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hwanhd · 1 year

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THE MOMENT OF TRUTH word count: 1223 words

Evaluations had long ended yet the feeling and the thrill from the evaluation had remained in Hwan’s head for days to weeks. So when the raven-haired trainee had received the email along with the details of when, where, what to wear and what to expect, Hwan feels like he’s on the climax of what it feels like to be on a rollercoaster ride. Imagine this, the evaluation had only been a build up similarly to being on a big dipper that is heading up on the peak of the ride and the email is him hanging onto the peak with the ride pausing on top and refusing to move to build up anticipation of what the drop would be. Hwan waits for the drop as the days come for when he’s scheduled to meet with the representatives.

Just like how it felt attending Hwang Garam’s Solstice Night event about almost a month back, Hwan finds himself to be as nervous, if not more especially when it is a meeting over what well (or didn’t) from the performance he has done for the evaluation that’s been tasked to them. The dress shirt Hwan is wearing feels bigger than his usual sizing, but he kept it tucked neatly to avoid any creases and to make him look clean and well prepared. Fortunately for him, it does not tighten around his neck as the one he had wore for the winter party and for that, Hwan breaths with ease. He heads in early and waits to be called.

When his turn arrives, he greets the talent consultant and her team with politeness and without stumbling over his words despite the nervousness that builds up over time; it’s a skill that he had hon over practices with public speaking, and eventually confidence or being able to buff how he had actually felt.

Before the consultant could rely his scores over, he finds the attendance of Choi Yohan, the founder of Kiss Studios and someone of high authority in the label Hwan is in, joining the interview session. He greets him quickly yet with a respective bow before he’s prompted to be at ease and to have a seat.

There’s a small introduction exchanged between Hwan and the consultants since they have yet to meet personally before aside them being present during the evaluations, and the small conversation helps the trainee relax before they get into the highlights of the interview. The first compliment Hwan has received is the synergy and combined efforts of Team A. He nods along when it is mentioned that the song that they were given of, Beatbox, had been a new element and genre that the company is working on and had been praised of creating a good mood with each other to highlight the song. But comes the less promising commentary as well how they could have worked on areas that had been lacking. There’s a soft sigh or relief however when the talent consultant had praised their mood making and when asked if Hwan remember how it feels, he replies. “I honestly do. I still feel the thrill from that day until now. One may have been bored from practicing and singing the song for days and would be relief especially after the period of performance for it has ended, but the song was great and spoke heavy volumes. I still can’t get “everywhere I go, bring the beatbox” out of my head and occasionally sing to it when I am doing my daily practices or chores as well.” he laughs at his commentary.

While the room may have lighten up in mood and for Hwan’s own emotions as well, he braces himself for the individual performance remark which is delivered by the founder of his label. Thankfully, Yohan had nothing but praise for his leadership despite it being Hwan’s first time leading the role. Admittedly, there had been times where he doubted his own leadership, wondering if he had filled the role well and he had to thank his Team A members for being kind and following his lead well despite their differences in not only the labels they are in but as well as their personalities and creative takes.

The feedback that follows up from Yohan and from the assistants makes Hwan feel shy; feeling his ears burning up since he isn’t used to being showered with continuous compliments. Being praised for being the only trainee from Kiss Studios had made him happy and prideful that he had not disappoint the founder and how instead, he had done his best to shine and represent his label name.

Following the compliments of his individual performance, he’s given his scores which comes off surprising for Hwan himself. If it had been evident on his face on how shocking it was for Hwan to hear the score, he had tried to keep a stoic expression as much as possible. The laugh he earns from Choi Yohan himself and the talent consultants however, beg to differ how much Hwan tries to hide his expression, causing him to fluster.

“Oh geez,” the trainee responds in his native language which earns the attendees another fit of laughter over his response which Hwan himself eventually joins in reaction. “I’m entirely grateful over the scores and to be quite honest, I am quite surprise to be able to be placed in a standing that is higher that what I originally thought of. I am still lacking in some aspects to which I am working really hard to overcome and to be better, but knowing now that I am being viewed this well, will only make me work even harder, what now especially with the opportunities I am presented. Once again, I’m really thankful to all of you and especially Choi Yohan-ssaem for giving me this opportunity as well”

Once his speech of gratitude is done, they being another conversation in regards to future project, where he’s being listed as a candidate for Kiss Studios’ male trainee debut. Along the mentions of debut possibilities and being granted with more company access, he’s also kept informed in regards to the change of his practice schedule and how he is now given a bit more freedom on one weekday.

“Thank you for the chances given, and I will continue to put in my best efforts. I am also thankful for the producer assistant role opportunity and to be given such possibility. I believe I will do my best to not disappoint while working on other skills that will help my career progress.”

The interview ended up being stretched for an hour but it had been more than enough for Hwan to feel the drop of the rollercoaster ride when it finally ends and as he exited the interview room.

“This is it. The moment of truth.” Hwan mumbles to himself as he takes a deep breath and sighing in relief once again over the results of his evaluation.

Now that he is given more opportunities to grow as a person and with the possibilities of debuting, he will work even harder; be better, and with the assistant role given, he’s excited to be able to expand his horizon and to explore things that he would not have been able to do if it wasn’t for his scores for the evaluation.

The anticipated evaluations marked a crucial moment to your character’s idol progression. Team A, B, and C, were slotted for the very first day of evaluations between over 30+ qualified trainees. With training reverting back to normal, and your character, Hwan Lee, will receive an e-mail from Hydra Staff with the date and time for their formal interview. Dress code is business casual, and the interview will take place in the Office Section of the building, led by Talent Consultant Jang Hei-ran and her team. They’ll be the ones relaying individual scores, remarks from personnel (CEOs, instructors, etc.), and as previously stated, providing next step strategies. It’s a hallmark moment that, admittedly, the company believes your character is ready for. The meeting will presumably last for half or hours or more, pending on dialogue.

𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐀 will hear great remarks about the group’s teamwork, best overall within the six qualifying teams. “We were delighted to see a combined effort, the seven of you fit extremely well together. You were tasked with an upbeat hip-hop inspired track, and it was a uh, new genre our in-house producers were testing out. And there was a perfect synergy.” The compliment draws on and seems to be gearing towards that inevitable ‘but.’ “However, the overall mood should’ve been stronger in a lot of areas.” Heiran nods in agreement to her assistant’s words, having a few thoughts of her own and cuts in. “The team got us excited for the performance, and it showed you all were excited. How do you remember the performance?” The woman’s voice was pointed, yet her curled grin made her look pleasant at face value. A dichotomy between genuinely curiosity to know the trainee’s point of view, and accusatory, goading a response that could be neither right or wrong. “Hmm, let’s move forward to your independent results.”

“Kiss Studios’ Choi Yo-han personally attended your evaluation, and he praised you highly as a leader, Lee Hwan. We fully believe in the sentiment your teammates fed from your energy.” The assistant also gives their praise, admiring how he was the only from the team from Kiss Studios, how he was balanced and executed the leading position confidently. It’s an outstanding result, we won’t keep you guessing for long. The project for male trainees under Kiss Studios is pending verification, but we’ve certified your profile as a top contender. In the meantime, we’ve shortened your trainee schedule to Monday through Thursday, but we expect your tenacity to stay consistent. We have programs for you to choose from, a Producer assistant role namely, and we encourage you to sign up. While we select the rest of the project group, keep your efforts up.”

This tasks is for Hwan Lee! Formal Interviews traditionally go over more overview notes (skillset critique), and the extended trainee contract to highlight the need for discrepancy. Your character is now a Debut Candidate under 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐎𝐒 and will have access on to the backdoor entrance of the company building, allowed mostly for artists and staff. In order to complete the Debut Preparation Task, players will have to:

SOLO: Write a complete thread (300+ words) about your character’s second interview. Take into account the fact the results, debut news, feelings about meeting future teammates, and having to be on their best behavior. The interview will be between your character and two Hydra personnel in a private training studio located on the lower floors of Hydra’s main building. Earn 25 POINTS to increase any skill on their point page or choose to collect.

Be sure to tag threads with #hd:tasks & #hd:eval!The deadline for threads/point submissions is February 12, 2023. Please, do not post mod submission until thread is completed. The thread should be placed above the divider and under a ‘read more’ if not already placed.

#submission #hd:tasks #hd:eval #sp; the moment of truth #hwan after this interview: AAaaaAAaaaAAAAaaaAAaAAaaAAaa

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milkiane · 3 years

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clairvoyant; jj maybank

summary: perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad to start dating again, especially if it’s jj maybank we’re talking about.

warnings: vaguely based on that one scene in lcdp 5 with tokyo and rio, hints of insomnia, profanities. gif credits to @jjmaybanks

word count: 1508

night has already fallen, the dreamy light of the moon lit up the dark blue sky, sprinkled with countless small stars. one by one, as if to invite people to the vast space and explore the starry sky.

the window of your bedroom was open, allowing in a cool night breeze that was accompanied by the moonlight that was trickling into heavenly rays.

it was a lovely night, and yet by a quirk of fate, you couldn’t seem to relish the beautiful evening in peace.

you sighed, climbing out of the comfort of your own bed for a walk on the beach. perhaps it would help with easing your insomnolence.

you expected to be alone by the shore when you arrived, hoping for even a smidge of peace of mind. but the dark outline of a boy sitting by the crashing waves proved you wrong.

you wrapped your arms around yourself tighter as you walked towards him, relaxing as you took in the slight familiarity of his features. you could hear the soft music faintly playing from his phone as you near him.

“jj, right?”

the sudden sound of your voice made him jump, snapping his attention away from the glimmering stars. once he managed to compose himself, he cleared his throat and nodded, “yeah.”

“what are you doing?” you asked softly as you sat beside him.

jj hesitated for a moment, looking over at you. “watching the stars.”

you hummed, leaning against your arms as you looked up at the starry sky. you sat in silence, occasionally humming along with the songs that were playing as jj shot you some subtle looks as if trying to figure you out.

you laid back against the sand and lifted your finger up, tracing the stars into a pattern. “isn’t that the dipper?”

jj looked up at where you’re pointing. “yeah,” he grabbed your hand and moved it a bit to the left. “that one there is ursa major, and that one’s polaris.”

you smiled, tilting your head to look at him. “i didn’t peg you to be this type of person.”

“yeah, well,” he sighed. “you don’t know me.”

“i’d like to get to know you, though,” you shrugged, looking back at the stars. “is it true that you can read the future in the stars?”

“do you know how?” you asked.

jj jutted his bottom lip out, eyes still trained at the sky. “i mean, i do, uh, i do have some notions.”

you nodded. “read my future, mr maybank.”

“really?” he asked, watching as you nod at him with a goofy smile. “okay.”

he laid down next to you and cleared his throat. “okay, so, looking at the star arrangement… it looks like you’re going to meet a guy.”

“yeah?” you mused, admiring his side view. “is he cute?”

jj hummed, tapping his chin in thought. “for that, we’ll have to check the angle of andromeda.”

you chuckled, gesturing to him to go on.

he lifted his finger up and pointed at a constellation. “look, there it is.”

you furrowed your eyebrows, raising your arm upwards as you tried to look for it. “show me.”

he grabbed your arm as he did earlier and slowly pointed it towards andromeda. “there you go,” he smiled, looking at you.

“oh,” you hummed. “what does it say, then?”

“ah,” he grimaced as he let out a disapproving sigh, making you look over at him curiously. “what?”

“well, the guy is pretty normal,” his eyes locked with yours. “pretty sad, too.”

he glanced back at the sky. “an average guy, but he’s a good guy.”

you bit back a smile as you looked away from him. “well, i don’t know how i’ll meet this guy. do we at least have a meet-cute?”

“that’s a question for cassiopeia,” he grinned as you laughed. “let’s ask her.”

jj furrowed his eyebrows in mock confusion. “wow, that’s weird,”

“what is?” you asked in anticipation.

“cassiopeia says you’ll meet him dancing.” jj spoke, fiddling with his phone in his other hand when i wish that i could see you soon by herman dune started playing.

your mouth curved into a smile as you looked over at him, he didn’t look at you, but there was a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

jj suddenly stood up and offered you his hand. “so, do you wanna dance?”

you clasped your hand in his and let him lift you up. “woo me, maybank.”

for the rest of the song, the two of you danced like the only people in the world, just two carefree teenagers living in the moment.

your bodies were moving in sync, arms and legs loose as you laughed at each other’s goofy dance moves.

it was only when the music changed into a slow one did you ease up, breathless after a good few minutes of having a great time.

jj dramatically bowed down and offered you his hand once more. “m’lady?”

you snickered, placing your hand on top of his. “good sir,”

he pulled you a bit closer to him, slowly swaying your body with his. he had your hand intertwined with his as the other was respectfully wrapped around your waist.

you laid your head against his chest, listening to the soft thump of his heart as you slow danced to the music, getting lost in the moment with only the moon and the stars watching.

“when will i meet you again?” jj whispered, twirling you around.

“you’ll know when you see me,” you quipped, gazing into his eyes before breaking contact.

“how about,” he started as he rested his chin on top of your head. “i’ll see you again on a date?”

you winced for a moment before glancing up at him with a tight smile. “i’m sorry, jj. i’m just… kind of not really… dunno, looking for anything serious right now.”

“oh,” he faltered for a moment, before giving you a half-hearted smile. “nah, that’s fine, i get it.”

“i’m sorry,” you frowned, pulling away from him slightly. “i really had a lot of fun tonight, though,”

“me, too,” he smiled, tucking a strand of your hair behind your hair.

“i’ll see you around, j,” you kissed his cheek before backing away slowly. “good night.”

“yeah,” he trailed off, touching his cheek as he felt the heat creep up.

it has been at least a few weeks since jj has seen you. he’s been thinking about his encounter with you every passing day. he goes out every day in hopes of getting even just a glimpse of you.

“jj!” john b hit him at the back of his head. “are you even listening, man?”

“he’s probably thinking about that girl again.” pope snickered as they walked towards the wreck. “i still can’t believe you spent at least a few hours with her, living in this cliche romantic movie, and you didn’t even catch her name.”

“i was too caught in the moment, okay, man?” jj defended, raising his arms up as they took a turn. “it’s not like- oomf,”

“ouch,” you cried, rubbing your forehead as you bumped into someone on the sharp turn. you looked up, prepared to go off about watching where they were going when your eyes locked with a certain blue-eyed boy. “jj?”

“hey,” he breathed, taking in the sight of you.

“told you you’ll know when you see me.” you grinned, ignoring the gawking looks of his friends.

“oh shit,” jj could faintly hear john b and pope conversing about you and him but he didn’t care.

“well, i guess the universe wants you to reconsider not going on a date with me.” he meekly jokes. he’s still upset that the only girl he’s ever found interest in didn’t want to go out with him.

“jj…” you sighed, mustering up a small smile at the poor boy.

“not looking for anything serious right now, i know,” he chuckled curtly.

“yeah,” you agreed halfheartedly, before clearing your throat. “well, uh, i have some errands to do. it was nice seeing you again, jj.”

“right, yeah,” he smiled. “i’ll catch you around?”

“yeah,” you chuckled, stepping forward to get a move on. “i’ll catch you around.”

he offered you one last smile before walking away, leaving you to watch as he moved farther away from you. you sighed, turning around to leave.

you liked jj. the connection you felt with him was extraordinary — nothing you’ve ever felt before. there was a present feeling of soft intimacy between you two that goes just beyond words. it was as if you've connected on a deeper soul level even though you’ve only known each other for an hour and a half.

maybe getting back out there wouldn’t be so bad. especially if it’s with jj.

"fuck it." you spun on your heels, and called out, “jj, wait!”

though far away, he managed to hear the sound of your voice and turned back around. “yeah?”

you grinned, throwing your arms up. “one date, surprise me.”

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tedturneriscrazy · 3 years

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Here's Eclipse Lake, an episode that has been highly anticipated! Will it top Knock, Knock, Knockin' On Hooty's Door?

I'll skip the pretense: No. It won't.

You'll see under the cut.

Hmm, that list of ingredients for the Grimwalker...I'll let other people theorize about this (like @sepublic ), but it sure looks like a thing

Guess the mysterious green goo won't cut it, huh?

Belos face reveal already?! Huh, didn't expect it so soon.

Oh, no, he's hot! (And I'm mad about it)

Still an ass, though

Now we know why Hunter was wearing a different outfit (because people fixated on that for some reason)

Amity with the clipboard gives me strong Dipper vibes

GHOST! My beloved!

I need a moment because CAT!

(Also, someone pointed out earlier that Ghost was based on Dana's cat, and that's super obvious in hindsight)

Raine?! Oh, wait, you mean rain. Sigh.

Eda gets training tips from DBZ confirmed

(Also Amity's face when reacting to Eda's explanation is priceless)

Oh God Eda's a weeb I need another moment

Damn, Amity just straight up calling Eda old

Oh, loopy Luz

(The abomination holding the tissue box is adorable for many reasons)

Yeah, don't want Luz to eat the McGuffin

I have several questions about those Tamagotchis that I'll refrain from listing here

Amity your Odalia is showing

Girlfriend counter: 1

(Yes I am introducing a counting gag, deal with it)

Was wondering if they were ever gonna reference the dissection incident. We've come a long way, baby!

Oh, so that's what everyone was looking at

Luz honey your enthusiasm is admirable but no

Luz burrito is quite cute, though

Girlfriend counter: 2

(Damn, still wild to think that that's the case)

Just occurred to me that "Boots" is probably shortened from "Bossyboots" from earlier

Guess the Luz hiss compilation needs to be updated again

Those tunnels ain't the only thing around here that's unstable, amirite?

Oops, guess Kiki was justified, after all

Maybe don't talk so loudly about your plans, dude

That is her son, get it right!

Serves you right for having that stupid strand of hair sticking out like that

Is this just the episode where everyone dunks on White Boy? Because I can totally get behind that.

Already mentioned this, but I am loving the parallels between Katara and Amity with that bottle of abomination goo. Insert obligatory "Two Nickels" meme here about Mae Whitman.

We really are just dunking on the white boy and I am living for it

Hooty had to get it from somewhere, I suppose

Nothing says mother-son bonding like shooting things at each other (see also: Separate Tides)

I'm sure the magic bouncing off the veins won't come into play later at all

Oh well, at least the echolocation looked cool

At this point Amity would kill Hunter for a Klondike bar

Wait why does Hooty need a chair

Willow with the galaxy brain ideas

"A bad but sad boy" Luz is a genius at succinctly summing people up

Kikimora continues to be unhinged. Ironically she's not wrong about Hunter.

Motherfucker stop acting like you know what that says

(Also, projecting much?)

Girlfriend counter: 3

Friendly reminder that Hunter is still an antagonist

Uh oh

UH OH

I know someone mentioned Willow having the brain cell, but honestly it seemed like Luz had it this whole time. And that's not good.

WHY IS FOOL'S BLOOD EVEN A THING

Aaaaand cue the getting screwed over

Further reminder that he's still an antagonist (Apparently there's a vocal segment who's Really Mad at him that seem to forget this fact)

You unhand Ghost right now!! And Amity too, I guess.

(I kid, she's literally my second favorite character)

For what she did to Raine it warms my heart to know Kiki has had zero peace of mind

Wait, the Abomatons are Transformers?! Okay, that's kind of awesome, actually. Alador might be a shit dad but he is a brilliant inventor.

Chucking kids off cliffs is a surpisingly common pastime in the Boiling Isles

Owlbert no!

Eda did spend literal decades fighting the Owl Beast within, so I guess she can't be blamed for not thinking to talk to it

Also hurry up guys I'm very concerned about Owlbert

Fuck yeah Harpy Milf!

Yay Ghost returns!

She's glad they're okay (I didn't need to take this, I just thought it was cute. Also this is surprisingly high quality considering I just took a photo of my TV screen)

Oh, so they do have video games in the Demon Realm. That or Luz introduced them.

Trailer shot!

Oh dear, we about to have a fight over the key

Wow, being so high ranking under Belos is really bad for mental health

Jesus Christ Belos what have you been putting in this poor kid's head?

Leave it to King to give radical recontextualizations

Amity, I'm glad you remembered/realized this about Luz, please don't let the sad white boy play you like that again

Also, I appreciate the gesture you're making, and it's a wonderful summary of your character development, but goddamnit he's gonna go for that key because he's STILL AN ANTAGONIST

"Being nice usually works for Luz!" A) Not always, and B) Amity I love you but Luz you are not. A valiant attempt nonetheless.

Ooh, cool fight scene!

Always lovely to see such superb animation

I was privately griping about not seeing Amity use magic for so long, and now I am fed

Don't think I didn't hear the glass breaking

Appreciate your ass from a hole in the ground, Golden Boy!

(jk I don't actually feel that strongly about him still. That kind of threat still isn't cool, though)

Oh so that's why it's the Common Mold!

It's kinda cute, actually. Or maybe it's just because it's Luz.

TIL Hooty is heat resistant

Apparently Owl Beast just wanted a snack

Girlfriend counter: 4

Also love how calling Amity her awesome girlfriend is literally the first thing Luz says to her upon returning.

Yesssss return the hug! You deserve it!

(I know there are higher quality versions of this screenshot, I just didn't feel like looking around)

King demands huggies, too! (And gets 'em)

Reminder that Amity is smart as hell. I knew that glass breaking indicated something!

So once again I've been had. I let the fandom trick me into thinking this episode would be way more intense. Guess that one screenshot was from the next episode.

Overall this was...fine. Some nice Lumity moments, Harpy Eda strutting her stuff, that gorgeously animated fight sequence; those were all lovely.

I do wish Willow and Gus had a bit more to do. And I'm still rather unenthusiastic about Hunter, to be honest. I've seen his type several times before, and the path they have for him is rather obvious. I may never share the fandom's love for him, and I guess I'll have to deal with that.

Anybody who says this was better than KKKOHD is a damn fool.

Mid season finale next week! I think Yesterday's Lie will finally bring the pain!

#the owl house #amity blight #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #king clawthorne #toh hooty #willow park #gus porter #emperor belos #toh hunter #toh ghost #kikimora #toh s2 spoilers #the owl house s2 spoilers #the owl house season 2 spoilers #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers

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graboidfarmer · 3 years

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Since some of my readers were concerned about Ford and Dipper’s relationship after the last chapter, rest assured that the grunk has not become a tyrant. Here’s a preview of chapter 18:

"On that subject, my boy," Ford says, fixing a firm eye on his nephew, "there's still the matter of your punishment."

Dipper winces in anticipation of another stern lecture, but Ford goes on: "I realize that I may have been a bit harsh with you when I told you to stay behind tonight. I know very well that you've been in dangerous situations before, and to my own shame, I personally had a hand in causing many of those situations. I don't mind saying I'm proud of the way you dealt with them. But that doesn't mean that you're invincible. You might have been killed tonight, Dipper. You understand that, don't you?"

"Yeah," murmurs Dipper, chastened. "I just... miss the whole adventure thing, you know?"

Ford puts his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I imagine going back home to Piedmont after the summer we had together must have been a difficult adjustment. But there's nothing wrong with having a normal life. 'Normal' doesn't have to mean 'boring' or 'mundane'."

"But you've never had a normal life," Dipper points out. "You're always doing fun, crazy stuff."

"True," Ford concedes with a wry smile. "But I'm an old codger. You still have your entire life ahead of you. You need to be focusing on your future, not throwing yourself into danger just for the thrill of it. If anything were to happen to you, especially on my watch, your parents would never forgive me. And I'd never forgive myself."

He looks over at you as he says this.

Dipper sighs. "I know. I'm sorry, Grunkle Ford."

"Apology accepted," he replies kindly. "However, the fact remains that you disobeyed me, so you're still going to have to be punished. And since you offered, there's something you can do to help Mouse."

You blink in surprise as he explains, "As her insomnia progresses, she's going to have a hard time concentrating. She may not be able to keep her eyes open for very long. That means she likely won't be able to read, and you know how much she enjoys reading. That's why you're going to read to her. Aloud. Anything she wants, any time she wants; within reason, of course," he adds with a glance at you. "Does that sound fair?"

Dipper smiles and nods. "I can do that."

Ford gives his shoulder a firm pat. "I knew you could."

As you continue walking, you catch Ford's eye and beckon him to lean in. "That's some good grunkling," you whisper in his ear, making him smile.

#where the light is #wip excerpt

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itsthestutterforme · 3 years

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Undercover (Supernatural)

Redeemed Circuit 3/4

Summary: The Winchesters owed Rowena a favor for saving their tails on a previous hunt. She needed help hunting down a witch that stole from her. In order to do that, she needed Y/N to slip a truth serum into a sponsor's drink. //SMUT Warning 18+

Characters: Dean x POC! reader, Sam x POC! reader, Rowena x POC! reader, Chris Evans as Damien Datson x POC! reader

"This is not what I signed up for," you say with a huff. "I'm here to translate the demon tablet, that's it. No undercover work," you add. "I know but wouldn't it be nice to get your eyes away from those screens and slap on some nice smelling perfume?" Rowena suggests with a smile.

"No." Rowena's smile falls and you add, "Why don't you do it? You're fancy and bougie enough for a gala, aren't you?" "I am dearie, but there's a slight problem with me going." "And what's that?" "I lack melanin, sweetheart." You look up to meet Dean's and Sam's gaze. "This is a load of crap, you know that?"

"So is that a yes?" Sam asks with a small, nervous smile. "Oh my God, fine. But I have a feeling that I'm going to regret this." Rowena laughs and grabs your hand. She stands and drags me into the miniscule bathroom of the hotel.

Apparently, I have to attend this Gala and give a particularly rich sponsor, Damien Datson, a truth serum. This guy has connections to very powerful witches, but there's one that stole something important from Rowena.

A crystal of some sort. The Winchesters owe her from help saving them and their loved ones from the other world. Blah, blah, and here we are.

Once she was done with you, you could barely recognize yourself. Your thick, 3b curls were pulled into a throughly braided bun and your make up matched one of a hot villain you would see in the movies. Rowena did a smokey eyes look with glitter on the outer crease of the eye. She topped the entire look with black lipstick and a satin, maroon dress that dips dangerously low into your breasts.

And of course black, sparky pumps because you refused to wear heels. "You guys owe all the ice cream in the world after this." You snarks as you walk out of the bathroom. "Well, how does she look?" "She looks amazing. You did great, Rowena." Sam says. "I know I did,"

Words were trapped in Dean's throat as he stared at you. There were scars littering her body from when he had the Mark of Cain and tortured you go near death. It was a long time ago and there was a huge misunderstanding.

They moved past it now but it still weighs on him. "Oh look, you made Dean speechless." Rowena taunts. You look to him and his gaze fell on your scar on your leg.

"Hey, come on, let's get this over with so I can get out of these pumps." You say, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You got it," You all walk out of the hotel and hopped into Impala. You let out a soft sigh when Dean pulls up to the steps.

"Remember, darling, smile and slow down your blinking if you want to get a man's attention. It works every time." Rowena suggests. "Got it. See you in a n hour," "Be safe," Sam says.

You nod before leaving the Impala and holding the clutch close to your chest. You walk up the steps and approach the check in table. Rowena mutters a small incantation and the man at the desk let's you in.

"She's good to go," Rowena says and Dean pulls off. "So when are you going to tell Y/N that you're in love with her?" She adds. Dean looks at her through the rear view mirror.

"I've been telling him the same thing but he's hell bent on denying it," "Eh, well I'm sure she'll find a suitor in there who knows what he wants,"

Dean tries his best to suppress a snark remark that would only confirm their suspicions. You walk into the gala and instantly smell champagne and grapes. "Great, there's not even decent food here," you say. "That's exactly what I told my sister when she showed me the menu," a deep voice booms behind you.

"Oh, I wasn't aware I said that aloud. My apologies." You turn around and meet the sparkling navy orbs of beautiful vanilla skinned man. He wears a suit that matches the color of his eyes and tops if off with a black dress shirt and bowtie. The scent of his cologne is alluring and turns something in your stomach I haven't felt before.

"Don't be, you are probably the most honest person at this Gala," "That is saying something," you say, tugging at a loose curl in front of your ear. He tsks lowly and tucks the curl behind your ear. The touch of his hand on your skin sends chills down your body. What the hell is happening? "I'm Damien," "Y/N,"

"Would you like a glass of champagne, Y/N?" "That sounds great," "I know a place that is a lot more interesting. Care to join me?" "Why not?" His hand falls to your lower back and you couldn't help the gasp that left your lips. He hums in response before adding, "You're so responsive."

"I'm a lot of things, honey." You say before taking a sip of your champagne. You follow him up the stairs and into an office. The office looked like something you would find in the Victorian era.

Shelves were littered with thick, colorful books and there was a goregously large window with a bench built right below it to comfortably look out of it.

"It's beautiful," "I would have said as beautiful as you, but it's not even close." "Ha, such a flirt." "You're not the only one that's a lot of things. So are you going to tell me what you're really doing here?" "Beg your pardon?" "No offense, baby, but that make up and that dress has Rowena written all over it."

At this point, you were ready to practice what Dean taught you with a groin kick, right hook and an uppercut. "And I have an inkling on what she wants. But I've got to hand it to her, she sent the perfect distraction."

He steps closer to you and something else awakened in you. Something that your brother taught you after he came back from his first tour as as a Marine.

You grab his arm and swept your leg under his as you twist your body. He falls to the ground and you straddle his waist as you take the dagger from your thigh holster and press it against his throat. "So you like to be on top huh?"

"Just give me Percival's number and nobody will get hurt," you state. "Oh I'll give your her number willingly," "Why?" "You don't believe me, understandable." "Either you never liked her or you rat out your friends when a threat shows up," you state.

He chuckles and grabs your hips before pressing you against the floor. He pins your wrists above your head and the knife falls out of your hand.

"Threat huh?" You send him a glare and he adds, "I never liked her. That's why I'm willing to give you her location." "And what else do you want?"

"That entirely depends on what you agree to." He takes his grip away from your wrists and stands up from the floor. He offers his hands to you and you allow him to lift you off the floor effortlessly.

You brush off the dirt on your hands and dress. You crossed your arms over your chest and he says, "Relax, doll. I won't touch you unless you want me to." You look to him and his face was calm but his eyes still twinkle with amusement.

You brush past him to look out the telescope and smiled when I saw a constellation, one of my favorite ones. "Is that the big dipper and littler dipper side by side?" "I was mesmerized by it too," "Does that normally happen?" "Nope, it's a rare occurrence,"

"Wow, well I'm glad I could see it." You stand upright and turn around to nearly run into his lips. "I thought you said no touching," "I'm not touching you.. yet." You were boxed in against the wall. He's right, he wasn't touching you. But if you moved even an inch, you would touch him.

What the hell? You only live once and he is an extremely attractive man. You tug him closer by the hem of his jacket and lean up to kiss him. He hums lowly into the kiss and his hands slowly slide up your waist. "Damn it, you're intoxicating." He says as he pulls away from your lips.

"Sit down baby," he motions to the desk. You sit down on the of desk and he rubs your thighs. He ducks his head under yours and presses a soft kiss on the base of your neck. His fingers near closer and closer to your clothed heat and you moan in anticipation.

He smiles against your neck and he slowly slides your underwear off. He pulls you to the edge of the desk by your ankles. The nerves get a hold of you and your legs started to shake. "Already, I didn't even get a chance to taste you."

He lifts up the dress and balls it around your waist. He licks his lips before taking you into his mouth. A loud moan leaves your lips as his tongue laps your folds and he sucks at your clit.

His beard scratching against your skin stimulated your body even further. His tongue curls at just the right angle and your legs tremble. He sucks as he pulls back and curls when he goes back in. He stays in the cycle and you buck your hips to find a deeper g-spot but he holds you down.

He twists his tongue so it brushes against your g spot and stimulates your clit at the same time. "Oh fuck." Your hands find his hair and pulls him closer your pussy. You buck your hips again and ride out your first euphoria. He licks up all of your juices before pulling away.

He lifts you into his arms and walks you to the bench. You unzip your dress and pull it over your head. You toss it to the floor and he takes all of you in. "You're so beautiful," he whispers, touching one of your scars. Not wanting any more attention to them, you cups his cheeks and lock your lips with his.

He grabs a hold of your ass and squeezes it tightly. You moan into his mouth and rock your hips against his crotch. "Fuck, doll," he moans as he leans his head back in pleasure. You stop your movements and unfasten his belt to open his pants.

You take his semi hard dick into your hand and give it a few pumps while stick rocking your hips. "You keep that up and I'll finish before we even get started." He says breathlessly. "Do you have a-" you were cut off by him pulling out a condom from his pocket.

You take it and peel it open to wrap it around his member. You sit up a little to line yourself up with him before sinking on him until he bottoms out. "Fuck, you're tighter than I thought," you jerk your hips a little and flex your inner walls when you bounce up.

The grip on your ass tightens and you lean forward to hold onto the wall for balance. You bounce faster spell the world coconut on repeat until you feel his dick twitch inside of you.

Your thrusts became slow and hard until you feel the warmth of his seed. He lifts you up and lays your back on the bench cushions. He pulls out of you to take off this condom and put on a new one. Your back arches when one of his hands slide between your legs and rubs your clit.

He unclips your bra to take one of your nipples into his mouth. You yell out in pure bliss when his covered dick rams into your g-spot that made your walls flutter. Your rolls your hips to match his thrusts and your nails dug into his lower back, sinking himself deeper into you.

You two moan in unison and your second orgasm washed over you. He puts one of your legs on his shoulder to fit the both of you on the bench. Then without warning, he rams into you hard and fast.

Your body was bouncing and shaking under his touch and her rubs harder circles on your clit. Your eyes are pressed shut and you turn your head to the side, unable to form words. Your third orgasm came quicker this time but he keeps thrusting into you. He twists his hips at a different angle and you pull him deeper inside of you by pulling his hips.

You could practically feel him in your cervix. "Oh God," you whimper when he takes your nipple into his mouth again while he pounds into you. Your stomach did flips and you moans matched with his thrusts until pinched your clit, sending you over the edge for the forth time. Soon after, he came again and pulls out of you.

You sit up on opposing ends of the bench and you stare out the window. He stands from the bench and puts his pants and boxers back on. He pulls out a handerchief and hands it to you.

"Thanks," you say, gently taking it from him and wiping off the slickness from your thighs and stomach. A warm blanket is wrapped around your body and you feel his hand brush a loose curl from your face. "You okay?" He asks, softly. "Never better," you say with a smile.

"You mind if I hold you?" he asks, taking you by surprise. Out of all of the sexual experiences you've experienced, none of them were as considerate as Damien. "Sure."

"You seem surprised," he states as he slides behind you and pulls your back against his chest. He wraps his arms around you and draws small, soft circles on your stomach. You close your eyes and lean your head on his shoulder. "You're good at this,"

"Hm?" "At making a woman feel cared about," "Is that your way of saying you're taken for granted?" "How did-" "I'm a witch, remember?" "Ah, mind reading," you say. "It definitely helps at times, but no, I can see and read your aura."

"Okay, and what does mine tell you." "It tells me that you feel like a broken glass, and are fearful that you'll never be your version of fixed. You feel guilt but you're having trouble understanding why,"

You twist your body to meet his gaze and he adds, "Am I right?" "I should head back," You take the blanket with you and gather your clothes. You pull on your underwear and dress, careful not to smear your make up. You find a mirror and reapply your black lip stick.

You take out a few bobby pins and clips and your damp, curly hair falls to your shoulders. You feels his hands on your hips and he pulls your hair from your shoulders. He presses a soft kiss to the curve of your neck and says, "If you really feel that way about who you are with, then don't go back."

"It's not that simple," "Sometimes it is. Just think about it." He says before handing me a burner phone. You look from the phone to him before gently taking it. "I will," You turn and he cups your cheeks to kiss you but you pull away.

"Ah, ah, you should have kissed me before I put my lip stick on." "Is that so?" He pulls you to his chest and lifts you up around his waist. You could feel his hard on against your thigh and moan softly.

"I'm pretty sure they're waiting in the.." You trail off when his neck kisses became more sensual. "Make it quick," you say, finally giving in.

Fast forward to walking down the stairs and out of the gala. You tuck the burner phone into your purse before hopping into the Impala. You had a feeling that you would get busted, even after fixing your make up and spraying some perfume.

"Hey," Sam says. "I got a burner phone with all of his contacts and he told me which one was Percival," "I have a feeling you didn't even need the truth serum, did you dearie?" Rowena asks. "No, I didn't. Can we go please?"

"Why the rush, darling? Wait, is that.. cologne?" Embarassment burned your cheeks and you didn't open your mouth to defend yourself. "Y/N, you vixen." she says, nudging your shoulder. Not wanting to meet anyone's gaze, you look out the window.

They finally pull off and you hear your phone chime.

"You'll thank me later," -Rowena.

You look over your shoulder at her and she sends your a playful smirk.

"What are you talking about?" you text.

"You'll see," she responds.

We pull into the garage of the bunker and the first place you go is the bathroom to rid yourself of the hairspray, make up and Damien's scent. Although you still found it intoxicating.

You walk out the bathroom as you dry your hair with a smaller towel. You find Rowena on your bed with the burner phone next to her. "Is there a problem?" "No, just curiousity. How was he, you know, in bed?" "Rowena," you scold.

"Oh come on, I've seen women kill just to be in the same room as him. All you had to do was show up and he was all over you." "He was.. the first actual gentleman that I slept with. He cleaned me up and held me afterwards. It was like he truly cared about md,"

"But I don't know, it was probably some ploy to make me feel better about myself," you add. "On the contrary, he actually texted you a few minutes ago. "What?" "Yeah, he seems interested. I would definitely set up another date,"

"Y/N, can I talk to you for a minute?" Dean says, annoyed from listening to the conversation about another man touching you. "Good luck," Rowena mouths before leaving the room. Dean walks into your room and shuts the door. "Dean?"

#dean smut #dean winchester #sam winchester #rowena #supernatural #chris evans #chrisevans x reader

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toothpastecanyon · 3 years

Text

Noie’s Friends, Chapter 1

A collection of oneshots about Noie's years at college.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

Finding out your brother’s a demon was both more and less surprising than Noie expected. She didn’t anticipate how quickly everything would settle back into a routine; before she knew it, she was finding herself going to the tea shop with her friends, and hanging out with Dipper in her dorm whenever Val wasn’t home - or outside if she was. It felt just like before, only with Dipper right there with her instead of chatting through a screen.

Just like before. Just like before.

She never saw his eyes flicker. She never saw his wings. Sometimes he’d excuse himself to the bathroom for an hour, or disappear when Val burst through the door, but any hint that he was something more than Dipper Argenta was always tucked away behind a door, behind a nervous laugh and a change of the subject, out of sight, out of mind. It was surprising, how much he still hid from her.

Noie… didn’t know how to tell him it was okay. Part of her was a little relieved he was still keeping it under wraps; with remembering came old memories, old nightmares of a shadowy figure bursting from her brother and lunging for her, reaching in and ripping out… she’d never tell Dipper how many times she woke up sweating from those.

And then, to have that same shadow in her room, putting his wing around her, being her brother?

Look. Noie so badly wanted to say she’d be okay with it. She wanted more than anything in the world to tell Dipper he didn’t have to pretend to go to the bathroom to answer a summons. And maybe if Dipper hadn’t started pretending again, she’d have gotten used to it by now and it wouldn’t be a problem.

But she didn’t want to be wrong. She didn’t want to say it was okay and then see Alcor and not be okay and… hurt him. She didn’t want to hurt him, okay?

So maybe it was better, like this.

No surprises.

______________________________________________________________

“Boo. Hey, Silver.”

Things were winding down. Gus and Mina had already left the tea shop a while back, Jess had gone to the bathroom, and Mako was on his phone in the corner. The fading sun outside lent a warm, sleepy air to the whole scene; until Bea bumped her shoulder, Noie was feeling about ready to nod off.

“Silver.”

“Yeah?” She rubbed her eyes. “What’s, uh, up?”

“Just got a text from my roommate. AC’s busted.”

“What? Oh…” She looked outside. “Well, at least the sun’s gone down.”

“Nah, he just got home, he says it’s a million degrees in there.” With an enterprising grin, Bea slung an arm around her shoulder. “Lucky I got a friend to take me in for the night, eh?”

“Huh? Me?”

“That would be correct!”

“Wait, I just have one bed-”

“I’ll sleep on the floor. Trust me, I spent my childhood sleeping on elven barkrests, I’ll be fine.”

“Barkrests?”

“Have I never told you about those things?” She chuckled. “That’s a story for tonight. When I’m sleeping at your place. It’s happening, right?”

“Uh… I’ve never had someone stay overnight before.” Noie made a face. “I guess it’d be fine? Yeah… yeah, it’d be fun!”

“That’s the spirit! Now c’mon, let’s get it on!”

They walked out of the tea shop together. Noie nervously pointed the way, and flashed a smile at Bea as she followed along. Bea raised an eyebrow.

“What’s up with you, Silver?”

“Wh-what?”

“You look like I’ve put a gun to your head.” She slowed. “You know I can find somewhere else to stay, ri-”

“No! No, it’s okay! It’s good!”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, no, I’m excited!” Noie barked a laugh. “I just - I don’t know how this works.”

“What’s ‘this’? Walking? Breathing? Existing?” Bea gave a crooked smile. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”

She laughed again at that… and then trailed off. They walked in silence for a little bit, and at some point the streetlamps turned on. Noie wondered if she wanted to say something more, wanted to mention that this was the first time she’d ever had a sleepover - ever had a friend who’d want to sleep over, actually, and wow, that was kind of sad. That’d bring down the mood.

She thought of that, and then cleared her throat. Opened her mouth.

“Jeez, there’s so many crickets out,” Noie said. “I’ve never actually seen a cricket. I’ve only heard them. They’re like ghosts, heh.”

“Man, you’re not missing out. They’re ugly fuckers - one jumped on my face once.”

“Haha, what?”

“Yeah. Let me tell you, everyone thinks it’s so awesome to be an elf and to be all ‘living with nature’ and shit, but this is what they don’t think about: all animals wanna be around you. All animals.”

“Oh. That sucks.”

“You don’t know the half of it, Silver.”

They walked on for a while, chatting as the sun strayed down. Only a dull glow remained as they made their way to the front door; Noie swiped her keycard, and motioned her inside.

“Thank-ye kindly.” Bea glanced around at the stairs branching off from the entrance hall. “Where do we go now? Up, down?”

“Down this one.”

“Ah, they shoved you in the basement.”

Noie snorted. “It’s not too bad. There’s still a little window. My roommate says- Oh shit, Val!”

“Strange thing she says.”

“I should- I hope she’s okay with this, I should’ve asked her, or…”

“Ah, don’t worry too much about it.” Bea slung an arm around her, kept her walking down the halls. “Best lesson you’ll ever learn, Silver: don’t ask permission, ask forgiveness.”

“That’s not- I don’t like that. I don’t think that’s a great lesson, actually.”

“Well sure, you gotta know to use it in the right context. Isn’t your roomie the one who doesn’t clean up her shit and makes you do it?”

Noie was fumbling for her keys. “Yeah, that’s her.”

“Then she’s been asking for a looot of forgivenesses. Let’s say she owes you this one.”

They were approaching Noie’s room. She fished her key out of her bag, and shot Bea a look as she unlocked it.

“Okay… I’m still gonna text her, though.”

“Good, I wasn’t sayin’ you shouldn’t.” Bea strode through the open door as Noie got out her phone. “Aww, look at this place! I didn’t know they made apartments smaller than mine - oh, hey Val. It’s Val, right?”

Val? Noie glanced up from her phone. She was never home this early - was she here? She hurried into the room after Bea, and came across…

Oh.

Dipper was sitting at her computer, an expression of pure shock on his face at the sight of someone other than her. He was going to be a little harder to explain.

“Or, uh, some other name?” Bea asked, and chuckled awkwardly at the ensuing silence. “Any other name?”

“This is Dipper,” Noie cut in. “He’s my brother.”

“Oh, he’s visiting again? Sweet, it’s great to meet you, man. She’s told me a lot about you.”

Bea gave Dipper an easy smile, but Noie noticed how he didn’t return it at all. It wasn’t shock anymore; a different expression had shadowed his features, one that sent a shiver down her spine.

After just a split second too long, he smiled widely, too widely, and rose from his chair. Stuck out his hand.

“Hello,” he said, and narrowed his eyes when she took his hand. “Went right in for the handshake, huh?”

“Yeah? You offered it to me-”

“Beatrice, right?” He kept shaking. “Beatrice Delion. Nice name you’ve got this time round.”

“Do you know me from somewhere?”

“You could say that.”

“I could say that, I could say anything.” Bea bared her smile. “I asked you a question, though.”

“A question you already knew the answer to.”

“A question you could’ve really just answered like a normal fucking pers- augh!”

“Dipper!” Noie yanked Bea’s hand out of his grip. “What was that for?”

He didn’t respond. He didn’t look at her; he stared past her, to Bea cradling her fingers, with a strange gleam in his eyes Noie could only describe as… predatory. Her heart caught in her throat, and she tried to shove him towards the bathroom.

“Hey, why don’t you, uh, take a breather, bro?” She nudged, then elbowed, then pushed, but he wouldn’t move. “Seems like you two got off on the wrong foot.”

“He got off on the wrong foot, you mean.” Bea chuckled; there was an edge to it. “And here I was thinking you’d be a cool guy.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Means that you’re acting like an asshole, man! Take notes, that’s how you answer a question!”

“How-”

“Dipper.” Noie grabbed his arm, and finally he looked at her. “Go to the bathroom.”

“Fine. Come with me, I have to-”

“No. You go to the bathroom, okay?”

“Naomi-”

“Go.”

Dipper glared at her, and for one terrifying moment, Noie thought he wasn’t going to leave. Finally, he turned around, and with a low but rumbling growl, he stalked out of the room.

A growl. The sound turned her blood to ice, and she stood there frozen until Bea put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, not to push an issue or anything, but he’s not staying here tonight, right?”

“What? Oh…” Noie hesitated. “No, he, uh… he has a hotel room.”

“Sweet, ‘cause I wasn’t gonna stay a night with him. Prick.”

She cringed. “Bea, I, I’m so sorry. That wasn’t okay of him at all, I-I don’t even know what-”

“Don’t even stress it, Silver. Trust me, I don’t care. I know how to handle his type.”

Noie felt something at that. It came down on her like a dark cloud, a watchful eye… a presence. Bea gave her a squeeze, and grinned.

“Now, let’s do something fun together, eh? What does the great Silver like to do on her time off?”

“O-on my time off?”

“I assume you don’t stand there waiting for the sun to rise, but that’s not for me to judge.”

“Oh, heh, no…” Noie glanced behind her, and then cleared her throat. “I mean, I don’t do too much, I’m usually on my computer… I dunno, I read, I guess. What about you?”

“Whaddya read?” Bea sifted through the titles on her shelf. “Heh, ‘Rainbow Adventures of Mr McStabberson’? Where’ve I heard that one before?”

“You’ve probably seen the TV show. Did you know it actually started from a book?”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I actually only read the source material pretty recently.” She sat down in her chair. “It’s interesting, actually. I think they’re both kinda good in different ways? Like there’s definitely more about some of the side characters in the book, like Alexy and-” She blinked. “Oh, sorry, I’m rambling. Have you seen the show?”

“Nope.” Bea leaned against the wall, grinning. “I wanna hear about it, though.”

“Really?”

“Hell yeah. Keep going, Silver.”

Noie smiled at that, and launched back into her explanation. For a little while as she talked, the thought of Dipper’s odd behaviour and the presence had entirely slipped her mind.

“-so it was really cool how they expanded on her character in the book. Obviously books aren’t really strapped for time like TV shows are so I get why they dropped some of the smaller character moments, but I think it’s cool to watch the show again with those in mind.” Noie laughed a little. “If you ever wanted to watch it.”

“Hey, seems like some cool new human shit. Wanna watch it right now?”

“Wh- really? I don’t think I can stream it anymore-”

“It’ll be pirated somewhere.” Bea sat down at her computer. “Seriously, I can’t believe you guys’d pay to watch it when there’s a free version floating out there.”

“I dunno, viruses?” She raised an eyebrow at Bea. “You know where to go, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Cool. Well, I guess, if I really wanted something, I’d ask…”

Dipper. Noie made a face at that; it must have been pretty obvious, because Bea looked over at her and gave a wry smile.

“Your brother’s the tech savvy one, eh?”

“Tech savvy? Uh, sure… you could say that.”

“I see you’re a fan of that phrase too.”

“Wha- oh! Oh, sorry-”

“Ah, don’t you worry about it. I’m teasing you! I’m teasing.” Bea sat back in her chair, chuckling a little as her smile faded. Her eyes, fixed on the computer screen, suddenly flitted up to meet hers. “You said he’s got classes up at SASU, right.”

“Dipper?”

“No, a squirrel. Of course I meant Dipper.”

“Oh, heh, sorry.” Noie fiddled with the front of her shirt; this was getting into some dicey territory. “Yeah, he, uh, takes online courses, mostly?”

“I see, I see.”

“Yeah… so he can come up and visit a lot. That’s why. That’s why he can do that, I mean.”

Bea was nodding. “I see. So he’s here a lot of the time with you, huh.”

There was a strange tension to the air, building the more she spoke. Noie found herself shivering a little, though she wasn’t cold.

“Yeah! Yeah, he is.” She leaned forwards with her widest smile. “So, how are we-”

“Does he act like that a lot?”

A sudden spike. The walls felt closer, and the lights felt starker. Bea’s carefully blank expression suddenly had an air of menace, of danger to it, and Noie leaned back.

“L-like what?”

“You know what.” Bea said, and sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to corner you in anything. I’m just wondering how happy you are with a brother who comes around and acts like that around your friends, y’know?”

Noie felt a pit in her stomach. “Wh- oh, oh no, Bea… you have the wrong idea, okay?”

“Okay.”

“He’s not usually like that, I swear. Like, genuinely, he’s not, I’m gonna talk to him about that later, I…”

“Okay. Seriously, it’s okay. You know your brother better than me.” Bea stretched, slowly, deliberately. “Just wanted to say, you better talk to him about this weird eavesdropping enchantment he’s got going on, too.”

Eavesdropping enchantment. It was like the air froze in place, and Bea gave a wry smile at her wince.

“That’s the one. Bet you barkskin he’ll come through that door any moment-”

The door burst open like an explosion; it made her flinch. She hardly recognised the figure who stormed into the room, pointing fingers, yelling, “I am ņot̶ eavesdropping!”

(and was that the hint of an echo to his voice?)

“I mean, I’d love to agree, but you’re really just proving yourself wrong by barging in-”

“I did not!” He planted himself between Bea and Noie, and stabbed a finger in her face. “I’m here to protect my sister. What are you doing here? What are your intentions?”

Bea raised her eyebrows. “My intentions? Getting somewhere to sleep. Sorry if you were expecting me to say murder, I guess I’m not in the mood.”

“You watch what you’re saying. You have no idea what you’re up against.”

“Oh-hoh, is that a threat?” She chuckled. “Look, human, I get you were top of your magic class in highschool or whatever, but you and your - eh, half -decent - eavesdropping charm aren’t gonna do squat against me.”

Noie could practically see the fury emanating off of her brother. She tried to tug at his sleeve, but it was like he’d stopped paying attention. He was wound up tight, and stone cold to the touch.

“Just walk away, man. Your sister doesn’t want your stupid fucking ‘protection’ bullshit.”

Noie shook her head at her. “Bea-”

“Why don’t you try listening to what she wants?” Bea leaned back in her chair. “You know, if you care about her or whatever.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Noie felt it like a physical pain; she recoiled as Dipper stepped forwards.

“I car͜e ab̛o̵u͝t my̢ si̡şt̷er.”

“Oh, yeah? Then why don’t you prove i-”

And in the blink of an eye, Alcor the Dreambender had her by the throat. Noie watched in horror as his shadowy form snarled and slammed her against the wall so hard it cracked; in a millisecond Bea’s face went from shock to anger to eyes-bugged-out terror.

“M̞͈I̛͕̤̟̹̞Z͎̠A̳̭̪͙͖Ŗ̸̩̮̤͈̭͈ ҉҉̼̺͙̰I̞͔͍͚͕͕͢S̸̞̤͙̜̖͝ ̺̗̘M̥̥͈̬͓͟I͏̤̮N̪͈̺̥̗̘͘͟ͅͅE. M̶̸̦̹͖̜̣̳̤͘ͅI̧̛̼̟͉̞N̴̜͢E. ” He pressed harder, and she struggled for air. “Ḭ̸̺̺̫̟̦̲͇͉ ̥͇̯̣͕S͝͏͓̼E̻̺̲̼E̢̻ ҉̨͚̞̖W̖̘͝Ḩ̢̭̙̰̼̺̮̜A̩͚͓͉͔̤ͅͅT͖͖̩ ̞̗̭̰͓̫̰͍͠Y̳̙͝O̧̨͕͙͕͇͝ͅU̮̺̰͟ͅ'̥̪̣͙R̘̙͇̼ͅE̛͇ ̲͖D͇̖Ǫ͇̮̳̭̫̖͔̼̕I̦͙̫̭̭̯N̶̥̳̖̤̬̱͈͝G̳̳̩̝͠, ̴͇͉͇͖̼͍̰̠̕B̸I̢L̺̰͟Ļ͇͔̺͔̘̝ͅ Ç̬̗̤͕̜I̶̛͖̗̝͙P̸̛̭͔̖͓͎͍͎̦̤͡H̛͚̦̻͉̦͇͝E̲̤̹͓͠R̤̺̬̳̭. I҉̶̲̼ͅ ̝̖͠Ṣ̴̩̩̲͜͞ͅE͏͏̸͓̥͙̲̟̮̤̙͓E̝͠ ҉͈̱Y̧̫̳͖͙͔O̵̩̤̲U͉̬̣̺'̜̼̹͘͟R̘̠̻͡͠E̵̖͇̣̠̦̩̹̹̻̠̫̥͝ͅͅ T͕R͖̩͓̘̪̙͞͞ͅY̡͉̳͖̙͔̺̬̫͟I̴̘̞̮͜͠N̶͓G͙͉̼͎̰͕͘͟ ͞͝͏̖T̷̛͕̞̰̟̥̥͖͍O͚̙̰̞̟̙͡ ̙̫͍̜͓ T̛̻̲̭U̧͇̣̻̭̠ͅR̟̖͠ͅN̞͚̠̝͙͚̠̼ ̵̛̫̗̗͕͜H̴̷̛̱̖̥̤̼̲̤E̩̰͉̪̠͟ͅŖ̻̗̻͔͡ͅ ̱̖A̵̫̻̘̭͕̘̩͢G̤A҉̳͈I̧̤͍̹̰̖̩̩͙͠N̼S̨̘̩̪̜͎̖̭T͙͚ ̷͠͏̩̱̖̳M̸̡̞̻̥͎͓͙E̶̫͕̘!̘̹̘͢”

Noie could barely comprehend what she was seeing. Bea shot her a terrified look and she tried to speak up… but nothing came out. She tried again.

“Di… Dipper…”

Bea was going red in the face. Noie picked up something from the desk - her phone.

“Dipper, stop. Dipper.” She clenched it with a shaking fist, “Dipper, STOP!”

And threw it as hard as she could at the back of his head. It shattered off of his shoulder, and he looked to her with the glowing eyes she saw in her nightmares - oh, stars, oh stars, oh stars…

“Y-you’re killing her, Dipper. You’re killing her!” Noie struggled to look him in the eye. “She didn’t do anything wrong, I-I don’t know why you’re acting this way! Just let her go!”

“Mi̶̛͜za̴r-”

“Please! Please, j-just let her go.”

Alcor the Dreambender stood there for one moment longer, one awful moment longer with the sound of Bea kicking against the wall as she struggled for air. Then he blinked, and stepped back. He let her crumple to the ground, and Noie could feel his eyes on her as she dove to her friend’s side.

“Bea, I-I’m so sorry, are you okay!?”

She tried to rasp out some answer, but it was lost in a coughing fit.

“Oh, my stars. Oh my stars.” Noie felt for her phone. “I’m gonna- I’m gonna call for someone-”

“No…” Bea put her hand out. “I…” she managed, and coughed as she sat up. “I’ll be…”

“No, lie down-”

“Like hell I’m ly-y-ing here.” She pushed Noie aside and staggered to her feet. “Not with…”

She pointed at Alcor as she made for the door. Noie could hardly look at him; he stood still as she followed Bea out of the room.

“Hey, wait! Bea!”

Bea glanced over at her. “You tryin’ to wake up the whole wing, or what?”

“Wh- I…”

“Look, Si- Silv-” She coughed and rubbed her neck. “I don’t know what kinda shit you’re mixed up in, but… we’ll talk later, okay? I gotta find somewhere else to stay tonight.”

“I-”

“I’m not gonna tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m not dumb enough to piss off Alcor the Dreambender… more than I already have, apparently. Fuuck.”

“That’s not what I was…” She stepped forwards. “I’m sorry, Bea, I-I didn’t… I… I can explain-”

“We’ll talk later. Just-” Bea held her hands out. “We’ll talk later, okay? Bye.”

And then she turned a corner and was gone, her footsteps thudding in Noie’s mind like the beat of her heart. She stood there for a moment, eyes staring, mind buzzing, every fiber of her being wishing for this to have all been a dream, for this to have turned out any other way.

Her first night over, with her first real friend, and this happened.

She clenched her fists.

Dipper.

His presence was still there, still watching. She wanted to scream right then and there; it took all her effort to take a deep breath, walk back down the hall, and enter her dorm room.

It was empty. And dark - darker than plain darkness. She jabbed the light switch.

“Dipper.” Noie walked forwards. “We have to talk. Now.”

Nothing, for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something else, but-

“I-I’m here,” Dipper came in through the front door. He looked entirely human again - human, and nervous. “So, uh-”

“What the fuck was that.”

“Yeah… That wasn’t, um, great of me-.”

“‘Wasn’t great of you’, that’s all you’re gonna say for that? Jeez, I don’t wanna hear what a bad day is for you if that is just ‘not great.’” She laughed angrily. “I mean, what the fuck, Dipper! You strangled her!”

“I know.”

“I don’t want to hear about how you know, I wanna know what on earth possessed you to do that! Is that just a thing you do? Are you gonna kill all my friends, or is Bea just lucky?”

“It’s- I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” Dipper avoided his eyes. “I just… got surprised.”

“Got sup-?!”

“No! No, that’s- that’s a bad way of explaining it! Sorry. Sorry, it’s just…” His voice lowered. “a demon thing, I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to, want to hear about, uh, that kinda stuff…”

Noie felt a cold pit in her stomach as he trailed off. A demon thing… her mind flashed back to all the other times that part of her brother had come into play, had hurt people… had killed . Maybe it wasn’t like she was thinking.

“Just tell me why, Dipper.”

“It… it is your friend. You’re right, she’s special, kinda.” He gave a tense chuckle. “Look, um, it’s hard to explain, but her soul, she came in the door and I recognised it.” His fists clenched. “It… belonged to a bad person, a long time ago.”

She frowned. “Dipper, Bea’s been nothing but nice to me since we met. She’s not a bad person-”

“You’re right, she’s probably not! I overreacted, I just- I wasn’t expecting to come across that soul! Usually I can… prepare, to meet that one.” He stared into the middle distance. “An elf, this time around. Strong control of magic, clearly trained in shielding… no wonder I didn’t notice her.” A grimace. “I really hope she’s a good person this time around, that’s… formidable. Have to keep my eye on her.”

Noie made a face. “Dipper…”

“Sorry. I’m sorry, I’m doing it again.” He sighed. “Look, I really am sorry for what I… what I did to your friend. I swear, though, that was a very, very unexpected event. You’re not gonna see me like that again.”

That was a little reassuring… but a sentence jumped out at Noie. She raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean, see you like that?”

“Well… you know.” He mimed something coming out of his back. ‘Like that, you know. My, uh, business attire.”

“Your demon form?” She watched him cringe at that. “You think that’s what bothered me about what happened?”

“Well, not the main thing, but I know… I know it does.”

Noie blinked. “It doesn’t.”

“It’s okay if it does-”

“It doesn’t!” She snapped. “We’ve been over this, I get you’re a demon! What kind of sister would I be if I decided that made me uncomfortable?”

He just looked at her.

“Dipper, it doesn’t! It…” Noie swallowed. “I don’t want you to be scared of sharing stuff like this with me! I don’t want you to hide it, I… I think it makes it scarier. When I don’t know things about you.”

He just looked at her, with that ancient expression. A million alarm bells went off at the being who stood before her; she tried to talk past them, tried to talk to Dipper.

“Because there’s so much I don’t know about you. There’s so much you don’t tell me about you, and I get that it’s probably hard, that you think I don’t want to hear it, but then…” She gestured. “Stuff like this happens, and I don’t know how to react! I don’t know why you’re doing it, I don’t know how to help you… I-I don’t know you, all of a sudden! You’re just a demon, doing demon stuff, a-and that’s scary!”

Noie’s shoulders hurt; she forced them down, forced herself to close her eyes, and take a deep breath. She looked at the floor.

“I don’t… I don’t want to be scared of you, Dipper. I’m sorry that I still… kinda am.” She hugged herself. “I just… I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Dipper didn’t say anything, for a long moment. She stood there, staring down, down at the carpet.

“Noie.”

She didn’t meet his eyes, could hardly bring herself to look higher than his shoes.

Dress shoes, she noticed. Black ones, and black pants. She drew in a breath.

“Noie,” Alcor said. “Do you want a hug?”

She hesitated, and then nodded. The shoes moved, and a second later, a pair of arms wrapped around her. They were longer than Dipper’s usually were, attached to a body taller than Dipper usually was… but they were just as gentle, squeezed just as hard.

She pressed her face into his suit, and mumbled, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I mean it.” She gave him a squeeze. “I wanna be better about this demon stuff. I don’t want you to feel like you gotta hide stuff from me, I wanna know my bro. Even if it gets weird at times.”

“I’m not so sure you want to know everything, Noie.”

“Well… I wanna know important stuff. I wanna know if you have any more souls you randomly hate, for one.” She tried for a chuckle. “I guess… I wanna know what you’d tell any other Mizar. I don’t wanna get the kid gloves, you know?”

Dipper didn’t answer that. For a moment, Noie thought he wasn’t going to, but then she felt a pair of something that wasn’t hands wrap around her midsection. It felt like two weirdly warm blankets, it was… wings?

Oh, yeah. His wings. The feeling of them still made her a little jittery, but she gave a little laugh.

“Yeah,” she said. “Stuff like that.”

“Heh, alright.”

“Are you laughing at me?”

Dipper chuckled. “No.”

“You big jerk!” She snorted and smacked his arm. “You did that to make me jump, didn’t you!”

“Maybe a little.”

“Ohhh, my stars.” Noie grinned up at his toothy smile, his twinkling gold-on-black eyes. It was different, but it was Dipper. “I’ll get you back for this. I’m gonna dump glitter on your wings.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, I’ll catch you when we’re studying, or - no, I’m not gonna tell you when I do it. You just wait.”

“Hah, I will. I’d like to see you try.” Dipper said, and then: “Hmm, not sure if I can even start having my wings out while we study. I mean, you still have your roommate coming in at random, and-”

“Yo No-ster, I’m home!” Val burst through the door with a pizza box. “Do you know math? I have this stupid thing due at 11:59 and-”

She noticed the demon standing in the centre of the room, and stopped dead. Noie tried for a wave.

“Oh, hi, Val! You’re back, uh, early… have you met Dipper? He’s a, uh, cosplayer. Twin Souls.”

“No, I am not. Noie-”

“Sorry, I couldn’t think of anything else- Uh, haha, anyway, he’s…” She kept grinning at Val’s horrified expression. “It’s, uh… so, what pizza did you get? Pepperoni? Mmm, smells great!”

______________________________________________________________

“So they just let you move in, huh?”

Dipper was hanging suits in what used to be Val’s side of the closet. “Yeah, basically. It was even easier than usual, since Dipper Argenta already exists - only had to forge a few things.”

“Only a few things, huh.” Noie snorted at him from atop her bed. “As you do.”

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing.” She grinned at him. “Good to share a room with you again, bro. I missed it… or maybe I just missed not living with Val, hah!”

Dipper chuckled at that, and turned back to folding his clothes. His wings swayed a little as he worked, and she found herself staring at them. They were strange things; every time she saw them, they were a little different, and today they were wide and sloping things that framed his head when they were folded up against his back. There was always a tinge of unreality to them - a voidlike, blacker-than-black colour to them that made it impossible to pick out any detail, made looking at them… a little mesmerising.

“Need something?”

Noie blinked. “Uh, no,” she said, and tore her gaze away. “No, you’re good.”

“Alright, then.” Dipper snuck her a grin. “This is kinda, kinda fun, hanging up clothes! I should do this more often!”

Her phone buzzed. She looked down.

“Well, you can do my closet, uh, any time, bro…” She unlocked it. “Oh.”

“What?”

“Bea got back to me!”

“Oh, cool! She’s outside, then?”

“Yeah!” Noie looked at the text. “It says… ‘I’m here, can’t wait to hear how the fuck you got a demon for a brother. PS…”

“P.S. what?”

“She’s saying not to tell you this joke.”

Dipper frowned. “What does it say?”

“Uh… ‘P.S. - make sure your brother clips his nails before he gets down here, would feel much nicer on the neck. P.P.S - That was a joke, please don’t actually tell him that, I don’t want to die.’”

She looked up after that, and sniggered when her brother rolled his eyes.

“I’m not gonna kill her over a bad joke.”

“It’s not a bad joke, she just got you.”

“She did not! She-” He huffed and fluttered his wings. “Whatever, let’s go.”

“Yeah, she got you, bro! Look, you’re blushing!”

“I’m not!”

“iiiiii’m nooooot!”

“I’m not!” He shook his head at her. “Are you ready? She’s waiting outside.”

“I just gotta get my shoes on.” Noie hopped off the bed and… tried to poke his wing; she ended up just gesturing at it. “I dunno why you’re, uh, getting on my case, you’re way less ready.”

“It takes five seconds to put on a human suit. Look,” There was a snap as Noie put on her shoes. “Noie, look. Noie.”

“I’m looking, I’m looking.” She shoved her feet into sneakers and looked over. “You missed a spot.”

“Where?”

“Riiiight abouuuut…” She jabbed his side. “Here!”

“Aaah! St-stop tickling me, hah! Noie!”

“Alright, alright…” She stopped, and took a moment to straighten his suit. He was looking at her with those familiar brown eyes she was seeing less of these days; after a moment, she remembered to smile back. “Alright. You ready to do a lot of explaining?”

“Readier than I usually am with stuff like this.” He snorted to himself. “You, uh, want me to tesser you down there? I can do that, it’ll be faster than taking the stairs.”

Noie hesitated at that. He noticed; quickly, he added:

“We don’t have to. Just, uh, offering.”

“No, that’s good, that’s… my phone’s buzzing.” Noie pulled it out. “Bea says, um, ‘I’m summoning your brother myself if you make me wait. Maybe I’ll die, but I wanna hear the storyyyyy-’, and a lot of y’s.” She looked back at Dipper, and gave a smile. “Maybe we should go the fast way.”

“Alright.” He offered a hand, and she took it, watched as his eyes flickered to that gold-on-black. “Hold on tight.”

And she did. She closed her eyes, squeezed her brother’s hand, and let him work his magic.

#transcendence au #Noie's Brother #naomi argenta #alcor the dreambender #dipper #oneshot #toothwrites

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bluecoffeemugs · 4 years

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Hey guys... so i just re-wrote the very first chapter to my fic.

I did it bc of many factors, but mainly it was bc I didn’t like it anymore and I noticed how much my writing had improved. It just didn’t seem fair that the ending was much better written than the beginning, bc i feel like no one would get past the first chapters bc of my writing. I mean yeah, it has much more attention that i could hope for, but i’m pretty self-critical about my work, so i just had to re-write it.

Anyway, I’ll just post the chapter here because I want you to give it another chance, maybe it spikes your interest now. I’m putting a whole lot of effort in the ending, it’s got just a couple of chapters left, so it will be a finished fic soon.

Here it is:

(bill cipher x dipper pines. pirate au. pirate!bill. siren!dipper.)

- - - - - - - - - -

The gigantic ship swayed calmly over the ocean. The night was clear, the fresh salty scent of the sea lingered on the deck of the Golden Giant. The only sound besides the water below the ship, crashing small waves on the wooden walls of the ship, was the croaking sound of the captain's footsteps on the wood.

The crew had already released the plank, readying the ship for what they had been planning to do for months. And so, they stood, expectant and eager for what was to come, waiting for orders on deck.

The blond captain walked out of his cabin with a grin on his face. See, their crew had been waiting to catch this creature for months, but he had been waiting years. Oh, captain Bill Cipher knows about sirens. He knows how those beasts slaughter his kind. But he is not afraid of them, not a single ounce! The pirate also know how difficult it can be to catch one, he has heard countless stories and legends, none of them have succeeded. However, there has never been a legendary pirate that has tried to capture a siren.

Indeed. Bill Cipher is a legend. He has been living in the sea for as long as he can remember, and it has slowly become his life as a whole. Since he was a little boy, he was not only charming and ambitious but also highly curious. The supernatural and mystic myths spiked his interest from a very early age, so his drive for adventure and the unknown has never ceased.

Bill Cipher had always been so invested on mysteries, that he became a mystery himself.

The captain seeks creatures — all around the seven seas, and of any kind or species — studies them, and then sells them. The highest bidding of gold takes the price! Cipher doesn't need the creature anymore, what else could he do with them? Set them free? Now that would be insane. Setting them free means letting them go for free. If they won't pay, Cipher won't deliver. Besides, it's none of the blond's concern what the bidders do with the creatures after they buy them. Will they study them as he does? Will they slaughter them? Will they cook them, even if they're still alive, just to know what they taste like and brag about eating a mythic creature? Meh, Cipher doesn't care. He never has.

The blond went down the stairs and on to the deck to meet his crew. Such familiar faces that have grown into a family. See, Bill Cipher didn't always have his own ship and crew. Of course, he did acquire his ship — through a most epic fight he will never forget — when he was eleven years old, but still, not belonging to a family for his entire childhood until he was almost a teenager was not easy.

Belonging. Ha! Bill Cipher knows he doesn't belong. He actually takes pride in it! Because you know what? He figured that belonging to made you somebody else's possession, so he swore to himself he would be the only one who ever got to own himself and/or others.

Nonetheless, his current crew is better than what he could ask for. They are invested in the supernatural almost as much as he is, all of them have unique abilities that benefit him either on battle, on investigation, navigation, or plans, and most importantly, they are loyal. That's the quality Cipher values the most.

The captain was finally greeted by his crew. They were standing in line, looking at their pirate in anticipation, eager. All of them were loaded with their weapons of choice, let it be guns, knives, swords, or even knuckles.

The crew cheered at their captain, smiling widely at him. As the moonlight and oil lanterns were the only light that lit their faces, the shadows looked menacing and eerie.

The blonde returned the sly grin and humorously vowed to his crew's cheers. He was wearing a tail-coat made of leathery-fabric, a white button-down shirt that wasn't all that white anymore, black pants, and a slightly loose golden and weaponized belt around the hips. He was carrying his favorite gun and sword, plus other minor weapons that he hid not only around his belt but also around his whole body. And of course, he wore leather boots that reached almost up to his knees and his fancy black pirate hat, which had a single golden feather and some jewels adorning it.

"Tonight's the night, fellas," he spoke, his crew finally shutting up. "As we speak, fierce beasts are swimming below us, ready to devour another pack of men. Creatures that have forever lured uncountable men to their deaths by using their celestial voices and bodies."

His crew nodded. They knew all of this already, but something about hearing it right was those beasts live made it a whole lot more difficult to bear. Now they weren't only listening to a story, they were about to experience one. And maybe, they wouldn't even get to live to tell it.

"We will be the first known pirates to ever defeat them; conquer them!" The captain continued to speak. The crew's nerves turning into excitement, "Tonight, we catch a siren!"

Everyone cheered and punched their fists in the air. Noise returning to its natural state.

“Kitty,” Cipher continued, nodding to the toughest-looking man on the crew, “you will be in charge of the ship while I go on the rowboat.”

The man nodded in return, so the captain kept speaking, “Bigfoot, Cain, Red, Onyx, and Tiny, you will be staying here too.”

The biggest man in the crew, a man with a scar across his face, a red-haired young adult male, a woman with almost charcoal-black skin, and a small boy nodded in response.

“Guard my baby while I'm out," Cipher joked and winked. They all knew how much he loved his ship. “And that leaves Hellhound, Dawn, Dagger, and Cheat with me."

A muscular young man, a tough but very beautiful looking woman, another woman highly equipped with at least half a dozen daggers and swords, and a teenage boy agreed.

“Get settled, then.”

And with that, they all retreated to stuff their ears with cloth or wax to muffle de sound of the sirens' voices. They had been preparing for this, they knew exactly what to do. They also knew perfectly well to stand their ground, no matter how tempting a siren could look. And most importantly, they knew that their goal was to catch a siren, not kill one. If for some reason they started to get aggressive, which they figured would be bound to happen, they would result in violence.

A few minutes later, the rowboat with Cipher's chosen crew was lowered down to the ocean. They paddled slightly further away from the ship, and then stopped when they started to notice the shadows under them. They were currently surrounded by huge boulders, covered in algae and coral, where they also spotted movement. A wave of adrenaline washed over everyone's veins, making the captain smile even more widely.

Cipher's team had their ears shut by different types of material, except for the captain himself. He was wearing an enchanted necklace of black pearls, which made him completely immune to the sirens' singing.

Soon enough, a ginger-haired siren came out of the water, and the pirates were immediately amazed by her beauty. However, none of them moved, as they waited for their captain's orders.

The siren swam closer to the boat, her eyes fixed on Cheat, the youngest one on the boat. The ginger held a powerful gaze, making the boy shiver, which was either because of her captivating beauty or because he realized he had been chosen as her meal.

The captain shot Cheat a confident look, making the teenager feel just a tiny bit better.

When the siren was practically touching the ship, another one came up to them. This one had curly, black hair and was staring straight at Dagger. Then a few seconds later, another creature appeared, she had darker skin and powerful blue eyes, swimming closer to Hellhound. The captain felt slightly overwhelmed by the sudden arrivals, but he never lost his calm.

Suddenly they realized that the ginger siren had gotten so close to the boat, she could easily snatch Cheat and drown him. Then, she saw the spears and fishnets, freezing on the spot.

"They're hunters!" She yelled, making all of the other sirens gasp and submerge back underwater. Cipher thought they were going to attack, but apparently, this pack of sirens had had other experiences with pirates and did not wish to repeat them.

Sure enough, however, the ginger siren was not going to leave her favorite meal alive, so she launched, grabbing Cheat with her sharp nails, and pulling him underwater with her. Hellhound threw himself forward and grabbed onto Cheat's legs.

The siren's strength was immense, causing Hellhound to begin to sink. Dawn and Dagger grabbed his torso and began to pull him to the boat. At this point, Cheat was completely submerged. In the meantime, Cipher loaded a crossbow and aimed to the spot where the siren was holding Cheat.

"No!" Dawn exclaimed although she could barely hear her own words because of the wax in her ears, "You might shoot Cheat!"

"Don't worry, sweetie" Cipher said calmly, fully aware that Dawn knew him enough to be able to read his lips perfectly, then shot the arrow. The movement below the water stopped. Hellhound pulled Cheat back to the surface. The boy was unconscious. Dawn began trying to remove the water from the teen's lungs.

Cheat suddenly coughed a great amount of water and took in shaky breaths, shivering. Dawn just looked at the captain and slowly shook her head.

"I never miss," Cipher said, obvious pride in his voice, Dawn could see it by the look of his face. She turned away.

The blond nodded at the coughing boy, and the teen managed a smile. Then the captain took off his coat and handed it to him, as the boy obviously needed it more than him at the moment. Cheat muttered a thank you.

Cipher sat down with a sigh and looked around. He signaled his crew to hide the weapons and the fishnets, he should've known better. He might have blown their chance for the night, maybe their only chance! How could he have not foreseen that?

Time passed, and as he feared, no one else showed up. The pirates waited in silence. Cheat was almost completely dry now.

The captain fixed his eyes on the boulder closest to them, lost in thought, when he spotted another pair of eyes staring back. Immediately after those eyes noticed the pirate was looking at them, they hid behind the huge rock. Cipher stood up with a jolt, making the others around him jump in surprise. Then, nodded towards the rock and signaled his crew to remain silent.

"Hello?" Cipher said loudly, with the kindest voice he could manage, "We don't want to hurt you."

After waiting a few minutes for a sign of life, and not seeing the eyes again, he sat back down and sighed. He looked at the boat's wooden floor, sighing in defeat. Maybe he had imagined it.

Then, his crew gasped.

Cipher looked up and saw the siren far away, right beside the boulder. The light from their boat did not reach that far, so he could only see a dark figure the clear brown eyes looking back at him.

The captain stood up again, this time more slowly. He smiled gently at the creature, and spoke, just loud enough for the siren to hear, "We're just curious about your species, we don't mean any harm."

"I saw you shoot one of us," the siren said, still in the dark. His voice cracked but tried to remain steady. This only intrigued Cipher even more, because he had found himself a male siren.

The crew looked at each other with wide eyes, they didn't understand what the captain and the siren were saying, but they sure as hell knew they were having a conversation.

Cipher remained calm, answering to the siren, "She was trying to drown one of us."

"You're hunters," the siren said gravely, much more as a statement than a question.

"We're pirates," the blond responded, as if it were pretty obvious, "we have weapons to defend ourselves, it's in our nature. Just as much as it is in your nature to lure us to death. Fair game, don't you think?"

The siren thought in silence, analyzing the words. But Cipher was not about to wait anymore, so he offered, "If you don't harm us, we don't harm you. Deal?"

Something about the way the pirate spoke made the siren want to trust him. Even if he knew the stories of pirates, how reckless and dangerous they were"¦ curiosity had always won him over. And something in his gut made him think that this pirate was not lying.

The words lingered. Cipher was afraid the siren might be smarter than him and swim away for good. But he was proven wrong when the siren slowly came into view, swimming closer to the boat.

When the siren was just a few feet away from the rowboat, the lantern's light finally glowed on his skin. Instantly, the pirates were captivated by his beauty. They had never seen a merman, much less a male siren.

"You can come closer," the captain said, leaning closer to the water, "See? I have nothing on my hands," he said as he lifted his hands up innocently.

The siren moved closer, feeling just slightly safer and a whole lot more curious. He was intrigued by the sailors, he had never seen so many up close, and they were all staring back at him. The feeling was overwhelming.

Cipher smiled at the siren, then turned to Hellhound and winked, which roughly meant wait for my signal.

The siren's light blue tail was almost touching the rowboat's wood from below. He looked about Cheat's age.

The blond placed both of his hands behind his back. The siren and he just stared at each other in awe, each of them amazed by the other. Cipher noticed there were splashes of tiny blue scales on his shoulders, he had chocolate brown hair, and the most entrancing deep brown eyes the captain had ever seen. His gaze was purely innocent and curious.

"You're magnificent," the captain whispered to the siren, completely lost in the siren's eyes, almost forgetting what he was there for. Almost. Behind his back, he closed his hand into a fist. And so, the crew launched the fishnet at the siren and fastened it as fat and swiftly as possible, apprehending the siren.

The brunet screamed an unholy scream, Cipher was suddenly jealous of his crewmates with wax on their ears. The siren tried to escape the nets, almost knocking the boat over, but the crew acted faster. They lifted him, and with a loud thump, the siren was on the boat.

The captain had a large grin on his face and got closer to the siren. The siren had never felt so much fright in his entire life. He felt as if his heart had run up to his throat and was about to be regurgitated. He was about to scream louder, and try to knock the boat over once again, but with one swift move, one of the men that was holding him down injected a syringe into his skin. The last thing he saw was the grin on the blond pirate that had just betrayed him, until all faded to black.

#billdip #fanfic #fanfic billdip #fanfiction #bill cipher #dipper pines #dipper x bill #bill x dipper #pirate au #golden giant #siren dipper pines #pirate bill cipher #fantasy

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beatnicksellar · 3 years

Text

Marda Loophole: TPB: Issues #7-12

Issue #7 – The Exodus Then: Mada opened her eyes to the inhuman sights and sounds of war Half-men strewn about Bramshott the RCAMC tent soaked in red gore Through the horror she saw her scarecrow the one she treated before Minus a leg he was alive and that was enough to lift her off of the floor Now: Mada opens her eyes to the fuzzy sight of 4 purple children overhead Siphoning energy from a radiant boulder their chant stirs her from the dead A tingle in her toes and sour taste in her mouth the Hole is as Dennis said He labours nearby as the kids stitch Mada together with amethyst thread With the dulling drone done the rock bathes everyone in its immortal hue The old wendigo’s cell unlocks in the uproar allowing her to slip through Before Mada’s blurry eyes the frailest child’s torn from the circuit and slew She can hear the rapacious wendigo sob as she reluctantly continues to chew The plaster walls of the outbuilding begin to buckle from the stone’s potency Suddenly Pope enters the Hole and descends the staircase with much urgency The doctor’s met mid-way by the limping wendigo who embraces him completely Mesmerising him with her wildfire eyes she gladly detaches his loins from his body Dennis returns to find the Hole in shambles with Dot eaten and Dr. Pope screaming He disconnects the kids and requests that Mada give the boys’ lives a new meaning One of the boys grabs a ledger while the other two grip Mada and they begin fleeing Dennis and the wendigo clash by the emitting mound soon buried under the ceiling South Calgary is silent for the first time since the 33 soldiers were secretly dosed But without the hum to calm them they thrashed 33 Avenue like a whipping post Possessed troops overturned the streetcar and chard the theater like it was toast Stiff pedestrians and sate scavengers guide Mada back to her husband Marc’s ghost She mourns over his blood-spattered prosthesis as one boy reads a shard of glass His brothers study the ledger as he peers into the sliver to see what’ll comes to pass ‘We’ll return when the streetcar does’ the scrying boy points to the upturned mass With crazed GIs loose Mada and her boys depart while a curious crow tails her ass… Issue #8 – The Wild Boys ♬♪♩♬♪♩♫♪♩♫♩♬♪♩♫♬♪♩♬♩♫♪♩♫♩♬♪♬♪♩♬♪♩ A gayageum plays notes from the concerto called Dorothea The ribbon of rhythm writhes on the airstreams over Korea Baroque tones stir the ancient visage which inspired its idea Eddying over the ocean to hover above a 33rd avenue pizzeria ♬♪♩♬♪♩♫♪♩♫♩♬♪♩♫♬♪♩♬♩♫♪♩♫♩♬♪♬♪♩♬♪♩♫ The melody meanders up 20th street pausing at its composer Three long-haired boys that look 10 but are very much older Standing before Currie Barracks Condo they are of one mourner The unrelated triplets commiserate over their deceased sister ‘I cannot feel her in there’ John the empath of the family confirms ‘I cannot reach her’ Robert retorts ‘all I hear is Dennis and worms’ Scryer James perceives future events but cannot grasp their terms ‘All I see is that the stone has been scattering its ill will like germs’ Treating the condo as if a gravestone they pay respect to her spirit With unkempt heads down the trinity are subdued for a moment Each recalls Dot, the Hole, the old woman then all begin to fidget John pulls a music sheet out of his shorts and whistles a snippet ♬♪♩♬♪♩♫♪♩♫♩♬♪♩♫♬♪♩♬♩♫♪♩♫♩♬♪♬♪♩♬♪♩♫♪♬ James and Robert join him in his performance of Dorothea No. 4 When done John tosses the concerto down onto the sewer floor As they skate through the Loop Mada’s name hangs in every store Coffee shops hum with anticipation over the 70-year-old folklore Around the corner of 35th avenue is where a hungry entity stalks A hefty shadow cast from a vacant lot that limps wherever it walks The boys are too distracted to notice the relic from Pandora’s Box Because a fireball is about to knock’em out of their graphic socksIssue #9 – The Vacant LotYellow barricades protect the rich soil within the vacant lotThough ideal for growth it’s contaminated by junkyard rot Comparable to the toxin that comprises Hausis’ blood clot An

inherit gift from her father and the affects it has wrought Over a century old she has been scarred twice by the stoneAs well Hausis has been forced out of more than one homeFrom her log cabin to that school and finally the catacomb A hole she fled full of a plum, revenge and astral syndrome Dark energy leached into her, those boys and the headless one Wendigo mixed with indigo and once again she was on the run But on the Rez her spirits calmed; she even adopted a grandson It was the last time she felt love as the Sixties Scoop had begun Hungry and hateful she hid her mercy and fed on colonial fears Hitchhiking Highway 16 in the 1970s she traded entrails for tears Retribution for her surrogate sisters who had began to disappear When the stone summoned her home she returned with souvenirs She settled in South Calgary and became a landlord to tasty tenants Bones buried in the vacant lot next-door while lying to their parents A cane sword to assist her limp and cutback on the slaying minutes Serrated steel dentures to masticate and absorb her preys’ essence A century old entity at last content with her damned life up until TONIGHT When her plums return assured and still ripe enough to enjoy a quick biteWhen her bone yard is deemed aseptic and police investigation is in sightHausis lunges at the wild boys only to be repelled by a nimbus of starlight… Issue #10 – The Above People CREEEAK! The tactless teenager forcefully opens the oxidized attic door In search of a white wig for her cosplay getup she stomps across the floor Rummaging through containers she finds something unusual in a drawer A thirteen-year-old letter that when opened clarifies exactly who it is for ‘Aline: It’s with regret and sadness that I write this letter to my daughter’ ‘I had to go to a dangerous place so I left you to be raised by your father’ ‘I never stopped loving you or dreaming of the day we would be together’ ‘When you are ready to meet amass juniper twigs and a magpie feather’ Elated to see her mislaid mother Aline flees the loft in her space-opera costume She sprints across 35 Avenue towards a vacant lot shrouded by juniper in bloom Ripping off a bouquet Aline is unaware that just beyond bodies are being exhumed She spots a pudgy magpie perched on the yellow barricade and plucks at its plume Clutching the vital items the Big Dipper shaped beauty marks on her right arm glows FWOOOOM! A blinding white light descends from overhead lifting her off of her toes Aline suddenly finds herself in a melancholy landscape of stars, clouds and shadows Before her sit 2 enormous Above People who enquire as to her odd-looking clothes ‘It’s for Comic-con’ she roars removing the wig ‘who’re you and where’s my mom’ Sun God laughs as Moon Goddess speaks: ‘We see that you were raise with aplomb’ The electric entities sizzle and pop as they struggle to alleviate Aline’s many qualms ‘Your father fell in love with our granddaughter: the Morning Star he wished upon’ ‘But she had to return to Sky-Country to rid it of the evil her mother had let loose’ Mother Moon details how Feather Woman disobeyed and iniquity was introduced ‘She moved the giant turnip that which protects our portal because she was obtuse’ Mother Moon adds she encased the dummy in indigo stone and made her vamoose That is the past but the portal remains open for dark matter to infest Sky-Country The same stuff brought down with the stone when it crashed in the 19th century Aline accuses her great-grandparents of killing her kin and for spreading villainy The Gods giggle at the allegation clarifying Feather Woman merely has an injury More gen is traded and a deal is struck: if Aline fixes the portal all will be forgiven Above People will help find the Morning Star and teach Aline of her nuclear fusion KRA-KOOM! A fiery comet crashes and Aline emerges from impact like a magician Gazing at the wild boys she states ‘You dudes are my gran and we have a mission’… Issue #11 – The Penultimate Sequential squares spread over an infinitude of glittering stars Panels parted by gutters spanning

centuries between the bars A billboard advertises Marc and Mada’s forthcoming memoirs Christened Marda; Loop denotes the superannuated streetcar Inset in the ad is a shot of Magpie gnawing on a decayed thumb bone Balanced on the sign she spots a bird below who was once well known Magpie cries: ‘Ain’t seen you since you left with THAT there veiled crone’ Alit next to Magpie Crow recalls his ghastly exploits beyond the stone ‘It was Hell’ he croaks ‘The screaming, the silence, the suicide attempts’ ‘It took HER forever to bond with THOSE boys and get over her regrets’ ‘Once she did’ Crow pauses ‘she spearheaded some tantalizing events’ Led by the ledger and scryed images they tracked the fiery GIs’ contempt While 7 indigo infected ones enlisted for Korea 26 settled in Forest City An innocuous epithet for somewhere death stalked the streets regularly Enclosed by thickets it’s where butchers would conceal a mutilated body ‘The Serial Killer Capital’ Crow yelps ‘We lured them out during the 1960s’ Crow clarifies that when the GIs moved there each become a major player: Mad Slasher, Bedroom Strangler, Balcony Killer + the Chambermaid Slayer Mada the bait, Crow the lookout, and 3 wild boys unified became the healer ‘In the forest we’d draw out the purple poison leaving the mortals tamer’ Mada’s nursing background afforded them a home and a baby-grand piano She worked while under pseudonyms the boys penned novels & concertos ‘Forest City was safe and we had obtained almost all of that fugitive indigo’ ‘Almost’ Crow echoed ‘We left for Korea in ‘81 on a plane from Toronto’ Magpie squawks sceptically: ‘And then miraculously back for the 70th Anniversary’ {Had it been that long?} the crone ponders {Why did they whitewash my tragedy?} The veiled woman below the advert grimaces then utters anachronistic profanity Stalwart in stance she shudders when the #7 rolls by renewed for the pageantry… Issue #12 – Giant-Size Finale The fixed indigo stone pulsates expelling the remnants of its space toxin Pumped into the faucets of 22 occupants of the new condo atop its coffin Dragging fingers thru mauve hair they’re rapt by the stone’s dim doctrine They riot inside the structure while outside Mada and her wild boys lock in ‘Try it again’ the costumed Aline guides from inside the infinite sealed loop She has juniper and feather in hand yet something is off within their group ‘That thing’s teeing me off’ Mada breaks from the ring and sits on the stoop The rebuilt #7 streetcar gleams in the parking lot next to an effigy of troops Suddenly…a service door opens and the old wendigo limps out of the edifice ‘You’ Hausis growls at Aline ‘You’re relations with that Metis bastard Dennis’ Mada perks up at the name of the man who inadvertently made her endless ‘Are you?’ Mada asks ‘She sure is’ Hausis sniffs ‘and it’s making me ravenous’ Incensed Mada bares the jagged indigo scar spanning the length of her collar ‘Dennis did this’ she states ‘and orchestrated the 1950 South Calgary slaughter’ Aline has entirely no clue as to what occurred because of her great-grandfather And before Mada can educate her the group is spotted by a police helicopter ‘Freeze Ms. Cranmer’ a voice booms as a squad car pulls up with guns drawn Hausis has been hiding since police uncovered the bodies she had feasted on Clotheslined and cuffed the 145-year-old Cree woman is beaten with a baton Aline, Mada and wild boys watch in horror as Hausis is tenderized like carrion The wild child named Robert tugs at Aline’s skirt pointing at the departing cop car ‘Dot’ the 80-year-old kid chirps ‘The hungry lady has carried our sister’s soul so far’ Mada is not their 4th because it is the frail child Hausis mauled like a chocolate bar ‘We need that granny back’ Aline barks at Mada who turns away rubbing her scar Aline suggests they take the idle #7 and propel it with a trick she has just learned ‘Can I borrow a feather from your crow?’ she asks of Mada who still feels scorned Crow leaves Magpie atop the streetlamp landing beside Aline his feathers formed ‘I am not getting on that ’

Mada repeats just as the crazed tenants emerge armed KRA-KOOM! The refurbished #7 streetcar rockets down 20th street like a fireball Crow and Magpie try to slow the tenants’ progress to the 33rd avenue mini-mall Meanwhile the #7 zips down the parade route until it hits the cruiser then a wall Everyone on the #7 is unscathed and so too is Hausis who’s eating a cop’s eyeball Magpie and Crow flutter in to warn everyone of the approaching horde of tenants The wild boys jump into action with a hand out for Hausis who sees it as penance ‘Doesn’t make me a plum’ she gripes grasping John’s hand as if she is pregnant As the 4 siblings unite clouds appear and a powerful deluge forms within minutes The first drop hits as the vicious throng reaches Marda Loop then the sky cries The drenched tenants lose their momentum as the mauve washes over their eyes The rain relents as does the horde but Mada’s inner ire cannot be overemphasized The wild boys embrace Hausis and in turn Dot whose soul has now been reprisedOnlookers have gathered at the site sad to see there’s no anniversary to reminisce Crow and Magpie peck at the injured police officers as Aline stares into the abyss She apologizes to Mada for her relative’s actions but asks for her not to be remiss ‘We cannot change the past’ she points out ‘But if you help us now we can fix this’The wendigo, the crone, the wild boys, the star-child and the scavengers all return Loitering outside of the Currie Barracks condo building hashing out their concerns Hausis has subsisted with the stone while in exile so she knows where it’s interned In the bowels of the sub-basement they find the ancient rock fading in a slow burn John, James and Robert the perpetual 10-year-olds encircle Aline and embrace her Hausis jeers as the boys kiss their kin then whisper in Mada’s ear: Goodbye Mother The siblings start siphoning the stone’s essence back; Aline waves Magpie’s feather Hausis and the boys convert to stardust they swirl around the stone and then enter Aline and Mada escape the building as the boulder flies backwards thru the nexus Its trajectory bearing straight for Sky-Country where it will rid the land of sepsis The portal is sealed and The Above People welcome Feather Woman and Hausis Back in South Calgary Mada stands in the quiet rubble no longer feeling headless ‘Wanna meet my dad?’ Aline asks of her lithe friend who nods producing a smile Mada calls Crow but he and Magpie are stardust in a constellation of their profile Unveiled Mada and neophyte Aline walk towards a rainbow after their long trial As both fade over the hill stardust diffuses and floats to somewhere worthwhile An End

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zrtranscripts · 3 years

Text

Season 9, Mission 7: Scream

Scream and Shout

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Oh, my calves are killing me.

PETER LYNNE: Yeah, as the dairy farmer said to the... other dairy farmer?

SAM YAO: Yeah, dunes aren't the easiest, are they? It feels like I'm trying to get up a down escalator. Still, we must be near our rendezvous with Mohammed now, mustn't we?

JANINE DE LUCA: That was the message we received via coded transmission from Miss Spens. Mohammed Boujettif, a fixer based in the city of New Agadir, will meet us at coordinates a short distance from here. He'll wait for one hour, no more.

PETER LYNNE: Well, we're still a good day's journey from New Agadir, though. Um, question. Does anyone find it a little suspicious that he wants to meet us so far from the city?

FRANCES DEMPSEY: I've been rereading Amelia's info packs about New Agadir. It's supposed to be very hard to get inside the city. Citizens of the Maghreb Protectorate - that's the nearest official government - generally get let in. Everyone else needs friends inside - or favors from - the criminal networks that really run the city. Amelia said the place is like post-apocalypse Ipswich used to be, before the Last Riders razed it. Maybe Mohammed's going to introduce us to some friendly New Agadirans.

PETER LYNNE: Or he's going to rob and kill us, and maybe eat us! I don't know. Listen, sorry. It's just, it's all gone fine for the last few days. You know, camping in the desert. Janine's rain water collectors. Our maps have actually been accurate. And hang on, not been pursued by anything! I mean, it's going to go wrong now, isn't it?

JANINE DE LUCA: In my experience, little goes wrong in quite the way one anticipates. We must get into New Agadir. That is where the Death's Hand mercenaries are expected to be, and that way, we can enter Red Scorpion base. So we must attempt to make contact with Mr. Boujettif.

SAM YAO: Shame Veronica's not here to triangulate our position, really. She's back in my tent, said she wanted to avoid getting more sand in her circuits. Got the compass, Frances?

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Yep. Yes. It's uh, that way, towards the tree. The-the one that looks like... the only tree.

JANINE DE LUCA: Very good. Come along, everyone. Run!

PETER LYNNE: Well, here we are at the tree. Got to say, I mean, of course the desert as a whole is beautiful, but in terms of your actual landmarks, it's kind of... a bit weak, maybe?

JANINE DE LUCA: Miss Dempsey, are we still on course?

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Sure are. Oh, uh, heading confirmed. We must continue straight on towards the uh... more sand.

PETER LYNNE: See what I mean?

JANINE DE LUCA: There is rather an abundance of sand, but also an abundance of stars. Goodness me, just look at that sky. Perhaps I'll satisfy entry 48b on my bucket list, “Witnessing the entry of a meteor into the earth's atmosphere.”

PETER LYNNE: Yeah, we humans call that a shooting star. Never seen one?

JANINE DE LUCA: Perhaps I never thought to look up.

PETER LYNNE: Oh, well, you should have said. I would have laid one on for you.

SAM YAO: Oh, all the constellations. Never seen them so clearly before. Mum used to point them out to me. There's Orion. There's Cassio-whatsit. And there's the Big Dipper... or is it the Plough? Are they the same thing?

PETER LYNNE: And look over there, it's the Hurry Up Man, tapping his star watch.

[distant scream]

FRANCES DEMPSEY: We should definitely hurry up. What was that?

JANINE DE LUCA: A hyena.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Oh. Are they very dangerous?

JANINE DE LUCA: In numbers, yes. Provided we leave the area before the pack answers its summons, we'll be fine. Come on. The coordinates aren't far, but progress is slow. We must run as best we can.

JANINE DE LUCA: Are you absolutely sure these are the coordinates?

SAM YAO: Janine, Frances ran Dearg for four years. She can probably read a compass.

JANINE DE LUCA: I... Yes, quite. I'm sorry, Miss Dempsey. I'm merely concerned that the mission be a success. Your navigation has been unimpeachable. I didn't want you to accompany us here, but you haven't yet been a hindrance on our mission.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Oh, uh, thanks. I-I think.

JANINE DE LUCA: It's Mr. Boujettif who has let us down. You were right, Peter. It's hard to imagine why he would bring us out here if not for malevolent purposes. We must be on our guard.

PETER LYNNE: And it's pitch black. Never seen a sky cloud over that quickly. Cold, too. Let's get going now.

JANINE DE LUCA: I concur. We will have to abort the mission, find another way into New Agadir. Miss Dempsey, which direction back to camp? I've got rather turned around.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: I uh... hang on. [flashlight rattles] Damn! Torch is on the blink.

PETER LYNNE: And we're much too far from New Agadir to see the city lights.

[distant scream]

SAM YAO: That's not a hyena. Bloody hell, must be Mohammed! Come on, he needs our help. Head for the scream, run!

SAM YAO: The screaming, it stopped. I hope that doesn't mean... which way was it coming from, Five?

[muffled screaming]

PETER LYNNE: There it is. See, I swear that was coming from the other direction a second ago. God, I just wish it wasn't so dark. I can't see a bloody thing.

JANINE DE LUCA: We're close to the source of the scream. I know our instincts are to render aid as swiftly as possible, but we must approach with caution. Fan out. If the threat is still present, we will surround it. [footsteps through sand, muffled nearby screaming] Almost there. Slowly, everyone. Slowly...

[FRANCES DEMPSEY stumbles in the sand and shouts]

SAM YAO: Frances, you all right? Five, can you see her?

FRANCES DEMPSEY: I'm okay, Sam. Just tripped over something. [muffled screaming] I... Oh God, the screaming's coming from underneath the sand. It must be Mohammed!

SAM YAO: Dig! Everyone dig! [sand shifts] It's definitely a person. Crap, they feel cold.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: [flashlight rattles and clicks on] Torch is back on.

[flashlight clicks off]

PETER LYNNE: And off again.

JANINE DE LUCA: I found his head. Frances, shine the light by my feet.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Ah, hang on. [flashlight rattles and clicks on] There.

[very nearby scream]

SAM YAO: That's not Mohammed, it's a really decayed zombie. A screaming really decayed zombie. Run! Everybody run!

[zombie screams]

PETER LYNNE: Okay, so running screaming from a zombie, yeah, used to it. Old hand. Running from a screaming zombie, that's new. Oh, and it's so dark, I can't see my own hands. Does anyone know where we're going?

JANINE DE LUCA: Our only objective is to lose our pursuer. We shall just have to do without light.

SAM YAO: What kind of zombie is that, anyway? Why is it screaming?

PETER LYNNE: [laughs] Maybe it looked in the mirror. Tends to do it for me.

JANINE DE LUCA: We've not encountered this variation before and should not engage until we learn more about it. Our cure might well prove ineffective against its bite. Keep running!

[zombies scream]

SAM YAO: Oh, to our left, there's another one. There's loads! Oh crap, they've got us surrounded. Hey! Ooh, maybe if we scream, they'll think we're zombies, too.

JANINE DE LUCA: I don't think that will prove effective, Mr. Yao. No doubt they're adept at distinguishing predator from prey. Listen, to the right. The quality of the sound is different, reverberant. A ravine, perhaps. Can you hear that?

PETER LYNNE: Well, I'm not a bat, so no. Uh, not that... I mean, I'm not saying you're a bat, Janine, obviously. Um, just only in terms of the exceptional, impressive hearing. [laughs] And of course, the leathery wings. I mean... Right. Uh, sorry.

JANINE DE LUCA: I suspect my improved hearing is an effect of the nanites. However, you've hit upon the crux of my plan, Peter. It's only an educated guess, but that will have to do. I'll lead you through the gap in the screams and into the ravine. With me, run!

[zombies scream]

JANINE DE LUCA: Yes, it is a ravine. I've found the wall. A river must have run through here long ago.

SAM YAO: Ah, yeah. Would that be attrition, do you think? Or abrasion. Um, what's the other one? Hydraulic something. And that's all I can remember from A-level geography. Except lateral moraines. What even are they?

JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Yao.

SAM YAO: Sorry.

PETER LYNNE: Haven't we sort of... trapped ourselves? Uh, you don't know what's at the end of the ravine, or if there even is an end. Just sort of wondering, what are we doing?

JANINE DE LUCA: I suspect the zombies are using echolocation to hunt. The screams bounce off our bodies and alert other zombies in the area to our location.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Ah, I see. So if the echoes are pinging around the ravine, that'd sort of baffle them. That's clever, Janine.

JANINE DE LUCA: The zombies are entering the mouth of the ravine. Listen.

SAM YAO: Ugh, that's horrifying. Is it working?

JANINE DE LUCA: We'll have to trust that it is, but even if they can't pinpoint our location, they will stumble into us eventually. We must push deeper into the ravine. Peter, take the vanguard. Runner Five, draw your sidearm, protect our rear. Run!

[zombies scream]

JANINE DE LUCA: We seem to be losing the screaming zombies. Keep moving through the ravine until we can no longer hear them and then we will try to find a way... Peter, stop!

PETER LYNNE: What? Oh! Ah. Oh. The massive hole in front of me. Um, did you hear the hole, Janine, by any chance?

SAM YAO: Oh, I wonder how deep that... [pebbles clatter into hole and echo in the depths] Very deep.

PETER LYNNE: And the zombies are very close. This isn't good.

JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five, ready your weapon. [gun clicks] I estimate ten hostiles. It's far too dark to aim. Spread your shots. Fire!

[gunshots]

SAM YAO: Five’s out.

[gun clicks]

JANINE DE LUCA: My weapon is jammed. The zombies are upon us. I... I don't have a plan!

[rifle shots, zombies splatter and stop screaming]

PETER LYNNE: Right, someone's shooting with a rifle. The zombies are down. What is happening?

MOHAMMED BOUJETTIF: Up here, can you see me? The skies have cleared, to give the heavens a better view of your heroics, no doubt. Wait there, I'm coming down.

SAM YAO: Well, good thing I activated my Mysterious Stranger perk.

MOHAMMED BOUJETTIF: What's the saying? “A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet.” Well, now we've met.

PETER LYNNE: There's another saying! “A friend is someone who doesn't lure you into a dark ravine filled with screaming undead!” ... It tends to be quite situational!

JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Lynne is right. You have put us in danger, mortal danger. I assume you are Mohammed Boujettif?

MOHAMMED BOUJETTIF: Yes, and I'm sorry, truly. Screamers don't usually hunt here this time of year. I myself was forced to flee our rendezvous coordinates.

PETER LYNNE: But why bring us out here in the first place?

MOHAMMED BOUJETTIF: Unfortunately, I'm currently persona non grata in New Agadir. I'm being followed by certain agents. Should we be seen together, you'll become known associates, never to be admitted under any circumstances. If I'm to assist you in entering the city, I'm afraid you'll first have to help resolve the misunderstanding that led to my exile. And I see you are more than up to the task. So quick to figure out the screamer's hunting technique. And look, to the west! A shooting star. The heavens approve.

JANINE DE LUCA: The heavens are indifferent to our activities, but beautiful. Quite beautiful. We will help you, Mr. Boujettif.

MOHAMMED BOUJETTIF: And I will help you. Your prime minister explain the severity of the situation when she contacted me. I would love to know how she came to discover so much about me. An intriguing woman. But she informed me that without your intervention, a malignant fungal entity might swallow my country as it so nearly did yours. So I will help you to assume the identities of this band of assassins and to establish contact with those inside Red Scorpion base. Together, we will penetrate the impregnable fortress, you have my word. And please, call me Mo.

#zombies run #zrs9 #s9m7 #scream #zr transcript #zrs9 spoilers

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portalford · 4 years

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Another Life or Another Dream

AO3

Stanford Pines is seven years old and can’t sleep.

His brother, Stanley Pines—also seven—can’t sleep either.

These things may or may not be directly related.

“Sixer, s’like, the middle of the night.” Stan, still mostly asleep, pulls a pillow over his face.

Ford, hanging upside down off his bed, swats the pillow away. “It’s two in the morning, Stanley.”

“Yeah? S’worse.” Stan pats around for the pillow for about three seconds before giving up and tossing his arm over his eyes. “Go back to sleep.”

“I can’t.”

That gets him one open eye. “Didja try lyin’ down.”

“Yes, Stanley.”

Both eyes open now. “Bad dreams?”

Ford hesitates a moment, two, before admitting, “Yes.”

Stan is scowling, but Ford knows it’s not at him. “Want me to go check in the closet?”

“No.”

“Under the bed?”

“No.”

Stan’s scowl has morphed into a frown. He’s thinking.

“I fell asleep reading a book about monsters,” Ford offers. Maybe if Stanley has more information he’ll be able to help. “I didn’t get to the part about how to fight them—maybe if I read that it’ll help.”

Stan, wide awake now, stands up on his mattress so Ford doesn’t have to lean out so far. “Want me t’ listen so I’ll know too?”

Ford had really been hoping for this, but he offers Stan an out, just in case: “You sure?”

“Yeah, dude.” Stan bounces up; Ford catches his arm and helps drag him up into the top bunk. “You think I’d miss a chance to punch a monster?”

“You wouldn’t miss a chance to punch anything.”

“‘Xactly.” Stan pokes him in the ribs, right where he’s ticklish. Ford scoots away before either of them can escalate things. “Start readin’, Sixer.”

Ford opens the book to the correct chapter and clears his throat, like the announcers on the radio do when they have something important to say. “All right. ‘Changelings are fearsome creatures, but they are not invincible. There are some weaknesses you can exploit, should you be faced with this beast…”

*****

Stanford Pines is twenty years old and can’t sleep.

Fiddleford is awake as well, but he seems happy with this state of affairs, blankets pulled up to his chin to ward off the chill of their poorly-equipped dorm and weighty book of advanced mechanics balanced on his knees.

Most nights, Ford is perfectly content to work well into the earliest hours of the morning, and sometimes straight through until classes the next day.

With the current state of his throat, head, and overall wellness, however, he would welcome unconsciousness over the awful half-alert state he’s been in most of the day.

A stifled cough escapes—his control is slipping, after twenty-three hours of forcing his mind and body to operate at normal capacity—and catches Fiddleford’s attention.

“Stanford?” Fiddleford lowers the book just enough to see over it. “Y’alright?”

Ford discreetly clears his throat. “Fine, yes.” Damn. He still sounds like he’s dragging his voice over a gravel road.

Fiddleford’s book is lying in his lap now, disregarded. “You sure about that?”

He’s using the tone that means he knows Ford is lying, and that he’s allowing one more chance for Ford to tell the truth of his own volition. Ford ignores it. “Certainly.”

Fiddleford is glaring overtop of his glasses now. “Stanford Pines, you are sick as a dog, and lying like one t’boot.”

Ford badly wants to make a sarcastic response, but he’s no longer sure he can speak without setting himself off coughing. He settles for a shrug.

“Did you take anything?”

Another shrug.

“Heaven’s sakes, Stanford.” Fiddleford tosses his book aside and bustles off to the drawer that contains various over the counter medications (his), snacks (his), and spare pencils (Ford’s).

Two minutes and no less than six furious and deathly sincere threats of shoving aspirin “down your stubborn gullet God help me I’ll do it,” Ford has been coerced into taking painkillers and drinking a glass of water. Fiddleford offered to run out and get soup and crackers, but Ford refused. Fiddleford has a test tomorrow—he should be sleeping.

“It ain’t until tomorrow afternoon, knucklehead,” Fiddleford says when Ford suggests this. “I got time.” A moment of silence. “Still can’t sleep?”

Ford makes a vague gesture with his hand to the affirmative. Now that Fiddleford knows he’s ill, there’s no need to try and keep up a facade of being well.

“My sister used t’read to me when I couldn’t sleep.” Fiddleford hefts his book. “This stuff’ll put me to sleep, and I like mechanics. I bet it’ll work on you.”

“Bet it won’t,” Ford rasps.

“I’m not takin’ that bet because you’ll kill yourself to win.” Fiddleford fluffs his pillow behind him, clearly settling in for the night. “I’m gonna read out loud and you can tell me to shut up whenever.” He harrumphs and starts from what’s clearly the middle of a sentence in the middle of a chapter. “—can be modified to accept most kinds of springs.”

Ford doesn’t tell him to shut up.

*****

Stanford Pines is twenty-eight years old and can’t sleep.

To be entirely truthful (and the rarity with which he is truthful these days, even to himself, would be disturbing if he could dredge up the energy to feel disturbed), he can’t remember the last time he did sleep. Possibly three days ago.

Now, being unconscious while a multi-dimensional demon uses your body for nefarious means probably should not count as sleep, but the other option was to admit that he truly could not remember the last time he slept, and that was unacceptable.

So. Three days ago.

His house is freezing. He’s had this thought many times in the past however-long-it’s-been, and every time it takes him longer and longer to remember that this is because he fell behind on his heating bill at some point Before.

Absurd things, bills. He should have built that self-sustaining generator and taken his house off the grid entirely. Why hadn’t he?

Ah. Yes.

Anyway, the cold makes him sluggish, but not sleepy, so it’s nothing to be concerned about. Imagine being concerned with something like the temperature.

Ridiculous. There are thousands of things much more concerning than the measure of hot or cold, and he is dealing with approximately nine hundred and fifty-three of them.

This is not an exaggeration. He did the math a few days (months? years?) ago.

Oh, it would have been three days ago—he remembers because he came to groggy and wondering when theoretical mathematics made his ribs hurt. His head, certainly, if the problem was knotty enough, but surely not his ribs?

Realization had set in a moment later (as had the ever-impending panic attack, but let’s not dwell on that).

The glass of water he’d been drinking falls from his hand, apparently for no reason. He stares at it blankly, mind automatically attempting to draw patterns in the spattered liquid and crystalline shards of glass.

Another part of him offers some comparison between his own mind and the shatter-shapes of the glass. He promptly silences that part.

He’s shivering. Probably it’s why he dropped the glass. Probably it’s the cold.

He tucks his hands under his armpits. That should help.

Still. Best not to sleep.

*****

Stanford Pines is fifty-something years old and can’t sleep.

His sleep schedule is haphazard, but the sleep itself is better than it has been in years. Complete and utter exhaustion will do that for a man.

The nightmares don’t even wake him up every time anymore, so those ones don’t count.

Unfortunately, tonight he’s let himself go past ‘exhausted to the point of collapse’ and right into ‘exhausted to the point of being too wired to sleep’.

Nothing Bill has or ever will put him through could rival the sheer torture of this state of being. He takes a moment to enjoy being able to think such a thing without fear that Bill will pull the thought from his head and use it against him. Only a moment, though—his concentration is too fragmented for anything more.

He won’t take anything to help himself sleep—he never does. He can’t. A single moment of grogginess could be a moment too many, and he won’t take that risk.

He falls back on well-worn techniques instead—cataloguing the constellations of different worlds, conjugating pluperfect Kesslian verbs, translating a poem he heard at a campfire one time.

He doesn’t think about Earth. Somehow that never helps.

There is one thing to say for running so utterly on empty:

once you fall asleep, you’re far too tired to dream.

*****

Stanford Pines is fifty-eight years old and can’t sleep.

He was asleep, until about thirty seconds ago.

He much prefers being awake.

His hands are shaking and his heart is pounding and judging from the pain when he twists to look at the clock, he probably wrenched his back again.

There is nothing yellow in the room. The only omen of Bill is the remembered laughing cacophony in his head.

Sometimes, in more morbid moments, he fancies that the metal plate reinforcing his skull only gives Bill better ambiance and acoustics for his fits of hysterics.

His back is aching and it’s still hours before anyone else will be up and he can’t tell if the faint tremor in his body is from exhaustion or the nightmare.

He still prefers being awake.

*****

Stanford Pines is fifty-eight years old and can’t sleep.

It isn’t because of nightmares or illness. There are no demons, real or imagined, and he isn’t lost in another dimension.

“And then what, Grunkle Ford?”

It is, in fact, because of two small children with an insatiable appetite for stories.

Ford smiles at Mabel. She’s far more likely to air her impatience with his theatrical and intentionally-provoking pauses than Dipper, though her twin’s expression matches her eagerness.

“Are you sure you want to know?” He asks, just for that little bit more.

Mabel does not disappoint. She swats at him—she has quite an arm; Ford wouldn’t be surprised if Stan has been giving her boxing lessons—and yells “YES!”

“C’mon, Grunkle Ford, tell us,” Dipper cajoles.

“All right, all right.” He leans in, as though to tell them a secret, and they mimic the motion, eyes bright with anticipation. “The ice would have crushed the boat if we had tried to go through—so we went over instead.”

Bafflement. “What?”

“We flew.”

Astonishment. “It was a flying ship?”

Ford laughs. He can’t help it—their unfeigned delight at the strangeness of the universe reminds him of days when his eyes had been that bright, his wonder that unfettered.

He is living those days vicariously through them for now, for now, but—maybe not forever.

He has hope that he will live them for himself again someday soon.

He has hope for a lot of things now, actually.

It’s nice.

Mabel opens her mouth to ask what is probably seven or eight questions all at once, and lets the air out in an ear-piercing squeal as Stan swoops in from behind and swings her up onto his shoulders. He catches Dipper with his other hand, tucking the boy up under his arm. “All right, you little gremlins, time to hit the sack.”

“Awwww—”

“But Grunkle Stan—”

“Don’t ‘but Grunkle Stan’ me, kiddo.” He gives Dipper a little shake, nearly dropping him in the process. He is either not aware of or ignoring the fact that Mabel has stolen his hat and is trying to find some way to wear it that will not impede her vision. “Ford’s got enough nerd stories to last ten of your young lifetimes. Trust me—I’d know.”

Ford makes a bit of a face at that. He has to stop it from twisting into a smile when Stan makes a much more exaggerated face in return.

“Could you do the monster chase game, Grunkle Stan? Please?” Mabel’s eyelash-batting is entirely wasted due to the fact that Stan can’t see her, but it adds something to her plea nonetheless.

“What’s in it for me?”

“We’ll go to bed without complaining?” Dipper offers.

“If you catch us we’ll pick up the whole yard tomorrow!”

Ford and Dipper give near-identical winces at Mabel’s recklessness.

Stan, of course, is immediately sold.

“Done,” he says. He swings Mabel off his shoulders and lets Dipper down, but keeps hold of both of them. “Hope both of you are ready to lose all your free time.”

“Big words,” Mabel challenges.

Stan snorts. “On my mark—readysetgo!”

They’re off, Stan roaring in a fairly good imitation of the giant six-legged creature of unknown origin Ford had run across on D-272, and Dipper and Mabel laughing and shouting as they barrel toward the stairs.

It’s impossible to sleep through this racket.

Ford doesn’t mind at all.

#gravity falls #gravity falls fanfiction #stanford pines #stanley pines #mabel pines #dipper pines #my writing #have another through the years fic!!#i have forgotten how to write anything that is not academic but i miss these characters constantly so #have this rambling piece that probably reveals far more about my current emotional state than i intended

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trashyswitch · 4 years

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The Tickle Community’s Secret Members

Chapter 1: 2 Ticklish Members, One House

Patton discovers that Roman reads fanfiction on tickling! absolutely loves tickling people! Patton, who discovers he loves the feeling of being tickled, lets Roman be his ler.

Later on, Virgil discovers both of their secret!

Fun Fact of the day: Roman is a tickle addict. He has been for at least 4 years. It all started one day when he discovered he liked tickling people. He loved being able to turn someone into a puddle of giggles with his fingers alone. He also loved teasing people and making them super flustered. It's usually a treat to see someone so bashful and embarrassed. But to Roman, this treat needed to be presented as often as possible! His ache to see someone laugh so much, started to get greater as he got older.

One day, while tickling Logan, he discovered that certain people can endure more tickling better than others. Logan endured it for a while, but no one handles it better than Patton could. The person that couldn't handle it very well at all, was Remus. He hated being tickled. He thought it was too childish. He thought there were much better ways to annoy people, than making them laugh uncontrollably. So, despite being Remus's brother, Roman rarely tickled him. It was one of the only things that Roman respected. Besides, he wouldn't wanna piss off a RIDICULOUSLY ruthless ler. If provoked, Remus would become one of the most ruthless, teasy, and intimidating lers anyone has ever seen! And Roman has been a victim of his brutal attacks. So, he knows not to cross paths with an evil little bastard like him.

Later on, Roman discovered he liked watching tickle scenes in movies! Not only that, but through a quick google search, he also discovered there were tons of people like him! They liked writing fanfictions of movies and TV shows, which they called 'tickle fanfictions' or 'tickle fics' for short, they read other people's tickle fanfictions, and they separated themselves into 2 groups that came together: Lees and Lers. A Ler was the person that loved tickling people (which Roman sorted himself into), and a Lee was a victim of the tickle attacks. It turns out, there are people on the internet, that absolutely beg to be tickled! And Roman, being the ambitious ler he was, wished he could reach his hand into the screen and tickle the people on the other side of the screen. Not only that, but the lee accounts opened up a new can of information for Roman! Suddenly, there are multiple tickle tools that make the tickling more effective. There's cute scenarios people can set up and evil little teases people use on their lees to make them cower in bashful embarrassment. It was a very interesting community, and he soon joined the main social media sites he's been reading from! Now, he could secretly say he was part of the tickle community. However, he didn't dare tell any of the sides, not even Thomas! Yes, he loved them, and felt like he could trust them. But it was embarrassing to talk about out loud. So, he refused to talk to anyone about his strange hobby.

Little did he know, that Roman is actually living with a fellow member of the tickle community...

Patton was typing up a Disney tickle fan fiction between Jane and Tarzan. He had gotten pretty far on it, and was trying to come up with his own idea of where Jane's tickle spots would be. Her feet was already canon, so that was on the list. He considered other spots, but decided to narrow it down to her feet, armpits, and back of her neck. Patton had been a part of the tickle community for a while. He had learned what tickle tools work the best on him, he had learned about which types of finger tickling feels worse, and he's learned about which teases make his face turn red the best! How did he find this all out?

Well...he may have told someone...In the middle of an unbelievably large lee mood, he may have told Virgil so his fantasies could come alive. And what do you know: they did! It turns out, Virgil is a really good ler, if given a reason to be! He has wrecked Patton for the pure enjoyment of not only making Patton happy, but making himself feel happy along the way. Through his experiences with Patton, Virgil has become an ally for the tickle community. Though he hasn't opened the can of information himself yet, he recognizes how happy it makes Patton and is glad to support it and give him a good wrecking when he needs it most.

One day, 3 of the sides were hanging out in the living room. Roman was coloring a Princess coloring book, while Patton and Virgil were sitting beside each other, watching Gravity Falls on Virgil's phone. Recently, Thomas had gotten Disney+ to watch the very company he loves: Disney! And so, all of the sides have been enjoying having all these shows, movies, documentaries, and franchises all on one place. While watching Gravity falls, the episode came up where Dipper, taken over by Bill Cipher, was trying to take down Mabel and get the book. He had just tackled her down, and was ready to take the book back for good. However Mabel, being Dipper's twin sister, gladly says "But you're in Dipper's body, and I know all his weaknesses!". Before Bipper could question her motives, Mabel had placed her wiggling fingers under Bipper's armpit, and said "Tickle, tickle." while doing so. This caused Bipper to burst out in laughter and scream. He had never felt tickling before, so he jumped back out of pure fright.

"Hey Virgil?" Patton interrupted. Virgil paused the show and looked at Patton with a smile.

"Ya?" Virgil replied.

"What would it be like learning about tickling for the first time?" Patton asked. Virgil narrowed his eyes and looked away, trying to think.

"I have no clue..." Virgil thought, before letting a smirk grow onto his lips. "Probably...like this?" Virgil guessed, before squeezing Patton's knee. Patton let out a squeal before pulling the leg in and kicking it out. Next, Virgil tweaked Patton's side, and wiggle his fingers on his stomach.

"Wahahahait! Buhuhut, I knohohohow whahahat it ihihis!" Patton argued through his helpless giggles.

"That's true, but it still doesn't change the feeling." Virgil replied, switching from wiggling to squeezing the sides of his stomach.

"Ehehehehehehe! Vihihihirgihihihil!" Patton said happily.

"What? Does it tickle?" Virgil asked, acting oblivious to the fact that his fingers were causing Patton's laughter.

"Yehehehehehes! Patton replied as he flailed his arms around.

Next, Virgil wiggles his fingers onto Patton's exposed neck. Patton threw his head back and let all the laughter explode out of him.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! NOT THERE! NOHOHOT THEHEHEHERE!" Patton screeched with wide eyes.

"What?! But I thought you loved this spot?" Virgil teased with a smile.

"IHIHIHI DOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" Patton replied, covering his face with his fists.

"Then why are you complaining?!" Virgil asked, attacking the back and right side of Patton's neck.

"IHIIHIHIHIT'S TOOHOHOHOHO MUHUHUHUHUCH!" Patton replied through his hysterical laughter.

"Picky, picky, picky..." Virgil muttered with a shit-eating grin. He removed his hands from Patton's neck, and went back to Patton's stomach. Patton's laughter died down to happy little giggles. "Is that a little better?" Virgil asked. Patton nodded as his giggles continued to leave his body.

Meanwhile, Roman had been watching the entire moment, wishing he would've had his phone on him at that moment. This would've been such a perfect thing to record! But at the same time, Roman felt...jealousy. He was jealous of Virgil, and how he was able to tickle the adorable father figure. But at the same time, he wanted to enjoy the scene in front of him for as long as he could. Maybe...he could make it longer by participating...

Roman placed his marker down, stood up and walked over to the scene. "Having fun there?" Roman asked.

"YEHEHEHEHEHEHESSS!" Patton replied. Roman's eyes widened. Wait...did he just say 'yes'? He's having fun! Does that mean he likes it? While trying to question the potential theory, Roman noticed something else very interesting about the scene: Patton wasn't pushing away! He was giggling his heart out as Virgil tickled him to bits. Perhaps he was right? Perhaps Patton likes being tickled?

"You look like you wanna join. Wanna help me out?" Virgil asked. Roman snapped right out of his thoughts at the amazing opportunity.

"Would I?!" Roman replied excitedly, before kneeling down to Virgil's level. Looking around, he decided to try out the spot Virgil tried first: Patton's knees. Grabbing the lower leg with his other hand, he used his dominant hand to tweak and squeeze at the tops of the knees first.

"EEEEEKK! HEHEHEHEHAHAHAHA!" Patton bursted out, squirming back and forth as both people tickled him to oblivion.

Patton, being the lee he was, was absolutely overjoyed! 2 people tickling beyond relief? This was a dream come true!

"Hey Virgil? How are his feet?" Roman asked. Patton's lost his train of thought then and there. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and his face became pale like a ghost!

"Oooh! That's a REALLY good spot for him! Especially, the toes." Virgil replied.

Roman gasped from excitement as he let go of Patton's leg. He scooted himself down to Patton's feet, removed Patton's adorable cat socks, and scratched at the inner arch of his foot.

"OH MY GAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAD!" Patton shouted. His hysterical laughter turned to cackles as Roman scratched the soles of his feet. Roman removed his fingers, to let the man breath.

"Holy crap...Looks like I have to pull out the big guns..." Roman declared, pulling up his sleeves to show off his 'big guns'.

Patton's eyebrows raised as his hand covered his mouth in anticipation. Instead of showing off his muscles, like Patton thought, Roman used his magic to create sparkly, red feathers. Using his hands, he lead the feathers towards the inner arch and the sole of Patton's left foot.

Patton let out a squeal and fell into a fit of joyful giggles. Roman fluttered the feathers back and forth with the magic in his hands, and smiled as he moved the feathers to the outer arch. Patton's head flew back and his giggles turned to blissful laughter.

"Your laughter is so adorable, Patton! Say, what would happen if the feathers got under your toes?" Roman asked, smirking. He pulled the feathers away, grabbed onto the feathers with his fingers, and got rid of the floating magic within them. Patton lifted up his upper body and balanced it with his hands, so he could watch.

Unfortunately for him, Patton wouldn't be able to watch very much because as soon as the feathers wriggled themselves in between the toes, Patton's body was back on the ground, laughing hysterically while squirming and pounding his fists into the ground. Roman was absolutely enjoying this. The fantasy of tickling someone to make them laugh endlessly, was exhilarating to him. Roman has always been fascinated about how something as simple as a small feather, can cause so much laughter to escape. It blew his mind the more he thought about it, and it was blowing his mind further as he demonstrated it. Maybe Logan would allow him to borrow one of his anatomy books to find out more on the subject...

"CROHOHOHOFTERS! CROFTEHEHEHERS!" Patton shouted. His face was getting more red by the second, and his limbs were getting tired of flailing and pounding the ground.

"Roman, I think that's enough now." Virgil warned. Roman nodded and removed the feathers from Patton's feet. As soon as the feathers were gone, Patton's body became limp. He was exhausted from the long tickle session, but was also overwhelmingly happy.

"I sense Crofters is a safe word?" Roman asked, completely unaware of what he just said. Virgil nodded.

"W-Wait...How do you...know about...safe words?" Patton asked through deep breaths.

Roman's eyes went wide, as his hand shot up to cover his mouth. How could he have said that?! No one knew about his secret...And, Roman didn't fully know if Patton was part of the tickle community. What if he was wrong, and he's humiliated himself in front of them?

"Telling by your eagerness to join in, and the fact that you literally created feathers out of magic for the pure reason to tickle him...Something tells me Roman is a Ler." Virgil theorized, looking at Patton near the end.

Roman's face turned a light red, as he bit his lip in nervousness. "Well...maaayybe I am...But how do YOU know about the term 'Ler'? Only people who are part of the community are aware of that term." Roman accused, in order to cover up his own embarrassment.

Virgil's eyebrows raised. He didn't expect for the accusations to turn onto him. "Well, I'm not. I'm aware of it, and a supporter of the community. Patton, on the other hand..." Virgil trailed off, looking at him. Patton let a smile grow onto his lips, and nodded. "...Is a part of the community. He's a Lee, and a proud one at that." Virgil said, as a smile grew onto his own lips as well.

Roman just about fainted at the unbelievable news. A member of the tickle community? Living in the mind palace WITH HIM?! How could he have missed this?! In the past, he's heard Patton's laughter coming from his room. But, he had assumed Patton was watching something funny with Virgil! Could it be that Virgil and Patton were having tickle sessions often without him realizing? This entire idea was overwhelming for him. And yet at the same time, questions had started flooding his brain. How could this have flown over his head? How long was Patton part of the tickle community? How long had Virgil known about it? Did Patton read fan fiction? Did Patton write fan fiction? If so, what fandom was he reading/writing about? HE NEED TO KNOW!

"Okay...I am. I'm a part of the tickle community. And, I'm a Ler." Roman confessed.

"I knew it!" Virgil exclaimed under his breath.

"Wait, REALLY?! You're part of the tickle community?!" Patton reacted, wide eyed with his jaw dropped.

"Yup. The Royal Ler, at your service." Roman declared, holding his hand out for a shake.

Patton smiled. "I'm Disney Lee. Nice to meet you." Patton replied, shaking his hand.

"Wait, Disney Lee? I recognize that name! You wrote those movie fanfics on Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and a few others! I LOVE your Tarzan fics! They're SO GOOD!" Roman exclaimed.

"You read them?! Oh my gosh! Do you write any fanfictions? If so, I should try reading them!" Patton reacted.

"Well...I haven't posted any yet. But I want to. I have a Star Wars fan fiction I'm working on! Wanna read it?" Roman asked.

"You bet I do! Virgil, you wanna join us?" Patton asked.

Virgil waved them away. "Nah, I'm gonna watch another episode of The Mandalorian, I think. You two have fun!" Virgil said, before crashing onto the couch.

While Virgil watched The Mandalorian, Patton and Roman got to talk about their shared hobby! They talked about their fandoms, the community members they follow, the social media sites they have accounts on, and even some of the deep secrets that live within the tickle community. Their favorite tickle tools, what teases get them the worst, their absolute worst spots, and how ticklish they really are.

Roman, being the Ler he was, pulled out a big box from under his bed.

"What is it?" Patton asked.

Roman put a finger over his own mouth, before taking the lid off to reveal the inside. Patton just about died from what was inside...

#ticklefic #tickle community #lee!patton #ler!virgil #ler!roman

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jovialyouthmusic · 4 years

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Silver Service

A Royal Romance AU fanfic sequel to Protect and Serve

Drake and Riley get some quality time alone

Word Count 1858

A/N As my writing has slowed to a crawl, I split a chapter. It will be a more digestible read this way - enjoy. NS*W No under 18s please

8a Deeper and Closer

Drake swung the steering wheel and the SUV left the road of a dirt track. They had been going to leave early, but Bastien had come to ask Riley about what Sophia had remembered at the castle, so they decided to have a light lunch before they set off. They had packed clothes and food for two days.

‘Hold on, Brookes, it may be bumpy’ he warned her. She grabbed the armrest as the vehicle negotiated the bumps and holes of the road ahead. It started to pitch and roll and she fought back a squeal of terror. She looked over at Drake, whose face was set in grim determination with just a hint of enjoyment.

‘Is this – I mean do you often come up here?’ she asked, her voice shaky as they bumped along the track a little faster than she thought was safe.

‘Not often – once or twice a year’ he said ‘Bas used to bring me fishing on the lake, and sometimes I fish and sometimes I just – well, I just look at the stars’ he smiled.

‘Does that mean we’re camping?’ she asked ‘because I’m not sure I’m dressed for it’

‘It’s okay, there’s a cabin by the lake’ he replied as the vehicle jolted over yet another pot hole. ‘It’s a bit basic, but it’s warm and dry.’

By the time they arrived at the little cabin by the lake, Riley’s nerves were jangled. Drake obviously knew what he was doing with the vehicle, but it had not been a comfortable ride. She got out shakily, glad to be still at last.

‘Drake, remind me to get out and walk next time you turn down a track like that’ Drake grinned

‘Hana said something like that, you girls just can’t take a rough ride’ he scoffed

The cabin was set at the bottom of a gentle wooded slope, pine needles making a soft covering over the ground. A stream cascaded down the slope to feed a still blue lake, reflecting the fluffy clouds above in the afternoon light. There was a little jetty going out into the water, and a small fishing boat was drawn up on the shore.

‘Uh, you show me the bed in that cabin and I’ll show you a rough ride’ teased Riley, punching his shoulder. Drake groaned

‘That’s terrible, Brookes’ he said ‘Come on in and we can drop our stuff off. We’re going fishing for our supper’

------

Some hours later, the two lovers returned to the cabin. Riley had managed to hook a good sized fish, while Drake had only managed a couple of small ones. He made up a fire outside, even though there was a gas stove in the cabin. It was, like he said, very basic, just one large room with a fireplace, fold out sofa bed, table and chairs and a basic kitchen. Water came from a tank fed by the stream that ran into the lake. The bathroom had basic plumbing, and hot water was in short supply. Toilet facilities featured an earth closet outside the cabin, a few feet away into the wood.

‘We don’t want to use the gas stove unless we have to’ Drake explained ‘Wood is free and there’s plenty of it – and cooking outside over an open fire – how many nobles would get their hands dirty?’ Riley smiled and watched him deftly gut the fish ready to put in the hot pan. They ate off tin plates with their fingers, watching the sun set over the lake and went inside to wash their hands in the tiny kitchen.

‘Now, about that rough ride I promised you’ Riley murmured, standing in front of Drake and drawing him near, hands on his hips and grinding against him. He grinned back at her

‘Not just yet, we should get the fire going in the fireplace to warm the place up, it’ll get cold tonight.’ He took her hands off his hips and stepped back. He busied himself laying and lighting the fire while she cleaned the plates they’d used. The fire was soon burning steadily, and Riley snuck up behind Drake to put her arms round him and nibble at his neck.

‘Hey, Riley’ Drake laughed ‘We need to do one more thing before we get the bed out’

‘Who needs a bed?’ She murmured in his ear. He swatted her away again

‘Seriously, one more thing and then I’m all yours’ he chided. She pouted

‘Okay, what?’

‘Just come outside’

‘But it’s getting dark – and cold’ She protested

‘It will be worth it, I promise – and I’ll keep you warm’ She sighed, unconvinced, and he lead her outside toward the lake shore away from the trees so the sky opened out above them. The horizon was a pale gold colour, and the sky gradated to a deep velvety blue overhead, stars starting to twinkle and shimmer. ‘Just look up’ he said ‘It will take a few moments for your eyes to adjust’ Riley gasped in wonder

‘Oh Drake, it’s beautiful’ she said ‘I’ve never seen such a clear dark sky. Do you know the constellations?’

‘Oh uh - sure’ he said, standing behind her and holding her close, pointing out a group of stars overhead ‘Everyone knows the Plough – though I think you call it the Big Dipper – and over there – those three faint stars in a row are Orion – the belt of Orion. And over there are the Pleiades. It’s easier to see them if you look just to the side’

‘Oh, that’s amazing. How about the bright one near the horizon?’ She leaned back into him, savouring the woodsmoke that clung to his clothes and his faint musk underneath.

‘That’s actually a planet – it’s Venus, which is closer to the sun than us, so you can usually see it around sunrise or sunset close to the sun.’

‘And that group over there?’ She pointed and he hummed for a moment

‘That – ah that’s the Waitress. See her frilly little apron? She’s standing gazing at that other group of stars over to the left - it’s called the Cordonian Stud – ouch!’ he yelped as Riley elbowed him in the ribs.

‘You ass’ she laughed ‘you don’t know a thing’

‘No, no, I do!’ He protested ‘Just not a lot’ he said, and she turned around to him, putting her arms around his neck

‘Well stud, lets go in and get cozy’ she said ‘I can see some clouds coming over and I’m starting to feel cold’

Inside, the fire had warmed the cabin, and Drake pulled the sofa bed out and Riley made it up – it took a while as they kept trying to distract each other with kisses and caresses as though it was a matter of life and death that they had to touch each other every few seconds. Finally the bed was made, and they stood in the flickering firelight. Drake threw a couple more logs on and turned to her.

‘At last’ she murmured ‘All done now?’ She stood in front of him and caressed his cheek, his beard scratching her palm.

‘Yup’ he grinned, his hands wandering to her waist, pulling her close ‘I’m all yours. Now we do exactly as we please – nobody to hear us, no deadlines for mealtimes, no polite conversations. Just you and me’ He looked searchingly into her eyes, his voice a whisper.

She smiled back at him, leaning in slowly until their lips met for a long lingering kiss before they started to work on undressing each other one item at a time, caressing newly exposed skin until they were naked. The fire crackled and their breath changed from soft sighs and moans to shuddering gasps. Their fingers glided and stroked and pressed, anticipation spicing the tingles and heated sensations coursing through their bodies and consuming their thoughts.

Drake kissed along the top of Riley’s shoulder, tracing down her breastbone and belly, backing her to the low bed until she sat, dropping to his knees in front of her. He paused to take in her naked body in the flickering firelight, as she too looked down at him, then leaned forward for another searing kiss. He half stood, putting his knee between hers and gently pushing her back so she crawled up the bed to lie on her back. He hovered over her on hands and knees and dove to kiss her neck, peppering her body with light presses of his lips and little nips of his teeth so she laughed and writhed underneath him.

She pushed at him, guiding him so he lay on his back and it was she who hovered over him, greedily drinking in his naked torso – the broad chest with its smattering of dark hair, the flat belly, the triangle of his hips, his erect member waiting to do her bidding. She crawled down the bed to take him into her mouth, sucking and massaging with her tongue. His hips bucked underneath her, his fingers raking her scalp.

‘Jesus, Riley’ he hissed ‘Slow down, there’s no hurry’ He felt the vibration of her laugh and threw his head back, trying to take his mind off what her mouth was doing to him, reciting the list of Kings and Queens of Cordonia over the centuries. Suddenly she stopped and crawled up the bed over him, her breasts brushing his chest, hair tickling his collarbone, pressing her lips to his and straddling him teasingly.

‘Do you want me?’ she breathed in his ear.

‘Fuck yes, Brookes’

‘Are you sure there’s nothing else you want to do?’ she teased ‘no more stargazing?’

‘The only stars you’ll be seeing will be with your eyes closed’ he growled, trying to flip her over, but she resisted and they wrestled for dominance for a moment before he finally won, pinning her onto the mattress. She gazed up at him, biting her lip mischievously

‘no more games’ he growled ‘no more teasing – tell me you want me’

‘I want you Drake’ she murmured, and he needed no further encouragement. He lined himself up and eased in a little at a time. She lay under him, gasping and lightly raking his back with her nails. As soon as he had entered her fully, he drew out and paused so she writhed underneath him, trying to pull him into her, whimpering with need. He relented from teasing and drove into her, feeling her wet tightness envelop him over and over again, building up speed as she rose up to meet every stroke. The air was warm from the fire, the light dancing over bare flesh as they moved together, becoming engrossed in each other, totally in unity. Together they moved closer to the edge, moving as one, exploding into bliss together, sweat sheening their skin as they cried out and gasped and slowed and came to a stop. Drake rolled off to her side, reaching for tissues to clean up. When they had done that, they drew back the bedclothes to huddle together and fall asleep in the warmth of the fire, the sky outside dark and peppered with stars.

Next Chapter 8b Deeper and Closer

#silver service #protect and serve #drake x riley #drake fanfic #drake walker #the royal romance au #trr au fanfic

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thesouthernpansy · 4 years

Text

sacred geometry (3/?)

stanford pines/bill cipher chapter 3/?

ford arrived at backupsmore university ready to put his head down and get lost in his classwork. his new roommate seemed to have come prepared to haul him back out, again.

that, and eat uncooked blocks of ramen.

somehow, that isn't even the weirdest thing happening on campus, and the prospect of strange new mysteries and stranger new friends has ford feeling almost glad to be here.

it's a college au, let's crack some books

read on ao3

For months, now, Ford has been chasing stories, anecdotes from friends of classmates and acquaintances about unexplained lights, disembodied voices, unidentified creatures prowling the quad in broad daylight. He's met with anyone and everyone willing to share their accounts with him—some witnesses have been more hesitant than others, but no one can say Ford has been anything less than persistent. What they can, and have, said has begun to earn him something of a reputation among the student body, though even that has had its uses. Those touched by this nebulous weirdness have begun seeking Ford out deliberately; many of his more close-minded and incurious peers, conversely, have begun deliberately avoiding him.

Both have saved Ford a great deal of time and effort, in their ways.

There's a map that Ford has kept on his person constantly since it was given to him brand new during orientation, now perilously soft where he's folded and unfolded it so many times. It's plotted extensively with numbered red circles, each with their own corresponding entry in Ford's journal, all grouped sparsely along one of three precise, hand-drawn lines. Where the lines intersect they form a perfect equilateral triangle, connecting the building that houses the financial aid department to the Beta Delta Theta fraternity house to the Warbleheim Concert Hall and back again. The shape is clustered so densely with red circles they can barely be distinguished from one another.

“I've been observing the area exhaustively, and all the data I've been able to gather suggests not only that all the supernatural phenomena reported at Backupsmore has a substantial basis in reality, but that the vast majority of it originates in this spot specifically.”

Bill blinks. “I thought we were talking about ley lines.”

“We are!” Ford catches the excited crack in his voice too late to stop it. He clears his throat as discreetly as he can as he turns the map back towards Bill. He taps again at the red triangle, the geographic heart of Backupsmore's crowded campus, and the lines that form it. “These denote the perimeter of the phenomena's epicenter, and they correspond precisely with the mapped ley lines in the area. For all practical purposes, they're the same lines!”

Bill hmms thoughtfully. “A confluence of mysterious and powerful energies at ol' Backupsmore, huh? No wonder so much weird stuff happens around here.”

“Exactly.” Something surges in Ford's stomach, buzzes through his chest and out to the tips of his fingers. Bill gets it.

Gathering the journal from Ford's hands, Bill spins on his heel to glance down at the grid paper carpet still adorning the floor. He looks between it and the equations he's holding several times before waving towards the observatory's open ceiling, mouth slanted sideways.

“So you're, what, trying to figure out if the ley lines are a gemini?”

Astrology. Ford rolls his eyes; some of his beliefs may be unconventional, but they're all backed by known science. Mostly.

“More like keeping track of the correlation between unexplained activity and significant celestial positioning.”

“And?” prompts Bill.

“So far, the data is inconclusive at best,” Ford admits. “But I still believe it's worth recording.”

“Sure, sure,” says Bill, “What's with all this, though?”

Tucking Ford's journal under his arm, Bill twirls a hand over a spot on Ford's star chart where Ford went through the trouble of connecting the stars in Capricornus, one of dozens of constellations that have all received the same attention.

“Let me guess, it's 'a helpful shorthand method for identifying sectors of the sky'?” he asks in a tenor that Ford recognizes, rankled, as an incredibly accurate impression of his own.

“They're not—” Every vector and sector and quadrant of the star chart is clearly, painstakingly, and obviously labeled, which makes it difficult to argue that the additional factor of the constellations doesn't clog it up, make it harder to understand. Still, they're not unhelpful, not for Ford, but to say that would be to admit the full, uncomfortable truth that he's allowed sentiment to infiltrate his otherwise scientifically pristine proceedings.

He settles for “It's complicated.”

“Now we're getting somewhere! What am I sensing here, an old betrayal? A deep, cosmos-related wound?”

“Bill—”

“Who hurt you, Fordsy, what fault did they leave in your stars?”

Bill swoons dramatically against Ford's arm, and the sudden urge to laugh gets tangled with the hook of rising anger in Ford's chest.

“You can't just assume—” he falters, feeling Bill shift to look up at him. What is he even talking about, surely they're both wondering it, now. Can't just assume that he knows Ford, that he can read what and why and how like even Ford's most private and embarrassing motivations are a simple study of reacting atoms; can't assume that Ford wants him to know, wants him to understand, wants him constantly hanging off Ford like Ford's invited the physical contact or even permitted it.

Ford screws his eyes shut, inhales sharply and scrubs a hand under his glasses. He feels the loss of heat when Bill moves away.

“That bad?”

“I know them well, that's all. The constellations were my, my gateway to the rest of the universe, I suppose. I've known them like the back of my hand since I was a kid. The whole back of my hand,” he adds, almost conciliatory. “They were meant to be of a more practical use, eventually.”

“Little Fordsy, still thinking big?”

“I thought so,” replies Ford wryly. “We were going to use them for navigational purposes.”

“We?”

Panic churns briefly through Ford's stomach. He should've anticipated this possibility; he has the barest scraping of experience keeping secrets from anyone who isn't his parents, which is really such a dramatic connection to make, he thinks. It isn't as though he's intentionally been keeping Stan a secret. Still it's reluctant and strangely, fleetingly guilty when he can finally get the words out.

“My, ah, my brother and I. We found this dinghy one summer when we were...who can remember, now, but we spent the season patching it up and making plans about traveling the vast oceans, seeing the world and solving mysteries, exploring the unexplored.”

Ford glances sideways at Bill self-consciously. No one else at Backupsmore knows that Ford has a brother, not even Fiddleford, and honestly Ford has preferred it that way. Every part of their lives was shared until Ford left, no inch even of his impossible childhood dreams left to Ford alone, and if it had been up to Stan that's how it would've stayed.

Somehow, the Stan O'War remains an island in the mess it all came to, surrounded and yet untouched by the anger and resentment Ford's twin precipitates in him. A simpler time, when the whole world was still open to him and he knew with his fierce child's certainty that it he would one day make his mark on it.

Ford sighs heavily. “We were going to find Atlantis,” he says.

“Ugh, Plato again.”

This time, Ford does laugh. Bill curls long fingers around his wrist.

“Aw, look who's got a warm, gooey center underneath all those big brains. You're the full package!”

“Don't mock me,” says Ford.

“I'm not mocking you,” insists Bill. “I'm teasing you. There's a big difference.”

From the corner of his eye, Ford can see Bill's head angled to meet his gaze. He looks down at his hands, instead.

“Where's your brother now?” Bill asks.

“Who knows,” says Ford, venom in his voice. “He was one a one-way street to nowhere the last time I saw him. As far as I'm concerned, that's where he belongs.”

“Sounds like there's a story there,” notes Bill.

“No story that's worth telling. Let it suffice to say that it's his fault I'm wasting my talents in this sad excuse for a school instead of at West Coast Tech, where someone of my intellect and ability ought to be. No offense,” he adds quickly, remembering.

“None taken! I'm here because I want to be.”

Ford's attention snags on this detail. “Really?”

“I know, I know, my intellect and abilities are atrophied and depressed, it's very tragic. Hey—“ Bill points up through the observatory roof at the familiar axis of The Big Dipper. “Tell me about that one, Starman.”

Ford wrinkles his nose at the new nickname. “What about it?”

“Anything! Everything, all the news that's fit to print.”

“Something tells me you already know anything I could tell you.”

“Sure, but I want to hear it from you. What's that one?”

“Which one?” Ford squints to catch the pattern in the cluster of stars Bill indicates without success.

“That one, right there. It's a perfect triangle, look—those three, right next to that reddish one.”

“There's no constellation there,” says Ford.

“That you know of,” says Bill cryptically.

“Because you're making it up right now?” asks Ford, charmed despite himself.

Bill grins, tightens his grip on Ford's wrist just a fraction, his thumb pressed against the soft curve Ford's pulse.

“Humor me,” he entreats. “What's it called?”

Ford knows a vast amount about the heavens, their movements, configurations, and effects, their secrecies and the awe they open up inside him—suddenly, ridiculously, none of it seems like enough. Certainly none of it helps him floundering to find a satisfying answer against the nervous, noisy background radiation of his own heartbeat, of which he is currently all too aware.

“Uh,” he offers lamely. “William?”

"...William?" Bill seems genuinely thrown by the suggestion.

Heat creeps up the back of Ford's neck. "Bill isn't short for William?"

A beat of silence, and then Bill laughs, harsh and loud and bright. “Ha! Well played, Fordsy, nice try. I said it's a nickname, I didn't say it's an abbreviation."

“I see,” says Ford carefully, but his looming humiliation has no time to set in; Bill snaps Ford's journal shut and gestures towards him with the spine.

“What do you know about Lemuria?”he asks. The expression Ford makes in response must be telling. “The Polarians? The Hyperboreans? The lost civilization of Mu?”

“Is this more Plato?” asks Ford.

In response, Bill chucks the journal at him, but he's grinning all the same. “Getting fresh on me! Okay. If you chicken-and-egged the room you'd know that Lemuria came before Atlantis, thank you very much. Those water-logged chumps sank Lemuria like the bag of crystals it was, but you know how it is—a whole bunch of the Lemurian citizens escaped to the far corners of your primitive earth and taught the wide and varied indigenous peoples how to make calenders and build the pyramids and all that mystic stuff. Or maybe they were aliens, were the pyramids aliens?”

If he rolled his eyes any harder, Ford thinks, he would probably sprain something.

“What,” says Bill, “you don't believe in extradimensional intelligence?”

“Of course I do,” snaps Ford. “I also think it's disrespectful to assume our ancestors needed aliens to figure out that a pyramid is the best shape to build for structural impact and endurance.”

Bill beams at him. “When are you done with classes tomorrow?”

“I—what? Why?”

“We haven't had a game in a while. I'd say we're past due for a rematch, wouldn't you? Or we could skip to the inevitable and you could just treat me to pizza.”

Chess, Ford realizes. Bill is talking about chess.

“A rematch,” he says slowly. “You know, I have been practicing.”

“That so?”

“I think I could beat you this time,” Ford tells him. He and Fiddleford have been playing nearly every morning before ecological statistics, and it diminishes the difficultly of Fiddleford as an opponent not at all to acknowledge that the lion's share of the victories have gone to Ford.

Bill tugs at Ford's tie, mussing it before he tightens and straightens and smooths it neatly along Ford's chest.

“We'll have to see about that then, won't we?” He pauses to adjust his sunglasses. “I take it you know where the concert hall is, so meet me there, five o'clock sharp.”

“Are you a music major?” tries Ford.

“Hmmm, getting warmer,” Bill tells him.

“You play an instrument,” Ford guesses.

Shrugging, Bill responds, “I've been known to tickle an ivory or two in my day. Maybe if you're good I'll play for you sometime. You like Vera Lynn?”

“Yes, actually,” says Ford. Something stirs in the pit of his chest.

Bill taps his chest, once, twice, fingers lingering this time.

“It's a date.”

#gravity falls #billford #stanford pines #bill cipher #my fic

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steven-falls · 4 years

Text

Gravity Falls reviewed: Tourist Trapped

What I’m struck by when I rewatch ‘Tourist Trapped’ is how many times it tries to pull one over on the audience. We start off with protagonist Dipper’s narration over the peaceful family picnic, only for a fake out reveal that he and his sister Mabel are actually being chased down by some giant monster. So then we’re left anticipating this giant monster, only to be introduced to Mabel’s zombie boyfriend, only for that zombie to turn out to be a bunch of Gnomes, only for all those gnomes to then join together to form some giant living mech, which turns out to be the monster from the episode’s opening.

When all these plot points are bullet pointed like this, they can come across as some abrupt shifts. But the episode actually telegraphs all of these shifts well enough that they manage to flow quite naturally. As Dipper says in the episode’s opening: ‘Rest assured; there’s a perfectly logical explanation. Let’s rewind.’

Before the plot even gets started we’re introduced to our setting and characters. Gravity Falls introduction as a setting is pretty simple: It’s a sleepy town that twelve year old twins Dipper and Mabel Pines have been sent to, to stay with their great uncle (or ‘Grunkle’) Stan. We don’t really see much of the town itself in this episode, just the cabin where Stan lives (Which doubles as a tourist trap named ‘the Mystery Shack’) and the surrounding forest. This helps create the atmosphere that the kids are stuck in the middle of the wilderness. The only major human characters introduced in the pilot are the five main characters; The three aforementioned Pines’, along with Stan’s handyman Soos and the Mystery Shack’s teenage employee Wendy. Most of the supporting townsfolk aren’t introduced until the second episode. As a duo, Dipper and Mabel balance each other out perfectly. Dipper is so curious about his surroundings that he can always be relied upon to move the plot along. Meanwhile, Mabel makes for some great comic relief. Whenever the series goes into a darker direction she can be used to lighten the mood.

The way Mabel is written in this episode seriously impresses me. She provides like half the jokes in this episode and they all pretty much land.

The highlight for me has to be Mabel’s interaction with the gnomes. I particularly love the part where the gnomes first reveal their true identity to Mabel. The head gnome just keeps rambling on about needing to marry Mabel to make her their new queen while Mabel just sits looking dejected on a rock. The way Mabel trails off while trying to gently let down the gnomes sounds so naturalistic, its like you can feel her cautiously choosing every word. It sounds like such an authentic break up for such a silly situation.

Honestly, trying to force a twelve year old into marriage is pretty dark, but because the gnomes are small, weird, and not particularly threatening the writers get away with it.

If the jokes aren’t coming from Mabel and her love life then they’re probably coming from Stan and Soos popping up. Stan’s appearances are pretty much just a string of old man and shyster jokes. But there are a couple moments thrown in at the end to show there is some depth to his character. Such as when finally Stan shows some compassion to the twins by letting them take a gift from his shop.

Speaking of, Dipper’s hat is so iconic to his design that it’s funny to think he just found it in the mystery shack. It’s a bit surprising no one else around town has one.

Soos is also set up as a standard comic relief character. The thing I find funniest about his portrayal is how Dipper actually takes his advice.

Surprisingly, my favourite character introduction is actually Wendy’s, it’s just so concise. She only has two lines in the entire episode, but they telegraph her character really well.

The first line shows her laid back and lazy attitude toward work, and the second shows her supportive friendship with Dipper. Plus both these moments double as jokes, so it’s not like its needless exposition about a character we barely see in this episode. You could also argue that Wendy’s brief appearance foreshadows how Wendy would be pretty under utilised in the series as a whole, but that’s an issue for future episodes.

After the status quo is established Dipper is sent into ‘the spooky part of the forest’ by Stan. (I love that Stan specifies ‘spooky’). This is where Dipper finds the object that really gets the plot rolling: The journal.

I appreciate how the journal Dipper finds is numbered as the third one. Dipper later mentions how the journal abruptly ends, suggesting that it is the last journal in a set of three. The audience knows there’s exactly two more of these things to look out for, whereas if Dipper had found the first or second one we would have been left guessing how many of these things there actually are.

The journal simultaneously drives Dippers actions by flaming his suspicions, whilst it also foreshadows where the plot is going. The journal contains both an entry on zombies, which Dipper mistakes as the initial threat, and also an entry on gnomes, who turn out to be the real antagonists. I particularly like how they foreshadow the gnomes in that joke where Dipper means to show Mabel the zombies page and opens up the gnomes page instead.

The gnome page actually crops up a few times throughout the episode, but its appearances are brief enough that you don’t necessarily predict the final gnome reveal on your first watch through, but it’s there to be appreciated on repeat viewings.

Whilst the zombie to gnome shift is foreshadowed quite well, they don’t do as much to telegraph the gnomes forming into a giant mech. My personal issue with this shift is that the giant ravenging monster the gnomes form into is like the complete opposite of the silly small creatures the gnomes are portrayed as prior.

The gnome monster does have a cool design however. I like how its sharp teeth are formed by gnome hats. Plus it leads to a chase scene, which makes for a climactic action set piece.

Dipper does tell us in the opening scene that the episode is going to end with a monster chase, so we at least know the direction the episode is going, meaning the gnomes forming a giant living mech doesn’t cause as much whiplash as it should. Although, I suppose if five of them were able to come together to form a teenager, why not a giant gnome mech?

I mentioned in my intro that the episode keeps pulling one over on the audience. But why does the episode feel the need to pull multiple rugs out from underneath the audiences feet? Well, it shows that everything about Gravity Falls (Both the town and the show) is Not What it Seems, which is one of the main conceits of the show. Obviously everyone who’s watched the show knows this, there’s literally a coded message in the intro saying so. (okay tbf it says ‘Stan is not what he seems’ but you could still apply that to the town as a whole). Not only is this seemingly boring town actually paranormal, but the paranormal activity itself isn’t even what you’d expect. You want zombie survival horror? Too bad, you get arranged gnome marriages instead.

And really that’s what Tourist Traps purpose as a pilot is; to lay out and introduce the themes of the show. And rewatching this episode after watching the whole series, it’s impressive just how many themes of the show are introduced from the very first episode. For example, one of the main conflicts of this episode is whether or not the twins can trust each other, and this theme of trust comes back in a big way later.

Tourist Trapped lays out so many intriguing mysteries, from the mysterious journal, to the secrets of Gravity Falls, to the final shot of Stan entering into a secret room behind his vending machine. It’s enough to leave you invested and wanting to find out more. And that’s how you know Tourist Trapped is a successful pilot.

#gravity falls #tourist trapped #dipper pines #mabel pines #wendy corduroy #stan pines #SF reviews GF #long post #review

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frangipanilove · 5 years

Text

THE PHILADELPHIA ANGLE (or Noah’s t-shirt theory part 2)

AMC recently posted a teaser to the Rick Grimes movies, where we see a helicopter fly towards a city skyline. It was eventually revealed that the city in question is Philadelphia, indicating that Philly will play a significant part in the films. Of course, we still know almost nothing about this project, but for now I’m gonna assume that Philadelphia will at least make an appearance in the films.

To me, the new teaser and the Philadelphia connection was extremely interesting, because I’ve been spending some time analyzing a scene that incidentally is the only time in the history of the show (that I can remember) that there has been a Philadelphia reference.

The scene in question is the one from 2x8 “Nebraska” where Hershel has started drinking again and disappears from the farm. Glenn and Rick go after him to try to get him to come back with them. They find him in his favorite bar, and while they’re in there trying to convince him to come back with them, two strangers enter the bar. It is revealed that they have traveled from Philadelphia. A fight breaks out, and the two strangers are eventually killed.

I have been working with that scene for a while, because it contains some really interesting symbolism that I’ve previously discussed here:

https://frangipanilove.tumblr.com/post/183736635005/sirius-and-the-north-star-or-pigs-feet-and-frosty

Although I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing the symbolism in the bar scene from “Nebraska”, I’ve been unsure on how it fits into the larger picture, and also on how it is relevant from a TD perspective. I know the scene is significant, but what does it tell us? How is it relevant to Beth?

The newly released teaser for the films offers a new piece of the puzzle, and I’ll try to explain how below.

A few weeks ago I posted my theory on Noah's t-shirt, where I explain my thought process on how Noah's t-shirt ultimately points to episode 10x2 and/or 10x10. Of course we are all aware of how the «Get Well Soon» clock poster from Beth’s room at Grady possibly points towards these two episodes, and we have seen multiple theories on the significance of that clock poster over the years.

My take on all of that is explained here

https://frangipanilove.tumblr.com/post/185522170650/noahs-t-shirt-theory

The interesting thing about the newly released teaser is that it offers a connection to a sort of continuation of Noah's t-shirt theory, because in the bar scene from 2x8, one of the Philly guys is also wearing a very interesting t-shirt:

Where Noah's t-shirt had the words «one one recording studio» written on it, the Philly dude’s shirt has a picture of a shark as well as the number 11 on it. Apparently the text and the shark refers to a 11-U baseball team from Manahawkin, NJ, and the number 11on the back of the t-shirt is written, well…»one one».

Like, you know…

...like the text on Noah's t-shirt.

What a tremendous coincidence!

Two t-shirts, several seasons apart, both with an animal image as well as the number 11 (or “one one”, if you will).

It’s almost as if there is a theme..

The shark t-shirt refers to a baseball team. This is a huge point, and something I will have to adress in a separate post. But for now, keep in mind all the baseball references around Beth, such as the bat seen by the train tracks from 4x10 “Innmates”, and Glenn picking up a bat while literally saying “Beth” in 5x9 “WHAWGO”.

Further, let’s talk about the shark on the t-shirt. Wanna know where else we saw a whole bunch of sharks in the same scene? In Noah's house, in his brother’s room where we saw Tyreese get bit, causing him to hallucinate. And as we all know, Beth was a part of this hallucination.

Beth, as well as a bunch of sharks.

There’s a picture of a shark on the wall behind Beth, along with a painting of a dog, there’s a shark in the book shelf, there’s a poster of a shark behind Bob, as well as a giant shark’s head coming out of the wall next to him. There’s also a shark-shaped surfboard-like decoration on the wall behind the fabric with polar bears on it. I talked about the polar bear fabric in the Sirius/North Star post that I linked to above. I’ve also talked about the polar bear symbol in several other posts, such as this one

https://frangipanilove.tumblr.com/post/185964198900/fear-the-walking-dead-a-guide-to-understanding

and this one

https://frangipanilove.tumblr.com/post/186222365190/fear-once-again-serves-as-a-guide-to

And next to the polar bear fabric, there’s a clock.

Ah! The clock.

We’ll never tire of talking about clocks, will we? Take a good look at the clock from Tyreese’s hallucination. Beth is staring at this clock in the picture above, so it must be important.

The hands point to the numbers “5″ and “10″. To be fair, one could argue that the hands point to the “5″ and the “9″, which would make sense, as this is episode 5x9 after all. It depends on how literal you want to interpret it. In my opinion, an approximate interpretation is sufficient, and I maintain that the clock could be interpreted as hands pointing to the “5″ and the “10″.

But remember what we’ve talked about (in Noah’s t-shirt theory among other places), that on an analog clock, the number “2″ (which indicates the hour) can also be read as “10″ (indicating minutes). So both of the numbers “2″ and “10″ can be read as “2″ and “10″. Or they can be read 22, whickh is pretty spectacular for reasons I will elaborate on later in this post.

In this particular clock from “WHAWGO”, there’s also a hand (whick probably indicates the set alarm) that points to the “8″. So we have a set of hands that can be interpreted as pointing towards episode 5x10 “Them” which is when the music box woke up.

And we have hands that can be interpreted as pointing to episode 8x2, which is the episode forshadowed by Noah’s t-shirt theory (link above), the episode when we saw the “Blue Heron” painting behing Rick.

But guess which episode in also points to!

If you swich around the numbers “8″ and “2″, you simply get 2x8!

Episode 2x8 “Nebraska”.

Which is none other than the episode I mentioned above, where we have the Piladelphia dude in the shark t-shirt, with the number “11″ (one one) written on the back. Can you see how this all creates a pattern? It’s a complex pattern, but a pattern none the less.

Further, 5x9 “WHAWGO” is the episode following 5x8 «Coda». The clock has hands pointing to both the number “5″ and the number “8″, which of course means it can be interpreted as pointing to episode 5x8 “Coda”, when Beth “died”.

Gimple ensured us of the importance of the clocks. This is what he meant.

As I explained in my Sirius/North Star post (link above), sharks were referred to as «dog-fish» back in the olden days. So that’s another tremendous coincidence, don’t you think? Shark references doubles as dog references, “shark” and “dog” references can be used interchangebly. It certainly puts the dog painting and the shark pic on the wall behind Beth in the above pic in a different perspective.

The Philly dude’s shirt had a picture of a shark on it. Noah's t-shirt had a stylized version of the «Blue Heron» painting seen behind Beth in «Still», and later behind Rick in 8x2 «The Damned».

Also, as I’ve repeated several times, I believe “beer” and “bear” are in reality the same symbol. We get a confirmation of that here, where there is a polar bear directly above where the word “beer” is written on the fridge behind the bar. I’ve also argued that the “bear” symbol is a reference to the star constellation Ursa Minor, or Lesser Bear. In North America, this constellation is usually referred to as the Little Dipper, and as we know, the North Star (Polaris) is at the end of the Little Dipper. The polar bear on top of the fridge confirms this connection (polar bear points to Polaris, the North Star). And the North Star is a major Beth symbol due to her picking up the DC spoon in “Still”.

The heron incident in 8x2 “The Dammned” was foreshadowed all the way back in season 5 (again, see Noah’s t-shirt theory) and while confirmation bias will sometimes play tricks on your brain, causing you to interpret «evidence» in a way that favors or confirms your pre-existing beliefs, that was not the case with the Blue Heron painting from 8x2. I had worked out the theory on it years before 8x2 aired, and I sat down to watch the episode, prepeared to see something related to «resurrection». In the «Noah's t-shirt» post I explain in more detail how I reached the conclusion that led me to anticipate major «resurrection» symbols in 8x2. There was, in addition to Noah's t-shirt, in 5x15 “Try”, the presence of a digital clock showing 06.30. If we interpret that as a reference to episode 6x3 “Thank You”, it’s significant that in 6x3 we witnessed the infamous «dumpster gate», tptb wanted us to believe that Glenn was dead. You know, when in fact, he wasn’t. Much like they want us to believe that Beth is dead, when in fact, she’s not.

In other words, 6x3 was the episode when Glenn DIDN’T die. It was the episode when he simply continued to stay alive.

(Also, if you read 06.30 on an analog clock, you’d find both hands pointing to “6″, perhaps referencing 6x6 “Always Accountable”, an episode full of Beth references, but that’s a post for a different day)

Other notable resurrection-themed incidents of 8x2 «The Damned» includes the «resurrection» of Morales, a character not seen or heard from in 7 seasons, and finally Morgan's little death fake out moment, where he pretended to be dead, when in fact, he wasn’t. Much like…yeah, you know.

Of course, what none of us could have known back when 8x2 aired, was that Andrew Lincoln was planning to exit the show. I’ll admit that I was confused as to the meaning of the reappearence of the “Blue Heron” painting in 8x2. However, as soon as it became known that Rick was to exit the show while still staying alive within the extended TWD universe, things became clearer. The heron is thought to be the bird from the original phoenix myth. It appeared behind Rick. He survived, although the characters believe he’s dead. The Blue Heron painting appeared behind Beth while she said “we made it”, and that is some fine symbolical evidence of both Beth and Rick being alive. The symbolism around them is the exact same.

Back to Rick. He survived only because he was saved by Anne, who arranged for a helicopter to pick him up and give him medical assistance. And by the way, I haven’t posted my “Cat” theory yet, but the main takeaway is that cats are popularily believed to have nine lives. In other words; cats are resurrection symbols. That has been my working theory for the longest time, and it was more or less formed after observing how Carol in season 3 was believed to be dead, but later resurfaced and famously stated she had “nine lives”. After Fear’s Daniel Salazar “rose from the dead” AGAIN, this time with a cat by his side, I concider this theory confirmed. Cats = “nine lives” = resurrection. I’ll definately do a more thorough post on cat symbolism later, but the reason I bring it up here, is because guess what; Anne, who saved Rick’s life, was a bit of an artist, and one of her more well-known works was this spectacular blue Picasso-style cat:

You could in fact argue that Anne’s blue cat symbolized Rick’s resurrection.

And never forget there was a blue helicopter present in Tyreese’s hallucination in 5x10 “WHAWGO”, along with all the sharks. And Beth.

And this is where the movie teaser comes in, because that helicopter that saved his life? It seems like it might have traveled to Philadelphia. I could be wrong, because it's still early and we know almost nothing about the films, but at least at this point, it seems like the helicopter transported Rick to Philly.

To have the same symbolism appear around both Rick and Beth, while knowing for sure that Rick is alive, it certainly indicates that Beth is alive also. And the heron itself is associated with the Phoenix myth, in that an (now) extinct species of heron on the Arabian peninsula is thought to have been the original representation of the Phoenix. Plus, both herons and helicopters are flying creatures. Helicopters are called “birds” in slang terms. And I also want to point out Beth “flipping the bird”, first to Daryl, then later to the burning moonshine shack.

When the Blue Heron painting (which represents resurrection) appeared around both Beth and Rick, and we know for a fact that Rick is alive, it’s logical that the same goes for Beth.

Subsequently, the very same logic would apply in relation to the shark on Philly dude’s T-shirt in 2x8, and the sharks in Noah’s brother’s room in 5x9 «WHAWGO». As I mentioned, sharks were once called “dog-fish”. I meticulously explain my interpretation of the dog symbolism in the Sirius/North Star post that I linked to somewhere above, so I won’t get into that here, but I want to mention that there were at least a couple of dog-paintings/drawings/pictures in Noah's brother’s room in 5x9.

So to try to summarize, the Philadelphia reference in the Rick Grimes movies teaser might prove to be very interesting from a Team Delusional perspective.

But there’s more. The filming of yet another TWD project has recently started up; the third spin off, currently known as “Monument”. It has been described as “TWD for teens”, and they filmed on location at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia this week. Interestingly, this picture from TSDF suggests that it was transformed into “Nebraska State University”. Make of that what you will, but it’s certainly worth mentioning.

Finally, I try not to read too much into it, but I thought it was worth mentioning that the next episode of “Fear” will be called “210 words per minute”. Like I’ve previously mentioned, a lot of the symbolism on TWD seem to point to certain episode number combinations, such as 10x10 (forshadowed by Beth’s Get Well Soon poster from “Slabtown), 8x2 (forshadowed by Noah’s t-shirt theory) and 10x2 (see Noah’s t-shirt theory). In this post I discussed the clock from 5x9, and how it possibly pointed to episode 5x10, among others.

It so happens that the next episode of “Fear” in fact will be season 5 episode 10, or “5x10″. And there is a possible reference to episode 2x10 in the title. 2x10 is when Beth tried to commit suicide. Also, if you switch the numbers around, you get 10x2, which I have talked a lot about in Noah’s t-shirt theory, and ultimately it can (on an analog clock) be read 10x10. Like the “Get Well Soon” clock from “Slabtown”.

So if you watch “Fear”, keep an eye out for interesting symbolism!

#Team Delusional #team defiance #team beth lives #BETH LIVES #bethyl #Beth Greene #daryl x beth #beth x daryl

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