#I never seemed to notice before how much Greg really ends up saving the day at the end most of the time huh | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ask-whitepearl-and-steven · 4 years

Text

Alright alright alright

You’ve all been asking for it, so here it is!

This will be (edit: HELLA) long and obviously spoiler-y, so everything is under a cut.

Are you ready?

Before we get to it, I want to mention that for the sake of keeping things organized, I will NOT be talking about my AU (@ask-whitepearl-and-steven) in this post. I want to just analyze the show as a viewer and a fan first. I’ll make a seperate post for AU-thoughts a bit later.

Without further ado:

EP 1: LITTLE HOMESCHOOL

This is a great way to open up the episode and show the changes through the lens of someone who has been a bit out of it for a while (we are all Cherry Quartz, fresh from the hiatus, aren’t we?) but I’m sorry, this post still takes the cake:

Okay, okay, back to the program.

“That used to be a loaded question...“

Right off the bat, Steven is SO much more confident about saying that he’s... HIMSELF! What a good feeling. I’m very proud of our boy.

I love the name “Gemglyph” for the gem language! I’ll need to know who wrote these, though. And who the heck drew the diamonds? Hopefully it was BP.

And I’m not the first one to point this out, but MORE ANIME REFERENCES!

Which can be seen as either a reference to the Chill Low-Fi Hiphop Beats to Study To OR Whisper of the Heart.

And absolutely no one cares but something that caught my eye is the fact that they have an EARTH FLAG at Little Homeschool! How cool is that!

Earth 4ever!!!

Off-note - I love how INVESTED they are in this conversation Pearl is having with Holo-Pearl.

Peak entertainment.

I love Professor Amethyst and I love the random human who snuck in to apparently take lessons on Not Giving A Single Shit About Anything, Ever.

And here we FINALLY are in the FUTURE

Where we FINALLY get Jasper as a functioning character

And

She’s

SO DRAMATIC, I LOVE HER.

This is literally SO funny like she... she was just... laying on top of her house... under a blanket..... FOr WHAT? To stand up dramatically and throw it off when Steven inevitably paid a visit?

Is that just what she dOES?

“It’s FINE I don’t need any HELP, I’m FUNCTIONING, I’m just having a SELF CARE DAY OK”

Also I’m sorry but

Jasper: “It took forever to yank those puny green earthlings out of the ground.”

Steven: “You mean grass...?“

THIS. RIGHT HERE. is peak Jasper.

It’s also curious how INVESTED Steven is in this:

“I’m TRYING to give you [a purpose]!“

Why are you... trying to do that, though? Isn’t the whole idea for gems to surpass their ‘purpose’ and just kinda... do whatever? Isn’t Jasper just kinda... doing whatever?

I mean, sure, it’s not useful to anyone, but she seems relatively happy. Aside from. You know. The whole laying on rocks under blankets until she’s disturbed thing and-- okay, you’re right, maybe an intervention would be healthy.

I’m not gonna talk at length about the rest of the episode - although I think it’s really good, I don’t know what I can say about it that hasn’t already been said. Jasper is definitely poking Steven’s buttons and rephrasing a LOT of what WHITE has said to Pink: “You surround yourself with inferior gems because it makes you feel better.”

And Steven REACTS to this. The taunt WORKS.

And yes, he gains some extra powers for it, but something tells me this AIN’T the only thing he will get. It feels like a two-edged sword. Like it’ll be his own downfall somehow....... maybe at the end of the series.

Ashes to ashes.... hole to hole.

And oh wow I thought they were gonna bond but LMAO

“Consider your fight back there your first and ONLY lesson.“

Basically:

I love you Jasper.

EP 2: GUIDANCE

I LOVE YOU AMETHYST.

sHE’S doing SO much and she’s SO good at it!! Look at her!! Organizing stuff!!!!

RUBIES IN SUNGLASSES. IN SQUARE SUNGLASSES.

I need 20.

And I also need 20 of Larimar because holy shit that’s hilarious.

Larimar: “I want to hear the human screams forever.”

Steven: “Okay that’s kinda troubling.”

I love the reference to Monsters Inc here and I love the callback at the end of the episode when Larimar switches to Human Laughter to get her fill of that particular erm... need.

And honestly the ensuing chaos is equally predictable and entertaining.

I’m SO glad to know that Rubies are just... Like That and that actually Navy is not a deviation from the norm but rather a different flavor of the chaotic energy all Rubies naturally seem to possess.

Amethyst is also super relatable:

“Ah yes, the fool comes crawling back. Come to beg for forgiveness, have you?”

In fact, the episode’s WHOLe HUMOUR is just very much My Brand

“Sometimes you save all the people but the rollercoaster still crashes into the ocean...... and that’s okay.”

Including the Running Gag that is Onion. Who... does not appear to have aged. At all. And that’s okay.

EP 3: ROSE BUDS

Okay where do I even begin with this one. Um.

I have to openly admit that I spent the majority of this episode wheezing with laughter. Let’s start with the Zoomans:

Who are CLEARLY STILL SUPER SALTY AT GREG ABOUT REJECTING THEM??? Which is hilarious.

And also this paradise is fascinating in and of itself.

But the next scene is basically where I started losing my shit.

Okay, okay, alright so. Uh. I have... a few questions.

Like Why. WHY. Does she look. SO MUCH like Rose?

Clearly Rose Quartz differ in coloring and etc. But She literally looks. Like THE Rose. VERY explicitly.

So here’s several options here:

1) Pink made Rose Quartz way before any of the Rebellion happened and Pearl just basically pigeonholed her into THIS specific Rose Quartz appearance because she (???) had a crush? Or somehow saw this specific Rose, thought ‘hot, i can make my sympathetic Diamond wear this exact costume and that would be EXCELLENT fanservice for ME’

2) Pink didn’t have any Rose Quartz until the Rebellion, and thereafter quickly decided ‘I need these gems as an alibi, so we’re just gonna make them” and she and Pearl basically inclubated Rose Quartz like a pokemon trainer hatching for a Shiny until they got one that looked Exactly Like That.

3) There was no Thinking involved because this is Pink we’re talking about, and it was all just a huge coincidence for the sake of this Very Hilariously Uncomfortable Episode.

While we ruminate on that, let’s look at some Relatable Reactions.

And here we have the holy trinity of “I have just seen the clone of my deceased parent/parental figure/lover.”

Featuring: Bonus ‘I’m Almost Over It’ Pearl

Also, I need y’all to make this into a meme:

For example:

Anyway, alright, alright.

That relatable feel when your (hot) dead lesbian lover’s clone asks you if you’re okay after another one of the (less hot?) clones offers you a whole ass stick of butter to eat.

And then you and your friends all hide in the bathroom to talk about your feelings:

Okay, the rest of the episode gives me FEELINGS and I love how hard Steven is trying, so I’ll just close it off with:

I LOVE THEM. Unironically, they are EVERYTHING I had hoped Rose Quartz would be. They’re SO MUCH like Rose herself - did she model her personality after them? Or are they just like her because she WAS like that, and they’re made from her essence? WHO KNOWS?! They’re adorable!

And the conflict between them and Steven is honestly so gooD! I don’t know if it’s completely relatable but I’m glad they ended up talking it out.

I wonder if we’ll ever see Her again... you know who I’m talkin’ about.

Her....

I’m madly in love with Rose, ok, I don’t need a callout post. Just leave me be.

EP 4: VOLLEYBALL

Alright, alright, alright.

OKAy,.... It’s fine. It’s FINE. I’m fINE.

Confirmed: 8000 years. That’s. UH. A LOT? That puts our timelines quite a ways back. We kind of estimated as much, but still, it’s so jarring to think about. And PP is VERY casual about it.

She’s also VERY casual about the injury.

“This is all Pink Diamond!”

It doesn’t seem like it bothers her to talk about it at all. She��s not even trying to keep it a secret. So I’m almost wondering - was there a connection to her being taken by White and the injury at all or not?

She came to Steven to get healed - she clearly wants it gone. At the time she was injured, did Pink not even attempt to heal the injury?

Follow up question: If she DID care, why didn’t she try to heal it?

Follow up to the follow up: Was it because she didn’t know she could? Or did she simply not have the time to (White removed her before she could)?

When Steven goes pink, she gasps - but makes no further comment. It’s presumably because she’s seen this happen before. She doesn’t try to move away, weirdly enough - she asks him if everything is alright. Perhaps the context is too different for it to be triggering for her. Perhaps there’s more layers to it? HMMM.

What follows is, perhaps, the SALTIEST we’ve seen Pearl since Greg rolled around.

“Did you come to compete?”

This is doubly curious to me because Crewniverse has previously explicitly stated that Pearl was NOT in love with Pink Diamond. She was in love with Rose. So if this is true, why would Pearl care about her place as Pink’s Pearl? She is supposed to be past all that, isn’t she?

And yet as time goes on, the salinity grows exponentially. Alright, you two, I know you’re Pearls but tone it down with the sass.

(Also, I’m sorry but I will NEVER call her Volleyball. That’s all. Bye.)

Also it’s worth noting that... PP is clearly VERY much in love with Pink.

This is, perhaps, where the lack of a grudge plays into it. She’s completely enamoured.

Moreover, she’s VERY casual about how she talks here. This isn’t exactly how one talks of their Diamond. This is how people talk about their romantic partners. She calls Pink silly, calls her ‘funny’. That’s not exactly a term of respect - it’s way more intimate than that.

Also, did anyone else notice how, although CG Pearl’s gem is usually shaded in teal, it’s in Pink in this episode? VEEEERY subtle, Crew.

Also, we can’t quite see Pink Pearl’s expression fully here because her working eye isn’t visible, which makes it hard to get a read on things like

“I’m older than you.“ Is she just saying it casually? Or is she fully aware that she’s poking fun at CG Pearl?

HI SHELL. ISN’T IT FUNNY HOW YOUR VOICE AND YOUR NAME ARE A SUBTLE NOD TO PORTAL, WHICH IS FORESHADOWING HOW BADLY THIS IS GONNA END.

Meanwhile, Pearl continues to be in character.

“No need to be overly... attached.”

And this has nothing to do with anything but

she cute

Aaaand now it’s creepy again.

The rest of this is super important so let’s get to it:

“Oh, no. Pink did this.”

“What did you say?”

“It’s a funny story, really. Once, Pink got tired of asking Yellow and Blue for her own colony, so she went straight to White. Of course, White told her she wasn’t fit to run one... and well! That set her off.”

“Set her off? What are you talking about?”

“You remember how she was! With her destructive powers, throwing tantrums left and right! She had a scream that could crack the walls. She didn’t mean to hurt me! (giggle) I just happened to be standing too close to her that time and--”

And then Steven interrupts.

We get more CG Pearl arguing for how wrong this image of Pink is to her. What CG Pearl knew was a totally different (or, well, same, but VERY changed) Pink.

But what we have to prove our point is Steven himself. He rolls into the EXACT same state as Pink presumably did - and begins to over-use his powers.

(This isn’t the first time we have seen him use this attack.)

The reactions from the Pearls are telling - this is clearly not Pink Pearl’s first rodeo with this type of Mood.

And it’s important to note that Steven clearly didn’t direct any attack AT them. He simply yelled - and the whole dang place literally started to crack. There’s weight to the argument that possibly, Pink really DIDN’T mean to hurt her Pearl - that she was just collateral damage.

Which doesn’t make it any better, obviously. Even if Pink had no direct intention of hurting her Pearl (and there are theories that Pink purposefully hit or threw Pink Pearl or somehow physically acted directly to damage her, which I was skeptical of) the result of it is still the same.

If you raise your voice and yell, even if you’re just yelling because YOU are hurt/have feelings, you might still hurt the people around you. If you throw a tantrum, even if your direct goal was just to let off some steam without aiming to harm anyone, whoever gets in your way is still the victim.

And this is all very much On Brand for Pink’s timeline as we know it. We already knew this about her - we KNEW she tended to throw tantrums (like in the flashback on Jungle Moon) and that she was childish. The fact that she accidentally hurt her Pearl in the process because she had no self-control at that period in her life comes as no surprise.

(Although it’s important to mention that perhaps hurting her own Pearl WAS the breaking point during which she finally realized how her emotional outbursts could have negative consequences on those around her.)

And this is a very beautiful message - even if Pink Pearl still doesn’t want to blame Pink for what was done to her (”But... she didn’t mean to!”) Pearl brings the point of it back around to her (”But you were still hurt!”) The point isn’t the person who did the hurting - the focus is on the victim and how they were affected.

And the rest, I daresay, is history.

I like the fact that they managed to still bring it back around to the main message:

It isn’t about just “Pink was bad”. It’s about how she did bad things. And there were multiple sides to her - multiple stages. And the Pearls who knew her knew different sides of her - the side that didn’t know how to be a good person, who was selfish and childish and unrestrained... and the side that was, arguable, too restrained. Who hated her own past, her own character and her own mistakes so much that she would rather bury them and keep secrets from everyone.

And neither of those things were good, and neither were healthy, but they are a GREAT contrast to a GREAT character arc that is, arguably, still being unearthed. And we have so much more context for it all now.

I, for one, can’t wait to see and discover more of Pink through Pink Pearl - no matter how ugly that side of her might be. I think it gives great perspective to her later growth.

And if you ship the Pearls.. .well, I get why.

Personally I’m not interested in it that way. Call me unromantic - I don’t think their relationship NEEDS to be shippy in order to be satisfyingly deep. I love the idea of them having a deep bond over this - a shared past, a shared experience, and gaining confidence through one another.

Cheers and thanks for listening!

#steven universe future #steven universe: future #steven universe future spoilers #su:f spoilers #suf spoilers #su spoilers #steven universe spoilers #spoiler warning #pink pearl #volleyball

4K notes · View notes

sirowsky · 3 years

Text

The Flowers Always Know

Description: When a mad scientist uses you as an experiment while you’re on holiday, the Heroics only just manage to save you. And in your recovery you become very close to the leader of the group. (Slow burn)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Language.

Link to Masterlist

Comment: Another day of side-effects where my head really hasn’t been in the game. But a little fun stuff to pass the time has managed to crop up.

So sorry for the tease ending... I blame the headaches.

Chapter 27

The Chef, Greg, had personally brought you extra leftovers during the five weeks you were living in the cell, training and learning about your abilities. He knew about your abnormal energy-consumption, and had become concerned when you never ordered more than a double portion of food, no matter how exhausted you were. So, he’d come to give you the leftovers one evening, and you’d explained that it felt like you’d be stealing from others that might need it, if you ordered six or even eight portions. After that, he’d begun saving all the leftovers every day, and bringing you that for the extra portions you otherwise wouldn’t have ordered.

“I may have to make Greg my Best Man.”

“He’d probably decline. He’s nice, but he does have standards.”

“Ouch…”

“He doesn’t know you, Cujo.”

“Okay, seriously, what is up with that?”

“It’s just an accurate description.”

“I am not a fucking dog.”

“Yes, you are. It’s just that, ordinarily, you’re a puppy. You just have that lovable puppy-face, with the eyes and the grin that can melt the coldest of hearts. And then, you bare your teeth and growl, and you look fucking terrifying.”

“I do?”

“Um – yes. Unequivocally – yes. It’s amazing.”

“Wait… you like my Cujo-quality?”

“I like that you have that side, when you need it. I like that it comes out almost exclusively to protect the things you love. And I have to admit that I like the fact that even the remotest possibility that William actually had tried something, elicited that kind of a response from you.”

“I was a little shocked at how strongly I reacted to that. Just the thought… I would’ve killed him, if he had. Not because you… belong to me. But because you were weak and unable to stop anyone that might have tried. Thank god William’s even more of a puppy than I am.”

“Will is more of a Greyhound.”

“What?”

“Yeah, you know – sleek, effective, streamlined.”

“Okay, let’s just drop the whole dog-topic already.”

“And, just for the record – of course I belong to you. Ass-hat.”

He practically beamed at you.

“Ditto. Mama bear.”

You’d been talking while walking back from lunch, and when you got back to your office, Anita was there. Just standing in the middle of the room, with her signature scowl in full effect.

“Hi, mom. Wow, you’re actually in the office, it must be serious.”

“Fifty noise-complaints in the last hour – is serious.”

You both stopped smiling, and threw a nervous glance at one another, but she just huffed and turned to you.

“Have you had yourself checked out by medical, yet?”

“No… why would I…?”

“Because human beings don’t possess the biological imperative to breed, to the point where their libidos take control of their bodies.”

You had actually checked both your offices for cameras and microphones a good while back, and found nothing. And there weren’t any fucking flowers in your office!

“How the hell do you know that? Seriously… How?”

She just rolled her eyes.

“Get your ass down to medical. Now.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“Whatever it is, I feel fine now, which means they probably wouldn’t be able to detect anything abnormal, so I’m gonna finish my work for the day, and then I’ll go to medical.”

You walked over to your desk as you spoke, and as you sat down, you remembered something.

“And by the way, where you in charge of selecting my substitute while I was gone?”

“Yes. Petra wasn’t ideal.”

“You don’t say. If I’m ever gone for an extended period of time again, no one sets foot in my fucking office. Got it?”

“Did you just try and give me an order, loco?”

“I’m not trying anything. I’m telling you. No one.”

She threw you a kinda skewed smile and then turned around to leave. But as she crossed the threshold she stopped and looked back at you with pure steel in her eyes.

“4pm. If you’re not at medical by then, I’ll drag you there by your ear.”

“Try it. Please.”

She left and you sighed and looked at Marcus, who had sat down on the couch again, one arm draped over the backrest while he’d watched you take on Máma.

“Are you absolutely sure you feel fine? Because I’m all kinds of hot and bothered right now.”

“50 noise-complaints, Marcus. That’s half the damned building.”

“And like I said: fuck ‘em.”

“Please go away so I can think.”

“Only if you promise to call me the moment you feel any amount of craving. I’m serious.”

“You think I want to feel like that again? Of course I’ll call, and you’d better pick up. I don’t care if HQ’s on fire.”

“You have my word, famb.”

“You know, your list of nicknames is getting a bit ridiculously long.”

“Oh, I haven’t even started on the real one’s yet.”

“Real ones?”

“Prometida, esposa, amada, mi corazón…”

“Okay, okay, have as many as you like, jeez.”

“Which one’s your favourite?”

“You already know.”

He got up from the sofa and came over to kiss you before he left. His lips lingered long after the kiss ended.

“Hermosa…”

He was intoxicating. You put a hand up on his chest and pushed him away gently.

“Get out of here, gorgeous. Mama’s got work to do.”

“Oh, that’s mean. You know how I love it when you talk all husky like that.”

“I’ll call you if I need you.”

He walked away looking disappointed, but also kind of expectant, like he was looking forward to getting you back later. You smiled and shook your head after the door closed behind him.

You did get a lot of work done after that, and even if you were still miles behind from catching up to where you’d been 7 weeks ago, it still felt good to have gotten back on track. Especially on what had been possibly the weirdest day of your life. Which was saying something. Your libido stayed calm and behaved for the rest of the workday, but you did see Anita’s point in getting yourself checked over, and so you were planning on going to the med-bay. But at 3:30 you were working on your computer, looking up rare metals for an upcoming build, and you sort of stumbled over a site for wedding-rings. You were just gonna take a quick peak, scrolling through the various options, and getting progressively more worked up as you saw the price-tags. You were just about to leave the page and go back to work, when an ad in the corner popped up.

Wedding-dresses.

Fuck.

You clicked.

“If you thought I was kidding about the ear, you were sorely mistaken.”

You startled at the sound of her voice, and a puff of energy escaped you, sending papers flying everywhere.

“Thanks a lot, Anita. Why don’t you give me a heart-attack while you’re at it?”

“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s not my fault you were so engrossed in that screen you didn’t notice me. What were you looking at, anyway?”

Had half an hour already passed? You just clicked on that ad a second ago… And why was she looking at you like that?

“Just research.”

“Mhm. Let’s go.”

“Alright, just let me get these papers off the floor.”

As expected, since the event seemed to have passed, the medical exam didn’t reveal anything, and Anita seemed unnecessarily peeved about that.

“What are you so upset about? What exactly did you think they’d find?”

“Nothing. Never mind.”

“Never mind, my ass. You all but dragged me to this exam, and now you’re disappointed. So, spill. What’s the deal?”

“I just hoped that maybe… you increased enthusiasm was…”

“Was…?”

“Alright, most women experience increased sensitivity when they’re pregnant. I just wanted to be sure.”

You sort of half froze midway through pulling your pants back on, and your hands involuntarily went to your abdomen.

“Oh… I never even considered…”

“I’m sorry, niña. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, I’m not upset. God, I don’t even know what I am.”

You finished dressing and sat down on a chair, letting your head fall into your hands.

“Eight months ago, I was just a designer, going on a fucking vacation. Now, I don’t even know what the hell I am anymore, much less what to do. Every time I think I’m starting to get a handle on things, something else happens and I’m lost again.”

She tapped your leg with her cane, ushering you to look at her.

“What you are, is my son’s fiancé. My granddaughter’s adoptive mother. You’re smart, highly capable and stubborn, kind and caring, but abrasive when the situation requires it. You’re everything you need to be. And that’s all you ever really need to know about yourself.”

You drew a deep breath.

“Do you think he made the right choice? With me?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“Thank you.”

You called Marcus to let him know how the exam had gone, and he was just about to pick up Missy, so since you had your own car you told him you’d race him home. But you decided to stop by Amanda’s house on the way. You wanted to talk to both of them, but her place was closer.

When you walked in at home, Missy was in the living room playing a video-game with Noodles, A Capella and Wild Card. It had been a while since she’d had any friends over, and you smiled when you saw how much fun she was having.

“Hey, Alma! Wanna see me crush these guys for the second time?”

“Any day of the week, angel, but I gotta talk to your dad right now.”

“Okay, suit yourself!”

You laughed and walked into the kitchen to find him opening pizza-boxes and distributing slices onto plates.

“Hey, sweetheart, sorry, this wasn’t planned, they just spontaneously asked if they could come over as I was picking her up.”

“Honey, why are you explaining yourself?”

“I don’t know… it’s just, with the weird day you’ve had and how you seemed a little down after the exam, I thought that maybe you weren’t quite in the mood for a house full of teenagers.”

“No matter how I feel, Missy’s entitled to enjoy herself with her friends. I would never wanna deprive her of that.”

“No, I know. I just worry about you.”

“Yeah, I do too, sometimes. But that’s usually when I remember I have you, and it all feels better.”

He smiled and asked you to help him carry out the food to the living room, and once you’d done that, you sat down at the dinner table to eat yourselves.

“So… I may have googled wedding-dresses today.”

He beamed.

“Really? Did you manage to narrow down any preferences? Don’t give me any specifics, by the way.”

“I did, I think. Or, at least, I found a lot of stuff I didn’t like, so I guess that helps. I don’t know, I feel like I need to see them, touch them, to actually get a sense of what I like.”

He beamed even more.

“I really like the sound of this. I’m sure Amaire would come with you if you asked.”

“Yeah, I kind of already asked them to, this weekend.”

He was fucking radiating joy at that point. He got up and took your hand, leading you to the bedroom and closing the door behind you. Then he reached into his pocket and fished something out. His smile turned just a hint of insecure, as he held up the ring he’d chosen for you. It was gold-plated steel, with a single row of small diamonds sunk into the centre of the band all the way around. A sturdy and solid piece that wouldn’t break or lose its shape. While you admired it, he started trying to explain his choice.

“I know you’re not much of a jewellery-girl, so I figured we’d skip the whole engagement ring plus wedding-band. You can wear it right away if you want and then just take it off before the ceremony, or you can wait and put it on then, either way is fine with me. That is, if you like it? If you don’t, we’ll take it back and you can pick something else. It just felt right as soon as I saw it. You’re not the frail silver band type of person, and I know you’d only get annoyed with a big rock getting in the way and getting caught in stuff. You work with your hands and so I figured something sturdy but elegant. I have a matching one just without the diamonds. Please say something before I pass out from oxygen-depravation…”

“I love it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

You both beamed.

“Can I put it on you?”

“You better.”

He slipped it on your finger and it fit perfectly. And for the first time it really sunk in that you were gonna marry this man. The love of your life. It felt like a really long time until the kids went home and Missy went to bed, with her headphones on.

“I totally forgot, we need to go bed-shopping, honey.”

“I don’t know, a mattress on the floor might be preferable until we know the extent of your ‘heat-situation’.”

“Mm. Good point. Although, breaking in a new bed is always fun.”

“Hermosa.”

“What?”

“Stop talking and get undressed. I’ve been waiting for this all night.”

Authors’ Note: I love criticism, don’t be shy to let me know if there’s anything you like/don’t like/have questions about.

@blueeyesatnight @farfromjustordinary @allmyspideys @hrk-fic-recs @strawberryperegrine @lucrezia-thoughts @computeringturtle @sarahjkl82-blog

#marcus moreno #marcus moreno x reader #marcus moreno fic #we can be heroes #we can be heroes fic #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal characters

36 notes · View notes

jencsi · 3 years

Text

Let’s Talk- Finn and Russell;

From the very beginning, we get the hint, notion, presence of a deeper connection between Julie Finlay and DB Russell. In Seeing Red, when she hears him, not even having to look and know he’s there during the crime scene reconstruction, just his voice alone makes her roll her eyes, gets her fired up with some sort of passion, anger, emotional reaction. As evidenced from their conversation about the blood spatter case, her resistance to proceed further with him again shows she is not quite over what has happened to them in the past and it makes viewers want to know, what the heck happened? What could this seemingly unbothered hippie like guy have ever done to cross this already sullen yet spirited woman? Despite her futile attempts to deflect him, she cannot help but be drawn to the case, he sought her out after all, he must be desperate. When she retrieves the file he leaves behind and it piques her interest, she gives in, with probably a lot of hemming and hawing off screen, before venturing to CSI for the first time.

That single solitary scene cemented in my brain their dynamic from that day forward. There was no going back for me. Whatever they had in the past, whether that be something romantic, friendly or just work related, my soul ached to know more and even better, my heart yearned to watch them more, to listen, to observe the bantar, the sarcasm, the snark, the sheer and utter pure honesty that comes from their conversations. DB Russell is not trying to trick Finn, he’s not trying to make her figure out some silly puzzle or game, he just wants her expertise and guidance. Once she accepts his offer, her personality begins to shine via her work (Should I wrap it up and take it back to the lab? Took the words right out of my mouth smart ass” “You know me so well” “And you know blood, better than anyone I know”) her bonding with her colleagues, and even better, the little hints at what was between her and Russell back in Seattle.

When we finally do get to see that past revealed, ripped open like a fresh wound, via CSI on Fire, we see the headstrong and overheated Finn on a mission, prove that Tom Cooley is a killer and bring justice to the families of his victims. Of course that journey is not without complications and wild accusations, of course Finn would never kill anyone, that I firmly believe, unless of course it’s to save a friend or colleague (saving Greg from that supposed innocent victim of the Gig Harbor Killer in The Twin Paradox) but Cooley rattles her, gets under her skin in a way different from Russell. In fact it’s Russell warning her to be careful, to go with caution, but her typical rebellious nature of “I’m not listening” pushes her further to the truth and to danger at every turn.

Her tone when speaking to Russell about the discovery of Cooley’s body in his hotel shifts our thinking that maybe she isn’t the same person she was two years ago. If what we are observing right now is the casual cool collected Finn, just how reckless was she in Seattle? She feels the disappointment from Russell in his tone, the way he looks at her, and she hates that, she doesn’t want to disappoint anyone, especially him. His presence in her life since the Seattle days has created this combination of not wanting to let him down or disappoint him mixed with her fierce loyalty to the truth, to the victims and their families, clashing with her exuberant personality.

With CSI on Fire resolved, Finn melts back into a rhythm with her ex-husband, also a component of her former life in Seattle, all seems right between Russell and her, a trademark of their friendship, forgiveness and acceptance.

Looking at their dynamic from the perspective of the actors who portray them, Ted Danson has referred to them as the bickersons, like oil and water, but at the same time, Finn/Elisabeth and her characters intrusiveness helps him do his job better and see things clearly when it comes to cases as well as other aspects of his characters life. Elisabeth meanwhile seemed to enjoy the back and forth dialogue and the testiness of their relationship, she seemed invested in their past in Seattle and wondered where the writers would take that.

In Homecoming, the season 12 finale, we see corruption and problems arise amongst the police force and Russell apologies for seeming to drag Finn into this mess and bringing her there to work but she states that she makes her own decisions and doesn’t seem bothered by the issues until she is thrown into the chaos of it all when she trails Crenshaw and stumbles into the violence they have created around them with the assistance of McKeen and Kimball.

The Finn and Russell dynamic gets tested here when Katie, Russell’s grand daughter is kidnapped and Finn attempts to save her. In the chaos, she sends Katie out into the unknown alone while she does battle with Crenshaw (a violent but epic struggle, major kudos to the stunt work they did here, it felt so real and made me love Finn even more, seeing how far Elisabeth was willing to take this character) Russell is devastated to learn Finn let Katie escape alone but is also distraught knowing both were hurt and in danger. His anger at Finn boils over when she insists she’s fine, how he refers to her as “Finn” on the phone instead of the sweeter Jules we are used to hearing, and when she discusses the case with him in the bedroom where Katie was taken from and he punched the wall, leading to a missed clue. Despite the resentment towards her, they figure out Katie’s whereabouts and stop McKeen from carrying out his plans. We can see and feel Finn’s guilt deep down for her mistakes, even if everything works out, the way she stands holding the phone, the way she looks at Moreno who tries to assure her it will be okay.

At the end of Karma To Burn, Finn and Russell reconcile again, not so much with words but in the way she snaps him out of his fantasy of ever having to use his gun in a real life situation, of how far he was almost pushed to the brink when it comes to saving his work family, not just Katie. His use of the nickname Jules on several occasions, something she claims to hate but also doesn’t, comes back when Barbara inquires if she will stay for dinner. All is well again.

The final blow and perhaps the deepest cut of their relationship occurs with the reopening of the Gig Harbor Killer case. From the get go, we start off with a bang, literally and figuratively. It is Russell who is at the mercy of Winthrop who demands he admit they did not capture the correct killer in order to relinquish Finn from the confines of her bomb invested car. With much reluctance, he admits their mistake and Finn is spared. The hug they share in the parking lot after she is freed breaks me every time and just further adds to the complicated but always present nature of their relationship. The next go around, Maya, Russell’s daughter is targeted, but this time, she is used as bait to try and lure the copycat out to play and be captured. When that fails, Finn unwillingly becomes the next target and once again Russell is thrown for a loop. This time however, there is no mercy, no chance at redemption, Finn is ripped from him violently and with no regard. Worse still, we get to see a tiny bit of his life afterwards, via CSI Cyber, when he observes another coma patient in Hack ER. Avery Ryan takes notice of his demeanor and quietly brings up Finn. Russell’s memories play out in quick flashbacks and we see where his heart belonged the entire time. He speaks of reading to her, hoping she’d wake up, then darkness, never to see her eyes pierce him again, no more bantar, no more snark, no more intrusiveness. The fact that almost a whole year later we get a resolution for Finn and get to see Russell pine for her one last time gives us closure and really showcases how strong this bond was for three and a half years.

I will always wish for a better outcome for Finn, as originally scripted, but somewhere in the chaos of writing and producing, we lost her. I will always be sad we didn’t get to see more of Russell at her bedside waiting for her to wake up. That emotion would have been so raw and real coming from Ted. These characters deserved a proper ending and reunification because it just wasn’t justified to wreck their metaphorical ship that was so strong and sailing along fine before colliding with the iceberg of violence. Nevertheless, this dynamic holds strong in my heart to this day. There are plenty more examples to pull from the show, every time they chatted about cases and made progress just by talking it out, every time they fought about their thought processes and reckless behavior, every soft sweet utterance of “Jules” will forever gut me, weaken me, bring me to my knees, but somehow give me strength. That’s how powerful their relationship was and appeared to me on screen, they were a paradox, love, hate, push, pull, oil and water as Ted stated before, give and take, and boy did they give me so much more than any naysayer could ever attempt to take from me. No matter where anyone stands on the fandom line, so much heart and soul went into Russell and Finn, and when you really sit down and watch and listen with perspective and acceptance, you can see it and feel it. I think that type of power transcends just your typical acting alone, it truly feels real. Give me that dynamic everyday, sign me up. I don’t think I’ll ever be as lucky as I was to witness such greatness on the screen between these two. Good things don’t happen twice, as I have unfortunately learned the hard way over the years, once it’s gone, it’s gone.

But in the heart and soul of Russell and Finn is an incredible ability to keep a stronghold on viewers like me, or maybe not, maybe I’m just crazy, but here were are, years after things have ended and the screen has faded to black.

#julie finlay #db russell #ted danson #elisabeth shue #thank you for coming to this ted talk #literally #csi crime scene investigation #that novel I’ve been working on #here you go #let’s talk

5 notes · View notes

feverinfeveroutfic · 3 years

Text

chapter twenty-eight: “chuck, there’s a worm in your soup”

Sam hung up the phone and ran her fingers through her dark hair. She had waited until five days following the announcement in order to tell her parents about the accident as she had no other means to do so. She knew that they would not react to it well, even if she was thousands of miles away. Add to this, she never liked the idea of one of her parents being in an exorbitant amount of pain.

The tears in Ruben's voice and his telling Esmé what had happened: she bawled off in the background. She had invited them to the funeral over in the Bay Area, but he told her that they had too much to do with themselves.

“It's not really a funeral, though,” she clarified, “we're just scattering his ashes at Maxwell Ranch near Vacaville. But—I'll be out there this weekend, though.”

“Okay,” he had told her with a shuddered sigh, “be safe—I'm so sorry, sweetie.”

She poured herself a cup of coffee and, before she could pour in the cream, a knock on the door caught her attention. She padded into the living room, past the vase of yellow tulips, which still stood strong and high even well after Cliff had picked them out for her.

Aurora stood there before her with a glass square covered with a sheet of tin foil and a deep violet velvety sweater about her body.

“Hey, Aurora,” she greeted her, and she eyed the little square dish cradled in her hands. “Thank you. What's this?”

“Blondies courtesy of Emile,” she said in a low voice. “And I told him I'm going to have to spend a lot more time with you, though.”

“Thank you,” Sam repeated as Aurora handed her the blondies which then allowed her to put her arms around her best friend.

“I'm so sorry,” she whispered into her ear. Sam sighed through her nose and then she stepped back for a better look at the blondies: she took off the foil and she revealed the square of that soft yellow top, complete with bits of white chocolate mixed in.

“So when do we go back out to San Francisco?” she asked Aurora, who strode into the apartment.

“Friday, in two days—we leave the day of, too, real early. Jon gave me the week off, though. It's getting kind of stressful, you know?”

“Oh, yeah. I couldn't hardly focus in class this week so far. I'm glad we're leaving on Friday, too—I don't know how much more I can take it. I just want to get it over with.”

“Well, as you know, it's not a technical funeral,” she pointed out.

“Right, they brought him home over the weekend and then they had him cremated,” Sam recalled as she strode into the kitchen and she put the blondies in the fridge. “Ray and Jan said they want him scattered over Maxwell Ranch near Vacaville. I actually had to look that up because I didn't know where that was.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Sam surfaced from the kitchen to find Aurora had stuffed her hands into her sweater pockets. “By the way, what're Metallica gonna do now?”

“Look for a new bassist,” she replied with a shrug. “Even though they're on a different label now, I'm going to oversee it with them. Speaking of which—did you get a copy of their new album?”

“I haven't, no.”

“We'll have to do that when we go out there,” Aurora vowed, and Sam sighed through her nose again and she lowered her gaze to the floor. Aurora padded over to her with her arms wide open and she held her close: she lay her head against Sam's chest.

“I don't like seeing friends in pain,” she said in a muffled voice. “Especially if it's my best friend.” She lifted her head for a better look at her. “My parents endured a lot of it when they were back in Korea.”

“I can imagine,” Sam confessed with a break in her voice. Her eyes burned with tears again.

“They were almost separated at the demilitarized zone—the mines were activated and my father almost lost his legs to an explosion. Had my mother not held his hand and ran away from there with him, he would've been a goner and I wouldn't be here right now.”

Sam brushed away a tear as it burgeoned from her right eye.

“My father had a death wish then, too. He believed there was no way they could run away from Korea, especially the North. But they managed to escape. My mother and the grip of her hand saved him, from the line of fire and from himself.”

“If we were there in Sweden, Cliff would still be here,” Sam recalled those words from that night.

“I have no doubt about it.” Aurora lay the side of her head against her chest again and Sam closed her eyes to keep the tears at bay. She knew it was going to be a difficult weekend, especially when she still couldn't hardly focus in class the next day. She expected Cliff to be there on the sidewalk upon her emergence from the school building, but she took the subway alone, and with that hat rested upon the crown of her head. Every so often, she caught a whiff of the way his hair used to smell once she removed the hat. If only there was a way in which to preserve it for eternity.

She and Aurora left for the airport at four o'clock in the morning: any homework that she had would have to wait a few days because there were more pressing matters to tend to. She thought of Cliff during the whole flight: it didn't help matters that they were seated at the front of coach class as well, two rows behind first class. She sat there for the first hour of the flight with her arms folded across her chest, such that when Aurora woke up from her nap, she peered over at her with her tired eyes in a daze.

“Is everything alright?” she asked her.

“Just thinking,” Sam replied in a soft voice. “When we visited my parents, we sat near first class.”

“Oh, damn,” Aurora muttered and she cleared her throat.

“Yeah. We can't move, though.” She sighed through her nose yet again, and they landed San Francisco before the sun even rose there, right through that thick bank of fog from the Bay itself. They were greeted by Lars, who had showed up to the airport in a long black overcoat and a pair of black leather boots.

“I like this,” Aurora told him with a gesture all about his body. “I like this a lot.”

“Something a little a propos, dare I say,” he told her as he guided them out to his car.

“Thank you for picking us up, by the way,” she continued.

“There was no way I was going to let the two of you stay in a dingy hotel,” he said, but Sam tuned out their words. She gazed out the window to the thick dark fog as it blacked out the inlets: off in the distance, she noticed the dim lights of the Golden Gate Bridge. It almost didn't seem right, that Cliff had died in a place so far away and yet he was so staunch on staying in the Bay Area. He even put a bet on something that felt as far away as Sweden itself in order to be with her, which meant if it didn't happen, there was no way it would last.

And yet she couldn't stay angry at Cliff for that.

This was his home. This was where he needed to be, away from the darkness of Scandinavia and on his own soil. If it was to be long distance until she finished school, then she could make it happen. But that was the belief, and it had vanished into the blackness of the Bay fog as it greeted them outside in the dim parking lot.

Lars drove them to his small house up in Sausalito, and Sam wondered when Marla and Zelda would be there with Anthrax given she didn't see either of them on the plane. She even brought this up to him.

“They got here late last night,” he told her as he served her and Aurora fresh cups of coffee. “Well, Charlie and Marla did, anyways. He called me last night and said they had checked into their hotel at around eleven o'clock last night. No idea about the others, though.”

“Thank you, by the way,” she said to him as she took a sip of the coffee. Like a warm gentle hug from the inside. She thought about what he had told her in that room. Even though she couldn't hardly focus on class, she did however feel an itch to draw something in her journal, something outside of class. That time around, it was a mistake for her to not take her journal or any of her paper along with her. She thought about the ink drawings she had made the last October and she made a mental note to do it again at some point.

But by the time the ceremony came about, she knew there was no way she could focus on anything that needed to be drawn up on paper.

The fog had cleared out to pure blue sky but it straddled the Golden Gate Bridge as well as the inlet there before Maxwell Ranch. A small stretch of land fitted by a handful of lush green trees and a small building that made Sam think of a church given there was a small painting of Jesus next to the front door when they walked inside. Everyone had donned themselves in solid black: she peered across the room to find Legacy had showed up themselves, as did Exodus given she recognized Zetro's head of hair next to Chuck's long black smooth curls. Alex towered next Eric, Greg, and Louie, complete with a yarmulke on his head: that little gray sliver poked out over his forehead.

Meanwhile, five more unfamiliar men congregated at the far end of the room and they looked as though they had just come from a nearby high school.

“Nice to see Death Angel here,” Lars declared right next to her as he took off his sunglasses. “Kind of expected them to be, but it's always nice to see them, though. Armored Saint, too. And Metal Church. And Exodus and Legacy—everyone's here! Well, not everyone, I don't see Dave or Slayer.”

“Brought the whole Bay Area scene here with us,” Zelda's voice crackled from their left: she emerged from the corridor in a fitted black dress with white polka dots and a black silk bolero over her shoulders. Her short bob of black hair had been combed and styled back with a bit of gel.

Sam then felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around only to be met with another head of black curls piled atop a round head and a slender body wrapped in black leather. His face had grown fuller with the extensive touring but she knew it was him by the soft brown tone to his skin alone.

“Hi, Joey,” she greeted him and he put his arms around her and he held her close to his slender little body.

“Remember if you need anything—absolutely anything at all—you can call me,” he told her, and he ran his fingers through his thick inky black curls. “I'll always be there, rain or shine, day or night, on tour or not. Call me regardless of the barrier.”

“Yeah, me and Marla, too,” Charlie joined in behind them, and he greeted her with an embrace as well, so did Frank, Dan, Scott, and of course Marla.

James and Kirk emerged from the corridor on the left, in black shirts and matching pants: the latter had a small black lace band around his upper arm. He gestured for Lars to join them there at the corner of the room. Sam, Aurora, and Zelda gathered on the wall adjacent to the door; Joey and Dan stood right behind them. The latter set a hand on Sam's shoulder to comfort her and she showed him a warm smile in return.

“Thank you, Danny,” she told him.

“We've got each other, you know,” he said with a wink. She returned her attention to that corner of the room, and she noticed a little gray urn in between James and Kirk. The room fell silent, even with Ray, Jan, and Connie not even being there. She wondered about them if they were doing alright with it all.

Joey rested his chin on her shoulder, and she caught a small whiff of his soft soapy cologne on the side of his neck. Oh, the smells. Cliff still riddled in her memory but she knew Joey would never be too far away from that point onward.

“Can't believe we're here right now,” Kirk started with a little break in his voice and his hands clasped together before his toned stomach. “I mean, if anything, we should still be over in Europe right now. But—here we are. Back home.”

“That bus sucked, though,” Lars added. “The beds were hard as a rock and they were uncomfortable. It was why Cliff and Kirk drew cards in the first place.”

“They were small, too,” James continued, “they were even small for you. And—you know, if it's small for Lars—you know it sucks.”

“As everyone might notice, Cliff's family couldn't make it,” Kirk said, “even being his biggest fans and everything. They just—they just couldn't do it. I mean, it's hard on the three of us, but they pretty much broke down, though. So—we have to act as his family.” He flashed Sam a small but sad smile and she could feel her eyes burning with tears yet again. She gazed out the window with Joey's chin still rested upon her shoulder. She tuned out their eulogies as she thought about Cliff's family. She pictured the three of them congregated in their living room together. They didn't have much, but they had each other.

She knew he and his older brother had been reunited somewhere beyond the window, somewhere beyond those low pale yellow hills, somewhere beyond the vast blue.

Somewhere beyond the veil.

She knew she had to pay attention because she was the grieving girlfriend but she couldn't. All she could think about were his parents and his sister.

“He was like 'we should just kill 'em all, man,'” Kirk pressed on and he brushed away a tear from his eye. “And the bunch of us were like, hey, let's make that our album name!”

She had to get her hands on that album that Aurora had told her about. If she had to go to a nearby record shop for a copy, then she could do it for herself.

“Sam?”

Lars' high pitched voice caught her offguard. She glanced over at his holding the urn in both hands.

“Would you like the final word before we release him to the earth?” he asked her, and she nodded her head. Frank set a hand on her shoulder and she could tell that he held back the tears, even as she ambled up to the corner of the room. She held the pale cold urn in her hands, about the size of a coffee mug.

He was in there. She had to set him free. She had to let him go.

Her bottom lip trembled as she brought the stone closer to her face. She closed her eyes.

“I love you,” she whispered into the crack between the urn itself and the lid. Kirk set a hand on her upper back and leaned in closer to her. She then handed James the urn to do the duty.

He led them outside to the cool crisp October afternoon, around the building to a stretch of flat field lined with tall scraggly dark trees. Two evergreens stood near the back door, and she wondered if that was the reception area. She spotted two large black speakers near there and she wondered what was about to happen once James let the ashes fly.

“Alright, Lars,” he called out to his left. They all congregated there under the cold sun and a gentle breeze from the ocean made them all huddle together like a bunch of penguins. Lars knelt down before one of the speakers and he pushed a button. Against the wind, Sam could hear music.

The hard, rising riffs emerged from the speakers from complete silence: it made her think of the depths of space, or the depths of the ocean behind her.

“This was his favorite,” Kirk told her in a low voice, “from our new album. It's called 'Orion'.” She thought of the little indent on Cliff's hip, which made her think of a true belt. And with that, Joey put his arm around her again. Sam watched James hold up the urn, and he turned away from the winds. When the music picked up, he unscrewed the lid and he tilted the urn on its side. Some of Cliff's ashes billowed out in a cloud against the wind and towards the field.

He became part of the earth yet again. Orion's belt.

Sam bowed her head but she couldn't bring herself to cry. Joey rubbed his hand upon her shoulder.

It was a long song, one that included a small section where Cliff's bass stood alone, and another plume of ashes billowed out in light wisps. It made her think of fire flies, or fairy dust, especially when Chuck muttered, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust—until we meet again, Cliff” right behind her.

It faded out as James gave the urn one last shake and the rest of the ashes scattered about the earth before him with the wind. He lowered the urn and screwed the lid back on, and bowed his head. Lars ambled over to him as he brought a hand to his face.

Some soft acoustic guitar played out right then.

“'Fight Fire with Fire'!” Zelda declared from Sam and Aurora's right. “I love this song!”

“This was Cliff's last song,” Kirk told her. “The very last song he played.” She brought a hand to her chest and her face softened. That was the softest Sam ever saw Zelda, given she was always in such a punk rock mood and a mood for trouble.

“Alright, who wants lunch?” Lars called out as he let go of James.

They all doubled back inside, through that back door into a vast rec room that smelled as though it was just cleaned. Sam and Aurora took their seats at a table on the far side of the room, and Lars joined the two of them with a pair of plates absolutely full with potatoes au gratin, baked ham, and steamed vegetables.

“There's a big quiche Lorraine and some pho over there, if you'd like, Aurora,” he said as he took his seat next to Sam and he handed her the plate in his right hand. “Both courtesy of our friends in Death Angel.”

“Oh, thank you!” said Sam. With a little nod, Aurora climbed to her feet right then, and the two of them were left alone. Lars handed Sam a fork.

“So what happens now?” he asked her with a grave look on his round face.

“Don't know,” she confessed as she dug into the potatoes. “I go back to New York and continue being the artist.”

“You know how Joey and Charlie both said to call them if you needed anything?” His green eyes wandered over to the neighboring table, and she spotted Charlie, Frank, and Scott clustered together with their backs to them. Scott burst out laughing about something: Sam spotted a comic book plunked in front of Charlie. Of course!

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Well, I extend that to myself,” Lars told her, “especially if it has to do with art.”

“That's right, you're the art guy.”

“I can perhaps help you out if you wish,” he quipped with a raise of an eyebrow, and he picked up a potato medallion.

“Aw, that's so sweet!” And then she had an idea. “Would you like something from me?”

“Would I like something from you—yes, please!”

“It can be totally on me, too.”

“Oh, no, I don't want to do that to you, Sam,” he said as he brought a forkful of broccoli up to his little lips.

“No, I insist!” she said with her mouth full. She swallowed before she spoke again. “What would you like? What medium would you like?”

“What do you feel most comfortable with?”

“Ink.”

“Ink! Like—black ink?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” He paused. “I don't believe I have a photograph of my parents with me, but I do have one at home, though. You might find it interesting when we get back there...” His voice trailed off and the two of them ate in silence, given Aurora had taken a bowl of soup for herself and found herself distracted by the men of Exodus as well as Zelda on the other side of the room. Sam lifted her head at one point and she watched Zelda pick something up from the floor. She turned to her right, away from them, and she raised it over her head, clenched inside of her fist.

Charlie muttered something about the comic book store there in San Francisco being expensive, but he was interrupted by Zelda's strident shout.

“Hey, Louie! Catch!”

Louie's smooth head of hair emerged on the side of the room, about ten feet from Sam and Lars' table, and he extended his hands out before him. Zelda threw the thing at him, a glimmer of silver across the room. The guys from Legacy cheered out when he caught it.

“What even was that?” Lars asked Sam.

“Looked like a spoon.”

“A spoon or a knife. What better place to play 'catch the knife'!” And Sam burst out laughing at that.

She and Lars both helped themselves to seconds, as well as plates full of desserts, a slice of cake, a blondie, and a handful of cookies. She was amazed by how much she had eaten right there, but then again, she had put on a bit of weight over the course of that year and she needed to move on from Cliff. It was time to tend to herself, and to nourish herself, even if it meant eating a great deal.

“Chuck, there's a worm in your soup,” she overheard Zelda say, and it made Scott almost fall out of his chair from laughing so hard. Frank caught him and Louie clapped his hands with laughter; she turned to Lars, who picked at his teeth.

“Have you seen where Joey went?” she asked him.

“I was just gonna ask you that,” he admitted. He turned his attention to the other side of the room. James and Kirk sat with Aurora and Marla and they had their backs towards them. There was something else about that otherwise joyful room. Something else missing, and it didn't help matters that he knitted his eyebrows at it, either.

“I'm going to sit with Alex for a second,” Lars told her.

“Where is he?”

“Right over there.” She followed his point to the door on the other side of the room, and Alex had taken his seat outside on the step. All she could see was that thick blanket of jet black curls at the back of his head: some of them sprawled down his shoulders and his upper back. He had moved the yarmulke more on top of his head but it still stood strong and high like a crown.

“Just going to check on him, you know?” She nodded her head and Lars stood to his feet with his free hand on his stomach. He strode across the floor and slipped his plate into the trash can next to the wall. He then stood next to Alex, who then lifted his head and gazed up at him. Lars said something, but Chuck and Zelda bickering about something drowned him out. Alex nodded his head and Lars took a seat next to him on the step.

Sam peered behind her to another door. Perhaps it was from merely all the food she had eaten, but that room felt so much warmer than when they first arrived there. She slid out of the chair with her empty plate in her left hand. She adjusted the band of her dress slacks and she walked out through the other door, to the clear and crisp afternoon that awaited her. The sun hung high in the school still, despite it being fall. The air was so fresh and the sky was so blue. For a split second, she missed California right there, but she knew her life was back in New York City. She stuck the plate in another trash can next to the door and, careful not to upset her stomach, she walked at a slow pace around the side of the building.

She caught the sound of Lars' laughter on the other side, near those evergreen trees. Alex's big striking voice followed. She rounded the corner and there the two of them were on the step, with the sunshine on their heads.

“Not really how I wanted to celebrate my eighteenth birthday,” Alex was confessing, and he gave Lars a shrug of his slender shoulders. Those loose tendrils near the base of his head brushed against his shirt. He turned his head into her direction and the cold sun shone upon the side of his face: it accentuated his aquiline nose and the round soft shape of his face. Sam thought about one of the dreams she had had about the mysterious man with the streak in his hair, the one with the plane crash and the fire. Maybe it was the way in which his face was shaped, how he looked a little rounder from the last time she saw him over Christmas, but she couldn't help but think of that man.

Those deep eyes wandered into her direction. Deep and cold. Lars followed his gaze in her direction and he grinned at her.

“Samantha!” he called to her with his arm extended out for her, and Alex raised his eyebrows.

“Samantha?”

“Yeah. Cliff's girlfriend.”

Alex hesitated, and then his face lit up.

“Oh, Samantha!” He wagged his finger at that. “I remember now. I made that thing for you by Cliff's request!”

She fetched up a sigh and she ambled closer to them with her arms behind her back; she lingered right next to Lars. He adjusted the yarmulke on the crown of his head. She swore she had seen him a few times in New York City, off in the background, and he seemed like such a shadow to her all the while. But here he sat before her, wrapped in that little black velvet jacket, and with that little yarmulke upon his head as well. He looked as though he needed to attend a bar mitzvah rather than a funeral.

“How do you like that, by the way?” he asked her, and she never realized how soft spoken he was until he spoke to her up close and personal like that.

“I love it to death,” she told him as the tears welled up again. “I put it in a safe place so the graphite doesn't fade away.”

“That's good.” And she brushed a tear away from her eye. Lars caressed her hand and Alex showed her a small smile but it also looked like he wasn't smiling at all. He took the yarmulke off of his head and he shook it about: the little sliver of gray over his forehead shone in the hazy sunlight so it actually resembled to a little pearl. She was so close to that little sliver, such that she couldn't stop looking at it. Lars turned his head in his direction.

“So you were talking to Greg a little bit ago?” he asked Alex. “You guys' Greg?”

“Oh, yeah—I was talking to him and he told me he might audition for Cliff's position.”

“Hope he can get it,” Sam blurted out. “I think he'd kick ass with that position.”

“Yeah, but also understand we'd need a new bassist if he got the part, though,” Alex pointed out with a blank expression on his face.

“He can pull double duties, though,” Lars quipped. “Ronnie James Dio did it. I can envision Greg putting his horns down and going crazy with it.”

“You're just saying that 'cause I do that,” Alex scoffed.

“You're quite the worker bee, Alex,” Lars assured him, and he shrugged in response to that. Sam frowned at his body language. “You are, though!”

“I got out of school by the skin of my teeth, though,” he declared.

“Hey, at least you graduated. I practically dropped out to become a tennis player.”

“Yeah, and I had to take a break for a little bit afterwards,” Sam joined in. Alex stared up at her: those deep eyes swallowed her whole. He seemed so much colder than she had imagined, and so much more distant in comparison to when Cliff got that rice paper from him over Christmas. She figured it was because Cliff himself was gone.

“I still wanna be the best, though,” he told them in a low voice. “I knew from the very second I picked up a guitar when I was eight years old that it was for me. My brother told me to run with it once I got out of school.”

“Playing since you were eight?” Sam was stunned by that.

“Yeah, but my parents were rather reticent towards it, though. My parents are older than that of my friends so—they don't really understand it.”

He never smiled once, such that it made her squirm in that spot next to Lars. She knew it wasn't from the loss; as cool as a cucumber and those deep eyes seemed to stare right into her foggy mind.

“Complete diametric opposite of Cliff's parents,” Lars remarked, and the sound of Cliff's name made the tears well up again.

“Hey, little man!” James called from inside the reception hall, and Alex scoffed at the sound of that. But he turned around and clutched onto the yarmulke as if it was about to get away from him. Sam leaned forward for a look at Kirk and the slice of birthday cake cradled in his hands. Zetro stood next to him with a lighter in hand.

“Oh,” he breathed out with a raise of his eyebrows.

“I see a candle,” Lars told him; Zetro left a tiny flicker of a flame on the little blue candle on top of the layer of white frosting.

“I do, too—happy birthday,” Sam said with a sniffle.

“Thank you.” Alex showed her another small smile. Those deep eyes resembled to the sliver of ocean near there. He was cold, much colder than what she remembered from that show over Christmas break. Maybe it was his being so young and already having a band around him that made him mature with such haste, but the whole feeling made her grimace a bit, especially when he doubled back into the building for the cake. Kirk gazed on at her and gestured to the cake, and she shook her head. He pouted and cocked his head to the side as if she upset him.

“Maybe later,” she mouthed to him as she patted her stomach, and he nodded at that.

“Me, too,” said Lars, “so unlike me, though. I’m like you, I like to eat.” And she watched them all congregate around Alex, the birthday boy, like one big family. Cliff had omitted so much from her. Maybe he really was that out of touch with the rest of them, more so than he had originally told her. And she knew from that point on out that Zelda was right. They needed to act in order to be a bigger part of the whole community.

He would have wanted her to move on. In the brief pocket of time in which they knew each other, she knew that he would have wanted her to. And if it meant she had to be more forth going like with Kirk there, then she would do it for him. She would do it for him in her words, and her art as well.

3 notes · View notes

coffee-n-bagels-comic-universe · 3 years

Text

Out of Action or Lessons to be Learnt

Quick Tag List: @kuruumiya @spacelizardtrashboys @stupidbluegirl @enigmaticandunstable @nattinngrst

This Passage Contains Potentially: swearing, violence, blood, angst, whump, fluff and smutty content. Chapter-specific warning: This chapter contains mention of pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness, and food cravings as well as mood swings

Summary: Kirby tries to survive the new developments in her life, Rod becoming slightly overprotective doesn't really help much.

Kirby's POV:

After the show on Sunday (24th June) Roddy decided to invite Orton and Schultz out to dinner with us.

"So you got your woman pregnant?"

"Yes, David. Why'd you ask?" I answered for Roddy

"When's it due?"

"Well, Schultzy," I had to do some calculations in my head, "Around the end of next Feb."

"So, Rod, Kirby, y'all got any ideas for names yet?" Orton quizzed

"I ain't got no names, you got any names, Kirbs?"

"I like the name 'Casey' it's a good, neutral name, y'know."

"Your woman's a quicker thinker than you, boy."

"Yeah, Rod, ya married a feisty one."

"As Kirby'll tell ya lads, it's a marriage of equals."

We finished our meals, paid and left, heading to the next show. Tuesday, Twenty-Sixth, Providence, Rhode Island. Then the next show, Wednesday, Twenty-Seventh, Columbus, Ohio. After the Wednesday show Rod and myself spent some time with Orndorff and Orton. Then the next show, Thursday, Twenty-Eighth, Rod was meant to do a show in Dayton, Ohio, without me but he no-showed.

"Rod, McMahon called, something about a show in Dayton?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell them I was looking after you."

"Roddy, I'm fine, you should've done the show."

"Kirbs, I care more about making sure ya alright than doing every show, I need to know that you're okay."

"Roderick. Would you listen to me?!"

"Kirby, don't you go telling me what to do!"

Rod had gotten right up into my face, soon he seemed to notice the tears welling up in my eyes.

"Kirby, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Woah, Rod. Rod, it's alright, you're okay, Hon. Roddy, come here."

I pulled him into my arms, feeling him gently caress my stomach.

"Kirbs, d'ya think I'll make a good father?"

"Of course you'll make a good father, Rod."

The following day, the moment I woke up I had to rush to the bathroom and throw up, Rod rushed in after me, checking that I was alright and helping me clean myself off. We had to attend a show in Elizabeth, New Jersey the next day. The next show after that was Tuesday, the Second of July, Glen Falls, New York, after the show Rod asked me to come with him to a local bar to meet an 'old friend' of his, or in other words, Rod was asking me to keep him calm.

"Kirby, this is Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine. Greg, my beautiful wife, Kirby Piper."

"You're the gal I keep hearing about from people."

"Well, that depends on what you've heard."

"I heard that you were, or are, pregnant."

"That's true," Orton butted in, "Rod and I got told that on TV."

"Yeah, Piper's Pit, last month. I'm glad you found yourself a person who makes you happy, Rod."

"I, uh, I watched the matches you two had in Eighty-three."

"What did you think of them?"

"They're good, excellent even, though, the dog collar match. I can't watch that ever again."

"Why not?"

"Cause I worry about you, every time I watch it, Roddy."

The next show was Thursday, the fifth, in Hazelton, Pennsylvania. Jimmy Snuka and Roddy. I accompanied Rod to ringside, grabbing a seat at ringside. I had to run to the back about five minutes into the match. Rod rushed to the back after me, I could hear him getting counted out.

"Kirbs, Kirby, are you alright?"

"Rod, Rod, c'mere you idiot."

"Ya tired, Honey?"

I placed my forehead in the crook of his neck, "I'm exhausted right now."

"C'mon, I'll take ya back to the hotel and let ya rest."

Rod drove us back to the hotel and Orndorff stopped by with a new guy.

"Hi Paul."

"Hey, Kirbs, are you alright?"

"I'm better than earlier."

"She was non-stop apologising to me on the way here. Adrian, this is my wonderful wife, Kirby."

"Hi, you're, uhm, Dick Murdoch's tag partner?"

"Yeah, Adrian Adonis, nice to meet ya."

"Kirby Piper, pleasure to meet you too, Adrian. Rod?"

"Yes honey?"

"Can I slap Snuka?"

Rod let out a chuckle, "If you want to, hon. It would make my day."

Orndorff and Adonis shared a knowing look before Paul spoke up.

"Why do you two want to attack Snuka?"

"Because he's a dickhead." I stated flatly before covering my mouth in shock, "I didn't mean to say that."

"Why not, you're right. If he hurts or threatens you, he's dead meat, honey."

"Rod, don't. You can't be in your children's life if you're locked away in prison."

"Children, plural?"

"We all know that this child ain't gonna be the last." Adrian added

"True. Thank you Adrian."

"So, what was your reaction to the pregnancy, Kirby?"

"Uhm, well, if I'm honest with you, Adrian, at first I couldn't believe it. I think my first words were 'oh no'."

"Your first reaction was 'Oh no'?" Rod stated, sounding slightly hurt

"Rod, I wrestle for a living. Pregnancy lasts between eight and ten months. That means I'm out for a long while."

"Alright. Alright."

"I love you, Roddy."

After Orndorff and Adonis left Rod changed his focus back to me.

"C'mere you," He pulled me towards him, chest to chest, before kissing me roughly and backing me towards the bed, "You sexy goliath."

"You are such a hot head, Roderick."

"You married me though, didn't ya." He hoisted my leg, pressing his groin into mine.

"As if I'd turn you down, my love."

On Saturday (the seventh) I was at ringside, watching Roddy lose by DQ, the moment Rod left the ring he walked over to me, pulling me to my feet only to dip me into a kiss.

After the show we went back to the hotel with Valentine, Adonis and Orndorff.

Me and Paul were in the hotel room just chatting away when we heard a crash from the hallway, followed by several smaller crashes and then a banging at the door.

Greg threw the door open and Paul helped get Adrian and Roddy inside.

"What the fuck happened?"

The room went silent and Greg went to get help as me and Paul watched over Adrian and Roddy.

"Roddy."

No response. I took my shirt off (a plain white T-shirt, which would not be white for much longer) and used it to try and stem the bleeding from the cut on his outer thigh.

"Rod."

He groaned in a pained response

"Roderick, talk to me."

We spent the night in the hospital, Rod needed stitches to the wound on his thigh and Adrian needed stitches to the wound on his right pectoral, Adrian would be in the hospital for two days at the least and both would be back in action by Friday.

Jesse came to visit and Rod introduced him to me and vice versa, introducing me as 'My beloved wife, the mother of my unborn child and the woman who saved my life, twice.'

While Rod slept off the pain in his leg, Jesse raised some questions to me.

"Did you see him get hurt?"

"No, Jesse, I saw the injury after Valentine dropped him on the bed."

"How long have you two been together?"

"We've known each other since January, Schultz introduced us. We started dating each other at the end of January, from the twentieth. Got married on the first of June, not too long after that, he got me pregnant."

"This is the, second, time."

"Second time for what?"

"Roddy being injured."

"Yeah, same leg too."

"Some fans are fucking insane."

"I'm just glad they haven't gone after me, Rod would lose his mind if anything happened to me, or the baby."

"You should hear him in the locker room."

"He's always talking about me?"

"Always, usually to Adonis. Those two are usually stuck to each other by the hip. If he's not with Adonis, he's with Orton, or Schultz, or Orndorff, or Valentine, or even me."

"He constantly talks about me?"

"Either you, or more recently, the baby."

"He's the kindest, most respectful man, I've ever met, Jesse."

"Thank you, baby." Rod mumbled out.

"Roddy," I jumped slightly, rushing from Jesse's side to sit next to Rod on the hospital bed, "Are you alright, my love."

"C'mere," Rod pulled me in, lazily and sloppily kissing me on the lips.

"I, uh, I got you guys this," Jesse handed Roddy a book, "I know it's early, but you can never be too prepared y'know."

After Roddy was released from the hospital, we decided to spend the night alone.

"Roddy, I, good God I don't want this to come off as if I'm scared. Rod, I don't want to let you out of my sight."

"Kirbs, come here," He pulled me into a hug, "If I never let you outta my sight, then ya never have to let me out of your sight."

We slept and I got up earlier than Rod, I did my morning routine before deciding to flick through the parenting book that Jesse gave us.

Around half an hour later I finished going through the book and heard Rod yawn and the hotel bed creak under his weight.

"Morning."

"What a beautiful sight to wake up to."

"Roderick, you charmer. How's the leg, my love?"

"Slowly getting better. Kirbs?"

"Uh huh?"

"Damien said that, your Da, called him, as in Damien. We need to go to our place and pick some stuff up that your Mam and Da sent over."

"If we leave after you get dressed, we can get home, spend Tuesday and Wednesday there and then drive to the show on Thursday so we can be there for Friday."

"I love how your brain works."

"I love you too, Rod."

By the time we got back to the house it had actually taken us around a day and a half, we reached the house, got what mail had accumulated and left for the show in Chicago, getting to a hotel on Thursday night.

I had separated the mail into four stacks, bills, family mail, fan letters, and unsorted as of yet.

"Bills, fan letter, fan letter, somethin' from my family, fan letter, fan letter, family mail, bill."

"Kirbs?"

"Cannae talk right now, Rod. Family mail, fan letter, fan letter, fan letter, family mail."

"Kirby?"

"Cannae talk right now, Roddy. Bill, Bill, fan letter, bill, family mail, fan letter, fan letter."

"Kirby, my love, Kirby?"

"I Can nae talk right now Roderick. Fan letter, Fa-"

Rod cut me off by grabbing my face and kissing me roughly.

"Kirby, you can go through that later, right now, ya need ta sleep, baby."

While Rod was doing the show, I stayed at the hotel, and went through all the mail. I ended up going to a local supermarket and an ATM in order to pay the bills, sending money off to each company and opening my fan letters, many of which were actually hate mail, ignoring the hatred of both me and my husband, I opened some of the mail my family had sent, most of which were small boxes of my things or wedding presents.

Rod walked in with Jesse and Adrian close behind him.

"Oh, there's ma beautiful wife."

"Did ya win, love?"

"Double disqualification."

"Oh, Hon."

"No, it's fine. What's in the mail babe?"

"I've dealt with the bills, uhm, wedding gifts from my family, some of my old stuff from my younger years. I've put most of it in the back of the D200. I haven't opened your fan mail."

"Kirby?"

"Yes, Adrian."

"How's the baby?"

"The baby's fine. How are you guys doing?"

"We're good, Kirbs" Jesse stated, rather matter-of-factly.

We spent around an hour hanging out with Jesse and Adrian before Jesse departed, Adrian stayed with me while Rod went out to get the boys some beer.

"So, Roddy's good to you?"

"Yeah, He's the best man I've ever had in my life. He's not possessive, he's rather protective, especially when he's jealous, he tries his hardest to make sure I'm happy and the baby's okay."

"You know, he's my best friend, right?"

"I suspected that you two were close after seeing you guys stick around each other at a couple shows."

The door swung open and Rod placed an ice cold beer against Adrian's neck.

"Hey, hey. stop that man."

"Boys, don't fight, especially when there's a pregnant woman nearby."

"I'm sorry baby, c'mere."

Rod put the rest of the six pack on the floor and walked over to me, kissing me gently on the forehead and then on the lips, several times, getting needier every time and deepening the kiss, backing me up until he could straddle my lap before realising what he was doing.

"Sorry about that, Adrian. I got a bit carried away. She is the most attractive woman I've ever met."

"Nah, don't worry about it, you two are married. You should show that you love each other, you've got a kid on the way and before ya know it, you'll be parents. Ya kids have gotta know that ya love each other, and that love is meant to be shown, ya know."

END OF OUT OF ACTION or LESSONS TO BE LEARNT

#wrestling fic #Lucifarians

2 notes · View notes

ms-maj · 4 years

Text

Jug’s Last Day

I know you guys were really jonesing for another songfic ;)

All of the gratitude to @bettycooper for her amaze beta and graphics skills. Cat, as always, thank you for turning my alphabet soup into a lovely word salad. You the best!

And to Sarah, @theheavycrown, thank you for your support and friendship and believing in my words even when I don’t <3

Oh when you left home and moved to Ohio

The summer had come to an end

My best friend goes I try to follow

Running as you disappear

Stay, you know how bad this hurts

It’s been three weeks and just gets worse

Come back to PA

Forever this time

Greg’s Last Day- The Starting Line

May 24

“So do you know when you’re leaving yet?” Archie asked quietly, trying not to draw the eye of their friends wading down the bank of the river.

Jughead shrugged, eyes cast down, kicking at the pebbled ground with the worn toe of his boot. “Not until August, I don’t think. Before school starts for sure. I think I get the summer at least.”

“Did you tell her?”

He stopped and sighed, head shaking no.

“Neither part I take?”

Jughead finally met his best friend’s eyes. What was sadness a moment ago is now abject horror. “Why would I do that to her? To me? I’m only going to be around for another two months, max—”

“Okay, okay!” Archie held up his hands defensively, dropping them when he noticed his friend’s attention had once again been captured by the meandering bank of Sweetwater River and the blonde ponytail that traced its path. He stepped forward to nudge Jughead’s shoulder with his own. “Then don’t tell her that thing, but you have to tell her that you’re leaving, Jug.”

“I know, Arch, I know.”

June 10

“How are we already seniors in high school, Jug?” Betty sat cross-legged on the cot in the back of the projection booth.

Jughead grunted in response, the bulk of his attention on the finicky machine in front of him.

“Maybe I’ll finally get a real date to homecoming this year, since Kevn has a boyfriend and all.”

His hands stilled on the projector. At thoughts of Betty in dresses of satin and lace, across every color of the spectrum, hair curled in soft waves over her shoulders, spinning out of his arms and onto the dance floor a smile crept to his lips. He could almost feel the warmth of her hand in his, hear the soft lilt of her voice when she says—

“Juggie?” He’s snapped back to reality, the dream sequence bursting appropriately above her head as he turned to meet her questioning gaze, the dawning realization that all of those things will come to pass whether he’s in the picture or not sinks like hot lead in his stomach.

“Sorry, this thing’s a piece of shit. Always takes a while to get going. If you want, you can go find Kevin and Archie. I know a bunch of other kids from school are here, too, so you don’t have to sit here and watch me fight the projector,” he swallowed the bile down with the lie. The projector was old but well-cared for, and in all the years of the Twilight’s operation it had never failed.

“Oh,” her voice was hushed, almost disappointed. “I thought we…”

The pounding of his heart echoed in his ears as their eyes held over the projector. “It’s just not going to be much fun watching me try to keep this thing running.”

It was dark in the booth save for the light emanating from the machine which gave off just enough to see the tears welling in her eyes. “Sure, whatever you say Jug.”

She was gone before the last of the breath he was holding escaped.

(read below or check it out here)

July 7

The lights were hung from the trees in her backyard, encircling them and twinkling in the humid July night. It was Betty’s seventeenth birthday and yellow frosted cake sat too brightly between the various healthy snacks that seemed terribly out of place at a teenager’s party.

“You look really pretty,” he managed as his hands sat awkwardly on her waist. The pink fabric of her dress was slick yet stuck under the dampness of his fingers.

She smiled. “Thanks, Juggie. I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He felt the furrow of his brow, his fingers tightening against satin.

“Oh,” she flicked the hair off her shoulder, eyes cautiously glancing back to meet his. “It’s just that you’ve been really busy. I haven’t seen you much.”

Her voice was soft. Even through the music and raucous laughter of their peers, it was lyrical and light and maybe just a little bit sad. Jughead tightened his grip on her sides in a poor attempt to tamp down the ever growing desire to run his hands across the entirety of her body.

“Work,” he said, probably more terse than he meant, but it was a lie he was trying to sell. “Between the Twilight and taking shifts at Pop’s...it’s been a busy summer.”

Betty nodded. “No, I know that. It’s just…” Her head shook softly as her most tried and true generic Cooper smile faltered. “I was hoping to see more of you before we got bogged down by school.”

Jughead could swear he smiled, but the look reflected back at him conveyed he did not. He could feel the sweat forming under the betraying rim of his beanie, a lock of escaped hair sticking to his brow. Her arm rose from his shoulder, and while he missed the sensation, the one that replaced it made him shiver. Her soft, slender fingers found their way to the unruly curl, sliding under it and wrapping it around them before gently brushing it from his forehead and back under his beanie.

“Betts,” he swallowed thickly, her hand still lingering on the side of his head.

“Hey, Mr. Jones!”

Jughead felt the air leave his body as he turned toward the gate to see Mr. Andrews and his father talking.

“Are you here for Jug? I can’t believe you guys are leaving already!” Archie called out from behind them.

“Leaving? Where are you going, Jug?” Her hand fell from his face and landed awkwardly on his shoulder.

There was no way around it now. Not when she should have known since the beginning. Not when she was looking up at him more confused than he’d ever seen her. “Um, do you think we could go somewhere and talk?”

He was so fixated on the wrinkle between Betty’s eyebrows, the way her face scrunched up when she was deep in thought, that he didn’t see the movement to his left. Didn’t know his father had made his way through the crowd to clap him on the back and proclaim to the entirety of their classmates: “Truck’s all packed. Just a good night’s sleep is all that’s separating us Jones men from the Buckeye State.”

“Buckeye?” Betty echoed absently, her arms dropping from around his neck. “Jughead?”

He swallowed, opening his mouth to speak and promptly shut it when no words came out. The dawning realization stole over her face, confusion melting away to hurt. Shaking her head, she turned out of his arms, her hands in fists at her sides, before she ran from the yard altogether.

“Fuck!” Fingers pinched at the bridge of his nose while the other hand balled up at his side.

“I’ll let that one go, boy. Looks like you have bigger fish to fry,” FP squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, gaze softening as he walked back toward Fred.

“Bro, how did you not tell her?” Archie’s voice sounded distant in his ears even though he was standing right next to him.

“Because I’m a fucking idiot, Arch,” he slipped the beanie off his head and grabbed a fistful of hair.

“You know what you have to do, right?”

He looked up at his best friend, who looked far more sympathetic than Jughead deserved. “I know, I know. But where do I even start?”

Archie clapped him on the shoulder and nodded encouragingly. “You know exactly what you have to do, man. And now you have to tell her the other thing too. Good luck. She’s got a mean left hook.”

There was another reassuring squeeze of his shoulder before Archie ran back into the crowd. Jughead sighed, replaced the worn beanie on his head, and took off for the one place he was sure Betty would be.

Except she wasn’t.

Not at the river. Not at Pop’s. Not in Archie’s old, dilapidated tree house nor at Picken’s Park. He stalked through the streets berating himself, kicking at the pavement and scuffing the dangerously thin soles of his shoes.

Archie said she hadn’t made it back to the house yet, which meant his search wasn’t completely wasted, but the longer he walked with no sightings, the harder it was to accept she wanted to be found. Not that he’d stop looking. There were too many things left unsaid and too much history between them to let it all fall to the wayside, because he’d been an idiot.

He wished it was cooler. Sweat beaded on his brow, so much so he resorted to using his beanie as a rag, shoving the damp wool into his back pocket instead of back on his head. Between the stagnant midsummer night air and the way his anxiety seemed to simmer just under his skin, he felt fully aflame.

If only he had…

There were so many things he could have done, or said, so many missed opportunities and moments left to chance. He played every interaction he and Betty had since school let out, since he knew he was leaving and understands—knows implicitly—he is the only one at fault for his current predicament.

And yet he wants to lash out at everyone. At Archie for spilling his admittedly stupid secret, at his dad for insisting they leave right after Betty’s party, at Betty for looking so sad and hurt when he knew that she’d miss him for maybe a minute. Tops.

“That’s not true, and you know it,” her voice came from behind him, louder and sharper than usual. He slowly turned to find her sitting on a bench, the harsh light from the streetlamp cascading down on her.

“I didn’t think I said that out loud,” he started toward her, halting when she held up her hand. It dropped to her lap after a moment, joining the fingers of her other hand clutching at the fabric of her dress. “Betts…”

“Do you really believe that, Jug? Has our friendship meant that little to you, or are you just trying to make yourself feel better for being a dick?” He saw the tear roll down her cheek, the attempt to leave it unacknowledged, and then, the hasty removal of it from her face. “You know, honestly, at this point I don’t know if I care,” her sniffle carried across the space, somehow not drowned out by the restless cicadas or the pounding of his heart.

“No! No,of course not, Betty. I know you would miss me for at least five whole minutes,” he deadpanned. However, it seemed Betty was not in the mood for his misguided attempt to deflect. The roll of her eyes and the sharp set of her jaw had him reaching for his sweat-soaked beanie, retrieving it from his back pocket and pulling at it aggressively as he tried to cover his hair. “Can I try this again?”

He was answered by a curt nod as Betty looked away from him once again.

“My dad is about a hairsbreadth away from both falling off the wagon and back into the inglorious cesspool of gang life. As a last ditch attempt in not destroying everything, he and my mother came to some sort of arrangement if we moved to Toledo.”

Betty’s mouth opened slightly before snapping back shut, the juncture of her jaw throbbing against the soft curve of her cheek. Her eyes closed for a moment before she spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s not a conversation that I wanted to have with anyone, Betty. Least of all you,” his hand scratched at the back of his neck, eyes not daring to look up from the pavement.

“But you obviously told Archie, right? So why not me? Are we not…” she stopped and pressed the tips of her fingers against her lips. “I guess we’re just not as close as I thought.”

The hand dropped from Jughead’s neck as he stepped toward her. “You know that’s not true either.”

“So what was it then, Jughead! Tell me why you could confide in Archie but not me? Tell me why you pulled away when you already knew you’d be leaving?”

“Because I refused to have you look at me like that! Like some sad, lost cause with one foot in the grave and the other following exactly in dear ol’ dad’s footsteps.”

“What? Jughead,” she stood, quickly wrapping her arms around her torso, seemingly to stop herself from reaching for him, tears freely flowing down her cheeks. “You know, I don’t know what hurts worse. The knowledge that my best friend is moving. Tomorrow. Or that he thinks I think so little of him and our friendship I would (A) judge him for things completely out of his control, (B) not understand what it was like to deal with fucked up parents, or (C) think I wouldn’t be there for him.”

His arms stretched before him of their own volition, long fingers wrapping around her upper arms. “Betty,” he breathed, willing her eyes to meet his. “I know you wouldn’t have done any of those things. It wasn’t because of you that I didn’t tell you. I was embarrassed and ashamed and million other things that I have no explanation for at the moment.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t step out of his grasp. “I just don’t understand, Jug. What changed?”

“Nothing! And everything, I guess. It was supposed to be different. It was all supposed to be different this year. We were gonna get control of the Blue and Gold and fill out college applications at Pop’s over milkshakes and burgers and…”

Betty looked up at him, tears clinging to her lashes, vestiges of her party makeup smeared around her eyes. “And what, Jug?”

“And,” he swallowed, unable to help the thumb that had crept up to wipe the mascara away. “And I was finally going to work up the nerve to tell you how I feel.”

He could feel the laser focus of her eyes, the tension in her jaw, the thudding of her heart under his fingertips. “What?” Her voice came just above a whisper.

“To ask you to be my date to homecoming and winter formal and prom; to ask you to be mine.” Jughead’s hand slid from her arm to her waist, pulling her closer to him in the process.

“That’s not fair,” she trembled beneath his fingers, chin wobbling and shiny eyed.

“Betts,” his thumb dipped to her chin, angling her face up to his, “this wasn’t how I wanted to tell you.”

“Which part? The part where you have feelings for me or the part where you’re leaving tomorrow? Because right now, both of those things hurt the same.”

“I know. I know, and there’s nothing I can do to change how it came out but,” he could feel the air sucking into her lungs they were that close. “I can only say I’m sorry for one of those things, Betty, because as awkward or poorly timed as this is, it’s led to this. You and me. In this moment.”

Her eyes were wide “You have no idea, do you? How long I waited for this, how badly I wanted this.”

“I’m still right here, Betty.”

“Yeah, but for what? A few more hours?” Her hands grasped at the fabric of his shirt. Stretched out on tip-toe, her lips landed gently on his cheek. “All I wanted tonight was to finally be brave enough to kiss you. I never imagined our first kiss could be a goodbye, and honestly, I just don’t think I can do that to myself.”

She slid out of his arms, his fingers flexing on her skin. Words to keep her there flew through his brain—screamed through his veins—and yet he simply let her fall away. His fingers traced where her lips burned his cheek and wondered if he would have survived the phantom feeling if she’d kissed his lips. The sight before him nearly choked him. His mind latched on to the creases in her dress, the patterns of mascara on her tear-stained cheeks, her jasmine perfume that hovered around them and stuck to him long after he finally moved from the spot.

July 8

Jughead woke before the dawn. Never much of a sleeper, he found it exceedingly difficult when the image of her turning away from him played over and over in his mind. The ancient hot water tank couldn’t produce a stream scalding enough to burn it from his mind either. He stewed in his own thoughts, typing out and subsequently deleting about a hundred different messages to his blonde haired best friend, but couldn’t find it in him to send a single one.

No platitudes seemed enough, and what good would it serve? Maybe it would be easier to be in Toledo if she hated him or if he thought she did. He threw his head back on the couch (the one they wouldn’t need in Toledo, where he’d have a real bed, in a room all his own) and tried to remember what the world was like before Betty Cooper looked at him like he was a leper.

His downward spiral didn’t get to progress too far before the sound of an approaching car snapped him back to reality. He peeked out the bare window, the sight before him bringing a smile to his face.

“So this is really it,” Archie sniffed, standing beside him, a cup of half drank Pop’s coffee between his palms.

Jughead nodded, taking a slow sip of his own coffee, trying not to choke on the words and feelings that seemed to lodge in his throat. “Thanks for the pick me up and the donuts. Those might make it to the state line.”

Laughing, Archie knocked his shoulder into Jughead’s. “I’m gonna miss you, man.”

“I’m gonna miss you too, Arch.” The cup stilled at his lips again. “Have you, um, talked to Betty at all?”

“Oh, I almost forgot!” He ran over to his dad’s truck and reached through the open window, producing a large tupperware from inside. “She didn’t say much; she didn’t have to. She looks about as good as you do.”

Jughead chuckled morosely as he took the proffered container. Perched on top, folded as neatly as could be and inscribed with her exacting script was a note addressed to him. He sucked in a breath, shakily peeling it off and tucking it into his pocket before prying open a corner and seeing a rather large chunk of her birthday cake inside.

“She knows me too well,” he set it down on the hood of his dad’s truck, shaking his head. “I really fucked up this time.”

Archie grinned.

“What? That makes you happy?”

He rolled his eyes. “No, it does not make me happy. None of this is exactly happy, Jug. But the fact that for once in our lives the ire of Betty Cooper is directed, in its entirety, at you is not something that is lost on me. Now, let me bask in this short-lived glory, because I’m going to be the shoulder she cries on when all of this sinks in.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” he swallowed down the last sip of bitter coffee with the bile that started to rise. “Just tell her…”

“She knows.”

He nods, somber, letting the words and feeling sink in. Coffee finished and goodbyes thoroughly dispensed, the Andrews men departed Sunnyside and left the Joneses to start their new lives.

“You ready for this, son?” His father asked as they slid into the truck. Even though the sun was barely up, FP seemed energized; happy. He smiled despite himself.

“As I’ll ever be.”

“A new chapter for us, boy. Hell, a new story all together! I know it doesn’t seem like it right now but, it’ll get better, I promise.”

His father’s hand rested on his shoulder for a moment before making its way back to the wheel. Jughead sighed, head hitting the window with a dull thud. “Yeah, well, it can’t get any worse.”

As the truck pulled away from the trailer park, and he watched as Riverdale shrank behind them in the mirror, he wondered if the note in his pocket would ever stop burning or if the ache in his chest would ever cease.

#bughead #bughead fanfic #songfic writing challenge #there's some pining #and some angst #but appropriate levels of teenage angst #just a little summertime sadness #with a not so happy ending

94 notes · View notes

spaceskam · 4 years

Text

as pure as a prayer

day 5 of @malexweek : “Do you regret it?” in the same universe as Him. warning: anxiety, depression

ao3

“I hate to be mean, but you need to leave.”

All eyes turned to Michael in different shades of annoyance, but he stood his ground. He’d been very nice lately considering the situation. They were sort of stuck in a bad place and both Greg and Alex had put themselves out in order to protect Michael and his siblings from bad things, but Michael’s first priority was Alex. And Alex wasn’t happy.

It’d been two months since they left the town and they were still in a tiny, two bedroom apartment while they saved money to eventually find somewhere bigger and more secluded. Greg and Alex were working as farm hands and left early every day, spending their whole day dealing with things only to come home and be stuffed in a small ass area. Michael could feel the tension in Alex’s body building more and more every day and he’d heard him cry himself to sleep more than once and he had often shifted just so Alex could have some semblance of alone time so he could stop feeling so overwhelmed all the time.

But it wasn’t working. He needed to be alone or he was going to bust.

“Where exactly are we supposed to go?” Isobel asked. Michael shrugged.

“Anywhere. Just for a few hours at least,” he said. He knew Alex would much prefer longer, but they couldn’t be too picky. “And I think we should maybe shift and stay in the woods for a few weeks.”

“Wait, hold on a minute,” Max said at the idea.

“Michael, we can’t just change our lifestyle completely because your boyfriend has problems,” Isobel told him and Max shared the same expression. Michael didn’t understand what the issue was. Of all humans in the world to change their lifestyle for, Alex was the easiest. Maybe they hadn’t noticed how nice he was. But how had they missed that?

“Please?” Michael said, “Alex moved himself to keep us safe and he’s unhappy.”

“Guys, let’s just go find some place to eat and then we can drive around for a little while,” Greg said, standing up reluctantly. He gave Michael that stern look that never quite made sense to him, but he let him anyway. “Tell Alex he can’t kick us out all the time, so he does need to get used to us. But alright.”

Michael didn’t say that Alex certainly did not need to get used to them, but he didn’t say anything. Alex didn’t need to change at all. Not one bit.

He waited impatiently as they all slowly left and he watched off the balcony to make sure they left before he went back to the room he shared with Alex. It was tiny and they had to leave to even go to the bathroom and it meant that, even on his days off, Alex couldn’t just lock himself inside forever.

He was all curled up on the air mattress, a pillow over his head as he pressed himself against the wall. He had things in his ears to block out all the sound, but he said they didn’t work well. He could still hear and feel everyone talking and walking and existing in ways that drove him insane. It made Michael feel guilty.

He gently touched his leg.

“What do you want?” Alex asked, pulling the pillow away. His hair hung loose and unruly everywhere which seemed like another reason to be sad. That, however, didn’t hold a candle to his bloodshot eyes and damp cheeks.

“I got everyone to leave for a few hours, it’ll be quiet,” Michael said softly, “I’m gonna shift and sit out on the balcony so you have the place to yourself.”

Alex stared at him for a moment before nodding his head and laying back in bed. Michael went into the living room before shifting and then walking out onto the balcony where he laid down to get comfortable.

Michael didn’t mind giving Alex space, not at all. Sure, he liked being with him, but it was hard to enjoy that when he wasn’t. And he wasn’t. He was just sad and angry all the time and would shut down. It led to them never touching despite sleeping in the same bed and hardly talking despite sharing the same space. He knew he wasn’t doing it on purpose and he wasn’t trying to be mean or distant. But he was miserable, so the least Michael could do was give him space.

Alex was doing a lot for him by choosing this life instead of where he was comfortable to keep him safe, so Michael could extend the favor until they could get a place in the woods.

An hour passed before he heard footsteps and Michael peeked an eye open to see Alex quietly wandering the empty space. He walked quieter most of the time now, like he was scared of irritating people in the same way they irritated him. Most sounds irritated him now, actually. He got irrationally mad when the oven beeped and Michael had seen him start crying over not being able to stop hearing the sound of the washing machine. It was scary and Michael didn’t quite get it. Greg had pulled him aside and told him it was overstimulation and it happened to Alex a lot when he didn’t get time to debrief; it was why he was so violent as a kid. It was hard to imagine Alex as anything other than extremely kind.

However, it really seemed to put into perspective why Alex had lived in the woods. It seemed those moments that Michael felt when humans treated him so badly was how Alex felt always. Isobel always said it was Alex’s problem. To Michael, though, it seemed like everyone’s problem. Wasn’t that how family worked?

Tonight, Alex pulled a bag of snap peas out of the refrigerator and curled up on the sofa. Michael tried not to watch him, tried to keep his attention to himself so he wouldn’t disrupt him. But, truthfully, it was a little hard. Alex was always so hard not to look at.

Once the sun had set completely, his footsteps got closer and Michael looked up to see Alex standing in the doorway. He’d tied a strip of fabric around his head to keep his hair out of his face and had taken his shirt off, his sweats hanging low on his tanned hips. He crouched down and pet the top of Michael’s head, scratching behind his ear before stroking the length of his back. Michael let his eyes close at the feeling. See? Not a violent bone in his body.

“Shift back?” Alex requested softly, “Greg texted me that he’ll be home in an hour and I want some alone time with you too since we never get that anymore.”

Michael nudged his nose against Alex’s knee in agreement and Alex gave him one final scratch before they both stood up and walked into the living room. While Alex’s back was turned to close the curtain, Michael shifted. He’d gotten quite good at doing it quickly, always only taking a little over a minute. He remembered when he was young, it took forever and it was painful. Now it was just a little bit of pain that he pushed through.

Once he was human again, he stretched and let his bones crack as they adjusted to the new form. Alex almost immediately came close and wrapped his arms around him. Michael held him right back and smiled at the feeling of being chest to chest with him again.

“I’m sorry you shift so much now, I know that’s gotta be a lot on your body,” Alex told him. Michael shook his head and kissed Alex’s bare shoulder.

“I’m alright,” he insisted, “Are you alright?”

Alex took a deep breath and shrugged, dragging his fingers over his spine. Michael immediately wondered if there was a way to give him space to be alone for a whole day. Maybe he could start looking for a cabin and figure out the rest later.

“Do you regret it?” Michael asked, “Leaving for me?”

Alex raised his head and looked at him. He was tired and his eyes were sad, but he really looked at him. Michael waited for whatever he had to say.

“No,” Alex told him, “Not for you. Anyone else? Yeah, maybe I regret that, but… not you.”

Michael nodded and dropped his forehead against Alex’s. They were in the middle of the living room and they could have this moment without watchful eyes on them or without Isobel making a comment or without Max coughing in order to make them stop. It was easy to get on board with getting a more private space.

Alex tilted his head up and pressed a kiss to his lips, one that Michael reciprocated easily. He missed kissing him and he was eager for it, but he kept himself in check to not push too much. Still, he found himself on his toes and trying to press in closer despite all of his mental checking. Alex smiled for the first time in awhile and broke the kiss, but didn’t pull away. His hand went up to cup the back of Michael’s head, keeping him close as he bumped their noses together. Michael smiled.

“Hi,” he breathed. Alex huffed a little laugh and it was the best sound Michael had ever heard.

“Hi,” Alex said back, pressing another kiss to his lips, “Come lay down with me?”

“Yes,” Michael agreed. Alex smiled softly and Michael felt like his brain was melting. He knew he wasn’t all better, that just a few hours wasn’t enough to prepare him for another week or longer of this, but it was enough that he was okay now.

Alex kept his hand on his hip as he tugged him back into the room they shared. Michael kicked the door closed and, for a moment, he let himself think about a fun future where they could leave the door open. He felt slightly robbed that he never got the chance to have Alex like this when it was just them. He never got the joys of taking him apart on the floor of the cabin, in his safe space. Alex was always so tense here and they never got the chance to just be.

But tonight they could.

Alex pulled him onto the bed and pressed in close. Michael could feel him trying to really put his all in this, trying to relax beforehand instead of using it as a relaxation technique. Michael dug the heel of his hand into the muscles of his back, his hip, his thighs, trying to work out all the tension. He didn’t think it was actually working, but it did something and Alex slowly relaxed in the wake of his hands on him.

Michael could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

#malex20 #malexweek20 #malex fic #malex #michael guerin #alex manes #roswell new mexico #my fic #him au

48 notes · View notes

suf-lives-rent-free · 3 years

Text

Fragments

Everything below is just my opinion; I am in no way trying to say that how I feel about this is the one correct take or whatever.

I know a lot of people like this episode and what happens in it, but I don’t. I totally understand that some people just don’t want to see any negativity, period, but negativity is not inherently bad or wrong.

Negative opinions, even about something you enjoy, can be valid too - regardless of whether you happen to agree with them or not.

Also I get very salty near the end of this, and that might be entertaining to people who stan this episode?

I am aware that a lot of people – the majority, I’m pretty sure – think that the episode is a masterpiece. And on some level, I see where they’re coming from with that assessment.

The episode is boarded beautifully, the backgrounds – especially during the training montage – are stunning as always. The music is fantastic, and the performances are great too. In these respects, Fragments is a stand-out episode; I agree.

(Like look at this. Gorgeous.)

However, something that’s bothered me since I saw the episode is the writers’ decision to write it into the story that Steven shatters Jasper.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: I just don’t get it. I’m purposefully misinterpreting the story to say it’s bad. Steven brings her back to life; and it’s not like he meant to do it in the first place. I just don’t have the capacity to understand the sublime nature of the show’s storytelling. I’m an SU crit and all I want to do is make the real fans feel about themselves for liking it.

Uhhhh... no. Nah. That ain’t it chief.

It’s true; I am not a writer. I’m just a passive consumer of media. However, I do not agree with the viewpoint that in order to properly understand or critique a thing you need to have the expertise and/or experience in order to make something similar.

For example, if I were to put something I drew when I was 10 years old next to something I drew yesterday, it shouldn’t take a person who has had an education in fine art to tell you that the latter drawing is better-looking than the former.

That’s how I approach media consumption and criticism; when I criticise a writing decision, I am doing so as a consumer. I’m not saying I could write it better, or even that my opinion is objectively correct and the writer is wrong or bad. I’m just saying that I didn’t like a thing. Which, I would hope, is allowed?

Okay, defensive hedging over, back to the point; I don’t like that they had Steven shatter Jasper.

[I get markedly saltier from this point on, fyi]

Full admission of bias here: one of the things I really cherish about the original show is how they wrote Steven’s character; he’s a boy with interests that don’t rigidly conform to gender stereotypes. He likes ‘boyish’ things and ‘girly’ things, and that’s okay; thats just him. In cartoons when I was growing up, characters like Steven would be the butt of jokes about being ‘girly’ or thinly-veiled homophobia. I find him very relatable, and I want to acknowledge that yes, that is probably a significant part of why I have such an issue with this episode’s twist.

I am not trying to say that he’s a perfect baby angel or whatever; Steven regularly gets frustrated and angry. He does some pretty manipulative and dickish things to people around him (stop trying to make Larsadie happen, Steven. It’s not going to happen). He is a flawed character who fucks up sometimes. And he’s not 100% peaceful either; he acts violently when he defends himself against corrupted Gems and Homeworld Gems (and Crystal Gems on occasion *cough*Bismuth*cough*).

However, he has a pacifistic temperament; whenever it’s possible, he prefers that problems be solved without needless violence or hurt. And I like that; in most media, it’s rare to have a male protagonist who wants to solve their problems without jumping straight to punching things.

When he accidentally frees Centipeedle, he convinces the Gems to step off and allow him to try and rehabilitate her peacefully; he even notices that the Gems’ weapons are a trigger for her, and make them put them away. He frees Lapis against the Gems’ wishes because he recognizes that keeping her prisoner is wrong, and when she steals the ocean, he talks it out and heals her so she can leave Earth peacefully.

He tries to aid Jasper when she starts corrupting, fixes Eyeball’s gemstone when she’s cracked and tries talking Bismuth down when she attacks him with the breaking point. In all of these situations, his words and help are ignored or rejected; he’s forced to resort to violence. And it traumatises him.

We get an entire episode dedicated to the fact that he’s been struggling with processing these awful things that happened.

Even in Future, Steven shows hesitation about engaging in unncecessary violence; he gives into Jasper’s goading for a fight after what’s implied to be dozens of failed tries at making her come to Little Homeschool, and he spends an entire episode trying to keep Lapis from squashing the two rogue Lapis Lazulis.

The only time he hops into a fight willingly is after Eyeball and Aquamarine hold Greg hostage, and even then they pose a clear threat to his and Greg’s safety and have made it clear that they want to hurt him emotionally and physically. Even at that, he stops and switches tactics to talking them down as soon as they lose their focus and start bickering with each other.

(I mean, he fails. But it’s the thought that counts.)

I personally find it really jarring that the writers found it appropriate to write it into the series that this same character – over the course of three (3) days – goes from disliking mindless violence for mindless violence’s sake to happily engaging in the destruction of plants and animals* and has done a total 180 on his willingness to spar with Jasper, to the point that he instigates their rematch.

*(You best believe plenty of small mammals and birds – y’know, like the nest Steven saved in the first episode – died as he and Jasper felled tree after tree, not to mention all of those displaced by the destruction of their habitats, and the potential loss of food sources from some of those trees.)

You’re telling me that it’s a reasonable character beat for this boy to gleefully laugh like an anime supervillain at his sudden new-found joy in fighting, then pin Jasper in place, taunt her for helping him get so strong, and hit her so hard that she breaks into pieces and dies?

You’re telling me that that’s an in-character thing for Steven Quartz Diamond Cutie-Pie DeMayo Universe do to another character?

(And yes I am purposefully dancing around talking about the mental health stuff because if I did that I’d have to go on a whole other tangent about Growing Pains and fuck I just don’t feel like it right now lmao)

Going back to Mindful Education, another big thing we see Steven struggle with is the idea that his mother shattered Pink Diamond. This knowledge sits heavily with him; it makes him sympathetic to the Diamonds, even under the circumstances in which he sees them (escaping from the Human Zoo, and being on trial for said murder).

He sees their grief, and he feels awful. He questions who Rose Quartz even was. He knows, based on what Garnet said, that Rose had to do it; there was no other way to free Earth. But he still feels awful seeing the pain that Pink’s loss has caused Blue and Yellow Diamond.

In Steven Universe, shattering is clearly equated with execution/death multiple times. When Pearl and Garnet fret over the crack in Amethyst’s gemstone worsening. When Blue Diamond threatens to break Ruby. When Bismuth introduces the breaking point, and Steven recoils at the sight of what it does. If you want to take the fact that Gem shards are sentient and desperate to become whole again into account, you could even argue that it’s a fate worse than death. This particular act of violence is treated very, very seriously.

When we find out that Rose shattered Pink Diamond, there is a season and a half long arc unpacking the implications and consequences of this one action, and how this knowledge forever alters Steven’s mental image of his mother. And she didn’t even kill anyone. It was a lie!

In Steven Universe Future, Steven shatters Jasper 4 episodes before the end of the series. And it’s only brought up twice; once for a big *gasp* moment during his breakdown in Everything’s Fine, and in I Am My Monster by Pearl, when she has to fill-in Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot. Notably, it is never discussed around or by Jasper. Y’know. The person who actually died.

No indication of how (or even if) what Steven did is affecting his own self-image after his initial breakdown, how Jasper feels about what she went through beyond falling back into the Era 1 and 2 mindset. No inkling of how the knowledge that Steven killed somebody has affected how anyone in his life thinks or feels about him; when Pearl brings it up in I Am My Monster, she seems to not even really believe it’s true.

If there are any consequences or talks about this incident, they’re skipped over between I Am My Monster and The Future, and we’re expected to assume that Steven and his therapist are dealing with it, I guess?

And yes. It was an accident. He did bring her back to life. But it still happened. If you hit someone over the head and they stop breathing, just because the paramedics are able to resusitate and stabilize them afterwards doesn’t mean you never hit them.

But here, it’s shoved aside because dwelling on it would take far too much time, and risks framing Steven in an unsympathetic way when he’s meant to be on the cusp of a breakdown.

It just feels like careless writing to me. They really, really wanted their big action scene with Steven and Jasper, but didn’t think (or maybe weren’t interested in thinking) about the seriousness or consequences of what Steven shattering someone would entail.

In my opinion, Steven shattering Jasper is one of the cheapest, laziest things they could have ever done with his character (and hers, for that matter). To me, the entire thing feels entirely out of character. It’s pure shock value; nothing more.

So yeah. That particular writing decision just does not work for me. And if you disagree... well that’s fine? It’s fine. We can agree to disagree? I’ve read a lot of defense/praise for this episode, and honestly even after processing all of those opinions and all the time my thoughts about this plotline have been stewing in my brain, I still feel the same way.

#steven universe #steven universe future #negativity #cw death

7 notes · View notes

pendragonsandbuckleys · 3 years

Text

hold me like the moon holds onto the tide (3/3)

Summary: Kidnapped and locked in a cell with no escape. Alex and Michael are faced with an ex-Caulfield employee who is prepared to do anything to get alien powers of his own. (Inspired by the Daisy/Sousa scenes in Agents of Shield 7x06)

Word Count: 3,804

[Also on AO3] [Part One] [Part Two]

“What about the time he tripped over your guitar and smashed his head into the table?” Flint leaned back as he spoke. The hard plastic of the chair was digging into his back and it squeaked as he tried to get comfortable.

He’d never liked hospitals. The strong antiseptic smell that seemed to linger in the air. The rush of people in the day and the quiet hallways at night. The big scary words that made no sense but always seemed to mean something bad. The unnatural mix of cleanliness and death.

He didn’t mind them so much when he was younger. His mother had always told him that they were hopeful places, where illnesses were cured and lives were saved. Thinking back, it was probably just her protective way of trying to calm his nerves whenever a grandparent was sick.

But at that age, her positive nature imbued in him a childish hope that the doctors would be able to help his brother. That soon they would realise that that many broken bones and bruised ribs a year was so much more than just a clumsy child falling off his bike or losing his grip whilst climbing a tree.

He couldn’t remember when he’d stopped wishing for someone to work it out and just accepted that no one would. It was probably around the same time he’d stopped accompanying his brother on his too frequent visits and had left that responsibility for someone else.

The last time he had actually stepped foot inside a hospital was after his unfortunate accident during CrashCon. Healing up in the unwelcoming, lonely hospital room for a week wasn’t fun but at least he hadn’t needed to worry about the condition of anyone else during that time.

No, the last time he’d been on the waiting for news end was during his last tour when several members of his team had been seriously injured.

Until now. Which is why part of him was glad that he wasn’t alone in his vigil.

“He must have been about eight, right?”

“Oh my god, there was blood everywhere!” Gregory grimaced as he looked over at him, horrified that his brother was even bringing up that memory.

Flint laughed softly at how uncomfortable the recollection had clearly made his brother, ”You felt so guilty! I don’t think you even got your guitar out of its case for months afterwards.”

Gregory shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. He wasn’t sure when this game between them of who had the most embarrassing moments had just straight up turned into a list of which brother had managed to injure another the most.

It was true though. He hadn’t slept properly for days after that incident. Every time he had closed his eyes he had seen Alex’s poor little face covered in blood and tears and snot and he’d felt the guilt brewing inside him. He had avoided the guitar out of fear that he would somehow manage to wound his brother with it again.

To this day he still makes sure that the instrument is kept off the floor.

“You know, growing up, I think that was the last time he was in the hospital where it wasn’t dad that put him there.” He replied sombrely.

Flint hummed in response. He had run out of words to say on that subject. It was a topic that had slipped frequently into discussions between the two of them during their months of reconciliation and it always ended in the acknowledgement of their guilt and desire to do better.

Gregory pressed the heel of his hand into his eye. It had been a long day and he could feel the hours catching up with him. “I really hoped I would never have to see him in a hospital again.”

"Were you there after he lost his leg?” Flint asked.

“No, I didn’t even know it had happened ’til months later. Did you?”

”No. I think Dad went though.”

“Seriously?”

Flint nodded with an unamused look on his face.

“Why? It’s not like he went to go play the loving father.” Gregory asked, genuinely confused as to why his dad would even bother to take the time to go and see Alex.

Flint shook his head as he repositioned himself again. At this rate he was honestly considering going on a hunt for a pillow. “That man didn’t know the first thing about being a loving father.”

Gregory’s brows furrowed as he failed to hide his surprise at that statement. The expression was so familiar and Flint couldn’t hold back an exasperated eye roll.

“Don’t give me that look, I may have followed in his footsteps but I know exactly what kind of man he was.”

Gregory watched as his brother played with the cuff of his jacket, his thumb and forefinger running along the edge before tugging uselessly at the material. It was a nervous habit that he’d always thought their father had managed to train out of Flint.

“Do you regret it? Following him?” He asked delicately, noticing how Flint’s eyes remained trained on his sleeve as he answered.

“We all followed him.”

“Into the military, yeah, we didn’t exactly have a choice. But on his little homicidal mission? The rest of us hopped that train before it reached the station.”

“Umm more like he didn’t even invite you onto the train. You have no idea what you would have done.” Flint replied defensively and Gregory was caught off guard by how much the look in Flint’s eyes reminded him of their mother.

“Pretty sure I wouldn’t have done that.” He teased, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah alright, well I’ve apologised, okay?” Flint rolled his eyes again as he leant over and gave his brother a playful shove.

Their conversation fell into a comfortable silence as their gaze drew back to the third presence in the room.

Alex hadn’t woken since Flint had found him but in the hours since they had brought him to the hospital his cheeks had gained more colour and he looked to be resting more peacefully.

Clean bandages hugged his various wounds, several IVs were in place to begin replenishing what Hughes had stolen and now all they needed was for him to wake up.

It was strange watching their brother sleep. The last time they would have had the chance was when they were all living under the same roof together, but Alex was always so guarded back then with their father in the house that he would never allow himself to be seen in such a vulnerable state. Starting after their mum had left, Greg could probably count on one hand the number of times he’d seen Alex sleep and they’d all been due to illness or injury.

The hospital ambience of the room, along with Greg’s wandering mind, was interrupted by a text alert on Flint’s phone. He slid his hand into his front pocket and pulled out the device, unlocking it with a quick tap of four digits. He opened the message and Greg watched as his eyes scanned the words.

“It’s Clay. He says he’s glad we found him and to keep him updated.”

Greg’s eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled. It had been a long while since he’d seen Clay in person but he was glad to hear that their brother was also onboard for acting like a family again. “Who would have thought it. It only took us until our thirties but we’re all finally learning how to be brothers again.”

Flint opened his mouth, ready to give a sappy reply about how he much he’d missed the bond they’d all had during childhood, when a small groan from the bed caught his attention.

Alex’s brow was furrowed as he poked his tongue through his lips slightly - a tiny habit that Greg could recall seeing him do all the time when he was younger. After a few moments his eyes blinked open as he let out another involuntary groan.

Greg couldn’t help but grin as he watched Alex slowly register his surroundings. Being closer to the top of the bed than Flint, he leant forward and gently placed a comforting hand on Alex’s arm.

“Hey.” He whispered, keeping his voice low as to not startle his brother.

Alex turned his head slightly, his unfocused eyes drifting to the left as he followed the sudden sound. “Hey,” he replied, his words slow and soft. “You’re here?”

“Of course we’re here.” Greg began to rub his thumb back and forth along Alex’s arm in a soothing gesture. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.”

Greg was unsurprised at the answer. Alex’s eyes were already struggling to stay open. “Go back to sleep Alex. You’re safe now.”

Alex had only allowed his eyes to close again fully for a moment before they were flying open again, Michael’s name being drawn from his lips with a gasp.

Greg continued the soothing motion, bringing Alex’s gaze back to him. “He’s fine, he’s okay. He’ll probably be here the next time you wake up.”

Alex nodded as he let his body relax once more and drifted back to sleep.

Greg looked over to Flint to find him wearing a matching smile, nodding to himself in an unspoken acknowledgement. Alex was going to be okay.

The door to Alex’s room opened carefully.

Michael had noticed that the lights inside had been dimmed so he hadn’t wanted to wake anyone, though he was wholly unsurprised to find Greg and Flint watching him with raised eyebrows as he entered.

“Thought you were gonna try and get some sleep?” Flint asked in near amusement.

“I did get some sleep.”

Greg tilted his head sympathetically. “Michael, you’ve been gone barely an hour.”

Michael shrugged as he took a seat in the one remaining chair on the other side of the bed, “No one specified how much sleep.”

He had tried to get some rest but every time he closed his eyes it was like there was an invisible string yanking him back to the hospital.

Isobel had taken him home as soon as Kyle had assured them all that, in time, Alex would be fine. She had spent the drive spouting on and on about how he had been through as much of an ordeal as Alex had and he needed to rest and look after himself. Or at least let someone else look after him.

The words had been left hanging in the air between them for a good few minutes before he had fully registered her kindness. And then he had just felt a horrible pang of guilt deep in his stomach. Guilt that her compassion and protectiveness didn’t quite warm his heart as much as Alex’s had.

So he listened to her. He ate the small plate of food she had lovingly made for him. He drank the hot cup of tea that burnt his tongue. He showered, letting the scolding water wash away the overwhelming fear that had been building up inside him ever since he first woke up with his hands chained to a wall. And then he crawled into Isobel’s bed and tried to ignore the nervous energy that was still sitting heavily on his chest.

And he had slept a little, he wasn’t lying about that, but it was like his brain knew that there was somewhere else he should be and he just couldn’t take it any longer.

“How’s he doing?” He tugged at his bottom lip as he observed Alex’s still sleeping face.

“Better.” Greg nodded, taking a moment to hide a yawn with his hand. “The doctor came back while you were gone. Said he’s probably gonna be quite weak and achy for a few days at least. But the transfusions are helping and he should be fine.”

Michael ran a hand through his curls. It wasn’t much more information than Kyle had provided earlier but to hear that nothing had gone wrong in his brief absence was relieving.

“He woke up not too long ago.” Greg continued and Michael looked at him, somewhat horrified that Alex had woken without him. It must have shown on his face.

“Calm down Guerin,” Flint snorted, “it was for like thirty seconds, he probably won’t even remember it.”

Michael could practically feel the heat crawling up his cheeks. No matter how protective and borderline possessive he felt of Alex at the moment, it was still embarrassing for anyone but himself to be aware of that fact.

“No it’s good, I’m glad he’s okay.” Michael coughed as he tried to deflect the conversation.

But Greg seemed to know how to catch him off guard all of a sudden as he turned it back onto him. “And how are you feeling?”

Michael took a few seconds to process the fact that Alex’s brother seemed genuinely concerned in his questioning.

“I’m fine, my powers are back and everything.” He replied warily. With Jesse Manes gone, he knew that he wasn’t in any danger from anyone currently in the room, but it still felt strange talking about his alien abilities to any Manes man that wasn’t Alex. “I could probably do with a bit more sleep before I try to use them, but whatever Hughes did to me has worn off.”

“That’s good that it wasn’t permanent. We’ll still go through all the data that Hughes managed to collate though and find out exactly how much he knew.” Flint said strategically and Michael could practically see the mental to-do list he was creating in his head. “And as long as you’re aware that you should be sleeping, I think our job here is done.”

Greg smirked at his brother’s comment. It was very clear that getting Michael to rest was a battle they were not going to win tonight.

“Talking of sleep, you know you two look worse than I do and I was literally being held hostage a few hours ago. If you want to head home for a bit I can stay with Alex.” Michael said innocently as he watched Greg yawn once again.

“Greg, I think that’s code for he wants some alone time with our little brother.” Flint mocked in a hushed tone.

“Hmm I think you’re right Flint.” Greg joined in, watching as Michael’s eyes widened as he spluttered in defence. “Or do you think maybe it’s just our company he doesn’t like?”

“Oh definitely. He’s been waiting for the moment to get rid of us.”

“We must have done something really wrong considering the person he wants to be left with is still asleep right now.”

“That is so true Greg. I mean he’s clearly desperate so we should probably leave now before we make it even worse.”

Michael rolled his eyes as he failed to control his smile. It was a display of brotherly mocking that he never imagined he would ever experience from someone other than Max and Isobel and as embarrassing as it was, it was somewhat heartening to be on the receiving end of it.

Flint chuckled as he stood, his back instantly grateful to be out of the chair, and he took one last look at Alex before leading the way to the door.

“Text us if you need anything, okay?” Greg placed a hand on Michael’s shoulder as he passed him and squeezed reassuringly.

Michael nodded as he watched them leave, afraid to open his mouth incase no words came out around the sudden lump that had formed in his throat. Having seen the hateful side of the Manes men in action, there was something so heartwarming about seeing Alex’s brothers actually be brothers. And to be included in the familiarity was a whole new feeling entirely.

Michael looked out at the stars shining through the window. The lights were still dimmed which allowed the moonlight to fill the room around him with a soft, pale glow.

He still remembered all of the constellations that he had taught himself as a kid, back when he was so desperate to soar high into the sky to join them. Back when he’d give anything to find his home planet again.

But looking into the glimmering darkness now, he couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d stared at the night sky in search of the home he was unwillingly torn away from.

In fact he couldn’t quite remember how long it had been since home, for him, had started to be a person again.

Michael made no attempt to stifle a yawn as he rubbed at his eyes. They were aching terribly and he could feel his body hopelessly crying for sleep but there was no way he was leaving until Alex was awake.

As if on cue, a small noise from beside him shook him out of his doziness.

He watched Alex’s throat bob as he swallowed reflexively before slowly blinking open his eyes.

“Hey,” Michael whispered. His voice so soft the word barely left his mouth.

Alex’s eyes wandered momentarily, seeking out the owner of the voice. Once his gaze locked with Michael’s, all Alex could do was stare, a small smile emerging as he took in Michael’s presence. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Michael looked at him tenderly as he leant forward and laced his fingers with Alex’s. A somewhat casually intimate move that he didn’t regret in the slightest. “And so are you.”

Alex looked down at the touch and relished in the warmth of Michael’s skin against his. The act of their hands together feeling so natural.

“How are you feeling?” Michael asked, his tired eyes looking longingly into Alex’s.

“Sore.” Alex replied and Michael couldn’t hold back the huff of laughter.

“Well, that’s what happens when you offer yourself up to be a guinea pig for a crazy psychopath.”

Alex playfully rolled his eyes at the accusation. He could practically feel his head pounding in time with his heart but he did his best to ignore it. He’d willingly accept the throbbing of his muscles and the coldness in his bones right now if it allowed him to just stay in this moment.

A few aches and pains were worth it. He was just glad to be alive.

“Did he hurt you?” He asked, enjoying the way the moonlight was shinning on Michael’s curls.

“No, he didn’t touch me.” Michael assured him, “Isobel, Flint and Kyle got us out before he could do anything else.”

“How did they find us?”

“Turns out Sanders was still at the junkyard. Luckily he managed to catch the tail end of our little kidnapping so he called Isobel who called everyone and they spent the entire night trying to figure out who had taken us.”

Michael still couldn’t believe the luck they’d been in that the old man had chosen that night to stay late. They may never have been found if he hadn’t.

“Flint went to the bunker to look for possible alien connections when he found emails between Hughes and your dad. He recognised the name as someone he worked with in Caulfield so he followed the trail and it led him to us.”

Alex added another bullet point to his mental Project Shepard to-do list. If thoroughly digging into every email on the bunker’s computers was what was needed to prevent Michael being targeted again, then so be it.

“Of course he won’t tell me how it led him to us. It seems that’s classified.” Michael brought up the hand not holding Alex’s to do some one-sided air quotes.

“What about Hughes and his men?”

Michael shrugged, “Dealt with, apparently. Your brother is very secretive when he wants to be.”

“Must be a Manes thing.” Alex smirked sleepily.

“They were here earlier by the way. Flint and Gregory. They would have stayed but I used my charm to convince them that you’d much prefer to see my face over their’s any day.”

Michael winked at him and Alex felt butterflies. “Always.”

Michael gazed down at their locked fingers as he slowly ran his thumb up and down in a comforting gesture. He knew what he wanted to say next, but the words just felt so big and he needed to get them right.

“You shouldn’t have protected me like that. And I shouldn’t have let you.” He began sincerely.

“Michael-”

“But I’m grateful that you did.”

Alex’s lips parted but he couldn’t find the right words quick enough.

“We need to talk. Like properly talk. But what happened today, it made me realise how stupid it is to not be honest about how I feel.” Michael looked up and could see how intently Alex was listening. His beautiful brown eyes eager and hopeful.

“I can use as many excuses as I like. How we’re not good for each other. How it’s not our time right now. But you almost died, Alex. And if you had, it would have killed me. And if you had gone not knowing how much I care about you.” Michael shook his head as he looked away. The lump forming in his throat again. “I’m completely and totally in love with you Alex Manes. Always have been, always will. I can’t run away from it anymore and I’m done hiding it.”

Alex bit his lip as he felt the tears start to form in his eyes. He had been waiting to hear those words for so long.

He had been waiting to say them for even longer.

“I’ll never stop protecting you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate that before. I’m sorry I’ve pushed you away in the past and I’m sorry that I wasn’t ready. But I’m ready now.” Alex grinned, almost giddy at the declaration, “I love you Michael Guerin. Always have, always will.”

Michael could feel his heart hammering in his chest as his breath caught in his throat. He pursed his lips in an attempt to curb the ridiculous grin that was threatening to unfurl.

He gently unlaced his fingers, pushed himself out of the chair and leant over to delicately cup Alex’s cheeks, feeling the cool skin under his palms.

As dramatic love declarations go, tonights was pretty remarkable. But maybe it was exactly what they needed. They were here, they were alive and they were in love. That was the truth, spoken aloud with only the stars as their witness and there was no taking it back.

And Michael didn’t want to wait a second longer as he closed his eyes and met Alex’s lips with his own.

It was a gentle kiss. Slow and sweet and just as perfect as he remembered it being.

It was home.

#roswell new mexico #alex manes #michael guerin #malex #alex manes fic #michael guerin fic #malex fic #my fic

15 notes · View notes

thevirtualcanvas · 4 years

Text

Steven’s Lament

Just a little fic inspired by @taikova ‘s illustration of Steven lying in bed. So please enjoy C:

12:46

Maybe a cup of green tea would help?

1:32

Alright. Two cups.

3:12

Three cups, stargazing, phone scrolling and staring up at the ceiling and – nothing. He knew he was exhausted, he knew he should sleep. But what was the point? It's not like he had any responsibilities any more, or any friends thanks to his latest gem-related screw-up.

The back-light of his phone seeped through his covers, bouncing off his gem and reflected a soft pink light into his room. Pink. It was his entire problem. The tarpaulin that covered the front of his broken house rustled in the sea breeze; mixing with the sounds of Lion's snoring, it was driving Steven crazy. Though a lot of things did these days. He tapped his fingers against his chest and groaned, he should just get up. Lying in bed was pointless. Maybe he could go sleep with Lion for old times sake, or he could throw his head in Lion's mane and just be done with it?

Yikes. That was a dark thought.

Steven threw back the covers with a heavy arm, swung his legs around, and sat upright facing his sliding door. The gems hadn't spoken to him in days, well, more specifically, he'd avoided them. He'd let them orchestrate the rebuilding work with Bismuth and her team and kept out of the way. He couldn't stand to look them in the eyes, all those awful things he'd said and Cactus Steven had told them everything – each dark and personal thought and worst of all at the time, he'd meant it.

He rubbed at his tired eyes and played with the phone in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over the screen. Steven yearned to talk to someone and no one. Pearl had sent his Dad over the day before as he'd sat in the greenhouse atop the warp pad, sulking. But he couldn't tell him how he felt, how could his Dad possibly understand? In the end, he brushed his Dad off with a half-assed smile. I'm fine, it's just Gem stuff.

Greg Universe sighed, looked at his son, more worried for him than he'd even been (even when he had been kidnapped by home-world gems and oh boy did some hair fall out then) and said,

“Stuball. Gem stuff or not, just know we all love you, and when you're ready to talk, we're ready to listen.”

Why did his Dad sound like him? When did everyone else start to take his job? He helped, Steven Universe, helper of the galaxy. Capable of solving anyone's problems. Except for his own.

“Fuckkkkk.” It slipped from his lips, reactionary. Lined with utter frustration and barely an utterance but he surprised even himself. He remembered that time Pearl went mental at Amethyst for using it in the temple around him. Amethyst simply shrugged, winked at Steven and told him to save for it a special occasion. Was the end of himself as he knew it a justifiable special occasion?

A tempestuous snore from Lion pulled him from his thoughts, yup, he needed to leave his room. Taking his phone with him, Steven dragged himself to the greenhouse. Bismuth hadn't started work in there yet, and a massive hole graced the peak of the dome. He'd cleared up the shattered glass, and floated up to cover the top in plastic, just in case it rained, apart from that the room remained the same. He'd even left the cardboard box he'd kept Cactus Steven prisoner in exactly where he'd thrown it, a monument to his own failure. Pale moonlight danced across the petals and leaves of each flower in the room. The warp pad hummed in the center giving off its own soft glow, waiting on standby for Steven to use it.

“Hey everyone,” he laughed with insincerity to his home-grown friends. Of course, they didn't respond, they were just plants. The real versions of his friends were out doing amazing things; Steven had done his amazing, now he was stuck, stagnant in Beach City. “Hey, Connie, how are you doing, smarty?” Steven walked over to the delicate blue flower, it's violet petals almost seemed to shine brighter in this light. His fingers caressed the underside of the velvet-soft flower and it made him miss the real Connie even more.

“I've messed-up, Con,” he told her as he sat crossed-legged on the floor underneath the flower pot. “I've done and said some terrible things recently and every time I do all I can think about is her...”

The plant sat silently, almost as if it were listening.

“I'm so angry – all of the time. I'm doing things and finding out things about my gem self that I never knew I could do and I don't know if I want to... because the more I do, the more I become like – ” Steven paused. Throat closing, eyes threatening to tear. He was scared. Not that he'd turn into his Mom; Rose Quartz had spent thousands of years repenting and paying for her actions, but Pink? She'd done so much damage, ruined so many lives including that of a son she'd never know she'd have. “I don't want to be Pink Diamond, Connie. She was selfish, destructive and so out of control! I don't want anyone to look at me and see her anymore!”

Pink Diamond took his childhood. Pink Diamond took his identity. Pink took everything.

Purple petals turned pink and with a gasp, Steven realised he was losing it. He could see his reflection on the glossy floor and it terrified him. Pink. Eyes. Hair. Skin. Everything was glowing pink. The colour made him sick.

“See?” He sobbed. “There I go again. Turning into her. The one thing they all hate above everything else.”

Large tears stung as they fell down his face, his body shook as he pulled it as close as he could. “And you know what, Connie,” he laughed to himself almost manically. “I hate her too.”

Steven howled, months of pent-up anger and rage, flowing freely as big pink tears. He shook and shook, holding himself tight, wishing someone else was. The plants, the tables and the gardening equipment rattled around him. The power that sat within him, poured out, raw and emotional. It wasn't sharp, like The Reef, or purposeful, like his fight with Jasper. His power lamented, wrapped sorrow around every living thing, and forced his emotions through it. Flower Connie wilted, but he didn't even notice; too busy drowning in guilt and a host of other negative emotions he was allowing himself to feel.

Steven didn't notice anything. Not the ambivalent roar of Lion. Nor the sound of a portal opening up. The urgent steps. Or the greenhouse door opening with a hiss.

“Steven!”

Steven turned to the sound of his name – shocked by the owner and relieved all at once. “Connie?! What are you doing here?” He hiccuped between the tears.

Connie was there. The real Connie, not the plant version he'd been speaking to for months. Stood in the doorway in her pajamas, looking at him. Hair ruffled, cheeks rosy from running so hard and a dressing gown haphazardly slung over her shoulders. Lion was behind her, whining and nudging the base of her back, urging her forward. Connie rushed across the greenhouse, throwing herself at him, joining him in his pity party on the floor. She launched herself; landing in a mess of limbs, tangling her arms around his neck, burying her head in the crux of his shoulder, pressing the rest of her as close as to him as possible. They'd never concerned themselves with personal space in the entire time they'd known each other, she wasn't going to start now. Not when he needed her.

“Why didn't you call?”

Connie. His Connie. She was really here, warm and bright, He buried his nose into her dark hair, pink hands coiling into the thick strands, the cool scent of lavender and juniper filled his nostrils.

“I didn't want to bother you,” he whispered feeling the sweet heat of her lips against his neck as she spoke.

“Steven,” she spoke sternly, but with an undeniable love, just like her mother. “You could never bother me.” Connie pulled herself back to look at him, on her knees between his thighs, and hands cupping his still round cheeks. Rich eyes drew him in, oh how he'd missed seeing her face. “You can talk to me about anything. Or cry. Sit in silence. You even have a temper tantrum if you need to. Just don't keep me out. I've missed you, Jam bud.”

Above him, plant Connie's petals rustled, springing back to life. Steven could feel the pink fading as real Connie took his hands in hers; they were so warm, and small – but he loved them. He loved her.

“I'm sorry Lion woke you up,” he apologised as he pried his back of the floor and sat up.

She squeezed his chunky hands, and rubbed the back of them with the pads of her thumbs. “I'm not. I couldn't sleep anyway. Something felt off – now I know what it was.”

He cringed, embarrassed by the outburst, and the way his Gem powers amplified every emotion he had. “I wish you hadn't seen that...”

Connie scowled at him. “I'm glad I did – you don't need to hide anything from me. I'm not here to judge you, I'm here because my best friend in the whole galaxy needs help.”

Steven bit his lip. “But what about your parents, aren't they going to be upset you're gone?”

“I think Lion gave the game away. I have my phone, my Mom knows where I am.”

“But what about school?”

“It's fine.”

“I don't want to take you away from your work Connie, you've been working so hard!”

“Steven –”

“We need to get you home! There's still a couple of hours until sunrise and I – ”

“Steven!” Connie shouted and then took a breath, bringing their hands to her lips. “I'm fine. It's the weekend, we're going to look after you. You've spent so long looking after everyone else, you don't know how to take care of yourself. C'mon, let's get out of the greenhouse and go to bed.”

As she brought him to his feet, Steven realised how right Connie was. Without other people's problems, Steven only had his own, and he couldn't cope with that. His legacy, his history, his Mom, it was defining him in a way that sat wrong and made him feel awful. Every moment you love yourself, that's me, loving you. Well he didn't, right now hated himself, what he felt like he was becoming, what he felt like he was lacking. He had two worlds and he didn't fit in either of them; everyone changed despite him. What was he going to do?

Connie led him by the hand slowly, taking their time as they took the wooden boardwalk back round the house. Seagulls had already begun to rise, cawing out into the cove as the inky night began to give way to a new dawn. As they entered Steven's room, Lion was lying at the base of the bed pretending to be asleep. He gave Steven and Connie a delighted chirp as he bed down, pink tail waggling in demure happiness. Steven noted mentally that he'd drive out to the supermarket to get Lion some ice-cream later as a thank you. Connie sorted out the covers and led him by the hand into his side of the bed while she settled next to him on the other.

“Connie...” Steven trailed off, looking at her as she pulled the covers over them. She hummed in response, once again taking one of his hands in hers. “Thanks, for coming over. I've missed you too. “

She gave him a smile, and if he was feeling himself it would have left him weak at the knees. Now, broken and confused, it made him feel safe and loved. “I'll be here whenever I can Steven, although next time, maybe give me a call first?” He nodded, yeah, that was fair. Lion huffed over the edge of the bed, he thought he'd been helpful. Wasn't his fault Lion's couldn't use phones. “Sorry, Lion you were great,” she said with a coo. “And let's not tell my Mom I stayed in your bed, again.”

“I should maybe get you your own bed,” he thought out loud. “Don't want Dr.Maheswaren to get annoyed.”

Connie wriggled over, planted a kiss on his brow with the lightest of touches and laughed. “Steven, that's sweet but I'm perfectly happy here, with you. Besides, what my Mom doesn't know won't hurt her. Now get some rest, we'll talk more tomorrow.”

His head felt warm and fuzzy, it did every time she kissed him, he couldn't help but crack a smile. He suddenly felt overcome with fatigue, between Connie next to him and Lion at his feet, Steven had felt more comfortable than he had in weeks. This might not fix his problems, but with Connie's support, he could get the ball rolling, apologise to the gems – and his Dad for starters. He had a lot to apologise for.

“Connie,” Steven said with a yawn. “Thanks for being the jam to my biscuit.”

“Thanks for being the biscuit to my jam, Steven,” she said with a sleepy smile as he squeezed her hand.

Lion yawned, his mouth opening wide, tongue curling inside his maw.

“Goodnight Lion!” They both said in unison and drifted off into an easy sleep.

#steven universe #suf #steven universe future #fanfic for fanart #steven universe fan fic #connverse #connie mahaswaren #lion #pink steven #post prickly pair #angst with fluff

236 notes · View notes

dlwritings · 4 years

Text

Firecracker Soul | Dean Winchester

Chapter 4 - Not a Dick

pairing - mob!Dean x teacher!ofc

word count - 4,304

warnings - language, alcohol, Alice makes me cringe

additional notes at the end

(previous)

The next day, Alice got a ride from one of her coworkers -a 5th grade teacher named Thomas- to school. At the end of the day, he dropped her off at her dads' mechanic shop where her car was waiting for her. She didn't have time to chat with her parents, so she picked up the car and headed home. Considering Monday had been so busy after school, she was falling a bit behind on the lesson plans for the week. Plus, she just wanted to be home. It wasn't that she was afraid to be out, but she wasn't exactly feeling comfortable. She knew she'd never see that guy again. Not only had Dean beaten him up pretty good, but he wasn't likely to try and attack the same stranger twice. She watched enough Criminal Minds to know he wouldn't go back to the same location when he was so close to getting caught. Still, he wasn't the only perverted creep who existed. She had met plenty like him before.

So, she put on her big girl pants and continued with her life. She did call Christine to give her a run down of the event and get it off her chest, but after that, she was ready to leave it in the past.

Before she knew it, it was Thursday, and she could taste the weekend. Monday's events were behind her, and she was pumped for some me-time. When she realized Lexi was the last student left again, she got a weird feeling in her stomach. Unlike Monday, she didn't want to see Dean. After he left her apartment so suddenly on Monday, she just wished she could disappear. When he called her a good girl, she thought she was going to melt on the spot. And then, for a fleeting moment, she thought he was going to kiss her.

And she wanted him to kiss her. So badly. She hadn't wanted someone to kiss her that badly since she met Greg. The feeling caught her off guard. She didn't even know this guy, and sure he was handsome and saved her from getting raped, but it wasn't like her to get that feeling of desperation for someone in her stomach. Plus, he was at least 40. A 20-year age gap was weird right?

So why couldn't she stop thinking about this guy?

"Uncle Dean!"

Lexi jumped up from her spot on the grass and ran over to Dean who was already crouching down to catch her in a hug. Dean looked over Lexi's shoulder and gave Alice a smile. "How was school?" Dean asked Lexi.

"Awesome," Lexi said. "Ms. Alice taught us all about counting by fives. I can almost get to 100."

"Really?" Dean said. Lexi nodded. "That's awesome, kiddo." He looked at Alice again, but spoke to Lexi. "How about you go play on the playground for a minute? I wanna talk to your teacher."

"Okay!" Lexi said excitedly. Alice saw that some of her friends were still on the playground -they were walkers- so the girl dropped her backpack and made her way through the woodchips. Alice tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as Dean walked over to her.

"How're you doing?" he asked, keeping his eyes trained on Lexi.

She shrugged. "'M fine. Probably never going to pull my car into an alley ever again." Dean glanced at her, then looked back quickly at Lexi again.

"I've been thinking," Dean said, "about how I can repay you for how late I was last week."

"Seriously?" she said with a slight laugh. "I think, after Monday, you don't owe me anything ever." Dean scoffed and shook his head.

"That doesn't count," he said. "That wasn't fun."

"No?" she quipped back. When she glanced at him, she noticed he almost rolled his eyes but was still grinning.

"I'd like to take you out for dinner tomorrow," he said. Her lips parted slightly, and she looked away from Lexi so she could study Dean. Was he being serious?

"Really?" she said. Dean looked at her too, licking his lips before nodding.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll pick you up at 6:00." She pressed her lips into a line, trying to bite back a smile. She could already feel her cheeks heating up, so she looked back at Lexi, hoping Dean wouldn't see how his charm had affected her.

He did.

"Okay," she said. "That sounds nice."

"Great," Dean said. Dean called Lexi back over and helped buckle her into the car.

"Bye Ms. Alice!" she cheered, waving from her seat.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said, giving the girl a small wave. As Dean walked around to the driver's side, Dean spared her one last look.

"I won't be late," he said. She held back another smile and nodded, watching their car until they were gone.

As soon as Dean and Lexi were out of the parking lot, Lexi looked at Dean with wide eyes. "Are you going on a date with Ms. Alice?" she asked, kicking her feet against her seat.

Dean chuckled. "Maybe."

"Yes!" Lexi said with a giggle. "You're going to live happily ever after forever and ever."

Dean scoffed. "Good to know I have your support kiddo."

Alice, now inside her classroom, was holding back her urge to scream and do a happy dance.

The next day, she had enough things going on at school to keep her mind busy, which was good. If she didn't, she knew she'd be thinking way too much about what her date with Dean entailed.

Of course, it wasn't a date, was it? This was just him repaying her for helping Lexi. That was what he said anyway. It wasn't like he said, "I'd like to take you on a date." He said, "I know how I can repay you." Those were two very different scenarios.

And there was the overthinking.

As soon as she got home, she figured she should start getting ready, knowing she'd stress over everything and it would take her longer than it should. Her shower took a half hour, doing the rest of her hair took another 30 minutes, and then she needed to pick out her outfit. She put on a white strapless bra and underwear set then started digging through her closet. By the time she had two outfits narrowed down, she only had 40 minutes left before Dean was going to pick her up.

She stared at her outfit options indecisively, finally deciding to FaceTime Christine. Christine picked up after only two rings. "Hey!" she said cheerily. She was in the kitchen, clearly cooking herself some dinner.

"Hey," she said. "So, um, I'm going on a date, and-"

"A date!" Christine repeated.

"Well, it might not be a date," she said. "It's just dinner, but-"

"With who?" Christine asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's just this guy I met through school," she said. "Lexi's uncle."

"The hot one?"

"Chirstine."

"What? I'm just wondering."

"Can you help me pick an outfit?" she asked, avoiding her question. "I'm just torn between two." Christine agreed, so Alice flipped the camera and showed her the two outfits that were laying on her bed.

"Where's he taking you?" Christine asked.

"Just getting dinner," she said. "He said it's a nice place, but not crazy fancy."

"Hm," Christine hummed. "I like the orange one. It's fancy without being too fancy. I think the blue one is a little much for a first date."

"Okay," Alice said. "That's kind of what I was thinking, too. Shoes?"

"Your tan sandals. The ones with the thick heel."

"Good call."

"Girl, you have to tell me all about him later," Christine said.

"Okay, okay," she laughed. "I'll talk to you later."

She slipped on the outfit and the shoes, then sat at her vanity and started to do her makeup. Her hand was shaking as she applied her mascara. This was the first date she had been on since she left Greg. What was she supposed to expect? How was she supposed to feel? What if Dean turned out not to be as nice as he seemed? What if-

"What if, what if, what if," she mumbled to herself. "God, get a hold of yourself, weirdo."

Just as she finished applying her lipstick, the buzzer to her apartment went off. She jogged over to the door and pressed the intercom button. "Hello?" she said.

"It's Dean," he said. "Buzz me in?"

"Okay," she said. She felt nerves bubbling up in her chest again as she pressed the button to unlock the door to her building. She paced nervously in front of the door, trying to give herself a pep talk before he got there. When there was a knock on the other side, she took a deep breath and opened the door. Dean was wearing a white, short sleeve button-up that squeezed his biceps perfectly. It was loosely tucked into the blue trousers he was wearing. In his hands was a bouquet of primarily roses of different shades of pink.

"Hey," Dean said, smiling softly at her. "You look great."

"Thanks," she said, knowing her cheeks were turning red.

"These are for you," Dean said, handing her the bouquet.

"They're beautiful," she said. She took them from his hand. "Let me just put them in some water, and then I'm ready, okay? You can come inside." Dean nodded and stepped inside, closing the front door behind him. She went in her cupboards to look for a glass to fill with water. "I don't even own a vase," she said with a slight giggle, standing up on her tiptoes to reach a glass she never used. She filled it with water and put the bouquet in it, only to see that the stems were way too long, so the flowers were awkwardly tall. She held back another laugh as she looked up at Dean. He looked equally as amused. "I'll cut them later," she said dismissively. "Ready?"

Dean nodded and reached out his hand for her to take. She did, grabbed her purse, phone, and keys, and followed him out the door, locking it behind her. When the doors to the elevator opened, Brent was standing on the other side. "Hey," he said with a smile. Dean was not oblivious to the way his eyes raked over Alice. "You look nice."

"Thanks," she said. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, but squeezed Dean's hand a little tighter. She was nervous. This guy was making her nervous. Dean didn't like that. "This is Dean," she said, motioning with her free hand to Dean. "Dean, this is Brent, my neighbor."

Dean shook Brent's hand, making sure to use a little more force than he may otherwise. Brent clearly noticed. Dean saw his jaw twitch. "Nice to meet you," Brent said.

"Likewise," Dean said. He let go of his hand. "C'mon, sweetheart," he said, placing a kiss to Alice's forehead. "We'll miss our reservation." She nodded, waved to Brent, then got into the elevator with Dean. When they got to the Impala, Dean opened the door for her. He jogged around and got in the driver's side as she was buckling up.

"I meant to say this yesterday," she said, "but I really like your car." The corner of Dean's lip curved up in a smirk.

"Thanks," he said. "It was my dad's. It's a-"

"'67 Impala, right?" she said.

Dean had to stop himself from abruptly looking at her. His hand on the steering wheel tightened. As if he didn't already think she was sexy.

"You know cars?" he said.

She smiled. "My dads own a mechanic shop. Dad met Mark at a vintage car show. Whenever they had a free day, they were taking me on day trips to junkyards to salvage pieces to fix up whatever Impala or Camaro or Chevelle they were working on for fun."

Dean could tell the memories were fond for her. The smile she had on her face wasn't fading, and she was staring absentmindedly out the front window. "You got a favorite?" Dean asked. Her smile grew wider, and she finally looked at him.

"1970 Camaro Z28 Tribute, red," she said. "It was the first car I ever wanted." She laughed. "Instead I got a black, 2000 Mercury Milan."

"Rough," Dean said with a laugh.

"Yeah," she agreed. "She was all I could afford."

"What do you drive now?" he asked.

"'98 Jeep Wrangler," she said. "She's no Camaro, but I like her."

Within a few minutes, they were at the restaurant. Alice had seen the place in passing, but she never considered she'd ever eat there. She knew it was a fancier place, and the fact that Dean wanted to take her there made butterflies erupt in her chest. Dean parked the car in a spot that said Employees Only, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to point it out in case he lashed out at her for stating the obvious. It's what Greg would've done. It's what Greg had done a million times before.

"You okay?" Dean asked. She must've been silent for too long, and she hadn't realized she was staring at the parking sign until Dean followed her gaze. Her shoulders tensed, waiting for him to explode. Instead, Dean just chuckled. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm not being a dick. I know a guy." She was embarrassed that he had noticed but happy that he wasn't just being pretentious. Dean picked up her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles. "You're gonna have to trust me tonight, sweetheart," he said. "I may surprise you."

They got into the restaurant, and Dean helped them past the line of people waiting. He looked at the host who just smiled and nodded, letting Dean walk right by. Dean kept his hand on Alice's lower back as they walked through the restaurant, weaving around tables until they reached one that was in the back of the restaurant by the floor-to-ceiling windows. He pulled out his chair for her, and she sat down. Her lips were parted in awe of the situation. Dean sat in front of her.

"They must know you here," she observed. Dean grinned.

"Yeah," he said. "You could say that."

The waiter came over then with a bottle of wine. "Hi, Mr. Winchester," the guy said, pouring the wine into his glass. He looked at Alice, silently asking if she wanted any, and she nodded and thanked him.

"Spencer," Dean said with a smile. "How're you doing?"

"Great," he said. "It's been a while."

"Ah, business is keeping me busy," Dean said. "But I thought I'd show Alice here a part of the job." Spencer nodded and gave Alice another smile.

"I'm assuming the usual?" Spencer asked, looking at Dean again.

He nodded. "If you could give us a few moments, I'm not sure Alice has decided yet."

"Of course," Spencer said, handing Alice a menu. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She thanked him again, and as soon as he was gone, she looked at Dean.

"Part of the job?" she asked. He took a sip of his wine and smiled.

"It's just one of my investments," Dean explained. She raised her eyebrows.

"You own this place?" she said. Dean just shrugged, a smirk now dancing on his lips. It wasn't arrogant though. She could tell he genuinely found her shock amusing. "Well," she said, "now I get why you can park in the employee spot."

When they ordered their food, they didn't have to wait long for it to get to the table. She supposed the perks of being at the restaurant with the owner was not having to wait for the food to come. He was probably top priority, which she figured was why they got seated right away too. Conversation floated comfortably between the two of them. "Is Sam your only brother?" she asked in a lull in the conversation.

"By blood," Dean said. "Castiel might as well be family. What about you?"

"Mm, well, Aaron is my biological dad," she said. "He's bisexual, and he dated my mom all throughout high school. She got pregnant when she was my age, and then she died giving birth. He decided to keep me, raise me, and then he met Mark and fell in love. Adoption's really expensive, so they settled for just me."

"Sorry about your mom," Dean said with a soft smile.

"Ah, it's fine," she said, sipping her wine. "Never knew her, so I never really felt like I was missing something." Something in Dean's expression changed for a fraction of a second. He hoped she wouldn't notice, but she did. "What about you?" she asked. "You close to your parents?" He licked his lips, took a bite of his burger, then wiped his mouth with his napkin.

"Mom died when I was four," he said. "Dad when I was 27."

"Jesus," she breathed out. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "Like I said, family doesn't end in blood, you know? I always felt like I had enough without them. Plus, I've always had Sammy."

"You guys must be really close," she said.

Dean nodded. "He's my best friend."

This transitioned into Alice talking about Christine and how excited she was to come home to Lebanon. She left out everything about Greg. That wasn't exactly first date chat.

When dinner was done, Dean paid the bill and tipped Spencer. The two of them walked back to the car, and Dean opened the door for her again. Alice didn't want the night to end. She could've spent hours yet with Dean talking about whatever came to mind. The whole ride back to her apartment, she was trying to think of what she could say to keep the night going. But was it leading him on to invite him upstairs with no intention of sleeping with him? Really, all she wanted to do was keep talking and spending time with him. What did people do on TV shows?

Dean pulled up to her apartment complex and killed the engine. "Do you-" She paused to clear her throat. "Do you want to come upstairs for a drink or something?"

Dean smiled. "Sure. That sounds great."

They headed up the stairs to the apartment, and she let him inside. The first thing she noticed was the bouquet of flowers sitting awkwardly in the glass on the counter. It made her laugh. She looked at Dean, and he smiled again. "I'll get the drinks, you fix the flowers, yeah?" he said.

"Yeah," she said with a slight giggle. "Um, you know I've got whiskey. I have some beer and wine too. Help yourself to whatever."

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Mm, I'll take a glass of the riesling," she said. "Glasses are in the cupboard above the sink." He focused on getting their drinks ready while she grabbed some kitchen scissors and worked to cut the stems off the flowers. When she was done, she put them back in the glass and smiled. They looked so pretty and stood out in her drab apartment. Even after a month there, it didn't feel like home. She jumped slightly when Dean stood behind her, putting his arms on either side of her body and setting the glass of wine in front of her.

"You like them?" he asked.

"Mhm," she hummed, turning her head to look at him. "Thank you." He smiled and kissed her cheek. The action made her heart flutter. They both stepped away from the counter, and she led him over to the couch so they could sit and chat.

"How long did you say you've been back in town?" he asked her.

"Just a month," she said. "I came back a little bit after I graduated NYU."

"What made you come back?" he asked. She took another sip of her wine and tried not to look uncomfortable at his question.

"Just missed it I guess," she lied. "Home is home, you know?" Dean smiled and nodded. "Have you ever thought about leaving?" she asked him.

"Kansas?" he asked. She nodded, and he shook his head. "Nah. I've got the family business here."

"And the business is?"

"Property investing," he said. "There may be bigger investment opportunities in New York or Chicago, but I like it here. We've got the area pretty monopolized."

Between the two glasses of wine she had at dinner and the two more she consumed since arriving back at her apartment, Alice was pretty tipsy. Dean could hold his alcohol like a champ, so he just found her behavior amusing. She put her wine glass down -he had abandoned his empty whiskey glass moments ago- and scooted over to him.

She may've been acting tipsy, but it was a bit of a show. She was nervous, and she knew if she did anything stupid, she could brush it off as the alcohol the next day. So, she boldly put her hand on the back of his neck, pulling his face to hers so she could press her lips to his.

Dean turned his body to face her and placed one hand to her cheek, deepening the kiss with no hesitation. His tongue pushed past her parted lips, massaging against hers. She sighed shakily against his lips, feeling her heart start to race faster. He bit her lower lip before going back in and kissing her harder, and she allowed her fingers to curl in the hair at the nape of his neck. His hand -the one that wasn't on her cheek- rested on her thigh. He squeezed her leg, and she whimpered softly. When his hand started to slide up her leg, dipping under her skirt, she jumped away, quickly breaking the kiss and putting her hand over his, stopping him in his tracks.

Dean moved away from her, holding his hands up in front of himself. The minute she looked at him, she put her hands over her face. "Ugh, I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Dean said. He put his hand on hers and moved it from her face. "It's okay," he said again as soon as she looked at him. "You don't have to be sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"God, I'm sorry," she said again, hanging her head so that her hair could cover her face. "I shouldn't have- God, did I lead you on? By asking you to come up?" She didn't give him a chance to respond. "I just don't usually, I'm not, I've never-" She stopped, realizing she was a rambling idiot, and bit her lip.

She could brush this off as an effect of the alcohol, right?

Dean knew he should've just let it go. It wasn't his business what she was going to say if she didn't want to say it, but he wanted to know everything about this girl -needed to if he was going to let this go any farther. And he wanted to let this go farther.

"Are you a virgin?"

Alice tucked her hair behind her ear but kept her eyes focused on her lap. She bit her lip and nodded, then covered her face with her hands again. "I'm so sorry," she said. "This is so weird. I just made this so weird. Ah, I'm sorry."

"Hey," Dean said, rubbing her wrist with his thumb to try and get her to move her hand. She didn't, so with more authority, he said, "Alice, look at me."

She did, and her obedience stirred something inside him. He pushed it down, given the conversation at hand.

"You don't need to be sorry," he said. "It's okay. It was rude of me to ask. It's not my business, and you don't have any obligation to do anything with me or tell me anything. I'm sorry."

"S'okay," she muttered, looking down again. Dean grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

"Am I making you nervous?" he asked her. She shrugged, and Dean put his hands on her waist and pulled her onto his lap. She instinctively straddled his waist, and her skirt raised a little. As badly as Dean wanted to lift her skirt and squeeze her ass, he kept his hands on her waist. She kept darting her eyes around, not wanting to meet his gaze. He put his hand on her chin again, and she finally looked at him. "I don't want you to be nervous around me," he said. "I never want to make you uncomfortable. I want you to be happy when you're with me." She licked her lips and nodded.

"Okay," she said.

"Are you happy right now?" he asked, a small grin growing on his face. She giggled a bit.

"Yeah," she said.

"Did you have fun tonight?"

"Mhm," she hummed. "Thank you for dinner. Your restaurant is really nice."

"Well thank you," he said, squeezing her hips a bit as he chuckled.

"But next time," she said, "I'll pick the date spot and I'll pay."

"You don't have to pay," he said.

"I want to," she pressed with a slight pout.

And he just couldn't argue with that pout.

He pinched her lower lip lightly and chuckled. "Okay, baby," he said. She squirmed a bit on his lap when he called her baby, and he clenched his jaw and gave her a tight smile. It took everything in his power to get his brain off the idea of lifting her skirt, sliding her panties to the side, and helping her ride his cock.

All in good time, he thought to himself. All in good time.

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

A/N - I didn’t know what to gif so here is my choice muscle car which is just as sexy as Dean imo

(next)

series masterlist found here

general masterlist found here

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

add yourself to my TAGLIST

If you want to be taken off the list (or be put on for only certain people) just message me and let me know!

#dean winchester #dean winchester fic #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester x ofc #original female character #ofc #supernatural #supernatural au #mob!dean #mob au #mafia au #dean winchester fluff #supernatural imagine #supernatural fic #firecracker soul

25 notes · View notes

mrsalwayswritex · 4 years

Text

Everything I Wanted

A/N: I wrote this for my girl Lani, @borninslumber, while she is recovering from her wisdom teeth removal! *Gif not mine, I have a bad habit of saving gifs and not remembering where they came from, sorry!*

Pairing: Pre-Ghost Billy x Female Reader

Warnings: None, just youre gonna be soft for our boy Billy.

Word Count: 1900 (she a short bby)

Y/n had been a part of this small crew for months now and she was very good at what she did. It was just the four of them, and they moved as one being. The way they all clicked together was flawless and he couldn't have asked for a better team. Tali, Billy, Greg and Y/n. It was the family that he had always wanted.

So why wasn’t he happy?

They made all the money that they could ever need, siblings Tali and Greg, being the planners, had made sure of that. Billy and Y/n were the hands of the operation. The way that the two of them communicated without words on missions was envied by Tali, who harbored an obvious crush on the blond thief. Y/n and Tali had butted heads since the beginning when Billy suggested they take the girl under their wings, and Billy had won out in the end.

The blond had clicked instantly with the new girl, when they were both after the same bounty. Billy had flirted with the girl in his usual manner to try and throw her off, but she came back unphased, with her own flirty banter making the boy more flustered than he liked to admit. Though Billy had the necklace safely in his pocket only seconds before, when the girl brushed her entire body against his, he froze for only a moment. It had been just enough time for the small pickpocket to pull the necklace from his pocket and with a small kiss to his cheek, she took off running, shooting him a wink in the process.

With Tali screaming in his ear about the time, he sighed and leaned against the wall before patting his pocket where the necklace should have been, only it wasn't there and Billy couldn't help the small that broke out on his face. “Sorry Tal, I've been bested.” Was all he could offer as he looked down the corridor where the girl had taken off.

He needed to find her again.

Fast forward just a few weeks and Billy was anxious to see the girl again, affected more than he had ever been by a woman. He had begged Greg to find something for them to go after in the hopes that she would be there too. Billy left small calling cards at every heist, hoping that she would find it and understand. Just a small card with a diamond, the words park - big tree written on it. Tali had found the cards once, and screamed at Billy for being so stupid as to give anything away, but Billy knew that he had to find her.

After every heist, Billy would go to the biggest park, and watched the biggest tree from a distance, waiting for her. It took weeks, but as he waited from the roof of a nearby building, he saw her. Billy wasted no time in jumping gracefully from the roof, spooking the girl.

“What the actual fuck, man.” Even her angry voice sounded like honey to his ears.

“I didn't mean to scare you.” He breathed out, taking a step towards her. “I’ve been waiting for you for weeks.”

“You’ve waited up there for weeks, huh?” She gave him a coy smile.

Billy just smiled in response and pulled the girl close. “I would have waited years for you.”

That was almost two months ago and Billy was enthralled with the girl, but it seemed like her previous flirting was only for distraction purposes, as she couldn’t have been bothered to look at him the way she had that night, but Billy was happy to just have her by his side. Y/n had fit into their team like she had been there since the beginning, and he couldn't have asked for anything more.

Billy found himself getting jealous of the time that Greg and Y/n would spend together, trying to get back at her by spending time with Tali, but it didn't seem to affect Y/n in the way he wanted it to, honestly she seemed happy for him. He hated it. Tali loved it though, doting on Billy like she never had before and Billy continued to brush her off, but nothing phased her.

There was one mission where Tali, Billy and Y/n were all three deployed into the field with Greg behind running surveillance, that the tables turned. Billy doesn't know what had come over him but he needed her, seeing her in action just made his attraction grow. They had the emeralds they were after, the three of them splitting them up between themselves.

The guards were much quicker than they should have been, apparently being on higher alert than normal, because as soon as Tali was out of the room and into the small crawl space that was acting as their exit, the guards burst into the room. Acting quickly, Billy pulled off her beanie, letting her hair flow down, pushing his fingers deep into her hair and kissing her deeply. He would later tell her that I was only so the guards would think they were just two lovers looking for a spot to hide, but only Billy would know how true that lie really was.

Y/n was stunned for only a second before she caught on, seeing the guards rounding the corner, she understood. When she softened her posture, she let Billy hoist her legs up around his waist and deepen the kiss. Only Billy would know at that moment how much he wanted her, because as soon as the guards cleared their throats and the two of them broke apart, playing the part of teens who had gotten busted, Billy couldn't stop looking at her.

“That was a good call, Billy. I don't think they suspected a thing.” Y/n had winked at him as they walked right out the front doors, bounty filling their pockets.

“Right.” He breathed out, chest heaving, not from getting caught but from the fire that was alight in his belly. He needed more. He needed her.

It was weeks before he got his chance, Greg and Tali out on a recon mission, and he wasted no time.

“Y/n.” He whispered, standing right behind her, he expected her to jump but when instead she leaned back into his chest, the butterflies in his stomach caught fire and his hands found her waist.

“Billy.” She breathed out softly, crossing her arms over her stomach, hands resting on top of his.

“Is this a dream?” He spoke into her neck as she turned her head away from him, letting him nose his way up her neck, she laughed in response, turning her body in his arms so they were chest to chest.

“Not a dream.” She mumbled, her own face burying itself in his neck, soft kisses trailing up his throat.

“Shit.” He hummed as her kisses came up over his chin, hating the whine that left his throat when she skipped over his waiting lips and kissed up the side of his face instead. “Y/n…” She pulled back and looked into his dark eyes and she gave a small chuckle before cupping his face in her hands, bringing her lips to his gently, eyes never leaving his.

Billy thought had thought that day had changed everything, and in a way it had. The two of them couldn’t seem to keep their eyes or hands off of eachother, much to Tali’s displeasure. More than once, Tali had walked in on the two of them, whether it being an innocent cuddling session or with Y/n being in a rather compromising position, on her knees in front of Billy, his head thrown back against the wall in pleasure.

Billy would have been a fool to not have noticed the smirks that Y/n would give Tali in these moments, almost as if she was saying that she had won, but Billy was too caught up in his feelings for the thief to think anything of it. Had he been using his brain, he would have noticed the signs. He could have heard Tali’s warnings of the girl being no good for him. But he missed all of the signs as he reveled in the pleasure that the woman of his dreams was giving him.

This was exactly what he wanted and there was nothing that could ruin it.

They had planned for this mission for weeks, Greg had the perfect heist in mind. It was a beautiful necklace called the Kalahari. Tali had stayed behind to run interference on the ground while the three of them, plus their connection, had gone up to the room to search for the necklace. They tore the room apart looking for it, finding only cheap or fake gems instead of the object they were searching for.

“Fuck!” Billy shouted in the bedroom, when their connection had shouted something in ukranian that none of them understood, except for the word police, that seemed to translate in every language. “We ain’t leavin’ til we find the Kalahari!” Billy pointed at the man, Y/n shooting him a smile which he returned.

“We will find it babe, chill.” Y/n grabbed his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss, pocketing the jewels that he had discarded being too cheap for the heist. Billy gave her a wink and went back to pulling out drawers from the large stand in front of him, grabbing a cheaper necklace and putting it between his teeth.

One seemed awfully heavy for a drawer that was empty, and when he flipped it over, he understood. False bottom. Sliding it open, he let the jewels fall from his lips as a small laugh bubbled out. “I've got it!” He shouted at them, giving Y/n’s bottom a soft smack. “Let's go!” He yelled, just as the hotel room door burst open and their Ukranian connection went down with a single shot from the cops gun.

Greg, Y/n and Billy all ran out onto the balcony, easily pulling themselves up onto the rooftops and off they went, jumping building to building, easily putting distance between the cops and themselves. Everything was going perfectly, Billy had the necklace still latched between his teeth as they ran, Greg jumping onto the sign they had deemed perfect to cross over the large gap.

Billy chanced a look back at Y/n and that's when he slipped.

He never slipped.

He swung wildly from the line, Greg shouting from above him. Y/n jumped down and reached her hand out towards him.

“Grab my hand!” Billy gritted out through his clenched teeth as he swung closer to her, but instead of grabbing his hand, she went straight for the necklace. “My hand!” The line he was holding onto snapped and he his hand tried to find anything to grab onto. It seemed to him that Y/n just couldn't reach his hands because all she did was keep a hold of the necklace that he held between his teeth. “Y/n…” He whispered as best as he could, locking eyes with her, seeing no fear in them. His grip on the necklace faltered enough that soon he was falling backwards, watching Y/n stand up, watching him fall with a triumphant smile on her face.

Billy watched her in slow motion as he fell. He watched her look up at Greg with a smirk, Greg’s face painted with a look of horror as he watched her let him drop. She never even looked down at him falling, looking at the necklace with a cold smile on her face as she jumped up, level with Greg. “I'm rich!”

She was still holding the necklace. She was only worried about the necklace.

Y/n had been his dream but his dream turned out to be nothing but a nightmare.

#ben hardy fanfiction #ben hardy fanfic #four/billy x reader #6U #6 underground #6 underground fanfic #four!6 underground #Billy!6underground #ben jones fanfiction #ben jones #ben hardy #Billy!6underground x reader #four!ben #Billy!ben #Four!6 underground x reader #my writing

71 notes · View notes

spnreactionblogging · 3 years

Text

DESPAIR

SPOILERS BELOW / tw suicide sort of

ah the title really does sum this up. I am filled with such dread going in. I know cas gets sent to super hell, I know the destiel shippers are declaring it canon (but then, when haven't they), and I've heard from a reliable source that the show officially as of just now is queerbaiting for real by making it vague and easy to ignore it instead of actually confirming anything. plus nobody seems to give a fuck about jack, as usual, and sam didn't get to say goodbye? god how can this get better???? I hope buckleming got to fucking murder castiel! that would really improve this for me!!! the cherry on the shit sundae for real so okay here goes. ugh. I have this angel's envy bourbon at 1PM, oops. I feel like I will need it for this one more than the others I also am ensconced in my castiel trenchcoat + "be super good" shirt, and cas, crowley, and sam the q-pals are joining me. dean is banished to remain in the tote bag they live in. god I want to scream. this fucking synopsis "With the plan in full motion, Sam, Dean, Castiel and Jack fight for the good for the common goal." oh the plan to use Jack as a suicide bomb???? great idea. lol I hate this. whose "common good"????????? ah but yes dean runs a dictatorship right. no wonder chuck butts heads with him dean looks so fucking smug in the amazon prime video app, hovering over the episode where cas will die horribly. fuck. there is nothing that can emotionally prepare me for this episode the show is going to end with sam and dean because it started with sam and dean and chuck/the IRL writers are bitter about it I guess??? delete fucking everything god, very fucking cute of dean to be like WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING!!! you fucking piece of shit you forcememed this to go as quickly as possible because you want Jack fucking dead, don't pretend you care god. fuck. jack apologizing for dying, to the empty. I hate everything so much ah, so that's why the opening title screen has been that. gross. horrible. a jack singularity is that it? really? jack's dead? just like that. okay. awful. oh he's MAYBE dead. reassuring. I see that briana buckmaster and jim beaver will be joining us my cat is sitting in front of the TV trying to prevent me from watching this, trying to save me from myself oh and felicia day oh this one's written by robert berens, I mostly trust him I think sam should've photocopied the book first oh hey RSJ directed this one I'm glad to have rachel miner back in any capacity that's... alpha/omega on the side there? makes sense I hope it's a fake book god I love sam sitting on the like. what is that, weird equipment panels? more confirmation sam is queer, you heard it here what leverage does dean even think he has cool jack's just getting tortured now "the boy is still useful" at least billie isn't pretending to care about him. oh she left the book thank fuck cas goes to him right away, please hug this child alcohol is not gonna help you guys sleep oh here's dean's half-assed apology. "sorry not sorry that I just couldn't stop, I couldn't help it, I just wanted to get what I wanted, and now that I didn't get what I wanted, sowwy uwu I guess" "you've snapped me out of worse" yeah don't minimize this, sam oh yeah michael exists. I notice dean refers to him as michael and not including adam. way to go I notice that sam does not drink right away "to somehow" those eggs look great "no guns at the table" is a solid rule not only for how miserable that is, but because everything surrounding firearms is a carcinogen and doesn't need to be near food please love yourself charlie please eat good eggs am I supposed to know stevie, was she part of the alternate universe, I still like never watched most of 10-13 oh we're gonna kill MULTIPLE queer characters in this episode, awesome. we gonna kill charlie AGAIN??????? we brought her back just to kill her off, AGAIN? LIKE KEVIN? and bobby I guess?? can I just say how much I hate the concept of a "final boss fight" like why is it always ending in a fight, why is violence always the answer, and why do we feel like one final violent action will solve all the problems huh charlie's shirt looks like a tycho album cover okay so I didn't forget stevie, she was brand new? maybe? I love cas and jack :( feels strange because this all sucks there's no such thing as destiny, jack don't fucking die for sam and dean and 'the world' damn right, cas, he doesn't need "absolution" well that's true for you, cas, you care because he's him. dean just wants to use him cas and jack are good. charlie this was so not your fault. as usual this is the winchesters' fault. tell 'em charlie!!! get 'em!!! you're not sorry, dean. "What now?" is a huge fucking mood, dean oh, greg! our old friend! greg was a real one (but not anymore) yeah eileen's screwed. this includes sam too. and dean i guess. sam is a good person who cares about people despite dean's best efforts to stop him I can't see who he's texting. are cas and jack in the back? poor eileen :( god poor sam having to basically get eileen in front of eyewitnesses who can attest that she disappeared cas and jack are in the backseat yeah I wish he'd tell her she's never gonna reply now yeah she's gone. interesting use of technology that they couldn't've done earlier in the series, to show she was typing but then stopped god that's awful. fuck. "If I let myself go then I'll lose my mind. I can't, right now." that's a huge fucking mood sam let's just postpone all that grief for later. gotta shove it down. huge fucking mood. god I'm so sorry somewhere central... the... bunker? don't split everyone up dean, fuck yes revenge is definitely the answer. killing things is the answer. "not having a choice" is obviously the answer. you fucker we get a sam and dean hug but where's the one for cas. you can like... see it in sam and jack's eyes that they are worried they're never gonna see them again. I'm horrified that cas isn't getting to say goodbye to jack nor sam. I can't handle this. I guess this scene is where they took that last group photo that misha posted back in march? RIP :( oh hey donna jack, that feeling is TheDepression oh gas-n-sip sam's sweet to try to give jack some autonomy here instead of having him just... being shuffled around like baggage. is that eileen's car then this music is intense don't burn the fucking library also wow dean with the reaper blade again is oof. wow. yikes. dean is become death, destroyer of worlds for real. jesus that is fucking horrifying to see. aren't you, dean? aren't you a bringer of death. remember when you hated doing that back in season... 4? 5? later? dean has learned nothing. sam's been trapped in a silo before hasn't he. or that panic room or something. donna is sweet. jack is good. jack deserves better. sam :( donna is very kind I like hearing jody and garth mentioned even if they're not in this episode (?) oh hey charlie sam at least knows how you feel, charlie I like this set god I've missed jim beaver is jack going around with spraypaint? I'm like oh god there's no ventilation. I guess it's a paint bucket but still the fumes are bad. better than being evaporated though I guess big man on campus. RIP stanford sam at least there's a bucket. praeses magna. "president large"? thinking about how it would be impossible to have extras for episodes 19 and 20 I like watching jack paint RIP that plant. apparently he has his powers dean walks around way too comfortably with the reaper scythe. oh but the plan has changed. did billie leave that book and nobody read it?????? dean you don't have friends, bud. yeah how did you tink you would even stand a chance, dean. this is the worst plan ever I'm so tired of seeing cas get tortured. I don't want to see billie get hurt either. is "billie" actually the empty or something "Has virtutes conliga. Eas integra. Eas firma. Nos omnes serva." = "These virtues bind. Those infected. These are strong. We keep them all." idk google translate, I feel like that may not be "infected" but more like integrity I like the effects they did on the wardings there yeah pretty much you can't stop god oh I'm real sad about that couple who vanished together :( bye charlie bye bobby. :( bye donna??? oh that like gold paint gossamer looking shit going on with billie's arm is cool god I'm glad billie smacked him in the face, dean deserves it. I just rewound it to see dean get clocked again, it's so worth it so they went back to the bunker... for what? billie can just go there. sam and jack are gonna have such a rough fucking day. all those double cheeseburgers are back for revenge on dean billie's right actually. dean always thinks the rules don't apply to him because he thinks he should be making the rules. castiel should be with jack, not with dean. fuck. can't cas still heal people the scythe on the wall is a good visual. I really like lisa berry, she does an amazing job is this the same room with the ma'lak box always happy to bleed for the winchesters. christ. fuck. even with dean's pocketknife. cas I'm so sorry. sweetheart you don't deserve this. 7B? so Jack was trapped in 5B, this is a different room but probably the same actual setpiece just rearranged do you just... have to wait her out yeah yeah dean you suck. correct, you never should've left sam and jack. wow I feel zero sympathy for dean at all. you do it to yourselllllf you do, that's what really hurts. oh baby don't summon the empty please :( I'm so glad to know that cas never told them about how he saved jack, it's none of their business yeah it would be with jack, cas. you should be with him man this is shitty. this is like a bad fanfic for real. wow these shots are like, when it cuts between them it's so obvious these were not the same camera lmao fuck. how many takes was this god i hate dean. he has not done this for love. dean is a spiteful person. "you're the most caring man on earth" literally kill me. I want to die. jesus fuck. i want to be dead this is awful this sucks this actually really hurts. this sucks so much. dean you squandered this angel's life. now jack has no father. i hate you dean winchester. i hate you. you don't deserve cas loving you jack knows, jack can feel it. I hate hate hate hate hate hate that jack is left alone with the winchesters. i hate this. jesus fuck i hate this so much i hate this jack sweetheart I'm so sorry dean you fucking ass please pick up the fucking phone. please answer sam. i hate you god dean i hate you fuck dean you are the worst. fuck my life. fuck all this. fuck this show. i'm so angry castiel deserves so much better than this. fuck i'm so mad. why wasn't his moment of happiness knowing that JACK WASN'T GOING TO DIE. i hate this. I'm so upset. fucking shit-ass writing. and it's still not fucking canon you morons at least uh they don't have to have extras for the last two episodes? did they add that footage after? is that what got changed up? everyone's gone huh. god just. dump the show right into the trash. bye. also for fuck's sake nobody gives a fuck about jack like I didn't even know he survived. nobody cares. "sam didn't get to say goodbye" FUCKING JACK DIDN'T GET TO SAY GOODBYE fuck this so much. fuck, is dean just chuck's OC? made in his image and furious that his mini-me isn't acting the way he wants? is that why he gets exonerated at every turn? "all the evil shit you did is fine dean you're the MOST LOVING AND THE BESTEST EVER!!!" fuuuuuck

#s15e18

4 notes · View notes

stahlop · 4 years

Text

Once Upon a Time 2x18 “Selfless, Brave, and True” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04 2x05 2x06 2x07 2x08 2x09 2x10 2x11 2x12 2x13 2x14 2x15 2x16 2x17

Yeah, so I’m not a huge fan of this episode. We have no recourse from last week’s episode whatsoever, plus I don’t feel like August got his rightful comeuppance for what he did to Emma. He basically got a do over for finally doing the right thing after a lifetime of not doing the right thing. Plus, the whole Tamara thing is very convoluted. She happened to run into the one person from the EF, and then ran into Neal because she saw him talking to August later on? Or did she suspect Neal was magical too? And she happens to know Greg? It’s a lot of either coincidence or convoluted plotting. Also, I realized why I didn’t remember this episode very well, this episode came out on March 24th, 2013, the day my middle daughter was born. So I was probably in the newborn haze when I got around to watching the episode.

Summary: We see August’s desperation when his leg starts turning back into wood and ends up stealing money from a sick Tamara to try and save himself. In Storybrooke, Mary Margaret discovers August hiding out in the woods and she, Emma, and Marco spend their time looking for him after he runs away.

Opening: Trailer

New Characters:

Tamara: So we finally, truly meet Neal’s fiance. We got a small glimpse of her when she was introduced at the end of The Queen is Dead, but now we get to see that she’s a lot more than she says she is. In the past, we see her in Hong Kong, seeking out The Dragon to cure her from cancer. She and August run into each other in a bar where she idiotically shows him her money (why is she carrying $10,000 in small bills in an envelope in her bag and taking it out for anyone to see?), then leaves it with him to go take a phone call. She seems too trusting, but I have no reason to believe she knows who August is at this point. Since she seems to just be interested in taking out The Dragon when the time comes. August steals her money, of course, but she catches up with him later after he uses her money to get the elixir to fix his leg. She chases him through the streets and eventually his leg hurts him too badly and he falls and drops the elixir, which Tamara rightfully takes. Tamara goes to see The Dragon again and she wants the truth from him. He accuses her of being dishonest because she doesn’t actually have cancer. She’s been looking for magic. She’s analyzed the contents of the elixir he gave August and can’t find a single element in it that’s from our world. They go back and forth about magic and how he’s helping people with afflictions that can’t be fixed by science, and she basically decides that no one else can find him, so (with a look of trepidation) she pulls out a taser. The Dragon starts smoking and possibly changing into his true form but before he can complete the transformation, Tamara tases him and kills him? I’m still debating on what kind of taser could kill a magical being or if maybe he just left the body that he was using as The Dragon with all that smoke before Tamara tased him. Tamara picks up the picture of her grandmother that she’d given The Dragon as her personal item (besides the money), and leaves. We then see an exchange between August and Neal that Tamara is watching through her compact. After August takes off on his bike, Tamara walks toward Neal and gets him to bump into her, facilitating their first meeting and how she became his fiance.

Tamara seems like the perfect, doting girlfriend when she arrives in Storybrooke. She tells the story of how she and Neal met when Henry asks. Neal ran into her and spilled her coffee all over her. He gave her his scarf to cover the stain and his number. She seems pretty okay with the fact that her fiance suddenly has a son he never knew about and that he’s now back in contact with his ex due to sudden fatherhood. She’s just very supportive all around. And that’s when Neal decides to tell her he’s from the Enchanted Forest. Tamara, of course, thinks Neal is insane. He gives her the storybook that Henry left, and Tamara is confused because it’s just a book of fairy tales. He shows her a picture of himself as a boy. Tamara thinks Neal is trying to break up with her for Emma. He tells her he is not, but Tamara doesn’t believe him. She tells him when he’s ready to be honest with her to come and find her. She plays the perfect girlfriend so well. Tamara overhears Mary Margaret telling Emma and Marco that she found August, that he’s completely wooden, and that he’s living in a trailer by the toll bridge. So she goes to pay him a visit. She mentions him being made of wood and August is surprised she can see him. And she says my thoughts exactly, she believed in The Dragon so of course she believes in magic. Tamara wants August to leave town, he owes her for what he did to her in Hong Kong. He wants her to explain how he found her, but she poses the more important questions, how is she there. August deduces the elixir worked for her cancer and Tamara says she has more in her apartment in New York, he just has to go get it. In return, he leaves Storybrooke and never return. Well, that’s not ominous or anything. August sees her engagement ring and realizes she’s Neal’s fiance. He accuses them of coming to Storybrooke to steal the magic, but Tamara says Neal has nothing to do with this (that should really be August’s first clue that Tamara isn’t on the up and up because what are the odds she met Neal randomly otherwise?). August again says he needs to know what she’s up to, but Tamara knows he’s all about self-preservation and gives him her car keys. August attempts to call Emma to warn her about Tamara, but she cuts the phone line. Tamara tells August she wanted him to save himself, and he tells her that’s what he’s trying to do. August basically tells her she won’t get away with what she’s doing, but he wastes too much time monologuing because she tases him. Tamara witnesses Mother Superior turning August back into a real boy and ‘realizes’ everything Neal told her is true. Neal gives her the out to go back to New York, but she says she wants to stay with him, and Neal thinks he’s so lucky to have met her. And then we find out that Tamara is the Her that Greg keeps calling and they make out in front of Greg’s open door at Granny’s.

The Dragon: We don’t really know much about him except that he’s magical, he’s not from this realm, he helps people that science has failed (as long as they pay), and no one has met the real him. He looks like he’s going to transform into something, but Tamara tases him before he can.

Character Observations:

August: In the past, we see how awful of a person August is. He seems to have wasted the $20,000 that he was supposed to give to Emma on moving to Thailand, drinking and living on the beach. He wakes up when his leg starts turning into wood. His girlfriend doesn’t see it. August decides he needs to see a doctor. And apparently he needs to go to Hong Kong to do it.The doctor thinks August is pulling his leg (ha!) when he tells him his leg is turning to wood, but then August decides stabbing his leg would prove his point. The doctor, clearly disturbed by his patient stabbing himself and not noticing that no blood came out of this stab wound, calls for security to take August to psych. August apparently didn’t think about the fact that if you’re not magically inclined no one can see you turning into wood and they will automatically think you’re crazy. So he runs off trying to escape from security. He’s grabbed from behind into a storage closet by Quon (as IMDB so helpfully told me, or Jianyu/Jason Mendoza from The Good Place), who heard him yelling about his situation and knows someone who can help him. August follows him to The Dragon’s waiting room, where he is a good Samaritan and picks up another patient’s phone, and it just so happens that patient is Tamara. August goes to see The Dragon and tries to test his abilities by showing him the wrong leg first. The Dragon knows it’s the other leg that ails him. August shows him the other leg and The Dragon sees that it’s turning to wood and calls him Pinocchio. August is unnerved that The Dragon knows who he is and asks if he’s from the Enchanted Forest. The Dragon never confirms, but tells him he’s asking the wrong questions. Which is, can The Dragon help him, and he can. But he needs a personal item and $10,000 dollars. For the personal item, he wants the necklace string August has around his neck. It’s from the strings Geppetto used to bring him to life when he was just an inanimate puppet. He gives him until that night to bring him the money. August at a market looking at the lack of funds in his wallet. He sees Tamara in a bar and she invites him over for a drink. He sees all her money just sitting in her bag. When she tells him she has cancer, you can see the internal conflict going on in his mind about whether he can steal the money and technically kill her. When she leaves to take a phone call and asks him to watch her bag, well, I can understand where he might think that’s a valid reason to take it. I mean, that’s pretty dumb on her part. August goes to The Dragon and pays him the money and gets the elixir, but not after The Dragon tells him the turning to wood is just a symptom of a bigger problem that only August can cure himself. Now, if he’d been smart, he would’ve drank it in the waiting room or even on the steps, but no. He decides to go down the stairs, with his bum leg, and take a drink when he gets to the bottom. But Tamara catches up with him before he can take a drink. She chases him through the streets and eventually, his leg trips him up and he falls and drops the elixir. She takes it and leaves crying manbaby, August, in the streets of Hong Kong (okay, I get that he’s really crying over his life choices, but seriously, he looks so pathetic in this scene). August goes back to The Dragon a few days later but finds him dead. We later see August talking to Neal in New York, he’s telling Neal he’s turning back into wood and he has to go to Storybrooke to get Emma to break the curse so he stops it from killing him. He says he’ll send Neal a postcard when the curse is broken.

In Storybrooke, Mary Margaret comes across a completely wooden August hiding out in an abandoned trailer in the middle of the woods. Mary Margaret is understandably confused since the curse broke. August explains that when it broke he went from not being able to move, having been consumed by the wood, to being able to move again. It’s his punishment for not following the rules set out for him. Mary Margaret tries to convince him to come to town because Emma and Marco miss him (I seriously doubt Emma is missing him), and that Henry’s father is now there. August is hopeful that Emma and Neal are back together, but Mary Margaret informs him they aren’t and that Neal is engaged. August looks regretful about this and goes on a tirade about how hope basically sucks and it hits too close to home for Mary Margaret who is looking for redemption herself. She tries to convince him that everyone deserves a second chance, but August isn’t buying it because she’s Snow White who has never done anything that needed forgiveness (Mary Margaret must be really sick of everyone thinking she can do no wrong). He doesn’t want to go back and tells Mary Margaret not to tell anyone she saw him. Later on, there is knocking on his trailer door and it’s Tamara! He’s surprised he can see that he’s made of wood, even though she believed in the magic of The Dragon. She tells him she wants him to leave town, no questions asked, because he owes her, and she has some of the elixir left and she’ll let him have it. August realizes she’s Neal’s fiance and wonders if she and Neal are there to take or get rid of magic. Tamara assures him that Neal has nothing to do with this. He takes her car and drives out of town, but then he hits a bump and the picture of Tamara and her grandmother, that she had given to The Dragon, falls down from the sun visor. August realizes that Tamara must have killed The Dragon. He heads to the police station, desperate to find Emma, but she’s out in the woods looking for him. He somehow manages to call her from the ancient rotary phone in the station but Tamara cuts the phone lines before he can tell Emma about Tamara. He tells her he knows what she did to The Dragon and then monologues a bit about how he hasn’t led a good life and only he can cure that, and he won’t let her get away with whatever she’s doing. Which, ugh, just get out of their August before she, oops, too late. She tased you. August makes it outside just as Emma and crew get there, but he doesn’t manage to tell her anything before he dies. Mother Superior comes and Marco begs her to save him, and they decide that this one last bit of bravery is enough to make up for all his past misdeeds (he had to save Geppetto from Monstro the whale when he was little puppet to get turned into a real boy, and dying to try and get info to Emma is what saves him this time, what the hell?) so she turns him into a real boy. Yes, he is no longer August but back to being child Pinocchio. So now he gets his second chance and all the harm he caused Emma has been reset, because he doesn’t remember anything from being August.

Mary Margaret: She’s still depressed and in bed. She overhears David and Emma arguing about her and she finally decides to get out of bed. She packs a bag and decides she needs some alone time. David wants to come with her but she reminds him that he’s working with Anton in the bean fields and they might have a crop soon. David thinks they can just go back to the Enchanted Forest and forget about being in Storybrooke, but Mary Margaret says going back there will not erase what she’s done. She is doing some target practice in the woods (and listening to some Joan Jett while doing so) when she hears something in the woods and finds August (complete with broken arrow sticking out of his leg) in a trailer. She is confused that he is still wood after the curse broke, but August explains about how it’s his own punishment. Mary Margaret tries to convince him to come back to town, and let’s him know that Emma and Marco miss him (I think Mary Margaret is assuming about Emma, because I don’t think she would miss the person who helped put her in jail). She also lets him know that Henry’s father is back. You can see the confusion on her face when August mentions Neal’s name and hopes that they’re back together (since she doesn’t know the connection between them). He then goes on about redemption and mistakes made and how some things you just don’t come back from and of course, since Mary Margaret is going through the whole killing Cora guilt, she takes it personally. She tells August everyone deserves a second chance, but he goes on about how she’s perfect Snow White and never has to worry about those things. August was seven when the curse hit, what the hell does he know about Snow White except she was the queen? Seriously, does he know anything about her past, because if he did, he wouldn’t say such bullshit and make her feel bad. She’s on the verge of tears and then she tells him he needs to stop feeling sorry for himself (herself) and face the people in the town. August tells her to leave and tell no one that she saw him. Of course, Mary Margaret goes straight to Granny’s to go tell Emma and Marco she found him (with a detour of running into Regina who bates her by telling her the fish special is blackened sole). She tells them he’s completely wooden and that hopefully, Mother Superior will be able to turn him back. Mother Superior can’t help him, because he hasn’t been selfless, brave, and true. Mary Margaret argues that he should get another chance because they’ve all done things they aren’t proud of and Mother Superior agrees that if he can do things he needs to get back on the right path then she can change him. Mary Margaret tells Marco there’s still hope for August. Mary Margaret, Marco, and Emma head toward the trailer and Marco laments that this is all his fault. Mary Margaret tells him their children make their own decisions, but Marco finally confesses about the whole two people could go in the wardrobe and he sent Pinocchio to care for Emma. Mary Margaret is, understandably, upset because she could have gone with Emma and raised her. Marco apologizes and Mary Margaret slaps him (go Mary Margaret, I’ve been waiting for this confrontation and it did not disappoint). Emma is appalled at Mary Margaret’s behavior because Marco apologized (so what, she has the right to her emotions), Marco feels he deserved it, but Mary Margaret feels like she wasn’t in control of her actions and apologizes to Marco. She understands and would have done the same for Emma (she kind of did with sending her with supposedly no protection at all). It seems like they’re going to say more, but Mary Margaret notices they’ve arrived at August’s trailer. He’s not there when they go in. On their way back, Emma gets a phone call from August and they hightail it back to the station (and pick up Henry and David on the way?). August comes out and ‘dies’ and Mary Margaret is heartbroken because he didn’t get his second chance (projecting much Mary Margaret?). Luckily, Mother Superior is able to turn him back into Pinocchio and Mary Margaret is so relieved that he’s getting his second chance. Which means she’ll get a second chance. Mary Margaret finally comes clean to David about going to Regina. David is upset because Mary Margaret could have died, and Mary Margaret matter-of-factly tells him that’s what she had intended. She tells him that Regina ripped out her heart and found the dark spot. David wants to know why she didn’t say anything. She felt it would make it real; she wanted to believe redemption was possible. David reminds her that August got redeemed, but Mary Margaret reminds David that it cost August everything to do so. David tells her she’s not August and she’s not Regina, so there are other ways to redeem herself. Mary Margaret doesn’t understand how he can be so sure, but he says he knows her heart better than anyone, so that’s how he’s sure.

Emma/Neal/Henry: Emma is pissed that David is still coddling Mary Margaret when he makes her breakfast in bed. She thinks they need to haul her ass out of bed and get her to start living again. Emma tells him that the only one who can help Mary Margaret is Mary Margaret. She and Henry leave to go so Neal. When Henry leaves to go get some hot chocolates, Neal informs Emma that Tamara went into the storage closet and Hook wasn’t there, and Tamara was in the storage closet because she was getting things to come to Storybrooke. Emma is concerned about bringing an outsider in. Neal says he needs her. Emma says he needs to tell her about who he is and where he’s from and to stop lying to her. Neal wants Emma to stay, but Emma really doesn’t want to and gives the excuse of needing to go to the Sheriff’s station. He convinces her to stay (with bagels, it’s always about food with Emma). Cue awkward silence when Tamara, Neal, Emma, and Henry are all eating bagels. Henry finally asks how Neal and Tamara met to break the ice. Neal seems like he doesn’t know what to say so Tamara takes the reins and tells it. Emma tells her it sounds like fate (and that’s actually cutting because we know how she feels about that). Neal even looks at her like he knows she’s kind of being bitchy. Emma has to take Henry to David’s (is Henry helping work in the bean fields?), and Henry tells Neal to keep the story book he’d brought over. Neal decides to tell Tamara the truth and she doesn’t react kindly to it. She thinks he wants to dump her for Emma. She tells him when he wants to be honest to come find her. The one time Neal is honest it blows up in his face. Still no sympathy for him. Mary Margaret asks Emma and Marco to meet her at the diner. I’m not sure if Emma is truly concerned for August, or just worried about the fact that he’s completely wooden. They go see Mother Superior who tells them that August did come to her after the curse to change him back. Emma wants to know why she didn’t, and she explains that August basically made himself the way he was by not adhering to the rules. Emma, Marco, and Mary Margaret go to the woods to find August and Marco confesses his wrongdoings concerning the wardrobe. Emma is saddened when she sees how hurt Mary Margaret that she could have gone with Emma through the wardrobe. Emma is pretty shocked though when Mary Margaret slaps Marco. Emma looks like she doesn’t know how to handle the situation even after both Mary Margaret and Marco apologize to each other. Emma is really concerned when August tries to call and warn her about something but is cut off. She, Mary Margaret, Marco, David, and Henry go to the station where August collapses in Marco’s arms. He tries to warn Emma again but ‘dies’ before he can. Neal walks up right at this moment and Emma is freaking out that someone killed August. Henry thinks that Mother Superior will be able to save him since he was doing a selfless, brave, and true act. August gets turned back into Pinocchio and Emma hopes he can give her the info he was trying to give before he was changed, but he can’t. Emma is worried because obviously, someone in town killed August. Now I know she doesn’t know everyone in town, but my two guesses would be either Greg or Tamara because they don’t belong there. Anyway, Neal witnesses this whole thing too, as does Tamara who finally ‘believes’. Neal can’t believe he got so lucky to find a woman like her. He wasn’t, Tamara orchestrated their meeting, but he’s oblivious because he’s in ‘love’. Ugh. Back at the loft, Emma finally apologizes for lying to Henry about Neal and promises never to lie again (then tell him what an ass Neal is! She’s still lying by omission if Henry ever finds out.). Henry says he won’t push her away anymore and they hug and make up.

Greg/Regina: These two meet in Granny’s while Greg is eating a piece of apple pie (appropriate). Regina wants to thank him for calling about Henry. He has a soft spot for little kids in trouble. Regina thinks he looks familiar and can’t figure out why. He jokes about her possibly having been in PA, but she hasn’t. She’s happier than we’ve ever seen her for just talking to a stranger. She tells him not to hesitate to ask her for anything during his visit. Regina goes to leave and runs into Mary Margaret who looks like a deer in headlights when they run into each other. Regina goes all devious looking when she suggests the fish special, blackened sole. Greg goes back to his room later and finds Regina there. She’s finally figured out that he’s Owen from all those years ago. She still has the lanyard he gave her from all those years ago. She’s admiring how grown up he is. She even tries to lovingly touch his face, but he backs away from that gesture, pretty disgusted. Greg comments how he recognized her right away, because she looks exactly the same. Regina plays it off as if she does juice cleanses. Right. She says he could have come to her and told him why he was there. Greg thinks she should know why he’s there, but Regina says she has no idea. Greg says he’s looking for his father. Regina seems shocked, she claims he left shortly after Greg did and she never saw him again. Greg doesn’t believe her, because that would mean his father abandoned him. Regina swears it’s the truth. He tells her people just don’t disappear (um, I think a lot of people with missing children and relatives would disagree with you on that, and that has nothing to do with a fantastical town), but Regina says little boys tend to have overactive imaginations. He gets defensive and tells her he’s not a little boy anymore and he’s not leaving without his father. Regina says he is and she’ll let Granny know he’s checking out tomorrow. Greg asks what happens if he doesn’t leave. Regina says that sometimes people do disappear. Later that night, Greg gets a call from Her and then a knock on his door. It’s Tamara, and she is Her. They don’t have much time because Neal is in the shower, so they start making out. Ew.

Questions:

How are the beans almost ready to harvest when it took them 100 years in the Enchanted Forest?

Why does August go to a doctor in Hong Kong when he’s in Thailand? They aren’t anywhere near each other. It’s a 7 hour flight from Phuket to Hong Kong.

Is Quon just hanging around hospitals listening in on private doctor/patient conversations in case he can send someone to The Dragon? Is that his job? Scrounging up sickly or dying people, who hopefully have money, so The Dragon can cure them?

Where did this trailer come from that August is staying in?

Is there any rhyme or reason to the story book? There’s a picture of the Mad Hatter, Hansel and Gretel, and then Bae all in a row.

Why is there a picture of young Bae in the storybook? Doesn’t the storybook only cover the fairy tales in the years directly preceding the curse?

Why was Tamara wearing a headscarf and sunglasses in the waiting room of The Dragon, but not later when August runs into her for a drink? I know, it was supposed to be so we didn’t recognize her, but it makes no sense that she’d be hiding her identity in an indoor room and not out in a public, outdoor bar.

Why does The Dragon need a personal item? Does that have something to do with the magic?

How the hell did Tamara find August’s trailer? I know she overheard it was near the toll bridge, but David got lost going there in The Shepherd and he’d been there before. How did Tamara find this area without asking anyone (or maybe Greg helped her out since he’d been hiking out there in Welcome to Storybrooke).

Why does The Dragon have Tamara’s photo of her and her grandmother sitting out on his table? He doesn’t have any other personal items out? Did he know August had stolen the money and had it out as a possible guilt trip to see if he’d do the right thing? Or was it just for plot purposes?

If Tamara drove to Storybrooke, how was she going to explain her car missing to Neal when she gave August her car keys and told him not to come back?

How is August getting food? Does he need to eat? There are food wrappers on his counter, so it seems like he does.

So, is Tamara a scientist of some sort? How does she have access to the most sophisticated techniques to analyze the elixir?

How high is the voltage on that taser that it kills a magical being? Or is it a magic taser? That would be ironic if she killed a magical being with a magical taser.

Any ideas on who The Dragon really is? (Spoiler alert: we never find out) I’m going with Mushu because of the red smoke.

Was The Dragon not seeing anyone the day Tamara tased him? Where were the people in the waiting room? Where was his assistant, the guy that brought August there in the first place?

How did Tamara know August came back to Storybrooke and was at the sheriff’s station? Was she tracking him somehow. Does she have a tracker on her car?

How did August find Neal in New York? Last time he saw him was in Canada. Or were they keeping in touch all this time in case the curse broke?

Also, why was Neal so surprised about Emma finding him when he a) knew the curse was starting to break, and b) had received a postcard from August once it had broken?

I have so many questions concerning Tamara and Neal’s meeting. Was she in New York to go after August but decided to go after Neal instead because they knew each other? Did she know Neal had a magical background and that’s why she orchestrated their meeting? Was she using Neal to get August but found a bigger gold mine instead? Did she know about Storybrooke and everyone in it since we know she and Greg are together?

Observations:

It’s October 24th when August’s leg turns back into wood, and the newspaper from Welcome to Storybrooke was dated October 23rd, meaning Emma’s birthday is definitely October 23rd. Which is when the Pilot aired.

August’s clock says 8:15 when his leg turns to wood. He is in Phuket, Thailand, which is 11 hours ahead of Maine. If it had been 8:15 at night when Emma decided to stay in Storybrooke, then it should have been 7:15 the next morning in Phuket, not 8:15. And also it should have been the 25th of October since it’s the following morning.

Neal and Tamara are looking at the picture of young Bae in the story book, but when they close the book it’s on the picture of Snow and Charming’s wedding.

Mary Margaret’s expression when she runs into Regina at Granny’s is the exact same expression she had in Welcome to Storybrooke when she would run into Regina on the street.

Wood doesn’t conduct electricity. Now, assuming August is completely wood and doesn’t have any water in him like most humans have, Tamara’s taser must be magical.

August tells Neal he’ll send him a postcard when this is all over. Neal had asked August to send him a postcard when things changed in Tallahassee and Neal actually received a postcard from August in Broken.

Oh, look, we went from August having dark brown hair and blue eyes to Pinocchio having red hair and brown eyes.

So, yeah. That was that episode. We finally found out what happened to August after the curse broke. We found out he really is a douchebag. I mean, he stole the $20,000 Neal gave him to give to Emma, and then he stole the $10,000 Tamara had for her cure (even if she wasn’t really sick). He is not brave, not truthful, and very selfish, and yet he gets to live his life over again. Whatever. We find out that Tamara is working with Greg and apparently wants magic in some way. Really, the only good thing about this episode was Mary Margaret getting out of her funk with target practice.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes @thisonesatellite @justbecauseyoubelievesomething @laschatzi @profdanglaisstuff @mariakov81 @lfh1226-linda

#once upon a time #once upon a time review #once upon a time rewatch #once upon a time 2x18 #once upon a time selfless brave and true

11 notes · View notes

animation-recaps-by-sean · 4 years

Text

Steven Universe Future-Homeworld Bound/Everything’s Fine/I Am My Monster/The Future Recap

It’s over isn’t it? Spoilers below

Steven decides to go live with the Diamonds. The Crystals Gems can’t help him. Gee Steven it would be nice if you’d let them try. Before he goes he tells Jasper that he’s not taking her service. Do something better with her life. He walls off the Gems and warps to Homeworld as Garnet tearfully says that they’re his family.

Upon arriving in Homeworld we discover that the Diamonds have in fact stepped down since the movie and there is an election between the two Zircons from The Trail. The old throne room has turned into a museum.

Steven runs into Spinel who takes him to Yellow Diamond who is healing shattered Gems because she has domain of the body. Huh, guess it was mostly Yellow’s stuff that healed Jasper. And Yellow even mentions needing to heal the cluster. That’s good. But she can’t stop Steven from freaking out; that’s Blue domain.

So he sees Blue who is now making happy clouds. Insert drug joke here. But Steven needs real peace of mind not temporary happiness. So he sees White who is now letting gems control her. That’s.. Strange. She demonstrates with Spinel, which was horrifying. But Steven’s next but he doesn’t take it well; seeing himself as a diamond. He flashes back to the time White tried to kill him. He then makes White smashes her head, which smashes his own head. It’s not clear if he was just trying to hurt her or shatter her but it’s a dark place.

Scared of the diamonds and scared of himself he asks Spinel how she let her own anger go. It was Steven of course. Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, "Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. Says, "But doctor...I am Pagliacci.”

Steven flees, Blue pleading that they’re family. But he’s gone.

Steven returns to his home and he’s trapped in his pink form. The gems find him but Steven insists that he’s fine. Not wanting to scare him off again, they back off. Steven returns to Little Homeworld to help the school. He ruins Peridot’s class by creating planet monsters, he breaks Bismish’s anvil. We also see the Pearls. Yellow rocks the armor look, and they are still hiding Vollyball’s face.

After completely wrecking the place, Steven returns home to be confronted by the Gems’ Greg, and Connie. But Steven doesn’t want to talk. He helps people, he doesn’t lie to his family, he doesn’t get into fights with his Dad, and he certainly doesn’t shatter gems. But he did. He did all those things. He’s a monster. And thus, Steven turns into a monster.

Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis show up around the same time the Diamonds show up with Spinal; they are shocked to find Steven’s a corrupted monster. The Diamonds' powers are useless on him. Steven bieleve’s he’s a monster, so he’s a monster. Amethyst blames herself for not noticing in time, Spinal blames herself for trying to kill everyone he cared about, White blames herself for treating Rose and the Diamonds so horrible, creating the situation that Steven had to deal with. She’s not wrong.

But Connie realizes that they can’t afford to make this about them. It’s about Steven. So Garnet has Yellow make her huge, and Garnet hugs Steven. Soon everybody joins in, Peridot crying that Steven never gave up on her so she’s not giving up on him. Connie comes in with another hug and Steven returns to well, Steven.

Steven awakes to his friends and loved ones, and the Diamonds. He finds himself naked and being slobbered on by Lion. He breaks down.

A few months later Steven is getting ready to go on a long road trip. He’’s also been going to therapy. Finally.

He gives gifts to everyone. He makes his own Cookie Cats and the gems treat Steven to their own cover of the Cookie Cat jinggle. Jasper has moved to Little Homeworld but is still calling Steven, ‘My Diamond.’ She tries to go with him to be his bodyguard, but Steven points out that he doesn’t need one. She considers and busts through a wall. As everyone says goodbye, Steven plants a kiss on Connie’s lips and FINALLY! I’ve been waiting for this kiss for six years!

But as he’s leaving, Steven wants to know why the Gems aren’t more sad. But they’ve been hiding it was Garnet saw a future where their tears stopped Steven from going. Garnet promises no matter where he ended up, they will always be a part of his life.

This gets a 3 ½ out of 4

I can’t help but feel that Rose got the short end of the stick. We get a tolkien mention of White being the source of her problems but we never got closure on Steven’s complicated feelings about her. Maybe that’s the point, that they keep being complicated. But it bothers me that the Diamonds got promoted to opening credits while Rose got her portrait shoved into Lion. And we never found out about her mystery chest of secrets. Maybe they’re saving it for a possible sequel a few years down the road or maybe it was just a mystery box they never figured out. Time will tell but still a little disappointing.

Future was a tough sit, watching Steven go with he’s worst impulses was really hard. But the stuck the landing, much better than the main show or the movie. The Steven POV worked a lot better because this was a mini series focused on Steven.

This was the last show that was already going when I started this blog way back in 2014. I’ve been watching this show since episode one back in 2013. AWhen I heard that one of the storyboarders on some of my favorite Adventure Time episodes was getting her own show I was excited. It’s been a big part of my life for awhile and has always been a part of this blog. It’s hard to see it go.

It was far from perfect. The pacing was frustrated especially in the later seasons. Not helped by why too much human episodes compared to the slow developing plot. The loss model style hurt way more than it helped, making it hard to tell when they were trying something funny or just an off day for the artist. The hiatus’ did not help but that wasn’t the crewnverse’s fault. That was a network thing.

But it had the strongest character writing of any show I seen and a world I loved seeing. It tackled issues that few other cartoons did. It showed a frank depiction of mental illness. And it’s LGBTQ representation was second to none. It kicked open a door that allowed countless kids see themselves in cartoons for the first time. It handled gay characters and issues with more maturity than most shows aimed at adults. There is no doubt in my mind that we would not have as many gay characters in childern’s enetertament hadn’t Steven Universe hadn’t been what it was.

Goodbye Steven Universe. I hope we meet again.

#steven universe #su #steven universe future #suf #steven universe spoilers #steven universe future spoilers #cartoon network #animation recaps by sean

12 notes · View notes