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myveryownfanfiction · 11 days

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18+ MINORS AND THOSE WITHOUT AGE IN BIO DNI

tags: @illiana-mystery

warnings: swearing, smut, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it kids), dom/sub relationship

My hand roamed through rays hair as he pressed his face into my neck from behind. His arms were wrapped tightly around my waist. Dana and the rest of the orchestra were under the gazebo, playing as Winston danced with his spouse. We gently swayed as the music played, a small smile grew on my face as I felt ray kiss my neck.

“enjoying yourself?” I whispered. Ray nodded. “Words Raymond.” He chuckled and kissed my neck again.

“Yeah. This is nice.” He whispered back. “Reminds me of our wedding day.” A bigger smile tugged at my lips as I remembered the moment he was talking about.

“yeah. It does.” I agreed. Ray lifted his head to kiss me. “Makes me think about our wedding night.” Ray blushed, squeezing my waist slightly.

“a repeat of that night wouldn’t be terrible.” He said softly, eyes roaming over my face. I smiled at him and nodded.

“it wouldn’t.” I agreed. The music ended and the dj took over. “Do you think Winston would be pissed if we left early?” I turned in rays arms and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“I think he’d be more pissed if we snuck out. Or worse ended up in the bathroom.” Ray chuckled, swaying to the music. He moved his hands over my hips, pulling me closer against him. “One dance and we’re gone. How’s that?” I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder.

“funny that he had them play our song.” I said, running my fingers through rays hair. I twirled the ends around my finger, glad that it had grown out some since he’d had to cut it to get all the marshmallow out. Ray hummed, smiling softly at me before pressing a kiss to my head. “You dog!” I laughed, pulling away to look at him. I gently shoved his chest as I laughed. “How did you convince him?”

“I didn’t. Peter made a bet with egon that he’d leave before any of us did.” Ray shrugged. “Winston heard and well let’s just say we’re all tired of Peter winning all the time.” We both glanced over to where Dana was talking with the other musicians. Peter was fidgeting next to her, glancing at his watch every so often. I shook my head.

“let’s head out.” I said softly, pressing a kiss just below rays ear. “The song sure helps but I think the look on Peter’s face when you go to the firehouse tomorrow is worth it.” Ray grabbed my hand and we hurried over to Winston. He smiled at us and shook his head.

“and here I thought egon was going to leave first.” Winston laughed. He shook rays hand as his spouse looked on in amusement. “Alright. Just don’t be too smug about it tomorrow when egon splits the winnings. Have fun you two.” Winston winked at us before hugging me. Ray and I blushed and headed out hand in hand. I looked back over my shoulder once to see Peter’s pissed off face. I laughed and turned back towards ray when he looked over at me.

“you should have seen the look on venkmans face.” I said as we got into the car. Ray held my hand the whole drive home and eagerly pulled me up the stairs, fumbling slightly with the keys when we reached the door. “Take a breath ray. We have all night.” Ray slumped against the door slightly.

“that does not help.” He sighed, glancing at me. When he finally got the door open and had entered, I spun him around and pushed him against it. Ray gulped as the door slammed closed behind him. “You missed the door knob this time.” He breathed out, eyes blown wide and cheeks adorably flushed.

“good.” I muttered before using his lapels to pull him into a kiss. “The height on that thing is shit.” Ray chuckled as he dipped his head to kiss along my jaw.

“you’re telling me.” He said, smiling as he nipped along the skin. “Bottom or top tonight?” I was walking backwards, pulling him by his lapels, to our bedroom.

“I want you on top of me.” I breathed out, putting one hand on his cheek to draw his lips back to mine. I reached for rays tie and tugged it off, watching his hair bounce back into place. Ray gave me a goofy grin as he started to undress me. I pulled him back for a kiss as I started to unbutton his shirt, slowly moving my tongue into his mouth when his jaw dropped with a moan.

“fuck.” Ray whimpered as I pulled away. I smiled at him and ran my fingers through his chest hair. “I need you.”

“you have me baby.” I whispered. Ray shook his head, dropping to bury his head in my neck. “What do you need sweetheart? You need to tell me.”

“you.” Ray breathed out as I reached down to palm him through his dress pants. “I need you.” I squeezed him gently and ray moaned. “I need to fuck you. Feel you.” He moaned again, breaking off as I pushed down his pants and underwear. Ray mouthed at my neck, grazing his teeth against my collarbone.

“that’s it baby.” I moaned. “Tell me what you need. Tell me how to make you feel good.” I pushed my fingers through rays hair, pressing him closer to me as he took my pants off blindly.

“need to fuck you.” Ray said, pulling away. His mismatched eyes locked onto mine, wide and loving. “Need to come.” I cupped his cheeks and brought him down for a sweet kiss. Ray hummed as his hands started to roam, hovering over my body.

“touch me ray.” I breathed out. His hands made contact with my hips, fingers flexing against my skin. I breathed out through my nose harshly as ray started to slowly map my body. “Raymond. Please.” I sighed as he started to kiss along my jaw. “Fuck me baby.” Ray pulled back slightly and looked at me, love drunk and needy. I nodded at him and he lined himself up, eyes only flicking down for a second before he locked eyes with me again. My fingers were still tangled in his hair and I tugged gently as he entered me. We both moaned at the feeling as ray bottomed out.

“Jesus.” Ray breathed out. Moving my hands down to his shoulders, I pushed him down. Ray hesitated for a second while I encouraged him to settle more of his weight on me.

“I’ve told you before ray, it’s ok. I like your weight on me.” I said softly, scratching his scalp lightly. Ray nodded and laid down some, settling his weight on his forearms next to my head. As I pulled him in for another kiss, ray started to slowly rock into me. I moaned against his lips. Ray groaned as I titled my hips up to meet his. One of my hands trailed out of his hair and settled on his back, my nails occasionally digging into his skin as he picked up speed.

“(Y/N). Fuck.” Ray whimpered. My hand trailed lower and I squeezed his ass cheek as he thrust into me fully. Ray moaned, his head falling back at the feeling.

“feel so good baby.” I murmured, unable to take my eyes off him. “Almost there. You can do it. Fucking me so well.” I kissed his cheek as ray tried to duck his head again. “Make me come baby.” Rays breath hitched as he lost his rhythm, rutting into me with abandon. We both tumbled over the edge together, each of us moaning the others name. Ray collapsed on top of me and I wrapped my legs around his waist while my hand went to his hair. My other arm was wrapped around his shoulders tightly. Ray made a noise and kissed my neck.

“you ok?” He asked softly. I nodded, pressing a kiss to his head.

“yeah. Never better.” I said softly. “You ok?”

“never better.” Ray said, lifting his head and smiled at me. I smiled back as I ran my fingers through his hair again. “Love you.”

“love you too.” I said as I pulled him down for a kiss. “So much.”

#Ray stantz #ray stantz x reader #ray stantz fanfic #ray stantz fanfiction #ray stantz imagine #dan aykroyd #dan aykroyd x reader #Dan aykroyd fanfic #Dan Aykroyd fanfiction #Dan aykroyd imagine

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ecoamerica · 22 days

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eebydeebyderby · 2 years

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While We Wait Ch.(3/4)

A fic in which Reader grows closer to Egon as the team tackles an unknown supernatural threat. Soft continuation of this one-shot.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 4

General info:

Egon x fem!Reader, fluff, mostly light-hearted, minor angst, hurt/comfort, slow-burn (sort of)

Chapter info:

Word count: ~5.3k

Content warnings: non life-threatening injuries, animal death

@bellamy1998

@saltedtoast

@leah-halliwell92

“A higher subsidiary of Bifröus?” Ray asked, flipping through Winston’s newly developed photos from your last call. You, Winston, Ray, and Egon were seated at the kitchen table, going over the intel for the next call. “That’s a name I haven’t heard since grad school.”

“According to our current leading theory,” Egon replied.

“I remember it having some very loose association with Gozer, but it was purely speculative at the time we did our research back in ‘84. Would be a hell of a breakthrough if we can actually prove it.”

“Take a look at number twenty-six,” Egon said. “What do you suppose that is on the wall?”

“Kinda hard to see,” Ray muttered, pulling his glasses down from his forehead and holding the photo closer to his face. “It was so dark in there…”

Dana and Peter walked into the kitchen, Dana a bit irate and Peter being as clingy as ever. “I’m not going to coddle you, Peter,” she said firmly. “There’s nothing wrong with you.” She took a seat at the other table, shuffling through several pages of sheet music as Peter hovered over her, pestering, prodding.

“Dana, I’m going into cardiac arrest. Dana, I’ve punctured my lung. Dana, I’m hemorrhaging.” A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, but she still had her eyes firmly on her papers.

“Dana, baby, I’m pregnant.”

She cracked and burst into a fit of laughter, planting her hand on his chest and giving him a harsh shove. “Shut up!”

He stamped his foot. “I want medical attention from a pretty lady!”

She scoffed, still smiling. “I’m already running late to go pick up Oscar. I’m not going to spoil you with your boo-boos.”

“Aww, come on! YN spoils Egon! And they’re not even a thing!”

Your heart leapt into your throat. Winston muttered something to Ray and they both snickered.

Dana held his gaze. “Egon’s not a crybaby either," she said flatly.

He gasped. “I am not a crybaby!” he cried. “I could be dying!”

“Fine!” She slapped her papers onto the table and turned to face him. “Show me your grievous injuries.”

He held up his hand to her, his wrist encased in a hard cast scribbled all over by Oscar, showing her the hangnail on his index finger.

Stony-faced, she looked at his finger, looked into his eyes, looked back at his finger, back into his eyes, and said, “Peter, I swear to God, I’m going to drive you to the Humane Society and leave you there.”

“Please, baby, I’m dying…”

She gathered up her things. “I’m going to pick up Oscar from montessori. Play nice while I’m gone and maybe I’ll consider not making you walk home tonight.” She gave the rest of you a small smile and a pleasant ‘goodnight’ before departing.

Peter opened the fridge and fury immediately crossed his face. "Who the hell took my—?!" He paused. "Oh, here it is…” He grabbed his can of Imperial stout and joined the rest of you at the kitchen table. “What’re we looking at, Eegs?”

Egon opened his mouth to speak, but Peter cut him off. “Hey, hey! I don’t want to hear any Gozer nonsense unless there’s actual evidence for it.”

You shoved the photo in front of Ray closer to Peter. “Look here, smartass. That’s definitely the Mark of Shandor on the wall.”

“Hard to be sure.” Peter picked it up and held it close to his face. “I can sort of see it. Did you blast the wall with the proton gun, girlie?”

Winston came to your defense. “Only a little.”

Egon leafed through his notebook. “Ectoplasm electrophoresis analysis matches the previous two entities we’ve captured and shares about eighty-nine percent of its sequencing with the Gozerian cultists we contained back in ‘91.”

Peter put the photo down and turned to Egon. “Alright. You’ve got my attention so far. Keep going.”

“The entities relied on the Cult for sustenance and fell into a state of torpor when we evicted their main source of energy. It looks like they’ve gradually started gaining their strength back by preying on the local ungulate wildlife. There’s been quite an uptick in chronic wasting disease in the local deer population, which would make them exceedingly easy to cut down once they reach the degenerative stages. The deer the creature was eating at the site tested positive for it. Winston and I also found the remains of several smaller animals like squirrels and rats. Electrophoresis of trace saliva samples is identical to the ectoplasm. I theorized a relation to the entities described in the Ars Goetia and YN related several environmental clues to narrow it down to the specific entity, as well as previous associations of the entity with the practices of the Cult. Bifröus theory fits like a glove so far.”

Peter whistled and leaned back in his chair. “I’m impressed, YN, Dr. Spengler. Hell of a job. You. Work. Great. Together. YN. Dr. Spengler. Love to see it. Love to see it. Beautiful couple,” he paused for emphasis, “of people, you two.”

You shot him a flustered glare. Winston snickered deviously and Ray gave you a sympathetic look, but Egon failed to interpret it as anything other than benign praise. “Please, Venkman, Dr. Spengler was my father,” he said with a small smile. “Call me Dr. Spengler.”

Peter’s face was a mixture of annoyance and bewilderment. “You have no idea what I actually said, do you? God, you’re infuriating.”

Egon cocked his head and furrowed his brow a bit. “You were fully coherent.”

Peter shook his head and turned to you. “You have too much patience. I would’ve killed him by now.”

"Welp,” Winston said brightly, cracking open another can of seltzer. “I'm no parapsychologist, or demonologist, or physicist, or electrical engineer, or PhD, or nuclear scientist, or LPCC, or historian, but I’m convinced with what I’ve seen so far. I think I’m just about ready to head out.”

Ray nearly jumped out of his seat. “Woah, hey just a sec — ”

Peter cut in. “Wait, wait. Hold the reins.” Peter set his beer down and turned to you, his face uncharacteristically serious. “You should sit this one out. Wait until one of our veterans can sub next week.”

Ray met your gaze and held it steady. "I agree. The best course of action would be stalling this job until someone from Rookie's team can temporarily fill Peter's spot. Just for this assignment."

“You don’t think I’m up to par?”

"No. No, no, it's not like that," Ray said rapidly. "I don't believe anyone except those with highly advanced experience should go on a call like this. This isn’t some ghost or spiritual entity. You know better than anyone that demonic entities are not well-understood and very, very dangerous. We’ve already got Peter out with a broken wrist, and we’re pretty lucky it was just that. These things do not hesitate to hurt and kill people. They love it. I know you’re our resident demonologist and you’ve become the backbone to a lot of our research, but field calls are a different thing entirely, and it isn’t safe to just toss you in the deep end of difficulty. You’ve been on one call of a lesser demon, and you did a good job, but having someone do well in beginner’s calculus is not an excuse to toss them into Stokes’ theorem de Rham cohomology. It’s an unfair and unsafe expectation on you.”

“Valid points, boys,” you said. “But we have to remember that the strength, difficulty, and dangerousness of this beastie will only get more intense with each passing day until the rate builds at an exponential logarithmic rate. Giving the entities any extra days to build strength and spawn more lesser demons is the riskier choice if you ask me. I think our best bet so far is for me to come along, get a feel for things, and we can call it off if things get too intense. Even if the call isn’t finished, getting a good look at the actual demon in the field should be pretty useful for any secondary takedown plans.”

Your gaze wandered over to Egon, who had remained quiet. He fiddled with his tie as he carefully mulled things over, his hand still bandaged from yesterday’s lab accident. The gash on his face was almost fully healed, barely visible. Feeling your eyes on him, he turned to meet your gaze. "Ray and Peter are correct. Even the most prodigal beginner is still a beginner by nature, and this is one of the more dangerous jobs we’ve taken. That being said, I believe you have the necessary skill set to successfully assess and complete this assignment."

Peter bristled and fear crossed Ray’s face. Immediately the two began their oppositions, their words tumbling over each other as each tried to rapidly speak their minds.

“ — letting ourselves get distracted by a pretty face — ”

“ — have to remember that we got lucky that Peter wasn’t — ”

“ — need to take into consideration — ”

“ — don’t think we should be doing this — ”

“ — like shooting an astronomer into dead space — ”

“ — experience is completely different — ”

Winston, who was passively listening to the scientific jargon, decided to speak up. "Gentlemen,” he said with enough courteous authority to quiet the room, “I think we're jumping the gun a bit.” The other boys turned their attention to Winston, who had his arms crossed, leaning back in his chair. “Whatever the best decision comes down to, I say we leave the demon question up to the person we hired specifically for demon questions.”

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾☆.｡:*.｡.:*☆ ༓･*˚⁺‧͙

They only manifest at nighttime between midnight and four.

Seven feet tall, white, humanoid. You’ll know it when you see it.

They cannot be bargained with except by the original evocator.

They eat meat when they can, and prefer humans over animals.

With entities related to Bifröus, you might smell them before you see them.

Their appearance will grow more human-like as they gain strength.

They hunt by singling out prey from its group.

They’re blind and hunt by smell. Smoked salt will hide your scent.

They can be physically engaged with our tasers, but only as a last resort.

You repeated your briefing to the boys for the third time as the Ecto-1 pulled up to an old camping ground. The site, which was less than a mile from your first call, was temporarily closed to the public due to escalating paranormal aggression. The night was a full moon, illuminating the forest in a soft, dull glow. The clearing overlooked a bluff, giving you a beautiful viewing of the woods below and the distant, twinkling city lights. A weathered split rail fence blocked the cliff to protect any campers straying too close to the sheer fall. The air was crisp, cool, and the sweet scent of pine gently floated all around you.

And yet, something was off.

The usual sounds of nature, the insects and birds and small creatures who typically scurried about in their bustling nighttime habits, were completely silent. Even the wind stood still, the usual rustle and light sway of the pines absent as the trees stood frozen. It was as if the entire area was holding its breath.

“It’s close,” you told the boys as you all prepared your equipment. Egon helped you strap the pack onto your back and gave your shoulder a brief pat, the slightest ghost of a smile lingering across his lips. Your face burned hot.

Proton pack, neutrino wand, smoked salt, sage, hand radio, taser, EKG reader, and a snack. Everything was in place. The trap was ready to spring, the guns charged, the nerves steeled. There was only one step left.

You crouched down into the soft, loamy dirt of the campsite and began tracing a large, complex sigil with your finger, paying close attention to make sure the Mark of Shandor was as center-placed as you could make it. In the middle of the symbol you set down a small bundle of field elm sticks. On top of it you placed a few chunks of smoky quartz, a handful of fresh mint and coriander, and finally a few pieces of dried venison.

“Is calling it really the best thing to do?” Winston asked. “I doubt it would take kindly to being challenged.”

“It’d be pretty hard for us to find. The woods are a big place and it could be anywhere. Let it come to us.” You rose to your feet and lit the match.

“Are you sure you don’t want one of us to handle this part?” Ray asked nervously. “I don’t want to put the bullseye on you.”

“Don’t worry about me, Ray,” you said gently. “It’s gonna want to kill us all equally.” You dropped the match onto the small bundle and it lit up into a small, powerful fire. “Zdrekava, vassal of Bifröus and servant of Shandor, I demand that you make your presence known.” There was a small pop, a flash of green flame, and the fire went out, leaving behind a cold pile of ash.

An overwhelming stench flooded through the clearing, almost making you gag as your eyes watered. Branches cracked and leaves rustled as something barreled toward you from the treeline; the four of you fired up your guns just as a winged demon burst into the clearing, its translucent skin glowing white in the moonlight. It looked almost identical to the demon from your first call: eyeless, spindly limbs, emaciated and armed with jagged, oversized teeth. Branded on its forehead was the Mark of Shandor.

Immediately the boys fired at it, binding it in brilliant beams of light. You quickly followed suit, but it swiped at you and you shrank back, accidentally severing your stream.

The poltergeist roared, thrashing its limbs wildly, throwing numerous items around the old campsite; Ray ducked and missed a fire brick to the head by just a hair. The creature took the opportunity to seize his proton stream in its teeth, nearly lifting Ray off the ground, and swung its head, sending him skidding across the ground and bumping into the fence overlooking the cliff, leaving Winston and Egon as the last ones with streams still lassoed around it.

“Ray!” You ran over to him and pulled him to his feet. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m alright.”

“Stanz!” Winston called out. “The trap!”

Ray rushed over and slammed his foot on the pedal. The creature screamed; there was a blinding flash of light.

And it was over.

Ray trotted over to the trap. “That was…anticlimactic.”

You scowled a bit and lifted the smoking trap in your hand, still hot and buzzing. “Something’s not right. That wasn’t — ”

“Look out!”

Ray seized the nape of your jumpsuit and yanked you to the ground. Something whooshed over your head, missing you by just a hair and landing with a harsh crash about twenty feet away. Immediately you were overcome by an even stronger stench and you jumped to your feet, hand clamped firmly over your nose.

“Another one?!” Winston shouted, completely exasperated. “Man, c’mon!”

The creature regained its footing and rounded on the group. Translucent skin stretched over its face where eyes used to be. This beast lacked the wings and tails of the first two, but it was much taller, painfully thin and covered in weeping sores, the brand on its forehead oozing black blood. It snarled at you, displaying crowded teeth that hung from its jaw like broken shards of glass, its gums bloodied by the bite of its own misaligned teeth, splintered nails at the end of each of its spindly fingers.

And it was much, much more dangerous.

“Hi there! We stole your ugly baby!” Ray exclaimed, ramping up the power on his proton gun.

Ray and Egon fired their proton streams; the beast dodged them and lunged directly at you, claws bared.

You failed to dodge it in time; the creature slashed a filthy claw across your forehead; warm blood spattered across your face, stinging your eyes. You yelped and reflexively turned away, dropping the trap and trying to shield your face. The boys yelled to you as it leapt onto your back, seizing your proton pack. You were harshly swung back and forth as the creature tore its head side to side, tried to rend its claws through the protective plating of the proton pack, practically mauling it. The safety release straps on your proton pack snapped open. You were thrown back and hit the fence, crashing through it, sending you tumbling down the side of the bluff—and your mind blanked.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾☆.｡:*.｡.:*☆ ༓･*˚⁺‧͙

You were covered in dirt, twigs, leaves when you roused, your face smeared with dry blood from a nasty slash across your forehead. You rose to your knees and gingerly ran your fingers over the wound, just barely grazing it. It wasn’t bad at all. You could worry about it later. You rose to your feet and winced a bit with the soreness aching throughout your battered being. After stretching some of your stiffness away, you walked over to the spot where you rolled down the cliff, your trail marked by a sharp indent in the mud where you slid down, peppered with broken branches, uprooted plants.

“Boys!” you called out. “Are you still up there?! Can you hear me?! Boys!”

You paused. No response.

You pulled your radio off your belt and held it to your mouth. "Guys, do you copy? I'm alright. Over."

You paused. No response.

“Boys? Can anyone hear me? Winston? Ray? Egon? I’m okay…”

Nothing.

You quickly came to realize that it was impossible for you to scale back up the hill, after all of your attempts just led to you sliding down and creating more indents in the side of the muddy bank, further soiling your jumpsuit. You panted from the effort exerted on your burning muscles as you failed again and again to scrabble up the slick surface. You pulled your radio out again and tried getting ahold of the boys, even flipping through all eight of the tuning channels, but still got no response. You decided to stay put. It was more likely for the boys to find you if you didn’t start wandering around.

An overwhelming stench flooded the forest around you, announcing the unmistakable presence of the beast just as something rushed through the undergrowth. A flash of white caught the corner of your eye and you turned to see its blurry figure running at an impossible speed on all fours, sprinting across the treeline on all fours in pursuit of a fleeing deer. Its gait was awkward, jerky, unnatural as it drew closer and closer to its prey. The deer screamed as it was tackled and crashed to the ground with the beast on top of it, claws and teeth tearing into its flesh.

You retreated behind a tree, holding yourself tightly against it, trying to make yourself as small as possible. Your hand fumbled for the small bag of smoked salt at your belt. With shaking hands you scattered it all around yourself, creating a spiritual barrier to block your scent, leaving the blind creature with only its hearing to detect you.

As long as you were quiet, you would evade its attention.

The deer was still softly crying and kicking with what life it had left. You gasped, tears burning in your eyes as the deer’s pained struggles grew weaker and weaker. The beast snarled and a sharp crunch resounded through the trees. The deer fell silent.

The radio at your belt crackled loudly, startling you. In a panic you tore it from your belt and threw the radio as far away as you could to distance yourself from the noise. It clattered on the ground just as Ray’s voice came through, almost inaudible through a haze of static as it cut in and out. “...seen her…? She…terference…ectoplasmic radia…but I th…her voice just…ago…”

Egon’s deep voice came through next, much cleaner and easier to hear, tense and curt. “Copy. Ectoplasmic radial interference is likely a confound to our radio waves and suit trackers, and we don’t know if her radio is unbroken from the fall. I’m going to continue my search on-foot. Over.”

The radio clicked off and things once again fell silent. Egon being easier to hear meant that he was much closer to you than Ray, since your radio was actually able to detect his radio’s signal. Closer to you, but also closer to the beast.

Ray's voice came again. "...careful w…make sure…and t…full pow—"

The creature seized the radio in its jaws and crushed it, harshly rending its head side to side and snarling like a rabid animal, sending several bits of plastic and metal flying until the radio was reduced to scrap in seconds. Unsatisfied, it dropped into a stealthy crouch and started creeping along the ground with uncanny movement, slowly stalking its way towards the origin of the noise, slowly getting closer and closer to you. A hungry, impatient growl rumbled in its throat, fresh blood running down its chin. The creature caught your scent and snapped its head up, its attention directly facing you.

Blood pounded in your ears. You put your hand to your mouth, trying to minimize the sounds of your breathing, trying to stifle the gasp of fear welling in your throat.

It paused, raising its grotesque head to the surrounding air. Its lips curled back to reveal blackened red gums, a predator seeking prey in the wind. Its mouth opened as it tasted the air, and rancid strands of saliva hung from its broken, putrid teeth. Horror crept up your spine as it drew closer to you, slowly, slowly, stopping less than a foot away. Your scent hung heavy in the air, but the salt masked your exact location. The beast’s stench was overwhelming, stinging your eyes and forcing itself into the back of your throat; your stomach twisted in a knot and you had to breathe slowly to keep yourself from vomiting. It snorted and snarled as it sniffed the air just above your head, so close to you that its putrid breath blew hot and wet in your hair.

Unable to find its target, the creature turned and ambled away, back toward its deer. It paused, completely still. After a moment it snarled and slashed at a tree in frustration, sending several splintered chunks of wood flying and leaving behind deep gouges in the sturdy trunk. It then went over to the deer, its belly torn and its partially-eaten innards strewn about. The beast grabbed the deer by one of its prongs and hauled it out of sight, off to find somewhere quiet to eat.

You exhaled sharply, tears spilling down your cheeks. Your breath came in abrupt, involuntary gasps as you struggled to steady it. Vomit rose in your throat and you gagged, forcing it back down, forcing yourself to try and take deep, deep breaths as your heart pounded hard in your chest. Eventually, your breathing slowed, your nausea waned, the tears were under control.

You were okay.

Your ears perked. Something was hurriedly stalking through the underbrush, awkward and heavy, loud and sloppy from inexperience traversing the wilderness. Even so, you still recognized the gait, one you’d heard countless times as he flitted around his lab. “Egon?”

“YN! There you are,” he panted, relieved. He trotted over and dropped to his knees in front of you, his face etched with concern as he reached forward. “Is this where it struck you?” With the most delicate of touches, he brushed the hair out of your face and tucked it behind your ear, giving himself a better view of the gash on your forehead. "Are you injured anywhere else?" he asked, his voice strained, tense.

You shook your head, tears burning in your eyes, your entire body shivering from fear.

His hand lingered over the side of your face, his thumb just barely grazing across your cheek. “It’s okay to be scared.”

His light touch was so comforting. You knew this was far from the norm for him, that he abhorred physical contact from anyone except those closest to him, and here he was openly offering it to you. "Do you ever get scared on these calls?"

“Yes, this one included. I spotted the trail of blood and followed it. While I was doing so I was actually quite fearful of it b — ” He stopped himself, trying to halt his own fear knotting in his stomach. Sorrow was something you'd never seen from Egon before, but here he wore it plainly on his face. "...I'm sorry," he said quietly, the tone of his voice enough to make you burst into tears had you not already been crying. "I'm sorry. I was so enthused about appending you in the field calls that I allowed my own desire to cloud my judgment, and by doing so endangered you."

You put your hand over his, held it against your face and leaned into it, openly embracing his touch.

He swallowed, looking you up and down, assessing the risk of something, grappling an urge welling deep in his gut. Summoning all of his boldness, he reached forward and cautiously put his arm around your shoulder, delicately pulling you towards himself and holding you close to his chest, his movements stiff and uncertain. You leaned into him, pressing yourself closer to him.

Your position was awkward and uncomfortable. Cramped and huddled beneath a tree, filthy and exhausted, shaking from fright, you curled up against him. It felt so good to be held by him, to feel his warmth, his faint heartbeat through the thick material of the jumpsuit. He was so soothing, despite his own fear gnawing deeply in his gut.

Egon raised the radio to his mouth, still keeping a protective arm around you. “Ray, Zeddemore, I've located her. Fall back. Over.”

The radio gave a weak, almost inaudible response, sputtering out unintelligible messages, pained mumbles from dozens of garbled voices. They sounded human, but they couldn’t have been, something wasn’t right about them…

“Zeddemore? Ray? Do you copy?”

The radio again faintly signaled something, the voice this time coherent. “They don’t see me...They don’t hear me…Soon…Soon I shall feed.”

"What the hell?" he muttered. “That’s new.” He switched off his radio, uttering something under his breath about ‘gamma brain waves’ and ‘remedial spirit box denotations.’

You smiled. He was always theorizing, always studying, always experimenting, always charming you without even knowing it. You put your hand on his chest, trying to get a bit more comfortable. “Close. Demonic brain waves operate on the UHF spectrum, so we don’t really know if we’re picking up its gamma, delta, alpha, or beta brain waves unless we narrow down the range from the hand radios a bit.”

“Noted.” He took a deep breath and sighed deeply, trying to force himself to relax. “This…is most likely comically inappropriate timing on my part.” His words were agonizingly careful, uncharacteristically nervous. “But, while we wait, there are a few things I’d like to say while I still have the temporary gall to do so, since I believe it is fairly overdue.” He swallowed and cleared his throat. “You…are…someone I care deeply, deeply about. The friendship we've developed is…something that I consider a primary source of personal contentment. At the same time, a large part of my psyche is often preoccupied with the simultaneous desires and fears of truly expressing the extent of — ”

A familiar rotting stench flooded the air, immediately filling you with dread. A flash of white caught the corner of your eye. The beast barreled into the two of you, knocking the breath out of you and pinning you beneath it. An emaciated arm shot out and seized Egon's throat with a filthy clawed hand, slamming him back against the tree. Egon let out a strangled cry of pain, and every feeling of fear and doubt in you burnt away, giving way to absolute rage.

You tore the taser from your belt and the crackling weapon exploded to life in your hand, igniting your snarl in a harsh red. “GET AWAY!” you roared, striking the taser across the beast’s face. It shrieked and released Egon from its grasp. Before it had time to recover you lunged at it, tackling it to the ground and pinning it underneath you, jamming the taser into its chest again and again and again, its shrieks blaring through the trees as sparks flashed around you.

The beast grabbed your ankle and pulled your leg out from underneath you. You yelped from the sharp pain that splintered up your leg as you were flipped onto your back.

The creature leapt to its feet, filthy teeth bared, but lost balance when Egon viciously cracked it over the head with the barrel of his proton gun. He hit it again with a harsh grunt, knocking it to the ground and stunning it, its spindly hand still wrapped around your leg.

You kicked the creature with all the strength you could muster. You felt a sickening crunch under your boot when it connected with the creature’s face and its grip slipped. You yanked your other leg free from its grip and clambered back on all fours. Once the two of you managed to pull away by about ten feet Ray immediately lassoed the beast with a powerful blast from the proton gun, quickly followed by Winston, and finally Egon. Pinned to the ground, completely spent of energy and still reeling from your fight, the creature could only weakly struggle and scream as it was dragged toward the trap laid out by Winston. You turned your head away just as a flash of light flared through the trees, momentarily lighting up the entirety of the clearing.

Silence fell.

For a moment, the four of you stood still and quiet, staring at the hissing, smoking trap. The natural nighttime noises of the forest cautiously and gradually started resuming, but the shrieks of the creature still rang in your ears, obscuring the crickets and birds and scurrying animals reclaiming their home. Winston slowly walked over to the trap and picked it up, snapping the safety locks in-place. There were no celebratory cheers or lighthearted jokes as you looked around at the boys, each of you still panting, battered, bruised, and exhausted. Ray went over to you and pulled you to your feet.

You caught Egon’s gaze. The prideful gleam in his eye from the last call was completely absent, replaced with a dull, solemn fatigue.

It took you a few seconds to realize that Ray was talking. You turned to him, confusion etched on your tired face. His voice was almost inaudible, his words garbled. "Ray," you said, your own voice nearly drowned out in your head, "slow down, bud. Give me a moment to let me get my bearings."

Ray said something else that you just didn’t comprehend and Egon trotted over to you, his words nothing but unintelligible nonsense. A shiver ran up your spine and you shook your head, trying to rid yourself of the unpleasant sensation. Egon was still talking to you, much louder now. You staggered a few steps towards him before you halted, complete bewilderment on your face, then collapsed against him.

And the world faded to nothing.

Next chapter

#while we wait #egon spengler #ghostbusters egon #ghostbusters fanfiction #ghostbusters headcanon #ghostbusters #egon x reader #egon spengler x reader #oc #egon #sfw #ghostbusters x reader #@bellamy1998 #@saltedtoast #@leah-halliwell92

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kinghijinx22 · 1 year

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Hunter continues to be an annoying stain on the Owl House

I know I said my thoughts hadn't completely changed on For the Future since watching the leak but that's not entirely true. I praised Willow finally getting some screentime and development, but it's a shame that it continues to primarily exist to benefit her generic white boyfriend. She has her moment specifically so Hunter can show off his new powers to save her and steal the spotlight for himself. Because it quickly goes from being about Willow's problems with not being able to show weakness to being about Hunter not being able to express his feelings. It's a shame that Willow continues to only be an extension of Hunter, and it's the same for Gus. Both these characters, since season 2B have only been allowed to have a proper moment if it ends up benefitting Hunter as a character. They are treated as nothing more than the white boy's black friends, playing second fiddle while Hunter gets to be more important.

What's even worse is that this Hunter moment disguised as a Willow moment comes right after Luz's beautiful scene of self-discovery and the hatching of her palisman. Not only are Dana and the crew trying to undermine any significant moments with the black side characters by giving the spotlight to their favourite white boy, but even the queer Afro Latina protagonist gets snubbed of her moment. It even happens again at the end, they try to take time away from Luz and her palisman Stringbean to shove a silly Huntlow moment in our face.

See a big difference between Lumity and Huntlow is that Luz and Amity are both well developed and significant characters in their own right that come together and boost eachother up. They are great characters on their own and together. While Huntlow is just the Hunter show with Willow being used as a tool to help develop Hunter more. She is just the black love interest to the generic white hero guy.

This whole situation is kind of made even worse when you consider that Luz is only Afro Latina because Dana's Afro Latina friend said she'd only help her make the show if we got have an Afro Latina protagonist, and also that Raine was going to white before they got Avi Roque as their voice. As in the only reason we have significant and well written poc characters that are great characters on their own is because they were originally white which is pretty damning to this show's poc representation. As well written and genuinely groundbreaking this show's queer representation is, the poc representation has always been and always will be pretty lacking, especially when you consider the behind the scenes stuff.

#the owl house #hunter sucks #lumity #huntlow sucks #willow park #luz noceda #amity blight #for the future

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cvbullshit · 6 months

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Heaven, Inc.

As a brilliant light shines within a cloudy area, a man holds the light within his hands before sending it off. Past the golden bridges, past a shining lake, as the light moves, the area around it becomes less bright despite nothing changing. The light then slowly forms as a angelic being is created, spreading it's wings before letting them fold in. It takes a deep breath and lands, opening it's eyes. It looks around in awe... Before that awe becomes confusion. It's... An office building? The angel blinks and rubs it's eyes, "Wait..." It says out loud before looking confused at the ground, "What's an office?" It asks, dumbfounded.

"Ah! The new worker!" Another angel says, going close to the new seedling. The angel looked as if it was too uptight and smart for it's own good, it's bronze framed glasses were too dull to shine yet it had a very outgoing way of speaking. It quickly moves to the new angel and begins pulling it along with it, "Now, dear, my name is Dana and I'd like to wholeheartedly welcome you to Heaven! To your way of living- AND! Your new job!" It said with a smile on it's face, it's eyes not having opened once despite them moving around and facing directions just fine. "Dana...? Isn't that?" The new angel begins to speak, before being interrupted by Dana, "A more humanish name? Yes, I know! Our lord sort of started running out of ideas!" It responded, laughing a bit while dragging the new angel with it, "Now what's your name dear?" It asked, tilting it's head in an impatient manner. "I'm... Erm... I-" It began to say, before being interrupted once more, "Ermi? Perfect! Now, I'm going to need you to sign here, here, and here- Oh! Don't forget there!" Dana said, pulling out a golden colored piece of paper and practically shoving it into Ermi's face, "Once you sign, you'll be ready to go!" Dana finished before dragging Ermi past a opening that led to some worker cubicals and desks. "Wait! Wait!" Ermi spoke up quickly, sputtering and not getting any of it's questions out for a moment, "How do I know what an office is?!" It's voice could be heard asking.

An angel peaked out from the opening that the two angels passed by, sitting in a chair and looking slightly confused, "What's with the new guy??" It asked. Soon, another one across from it spoke up, "Oh uh, the guy in the basement got sent to Hell, I think." It responded. The first angel groaned, "Ughhhhh! What did they even do?! Let me guess- Messed up the flow by questioning why things are the way they are??" It said, saying so in a mocking voice that sounded a bit like Dana's. "Ebel." The second angel said in a warning tone, giving Ebel a look. Ebel sighs, "Tch, not sorry, you know how I feel about that sort of thing." Ebel grumbled, looking away and crossing it's arms, "Mm- No." The second angel said, checking their notepad before writing something down, "I was going to say, at least wait a bit before you mock Dana. Dana literally just past our door." It said, pointing to the opening with it's pen and looking up at Ebel. Ebel glances to the opening and shrugged, leaning back in it's chair and setting it's feet on the desk, "Oh well, Dana can kiss my sorry ass." It retorts in a uncaring manner. Another angel passed by Ebel and it's companion, smirking childishly while holding a stack of papers, "Ooooo!~ Ebel said a bad word again!~" The angel teased before going to it's desk that was behind Ebel's companion, setting the papers down with a hefty huff. "Oh, can it, Tili, I hear you cuss like a sailor under your breath!" Ebel spat back, quickly shifting it's feet off the desk with a stomp as it leans forward and places it's arm onto the desk instead, it's posture a bit aggressive. "Asher, control our bestie, will you?" Tili commanded in a snarky yet playful manner. Asher sighs, "Tili, stop messing with Ebel, you know they're in a bad mood today." Asher said in a slightly drained tone before looking at Ebel, "And Ebel, you need to relax, okay? I'm saying that for your own good so you don't end up pissing off the wrong angelic beings!" It said in a stern tone.

Ebel groans in annoyance, "I do that on the daily by simply existing!" It complains. "No. You do that on the daily because you won't shut up about your thoughts and ideas- OR your constantly snarky remarks about other angels or the system!" Asher retorted in an even more stern way. "Tch, so what? Angels are only so pissy about that sort of thing because-" Ebel began another mock voice for Dana, "Mr. The lord, the great, our creator forbids this and that, your thoughts and questions, because he's sooo much better than THAT!" It said, putting it's hands on it's hips.

"Indeed he IS much better than that sort of display, Ebel!" Dana said, slightly offendedly, but still with a smile, now behind Ebel. Ebel gains a drained and annoyed look on it's face as it slowly turns it's head towards Dana, looking at it silently before giving Dana a forced and fake grin, "Dana. I missed you. So glad you could check up on me right when I longed for your existence." Ebel said sarcastically. "Not doing your work AND goofing off on the job, Ebel? Tsk, tsk! Always the same with you!" Dana said, writing down something on it's clipboard. "I think that's because all we do is work but fuck my idea, right?" Ebel comments, looking away and mumbling. "Indeed! You all do nothing but work, just like you're told! Well.. Most of you." Dana said, looking at the others before glancing to Ebel, "Which is why- Hoorah! Our lord has finally gotten to the office wide request of giving you all breaks! Even though, none of us really need any of that, do we? But your little minds just don't care about our.. Infinite energy that keeps us going forever!" It says in a passive aggressive tone, giggling a bit, "Oh, just to hold up schedule! Mhmhmhm!" Dana hummed as it wrote more down on it's clipboard, though more aggressively.

"To celebrate this, you all get to have your break... Now!" Dana continued before leaning towards Ebel and pointing it's pen at it, "Apart from you! Due to your lackluster performance today and your little impression of myself, you will be going down to the basement to do some of your undone work from the past week! Doesn't that sound fun?" It asked. Ebel blinks and goes wide eyed, "Wh- That's not fair!" Ebel spat, now angry. Dana leans back and walks out of the room, "Nothing is fair for the rude, you know this, Ebel!" It said before completely leaving. Ebel watched Dana leave before heavily leaning back in it's chair and groaning loudly.

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jams-sims · 2 years

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I wanted Finn because I knew it would hurt Kat and because I thought/still think hes a player. This game has got me all types of fucked up cause I don't trust a fucking soul in it.

Dana and Alfie all said the same shit I think I wanna spend rest of my time with you. And then at the slightest fucking push and misunderstanding fucked off to shove their tongues down someone else throat.

Dana with Eddie

Alfie with Kat

It turns out Alfie is way better as a friend than a love interest. Johnny right that Dana is easily manipulated. And droped a prefectly good gf for a fucking snake sucking on Suresh face.

They both couple up with your ex and miss runner up.

(Im not gonna mention Suresh because he was always playing game. And the Suresh stan ate stronger than I cause fuck him.)

The only people who haven't played with MC heart. (At least) in my playthrough have been Finn and LuLu. And I wanted to talk about it because I feel like FB is trying to pull a Bobby. See for anyone who didn't play the old games and doesn't know Bobby.

Bobby admits (during the second time you couple up with him at least for me. Cause I fell in love with Lucas and Henrick. And got my heart broken.) That hes always been in love you since the start. But never wanted to get in your way of finding love. Because he knew you didnt really have any feelings for him. You are essentially riding the friendship train with Bobby until he breaks down and confesses his love. And it was one of the sweetest moments and he even says you don't have to like he just wanted to let you know.

Finn follows Bobby line in only that he most likely had a thing for you. But committed to Kat way too soon. As much of playing Finn liked to do it was never, Suresh's levels of playing. It was enough to make anyone turn their head tho. But not flip as Kat does.

The problem is- the game is full of snakes. And this team didn't make it so Finn was our other friend. We help Finn out a lot to make up with Kat. But the only real connection was at the start which was lust. And then all my anger and want to fuck over Kat.

If his confession is sincere enough it could turn the tide of how this has been going. Me taking the money at the very end.

I see no reason for Finn to turn right now. Like unlike suresh who will say anything to get you back and then ghost you afterwards. Finn has for all purposes been loyal to Kat. Playing the games in love island is hardly cheating babe. But for him to do it now must mean he feels something. Because otherwise he risk being dump. This isn't a elimentation game, no one is about to be sent home. He has no reason, we havent even talked enough. Nor has he been trying to fuck you at ever chance. I just fear its another FB bullshit. I thought the same thing with Dana and she fucked me.

MC love life in the villa has been a fucking nightmare. No one gives a fuck about you but also won't hesitate to jump down your fucking throat. When you've done nothing wrong. I've been begging for a real connection this whole ass game. Finn could be it but im also doubting it.

#litg s5 #litg #love island game 2 #litgs5

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pancakesandpessimism · 1 year

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1.2 M views on YouTube, and it’s only been a day. I will never say this fandom is perfect, but damn if we aren’t determined to do two things: 1. Support Dana and the crew because they deserve it and more, and 2. Constantly shove it in Disney’s face that they screwed up royally when they canceled the show prematurely. We are all linked by our love for this show, and utter loathing towards Disney for fucking over everyone involved (including themselves, which would be hilarious if it wasn’t so infuriating). Some may call us petty. Perhaps even frightening. But Titan dangit, we will get our Young Raeda spinoff!

#toh #the owl house #for the future #dana terrace

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moonstone27ls · 1 year

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Just random/unpopular opinion...

So the Owl House will be ending soon.... and I will write my opinion on the finale but this is more of the show in general....

You know what annoys me a little. That even if we cut these three eps in half. Looking back, it’ll be forever known that Disney... a company that says “We love our LGBTQ fans”. They gave a very popular show that was trying to give a good story/and representation to the LGBTQ only 6 episodes(again if you cut the whole hour long eps in half) when THEY decided to cancel it.

But they’re giving Big City Greens 20 whole eps, another season and apparently a movie. Now before someone says “Dude don’t hate on this show”. I’m not, I get it. Its popular/its cute kids love it, in general. Its not about the show in general its about how unfair Disney has been to the Owl House.

Now again not hating on the people from the studio who supported Dana Terrace. From what I hear(again hear, I have no legit refs), the staff and such were good to her. And yes I’ve heard rumors that when season 3 was green-lit, besides Disney being Disney. Rumor was they want to blame the COVID era on why they scrapped it, instead of giving it a chance.

I would believe that except Amphibia was made during COVID era and its finale was allowed to have the normal amount of episodes. The Ghost and Molly McGee was made during COVID-era and they were GIVEN 20 episodes and are having their second season air soon. Now Moon Girl and Devil Dino you could argue that. But even Moon Girl got more than 6 eps for her first season. BIG CITY GREENS was also here and its been saved. Again I’m not trashing these shows.

I still like Disney, I love Amphibia, I love Moon Girl (Lunella is both adorable and likeable), Molly McGee’s show is good(haven’t had time to catch up), Big City Greens... depends on eps. Not the point, the point is it feels like from day one the Disney big wigs want to say they care but when push came to shove they pushed Owl House under the bus.

Why? To save bucks for this multimillion dollar company? To save face in Florida? I honestly don’t know. But its gonna forever bother me that the Owl House wasn’t given a fair shake. And I will forever blame Disney. And in addition Disney is to a degree a monster. Just the company as a whole, I’m not gonna touch on the problems and complaints. Just... sorry Owl House, sorry Dana Terrace. You had a great show. It was incredibly great and my niece loved it.

And this won’t mean much from nobody online. But what I’ll miss most was Luz. Granted she’s Dominican and I’m Mexican. It was for the first time in ages, if I can be honest. That I saw a who knew Spanish girl, and had the same interests as me. I didn’t know many Latina/Hispanic girls in my community/or family tree who liked what I liked. They all liked boys, their hair/fashion/makeup... but I was the odd duck who liked manga/music/ anime/mythology. And the other classmate girls went through fads.

So yes while I learned Luz wasn’t the same ethnicity as me. It just gave a sense of I dunno relief/gratitude that I could see a character who had same tastes as me and like me when I was her age. I struggled in school because I was different. I dunno I can’t just “representation matters”... because I dunno if I’m allowed to say that cause if I’m right Luz was Afro-Latin American? and I’m just Mexican I’m fairly certain I can’t say it. But I dunno its her character that appealed to me. Sorry I’m rambling.

I just wish I could tell Dana Terrace thank you for making Luz and giving a face to me and probably any other kid who’s struggling because we’re the odd ducks. And I wish more could had been done for her.

#The Owl House

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atths--twice · 1 year

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Next chapter is ready. Hope you enjoy it.

The day spent at the wedding leads to a discussion and hopefully, some healing tears.

(Not sure if this chapter needs any type of trigger warning, but just in case… TW for discussions of narcissistic behavior and actions that come with it. ❤️)

Chapter Five

“Do it! Do it!” the crowd chanted as the bride and groom cut the cake.

“Hey!” Torin, the groom, yelled as he stepped back, holding up a hand. The crowd quieted somewhat, murmurs and laughter still heard. “I want to say two things to your… requests. First, look at my beautiful bride.”

Cheers went up as Karinne, the bride, stepped back and held up her hands, dancing in place and smiling. Torin grinned at her and nodded happily.

“Behold her dress, her makeup, her hair.” Karinne pointed to each as he said it and the crowd laughed. “Do you see how stunning she looks today? Why would I ruin any aspect of that by shoving a bite of cake into her mouth? Chance it ruining a dress she might one day want our daughter to wear? Or perhaps she’ll give it to someone who doesn’t have the means to buy a dress and she wants them to have the opportunity to feel as beautiful as she did when we got married. I don’t know what the future holds.”

The crowd was really quiet now, listening intently to Torin. He smiled at them and then at Karinne who smiled back as she tilted her head, staring at him lovingly.

“My wife… my wife, you guys…” He laughed and Karinne laughed too, taking a hold of his left arm and kissing his cheek. “Karinne is the kindest, most selfless person I know. I wouldn’t do anything to cause her undue harm. Even something as seemingly innocent as getting cake on her or her dress. I love her too much for that type of behavior.”

“Awww,” the crowd said in unison.

“And the other thing?” Karinne asked, looking up at him, her eyebrows raised.

“Right,” he said, reaching for the knife to cut their slice of cake into a bite-sized piece. “She said she’d up the life insurance policy if I even thought about it. And that I should be prepared to sleep with one eye open… forever.”

“Too fucking right,” Karinne said and her mother gasped in surprise, saying her name in a disapproving tone, as everyone else laughed and cheered.

Torin smiled as he offered her a bite of cake and she accepted it graciously. He kissed her amid more cheers and laughter. Karinne fed him a piece, kissing him again, the crowd whistling and howling loudly.

Fox laughed silently as he captured every moment, zooming in close, as he thought about how much more he now liked Torin.

So many people, men especially, found it funny to do the cake smash and he hated taking those pictures. Seeing the hidden hurt and anger in the bride's face always made him feel uncomfortable and wished he could erase the pictures, but the men loved seeing them.

The staff appeared to begin cutting the rest of the cake as he looked across the room to find Dana standing with a group of children, whom she was photographing. He smiled with a nod, thinking how naturally she had taken to the task, though she did have misgivings at first.

Earlier that morning, he had arrived at Dana’s room, all of his equipment in a large backpack and another smaller backpack, which he handed to Dana. They had then walked down to the bungalows where Torin and Karinne were staying.

“I have something I want to run past you,” Fox had said to her as they neared Torin’s bungalow.

“What’s that?” she had asked.

“I would like for you to take pictures today as well.”

“What? Why? No. I can’t do that. I’m not… You’re the photographer.”

“I am,” he had said, stopping her and smiling. “But you have a keen eye and you’ve made suggestions that have panned out to be better than my own plans.”

“That hardly qualifies me as someone who could… Fox… I don’t think…”

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, just as with the room service,” he had said, smiling again and she had given him a look. “But… I think you’d be good at it. You’ve been working with me for six months. You know a hell of a lot about photography and like I said, you have a very keen eye.”

“This is a wedding. At a beautiful resort. I’ve only been to one other one with you and that…”

“That wedding was crazy,” he had said, laughing at the memory of the bridesmaids fighting and then the mothers of both the bride and the groom. The bride had cried and the groom whisked her out of the room, telling everyone to go to hell. “I’ve never been to a wedding that chaotic. I don’t think today will be that way.”

“I hope not.”

“Me too. So, whaddya say?” he had asked. “You could be… like a behind the behind the scenes photographer. I’m there to take pictures behind the scenes, get the before and after, and you could be the one who gets the pictures behind those moments. The candids and most likely unsuspecting ones.”

“I don’t know,” she had said, sighing and then shaking her head again, twisting one of her long braids as she looked around. ”I just don’t want to mess anything up.”

“You won’t,” he had assured her, smiling broadly. “The camera is in your backpack if you change your mind. Let’s get going.”

Without waiting for her to answer, he had continued walking to Karinne’s bungalow. Knocking twice, the door had opened and all the women in the bridal party welcomed him and Dana inside.

He had spoken to Karinne who was wearing a blue silk robe, her hair up in large rollers as she nursed a large cup of coffee. She had smiled and hugged him, telling him to do whatever he needed to do.

As he had begun taking pictures of the bridal party getting ready, he had looked around and seen Dana with the camera out, taking pictures of her own. Smiling with a quiet hum, he had continued his work.

They had gone over to Torin’s bungalow after an hour or so, getting some pictures of him and his groomsmen as they also got ready. Though it was early, they were enjoying some whisky along with a platter of sandwiches.

“Maybe it would be a good idea to hide the glasses for a few pictures, guys,” Dana had suggested and the men had laughed, nodding in agreement.

Fox had stepped back and let her take the lead, watching how she had handled the men and how they responded to her. They had laughed and joked, causing her to smile and tease them back, sounding a bit like her old self.

They had left the bungalows after another hour and gone to the venue, to get pictures of the reception hall, the cake, and where the ceremony itself would take place.

“It’s beautiful,” Dana had said, taking pictures of the flowered arch and looking out at the surrounding green hills. “I’m sure it’s expensive, but wow… it’s beautiful.”

They had then taken a break, grabbing a quick early lunch before the guests began to arrive and the wedding started.

Now, an hour into the reception, the music played once again as slices of cake were served to the guests sitting at the tables. People were on the dance floor, laughing and twirling around, everyone having a great time.

“No drama so far,” Dana said, coming to stand beside him.

“No,” he laughed, shaking his head. “I think we’re in the clear.” He looked at her and smiled as she watched the guests, the camera held in her hand. “You having fun?”

She looked at him and held his gaze as she let out a deep breath.

“I am. I’m not sure how good any of the pictures are, but I…”

“Will you take a picture of me?” a little girl said, running up to Fox and stopping in front of him, interrupting their conversation. “When I’m dancing?”

“Sure! Show me what you got!” he said, nodding at her and stepping with her towards the dance floor. Dana chuckled beside him and he smiled at the sound.

Two hours later, tired but happy with the job they had done, he and Dana rode up the elevator to their rooms in silence. He walked her to her room and said goodnight, taking the backpack from her.

“I think I’m going to take a bath and then sleep until check out time tomorrow,” she said, closing her eyes and sighing.

“A good plan,” he said, nodding and smiling. “Thank you for your help today. Makes it easier when there’s more than one person.”

“Thank you for letting me, no… for giving me the opportunity to take pictures. I liked it. A lot.” She smiled and he shifted the backpack to his other hand as he nodded again.

“You’re welcome. You enjoy the rest of your evening. Order some food if you like, chill out, get some sleep.”

“Thanks. Goodnight, Fox.”

“And to you, Dana.” He smiled and stepped back, waiting to leave until she closed the door and locked it.

He rolled his neck as he entered his room and set the bags down. Yawning, he stretched and exhaled deeply. He was tired, but as his stomach growled, he knew he needed something to eat.

Calling down and ordering a cheeseburger, fries, a slice of lemon pie, and a bottle of red wine, he stepped into the bathroom and took a long shower, letting the day wash off of him.

In pajama bottoms and an old college hoodie, he took out his laptop, set it onto the table and powered it up as he waited for his food. Rubbing a towel over his damp hair, he then tossed it on a chair and picked up the small backpack, curious to see what pictures Dana had taken.

He took the memory card from the camera and inserted it into the slot on the side of the computer as he sat down. When the prompt box opened, he double clicked it and watched as the many pictures began loading as tiny thumbnails. Clicking on the first one, he leaned closer to the screen.

A knock sounded at the door a few minutes later and he jumped, his heart racing. Getting up, he looked through the peephole and saw it was his food.

“Hello,” he said, opening the door and letting the young man enter his room. “Thank you.”

“No problem, sir,” the man said, smiling as he pushed the small cart to the middle of the room.

Fox reached for his wallet and took out ten dollars, handing it to the man and thanking him again as he left.

He took the plate of food off the tray and placed it beside the laptop, wanting to eat as he looked at more pictures. He picked up a fry and moved the mouse to bring him back to the pictures.

“Wow,” he said, shaking his head. “She got some great shots. So many I would have missed.” Clicking onto the next one, he sat closer and stared at the screen, the fry remaining, for the moment, uneaten in his hand.

Ten minutes later, he was on his second viewing as he ate the last bite of his cheeseburger, leaving the majority of the fries on his plate. He picked up his glass of wine and took a large drink before setting it back down.

“Just… so many,” he said, clicking on a picture and adding it to a folder he had created.

A knock sounded at the door again, quieter than before and he turned his head with a frown. Rising, he wiped his hands on a napkin and walked to the door.

Looking out the peephole, he pulled back in surprise as he unlocked and opened the door.

“Hi,” he said to Dana, who was standing there in black yoga pants, a purple fleece hoodie, and brown fuzzy boots. Her face was free of any makeup and her hair was down in loose damp curls.

“Hi,” she said quietly.

“Everything okay?” he asked and she nodded.

“It’s weird, but as tired as I was just a little while ago, now I feel wide awake.”

“It’s been a long day being on the go, it catches up to you.”

“Yeah.” She bit her lip and cleared her throat. “Could I… could we… Would you maybe like to watch a movie or something?”

“Shit, I’m sorry. Come in,” he said, stepping back and gesturing for her to enter the room. “Did you eat?” He closed the door and locked it before looking at her.

“Yeah. I got a grilled cheese and tomato soup. It was really good.”

“Good. Would you like a glass of wine? Or some of the lemon pie I have there?”

“Some wine would be good, thanks.”

He poured her a glass of wine and handed it to her with a smile.

“Thanks,” she said, glancing around the room and landing on his laptop.“Oh, are you looking at the pictures already?”

“Yeah. Actually, I was feeling the same way as you- suddenly on that second wind. I was curious about the photos you took today, so I thought I’d check them out.”

“Oh… how bad are they?” she groaned.

“Bad?” he asked incredulously. “The last thing they are is bad.”

“Fox, you can be honest. I can take it.”

“I am being honest. Here, look at them with me.” He pulled over the other chair and waited for her to sit before sitting beside her and opening the folder of pictures. “Some of these are so good and if you hadn’t taken them… Well, just look.”

He clicked on a picture of Karinne looking down with a smile as her mom added a hairpin to help keep her veil in place.

“This is beautiful and something I completely missed as I was taking pictures of something else entirely. Look at the moment of softness that this one picture holds. The smile on Karinne’s face and her mother’s hands. The sureness of what she’s doing. It’s beautiful.”

“It’s…” Dana said, shaking her head as she set her glass of wine down. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

“This one,” he said, clicking onto the next one of Torin in his suit and holding his glass of whisky, one eyebrow raised as he stared at the camera. “This looks like it could be a picture you’d see in a magazine advertising suits or something. I’m going to see how it looks in black and white once I start editing, but I can honestly already tell it will be amazing. And this…” He clicked to the next one of all the men standing in a group and laughing, Torin’s head back and his hand on his chest. “This picture is so good. It encapsulates so much.”

“Fox…” Dana said quietly, shaking her head again.

“But this one…” He clicked through a few pictures until he landed on the one he wanted and he smiled. “…this one is my favorite.”

It was a picture taken of Karinne’s bridal bouquet as it lay on a table at the reception. The flowers were in the foreground and in the background, slightly out of focus were Karinne and Torin. Standing together, forehead to forehead, his hands were at her waist and there was a smile on her face.

“It captures the day so perfectly. The beauty, the quiet moments that are more important than the grandiose ones. At the end of the day, the wedding was so quick, with so many things happening all at once, but what’s left is the marriage. Those flowers might be saved or preserved, but they will still be less of what they were. The marriage is opposite. It’s the beginning of what will bloom and continue to grow. This picture…” He smiled as he stared at it and shook his head. “…it encapsulates it so well. Truly it does. I really like it.”

He turned his head to look at Dana and was surprised to see that there were tears running down her cheeks.

“What? Dana, what’s wrong?”

She stood up forcefully and walked away from him, stopping by the door and shaking her head.

“Shit,” he heard her say as she drew in a shaky breath.

“Dana?”

“I… hate him,” she sobbed out and he exhaled as he closed his eyes briefly knowing that she was not talking about Torin.

Tom.

She began to pace, shaking her head and crying, trying to speak and failing. He said nothing, letting her cry and release the hurt she had been carrying inside for far too long.

“I hate… hate myself sometimes too,” she cried. “Hate what he… how he changed me… how I let him…”

“No,” Fox said quietly, not wanting her to have that thought in her head. “He’s an abusive narcissist. He knew what he was doing and he was very good at it.”

“But I let it happen.”

“No, Dana,” he continued in the same quiet voice.

“How?” she cried. “How can you say that? You saw it. You knew. You tried to tell me. My sister said it and a couple of my friends… I just…”

“It’s hard to see it when you’re in it. Hard to know it’s bad when it feels like it’s right. And it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s hundreds of little things said or done in different ways, exactly so that you don’t see it. If it was… if he was who you know now, you wouldn’t have given him the time of day.”

“No,” she whispered. “No, I wouldn’t.”

“No,” he agreed.

“He… it was little things,” she said, sniffling softly. “Things I questioned even then, but…”

“You weren’t sure.”

“So many small things…” she said. “I like to paint. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“I find it calming. I’m not an artist, but I like the things I have done.”

God, Fox thought. This asshole better not have said anything to discourage her from something she loves.

“I’d never really shown anyone. But I… I wanted to impress him, I suppose. To share more of my interests.” She let out a deep sigh and shook her head. “He didn’t say much, but it was the way he looked at them. The things he didn’t say. The frown on his face… he…”

That piece of shit.

“I put them away and played it off. Made excuses. But it hurt.”

“Of course it did.”

“After he met you, he asked me how I met you, how I had come to work for you. I told him about the day I came in. About how the picture of the little girl in the window left me curious. She was so happy and I thought- I want to know who captured that happiness so perfectly. That was part of the reason why I came in and when I did, I knew it was where I was supposed to be. It felt right to me.”

“I agree,” Fox said softly with a small smile.

“But…” She shook her head and started crying again, wrapping her arms around herself and rocking slightly. “When I told… told him that story, he… had this look on his face that made me stop before I was even finished. I asked him… what he was thinking and he said it sounded like… like I had pushed my way into your life. Like maybe… maybe you hadn’t really wanted me there, but asked me out of pity.”

“What?” Fox asked, standing suddenly to his feet, catching the chair as it tipped backwards. “He what?”

“He said that it actually went along with something that had been weighing on his mind, but he hadn’t wanted to say anything. Didn’t want it to hurt my feelings.”

“Goddamn liar,” Fox said through clenched teeth. “What did he say?”

“He said that he had been noticing, that sometimes I’m… too much.” She sniffled and closed her eyes.

“That you’re what?” he asked, the anger he was feeling causing him to start to breathe hard.

“That I…” She looked up at the ceiling and took a few deep breaths before dropping her head and closing her eyes again. “That I can be loud. That I… draw attention to myself with my voice or how I’m dressed. That I can come on strong and that I should try to… hold back from doing that and to be aware when I’m monopolizing people’s time.”

“Fucking hell,” Fox breathed, shaking his head.

“I laughed at first, thinking he might have been joking or maybe he was jealous of you… or, I don’t know. But then… I started to think about it and I…”

“You thought he might be right.”

“Yeah,” she said, her voice barely audible.

He shook his head and stared at her as she stood there looking so small and broken. He stepped toward her and then stopped when she opened her eyes and looked back at him, her eyes full of tears. Not wanting to push her or invade her space, he stayed where he was standing.

“He lied to you. I know you know that now.”

“Yeah,” she said, angrily wiping at her tears. “Took me long enough to figure it out.”

“Dana,” he said, shaking his head.

“God,” she breathed, crying softly again.

“He is a selfish piece of shit who took advantage of your kindness and happiness,” Fox said in a low voice. “He liked it at first as it drew him to you. I’m sure he liked the attention from his friends and family when they asked after you as well. But when they showed a continued interest in you, perhaps asking too enthusiastically after you, he had to put a stop to it.”

“I don’t…” She cried harder and shook her head.

“He tried to change you because he saw you as someone happy and bubbly and while he liked that, he couldn’t have you remain that way around him. He was the alpha and you… you had to become less to allow him to keep that standing. Your brightness needed to be muted, your happiness quieted, because if it wasn’t, the focus would no longer be on him, but drawn to you. Your light needed to be dimmed to allow his to shine.”

Tears were falling from her face and landing on her hoodie. He wanted so badly to hold her and take away her pain, to remove any doubts that she had, any suffering that fucking asshole had caused her.

But he couldn’t. Not entirely.

“Dana,” he said softly and she wiped at her face with her sleeves. “I know I can’t simply say he was wrong and have you believe me, completely forgetting how he made you feel. I know that I can’t. But, he was wrong. So incredibly wrong. You are not too much, not even a little bit. He is not enough and he knows it. So he takes from others in order to be whole… to stand taller.”

“I do know that… now. It’s just…” she whispered, sniffling as she wiped her face again.

“And I did not hire you out of pity,” he continued, his voice even quieter. “Or for any other reason than I liked you.”

“I know that too. I do. It’s just…” She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I hate that he planted that seed of doubt in my head. I hate that… that I’m second guessing myself now. That I… hold back and worry about how others are perceiving me. I hate that one person can have that power. That he can…” She shook her head and blew out a breath. “That he can make me feel the way I do, like I’m disconnected from everyone and everything.”

“I know that-”

“And then you… listened to me, trusted my instincts, allowed me to take those pictures today and then actually liked them…”

She started crying again, pacing back and forth as she did. He said nothing as he watched her, cursing Tom and wishing him nothing but pain forever.

She went into the bathroom and shut the door. He heard her blow her nose and then the sink running. When she came out, she kept her head down and she held some tissues in her hand.

“Your faith in me,” she whispered, not meeting his eyes. “Hearing your praise… right now, it feels too good to be real. As if you’re telling me what I want to hear. Or what you think I want to hear.”

“I’m-”

“I know you’re not. I know,” she said, raising her head and looking at him. “I do. And before… before all of this, I would have seen what you do in the pictures. I probably would have joked that I’d be the photographer people asked for now.” She attempted a laugh, but it came out in a sob and she held the tissues to her face.

“Dana,” he breathed, closing his eyes and feeling helpless as he listened to her crying.

“I think you’re safe,” she said, ending the sentence with a small sob and he opened his eyes.

“Maybe for now,” he replied with a small smile which she tried and failed to return.

“I can’t share your enthusiasm right now. I only see what I could have done better or think that you’re just being nice.”

“I’m not. I don’t do that. You know me.”

“Yeah,” she breathed, dabbing at her eyes. “But I’m still thinking about it.”

“I know how those thoughts feel,” he said.

“I hate them,” she breathed and he nodded.

“I know you do.”

She nodded and blew her nose, putting the tissue in her pocket and using another to wipe her eyes.

“I’m so sorry you went through that,” he said quietly and she nodded again. “I’m sorry it’s… that it’s made you second guess yourself, made you feel less than you are.”

“It really fucking sucks,” she whispered and he nodded.

“I know,” he agreed. “Negative words, the ones meant to cause pain or fuel that doubt, especially spoken by someone we care about, or thought we cared about, they hold so much more power than any positive words anyone else could say.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, sniffling as tears fell once again. “It’s really stupid.”

“We’re broken that way as humans.”

“Yeah,” she repeated and then looked at him, tears shining in her eyes.

Unable to take it anymore, he walked closer and waited for her to step back if she was uncomfortable, but she did not move. Taking it as a positive sign, he put his arms around her and pulled her close. Her arms went around him almost immediately and he knew that she had needed the hug as much as he did.

“It will get better,” he whispered, rubbing her back slowly.

“You promise?” she whispered.

“I do,” he replied. “It might take awhile, but it will.”

“Yeah,” she said, letting out a deep sigh. “Yeah.”

She pulled back and blew her nose again. Walking to the trash can, she blew her nose once more and tossed the used tissues into it. Letting out a deep breath, she turned and gave him a sad smile.

“I think I should go back to my room. I’m feeling tired now.”

“Yeah. Understandable. I could walk you over.”

“You don’t…” she began and then stopped herself. “I’d like that. If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all,” he assured her and she nodded. “Would you like to bring the wine with you or the pie?”

“Maybe just my glass of wine.”

“Take the rest of the bottle, too.”

He picked up the bottle and pushed the cork into it. Handing her her mostly untouched glass of wine, he then grabbed his key card from the dresser. Opening the door, he waited for her to exit ahead of him.

She walked silently beside him, sniffling a few times, one hand in the pocket of her hoodie.

When they reached her door, she inserted her key card and opened the door.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I didn’t intend for that to happen, but thank you. For listening and… being my friend.”

“You’re welcome,” he whispered back, handing her the bottle of wine. “If you’d like to take some time off-”

“No,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “No, I don’t want to do that. I… I need to work. I need that constant right now.”

“Okay. But if you think you do and you change your mind, just let me know.”

“I will.” She smiled softly and then sighed. “Thank you for being so understanding. So… Thank you.”

“Of course,” he said, squeezing her upper arm gently. “Goodnight again, Dana.” She stared at him for a few seconds and then nodded.

“Goodnight again, Fox.”

He stepped back and smiled gently as he waited for her to walk inside and lock the door.

Sighing, his steps feeling heavy, he walked back to his room.

Pushing the food cart out into the hallway, the lemon pie untouched, he turned off the lights and closed the computer.

He brushed his teeth and used the bathroom, too many thoughts crowding around in his head.

Laying down, his thoughts traveled to Dana. He exhaled as he closed his eyes, asking the universe for help with the healing she so desperately needed.

#alternate universe #the x files #x files AU #light angst #weddings #photography #discussions #helping to heal #sadness #comfort #compassion #friendship #caring

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aspenmissing · 9 months

Text

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚂𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜 (𝙿𝚝 𝟸)

Several others have crowded into the observation room outside where Dean is being held; across from his seat a digital camera has been set up. Ballard and Kraus enter.

"Counsellor? You boy decided to confess" Sheridan says.

"Mr. Winchester? I'd advise against that strongly"

"Talk directly into the camera, fist starting your name for the record" Dean clears his throat and leans forward, looking into the camera.

"My name is Dean Winchester. I'm an Aquarius. I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women. And I did not kill anyone. But I know who did. Or rather what did. Of course, it can't be for sure, because our investigation was interrupted. But our working theory was that we're looking for some kind of vengeful spirit"

"Excuse me?" Ballard asks.

"You know, Casper the bloodthirsty ghost?" In the observation room, the spectators start laughing "Tony Giles saw it. I'll bet you cash money Karen did too. But see, the interesting thing is the word it leaves behind. For some reason it's trying to tell us something. But communicating across the veil, it ain't easy. You know, sometimes the spirits, they, they get things jumbled. You remember "REDRUM". Same concept. You know, it's, uh, maybe word fragments... other times, it's anagrams. See, at first, we thought this was a name, Dana Shulps. But now we think it's a street. Ashland. Whatever's going on, I'll bet you it started there" Dean spreads his hands and smiles.

"You arrogant bastard. Tony and Karen were good people, and you're making jokes"

"I'm not joking, Ponch"

"You murdered them in cold blood just like that girl in St. Louis"

"Oh, yeah. That wasn't me either. That was a shape-shifter creature that only looked like me" He smiles at the camera. Sheridan loses his temper and hauls Dean up by the collar, slamming him against the wall.

"Pete, that is enough!" Ballard says.

"You asked for the truth"

"Lock his ass up" Another cop takes over, shoving Dean face-first against the wall and handcuffing him"

Sheridan and Ballard return to Sam and Theo's interrogation room only to find the two gone; the coffee cups and the note are still on the table.

"What the hell? Where are they?" Sheridan goes to the window, which is open, and looks out- it's a four story drop with no visible fire escape nearby. Ballard sees the note on the table and picks it up "What's they do? The fire escape's way over...what?"

"These three" Ballard hands him the note.

"Hilts and McQueen?"

"Hilts in Steve McQueen's character in the Great Escape"

Dean is handcuffed to another table as Ballard enters, nervous. She shuts the door.

"Can we make this quick? I'm a little tired, it's been a long day, you know, with your partner assaulting me and all" Dean says.

"I want to know more about that stuff you were talking about earlier"

"Time Life. Mysteries of the Unknown. Look it up"

"Let's pretend for the moment you're not entirely insane"

"Mmm" Dean says.

"What would one of these things be doing here?"

"A vengeful spirit? Well, they're created by violent deaths. And then they come back for a reason, usually a nasty one. Like revenge on the people that hurt 'em"

"And uh, these, they're capable of killing people?" As he rubs her neck, Dean notices something on her wrist.

"Where did you get that?" She pulls up her sleeves to reveal deep bruises, like those on Karen's wrists.

"I don't know. It, it wasn't there before"

"You've seen it, haven't you? The spirit?"

"How did you know?" Ballard asks.

"Because Karen had the same bruises on her wrists. And I'm willing to bet that if you look at Giles' autopsy photos he's got 'em too, it's got something to do with this spirit, I... I don't know what" She turns away, looking into the mirror "I know. You think you're going crazy. But let's skip that part, shall we? Because the last two people who saw this thing? Died, pretty soon after. You hear me?"

"You think I'm going to die"

"You need to go to Sam and Theo. They'll help"

"You're giving them up"

"Go to the first motel listed in the yellow pages. Look for Jim Rockford or Amy Glasgow - it's how we find each other when we're separated. Now you can arrest them if you want. Or you can let them save your life"

Sam and Theo are sitting at a motel desk, going through files. There is a knock on the door; he opens it to find Ballard; he hesitated; she shrugs and comes in. Theo stands up as Ballard shows them her wrists. Theo gently takes them and examines them.

"These showed up after you saw it?" Theo asks.

"Yeah, I guess"

"All right. You're going to have to tell us exactly what you saw"

"You know, I must be losing my mind. You two are fugitives. I should be arresting you two"

"All right. Well, you know what? You can arrest us later, all right? After you live through this. But right now, you've gotta talk to us. Okay?" Theo says. She nods "Okay, great. Now, this spirit. What did it look like?"

"She was, um, really pale, and her throat was cut, and her eyes, they were like, this deep dark red? It appeared like she was trying to talk to me. But she couldn't. It was just... a lot of blood"

"You know what? Here. We've been researching every girl that's ever died or gone missing from Ashland Streets" The two leads Ballard over to a table, where Theo and Sam gathers up a stack of crime scene photos

"How'd you get those? Those are from scenes, and booking photos"

"You have your job, we have ours. Here I need you to look through these, tell us if you recognize anyone" Theo says. Ballard sits and flips through the stack. On the third photo a young woman's booking photo, she stops.

"This is her. I'm sure of it"

"Claire Becker? Twenty-eight years old, disappeared about eight or nine months ago"

"But I don't even know her. I mean, why would she come after me?"

"Well, before her death, she was arrested twice. For dealing heroin. You ever work narcotics?" Y/N asks.

"Yeah, Pete and I did. Before Homicide"

"You ever bust her?" Sam asks.

"Not that I remember"

"It says that she was last seen entering 2911 Ashland Street. Police searched the place, didn't find anything. Guess we gotta check it out ourselves. See if we can find her body"

"What?"

"Well, we gotta salt and burn her bones. It's the only way to put her spirit to rest"

"Of course, it is"

Sam and Theo lead Ballard into a dark and creepy warehouse.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" She asks.

"We'll let you know when we find it” Theo says. They split up, Sam and Theo checking up a flight of stairs and Ballard continues on the lower lever. She turns towards a window and sees Claire, standing by the window. The ghost struggles to talk.

"Sam? Theo? Guys!" As the two runs down the stairs to Ballard, the ghost disappears.

"Hey! Hey! we're here, what is it? What happened?" Sam asks.

"Claire..."

"Where?"

"She, she was here"

"Did she attack you?" Theo asks.

"No. No, she was just like, reaching out to me. She was over there by the window" The window is blocked by a shelving unit "Here, help me move this"

"All right" The three shove the shelves aside, revealing the window. It is labelled from the outside: ASHLAND SUP"

"Our little mystery word" They turn to see a shadow on the opposite wall, casting the words into clear reflection.

"Now the extra letters make sense" Theo pulls out her EMF reader and approaches the opposite wall.

"What is that?" Ballard asks.

"Spirits and certain remains give of electromagnetic frequencies" Sam says.

"So, if Clair's body was here, that would indicate that?"

"Yeah. Well, that's the theory" The EMF meter purrs as he waves it over the brick wall. She turns. Theo passes Sam the EMF and starts breaking the wall with a sledgehammer. When she's knocked out a sizable hole, she pokes his flashlight inside.

"Yeah. Yeah, there's definitely something in there" She starts breaking through the walls with elbows and fists.

"You know? This is bothering me" Sam says.

"Well, you are digging up a corpse" Ballard says.

"No, not that. That's, uh, that's pretty par for the course, actually"

"Then what?"

"It's just, I mean, no vengeful spirit we've ever tussled with wanted to be wasted, so why the hell would Claire lead us to her remains? It doesn't make any sense" Theo’s broken open most of the wall.

"All right, here. Give me a hand" The three together pull out a shroud-wrapped body and place it on the ground. Sam pulls out a pocket knife and cuts the ropes holding the shroud together, uncovering her. Ballard holds out her wrists "Her wrists. Yeah, they'd be bruised just like yours?" Ballard notices a necklace on the corpse and touches it cautiously.

"That necklace mean something to you?" Theo asks. Ballard looks at the two.

"I've seen it before. It's rare. It was custom made over on Carson Street" Ballard reaches into her neckline "I have one just like it. Pete gave it to me" Sam stands up.

"Now this all makes perfect sense" Sam says, looking at Theo, who stands up and walks over to him.

"I'm sorry?"

"Yeah. You see, Claire is not a vengeful spirit, she's a death omen"

"Excuse me?" Ballard asks.

"Claire's not killing anyone. She's trying to warn them. You see, sometimes spirits, they don't want vengeance, they want justice. Which is why she led us here in the first place. She wants is to know who her killing is" Theo explains "Detective, how much do you know about your partner?" Ballard thinks for a minute.

"Oh my god"

"What?" Sam and Theo say in unison.

"About a year ago, some heroin went missing from lockup. Obviously, it was a cop. We never found out who did it. But whoever did it would need someone to fence their product"

"Someone like a heroin dealer. Somebody like Claire"

Sheridan is driving an armoured van with Dean in the back.

"So, I'm being extradited to St. Louis, huh? And you just decided to transfer me yourself, eight hundred miles? At two in the morning?" There is a pause "This can't be good"

Ballard is driving Sam and Theo down a similar stretch of road, finishing a call on her cell phone.

"All right. Thanks"

"What is it?" Sam asks.

"Pete just left the precinct. With Dean"

"What?" Theo says.

"He said the prisoner had to be transferred, and he just took him. Dispatch has been calling but he won't answer the radio"

"Radio? He took a county vehicle?"

"Yeah"

"Well, then they should have a lo-jack, you've just gotta get it turned on"

"I'm going to beat his ass if he hurts Dean. And you’re not stopping me"

The armoured van pulls off the road and stops.

"Pee break? So soon? You might want to get your prostate checked" Sheridan gets out and circles to the back "Son of a bitch" Sheridan opens the van "Hey, I'm cool in the van, you got do what you gotta do" Sheridan hauls Dean out and throws him to the ground.

"You're a cocky son of a bitch. You think those people in St. Louis are gonna buy that crap you're peddling? Here's the thing. You're not gonna make it to St. Louis. You're gonna die trying to escape" He pulls out his gun and points it at Dean's head.

"Wait! Wait. Let's talk about this. I mean, you don't want to do something that you're gonna regret later" Sheridan cocks his gun "Or maybe you do" Ballard, Sam and Theo arrive, Ballard pointing a gun at Pete.

"Pete! Put the gun down"

"Diana? How'd you find me?" Sheridan asks.

"I know about Claire"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Put the gun down!"

"Oh, I don't think so. You're fast. I'm pretty sure I'm faster"

"Why are you doing this?"

"I didn't do anything, Diana"

"It's a little late for that"

"It wasn't my fault. Claire was trying to turn me in, I had no choice"

"And Tony? Karen?"

"Same thing! Tony scrubbed the money, he got skittish, and then he wanted to come clean. I'm sure he told Karen everything" Dean glances at Sam and Theo, who's giving them "How do we get out of this" look. Dean shakes his head; Sam grits his teeth. Theo starts to walk closer but a gunshot land right next to her foot, making her jump back. Sam pulls her back, who is glaring at Sheridan.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Theo shouts. Sheridan ignores her and turns his attention back to Ballard.

"It was a mess; I had to clean it up. I just panicked"

"How many more people are gonna die over this, Pete?"

"There's a way out. This Dean kid's a friggin' gift. We could pin the whole thing on him. Right? No trial, nothing. Just, just one dead scumbag"

"Hey!" Sheridan raises the gun; Dean backs off.

"No one will question it. Diana, please. I still love you" Ballard lowers the gun "Thank you. Thank you" As he turns back to Dean, Ballard brings her gun up and fires, hitting Sheridan in the stomach. He goes down, Dean rolls out of the way.

"Then why don't you buy me another necklace, you ass?" He tackles her legs, knocking her down, she loses her gun and Theo tries to go for it, but Sheridan gets there first. Theo looks at him with wide eyes "Don't do it! Don't do it!" Ballard stares past Sheridan, who turns to see the Ghost behind him, staring through her bloody hair. She smiles. A gunshot goes off: Ballard has recovered a weapon and shot Sheridan in the back. He goes down, more permanently this time.

Ballard is kneeling by the body of her late partner. She gets up and approaches Sam, Dean and Theo, standing nearby.

"You doin' all right?" Theo asks.

"Not really. The death omen Claire. What happens to her now?"

"Should be over. Should be at rest" Sam says.

"So, uh. What now, officer?"

"Pete did confess to me. He screwed up both your cases story. I can't help you. Unless...I just happened to turn my back, and you walked away. I could just tell them that the suspects escape.

"Wait, are you sure?"

"Yeah, she's sure, Sam" Dean says, his arm around Theo's shoulders.

"No, it's just, I mean, you could lose your job over something like that"

"Look, I just want you guys out there doing what you do best. Trust me, I'll sleep better at night" Ballard turns to go "Listen, you need to watch your back. They're gonna be looking for both of you right now. Get out of here. I gotta radio this in"

"Hey, uh, you wouldn't happen to know where my car is, by chance>"

"It's at the impound yard down on Roberston" Ballard sees Dean's calculating look "Don't...even think about it"

"It's okay, it's all right, don't worry. Well, uh, we'll just improvise. I mean, we're pretty good at that"

"Yeah. I've noticed" Sam, Dean and Theo walk off down the road.

"Nice lady" Theo says.

"Yeah, for a cop. Did she look familiar to you guys?"

"No, why?" Sam shoves Dean playfully.

"I don't know. Anyway, are you hungry?"

"No"

"For some reason I could really go for some pea soup" Dean looks to Theo who gives him puppy-dog eyes. He sighs and crouches down "Get on" Theo gets on and snuggles into his shoulder "You will be the death of me one day"

"More like you'll be the death of me" Theo snorts.

#supernatural #older sister winchester #oc insert #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fandom

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nataliedanovelist · 3 years

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GF - Timestuck AU: The Power of Mabel ch.7 (finale)

While fighting over a time machine so one twin can win a pig or the other can win the heart of a girl, Mabel is left stranded in a snowy forest with no time machine and no brother. Oops.

ch.6

AO3 link

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford sat on the kitchen floor with his back against the cupboards, clinging to his knees, his glasses still in hand. His throat was sore and his eyes hurt and his nose was runny and his heart was raw and broken, and yet he wasn’t done crying. Though he was done sobbing and occasionally crying so hard he thought he would throw up, free-flowing tears still streamed down his face as he hid the bottom-half of his head in his beefy arms.

“What do we do now?” He moaned.

Stan looked at the know-it-all who didn’t have a clue. He sighed and moved to sit next to him, his back against the cupboard and his knees up by his chest as he combed his mullet. “I dunno… Sit here and die?”

Ford hiccuped a cruel laugh and buried his face in his arms fully. “I wish I could.”

Stan snorted. “What’s that saying? The good die young?”

Ford groaned and started to sob again.

Stan rubbed his back, his head against the cupboard and he looked up at the ceiling. “O-Okay, okay… Let’s think about this. So we never made up, or something else really bad happened between us, and that’s the timeline Mabel was from, right?”

“Right.” Ford gruffed, lifting his head up and rubbing his eyes dry.

“So, since that didn’t happen, or it happened differently… B-But that doesn’t mean she’s… She’ll still exist in our timeline, won’t she? She’s gonna be okay?” He asked the scientist, digging for some kind of hope.

Ford sighed and rested his cleft chin on his arms. “As long as what happened didn’t interfere with Alex’s life too much… Which I don’t know how it could… Mabel and Dipper should still be born in 1999. There’s a small possibility they’ll be different than what they once were, or because of some unseen butterfly effect, their birth might be different or might not happen at all… But…”

The eldest by fifteen minutes slipped his glasses back on, stood, and said stubbornly, “I’m going to do what I can to ensure it is a better future than what the kids had. Our entire family was broken because of what we did and didn’t do. Clearly either one of us went insane or died or something horrible, and I won’t allow that to happen.”

“I don’t think we gotta worry too much about that happening.” Stan said from down on the floor. “I mean, if Mabel changed things so much that an entire reality changed, then we don’t really gotta do much except not screw this up.”

Ford laughed and held out a hand to his twin, who gladly clasped it and stood. “You’re right.”

But the men were disheartened to finally notice the mess in the kitchen. Mabel’s cake batter sat on the flour-dusted counter, the oven was hot and ready for baking, and the muffin tray was on the floor from where Mabel dropped it. Ford looked down at the sweater he was wearing - the sweater she had knitted for him - and without a word he walked to the living room and saw Mabel’s knitting sitting on the couch where she had left it, a completed red sweater with a golden heart on it.

Ford smiled mournfully and held the sweater as Stan joined him and gasped at the sweater. The big brother held it out to the little brother and croaked, “We’ll see her again.”

Stan smiled, cleared his throat, and took off his hoodie and snagged the new sweater to slip it over his old white t-shirt. “Yeah.”

~~~~~~~~~~

July 22nd, 1980

Ford held the lantern up to better read the writing in the cave. He peered at it and was intrigued by a description of a being with answers. It would be summoned if he read out-loud, and though there were many clear warnings against this, the desperate scientist was extremely tempted.

“Sixer! Let’s move before we get caved in or some shit.” Stan called as he walked up to Ford. “What are you reading, cavemen graffiti?”

“Look, Stanley, there are tales of an all-knowing being with answers. It could help me with my theory…”

“Nope.” Stan grabbed Ford by the collar of his trenchcoat and dragged him away like dragging a child out of a toy store.

“Stanley! Let me go!”

“That shit’s got bad voodoo written all over it! You’ve gotta be inhaling toxic cave gas or something to think summoning a demon is a good idea!”

“We don’t know it’s a demon.”

“Really? Then why does that wall read in old blood ‘Do not summon demon!’?”

“Huh. Well, um…”

“That’s what I thought, now don’t make me pick you up and carry you. Let’s move.” And he lightly shoved Ford forward to lead the walk away from the cave and through the tunnels for sunlight.

~~~~~~~~~~

Alex’s wedding was wonderful and a joyous day, but it also made Ford and Stan nervous. They both agreed not to say a word to anyone (as far as Fiddleford knew, Ford had found the girl’s parents and all was over and ended well), and white they were happy to be one step closer to meeting the kids, they were slightly worried that something might be different than Mabel’s timeline.

She never told them her mother’s name. Did Alex marry someone else? Did they marry at the correct time? There was no way of telling, and they both agreed to allow themselves to enjoy the day and maybe drink a little. Or a lot.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Shermie called and told them that Alex and Dana were going to have a baby, Ford choked on his coffee and Stan dropped the phone. They silently exchanged looks and were terrified that there was only one baby. But it was seven months before the end of August, so maybe the new parents were choosing to keep everything a surprise. Knowing Alex, that is something he would do, especially if there were twins. A beautiful surprise for his twin uncles.

So they congratulated Shermie and made him swear to call them if anything happened so they could be there. And despite their fear, they were very joyous of becoming grunkles again.

~~~~~~~~~~

August 31st, 1999

The entire week leading up to the day, the men were incredibly anxious. The birthday was on 31st, which meant Dipper and Mabel could be born at 1am on the 31st, or 11pm on the 31st. They had no way of knowing, but as long as that damn telephone stayed silent, they weren't leaving the house all weekend. Neither of them slept the night of the 30th, just in case.

Finally, a little after coffee on the 31st, the phone rang. Both Ford and Stan tackled each other and fought for it, but Stan sat on Ford and grabbed it first.

“Stanley, get off me!”

“Stanley, what are you doing to your brother?” Shermie chuckled on the other end.

“Nevermind that, Sherm!” Stan laughed. “What’s going on with you?” He asked casually, though he smiled down at Ford, who smiled back, despite still being sat on in the kitchen.

“Well, you guys know I’m gonna be a grandpa soon…”

“Really? Had no idea.” Stan said sarcastically as he stood up to get off Ford. “So? Is it happening now?!” Ford ran down the hall.

Shermie laughed. “Yup. I just got here myself and Alex and Dana got here about twenty minutes ago.”

“Piedmont Hospital, right?”

“Right.”

“We’ll be there in six hours.”

“It’s an eight hour drive!”

“I said six hours!”

“STANL-” But Stan hung up the phone.

Stan hurried up to his attic bedroom and dressed in his baby-blue Hawaiian shirt and slacks, while also grabbing a suitcase he’s had ready all week, prepared to stay as long as Alex and Dana needed him.

He ran back downstairs with suitcase in hand, with Ford by the door, and they sprinted into the Stanmobile and drove down the road.

~~~~~~~~~~

Shermie was waiting for them in the hall, beaming with joy, and his little brothers ran to him for a tackle-hug.

“Good to see you, Grandpa!”

“Congratulations, Shermie!”

“Thank you, thank you!”

“Did we miss it?!” Stan asked. “Has it happened yet?!”

Shermie grinned and nodded. “Yes, everyone is safe and fine.” And he opened the door.

The aged explorers beamed (and no, they weren’t crying) to find Alex holding one baby and Dana holding another baby. The eldest pair of twins high-sixed and cheered and then gently approached the little ones, beaming down at them.

It was like they had been holding their breath for twenty years, and now they could finally breathe.

“What are their names?” Ford asked quietly, seeing how each newborn was sleeping soundly.

“This is Mabel,” Alex introduced, giving the bundle to Stan.

“And this is Mason.” Dana said tiredly, giving her son to Ford to hold.

Stan and Ford were a bit concerned with the name change, but one look at the baby boy relaxed them. Of course a name like Dipper was a nickname.

“Matching names, huh?” Stan asked cheekily, cradling Mabel and looking down at her with shining brown eyes.

“We couldn’t help ourselves.” Alex chuckled.

Ford’s eyes were glued to Mason. While of course he had been dying to see Mabel again, he had also been excited to meet his science-loving nephew. He was so cute and small in his polydactyl hands and Ford knew it would take a lot more strength than what he had to let him go.

The author tore his eyes away to see his twin looking down at Mabel with tears in his eyes, holding her close to his heart and trying really hard to hold it together, but his joy and peace was far stronger than any bad habits that stopped him from showing his emotions. Stan lightly kissed Mabel’s cheek and Ford saw his lips barely move, though he didn’t hear what he said. Which was fine by him. Ford smiled back down at Mason, finally content.

No one heard him say it, thank Moses, but Stan couldn’t help himself. He had whispered to his niece as quiet as a mouse, “I’ve missed you, pumpkin.”

And finally, after all these years, the small hole in the boys’ hearts could be filled.

THE END!

#GF #gravity falls #gravity falls au #timestuck au #fanfiction #stangst #thank you guys SO much for reading!#im sorry i hurt you last chapter #hopefully this makes up for it ^^;#august 31st

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imagine-being-straight · 4 years

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A Message to the TOH Fandom

I’m tired.

I feel like everyone in the fandom can agree that the TOH fandom overall has white favoritism. If you actively deny that we have a problem with white favoritism or are offended that I said this, look at yourself and other people who have been talking about this issue. Really look at yourself and ask why you are offended by what I said. Now back to the TOH fandom’s problem with white favoritism. It’s a huge problem and I don’t think people have realized how bad it’s gotten.

Luz and Amity

Do both of them have amazing content created about them? Yes, but if you look a bit closer to the contents of their contents you’ll see a clear disparity between the two. Luz is more likely to be in Lumity art (which itself isn't a problem), but the problem lies in that she is only there for Amity. Is there still content with her alone and highlighting her character? Of course there is, but for every content that exists for Luz solely, there are at least two others for Amity. Don’t get me wrong I love Amity as much as the next person, but she still is a side character. The Owl House focuses on Eda, King, and Luz mainly. They are the main characters.

When I first joined the TOH fandom, I noticed a lot of Amity focused content. A lot more so than I expected since she is a side character. I understand that a factor in her popularity is her crush on Luz and we’re all really excited for confirmed gay characters, but it doesn’t explain how popular she is. She appears in roughly half of season one’s episodes (I know she technically appears in 11 episodes, but some of her appearances are so minor you can easily forget they happened) compared to Luz being in all 18 episodes. Yes Luz isn’t always the focus of these episodes, but she still changes and develops as a character through most of them.

The reason I’m bringing all of this up is that Amity is white and Luz is a POC. Characters of color in the past have been overlooked and underappreciated in the past, not just in this fandom, but it still happens a lot here. Whether it’s conscious or not, we all have been affected by white favoritism and it is our responsibility to recognize it and change. The Owl House brings more than just gay representation: it brings an Afro-Latina Bisexual protaganist with two major side characters, Willow and Gus, being a mixed Asian-Black character and a Black character. You still think I’m full of shit saying there’s white favoritism in the TOH fandom? Well I’m just getting started here.

Willow, Gus, and Boscha

Boscha herself is an interesting character and I think people see a lot of potential for her character, but the problem is that she overshadows a lot of other characters who are much more important and relevant. Willow is a good example of someone who has been constantly overshadowed by Boscha. Most content I see of Willow is usually Boschlow content (I’m not approving or condemning Boschlow here, this is me just stating some facts) and it’s so unfair to Willow as a character. Willow is more than just Luz’s friend or a quiet girl and more people need to realize that. If you can analyze Boscha’s character in the three episodes she is in, you can do the same thing to Willow, who has been in 14 episodes (three more than Amity). There is no excuse for the lack of Willow content and the abundance of Boscha content.

The same thing can be applied to Gus. Sure he doesn’t get very much screen time, but it is still loads more than Boscha. I have seen barely any content about Gus and the few times I do, he is usually with a group and not alone. No one talks about him and I cannot express how underrated he truly is. If you want some funny content with him, play around with his interest in humans and how he has totally misinterpreted things we know as facts. If you want Gus angst, then write about how young he is and how he could be feeling inadequate despite being smart enough to skip two grades. Amity is seen by the fandom as a whole as being extremely smart, but the fact that Gus skipped two grades, a feat Amity has not done herself, truly showcases how smart Gus really is. It’s not that hard to make Gus content and everyone is just sleeping on him.

The fandom loves to attach itself to Boscha, who may I remind you is white. Willow and Gus, who have way more plot relevance and screen time, are constantly pushed aside for more and more Boscha content. Willow and Gus are beautifully written in the show, but most people overlook it for Boscha, who in the show has been fairly one note so far. If your only argument is that you want to show the background characters some love, then where is the Skara content? Skara has just as much screen time as Boscha, but I’ve seen very little content about her. I guarantee if Boscha was a POC she would have the same level of content as Skara, but since she is white she overshadows literally every other POC supporting character, including those who have had more screen time than her. Don’t even get me started on the Detention Track kids and Emira/Viney. This post is already long enough and I don’t need to make it any longer.

Camilia and Alador/Odelia Blight

Right here is the clearest example of the white favoritism of the TOH fandom. Alador and Odalia Blight have gotten so much content about them and we still haven’t seen their faces. You can easily find so much analysis on them and how their parenting must affect the Blight siblings. You can find so much content about them and we know literally nothing about them other than the fact that they’re abusive. I know Alador is set up to be less abusive than Odalia, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is still abusive to his kids. Whether he approved what was going on or not doesn’t matter because he was still complacent with what was happening.

Now let’s look at Camilia and all her content- oh wait there is basically none for her. All the Camilia content is basically nothing other than CamilEda content (again I’m not trying to bash or approve CamilEda, I’m just trying to state some facts). Camilia did make a mistake in setting Luz to the camp, but that does not make her a bad mother. People need to remember one bad action does not make a bad person. I think Dana herself said that Luz and Camilia do love each other, but they do have their differences, which makes things hard sometimes. Camilia truly does care about Luz and tries her best to do what‘s best for Luz and more people need to recognize it. There is so much untapped potential with Camilia’s character, like how she will react to Luz not coming home or what she will do to try to get Luz back. What if she sees all of the recordings Luz has made for her? How will she react? These are all things we can make content on, yet I see so many people sleeping on it.

Now when you compare how the fandom treats both Camilia and the Blight parents, there’s a clear bias in favor for the Blight parents. The Blight parents are given more attention and content despite having less actual screen time and being actual pieces of garbage. Camilia is shoved to the side despite there being plenty to analyze about her and her relationship with Luz. Camilia is also a good person, which is clearly different to the Blight parents. It’s never been a matter of which parent/child relationship is better because they’re both written very well, but rather the fact that Camilia gets shoved aside every time we talk about parent/child relationships. I mean when you look at it, Camilia and Luz’s relationship with each other is literally the Blight family’s dynamic, except the opposite. The only difference between the two families is that one has POCs and the other is white. And to no one’s surprise, the white family gets more attention and analysis than the POC’s family.

Statistics

If you’re still not convinced here's some cold hard evidence that white characters are more favored than POC characters. I’m going to be using AO3’s (archiveofourown) data on how many works a character is tagged in.

On AO3 at around 6:35 PM EST Oct 3, 2020, The Owl House had 1921 works. As we can see Luz is number one (as she should), Willow is number three, and Gus is number four. They’re ranked fairly high (which was a surprise to me), but when you look at how many works they’re actually in, the white favoritism becomes clear. Amity is tagged in around 1480 works and Willow and Gus each are in 730 and 610 respectively. Willow and Gus are in half the works Amity is. Somehow Willow appears in half the works Amity does even though Willow appears more than Amity in the show. Boscha also has 360 works with her in it, half of what Gus and Willow’s works despite being a very minor character who has appeared only a few times. What's worse is that Edric and Emira are literally 200 to 60 works away from Willow and Gus respectively. Edric and Emira, two white characters who have appeared in literally three episodes, but are tagged in nearly the same number of works as two main POC-supporting characters. Now maybe you’re like “Oh the Blight siblings are only so popular because of Lumity, this data is skewed” so the next picture is of all the characters with all of the romantic relationship tags excluded.

The data shows that the fandom favors the white characters so drastically that there is no excuse or other explanation for it. Lumity being popular doesn’t explain why Amity is still the third most written-about character, even with the Lumity tag being blocked. Quantity of episode appearances doesn't explain why Willow has less content about her because Willow appears in three more episodes than Amity does. The only explanation is white favoritism because the most popular characters are all white (with the exception of Luz, but that’s because she is the main character). Before you tell me “Oh it's because they’re more interesting or they have more potential” actually look and analyze the POC characters because they’re amazingly well written if you actually sit down and analyze them.

Why Calling Out White Favoritism Matters

Now you may be asking: why should I care? Well you should care because the fandom as a whole is literally favoring white characters over POC characters, which is low key racist. It makes people care less about POC characters and actual people which can lead to some internalized racism if not caught early enough. The Owl House tries very hard to highlight their POC characters and actively ignoring or dismissing them is disrespecting the show itself.

I feel like I should make it clear that I’m not shaming anyone who’s favorite character just happens to be white. What I’m doing here is being critical of whether or not a person likes a character because they are white (whether that decision is conscious or not). There is a clear difference between “Oh X is my favorite character, but I recognize the other characters are good in their own ways.” and “Oh I love X and only X. I will only use the other characters to further X’s character and completely ignore everyone else’s complexity”. Please take some time and think about why you like a character and see if you unconsciously love them because they are white. No one is immune to it and even I had to realize I was unconsciously favoring white characters while writing something The Owl House related.

The sad part about all of this is that it needs to be said that racism is bad. It needs to be said that white favoritism is extremely toxic and we should make sure we don’t actively take part or be complacent in it. I know for a fact that other POC have seen this white favoritism, but are too numb to say anything about this because they feel like their voices won’t change anything. The few people who have spoken out haven't been listened too. The fact that I had to step up and make this just to try to get people to listen and I might not even make a difference is so sad to me. The fact that I’m young makes me not numb to the white favoritism. The fact that I dealt with, for the first time, racism at the age of 14, which is extremely late for a POC. The fact that the only reason I can be mad about this is because I dealt with racism so late that I have energy to speak out against this and not be numb to this all. I hate that all of this exists and we all let this happen. We all let this problem fester and now it is now our responsibility to get our priorities straight and change. If we let this problem grow and grow, then in a few years this fandom will be a shell of what it once was.

“We can do this together.” -Luz Noceda

#the owl house #toh #lumity #luz noceda #gus porter #willow park #camilia noceda #amity blight #boscha #edric blight #emira blight #alador blight #odalia blight

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popculturebuffet · 2 years

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Amphibia and Owl House Weekly Reviews: Escape to Amphibia and Follies at the Coven Day Parade

Hello all you happy people! I’m Jake I review animation and comics, and today I resume my regular coverage of both amphibia and owl house... at the same time.

Yup for these titanic shows final seasons, unless disney gives Owl House a fourth season to either make up for past mistakes or to hastily try and make up for them by shoving a distraction in our faces, whatever works, i’m going to be covering them together and given the recent crossover and abudance of refrences hinting a shared universe between these two shows as well as their spirtual poppa gravity falls, it feels right. This does mean while i’ll stilll be giving these eps as much character and plot analysis as humanly possible, I may not do a blow by blow as it’s still an hour of content I have to cover a week, with the finale likely being an hour or 90 minutes itself. I’m still giving the episoides my full attention regardless.

But before we get this final stretch of normal episodes before a big sized finale for one and three big series ending specials for another, we have some house cleaning to attend to as happens when shows go off the air for several months. Feel free to skip over it and just read the reviews under the cut , otherwiseeee..

1) Don’t Say Gay

Whelp... as usual Disney...

Now if you want some of my first throughts on that, I did a special that covers the topic along with the episodes Fire and Ice from Craig of the Creek and Father Figures From The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder

But stuff has happened since so if you weren’t aware (which given how gloriously queer my audience seems to be is unlikely), here’s the quick version: Floridia’s state legislation passed a bill that was in short

Once again holding up that kids aren’t ready to be taught about gay people and shoudln’t know about gay things despite gay parents, teachers and you know CHILDREN existing.

Naturally people hoped Disney would get involved and they had.. just not in a postive way. As I found out after the say gay all you want special thanks to last week tonight, Disney had not only been backing the senators who got the bill through, made it and fought for it, as I knew when i made the article, but have been doing so for over two years. I’m not suprised, Florida is a conservative state and Disney will play ball with whoever keeps their taxes lowest.. but I am disapointed.

Naturally CEO Bob Chapek.. made things even worse by saying that “we’d change things through our content and we have to remain neutral”, like they were switzerland and not a major fucking country. Esepcailly since as I pointed out in the don’t say gay specail, they have a bad habit of canceling or downplaying queer content to appease bigoted assholes and their wallets... or as my boy alex hirsch put it best

How this affects Owl House should be obvious: Owl House is a heavily queer series with a bisexual protaganist whose love intrest is a lesbian, while also featuring major aromatic and non-binary characters. Disney claimed it wasn’t on brand... which was a thinly veild way of saying not gay enough, as well as part of disney’s long held issues accpeting that shows aimed at kids have multiple demographic appeal much like the MCU and Star Wars.

Dana Terrance was also utterly rattled, doing a stream with some new original content (which I didn’t get around to listneing to because cold, but will try to by next week), and other nice stuff to combat what her company was doing, looking utterly destroyed by being betrayed by disney for a SECOND time. in a row. jesus christ.

Thankfully the backlash against Chapek being stupid has worked for once: Chapek walked back his statement, disney is reassesing donor contributions and the company reinstated a gay kiss they pulled from lightyear. The latter is the bare minmum an dwould’ve been a better statement you know, never having removed it to start, so I have my doubts this will stick.. but hopefully this will force disney to put people over profits and it’s very clear the LBGTQ+ community, myself included, are not going to ease up on them anytime soon.

This could mean season 4 or it could mean dana throwing a possible offer in their face for good reason. I dunno.

2) Merchandising!

Now onto lighter news shortly before their premires BOTH shows got a big announcment: their getting books! For Amphibia we’re getting Marcy’s Journal, which will give me a holy trinity of journals from disney animated properties made real (there is apparently one from ducktales I haven’t gotten so techincally quadrilogy but still). I will be getting this thing as soon as I can... which could be a while but I intend on grabbings it.

Owl House meanwhile is getting a Light Novel, aka a smaller novel with pictures commonly based around anime, and Dana has confirmed it will be original content not based on any episodes. So while Season 3 is still just three big movies, we may see some things we didn’t get around to in book form.

So with that we’ve taken care of business, every day, let’s get to the good, the bad and the gravy of this weeks episodes. This is Owl House and Amphibia, together for the last time, full spoilers and analysis under the cut. Let’s do this!

Escape to Amphibia

Something I noticed about Amphibia after this episode, in part thanks to binging a ton of TotallyNotMark and falling in love with shonen manga all over again, is that when you step back the story is neatly broken down in to 6 parts, sagas, arcs, however you want to put it. We have the first season-long Wartwood arc where Anne slowly grows as a person and we get used to the world, the road trip to get to newtopia, newtopia where we get to know marcy a bit and get to see another side of the world, the temple arc where our heroes return home while also trying to do the same for anne, and with this episode we bring an end to the earth arc, as Anne leaves earth and returns home for the Final Arc, bringing everything together hopefully in a big climax.

And that’s... why this ep felt off for me. See when the other arcs as they were ended we felt it and there was a bit dramatic moment to make this feel ike the end of one story as it lead us to the next part of the overall epic: Sasha and Grime disappearing with Sasha’s fate and feelings unknown as Anne somberly but hopefully looked to the future with her found family, the Plantars and Anne crying their eyes out as she decides to spend some time with them while Andrias manipulates marcy into his masterplan, and of course andrias winning, stabbing marcy and leaving sasha and grime to unknown fates as our heroes end up stranded on earth. Even season 1a, while not necessarily the end of the wartwood arc, had a big milestone in anne earning most of the town’s love by protecting them while we learned just who sasha was.

And most of those endings came either at the halfway point or end of a season, a marker to show how far we’d come. And at the time Froggy LIttle Christmas felt like that: terri was building the portal, the it gals and polly were working on frobo, we had setup for the goverment learning more about the plantars via the parade, andrias having his army ready, and anne finally contacting her gf’s parents. All seeds that would surely lead to several more episodes on earth right?

Yeahhhh instead of some more build up before anne goes back... she just goes back after the break, that part of the story ends, and we’re in the final stretch. And as you can probably wager, I have some mixed emotoins. ON the one hand I do get that matt likely needs the last batch to truly deliver on the end of things, and thus had to rush the earth portion’s ending so he could get to the final battle with andrais. This is what the series has been building to, this is what we’ve been leading to, this is where our energy needs to be.

On the other.. it feels like they rushed everything BUT anne’s relationship with her parents. Her feeling bad about possibly leaving them again here does work: this time she knows she’s leaving and may not come back and it’s hitting harder, especailly now their closer thanks to her growth as a person. Their gentle acceptance of this and their encouragment when mr. x downtalks her, now having accepted she’s grown into so much more than they coudl’ve imagined, is so fucking beauitful and well thought out.

That being said it feels weird after mr and mrs b were pumped up so much as characters that they get left behind. It’s for good plot reason, someone needs to tell mr.x what’s really going on and I do feel that’ll play into the climax... but it feels weird leaving these new main characters behind when there’s so much potetial in bringing them to Amphibia. My best guess is Braly might of conisdered it but it cluttered things a bit too much. We’lll see as we go I guess.

The rest of the payoffs though feel luke warm: while Mr. X was an x-cellent nemisis, sending him off after only three episodes not only feels weak, but it felt like they had to make some contrivances for this plot to even work. In his previous apperances he found the plantars thanks to easily found evidence and hard work and at first this ep works on that: for starters his superiors gladly up his budget once he has hard proof and don’t doubt him on a few botched missions: they know he’s hunting people who don’t want to be found and thus they simply outfoxed them. It happens in intellgence. So X and Jenny simply get more toys, some thermal scanners, and catch the frogs when they go to get suplies for terri. That works.

The problem is he then starts acting stupid. He lets. Anne. Go.

And his reasoning is flawed: “She’s jus ta kid her parents helped her”. He’s directly chased Anne. Nearly beaten her yes, but he knows she’s slippery. And more to the point if that’s the case HE LET HER PARENTS GO. And he sets up a trap at his fbi base expecting her to come to him so why didn’t he just you know CAPTURE HER THEN AND THERE. I expect this from a french moth man ranting in a dome, not from ru fricking paul. And the funniest part is while this is an incredibly weak exit for the character, ranting at a character he shoudln’t be underesitmating when up till now , even if he’d misunderstood the plantars, he’d never overtipped his hand or been a cocky ass. egotistcal yes, but only becaue he deserved it.... I still like the character. I’ve seen blatant and half assed character assasination before

And this ain’t it. It’s just a writing mistep. Trying to add a character flaw that wasn’t quite there. Even if he was assuming Anne was a normal kid like say elliot... he’s had to seen enough 80s movies to know that these kids aren’t incomptent. Matthew Brodrick, teen or not caused and fixed world war three. That alone should tell him maybe don’t underestimate the plucky kid who has been ducking you or blame it all on her parents.

The other bits likewise feel like they just weren’t paid off right: Frobo is an rc car now.. but got no real build up to being rebuilt and the it gals, while vital to the last two episodes, played no part in him coming back. Wallace Shawn and Molly Jo come back, but don’t reallly do much. It feels like the ep was TRYING to create a sense of finality to the earth stuff.. but hadn’t spent any time actually building it up to earn it.

And of course most glaringly we, so far, don’t get ANY payoff for th waybrights and wus. We learn nothing about them, they never showed up, the boonchuy’s never bothered contacting them. Easily the most potetial out of the earth stuff utterly wasted and i’ll likely be pissed about that for some time. We could’ve gottne into what they did to look for their daughters, where they are now, why sasha’s parents are divorced, just what their relationships with annes parents were. Instead we got...

So was there anything I actually liked about the episode? Yes. Yes there was. Anne’s parents are a delight as always, and the look mr. b gave his wife while driving... so fucking cute. The fight in the spendco was also fun as hell, as was the accidental marcy refrence. And there were plenty of other good runners from Terry just going with the massive amount of snacks she needed being mistaken for portal ingrdeints, hop pops justified avacado obession, and Molly Jo.. not being a tall suprised frog man is a frog. It wasn’t the worst i’ve seen.. it was just disapointing especially since the season has been batting a thousand up to this point. The pacing was pitch perfect and everything was going fine so to sloppily rush this stuff this close to the finish line worries me a bit especailly since the last time I saw an arc try to sloppily wrap up a bunch of stuff towards the finish it.. it was star vs

So you can forgive me for being a bit gunshy after that fiasco. I still have hope the rest will be good as one mistep in a story does not ruin it.. many do an dthe final shot of the episode does bring hope that it was just that... our heroes returning to amphibia.. and finding it being scoured and stripmined by the forces of the empire. The sheer pain on their faces is beautifully animated as our heroes realize their home.. but their as outnumbered and lost as they were coming here. It’s powerful stuff not only showing how far andrias’ destruction has spread but now letting our heroes soak it in. It gives me as much hope for the final act as it gives them disapair for it.

Overall: Not a great episode, by any stretch, but it had i’ts moments, including one I didn’t get to which deserves meinoing which is anne pulling a

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It’s not a TERRRIBLE episode but it is deeply disapointing and hopefully i’ts just a bumpin the road and not a sign of things to come.

Follies at the Coven Day Parade:

In contrast while Amphibia had a bit of a rough rentry, Owl House made a hell of an entrance as it set a deadline for the finale, set up yet another intriguging and terrifying coven head, gave Luz, Amity and Eda all some great moments and FINALLY gave me some solid willow content, and we haven’t even gotten to her headlining episode coming up.

For starters as i’m pretty sure i’m said before but in case I haven’t I just love this title: it’s goofy, it’s hilarious, and it fits the show well, while also nicely hiding just how much of a gutpunch this episode is. Well barely it came after the mid season finale and even before seeing said finale, it was obvoius just by placing it’d have some underlying issues to adress.

The show does so marvelously. For starters it dances a little sidestep over telling king and eda as she already did offscreen. I do wish we’d actually seen their reactoins and them dealing with it, but I get sometimes you have to compress for time. I’m more forgiving here than with escape to amphibia because it’s compressing one plot point realistically, of course King and Eda would both talk her out of a “you have to choose one or the other” mindset and back her up and of course eda would figure her out if she even tried, versus trying to cram several episodes worth of payoff into one episode and not really landing any of it. Here it’s just the shortcuts you sometimes need to take in storytelling to tell it in the time you have.

So what I worried might be episodes of Luz trying to hide her angst becomes her dealing with it out front... mostly as she hasn’t told Gus, Willow or Amity yet. Though we do get some prime bits of the Co as Gus and Willow speculate on Bellos face (lovingly spoofing us the fans), and Amity calls Luz a sweet potato, because Gus, being Gus, canm’t tell a spanish to english cookbook from a spanlish to english dictonary. But hey still a cute nickname so it sticks and we see the two be cute together. It’s adorable.

Things soon get less adorable though as Amity finds Luz’s phone, wonders what the video she’s working on (”A it’s not so bad here once you ignore the suplpher” tour that included a hooty skeleton so it’s not working so well), and we have Amity’s b-plot as she ends up with Luz’s phone: invade her girlfriends privacy to try and help her or respect it and leave it entirely. So while Luz is dealing with stuff we’ll get to in a moment, amity visits her only other friend. Willow. Well I mean I guess Gus too but their more friends by proximity. Amity is friends with all his friends, Gus is friends with all hers, they kinda HAVE to hang out together but it’s not the sorta person you go to when you need deep romantic advice.

It’s also intresting not just because we see willow with her hair up, my baby child, but because it’s the first time they really HAVE hung out since reconclinig and it’s still awkward as hell. But it’s nice to see this fracturced friendship get focus: it was a major part of both characters arc last season and i’ts nice to see it has repaired somewhat: all willow asks for her help is to braid her hair like they used to, which is sweet. It’s a small moment but a powerful one and judging by the outcome, Amity returning just in time to help luz in the climax and having not watched it, Willow gave good advice. And judging by Willows new hair amity gives good braids. EVERYONE WINS. But it leaves a question of if these two are fully good and if they can ever get back what Amity’s parents took from them. It’s this level of writing why I love the show: that the characters have become so developed that just watching one braid the other’s hair is rife with past character stuff, tension and joy. Though I also have to admit after spending two nights out of every week the last few weeks binging miraculous ladybug, i’m up to season 4 full review in april ya’ll, it’s also just refreshing to have plots that don’t rely on the characters being braindead about obvious clues, breaking into their love intrest house multiple times, suddenly undoing their character development or making out with a manequin but OOPSY IT’S YOUR LOVE INTREST AND HE STILL DOSEN’T GET YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM. And yes that last thing actually happened. You can see now why competient writing has me so happy after that.

As for Luz she and Eda get an episode together that advances both Luz’s issues with her mom and the overarching “Day of Unity’ plot driving the season.. starting with what fans have been waiting for since Eda’s Requieum, me included: King and Luz finding out about Raine. Well King already found out because he read Eda’s diary which leads to the expected reaction

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.... fine it dosen’t lead to that but it shoudl’ve. But it does lead to King spilling the tea, finding out he didn’t read the horrifying endinG, rahine’s capture and disappearnce over the past month after the fight with the coven heads, and Luz having a happy shippy coma I get into every time we get more lumity content.

So Luz naturally agrees to help Eda, who was having her poltergeist pi, god that’d be a godo spinoff, just get david haselhoff to voice him and nights will never be the same, track him (”Eda’s stalking her ex” as king put it). Turns out Rahine is back in the public eye with this week’s celebration of coven day aka EVERYONE LOOK AT HOW GREAT I, EMPREROR BELOS AM AND DON’T QUESTION MY OMNIOUS PLOT DAY. And having overheard Kikimora being given an ultimatium, either visit her family and leave her job or keep her job and her life but be cut out of the family by not visiting palm stings, decides to include her and get her to palm stings. Maybe not the best idea, she might find that ole timeloop cave. She has enough problems without going insane groundhog day style.

I didn’t expect this but I did thoughtly enjoy it: it took someone whose tried to murder a teenager multiple times out of envy and made her heartbreakingly sympathetic. Does it make the attempted teenager murders okay?

But it gives them context: She’s been giving EVERYTHING to a job where she gets no respect, her coworkers literally walk over her, and her family dosen’t appricate how hard she’s worked for it. No wonder she resents hunter: to her he’s some brat whose gotten everything she ever wanted just by being born. Belos has never once planned to kill him... granted that’s because he plans to human sacrifice him instead, but still, being in constant danger of loosing EVERYTHING for one mistake while your boss reguarly forgives some punk kid you hate.... it’s a lot. Again cool motive still murder, but just because a character’s sympathetic dosen’t mean you have to like them or their actoins. It just means you understand them better.

It also leads to Luz coming up with a crazy plan to make her, eda and kiki very happy: She’s going to straight up kidnap raine and kiki from the parade. The plan isn’t.. AS bad as it sounds: she makes them disappear in a way that isn’t suspscious so Eda gets her person back and Kiki can go on vacation.

Unfortunately for her, Bellos is already on top of it and already saw this sort of plan coming from a mile away. Given there was a mysterious I love belos float in the parade, to be piloted by king’s ablitity to annoy and hooty’s god complex, it wasn’t that hard to figure out but he was still not only 9 moves ahead with raine, so he never had to worry there, but is able to easily pivot to prevent their turning of kiki with the simple addition of one operative to the float: Terra Snapdragon, head of the plant coven and easily the most terrifying of the four coven heads so far. And given what Darius and Abberwolf were capable of think about that. But in the span of one episode she manages to show herself not only to be stronger but far more terrifying and far less quirky. Terra is expertly played by Debra Wilson who i don’t recognize from anything in paticular but has played amanda waller a few times so yeah, that tracks.

Terra reveals just how Bellos planned on using Rahne against his will: brainwashing. Yeah if gaslighting his own son-figure wasn’t enough, Bellos isn’t above outright rewriting rahne’s memoreis so they and eda never reconnected and more dammingly Rahne was never unloyal to the bard’s coven. It’s barely holding granted, but it’s enough that when the plan goes off, we get one of the most heartbreaking fights i’ve seen in animation: Rahne Vs Eda. Eda refusing to back down, clearly getting what’s going on and Rahne equally refusing to realize they’ve been used and had their life rewrittten, given bitterness towards Eda that was never there before. While it’s awesome to see the two fight evenly, with Eda not even using harpy mode and only using her glyps defenstively, i’ts heartbreaking: eda KNOWS he’s being braniwashed but is forced to flee and Rahne tells her to go and never return. Resucing them isn’t an option and both are broken up about it.

Somehow even more heartbreaking is what happens with Kiki. All Terra has to do is dangle a promotion over her head and despite everything luz has done to try and help her and Amity pitching in just to help luz.... she turns on both and tried to kill them. Luz did the right thing, if for selfish reasons , if to prove something to herself, she still tried to help a struggling person make the right choice.. and learned the same hard lesson amity did with hunter: you can only help someone whose ready to be helped. Kiki is too entrenched in her need to be seen and her job to give up on it, too beliving in belos to turn her back on him despite Belos not giving a damn if she lives or dies and gladly letting Terra undermine her. Terra stops the fight which thankfully saves luz.. but also leaves us with two chillling revelations: Luz is ONLY alive because Belos needs her (and amity because dead children is bad pr), and that the promotion.. is getting to live. Kikii would’ve died had she tried to leave, meaning in the end, this was all for nothing.

Our heroes end the defeated, though at least getting some moral victories. Amity is confident enough in her relationship to do the hard work.. and tell luz she knows she lied, though still does the right thing and didn’t look at the video. In turn Luz realizes she can’t hide this and is honest with her girlfriend even if the truth, that they may have to seperate , hurts a HELL of a lot.

So we get our final scene which is utterly painful and awesome: our heroes lost, the villians stand on a float proud with only kiki doubtful, and the worst part? Belos gets yet ANOTHER victory , the one he’d been building to all day , with the public: he takes off his mask. What Eda thought was simply a move to distract from their shenanigans.. is instead an earnest attempt to show the people how much he cares. As evil as he is Belos was fearfeul his people would see his cursed face (though in another nice possible fandom nod , just like us Gus and willow are barely phased), but feels warmed enough by their support to show it.. and gets nothing but thunderous applause showing that despite pockets of people against the coven.. the public at large love and support their dictator and whatever he has planned for the “day of unity”. So our heroes are not only facing the strongest witch on the isle, not only are they fighting 12 of the most powerful and deadly witches in existance with only four children, a harpy and a king, and MAYBE another harpy and a powerful other witch, but they have to go against the public. It’s a powerful note of despair to begin this block on: our heroes are outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, out planned... and an all out stand may not be enough... but Luz is ready to face it one day at a time.. even if she clearly dosen’t know how.. and she only has one month to figure it out.

Final Thoughts:

if it wasn’t obvious this episode was awesome. Tightly paced, greatly characterized and with an impactful ending that leaves us guessing as we approach the finale and the day of unity. Truly tremndous stuff that badly needs to continue from here.

Next Week: The episode Jess has been waiting for as Luz and Lilith go hunting for some juicy PHILLIP LORE. Meanwhile in amphibia anne is bad at leading and we get some shipping. EVERYONE WINS.

If you enjoyed this review, consider joining my patreon, link is right here and every bit helps and next goal is owl house.

#amphibia #the owl house #lumity #disney channel #disney plus

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chiliiscereal · 3 years

Text

So my friend has been on and off lately.

I decided to write this for me cause I needed it.

Requests are open!

Chosen last

Summary:

Readers friends only invite them to things if they have no one else to go with. Reader keeps their mouth shut about it and just guesses that this is how friendship works. One day they meet the turtles and April, and for once they’re not chosen last.

Pairing: platonic turtles x reader

(Implied female reader but I’ll do my best to avoid pronouns! Sorry if a she/her slips out)

“I couldn’t find anyone else to go with me so do you want to tag along?”

“I had a plus one and everyone else was busy.”

“No one else can make it and I don’t want to be lonely. Wanna go with me?”

“Sorry I guess I forgot to invite you!”

“What do you mean you were there? I could have sworn you were somewhere else... huh poor memory I guess.”

“Sorry! There’s no room for you to come with! Next time for sure though!”

All of those were common things you’d heard before.

You weren’t exactly sure if it was a normal thing in friendships. It must be since no one else mentioned it.

Still, it hurt that you weren’t prioritized. You were always the last thought. Last minute.

And you always said yes.

Someone needs you to be their plus one for the dance so they don’t look bad?

There you are.

Someone needs a wingman for this boy they like?

You’re already on your way.

It’s not that you minded.

You just wanted to be... appreciated.

You just wanted them to see you.

Maybe they would if you kept trying.

Maybe they would if you made them a homemade gift for each birthday.

Maybe they would if you always answered back their texts right away.

You thought you needed to earn the right to be appreciated.

You realized how wrong you were when you met the turtles.

————

You brought your jacket closer around your body, shivering.

Of course you had to walk home! Alone! In the dark! In the RAIN!

Apparently it was too much to ask for a ride home after hanging out. There wasn’t enough room in the car!

Of course.

Just like every other time, asking to come along was too much.

You shivered again as rain dripped down your back.

“This sucks.” You groaned.

You eyed every dark alley way. You’d read enough fanfiction to expect some cringey creepy man to come out and attack you.

But what DID attack you was completely unexpected.

“LOOK OUT!” A voice shouted.

You didn’t even have time to flinch before something landed on top of you. The weight of it brought you to the ground with a shriek.

“Sorry about that!”

That wasn’t a ‘something’ but a someone!

They scrambled off you quickly.

You stood up and whipped around, rubbing your aching head. “What the hell were you doing?! Do you do parkour on the rooftops or something?!”

Ugh, today just wasn’t your day.

Finally, you glanced up.

They... they clearly weren’t a human.

Green skin...

Orange dots?

A... a shell??

And an orange mask.

Your jaw nearly dropped.

The creature gave you a sheepish grin. “Umm... hey! Yeah... maybe.. possibly... I was doing parkour on the roof...?” He rubbed the back of his neck and eyed the sky, a blush forming across his face. “I was on my way... my way to the comic con!”

He must be looking for a way to leave.

You weren’t ready for that though. You still needed to know what he was! And possibly his name!

You inched closer, holding your phone closer. Just in case. “What... what exactly are you?”

His eyes were on the floor now, as if your words had made him... upset.

“Sorry if that offended you!” You responded immediately. Ugh why did you word it like that? You didn’t mean it as if you thought he was a monster! “I just... I’ve had a really confusing night, my mouth runs faster than my brain, and I just got body slammed into the cement!” You rubbed the back of your head again.

He seemed much more satisfied with this answer. “Well... I don’t think you’d believe me...”

You eyed him up and down. “Dude, I think just looking at you would be enough for me to believe you.”

He let out a small laugh. “So ummm... yeah. I’m a turtle?”

You frowned. “Yeah, I think I see that.”

Well this was a strange turn of conversation.

Why not?

It’s New York after all.

He shuffled nervously. “People aren’t really supposed to know about it.”

You waved him off. “Psh, I don’t have anyone that would want to hear it or believe me anyway.” You stepped closer, your grip on your phone loosening. “Honestly, that’s pretty cool! I didn’t know people like you existed!”

It hurt but it was true.

Your friends would think you were making stuff up for attention.

“MIKEY!”

The new voice cause you to nearly jump out of your skin.

Three people, just like this guy, landed by his side.

One with a red mask and build like a tank.

Another with a blue mask and strange yellow stripes.

The last one had a purple mask and a staff of some kind.

“Are you okay, little man?” The red one asked worriedly. “You just took a huge fall!”

“I swear you’re gonna be feeling that a week from now.” The blue one snorted, resting his SWORD on his shoulder like it was a baseball bat.

“I estimate it’ll be closer to three weeks.” The purple one corrected, tapping a device on his wrist.

You stepped back.

There were more people like... Mikey? Was that his name?

Well, might as well find some way to get into this conversation. You weren’t gonna let the most interesting thing that ever happened to you slip away.

“You’re name’s Mikey?” You asked, the three surrounding the orange masked turtle jumping.

“Human!” The blue masked one shouted.

The large red one shoved Miley behind him. “Hi! Uh... we... we were just on our way to Comic-Con!”

“Guys-.” Mikey tried only to get Interrupted.

“Could you help us find our way?” The purple one joined, cutting him off.

You raised an eyebrow. “Nice try. I already know you guys are turtles.”

“Dang it Mikey!” The blue one shoved Mikey. “You just gonna spill our secret to everyone you meet in New York?”

“She deserves to know!” Mikey squeaked. “I messed up a flip and body slammed her into the concrete!” He turned to you, eyes hopeful. “And... she didn’t seem scared of me!”

This stopped the other boys.

Mikey shoved them all away from him. “These are my brothers! Leo,” he pointed at the blue one, “Donnie,” the purple one, “and Raph!”

You waved awkwardly, eyes landing warily on the largest one.

These guys didn’t seem as sweet and trusting as Mikey.

Donnie was looking you up and down for any sign of a threat.

Leo has his sword out.

Raph has his tonfas ready in his fists.

Maybe it’d be better to just leave.

“I’m not gonna tell anyone.” You shook your head to further emphasize your point. “I was just walking home anyway. All of this...” you spread out your arms, “was a complete accident.”

Mikey gave you a toothy grin. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He turned to his skeptical brothers. “She seems nice! She could be just like April!”

You kicked at the ground sheepishly now that the attention was back to you. “You can just go and I won’t tell anyone.”

“We can’t just let you go.” Donnie scoffed.

For a split second, you thought they were going to kill you for finding out their secret. Or kidnap you. Something bad.

“Not with that whole situation.” He gestured to your forehead.

Curiously, you reached up and touched it.

Your fingers were wet with blood.

Go figure.

“No, it’s fine, really.” You assured them. “My apartment isn’t too far-.”

“Please, it’s fine.” Raph waved you off. “It’ll make up for this bonehead over here.” He loosely jabbed his thumb in Mikeys direction.

You wanted to say yes.

You wanted to say yes so badly.

“I don’t know, you probably got plans.” Leo shrugged, putting his sword away. “It’s a Friday afternoon, after all.”

That was enough for you to make a decision.

“No, I’m actually free.” You offered. “I actually don’t even have a medicine kit at my house-.”

“Alright let’s go!” Mikey grabbed your wrist excitedly and lead the way, not even waiting for you to finish your sentence.

————

You only meant to spend ten or fifteen minutes there, tops.

But after Donnie had your head taken care of Mikey wanted to know if you wanted to play a video game.

You couldn’t say no.

Then, after an hour of the Lou jitsu game, Leo wanted to know if you wanted to check out his sword.

You felt like you had to say yes.

It’s not every day you get to see a sword!

After accidentally getting portalled to New Jersey and FINALLY making your way back, Donnie wanted to know if he could borrow you.

He needed to fix his computer and he needed your smaller fingers to reach the back for him.

Saying no just wasn’t an option.

After almost exploding the poor piece of technology, Raph wanted to know if you knew April O’Neil.

You heard them mention her earlier but you didn’t know they meant THAT April. You’d seen her around before but never really talked to her. Who knew she’d be involved with mutants from the sewer?

He invited April to join them as well.

He thought some human company and someone who would make you feel more normal about the whole situation would make you more comfortable.

He was right.

April was AWESOME.

You hadn’t realized how loud and how fun she could be!

She talked to you about how she met the turtles and every little adventure they went on!

You hoped, secretly, that you could be a part of newer ones.

Eventually, the time came for you to leave.

You were sad of course, but you felt happier than you had in days.

You left with five new numbers in your contacts list and a baked green bean casserole from a rat.

Maybe you should get body slammed into the concrete more often.

————

“Wanna go to that party with me after school?” Your friend asked casually at the lunch table. “Dana couldn’t go with me and everyone else is busy. I need a plus one!”

You smiled as you responded to a meme Leo sent you, your friends words going in one ear and out the other.

“Y/n.” She asked again.

Still no response.

“Are you even listening to me?”

You snapped out of it and straightened up. “What?”

“You and I are going to a party after school.” She informed you. “We should probably pick out our outfits right when it ends. I don’t know if I’ll be able to drive you but you can just walk-.”

“Oh,” you picked your phone up again, “sorry, I have plans.”

This got her to stop. “You have plans? But you never have plans?”

Your other friend snickered. “Yeah, you’re a hermit! You never go out or do anything!”

You blushed furiously. “I’m going to my friends house to watch a movie, okay? I’m not a hermit.”

“A friend, huh?” One of them rolled her eyes. “How come I’ve never heard of them before?”

“I just met them last month.” You picked at your shirt nervously. Why weren’t they happier for you?

“Them?” Another repeated, shocked. “You have more than one knew friend?”

“Yeah.” You straightened up a bit. “Them. They’re super nice but they don’t go to our school.”

The first one rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever, think what you want. But I need you to sit with me and Jake at the park tomorrow so he can compare-.”

You didn’t even let her begin to finish her sentence. “I’m busy that day.”

“Again?” She gaped. “Seriously?”

“Now you’re just making stuff up.” Another scoffed.

“Why is it so unbelievable that I’d be busy?” You glared at them, clutching your phone protectively. “You’re all busy all the time! Why can’t I be?”

They glanced at each other with knowing looks.

“Because you barely talk to anyone! No offense, but you can be really boring.” The one next to you shrugged. “What even is your friends name anyway? You’d have said their name if they were real.”

You felt your face heating up.

Boring?

Quiet?

“His name Mikey.” You grumbled. “And maybe I don’t talk because none of you give me a chance!”

“A boy?!” The one in front of you gasped. They didn’t even acknowledge any of your other words. “Please, how could you score a boy?”

“He’s probably really ugly, no offense y/n.” One chuckled as if she were joking.

You had enough. “You know, I’m feeling a little crowded. I’m gonna go sit somewhere else.”

“You don’t even have anyone to sit with! You’re a hermit, remember?” One girl called out to you.

“I do have someone to sit with.” You growled, heading for April’s table. You should have started sitting with her a long long LONG time ago.

“Alright, see you Monday I guess.” Was the reply.

The way they just blew it off... UGH. You wanted to punch something.

“Hey, what brings you to the cool kid table?” April grinned, shoving Dale over to make room. “Aren’t you supposed to be with your other friends?”

You managed to shove away the buzzing anger in your head, replacing your frown with a matching smile. “Nah, there’s not enough room for me AND their egos.”

April snorted, assuming you were joking. “Well there’s always room for you here!”

Those were words you’d waited too long to hear.

—————

You still saw your old friends and occasionally filled in for them when they needed an extra.

But you denied their offers more and more.

For once, you knew what it felt like to be prioritized.

“Hey we’re gonna watch a Lou Jitsu movie, wanna come?”

“I saw this glass painting trend online and I thought you’d want to come over and do it with me!”

“I heard this song and I thought you’d like it. Here’s the link!”

“Check our this hilarious meme!”

“Dale and I are gonna go to that shin dig. I don’t know if that’s you’re thing but you’re welcome to join us!”

What a refreshing change of pace

Let me know if I should make a part two!

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today-in-fic · 2 years

Text

@mulder4

Title: Sunflower seed revelation

Author: D.Smulder4u

Distribution: Anywhere, as long as my name remains attached

and it's archived in its entirety.

Classification: X, A, stand-alone, MSR

Rating: NC-17 for sexual content and language.

Spoilers: None, bit cancer-arch

Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate case of killed farmers in Kansas. It’s very hot in Kansas!!!

Author's Notes and Acknowledgments: Mind candy, love and fluff. This is more MSR than anything else. You have been warned, if you are looking for a case file, look elsewhere. That’s my first publishing. Please give me some feedback if it’s any good at all. Feedback to <[email protected]>

Disclaimer: Not mine, sadly never will be. The characters belong to CC and DD and GA and Fox Broadcasting.

Sunflower seed revelation

August, 5th 1997

Somewhere in Kansas

104 degrees – hottest day of the year

We have been partners for 5 years now and I have to say I think I knew nearly everything about my partner. I know how he thinks and his habits and flaws. I know about his strange and unhealthy sleeping habits, some of his fantasies, regarding the video collection that isn’t his, as well as his nourishment likes and dislikes. For example his sunflower seed obsession which annoyed me at first but came to fascinate me more and more. Not that I am constantly complaining about where he drops the shells or that they literally everywhere to be found where he dwells. “Mulder.” I tell him. “Whenever I have to find you, I just have to follow your seed tracks, like a stream of bread crumbs.” He just chuckles and gives me a goofy smile. God, how I adore this sheepish look. Ups, stop it Dana, this feeling has to be shoved right back where it came from. A silent question formed in my mind “What does he feel about me? Is he dreaming and thinking about me in the same way?” This might be the only thing that I might never really know about him. His emotions always puzzled me. Even if I was quite good in reading his face but reading his emotional mind is impossible. Oh, how I would like to find out as well as reading his long, smooth and exquisite body. Stop that Dana!!! Get a grip on yourself!!! The best way to cope with that is to distract my thoughts and my already responding body while thinking about Fox Mulder, is to concentrate at the work at hand.

Our new case leads us to Kansas, for me the most boring state of all 50, regarding it’s small towns and agriculture as far as the eye can see. More so, it is the freaking hottest day of the year. It’s so hot that you start sweating by just sitting in a chair. Well, well, what should I complain about. At least I get out of the office and those nice little weird stakeouts are fun, especially with my partner in a good mood. We have found newspaper articles about strange unexplainable deaths of 4 farmers after bringing in the harvest of their corn fields. The local coroner couldn’t find any traces of pharmaceuticals or chemicals in the victim’s blood system. There wasn’t even a cause of death at hand. Mulder wants me to have a look at the bodies whereas he interviews the families and has a closer look to the farming tools.

After rereading the files of the local coroner over and over again as well as examining the 4 victims myself, I found nothing new and I am really tired now. I head back to our motel, which was not one of the very crappy ones we often have to stay in, this one is clean and has nice big rooms and thankfully a bathroom with a huge tub. God, I need a bath right now, even if it is a cooling one. I quickly led some nice tepid water into the tub und opened my suitcase to get my clean and fresh night gown. Yeah, you heard it right, a night gown. I don’t really know why I brought it this time, regarding the fact that I always bring my silk pajamas. I guess I was in the mood for it. But when I am true to myself I remember buying it in a very aware thinking of Mulder and what he find would look nice on me. It is black and has lace on the top part surrounding my breasts and the rest is ancle long and made of the softest silk I have ever had on my body. I really feel sexy and like a woman when I wear it. But what I really found amusing when I got it out of my suitcase was when it unfolded that sunflower seed fell to the floor. Funny, how he is in my most intimate part of clothing without ever knowing that I have it. They must have fallen out of his trench coat pocket yesterday morning, when he was in my apartment waiting for me to finish packing. He often throws his coat in my bed when he his waiting for me. Maybe he didn’t recognize it and just threw it over my half-open suitcase.

Anyway, the fatigue suddenly hit me and I move straight to the tub. I feel immediately relaxed and lean my had against the tub and close my eyes. I was nearly drifting into sleep, when I heard something moving in my room, calling my name. Of course, this could only be my witty, handsome partner with his deep hazel eyes, I could loose myself in. DANA, stop that right now. I think I am a little too relaxed. I try to compose myself before I answer his call, hoping that he won’t hear my need for him in my voice. “Yes, Mulder. I am in the tub. Give me a minute, I’ll be right there.” He just said “Ok.” And I breathed out a relieve, because he didn’t detect my thoughts by my tone. Or did he?

While I was drying myself and looking for my clothes, he started talking anyway. “Hey Scully, you won’t guess what I heard from the families today. There seems to be a link between the circumstances of death that all victims share. Since the heat got worse all wives mentioned a strange behavior on their husbands hours before they died. They said that they were very…uh,… physical. You know, like they haven’t been in many years. They were kinda h-o-r-n-y…”. Before he could finish the sentence he finally looked up and was totally taken aback, silenced immediately by the image that unfolded in front of his eyes. Oh, how I loved that expression on his face and his whole body responded to me wearing that black night gown, hair falling down curly on my shoulders. He just gazed at me with so much surprise and, yes I guess, I could see desire in his eyes. I tried to play it nonchalant and asked him “Yes, what were they?”. Mulder just stood there following each single movement of mine, circling his eyes around my form. Totally speechless. That look is priceless. I figured he might like the gown pretty much, but this reactions was more than I expected. Now I knew he wanted me as much as I want him?

He didn’t react to my question, so I tried to push it a bit. I walked directly in front of him. Closing the distance between us, took my hand and laid it on his jaw line, closing his mouth in the same movement. I looked deep into his eyes and said “Like what you see, don’t ya?” He was so paralyzed, but suddenly just gazing back at me and says “Oh, yes. Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” I smiled at him and tried to step back a little. But he didn’t let me and grabbed me by my waist, never leaving our eye contact. Then he asked “Have you bought that on purpose?” I just flushed and told him “Yes, and I also wear it on purpose.” I don’t know where my bravery came from, but I felt his desire and maybe that made me so confident. Mulder than laid his right hand on my cheek and played little circles with his thumb right under my ear. My knees got week by that contact, together with the passion and wanting radiating from his eyes and his whole body. Deadly serious he tells me “I’m going to kiss you now, if you don’t stop me. I just can’t help it. You don’t know what you do to me right now and how long I waited for that.” Ok, now I am terrified. Frozen to my spot so close to him, I could feel his heat and it was impossible to brake the gaze, the only thing I was able to do was to breath out, nearly unrecognizable, “I won’t stop you.” And then it happens, his soft and greedy lips sink onto mine and I was completely gone. All my expectations, all my dreams were coming down to this very moment and being released with just a little contact. I started to breath in short little gasps and there were butterflies in my stomach, making me light-headed. I was in heaven. Finally I could taste him, so I did what came most natural to me and kissed him back and tenderly exploring his lips and I opened my mouth immediately while his tongue seeking entrance. We deepen the kiss, tongues dancing, heart beats racing and I sigh into his mouth immediately being sighed back from him. I cannot believe this is happening.

How on earth did we end up like this? I know that he wanted me and showed it in his own way with his endless innuendoes and witty lines firing at me and only when he thought I wouldn’t recognize it, he watches every move I make from head to heals and back again. When I catch him doing that, he shoves the feelings right back where they came from. For me it was the same way. We danced that stupid dance for way too long now, especially after my cancer miraculously got into remission. During my time in the hospital he always kissed me on my cheek or my hand. Waiting for his touch was nearly unbearable at that time. This was the only thing that I could feel, his touch was the only thing that could really comforted me and gave me strength. When he came back and brought me the final cure I thought I was dreaming. My knight in shining armor saved my health, my life and my soul at the same time. After being back in the field, my longing for him and being hold in his easy and comforting embrace grew stronger every minute. So here I was and I was longing for him so badly that I was close to explosion. I had to tell and show him that I love him. I also know for certain that he loves me. Why else would a man risk his own life and career and trade with the enemy to find a cure for an uncurable cancer. He even gave up his longest dream to finally be with his sister.

Oh and yes, I love him. I grew to love him over those years. We did not only built up a trust in one another we had only for us but also a love that makes us to die for each other if necessary. God, why did it take so fucking long to let us feel what we openly show each other right now in this blissful kiss? I have to make sure that this is not only because of a sexual need of long repressed desire but also because this changes everything between us and so I break the kiss, but still hold him tight to me with one arm around his waist and the other around his neck, my fingers playing with his soft hair. He looks at me and waits what I have to say, but the love in his eyes is nearly enough to answer my question but I need to hear him say it. So I say in a very low and soft voice: “Mulder, this means so much to me, I cannot pretend not wanting more than only this night. If I do that, than that’s it for me. I want it all. I am so in love with you. I want you to know that before this goes any further.” I don’t know how I found the courage to say that. My heart was beating heavily that I felt it pounding in my ears, hungrily waiting for his replay.

He was as surprised as me when I could read his face correctly. He smiled at me and answered “God, Scu…Dana, you really don’t know how long I craved for this very moment. I want you so much with all that I am, that if you hadn’t started that tonight, I would have. I was planning to take you out to dinner and finally tell you what you mean to me. I love you. I am in love with for so long now. This is it for me as well. I was such an idiot to wait so long and not having that courage you have tonight.” With those words I was totally flabbergasted and before I could let down the tears that were building in my eyes of pure joy and love, he grabbed me and kissed me with all his passion. Don’t say that Fox Mulder isn’t a passionate man, when he wants something he reaches for it with all that is in him. He also does that with this kiss. Oh, this kiss. I responded with my whole body, pressing into him. Wanting him as close as it was physically possible. Feeling my need, he walked me backwards till my legs met the edge of the bed.

Without any hesitation, I put my hands on his shoulders and under his jacket, shoving it off and starting on his buttons of my favorite blush-blue dress shirt. Never stopping to kiss him, I started to tremble and whimper as the pure body contact nearly drove me over the edge right there. Feeling my knees buckle again, he puts his arm around my waist, supporting me and pulling me closer. So close I could feel his rock hard desire in his pants. I tugged at his belt buckle and cupping his erection through the thin fabric, he moaned and kissed me harder. Not able to hold up any longer, we fell onto the bed. I started undressing the rest of him while he stroked my thigh under my gown pushing the silky cloth up und up until he let it rest on my lower belly. Stroking first my outer and then my inner thighs, I needed some air to breath and left his mouth with my lips and caressed his neck with feather-light kisses like memorizing every inch of me. With spreading my legs, I was giving him access to what we need both so much in that moment. Leaning into me, he whispered in my ear with his sexy raspy voice “Even if I love your gown, I need to take it of now, or I will explode for desire for you right immediately. “ I chuckle slightly and he lets me sit up a bit, so that he can push the now rumpled gown over my head.

After the last barrier between us has been removed, we both gasp as his chest touched my breasts. I was overwhelmed by the electricity of this feeling and we lock eyes and saw the longing in each other’s darkened colors. He said again that he loves me and how gorgeous I am and then I was a puddle feeling only the sensations he gives me. Softly, he starts kneading and kissing my breasts and my nipples, making me gasp, moan and whimper, till I couldn’t take it anymore, voicing in a hush “Please, Fox, now. Don’t…huh, let me wait any longer. I need to feel you inside me. Ah, pleeeeaaasse.” “Dana, God. I want you so much.” So I take him into my hand and finally guide him where he belonged since forever. He tenderly pushed inside me and I stopped breathing for a second to let my body adapt to his size. He was hot and big and wonderful. “Oh my god, Fox.” Was all I could utter, before I was reduced to a monosyllabic cell of need and desire. I lost all control, but he was able to bring my conscience back a bit by starting to move. I met him thrust for thrust, pushing up my hips in his agonizing slow rhythm. He grunts and whispers sweet words of love and need into my ear, kissing me over and over again. Our tongues meeting the rhythm of our hips and I felt that I was so close. He sensed that and himself nearly losing control, hardly concentrating on my response to his movements. He was holding back to please me. He whispers “Let go my love, I love you so much, Dana.” I only was able to whisper back “Oh god, yes Fox.” Using his first name does the trick and he sped up a bit and after two, three strokes he shot me into oblivion together with him. I heard that simultaneous climaxes were possible but I never had experienced that. This is unbelievably awesome and beautiful. I never felt something like that before. We kissed ourselves back to reality.

Lying together, still joined and spend and absolutely sated, I looked into those bottomless pools of green, hazel and blue and was drowning in his love. He didn’t want to crush me and wanted to move off of me, but I hold him saying “Don’t. I am not ready to let you go. Stay where you are, you feel so good.” He smiled back at me and stroke my hair, kissing me again long and lingering. God, I could kiss him forever. I think I will never have enough of him. The case we have here was forgotten for that hot night. Hot in every single meaning of that word. Drifting off into the most relaxed slumber we both ever experienced, we woke up three times that night making love to each other, exploring every part of our bodies and studying every response to use it the next time.

The next morning came much too fast, but we knew we had to go back to the real world in which we were agents Mulder and Scully, investigating unexplainable phenomena. He was holding me and kissing me sweetly before he went into the shower. Even if I knew we were going to be late, I couldn’t stop myself following him in there. Sharing a shower was erotic as hell and left us breathless in the now cooling drizzle of water running on our heated skin. Finally, we managed to put on proper FBI clothing. Before we left the room, we both stood by the door, me already holding the knob, he said: “Dana, I know we have to deal with separating our professional and personal life to be as effective as before, but I want you to know that I think I won’t ever be able to be without you for even one night. I want to wake up to you every morning and coming home to you every night. So I have to ask you that before we leave: “Do you want to move in with me?”.

Jesus, that was totally unexpected. Overwhelmed by a flood of emotions, I tried to compose myself before starting to cry of pure joy and replied: “More than anything else I ever wanted. Yes. Oh Yes, Fox. But my apartment is bigger than yours. Mybe it’s better to move into mine?”. He swallowed hard and said: “I don’t mind, as long as you can stand me 24/7.” Smiling at him, I just answered his still pleading eyes: “That is definitely in the realm of possibilities, regarding the fact that you already are in my night gown and nearly every unexpected places in my apartment.” He frowned at me, not knowing what I meant. So I go on: “I speak of your sunflower seeds. They are everywhere, even in my nightgown in my suitcase.” We both laughed so hard like we didn’t in a long time. So it was settled. I will spend my life with Fox William Mulder, the most annoying, loving, trustworthy, handsome and sexy man I was craving to live with till I draw my last breath. With that thought and a tender last kiss, we left my, no our, motel room into the real world.

Leaving some sunflower seeds on the floor that were falling out of his pocket while he was taking my hand in the most gentle touch.

That’s all folks. I hope you enjoyed. PLEASE give me some feedback at: [email protected]

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alexa-crowe · 3 years

Note

Hi, can I suggest one of your Emily AU prompts?🥰

“What if when the doctor asked, “Are you her parents?” Mulder agreed to say yes?”

Of course! Thanks for prompting. 💞

Loss

“Are you her parents?”

And there it is. The fatal question that’s going to determine whether or not the decision they made two months ago still rings true. Scully looks at Mulder with her red-rimmed eyes and brows furrowed in anxiety and knows that he can’t refuse her at least a chance.

“Yes. This is my wife, Dana, Emily’s mother, and I’m her husband.” He shakes the doctor’s hand before placing one at the small of Scully’s back.

“We were going through the process of adopting her when...” She lets that thread of conversation drop and backtracks. “It hasn’t gone through yet so there might be complications legally but Emily is our daughter, and I’m a medical doctor. Can I see her? I’d like to look at her charts, please.”

They both stare at the doctor until he cracks. “We can’t let you see her right now because we’re performing a small procedure right now to try and identify the nature and substance of the cyst on the back of her neck. We’ve got the air conditioning on to help with her fever and once we’re able to test the cyst, we’ll hopefully have a better understanding of what we’re up against.”

Scully uncrosses her arms and shifts on her feet. “Is there any way you could let me scrub up and stay with Emily? She’s not good with strangers and I don’t want her to have an anxiety attack. Please...”

The doctor shakes his head ruefully before sighing. “I suppose it can’t hurt. But unless your medical degree is in pediatrics, I need you to keep your presence minimal.”

“Good thing that I’ve got a degree in pediatrics, then,” she says, before walking off to ask a nurse for the directions to guest scrub room.

Mulder aims for a smile but achieves a grimace, and the doctor sighs heavily before leaving, checking over the information on his clipboard. Mulder watches the nurse and Emily from outside the door, examining the cyst from afar. Suddenly it hits him what’s inside and he shoves open the door just as the nurse is about to stick a needle inside to withdraw the interior.

“Stop! It’s toxic!” he implores her, gently taking her free arm and steering her away from Emily before going around to the other side of the small operating table to check on the young girl.

Mulder crouches down and feels her forehead. “How do you feel, pumpkin?” he asks, the term of endearment slipping out.

“Yucky. My tummy’s angry.”

He nods and stands up, smoothing Emily’s hair back as he looks at the nurse. “Can you get her a wet cloth? And hand me that bin.” Thankfully, the nurse does as Mulder said, leaving him alone with the three-year-old. “Dana’s going to be back soon, okay? We’re gonna help you get all better.”

Emily nods and shivers. “Cold,” she says, even though she’s still sweating.

“I know, honey. Come on, I’ll warm you up. Hold this.” He secures the bin in her arms and picks her up, moving to sit down in the chair in the corner of the room, Emily seated in his lap facing away from him. “Is this a little better?”

She nods before curling forward and vomiting into the bin. “I’m scared, Mul’er. I want my Mommy.”

“Oh, Pumpkin... I know it’s scary. I’m sorry, honey, but your Mommy’s gone. But I’m right here, and I’ll do whatever you need, okay?”

Emily sniffles and Mulder realizes that she’s trembling. “O-okay... My Mommy sings to me when I’m sick.”

“Alright, alright. I can do that. I can sing. Uh...” He clears his throat. “Emily was a bullfrog. She was a good friend of mine. I never understood a single word she said, but I helped her a-drink her wine. And she always had some mighty fine wine. Singin’ joy...to the world. All...the boys and girls. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy...to you and me.”

Scully enters the room in scrubs, then, and surveys the change of scene. “What happened?”

“I think the cyst on her neck is the same stuff as the alien blood. They’re trying to create hybrids, Scully.” Mulder is painfully aware of the dichotomy between his words and the fact that he’s tucking Emily’s hair behind her ears as she lurches forward and vomits again.

“My tummy’s so angry...” she cries, starting to sob.

Scully goes to her knees in front of them both, cooing at her daughter. “I know, I know, baby. Mulder and I are going to make it stop. We’re going to make it all stop.”

The nurse enters the room with the doctor in tow, a wet washcloth in hand that Scully takes and presses to Emily’s face.

“What happened?” the doctor asks, distressed.

“The cyst on her neck contains a toxic substance. If you’re going to study it, you need better protection than that,” Mulder explains, nodding his head at the nurse. He tucks Emily’s hair behind her ears again and asks, “Do you feel any better?”

She vigorously shakes her head, starting to cry harder. “Too many people, Daddy,” she says through her sobs, “I wanna go home! Take me home, Mommy.”

Scully wraps an arm around Emily, her hand going to the back of her daughter’s head. “It’s okay, sweetie. Daddy and I are gonna help you, okay? Please don’t cry...” She trails off, sniffling and trying to stop herself from crying, too.

Mulder jerks his head towards the door, looking at both the doctor and the nurse, who reluctantly leave. “We’re gonna make you all better, pumpkin,” he soothes, adjusting the chain of Scully’s cross necklace. “Can do get down for me?”

Scully helps Emily off of his lap and he stands up gesturing for the doctor to come back in. “Emily,” he says, crouching down as the doctor does, “this nice man talked to you before, yeah?” She nods. “He’s going to help us to make you feel better, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Sometimes he’s going to bring friends to help. Mommy’s going to be with you the whole time, I promise. I have to go, but I’ll be back soon, okay?” Emily nods again, leaning into Scully’s embrace. “I love you, pumpkin,” slips out, and his wife looks at him with her large, woeful eyes. “Mommy can sing to you, too.” Mulder presses a kiss to both Emily and Scully’s heads without thinking about it.

—

They sit in Mulder’s rental car for God-knows-how-long, working up the nerve to go inside. He watched as Scully’s family walked inside the church, baby Matthew bundled up Tara’s arms. He isn’t sure if Scully would’ve been able to face this any better if the baby didn’t exist, but he does, and Mulder knows that it makes this just a little bit more difficult—it adds insult to injury.

She suddenly takes a sharp breath, checks her watch, and opens the car door. Mulder follows suit and finds that Scully’s waiting for him on the sidewalk, staring at the double doors. He looks down at her hand and takes it, as much to comfort himself as to comfort her.

They make it through the short sermon and the paying of respects; he hears Maggie offer Scully a ride back to the house, but she declines. She lasts all through the goodbyes without shedding a single tear. As soon as the doors shut and they’re left alone, she lets out a sob, and then they come easily.

Mulder embraces her, tears in his own eyes, and guides Scully to sit at the front pew, letting her bury her face in his suit jacket. Neither of them say anything, and not a single tear is shed when she opens the coffin to find only ashes and her cross necklace. They have none left.

#i was holding back tears :)#txf #ask #mine #fanfiction #dana scully #emily sim #i do not know the doctor's name. is he given one? maybe in the credits #but i don't feel like looking lol #fox mulder #emily fic

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