the sounds of muffled moans began to reach you more and more clearly. When the source of the sound appeared in front of your eyes you felt as if fate had dropped a ton of rocks on you. Eddie pinned Diana against the van with his body as she tried to undo the belt to his jeans. They were kissing like there was no tomorrow.

"What the fuck-" Jeff asked loud enough to tear them away from each other. Breathing heavily, all red and with a messy hair, he looked at you. Diana only watched with a smile of satisfaction on her lips as you clamped your mouth into a thin line. Don't give her more satisfaction. Don't cry. Not now. Not in front of her. You repeated in your head over and over again.

"Shit, y/n, I know I was supposed to drive you home-"

"It's okay!" you shouted. "Gareth will drive me home." you said, and without waiting a moment longer you got into the other car. Through the window you saw Eddie saying goodbye to the others and, together with his new companion, getting into the van.

Despite numerous attempts by the guys, you didn't say a word on the way back. Struggling with thoughts of what he might be doing with her now was exhausting enough.

Love is beautiful. Beautifully painful. Especially when only one-sided. You cried for so long until you fell asleep, and in your dreams, annoyingly enough, some ominous voice repeated like a mantra two words.

Nothing special.

Since that evening, Eddie has completely disappeared from your life, except for Hellfire evenings. He forgot all about the whole of God's world with only Diana in front of him, who had him wrapped around her finger. His absence was horribly felt, and although a part of you was grateful for it, the other part was languishing. You weren't the only one hurt by this fact. The younger boys, like lost sheep, missed how they talked for hours about the next ideas for the campaign, Corroded Coffin stopped having their rehearsals twice a week limiting themselves to once a two weeks because Eddie said they didn't need to see each other that often anyway. Their music was still good, but by doing so they also lost something a little bigger, as they always stayed at Gareth's house after rehearsals hanging out and having fun as a small group of freaks. Now that bond was fading and when Eddie finally mercifully showed up for a rehearsal all the positive energy was gone. Instead, there was more and more arguing and disagreement. Even Steve and Robin sincerely missed his presence and how he always managed to entertain everyone with his jokes or stories. Each one of you brought something unique to the group, so it was no surprise when the absence of one of that group left visible traces.

In this way, a month had already passed, and you were wrong to think that time heals wounds. You changed all your Thursday shifts at the Hideout so that you wouldn't be present at CC's performances, kept your phone use to a minimum so that you wouldn't accidentally be surprised by their photo together which would be another stab. For El, high school turned out to be extremely difficult, so you devoted yourself entirely to helping her study, spending most of your free time preparing notes, researching materials, anything that could keep your thoughts away from Munson and his new girlfriend. Still, you felt as if all your life and joy had escaped you that day, not knowing what you could do to find it again. Your worse state didn't escape the eyes of others, but you kept dismissing them by blaming it on fatigue, which wasn't entirely a lie. In fact, you were tired of the whole situation, fed up with the sharp pain in your chest every time you saw him. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, of course you were proven wrong.

Everyone was very surprised that instead of once again turning down your offer to go out for burgers together, Eddie declared that he would be there. Everyone was happy to think that this was a chance to get back to something good. You sat at the biggest table in the diner talking about the upcoming freshman prom. El was incredibly excited, Max even though she wanted to hide it, also became more spirited as she showed you pictures of the dress she wanted to wear and asked if you would help her get her hair done on the day. Suddenly a cold gust of wind that came through the open door cooled the atmosphere considerably when Eddie appeared in it with none other than Diana. Gareth and Steve sent each other questioning glances and Robin just rolled her eyes taking the menu in her hand. As they approached the table a grave silence fell.

"Hi?" he said finally. "I know you all haven't had a chance to get to know each other so this is Diana." The younger part of the group muttered a greeting while looking suspiciously at the girl.

"Ed, I thought kids were the only in your funny club. What are they doing here?" she said with a goofy grin measuring Dustin from top to bottom.

"Hellfire is not silly." replied Mike wrinkling his eyebrows.

"Of course sweetie." she replied with a mocking tone as if Mike was actually 5 years old.

"So what are we eating?" Eddie interrupted before the conversation could go too far. Diana took the seat opposite you sending you a triumphant smile. Because of this, you were forced to watch her whisper something in his ear every now and then, making his cheeks turn redder as he showed his playful smile. Of course, they also gave you a show when their lips couldn't keep away from each other, with each time he embraced her she looked you straight in the eye and winked as if to show that she had won. But was it any competition at all knowing that you never had a chance with him? Nothing special. That's what you were to him. Having no strength left, you let her do it. You let her take satisfaction in the sadness you could no longer hide, and even sitting at the table with the people you loved, you were unable to focus on anything else. Your leg shook nervously under the table as you waited until everyone finished their meals and you could finally leave the cursed restaurant. Before leaving, El and Max went to the bathroom. When they disappeared behind its door Lucas turned to Eddie.

"I know Principal Higgins made you guys play our freshman prom," he said.

"Yeah, the asshole threatened me that if we don't play then once again I won't be able to graduate."

"I overheard Max talking to El about how super romantic it was when you danced with y/n to that song from the movie we watched before hellfire, uh Enchanted? the one from that scene at the ball... I thought you guys could play it at ours?" he explained. And no matter how romantic and touching his plan seemed to you the very memory of that evening was not so pleasant. Would you perform that song with Eddie now? Despite the fact that it could kill you seeing Lucas full of hope and the image of a happy Max won. Seeing your surprised faces he continued. "Y/n knows this song by heart anyway, she could sing it and you would play it, I guess it's not that complicated to learn?"

"I can help you." you finally said, and for the first time since he entered the restaurant you looked at Eddie, who was also looking straight at you. That was a mistake. Looking into his big dark eyes for more than five seconds was a terrible mistake that violated the cracks on your heart.

When Eddie opened his mouth to respond Diana wouldn't let him. "Babe, I don't think you're going to agree? You're a metalhead, you can't play some song from a dorky movie about princesses."

There was thought on his face, however, everyone knew what the answer would be. All of Lucas' hope was extinguished like a candle when Eddie admitted she was right, joking that he wouldn't want his reputation to change because of something like that. He tried to apologize to Lucas, but the boy ignored him completely. When the girls returned, the moment of salvation arrived an you could leave. The next stop was supposed to be bowling, but knowing you couldn't take it anymore you said you weren't feeling well and wanted to go home. The rest of them quickly decided that bowling could wait and you would do it another time. Eddie stopped to smoke a cigarette, watching as everyone parted in the directions of their cars, wondering why everyone had given up on further plans with such ease. Seeing Diana hanging on to him without a word you walked past them, feeling your vision getting blurrier and blurrier.

"Y/n!" you heard Robin calling you and after a moment you felt her grabbing your hand.

"I have to go Robin, really." Your voice was slowly breaking down.

"You're not alone with this." Steve grabbed your other hand squeezing it tightly.

"Do you want to come with us? A movie night for three?" she suggested smiling gently, to which you just nodded. Maybe you actually didn't have to be alone with all this? That evening you cried out in front of them all the emotions that had been boiling inside you for a month. Both of them admitted that they knew from the beginning that you felt something for Eddie, but they were convinced that he reciprocated those feelings, which is why they are unable to understand such a sudden change in his behavior.

Seeing Robin holding your hand was nothing new, the fact that you are close with Steve was not strange to anyone either. He had seen the two of you hugging many times, but now that you had ignored his existence all evening, had not spoken a word to him, and had only looked at him once Eddie seeing Harrington's hand tighten on yours felt something strange. It was definitely not a pleasant feeling. He also didn't understand why, despite Diana lying half naked in his bed, the only image he has in front of his eyes when he closes them is two hands holding each other. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't focus on anything else, and even more surprising was the fact that when he pulled away from the girl who was covering his neck with hot kisses, she just shrugged her shoulders and left, leaving him alone with his thoughts in the trailer, which now seemed very big and empty.

One day at the cafeteria, everyone was talking about a small meeting over the weekend that Eddie, as standard, didn't attend. Everyone was so busy looking at pictures that they didn't even notice when he approached the table.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked finally getting their attention.

"Pictures from Saturday, we had a little spontaneous pool party." replied Will.

"Oh, was it fun?" He couldn't help the upset that was slowly creeping into his system. He felt sidelined, and the worst part of it all was that it happened at his own request.

"Wanna see?" The boy handed him the phone.

Your presence in most of the pictures made his heart beat faster but it was filled with something strange. Longing? And what did he feel when he came across a photo of you making braids out of Argyle's long hair while sending him a wide smile? When you are sitting on Jeff's shoulders in the pool holding an oblong sponge and on the other side is Robin sitting on Steve's shoulders as you imitate a sword battle? The sight of his friend's hands on your thighs made him nervous. The final realization was the photo in which Steve embraces you as you sit covered in one big towel and Dustin in the water poses pointing a water gun toward the camera.

"Too bad you weren't there dude." Gareth said. "What were you doing that you couldn't come?"

"I uh- I was with Diana." What he didn't mention was that after twenty minutes she once again left him alone for the same reason as before.

Confused by his new discoveries, he muttered that he had to go and left the school. He knew that as long as Corroded Coffin played hopeless pop songs at the freshman prom Principal Higgins wouldn't kick him out of school, so skipping the last two classes didn't seem like too big a crime to him. Not wanting to be alone now, he got into the car and headed straight for Diana's apartment. Where another surprise awaited him. She opened the door for him dressed only in an oversized men's shirt.

"Hi Eds! What are you doing here?"

"I thought maybe we could spend some time together?" he replied uncertainly. From the end of the apartment came their male voice calling her.

"As you can see I'm a little busy." she said wanting to close the door but he caught it at the last moment.

"What's actually going on?" he asked trying to comprehend the situation somehow.

"What do you mean?" she looked surprised, which made Edde feel even more confused.

"I thought that me and you... that we..."

"Oh my God Eddie." she paused him. "I think you misunderstood the situation a bit. I like you and sex with you is really good, but there is nothing more between us. I thought you were aware of that." Seeing the shock on his face she continued. "The truth is that I started all this to make your little friend who is pathetically in love with you angry."

"You did what?"

"Y/n? The barmaid at the Hideout? I heard her talking about it with your band mates. I never liked her so I thought I'd get on her nerves a bit." she shrugged her shoulders. "I thought you knew that what we were doing was just fun. Definitely nothing special. And now I have to go, it was nice to see you, bye Eddie!"

Never before in his life had he felt so foolish. Gaining a whole new perspective on the situation, the dots in his head were connecting. Your behavior toward him was also making more and more sense. Everything suddenly seemed so obvious now. The problem was that it was too late.

You were awakened by the sound of several messages in a row.

Gareth: hey y/n, u here?

Gareth: it's important

Gareth: y/n?

Gareth: ?

You: what the hell happened

Gareth: there is an urgent meeting at my garage in an hour, will you come?

Gareth: it's super important

you: fine

Half asleep you rolled out of bed with great difficulty. But considering his behavior whatever the meeting was about it really had to be very important. The thought crossed your mind that it could have been about Eddie. Will he be there? Will he be there with her? Will you have to look at it all again and repress the voice in your head that constantly screams That should be me? Flushing your face with icy water, you returned to earth. Satisfied that you had temporarily succeeded in stopping the train of thoughts in your head as quickly as possible, you finished getting ready and left the house without leaving yourself a spare moment.

You were relieved to see that in Gareth's garage there was no trace of Eddie and Diana exaggerating their feelings for each other. But the sight of Robin and several other kids from the school band sitting fiercely discussing something surprised you. As you approached they all greeted you, and Robin began to explain the purpose of this odd gathering.

"We want to help Lucas, you know very well yourself that these kids deserve one fairy tale evening." she began. "So we've gathered some people who are able to help us and play this song from the movie," she said.

"We just need someone to sing, and since you already know the lyrics we thought you'd want to join in." Simon added smiling.

"Besides, we want to show Eddie how much we don't care about his girlfriend's opinion," Gareth rolled his eyes making a disgusted face at the mere sound of the word girlfriend.

"But...the prom is tonight." you said disoriented.

"We've got four hours to try to figure it out, I think we can make it."

"You can't make it if you keep wagging your chins!" Robin clapped her hands rushing you guys to work.

In this way, for the next few hours the whole neighborhood listened to the same song over and over again, the beginnings were very difficult to synchronize but the final product seemed to be really good.

As you promised before the ball you helped Max to become a divinity. Seeing her smile you yourself couldn't hold back yours despite the fact that at the very thought that you would soon have to be in the same room as Eddie a big nervous knot was forming in your stomach. When Max looked like a princess you dropped her off at the Sinclairs' house from where Lucas' mom was to drive them further. You, Robin and Steve agreed to get ready together at your house. When you pulled into the driveway they were already waiting for you, rushing you and panicking that you were late. Fortunately, the preparations went smoothly, except for the process of making Steve's hair.

Corroded Coffin were moving their instruments into the hall when you drove to the back of the school to park next to them. Eddie watched in amazement as you exited the car. Steve in an insanely expensive, elegant suit and perfectly styled hair, right behind him was Robin in a loose white shirt over which she wore a gray blazer and matching pants, and right behind Robin came you in a slightly airy black dress. All three of you looked like you had walked straight off the catwalk, but Eddie's eyes saw only you.

"Dude you okay?" asked Steve seeing his stupefaction.

"What?" he asked snapping out of his trance.

"I'm asking if you're okay."

"Y-eah, I'm just surprised to see you guys," he answered.

"Dustin declared Steve as the caretaker for tonight and someone to act as a host." Robin explained.

"Always the goddamn babysitter." you teased the boy with a laugh.

"I found two stragglers on the way, so I thought I'd take them with me," Steve bit back.

"Dude! That's not fair, you'd share!" Jeff shouted walking up to you.

"In your dreams!" Steve grinned embracing the two of you. "Ladies?" he asked arranging his arms so you could grab him under the arm, which you did giggling. You said goodbye to the guys and moved toward the entrance. Seeing your hand gently touch your friend's biceps, the gloom that had been with him for days began to deepen. Eddie knew that the evening might be very long and difficult.

To his delight, it turned out that the school had hired another band, so Corroded Coffin played at the beginning, and the second half of the prom was to be taken care of by the other one. When Munson reached the long-awaited ending and left the stage he noticed that the rest of the band was not following him. Surprised, he watched as Steve walked on stage and grabbed the microphone.

"My dear friends, before we say goodbye to Corroded Coffin for good we would like to present one more song." he said in the voice of a TV presenter. "This is a very special request, so don't be afraid to invite someone even more special to dance." He smiled. "Ahead of you is Corroded Coffin in collaboration with the amazing Hawkins High band!" Applause rang around the room. Together with the rest of you, you entered the stage taking your spots. All the younger part of your team pushed straight to the front of the stage looking at you with excitement. The first notes released by the piano were like the bullets of a gun to Eddie. Piercing his heart to the core, making him realize how devastated everything had become.

You're in my arms And all the world is calm The music playing on for only two So close together And when I'm with you So close to feeling alive

Your voice spread through the room, echoing a permanent mark in his brain. He had heard you sing many times, at various meetings you sang together while he played the guitar, but now everything was completely different. The warm light of the reflector illuminated your skin, making it shine from you with a beautiful radiance that enchanted him with every word. Even if he was standing completely in the shadows by the stands, he didn't miss how your eyes found their way to him, but quickly changed direction without giving him a chance to do anything.

A life goes by Romantic dreams must die So I bid my goodbye And never knew So close, was waiting Waiting here with you And now, forever, I know All that I wanted To hold you so close

He remembered that day. He remembered how for about three minutes the whole world was gone and all that mattered was that you were in his arms. Not expecting the whole situation to have such an effect on him. After all, he had always avoided anything related to romance. Even if he wanted to, he never had anyone with whom he could try such a thing. Then you showed up, looking at him much warmer than everyone else. Always available to him, always helpful and giving support. When, after a whole day of listening to nothing but insults in his direction, you met and your heartwarming voice with a hint of something he couldn't identify before dispelled all the coldness leaving only a pleasant calm. Now he knew it was affection. Even when you teased and called him an idiot, you said it in such a way that he felt as if the most beautiful praise in the world had been poured down on him. Why didn't he notice this earlier? Why did it take the entire messed-up situation with Diana for him to realize it? Why didn't you ever mention anything about it before?

So close to reaching That famous happy end Almost believing This one's not pretend And now you're beside me And look how far we've come So far we are, so close

How could I face the faceless days If I should lose you now

At that moment he wanted so badly to kiss you. To give himself to the magic of that moment and just kiss you. But he remembered that you are not alone. He remembered that you are friends, not a couple. Not knowing if you would want the same, he panicked.

We're so close to reaching That famous happy end Almost believing This one's not pretend Let's go on dreaming For we know we are So close, so close And still so far

You were so close. So close, just within reach, yet panic won out over desire. Not knowing how to act, the only thing that came to his mind was to step back and pretend that it didn't affect him even the slightest. Now he understood your sad expression when he said it was nothing special. Listening to the same song performed by you now, he had never felt so far away from you before. He lost you at a time when he was just beginning to understand his feelings for you. At the time he didn't know what was happening to him, now he felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

When the applause sounded in the hall again you started to go backstage. Without a second thought he ran there.

"Y/n!" he called out to get your attention. "Can we talk?" he reached out a hand to touch your shoulder, but you moved away from him quickly enough that he didn't.

"I don't have the strength to talk to you right now Eddie, I'm sorry." Your voice was weak.

"Please, give me a chance to explain..."

"What do you want to explain? There is nothing to explain."

"Why didn't you ever say anything? If only I had known that you felt something for me, things would have been different!"

"What would it change?"

"Everything..." he said almost inaudibly.

"Don't lie to me Eddie!" you blurted out. "Don't lie to me in a situation like this, because I can't stand it. I can barely handle what happened, I don't need your fucking lies!" you didn't mean to sound so harsh, but you were barely holding on.

"I'm not lying, why the hell would I lie to you?!"

"Because this..." you pointed at both of you with your hand "This is nothing special for you."

"y/n, it's-"

"I don't want to hear it Eddie." you said swallowing tears. "I don't want to hear it because I know it will hurt even more. You've made your decision. And as much as I was able to understand that you didn't return my feelings, I will never accept how easily you forgot about all of us. We were so close Eddie! So fucking close, but now? As far away as possible." Without waiting for his reaction, you turned and walked away, leaving him alone with the despair that was slowly consuming him all over.

All weekend, Eddie was immersed in sadness. Your words kept sounding in his head, refusing to let go. He wondered how badly he must have messed everything up that you didn't want to believe his words. Saying that he had forgotten about you wasn't entirely true either, but he realized that from your perspective that's what it looked like. He regretted his behavior. Now he knew that the hot moments with Diana in were definitely not worth it. He didn't even care too much about the fact that she used him. He focused all his energy on experiencing and condemning himself for having participated in breaking your heart. This was something he could not forgive himself for.

Sunday afternoon passed peacefully in the Munson's trailer. Eddie had done nothing all weekend except playing his guitar and sleeping. When Wayne entered his room a picture of misery and despair was painted in front of him, but he didn't want to push his nephew, saying only that if he decided to talk he knew where to find him.

The man was dozing off in front of the TV when a firm knock on the door snapped him to his feet.

"Hi Mr. Munson," his eyes were met by the entire Corroded Coffin squad. "Is Eddie home?"

"Hi boys. He is, but I don't think he's feeling well," he said, letting them inside. "Maybe you guys know what's going on?"

"Oh, it's very simple, Eddie instead of being guided by his feelings was guided by what's in his zipper and lost the girl who for months you were in love with him," said Gareth.

"He was in love with her, too, but he realized it a little too late." Simon added.

"You forgot to add that I also lost my friends." Eddie's voice surprised them.

"We're here, so I guess you haven't lost them yet." Jeff replied waiting for his friend's reaction. He just merely opened the door to the room wider in a gesture of inviting them in. Simon took a seat in a chair at the desk, Jeff on the floor opposite the bed and Gareth, without waiting for permission, spread out across the bed. Eddie sat on the floor next to Jeff playing nervously with the rings on his fingers.

"Dude, you look like shit." Simon finally said, causing everyone to laugh.

"I look just like I feel, asshole." Eddie grabbed the dice that was lying by his leg and threw it towards the boy.

"So..." began Gareth.

"I'm sorry. For everything. I acted like an idiot." Munson breathed out.

"And?"

"I know you guys think I forgot about you, but it wasn't like that. I just-" He couldn't find the words to describe the whole situation.

"Did you think with your dick instead of your brain? How is Diana by the way?"

Eddie with embarrassment told them how the whole situation looked like. About how he let himself be screwed into her hopeless manipulation, about how it all ended, about how he felt when he saw you perform with them on stage during the prom and your conversation after the show. A lot of emotions weighed on his heart, he had been feeling so lonely for a long time that now he did not hold back from opening up and sharing everything he felt with his friends. Even as they continued to make mischievous jokes, he was grateful that he no longer had to be alone with it all.

"Okay, I'm a little guilty about all of this. If it weren't for my loose tongue Diana you would never have known that y/n was in love with you. I feel obligated to help you get her back."

"What?" Eddie didn't expect that. Get you back? Was that even still possible?

"Do you feel anything for her?" interjected Simon

"Yeah, of course I do".

"So I guess it's worth fighting for her?"

"But... I don't know how."

"But I do." Gareth pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Are you ready to make a romantic fool of yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

Eddie didn't get an answer instead the boy smiled broadly and clicked something on the phone from which a song came after a moment.

How does she know you love her? How does she know she's yours?

"Oh my fucking God!" Eddie covered his face with his hands, and Gareth paused the song. Is he really going to seek help from a song from a damn Disney movie?

"This can be your final chance! And I don't have any other idea, so- Remember how excited she was about that movie? You've already used the dance to that song and screwed it up completely."

Eddie pondered his friend's idea for a moment. The truth was that he had nothing to lose, instead he had a great deal to gain. It was definitely worth it.

"Alrigh Giselle... enlighten me."

does he leave a little note to tell you, you are on his mind? send you yellow flowers when the sky is gray?

When you found a small piece of paper and a yellow tulip lying behind the wiper of your car on Monday morning you thought it was a joke, but you knew this handwriting very well. You would recognize it anywhere. Throughout the week, a new note with a flower was waiting for you every morning. On Sunday evening you decided to show them to Robin.

I think about you.

I miss you.

I hope your day will be nice.

So close together, and when I'm with you, so close to feeling alive You made me feel emotions I had no idea about before.

I never thought being romantic was for me, but you make me want to try it.

Romantic dreams must die? What if we tried to bring them back to life and make them come true?

Let's go on dreaming For we know we are So close, and NOT so far

The last change of the text especially reached your heart. Of course you wanted to be the closest to him in every way possible, but what if you once again gave your heart to him and after a while he would say it was nothing special?

"They started to appear so suddenly?" she asked looking at them.

"Yes, I completely don't know what to think about it Robin. First he tells me that one of the most special moments in my life is, in fact, nothing special, and then I witness how in love they are with with Diana, and now this all of a sudden?"

"Maybe it didn't work out for them?"

"And now I'm supposed to be a consolation prize?"

"I am so sorry." she said resting her head on your shoulder. The thought of you being his second choice was killing you from the inside. Why was he doing all this? Why couldn't he let you forget in peace and move on?

does he take you out dancing just so he can hold you close?

Nope. Not gonna happen. The previous dance turned out to be a disaster and he wasn't going to risk it again.

dedicate a song with words meant just for you?

This. He could do that, but a little later.

he'll wear your favorite color just so he can match your eyes, rent a private picnic by the fire's glow

After a week of getting flowers and notes, there was silence. You wondered what you should do. Why did he stop? Maybe because you didn't respond to any of them? Maybe he got upset and decided it was all a mistake? It's been a long time since you felt so confused and lost. Then, suddenly, your phone rang, and you were relieved that it was only Robin.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Hello to you too." you replied sarcastically.

"Steve and I will be outside your house in ten minutes, we're going for a ride."

"Wha-" before you had time to finish she hung up.

This was no joke. Punctually ten minutes later the honking of Steve's car sounded on your street. The ride didn't last long, less than ten minutes to Lover's Lake during which they both ignored all your questions. When you got out of the car Steve stood behind you covering your eyes with his hands and Robin grabbed your hand leading you forward. When Harrington finally let you see, you froze. A large blanket was spread out on the grass with thick candles in glass jars. Next to it stood a vase with yellow tulips, the same ones you had been getting before. Beside it was a backpack with your favorite snacks sticking out of it and Eddie's acoustic guitar.

"Guys, what's going on?" you asked turning around. But Steve and Robin had disappeared from your sight. Now in front of you stood Eddie dressed in his Hellfire T-shirt. But it was slightly different than the rest. This time the skull was in your favorite color.

"Please." he said walking up to you. "Before you leave, please give me a chance to fight for you." He grabbed your hand. Feeling you not snatch it from his grasp he led you to a blanket where you both sat down. The sun began to slowly hide behind the horizon. The warm orange created a beautiful spectacle by combining with other colors and reflecting in the surface of the calm water. The view was calming. It was as if the sky wanted to tell you that everything will be fine. You decided to trust it. Without a word, Eddie grabbed his guitar and began to play a song quietly singing the words. He sang as if he didn't want to startle the moment with being too lound. You listened in silence still not taking your eyes off the setting sun.

I know I've been so hard on you I know I've told you lies If I could have just one more wish I'd wipe the cobwebs from my eyes

This was the moment when you finally decided to look at him. When your eyes met and you saw in his sincerity, you knew this was the moment you forgave him everything. It was the moment you decided to trust him once again. To risk breaking your heart once again. You knew that he was worth it. Not wanting to waste another moment you put your hand on the strings to stop him. Scared that you were about to get up and leave, he swallowed the gulp in his throat, preparing himself for rejection.

"I forgive you, Eddie." Those three words were like salvation to him.

"Really?" he put down his guitar quickly and squatted closer to you.

"If you promise to be honest with me."

"Of course, sweetheart."

"I want you to tell me the truth Eddie, I want to hear it, please." Your voice was nervous.

"Let's start from the beginning when I lied that the dance in Harrington's living room was nothing special. Because it was. So damn special that I think I got scared of my own feelings and panicked and lied. Later that whole situation with Diana? I swear to you on everything that if I knew you had feelings for me I wouldn't even look at her. I couldn't believe that someone as hopeless as me could find his place in your heart..."

"Eddie you are not hopeless-"

"Let me finish, please." he put his hand on your knee. "I've missed you so damn much. Day after day every time I didn't come to meetings with you I couldn't stop thinking about you. And when I saw Steve holding your hand? Believe me it was like a nightmare that haunted me for days without a break. Once Will showed pictures of a pool party I once again didn't attend. I was jealous as Hell and angry with myself for being so distant from you. But what hurt me the most was that in those pictures you were so smiling, so happy... Which made me realize that you don't need me to be like that at all. I know it's terribly selfish, but you wanted the truth so you got it..." he took a deep breath. "It turned out that Diana only needed me to make you angry. She heard Gareth talking about you being in love with me and decided to take advantage of it. Of course, I have nothing in common with her anymore and I am disgusted with myself to the core because I took part in it.

"You didn't know that..."

"But I took part in it, and I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself for it. When I wrote on one of the notes that thanks to you I felt emotions I had no idea about, I wasn't lying. Damn it, before I thought I wanted to have nothing in common with anything romantic, but for you? I even watched that movie again, I planned it all inspired by a song that refuses to leave my head and drives me crazy because I wanted so badly to find the answer to the question how does she know you love her? Letters, yellow flowers, dedicating a song and a picnic? I even tried to train the raccoons from the trailer park to dance and sing but I guess they didn't like the idea." He grinned causing you to giggle. "The whole situation came about because neither of us had the courage to confess what we felt. That's why now I don't want to hide it anymore. I don't want to hide the fact that I am in love with you."

"And I am in love with you too, Eddie." you said without stopping the smile creeping onto your lips. The sun was long gone from sight however the night and its starry sky were equally beautiful. Your faces were illuminated by the soft candlelight making everything look like a scene from a movie. But it was much better than even the best movie in the world. You and Eddie now played the leading roles, and no one else but you decided what to do next.

"From what I remember they also mentioned something about a true love's kiss" No more running away. Early on he had taken too many steps backward and he had no intention of repeating that mistake. From now on, every step he took was forward toward the door behind which lay your future together.

"Oh, and what specifically?" You laughed, bringing your face closer to his.

"Something about pulling a tail," he curled a strand of your hair on his finger and pulled lightly.

"Really?" you asked touching his curls gently.

"And uh... somethin' about the lips I guess..."

"Lips?"

"Yeah. Lips." He nodded. "Listen. I know that I was an idiot. A complete asshole. An obvious blind man. But even the biggest idiot in the kingdom deserves a second chance."

"A chance for what?"

"For true love's kiss."

"Is this our happy ending Eddie?"

"No sweetheart. This is our happy beginning." And then, without waiting a moment longer, your lips finally connected. Kissing him was a much more magical experience than you expected. At first shy kisses became more and more thirsty for closeness. So close. Never before had he been so close as now. You wanted this closeness to consume you completely, so that you were short of breath. And if the true love's kiss was a real thing, you knew that only Eddie's lips would work in your case.

taglist: @i-me-mine

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