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#he also got us our other guy we needed for some small scenes. so he's been invaluable despite the serial killer eyes
chobani-flip · 2 days
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the disconnect between the storytelling of the show and of the fandom
lately, I've been thinking about storytelling and storytellers in the context of 911.
like, there's two sides to this storytelling business, right?
there's the small group writers and showcreators who have an idea for the characters and plots and have to come up with a way to share those ideas within the constraints of a network television series
and then there's us, a massive international community with a wide-range of life experiences, who watch their show and then go on to tell our own story about it.
and i wonder if we're always watching the story they're telling.
im not even necessarily talking about the buddie goggles right now.
what got me thinking about this was ana flores.
and the one scene the fandom likes to pretend sealed her fate (when in actuality, let's be quite candid, it was the fact that she was a beautiful woman who dared to date eddie instead of allowing him to remain a viable option for canonical/fanonical offscreen cannoodling with buck)
"there's a lot to be said for getting back on the horse, but there's also some value in learning that you don't like horses." eddie: "i'm sorry?" "sometimes, our limitations tell us when to stop. but sometimes, they can show us where to look next." (romantic, feelingsy song starts playing) "today, he falls off the skateboard. but tomorrow, he writes the great american novel."
see, the problem here is that this is CLEARLY meant to be viewed as wise and deep advice. as a moment of connection between ana and eddie... the way the scene is cut, the music that plays in the background, the intense eye-contact between the two characters, the way eddie reacts to her words... we're meant to enjoy the simmering tension and potential between them...
but... it's not great and deep advice, not really. it's been pointed out that it comes off as ableist. and ana is supposed to be a teacher at this excellent inclusive institution; she is meant to have experience with children of different abilities feeling frustrated and wanting to do the same things other children are doing... someone on here pointed out that if they were the teacher, they would seek to understand what need christopher was trying to fullfil by getting on the skateboard and help him achieve it by other means
but what ana comes up with is this awkward horse metaphor that doesn't really make sense for the situation, and a condescending: "awwww, well, im sure he's the next hemingway"
BUT SEE, THAT'S NOT THE STORY THE SHOW IS TELLING US. the show is ostensibly framing this scene as romantic and great and deep. and that is NOT ana's fault. the character of ana didn't travel to our reality, didn't block the scene, didn't cut it and add the soundtrack. that's on the showcreators.
but somehow, it's really difficult for us to see it that way when it comes to ana.
in a way that it's not when it comes to Hen, poor little Mara and the Doberman.
because we know Hen and Karen, and we like them.
so we awkwardly shuffle around, side-eyeing each other, quietly nudging each other and going: "bit of a fail that, huh? kinda a weird thing to do on the part of the show, huh? comparing a little Black girl to a dog...why did they do that???"
or there was an excellent post floating around about whether Buck and Eddie realize they can say no to sex, that their consent matters.
"what if i come home and she wants to haaaaaave..." "well, you'll get through it somehow," says buck with an amused grin on his face.
see, the problem isn't necessarily whether the characters know that their consent matters, but whether the showcreators do. because this is clearly meant to be viewed as a joke.
eddie is a macho guy, who tends to keep his cool in difficult situations, so it's funny when you see him freaking out over the fact that his girlfriend wants to have sex with him and he doesn't want to have sex with her because her former chosen-profession taps into his well of Messy Catholic Feelings.
isn't it? isn't that just fucking hilarious?
and the answer to that is: no. it's not funny to any part of the audience who's ever felt pressured (by a partner, by society, by their own expectations) to want or to have sex.
but does the show realize that?
i'm sorry but i don't think so. this is the show that framed dr.wells sexually assaulting buck during a therapy session as a joke to casually bring up and needle him over later, that felt the need to reassure us that chimney and maddie can and do have wild, passionate monkey sex (you remember, albert teasing chim, then the hotel with the revolving room, etc), that had karen ask hen what the point of a relationship was if the couple weren't having sex...
now, i genuinely don't think the showcreators mean to be hurtful, or harmful. i don't think they realise how all these things come off. because they're a fairly small group of people from Los Angeles, America, and are working within the constraints of a network television show
(and the point of the Eddie and Buck scene was Buck coming out to Eddie, so maybe they felt Buck saying: "you know, you can tell her you don't want to have sex, right? that's allowed." would fraction the focus of it? idk)
but what happens is that there's this disconnect between the story they're telling us and the story we continue to tell among ourselves.
when it comes to the characters we like, we tend to ignore the unpleasant meanings and messages in relation to the character, or we retcon it in fanfic, or we Fix-it with some heart-to-hearts and apologies.
(for example, i haven't seen many fics that show athena being a Cop as not-a-great-thing. but are we really ok with her saying "i wasn't on their side, but i understood their side." when her son expresses some reasonable dissatisfaction with her reaction to a cop pointing a gun at him and michael? or are we just ignoring it because we love angela basset?)
when it comes to characters we are predisposed to dislike, this disconnect makes us dislike them even more. which leads to the writing of bashing fics, and in some cases harassing the performers online jfc do not do that people that's never ok
(of course, some characters are hated justifiedly imao, like the buckley parents and chimney's father...)
maybe this is the frustration that makes for such a prolific and active fandom?
I don't know.
but I think it's something to keep in mind when watching the show. because that disconnect is always going to be there and I know that for my own personal mental health, it's easier and nicer to believe that a group of RL people might be just a bit ignorant at times, than that my favourite characters are massive assholes unpredictably and randomly
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katnissgirlsmakedo · 6 months
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ohhhhhh my god my lead actress's big brown eyes...... girl you're killing me......
#and my male lead is quite literally blonde with blue eyes it's ridiculous#he's ok tho. actually i did find out today he played clarient in marching band in hs#so that's a red flag but hey i just need him to act and he's been pretty great at it. red flags are allowed <3#he also got us our other guy we needed for some small scenes. so he's been invaluable despite the serial killer eyes#in truth he actually looks lke a panda to me. there's nothing wrong with his serial killer blue eyes i'm being mean#sorry for being anti men who play clarient. in my defense i've known those guys and i have never met one that didn't annoy me a little#anyway. she has beautiful big brown eyes and he is there. and our other guy is beautifully tragic and doomed <3#that was my criteria for casting him. i said 'he needs to look beautiful and tragic' and then we found him#he did great today. i don't know if he likes me but he showed up and he wore all the outfits i told him to wear so#actually i think i act weird around good looking men. i think it's because once a hot guy is around i get one notch lower on the hierarchy#and i'm usually up there. frankly. so i don't like being lowered...#i mean you guys will see what he looks like eventually i'm gonna post the link to the film when it's done and i'm graduated#but he's Hot. i was scared of him for a moment. he was wearing sunglasses. and then i made him walk up a bigass hill#and then i made him be in vaguely homoerotic pictures. his words. he didn't seem to mind there were jokes had. jests even#and tomorrow at 11am im gonna make him stand on a bed and put stars on a wall while yelling at him to smile and look pretty#and well. that's awesome. heirarchy is restored once we all remember that i'm the guy in charge......#anyway. i had an eventful day. 8am to now. i gotta go to sleep girls.#unfortunately that's not happening soon due to i've committed myself to reviewing today's footage. ok
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imfinereallyy · 9 months
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Bedside Manner
for @acasualcrossfade request for "the infection has spread"
"Some birdie told me that you have been causing a fuss, Wayne, is that true?"
Wayne huffs from his hospital bed, glasses sliding down his nose. He places the newspaper he was reading on the table beside him. "You tell that Robbie of yours to stop exaggerating. It was only a small request."
Steve raises his eyebrows at his favorite patient (Dustin tells him he isn't supposed to have favorites, but he also used to cry anytime he picked up Max before him when they were younger, so what does he know) and gives him a knowing look. "Robin listens to no man, Wayne, you know this. You're better off sending that message through her wife. Besides, small? She was telling me you refused to have any other nurse help you because I wasn't here last night. Which surprised me since you are always pushing me on about taking a vacation. "
Wayne opens his mouth, but Steve presses on. "And the fact Robin was even in the room means they called a psych consult, so I can only imagine how bad it was."
Wayne grumbles like a little kid being scolded for getting his hands caught in the cookie jar. "Yea, well, it was a bad night, kid."
Steve feels his shoulders sag, he takes off his glasses and rubs a hand down his face before placing them back on. "Sorry, Wayne, I had a bad migraine last night. Nance and Robs wouldn't even let me pass the entrance. Bad news?"
"Kid, don't stress yourself out over me. I'm just your patient, and more so, I am just a cranky old man." Wayne patted Steve's knee as he sat down next to him.
"C'mon, Wayne. You're more than that. I'd like to think seeing you in and out of here the last year has made us friends. Although I gotta say, you're the only friend I have that I'll be glad if I don't get to see again, given the circumstances. So, what's the news?"
"The infection has spread."
Steve takes in a deep breath, he tries not to panic, but any infection in a hospital can be deadly, especially for a cancer patient like Wayne. "Incision site?"
Steve must not be as good at hiding his emotions as he used to be because Wayne jumps to ease his worry. "No, kid, don't worry. The surgery was a success. Just got that hospital fever, the good old bronchitis. But it just means I'm here longer than I have to. It also means my nephew is on edge, and I don't know if I can take a second longer of his hovering."
Steve laughed wetly, thankful for the topic change. "Ah yes, the mysterious nephew of yours that I've never met. The way you talk about him almost tempts me into switching to the day shift, sounds like he might be entertaining. But only almost."
"Always wondered why you were always working the nights, most of the others seem to switch. Not a big fan of the day?"
Steve shakes his head gently, "No, I like the quiet here at night. Like getting to know the patients without having to worry about fixing ten million things. Don't get me wrong, it has its downfalls. Like the doctors can be horrible at night, never tell Dr. Wheeler that or Robbie will kill me, and the food is awful. But there is something special about it here at night. So sorry, your ridiculous nephew isn't enough to tempt me."
Wayne smirked, "What if I told you he was a looker and single?"
Steve blushes slightly. He is used to patients trying to pawn him off to their relatives, it came with being a young male nurse, but typically it didn't phase him. But Steve has become close with Wayne, so hearing him suggest he get together with his nephew has him flustered. "I'm good, Wayne, thanks. Gave up on the dating scene a while ago. Not many people can keep up with a guy who works nights and suffers from severe head trauma."
"Shame, Eddie likes the nights too. I'd reckon yal would get along."
"I'm pretty sure we would need more than that, Wayne."
Wayne smiles fondly at Steve. "You don't need a whole lot to build a connection, son. Me and Linda, god rest her soul, only started dating for our mutual love of mugs. And we may not have had long together, but our love was strong. Besides, there is more yal would have in common than just the night shift."
Steve huffs a laugh, "Oh yea, like what?" The least he can do is humor the man.
"Well, you both care about me deeply."
Steve blushes again, "C'mon, Wayne. I'm your nurse. I'm kinda paid to care."
Wayne won't hear any of it, "No, son, it's more than that. You take your break in here every night. You make sure to record the game at home for me because they only have the news here. And last night, you tried to come in with a migraine, even though we both know I am the only patient you can stand right now."
Steve doesn't know what to say back. Wayne is right, of course. Steve has been spending all of his time with the man, giving him extra care. Steve isn't bad with his other patients, he goes above and beyond most of his coworkers, but there is something special about Wayne.
"You got nothing, kid, you know I'm right. Remind me a lot of my nephew. Before visiting hours ended is when I got the news of having to stay longer. Kid almost threw a fit when they kicked him out. Swore he was gonna break in to stay the night with me. I told him not to worry since you would be there, I brag about you too, ya know. When he found out today you weren't here, that boy threw a fit again. Swear he gets his tantrums from his father. Said he was gonna sneak back in tonight. Make sure I had company. That 'the man' couldn't stop him. That if he ran into you, he was gonna have a word with you."
Steve can't help the snort that shakes his body, "I'd like to see him get passed Hop first."
Wayne starts to chuckle, too, "Eds may have had his fair share of escaping the law, but no man moves as fast as Jim in a security uniform."
Steve is fully laughing now, "I know, right? It's like those pants make him aerodynamic or something. No way your nephew is getting by."
It is almost as if Steve's words summon what happens next. There in the doorway is the most gorgeous man he's ever seen, even though he is bent over and out of breath.
"Eds?" Wayne questions, clearly surprised. Steve has to mask his face and quickly before Wayne catches him ogling his nephew. Steve is finding it difficult, though. The man, Eddie, despite his out-of-breath appearance, is stunning. His long curly hair is thrown up in a bun, showing off the piercings up his ears. His clothes are simple but suiting, ripped jeans and a black band tee. Tattoos cover his entire body, and Steve wants to ask about every single one of them.
The most surprising thing about him isn't that he got by Hop (although he has questions for that later), no the most surprising thing to Steve is that Wayne somehow knew his exact type, which most people assume wrong in that department.
Eddie awakens an old craving inside Steve that he thought he had buried long ago.
"Wayne, you would not believe what I just went to get up here. The story I have for you, oh boy. You're gonna love it. Who knew security guards could move that fast. Anyway, I hope that nurse boy of yours is here tonight because I am ready to—" Eddie stops mid-rant when his eyes land on Steve, a lovely blush blossoming across his pale cheeks.
"I believe what you are trying to say is, what was it, Wayne? Oh yea, 'have a word with me,'" Steve laughs softly.
Eddie sputters, "Wayne!?!" His blushing becomes deeper as the seconds pass by.
Wayne just chuckles as Steve stands. "Don't be mad at your Uncle, I think he was just trying to make me feel better. I am sorry I wasn't here last night for the news. Got my head knocked around too much as a kid—" Steve taps his head with his knuckles, "—so I suffer from migraines sometimes. I really did try to come in, but well—you met Jim. He's pretty fast." Steve worries his lip. Eddie's eyes follow.
"Well, I can't be too mad now, can I?" Eddie swallows nervously before a smirk spreads across his face, switching from shy to confident in two seconds flat. Steve shouldn't be turned on by that. "The pretty face helps too. I'm pretty sure you could convince me to give you my kidney right about now. I'm Eddie, which I know you know by now, and you are...?"
Steve puts his hand out for a shake, "Nurse Harrington. But most people call me Steve."
Eddie grabs his hand gently and brings the back of it to his lips. "Stevie, a pleasure, really." A light kiss is placed on Steve's knuckles. Stevie, he thinks. That's a new one. And he isn't mad about it, at all. In fact, the butterflies in his stomach want him to get Eddie to say it again.
Steve catches Wayne's smug face in the corner of his eye as Steve begins to blush again.
"I'm just gonna—I'll be right back." Steve stutters.
"Leaving so soon?" Eddie says disappointed.
Steve has the sudden urge to fix the frown on his face. "No, no! Just, uh, gonna call Jim and tell him not to send out a search party. That it's okay if you stay. I'll keep an eye on you."
Eddie's face breaks out into a brilliant smile, "Really, Stevie? You gonna keep me around?"
Steve's heart skips a beat, "If I can help it."
***
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reiderwriter · 9 months
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Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You🃏
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Chapter 1 of That's What You Get
Next Chapter
Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female Reader
Word count: 5.2k
Summary: After three weeks on a case in Vegas and a particularly draining phone call from your mother, you decide to take Reid up on his offer to show you the sights of Las Vegas. When you wake up the next morning, you realise one of those sights was a 24hour Wedding Parlor, and that you're now Mrs. Reid.
Warnings: Alcohol consumption, loss of memory, marriage (yeah that needs a warning), mommy issues, mentions of emotional abuse, implied sex scene, use of handcuffs in a sexual way, they theorize a possible creampie but I will neither confirm nor deny at this point, talk of contraception, no actual smut though, you guys are gonna have to wait for that. 18+ Minors DNI
A/N: The first chapter is here! Sorry for drawing you in with a silly little premise and then giving you mommy issues, I swear that after this chapter it's not bought up all that much. If you enjoy this chapter, you can sign up to the series taglist here, check out my masterlist and if you want leave a request! :D have fun reading!! ✨
Las Vegas, city of sin and entertainment capital of the world. Population approximately 600,000, home to the most famous casinos in the world, and unluckily for you, your latest unsub.
You’d been in Vegas for three weeks trying to hunt down this specific murderer, but now the case was all wrapped up and you could finally breathe, the weight of the stress you’d been carrying for almost a month now dissolving as you finally finished up the paperwork in the local precinct.
“Thank god that’s over. I cannot wait to be in bed with a good book and an empty head,” you groaned as you met the eyes of Penelope Garcia, your favorite tech analyst in the entire world and absolutely the only one you knew. She’d ended up having to join you on this case because some of the crime scenes just happened to be casinos that weren’t so happy sharing their data, but also didn’t want to be lumped with the warrant from the FBI. She’d been working between their offices and the precinct, and looked just as haggard as you felt.
“Oh, I feel you sister, this free travel experience thing is nice, but I would like to be back at my own perfect little desk hovel ASAP, thank you very much.” The two of you shared a small laugh, and then began collecting your stuff.
“Come on now, baby girl, you’re telling me that you don’t want to hit up the strip while we’re here? See the sights a little?”
“Sweet cheeks, I have been working from the most harrowing of surveillance units all week on that very strip. I have already seen the sights and they were not pretty, and definitely not worth using up my precious vacation time for.”
“Unfortunately Garcia, I don’t think you’ll be needing to use any of that vacation time to stay here,” Hotch announced as he walked in, and every member of your team snapped to attention to hear what he had to say. “I just got off the phone with Quantico, there’s a storm cloud moving in directly in our flight path and we haven’t been cleared for take off. They’re extending our stay by another day.”
“Shit,” you let out a silent curse, and noticed that your other team members didn’t seem all that happy about it either. JJ quickly excused herself from the room to call Will, Garcia let out a faux sob and fell back into her chair, and Rossi had the look of abject Italian disappointment on his face that he usually only got when you talked about your love of pineapple on pizza.
“How’s about that drink now, baby girl?” Derek Morgan teased, but it was half-hearted and you knew it. You were all desperate for bed, and you could only imagine the mistakes you would make if you went drinking now after the month you’d all just survived.
The only member of the team who didn’t seem put out quite yet was Reid, but you chalked that up to the fact that this place was his hometown.
“If you guys do change your mind, I know a bar downtown where you’re 34% less likely to be propositioned, robbed or over-charged.” He smiled over at you, and you couldn’t help but let out a giggle knowing the man was 100% serious.
“Dare I ask how you found that statistic, Reid?” Emily inquired from the other corner.
“One part actually reading the annual crime report, one part personal experience?” Reid replied, and you laughed again, unable to hold it back.
“Count me out, thank you,” you replied, and you could have sworn for a second you saw a flash of disappointment flash over his features, but you didn’t get the chance to question it, because a call was lighting up your phone screen.
You quickly excused yourself and moved to pick up the call from your mother.
“Mom, hey, what’s up?”
“What, I can’t check in on my daughter now for no reason?” you sighed and rubbed your temples, knowing exactly how this phone call was going to go, because it was how the last ten calls home had.
“Yes, mom, of course you can. How are you?”
“Terrible. Cindy’s daughter is getting married, and it’s all she’s talking about now. Can you believe it? The girl was absolutely wild when you were friends with her in high school and now she’s settling down with a lawyer of all people. Someone should warn that young man before he realises what he’s got himself into,” she scoffed on the other end of the line and you did your best to not get worked up. If you got angry it only made her more self-richeous.
“I know, Mom, Jessica sent me an invite, and I’m sure Trevor knows exactly what he’s getting into since they’ve been dating since high school.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know that? You never tell me anything.”
“I’m sorry, Mom, I’m in the middle of a case right now, can I call you back later?” You did your best to escape the conversation before it devolved into something you really didn’t want to talk about, like yourself, and more specifically your love life. But the gorgon had you frozen through the line and you weren’t about to make the mistake of hanging up on her.
“I’m sure your boss could spare you for five minutes, over-working you like he does. You haven’t had the time off to come and visit me since you got that fancy little job of yours, so you can do me this favor at least.”
“Sure, mom.” At times like this, you knew it was best to just let her talk and ride out the wave.
“And I’m sure you don’t even have time to date. Are you taking care of yourself, at least? Making sure you’re at least presentable, I hope? Its like I always say, you could meet your future husband in one of those precincts, you know. Get a big, strong man to take care of you.”
You had to resist the urge to throw your phone. You’d explained to your mother time and time again that you were perfectly content being the big, strong man for yourself, but there was absolutely no getting through to her. You received one of these phone calls everytime one of her friends or coworkers kids announced an engagement, got pregnant or bought a house, three things that she was desperate for you to do, as well. As soon as you saw the instagram post from Jessica you’d been counting down the days, almost thankful for your mothers lack of online presence.
“A crime scene isn’t exactly the most charming of meet cutes, Mom.”
“Well, then what about Virginia? There are some fine men working at the FBI surely. What about that one coworker of yours, what was his name?” Your heart-race increased for a moment, praying she wasn’t about to put a thought in your head that you wouldn’t be able to escape.
“Derek Morgan, was it? Now, that’s a fine young man.” This time you couldn’t stop the startled cry that came from your mouth. Sure, Morgan was an incredibly attractive man, but he’d joked around with you like a brother ever since you’d taken down your first unsub with the team. Your team was your family and your support system on the road, and they had your back on the case, so really, had your mother said anything, you’d have responded with incredulous guffawing. Hotch was like your dad, Rossi a fun Great-Uncle or something. You saw the sister’s you’d never had in JJ and Emily and of course Garcia was your best friend and you shared so many likes and dislikes that you regularly joked about being long-lost twins separated at birth. And Reid was Reid.
“Just give dating some thought, would you at least? The clock is ticking for you, you know.”
“Mom, I’m not even thirty yet. I’m in no rush.”
“That's what your Aunt Linda said, and look at her.” Your Aunt Linda was a perfectly content single woman in her late forties who had a high paying executive job, in NYC of all places, so yeah, you were in no rush at all.
“Listen, Mom, I’ve got to go, Hotch is calling me into the office to talk about some case files. I’ll speak to you later?”
“God, it’s like you don’t even want to talk to your mother for even five minutes. Go on, then, go do your big fancy job. Call me soon.”
“Yeah, Mom, I will.” And with that you finally hung up. Running a hand through your hair you paused for a breath for a second, closing your eyes and letting your hand just grip your hair for a second before releasing your breath for a second.
In the grand scheme of things, you knew that your mom wasn’t all that much to complain about. You and Emily had bonded over your respective mommy issues early in your time on the team, and you knew a lot of the other team members were either lacking some family member or the other, so you were just thankful that she was still around to annoy you, but god did she make it difficult sometimes.
Realising that any second, you’d have one profiler or the other come find you and ask you (with the best of intentions) what was wrong, you plastered a smile on your face and walked back into the office. You didn’t exactly want to relive that call anytime soon.
“Back so soon, Y/N? I thought that was your mom,” Morgan questioned you when you stepped back in.
“Yeah it was. One of my friends from highschool is getting married and you know how she loves to gossip.” You’d learnt early in the profession that you were in that the best way to hide something was to tell the truth about it for as long as you could, and then change the subject.
“Hey, Reid, you still up for a drink at that bar?” You looked hopefully at the man in the corner, and prayed noone would bring up your absolute change in attitude. “I was thinking a glass of wine or two after a successfully closed case couldn’t hurt, right?”
“Yeah, sure. You wanna head back to the hotel first and change, or do you want to go from here? Hotch said we’re free now until 2pm tomorrow.” You could see a questioning look from Morgan to your left, but you kept your vision focused on Reid, quietly thankful for the rest of the teams disinterest.
“Give me five to drop off my badge and gun in my room and freshen up a bit and we can be on our way. If this bar is bad though, Reid, you know I’m never letting you hear the end of it, right?”
“I ran the statistics, there’s only a 14% chance you’ll dislike it.”
“You know what’s scary is, I can’t even tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”
–x–
Sarcasm or no, you had to admit, the bar he’d taken you to was pretty nice. It was a low-lit bar only a twenty minute taxi ride from your hotel and whilst it wasn’t exactly on the strip, it wasn’t so far out to be inconvenient. The best part about it was that it was lined with bookshelves, and each booth was blocked off by another, making it feel more like a library than a watering hole. You almost forgot you were in Vegas when you stepped in.
“Yeah, this is definitely a Spencer Reid place,” you said as you took the final swig of your wine, the glass you’d ordered on arrival having gone down easier than you’d expected.
“How so?” Spencer said as he returned to your table, carrying the replacement drinks he’d gone to order with him.
“Come on, Spencer. I’ve never seen the inside of your apartment but I’m sure it’s just this place with less furniture and more books.”
“Y/L/N, are you profiling me right now? Because that sounds pretty close to profiling?” Spencer teased and you rolled your eyes at him, grabbing your next drink from him and giving it a stir - the wine was good but at the price per glass you’d decided maybe cocktails were the thing for tonight.
“Besides, you did mention wanting to curl up with a book tonight, so I thought this bar was probably a good fit for you too.”
“Whose profiling who now, Doctor?” It was his turn to roll his eyes, and he took a sip of his drink. You knew he didn’t drink that often, but he seemed pretty open to the idea tonight, and you were absolutely glad for the company.
“Okay, I won’t profile if you don’t, but do you mind me asking you a question, Y/N?”
“Fire away,” you were playing with the stirrer in your cocktail, waiting for him to ask the question but he’d hesitated for a moment before speaking again, causing you to look up directly into his eyes.
“What’s going on with you and your mom? I don’t mean to pry and I didn’t overhear any of your call earlier or anything, but when you came in again you were all tense and you had that strained smile on your face. Then you suddenly changed your mind and decided we should get drinks so, I’m just guessing here, but you could probably do with talking about it, right?”
You let out a groan and let your head hang a bit. Yeah, you were starting to regret taking that role in the team of profilers. But at least Reid was sincere, and you knew his intentions were good. Of all the members of the team, you’d probably have described him as the safest. It was strange to think, considering all the comfort you found in your other friends, but there was just something so reassuring about Reid’s presence, the way most people overlooked him at first, how he could easily fall into his work and how you could see the cogs moving in his head as he made one genius leap to another that just made you think that everything was going to be okay if he was there.
So because it was him, you decided to talk.
“She’s just…She’s just a little much sometimes, you know?” He smiled back a knowing smile, but didn’t try to add anything and encouraged you to keep going.
“She’s been really persistent recently in bothering me about hitting some of lifes big milestones - marriage, kids, you know? And it always leaves me in a panic because though I’m pretty sure I want those things just yet, I don’t want the pressure of having them yet.” You swallowed the bile in your thoat and continued
“Everytime she says something, I feel bad that I don’t have them. And the way she talks about them its like they’re some kind of… of personal failure, that I’m not trying hard enough to catch a man or something, and I just wonder what if she’s right?” You start slow but you feel yourself gaining pace as you begin rambling, by the end you’re left wondering if Reid even caught any of that.
“I’m perfectly content living alone, but what if I’m secretly not, and I end up forty and alone and can’t even get a guy to look at me.”
“I can pretty confidently say that that’s not going to happen, Y/N.” Reid replied when you finally grabbed your drink ready to take another sip.
“How come?”
“You won’t have to put any effort into catching a man, Y/N.” Reid replied.
“You’re saying that because you’re my friend and you care about me Reid, of course you think that.”
“No, I’m saying that as an FBI Profiler that’s noticed the barman, the man on a date in the corner and the group of guys smoking outside the door eye you up since we’ve been here. And considering we’ve been doing paperwork all day, and the only change in your appearance since 8am this morning was the fresh coat of chapstick you put on while we were in the taxi, I’d think you hadn’t really put that much thought into what you look like right now.”
“You’re exaggerating,” and you really believe that, until you turn to look at the guy on the date and see him avert his gaze from you quickly, and you realise there might be something in what he’s saying.
“Okay, but that still doesn’t mean that I need or want to hear those things from my mother.”
“Y/N, take it from me, mother’s can be complicated.”
“God, I feel so stupid talking to you about something so trivial with my mom, I shouldn’t be doing that, we’re here to have fun.”
“Y/N, its okay. I can do the mommy issues talks, I’m perfectly qualified, but…” he trails off and grabs his drink for another sip and you find yourself hanging off his words begging for him to bring you more comfort and spoken caresses.
“But what, Reid?” you finally ask, as you realise he’s dragging this out on purpose to tease you a little.
“But how about a distraction instead? Have you ever been in a Las Vegas casino with a man that is banned from gambling in most of them?” He wiggled his eyebrows a little as he asked that and you giggled again, grateful for the reprieve from the serious talk.
“That doesn’t sound all that fun, Spencer.”
“Oh yeah, it’s not, but we could always use those vouchers we got as a token of appreciation earlier in the bars and drink some pretty fancy alcohol?”
“Spencer Reid, you are finally speaking my language.”
“I’m still speaking English Y/N, but if you wanted me to switch to russian or some other language, I could accommodate that depending on your linguistic preference.”
“It was a joke, Spence, now let’s get out of here.”
With that, he stood and dramatically offered you his hand like a gentleman, placing your hand in the crook of his elbow when you took it and guiding you swiftly out of the sweet bar. You were with Spencer, your safe friend, close work colleague and probably the least likely member of the BAU Team to get into trouble in a bar in Vegas. What’s the worst that could happen? You thought, as you took a final step out into the humid night air of Las Vegas.
–X–
The first thing you noticed in the morning was the pounding in your head, and it was pretty much the only thing you noticed for quite some time. When you managed to finally unglue your eyes, the second thing you noticed that this definitely wasn’t your room. The third thing you noticed was the gaping hole in your memories that explained how you possibly could’ve ended up wherever it was that you were. Or really any memories from the night before at all.
Letting out a quick groan you sit up in bed and take stock of your surroundings. Although the layout is different, you quickly recognise the interior matches the hotel you’ve been staying at, so you’re thankful that you’re at least somewhere relatively safe, and most likely in familiar company. The room looks to be neat on the whole, but there’s obvious signs of a drunken escapade strewn everwhere - two champagne flutes and a drained bottle, the contents of your purse spilt onto the chair in the corner, some random balloons in the corner you must have picked up somewhere in a drunken stupor, your clothes discarded in a trail to the bed.
That last one wakes you up a little bit more, and almost embarrassingly, you look down at yourself and see your lack of clothing, pulling the covers of the quilt closer to you as you feel yourself flush.
Fuck.
There’s a shifting in the bed next to you, and you look down in horror to see exactly which member of your team got you so plastered last night. You try to move to see who it is, but theres a tightness around your wrist and you’re pulled right back down into bed. You look down at your arm, and that’s when you realise you’re really screwed.
There, around your wrist and restraining you against the bed, is a set of handcuffs. FBI standard. The insinuation flames your face as you whip around to see which close friend and coworker you maybe - possibly - hooked up with last night, too embarrassed to look at your hand any more.
Luckily, your mystery man shifts again, and you catch sight of the nest of brown curls right before he turns over to see you, so when you finally meet the eye of Doctor Spencer Reid, you don’t scream in surprise.
“Y/N? What are you doi-” he cuts himself off as he lets his eyes trail down your body, quickly noticing your state of undress and pulling himself up into a seated position. He is similarly disrobed and it takes all of your strength to pull your gaze away from his bare chest to look literally anywhere else, your face practically flaming now.
“Spencer, would you mind helping me out over here?” you manage to squeak out quickly, as he does his best to avoid your eyes. “I seem to be a little stuck?”
That draws his attention back to you, and he finally notices the strange position of your arms and the handcuffs keeping you pinned to that spot in the bed.
“Shit, Y/N, I’m so sorry, fuck,” he quickly pulls on the pants he discarded by his side of the bed and scrambles over to you, tripping over once in his haste.
“Do you know where the key is?” you ask as he arrives at your side again, your free hand clutching the sheets over your breasts like your life depended on it.
“If that’s my pair they should be in the safe in the nightstand with my creds, give me a second to look.” After a second, he reaches the aforementioned safe box, pulling it open. He roots around inside it for a few seconds and then he spots something ad you watch the blood drain from his face.
“Spencer, what’s wrong?” you spit out quickly, tongue still heavy, and lips probably still swollen, from the night before, so you trip over the words a little. He pulls out the keys from the draw, and you let out a sigh of relief, but you’re still tense as he reaches back inside the draw and pulls out something else.
“Y/N, there wouldn’t happen to be a ring on that hand would there?” Spencer still isn’t looking at you, still staring intently at whatever else is in his hands. You try to angle your head to look, but between the restraints and the fact that Reid had turned his back to you couldn’t quite see what it was.
“What? No, I don’t wear a ring on this hand-” you cut yourself off abruptly as you look down and see it. There on the fourth finger of your left hand, the one that is still chained to the bed by your partners handcuffs, is a ring. There’s a ring on your ring finger. You just woke up in Las Vegas with no memory, in your coworkers room, naked, with a ring on your ring finger.
Your heart drops to your ass as you snap your head back around to Spencer, who finally works up the courage to look you in the eye.
“I think you should look at this” he stutters out and finally presents you with the other item he pulled out of the draw. Your jaw drops open and the pounding in your head turns into a continuous buzzing as you see yourself presented with a marriage liscence. Pinned to the corner with a paperclip is a polaroid picture, and you recognise yourself and your clothes from the night before, with the addition of a veil and bouquet, your arms slung around Reid’s neck as he pulls you in for what you can assume was a pretty passionate kiss.
“Y/N I think we got married last night.”
For a second you could’ve sworn your heart stopped. This was not happening, not to you, not right now. How stupidly drunk could you have gotten to have actually gone and married someone you weren’t even dating. And considering your current lack of clothing, it was dawning on you that you had probably done a little bit more than what was in that photo.
“Spencer unlock these handcuffs right now, so help me God,” you breathed deep and screwed your eyes shut, hoping that wihtout the distraction of the glaring lights you’d be able to remember some of what you’d done last night, but nothing came to you.
Reid, for what it was worth, got you unlocked quickly. You winced slightly as you pulled your arm away from the position it’d been in for however many hours.
“Sorry, I’m so sorry, I should have undone those last night, I don’t know why I didn’t, I’m usually pretty good at remembering stuff like that.” Reid rambled, running a hand through his hair and pacing slightly at your side of the bed. You pushed yourself up and watched him for a minute, just looking at this man who was now, probably, your husband.
Your husband.
You shook the thought from your head and cut his rambling off quickly.
“You put me in these?” you asked, just desperate for any clarification on any of the events of the last 24 hours, not fully grasping the implications of what you were asking until Reid was looking down at you with a flushed face and a mouth gaping like a fish, struggling to find the words to say.
“This is my hotel room. Those are my handcuffs… I kind of just assumed…” he trailed off the thought and you were right with him, the embarrassment heating your face just as much as it had his. You found it hard to meet his eyes the, and dropped yours to your lap.
“So you don’t remember, either?” You almost sighed in relief at that. If even a genius with an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory was in this state after a night of drinking, then you really couldn’t be blamed for getting so drunk you married your coworker and most likely had some pretty kinky sex with him, remembering absolutely nothing on top of that at all.
“Do you need me to grab you something to wear?” he asked as he looked down at you, letting his gaze trail probably a little bit too low for a little bit too long. You grew heated under his stare, as your body reacted, and you realised how easy it must have been to fall underneath him last night if this was how you were feeling from just one look.
But you pulled yourself out of those thoughts quickly, and it seemed that so did he, as he began grabbing clothes from the floor and handing them to you, turning away as you started getting yourself into a semi-decent state.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” you heard Reid mumble to himself as he made his way around the side of the bed, and in your concern for him, you called out.
“Anything specific those curses were for, Spence? Because I know this isn’t exactly the most ideal situation, but four Spencer Reid swears in a row is a cause for concern.” You tried to joke, hoping to relieve some of the anxiety of your predicament.
“I can’t find…” he started and then dragged a hand over his face, trying to wipe the exhaustion from his eyes. “Y/N, I think we didn’t use protection.” You could see him panicking now, and for a second you thought of joining him too, but you crossed the room and grabbed his arms.
“Spencer, look at me, it’s fine. If we did end up… doing that, I’m on birth control, and we probably have time to grab something extra just to make sure, right?” he looked down at you then and after a moments hesitation, he wrapped his arms around you.
“I’m so sorry about all of this, I’m so stupid for suggesting we go to that casino bar last night, I don’t know what I was thinking. You even said last night that this wasn’t what you wanted for yourself, right now, god I’m an idiot, you don’t deserve this.” He buried his face in your neck and held you tight, and you pulled yours up to his back, rubbing circles into his skin slowly.
“Spencer, listen to me. I can think of noone I would have rather had a shotgun Vegas marriage with, okay? This isn’t your fault, we were both drunk, and I’m sure a Reid who was thinking straight could give me some kind of statistic about inhibitions dropping with a certain amount of alcohol.”
“A study in the United Kingdom found that there was an increase of risky sexual behavior in young people who had participated in binge drinking, including unprotected sex with a new partner and the use of emergency contraceptives and I’m not sure why I’m still talking when that was probably rhetorical, right?” You smiled at his panic, finding him just as endearing as ever, even in this predicament.
“What I’m saying, Spencer, is that we’re going to be okay. This isn’t the first time someone has gotten married in Vegas on a whim. Hell, this isn’t even the first time it’s happened to someone on our team. In a sense, this was a very traditional wedding.”
He groaned into your neck again and you laughed up at him. Sure, you were panicked still, but just having him in your arms there sharing his honest feelings with you instead of bottling it up and leaving you to deal with it on your own in your head too was doing you a world of good, and you found the words you used to reassure him soothing you, too, in turn.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. One, find the nearest pharmacy. Two, find whatever Elvis-inspired love shack wrote that marriage license and figure out if it’s actually legally binding. Three, avoid all of our coworkers until 2pm. How does that sound?”
Reid pulled himself out of your neck then, and you were almost sad at the loss of that warmth near you.
“It sounds like I made the smartest choice of a wife I was ever going to make,” he smiled down at you.
“Oh you got jokes now, Doc? I see.”
“Thought I should let you know all my deep dark secrets now we’re married.” You shared a laugh, and standing there amongst the debris of the night before, despite all the mistakes, you knew you were safe, and that the two of you would always be safe together.
🏷️ @sailortongue @bethanyhaas01 @reidscaffeine @high-functioning-cosplayer @average-sunflower @multifandom-on-the-side @anniewhalelover @prentissesredtanktop @abbyshmaby @academiareid @hugyourlungs @w-windy @babybluecakes @SwaggySagieWagie@reidandhotchsgirl @lover-of-books-and-tea @star0055 @Zaapsite @daddy-dotcom @bluecandycake
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Intouchables and Last Twilight
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So, when I was first watching the Last Twilight episode, something was bugging me about the choice of having Day in a wheelchair. Because it was a choice. And as I kept watching it, I kept feeling like I was missing something. My memory is terribly slow with these things, so it wasn't until I went back that I got it. Intouchables. So now, for some context. Intouchables is a french film from 2011 that tells the story of a french rich businessman that, after becoming quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, hires a young black man to be his carer. This is based on a true story. (Yes, there is an american version, but I haven't seen it so I can't speak to it.) If you've never watched this movie, go watch it, cause for sure Aof has watched it.
You can probably already see the parallels just from this small synopses. I'm gonna say too much about the movie, I'm just gonna talk about the similarities so far.
So we got our two main characters. Philippe and Driss. Philippe is our basic older rich white guy, with the palatial mansion and a hundred people servicing his every need. Also he's quadriplegic. Driss is the opposite side of all of this. He is poor, he lives off of unemployment benefits, his house is small and cramped, shared with family. So, Driss needs to look for a job to get the benefits, but he doesn't actually want the job. He just needs to show that he's looking for one. All he needs is a signature. Anyway... So he goes for an interview.
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I think you can spot Driss.
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While he's waiting for the interview, we see the other man being interviewed.
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And at some point he's had enough.
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And he simply bursts into the room.
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I mean, one is a palatial living room, and the other is basically an office but you the picture. This next part in the film is slightly different in the show, because Driss is not even phased by the vision of the man in the wheelchair. He's much more interested in Magalie, the secretary, but we couldn't have that in our bl.
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After this, the similarities continue. Because both Driss and Mork don't want the job, but both Philippe and Day are intrigued by this guy that just walked in and that doesn't seem to be interested in the actual job. Also because both Driss and Mork don't really act like what Philippe and Day are used to people acting around them.
[I beg of you. Even if you don't watch the film, just watch the interview bit. Because it's brilliant. Driss is brilliant] So Driss eventually leaves, to return another day for the signed paper. And Mork just leaves. And the next scenes are basically the same, we're shown the circumstances that will eventually lead them both to want the job. There are other parallels between Driss and Mork, and their circumstances and environment, the smoking and the drinking, the fighting... But for now this is it. I'll be re-watching the film this weekend so I might have some other thoughts but I wanted to get this out. I don't know if the show will continue to parallel the film, so I'm not going to say anymore about it. But I'm keeping this is mind for the next episode, because from the previews I have a feeling this is gonna continue. Also, I adore this film and everyone should watch it.
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slvt4em1lyprenti2s · 3 months
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Will you please be quiet?
Summary: You have a song stuck in your head and Emily one has one way to make you be quiet.
Word Count: 1.1k
Fluff, kissing
Pairings: Emily Prentiss x fem!reader
!NOT PROOFREAD!
Reader POV:
“I wanna be your endgame, I wanna be your first string!” I sang as I was getting ready for the day. Music blasting through my apartment, as I pack my go-bag.
I go over to my vanity and put on some quick makeup and keep humming Endgame as it echos through the walls of my bedroom.
I hop into my car to go to work and put my Spotify on shuffle, Endgame comes on again. I’m not complaining but oh my god. This is going to be stuck in my head for days now.
Time skip to when reader gets to Quantico*
I’m minding my own business waiting for my coffee to pour while humming Endgame as Emily walks up behind me.
“Got a song stuck in your head?” Her hand lightly brushed over my waist as she went to stand next to me. Oh my goodness this woman makes butterflies erupt in my stomach by such a small touch.
“Ha, yeah. That obvious huh?” She let out a small laugh as she nodded.
“Yeah well you’ve been here what, an hour? And I don’t think I’ve heard anything but that time leave your mouth.” I lowered my head and shook it laughing at her observation, a blush coating my cheeks.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t come here just to talk about the song planting itself in that pretty little head of yours-“ I don’t let her finish, partially because the blush on my cheek is becoming too noticeable now and also because I know exactly what she’s going to say.
“We have a case.”
“Yes, we do, meet in the round table in 10.” She gives me a small smile and walks away.
Time skip to once they’re on the jet on the way to the case*
“Big reputation, big reputation, ohh you and me, we’d be a big conversation.” I mutter under my breath as I sit next to Emily looking over the file.
“Oh my god! You’re still going huh?” I’m snapped out of my thoughts by her soothing voice, I laugh and look at her honey brown eyes.
“Sorry!” I laughed as I looked back down to the file, her hand found its way onto my thigh under the table, careful not to draw attention to us. “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”
An uncontrollable smile bloomed on my face. I gave her hand a squeeze to say thanks and we both went back to the task at hand.
Time skip to when they’re looking through evidence at the local PD*
“You got anything?” Like asked Rossi.
“Nothing, if this guy did have any enemies he was quick to bury the hatchet as not to be tracked down.” As soon as he said this my brain flickered on with Endgame. Again.
“And I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put ‘em.” I hear a giggle next to me and look over and find Emily gazing at me.
“Don’t even,” I sighed “It’s starting to annoy me as well.” She laughed and shook her head and looked back down at the evidence like we had collected from the scenes.
Time skip to a little later*
“Hey what you humming?” Tara asked me as she looked up from the crime scene photos on the table.
“Endgame by Taylor Swift.” I reply without looking up, trying to piece together where the unsub was going to strike next.
“Oh my god! I love Taylor Swift! What’s your favourite album?” Before I could respond Spencer came into the room we, and the rest of the team, were in and started talking.
“Guys, I know where the unsub is going to strike next. The house he grew up in has been condemned and scheduled for demolition so that’s probably where he’s been taking his victims. If he sticks to his pattern, he’ll be going back there at some point after 10pm tonight.” We all started to pack up our things when Emily called out,
“Guys, we need to do a stakeout. We’ll scare him away if we go in there guns drawn and then he’ll go underground so, Reid and JJ, park on the curb near the house, Tara and Matt, go to the end of the road, Rossi and Luke to the other end of the road, you’ll act as a kind of covert roadblock and me and y/n will park up in an lay-by near the house.”
We all got up and went to our assigned SUV and started driving to our destinations. On the way there Emily turned the radio on.
“And I heard about you, ooh, you like the bad ones too.”
“Oh my god! It’s everywhere!” We laughed together at this. What are the chances?! We kept the radio on nonetheless.
As we pulled into the parking space we sat in a comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other presence and the peace of an evening stakeout. The sun was setting and I absentmindedly started humming under my breath yet again.
“I don’t wanna miss you, like the other girls do. I don’t wanna hurt yo-“ before I could finish I feel my chin being tugged to the side and a soft pair of lips meeting my own.
To say I was shocked at first was an understatement but I soon melted into the kiss, her thumb caressed my face as our lips moved together. It was the most amazing moment of my life to date. Emily slowly pulled away her face still barely a centimetre away from my own.
“What was that for?” I asked, still skeptical.
“It’s the only thing that I could think of to stop you from singing that damn song!” Laughter broke out between us and as it died down she pulled me back in again for a brief kiss.
“Dinner at my place tomorrow?” She asked gazing into my eyes with our hands intertwined.
“Are you, Unit Chief Emily Prentiss, asking me out on a date?” I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt.
“Yes, I am.” She giggled.
“In that case, dinner tomorrow sounds awesome.” I kiss her again, savouring the taste of her on my lips.
“I’ll take you to and from work so you can stay the night and not worry about your car.” I say thank you as I pull her into another kiss, this one lasting a little longer than the others.
Her hand reaches for the back of my head and pulls me in closer, her tongue swiping my bottom lip asking for permission. Granting it, I open my mouth and let her explore.
“Hey guy! Stop sucking each other’s faces and go back to the PD we got the guy!”
We make eye contact and start laughing hard.
Well Shit. At least I ahoy a date with em!
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dramadramallama · 3 months
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Love Supremacy - brain rot part 1
So I have a problem. I enjoyed the first half of Love for Love's Sake without knowing I would get absolutely bowled over by the second half. I have so much to say holy fuck, I'm all over the place.
Unfortunately for everyone, my brain has been love supremacied, and I'm unable to move on. The show has a high rewatch value. It’s full of details; big, important ones, and small, insignificant ones, but they all add a lot of weight to the story. I need to exorcise my thoughts for my own sake. I guess if I have to intellectualize it somewhat, I really liked the show cause it’s perfectly balanced in terms of structure, and its themes. Judging from the amount of notes I have made on this show on my second watch, it’s safe to say it’s got some substance. It cleverly uses a mise en abyme, “a story within a story (within a story)” to really stack all those layers, and answer an age-old, quite difficult question: “what’s crucial to a happy life?” Dialogues, scenes, characters, and motifs all echo, mirror, and circle back to one another, giving the story enough dimension to avoid banalities.
Simply put, the thesis of the show is surprisingly philosophical, with universal themes. It posits that life is neither fate nor chance, and the answers are in mundane details of life. "Happiness is hidden somewhere in each of our days."
It’s obviously about love; a double love story even. Myung-ha learns to love someone else, and himself too. It's about life, and it's about death, new beginnings, and everything in between. The show made me feel like this, and like this, and like this, and...
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▶️1. Mirrors/Symmetry
2. Fate, Free Will, and Happiness
3. Game/Reality
The story structure is very symmetrical. Circular almost. I LOVE IT, I EAT IT UP LIKE A HUNGRY, GRUBBY GOBLIN. Things begin where they end, elements keep repeating themselves like a series of mirrors.
By going through the game, Myung-ha finds himself on the other side of the mirror: he is supposed to find his own happiness, and will to live.
Yeo-woon is introduced to the audience as a sad side character in someone else’s story, victim of his “fate.” He almost perfectly mirrors Myung-ha: his background is eerily similar to his. He was raised by his (recently deceased) grandma, with an absent mother and a dead-beat dad. He’s lonely, unhappy.
When Myung-ha first meets him, Yeo-woon is resolutely standing on top of a building, about to fall or jump, which directly parallels Myung-ha's own suicide. In this new iteration of life, in this “game,” he saves Yeo-woon from hurting himself, which is the start of his own salvation. Saving Yeo-woon, the poor guy who didn’t get his happy ending, is saving himself. Yeo-woon is like a version of him right before he lost control of his life, after his grandma died, and he felt abandoned by all. It’s the core of the game, and the core of the drama, but Myung-ha (and we, the audience) can’t understand it right away.
Several details, in retrospect, show that he is the driving force behind this "game", and that it’s, by lack of a better term, both a test (as in, an exercise, a learning mechanism) and a Test (as in, an exam you don't wanna fail.) Myung-ha’s main, most important mission is to “make Yeo-woon happy.” Which he happily and enthusiastically tackles. He does what we all do: he takes a liking to the character most relatable to him. Time and time again, the way he reacts when presented with someone who struggles the same way he did is very telling.
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He provides comfort. The comfort he lacked in his own life. (distant sounds of my heart shattering.)
But Yeo-woon isn’t the only one mirroring elements of Myung-ha’s life. Sang-won is a careless, tough-looking student, who seems slightly directionless. He picks fights easily and has a reputation at school for being “crazy.” He also smokes and rides a motorcycle (both illegal lol). His mom having abandoned Myung-ha, it’s also relevant to note Sang-won doesn’t seem to have a very good relationship with his own mother, and craves her attention. Although, he is your typical badboy, he is overall nice, sensitive, and has good intentions.
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Myung-ha himelf appears to have been quite the turbulent student, with his own “mad dog” nickname. He, just like Sang-won, knows a thing or two about school fights, also drives a bike (lmao 100% sure he didn’t wait to have a license to drive though). Although he berates Sang-won for his rebellious side, with the patronizing tone of someone who’s done it all before, he shows genuine care.
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Finally, Kyung-hoon. To me, he’s like another facet of Myung-ha’s personality. An absolute sweetheart, without friends, but always ready to help, and open to be befriended. While Myung-ha seems nonchalant about speaking badly of himself, he cannot stand it from others. He makes him his friend on the spot.
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Once again, he provides like-minded friends the safe space he probably would have liked as a troubled, most certainly depressed teenager. Of course, it turns out Yeo-woon hates himself the most too (and by extension, dislikes everyone else.) It's the first clue for Myung-ha to realize some self-love might be the answer.
As it will become increasingly clear, Myung-ha has no issues protecting, providing for, and loving others, but fails to realize he should do the same for himself to achieve balance, and maybe, a little bit of happiness. The journey to get there makes him care for someone else the way he should care for himself, love someone else, like he should love himself. 
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The last episode does a wonderful job of confirming what seemed to be threaded through the whole show, and explaining very clearly, in no uncertain terms, what it was all about.
However, the interesting aspect of this “mirror world," is that all of them, and Yeo-woon in particular, flip the script, in more ways than one. They all are a reflection of Myung-ha's life, but transcend their condition of “fictional character.” They’re not virtual. Yeo-woon is not made of something unreal, and he’s not a messed up copy of someone else. He has his own needs, desires, and quirks.
I don't think I can name them all here, but one of my favorite circular storytelling moment happens when Yeo-woon parallels Myung-ha by running to "find his fave." That moment in ep 8 counterbalances the one in ep 1.
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Nothing is written in stone, and both of them set off to build their own happiness, against fate.
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auspicious-manner · 8 months
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Hi! I was wondering if you could write about Billy dunne, there isn't a lot about him. Him and the reader have known each other since they were kids but dont really interact much and Billy is so crazy about her but the reader hasn't ever considered romantic feelings for Billy. He wants to impress her and win her over bad. Basically follows what happens in canon except there is no cheating drama, its just drama between Billy and reader. I don't know how clear this is but thanks i appreciate it!
what's with my djats stories being so long?
sorry this took so long to get out, i started to lose motivation for it after i realized the idea in my head would make this WAY longer than it needed to be. sorry if the end is a little rushed 😭
female reader x billy dunne
warnings: drug use
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It Was Always You
pittsburgh didn’t have much to offer anyone looking to explore the music scene. there were no big opportunities, and limited ways to get noticed. the six, formerly known as the dunne brothers, needed to move out of pittsburgh to somewhere they could make it. somewhere like california.
and you were the reason they got there.
you lived in the same neighborhood as billy and graham and went to school together, and you were the same age as graham. you and graham were friends, not great ones, but friends nonetheless. despite you being a friend of his brother, billy couldn’t help but keep a watchful eye over you.
even since you were in middle school, billy had some kind of adoration and fascination with you, and you barely knew of his existence. if you were taking a walk through the neighborhood, billy was at his window watching. you always knew it wasn’t in a creepy way, it felt different than that. you couldn’t tell what it was that made him watch you, but you felt flattered more than anything.
when you caught word of graham wanting to start a band with eddie, warren, chuck, and billy, you knew you wanted in. even though music was not your specialty, you could do other things.
during one of the band’s first rehearsals in billy and graham’s garage, you walked over to scope out the band. billy noticed you first, and his eyes widened a bit. graham noticed you shortly after.
“oh, hey Y/N.” graham started.
you smiled and waved. “hey graham,” you said, looking around at the rest of the boys. “and warren, eddie, chuck, and…” you said while giggling, trailing off when you got to billy. he looked at you like he was waiting for something important. “billy, right?”
you thought you saw him sigh of relief, but he covered it well. he smiled at you and reached out his hand. you took it, and noticed he held on for a few extra moments. “yeah, i’m billy dunne, graham’s brother. it’s good to meet you, Y/N.” after he released your hand, you noticed he never broke eye contact.
“what brings you here?” warren asked, taking a sip from his water.
“i actually had a question for you guys,” you said, suddenly getting nervous.
“let’s hear it,” billy told you.
you took a small breath. “i was, uh-i was wondering if you would consider letting me be apart of the band. i’m not musical in any way, so i don’t expect to be in the band, but i’d love to be apart of it some other way.”
the band stared at you, not in a threatening way, but like they were considering it. they couldn’t decide what to make of you.
“what, you want to be our groupie or roadie or somethin’?” eddie asked.
“actually, i was thinking manager.”
the group made surprised expressions. billy stepped forward to you. “why should we let you be our manager?”
“well, for one, i’m very organized. i can keep everything on track and on schedule with the band. i’m also very persuasive, and i could get you guys a lot of gigs for good money. and although i can’t play music, i know a lot about it. i’m also good at photography, and can get some good shots of you guys.”
the band once again considered you. you felt small under their glares, but the harshness was broken by billy’s smile. “you got the time for us?”
you smirked. “always.”
billy bit his lip. “welcome aboard.”
you smiled wide. you couldn’t believe they actually took a blind chance on you. you half expected them to turn you down.
“wait, aren’t we going to talk about this?” eddie asked.
billy annoyedly turned to eddie. “you guys put me in charge, so i call the shots, and i say she’s in." he paused, turning to warren. "warren, count us in,” billy said as warren began counting. billy sent you a wink as they played, and you noticed eddie rolling his eyes.
you grew closer with everyone in the band. graham quickly became your go to guy, and you became best friends. warren was like your annoying brother that you constantly got fed up with but loved regardless. eddie acted like he didn’t like you as the band’s manager, but you were always the first one to call if he needed help with anything. you never really grew close with chuck, but you tolerated him and he tolerated you. your relationship with chuck didn’t matter much, since he left the band early.
billy, however, felt different. you could tell something was off about him. you rarely talked, but it always seemed like billy had something to say to you that he never let out. it always felt like he was hesitating around you, and he wanted to make sure you were watching him during your performances. it was clear to everyone in the band that you had some sort of hold on him.
over the next few years in pittsburgh, you lined up gigs at proms, weddings, and graduation parties for the band. you adored what you did. you got the thrill of watching your friends perform and the crowd cheering without the stress of playing. also, you felt like you were good at what you did. you always knew how to be timely, organized, and respectful, all qualities which made you fit to be their manager. you also used your photography skills to take up close photos and videos of the band performing and practicing, which you would later use to advertise for the band.
after chuck broke the news to the band that he would be leaving, he went back into his house, leaving your disheveled band down a member.
you could tell billy was thinking hard. with his brown furrowed, eyes pointed to the ground, the rest of the band waited for his direction. then, out of nowhere, he grabbed your wrist and took you out of earshot from the boys.
“billy, what’s this about?” you said, keeping your voice low. you knew there was a reason billy pulled you and no one else aside.
“i need your help. i don’t know what to do,” he said, avoiding eye contact.
“why’d you need my help? i mean, you have graham, you own brother. i’m sure he’d know-”
billy looked up into your eyes sharply, and you immediately stopped talking. “i trust your opinion more than anyone else’s, Y/N.”
you nodded. you glanced at the band, who was clearly trying not to watch the sight unfolding in front of them. when you looked at them, they turned away quickly.
“eddie’s gonna hate us, but i think he should switch to bass,” you suggested.
billy slightly smiled. “you think?”
you nodded. “yeah, you just need to stay focused on being a great leader for this band. i wouldn’t want you straining trying to figure out bass while also trying to be a kick ass front man.”
billy blushed and bit his lip to suppress a smile, then patted your shoulder. “you’re too nice to me.”
you both walked back to the band, who was anxiously awaiting the solution to their problem. when billy broke the news, eddie scoffed, bluntly saying, “no, absolutely not."
“which one of you came up with that idea?” eddie continued. it seemed like one wrong move could completely set him off.
billy stepped up. “it was me. i-”
the band was only beginning. you couldn’t let their relationships already fall apart before the band even gets big. you knew billy was trying to take the blame for you, but it wasn’t necessary.
“it was me.”
his eyes softened at you. he seemed almost offended that you gave up his role as rhythm guitarist, but since it was you, he knew he couldn’t blow up at you. you were too beloved by the band.
eddie rolled his eyes. “for how long?”
you and billy looked at each other smiling. “we owe you one, eddie.”
*
not long after eddie switched to bass, you were opening for the winters. as you watched the winters perform on stage, you noticed graham eyeing the blonde keyboardist singing harmonies.
you nudged his side. “make a move.”
graham looked down at you before looking back at her. “i-what do i say?”
you shrugged. “i don’t know, compliment her music or something,” you paused. “make small talk. she’s cute, graham, you can do this.”
you smiled at him before walking away to talk to eddie. however, you felt a pair of eyes burning into your side, and without looking, you could tell billy was the culprit.
after the winters’ set, you caught the keyboardist shortly after she got off stage. you introduced yourself as the manager of the dunne brothers.
karen smiled at you, introducing herself before walking away. before she could, you decided to help graham out a bit.
“graham dunne, the guitarist of our band, really liked your sound.”
she turned around to look at you. “yeah, we’re good at what we do.”
you amusedly grinned. “he didn’t just like the band’s sound, he liked yours. you should go talk to him,” you said before winking and walking away.
not long later, as you were helping the band set up, graham came up behind you. “Y/N, we talked.”
you looked over your shoulder and saw him grinning from ear to ear. you couldn’t help but laugh to yourself, and you turned around. “earlier, i may have… told karen that you liked what she did on stage. i don’t want to take all the credit for your interaction with her, but,” you said, pausing slightly. “i definitely contributed.”
graham’s jaw fell slightly, and he began laughing. before you knew it, he picked you up in his arms and gave you a big hug. you giggled and wrapped your arms around his neck as graham thanked you, and your eyes drifted outwards where you saw billy’s eyes staying locked on your hug with his brother.
after their set, you billy caught up to you backstage. “hey, Y/N,” he started. you could tell he sounded a bit nervous.
you turned around to meet him. “billy, what’s up?”
he looked around to make sure the rest of the band wasn’t near. “so, you and graham?” billy asked. he sounded apprehensive, and almost stern. he looked everywhere but at you.
you squinted. “what do you mean?”
billy shook his head. “i saw that hug earlier. and not just that, y-you’ve been with him a lot. which, i don’t really mind, i just want to know. i don’t want the band to be ruined by this.”
you stared back at him, and all you could do was start laughing. he looked at you, a bit dumbfounded. “what’s so funny?”
“you, billy. you’re funny,” you said, walking closer to him. you watched as his cheeks grew red. “there’s nothing going on between graham and i, seriously. he’s like a brother to me, i wouldn’t dream of looking at him romantically. besides, he has another lady in mind.”
billy looked down at you, wanting to believe you. “okay, i get it,” he said with a slight smile.
you lightly placed a hand on his chest. “i wouldn’t dream of ruining this band,” you said before walking away. you couldn’t see the giddy smile creep onto billy’s face.
*
from that point on, billy’s mood around you seemed to lighten. he always had a way of making you notice him. you began to get the vibe that this was all on purpose, that he wanted you to compliment him or give him attention. you wondered if he ever looked at you romantically. sometimes, billy’s odd behavior around you could only be excused if he was interested in you. you couldn’t decide if you were interested in him, but you didn’t want to be involved with a member of the band. things could get too messy.
after meeting rod after the night opening for the winters, the band made the decision to move out to california.
you loved the band, and would do anything for them. but, moving out to los angeles on a whim was risky. you knew they could go the distance, but you were being expected to leave your entire life behind to start a new one. besides, with the new move, they needed you to be an even more present manager than you already were. sure, you could handle managing an up and coming band from pittsburgh. but you felt less than qualified for the job of a big time manager of a growing rock and roll band on the infamous los angeles music scene. someone else could do better and take them farther, and they deserved it.
one day, shortly before they left, you expressed your thoughts to the band. you sat on the floor in billy and graham’s garage as the band stood by their instruments.
“guys, i don’t know if i’m coming with you to california just yet,” you said quietly, looking down at your hands. you could feel the glares of the boys burning into your body.
“what?” graham asked.
you stayed quiet, and heard shuffling footsteps come closer to you. a tear fell from your eye, and you tried your best to hide it. “i-i have to leave my life, my family. which, i can do it, but what’s the point?” you looked up to find the band hovering over you, concerned. “i don’t know the ins and outs of music there like i do here. i’m afraid i won’t be able to take you guys all the way.”
billy stepped closed, and bent down to meet you gaze. you noticed that he still seemed to tower over you, despite him meeting you on the ground.
“Y/N, don’t think for one second that we don’t need you,” billy said. “you’re the only one we can see doing this for us.”
graham bent down next to billy. “you’re like our sister, and you’ve done so much to help us grow. you can keep doing this. we all know you can.”
staying standing, warren nodded at you. “we can’t do this without you. don’t quit on us now.”
even eddie agreed. “you make us better, Y/N.”
billy took your hand in his as another tear escaped your eye. “what do you say?”
you couldn’t leave these guys. even if you were the reason they failed in the future, at least you failed with them. they were your family.
you smiled to yourself. “okay, you’ve convinced me.”
billy smiled, and with the hand that still held onto your fingers, he pulled you into his arms, wrapping you in a hug. you were taken aback by this change of character, as he very rarely showed affection like this to anyone. you hugged back, leaning your head on his shoulder.
before you knew it, warren wrapped his arms around the side of you, then graham joined the party. finally, eddie did too. for a few moments, you all stayed in that position, with you in the middle of the group hug. that was when you knew this was where you were meant to be.
a few days later, your belongings were packed and loaded as you climbed into the back of the warm, cozy van while the rain poured outside.
“look who it is!” warren exclaimed as you sat down. eddie stood outside packing the luggage onto the top of the van.
billy smiled widely at you. “i’m glad you’re coming.”
you blushed at his sincerity against your will. “me too.”
the road to california was long, but the building excitement in that van was infectious. everyone knew something big was coming.
upon arriving in los angeles, the band contacted rod reyes and built their first connection in the music world. with rod’s help, he gave you the number to contact filthy mcnasty’s on the strip and gave you another piece of information; karen’s phone number.
“graham, i have a surprise for you,” you said excitedly, dragging out the “you”.
“what?” he asked, confused.
you smiled. “i got karen’s number.”
*
not long later, you moved into a shabby house with the band in laurel canyon, and recruited karen sirko to be the new keyboardist for the dunne brothers. along with the new edition came a new venue to play in on the strip.
there, you saw billy really begin to fall in love with his music and performing. the way he interacted with the audience, and with you, was electrifying. you found yourself getting flustered if he sang to you while onstage, and you questioned why you felt so strongly. you didn’t have feelings for him, at least you thought. the butterflies in your stomach as he looked at you while singing on stage were trying to tell you something different.
one day, after billy came home with the legendary teddy price’s business card, you had sealed a deal to play for him, and the energy was beyond exciting. they played for him as you watched, and you kept getting those butterflies in your stomach as billy performed. they were getting harder and harder to ignore.
after teddy named the audition a success, the pure joy in the van afterwards was infectious. as the band drove away, you and the band were giddily laughing and hugging like children. billy was the first one you hugged.
you wrapped your arms around his neck first, and you could feel him get caught off guard for a moment, but he soon reciprocated. your heart felt like it was going to pop out of your chest.
“i’m so proud of you!” you said to billy as he squeezed you tighter. you pulled away from each other, faces red and smiling. your arms lingered on each other, not fully pulling away.
“we couldn’t have done it without you, Y/N,” billy said over the commotion.
one night, after a gig at filthy’s months later, the band finished playing and walked out onto the strip. you saw billy and teddy talking, and when you walked over to them, you heard the words you’ve been waiting to hear forever.
“if the label agrees, we’ll get you in the recording studio.”
billy stepped back, shocked. he looked at you, then back at teddy. “shut up.”
teddy shrugged. “it wasn’t all me. Y/N has been on my case about this deal for a while now. if it weren’t for her, this might not be happening.” that was true, the past few months was a pain trying to get teddy to budge on a deal.
billy looked at you. he had the widest smile you had ever seen, and in that moment, you thought you’d never seen anyone more handsome. he wrapped you in a hug, picking you up from the ground and spinning you as you giggled. you didn’t even care that he was drenched in sweat.
he put you down and tried to go hug teddy. he turned to the band, who was confused at the commotion. “guys, we’ve got an album!”
the boys jumped up, running to you and teddy, enveloping you both in a sea of hugs. teddy wasn’t as fond of hugs as you were, but you welcomed them sweat and all with open arms.
*
billy had always considered you vital in the band, but during the first album sessions, you were involved more than ever before in creative decisions. billy was running the show, but he trusted your opinion just as much, if not more, than teddy’s. given that billy wanted you involved in the music just as anyone else, it made your interactions much more intimate. you found yourself spending a lot of alone time with billy.
one night at the house after a long day in the studio, you and billy sat outside and drank some beers. your chairs were facing in, and it took some effort to not longingly stare at him.
“how do you like it so far? i mean, the album?” billy asked you nervously, looking down.
you smiled to yourself and bit your lip. “you’ve been wanting my approval more and more recently. what’s that about?” you asked, leaning back in your chair. “you’ve always been looking for my validation, but i never thought much about it until now.”
billy took a deep breath in. he looked like he was contemplating something, and he took a sip of his beer before looking at you again. “do i really have to say it?”
you furrowed your eyebrows slightly. prompting billy to start, he closed his eyes before talking again. “Y/N, i think i may be in love with you.”
your heart seemed to fall into your chest. you’ve had suspicions for a long time now, but you had always assumed you were looking too far into it. you thought that was just his personality. until recently, you had never even considered him romantically. it wasn’t until he really starting honing in on his craft that you saw a side of him that you could potentially like.
“billy dunne in love with me?” you asked playfully. you couldn’t believe it.
“i know you don’t feel the same, and i’ve accepted that. maybe it’s the alcohol talking, but i’ve been pining over you for as long as i can remember. i value your opinion because your ideas and thoughts are the only ones that truly matter to me.”
the heart beat in your chest sped up. you felt your face grow red and you hoped billy couldn’t see how absolutely flustered you were. you took a sip of your beer.
billy then waved his hand like he was brushing his thoughts away. “forget it, this was all stupid. i shouldn’t have said that, i’m sorry.”
your eyes softened as billy looked away, embarrassed. you scooted forward, gently placing a hand on his knee. “billy,” you started. he reluctantly turned to face you. “i want to explore where this could go.”
he smiled at you, a wide and endearing smile that made you immediately grin back. “i’ve waited a long time to hear that.”
after that night, it didn’t take long for you and billy to become inseparable. the band eventually caught on to what was going on, no one had to explain your feelings to anyone; everyone seemed to know. the often caught you making out in secret in random places in the studio.
after recording the album, it was time to go on tour. you and billy started dating after the first show on tour, and you were truly happy for the time being.
however, a lot of that initial glee faded as the tour continued, as the band was heavily using drugs and alcohol to escape the pressures of the tour. billy seemed to take it especially hard. most nights, he would do a line of coke right on stage and finish the show by washing everything down with alcohol.
“billy, don’t you think you should… slow down a little?” you asked gently once you were back in your hotel room. billy was opening another bag of coke.
he looked at you. “this is rock and roll, Y/N.”
you sighed. you were worried for him, everyone was. “you’re not yourself, billy. this isn’t the billy that i know,” you said, your tone getting harsher. when he looked away back to his bag of coke, you walked over to him.
“look at me,” you said, standing in front of him between him and the coke. he obliged, and blankly stared back at you.
it hurt you to see him like this. he was falling apart at the seams. “don’t fucking blame this on rock and roll. you’re addicted, billy. you have a problem. you better clean up your goddamn act soon or i-” you stopped, your voice cracking. tears were forming in your eyes. “or i can’t be with you any longer.”
billy blinked, almost unfazed. after a few moments, he nodded.
you looked up at him and shook your head. “clean yourself up.”
after that night, billy tried to cut back, but he always found his way back to the drugs and the alcohol. for a while, it was okay. he only did a line before a show and kept his alcohol for after the show. you still didn’t like his heavy consumption, but at least he was making an effort for you and your relationship.
then, just as it was getting better, it got worse again. he was fully addicted now, and was stumbling all over the stage. he couldn’t hold notes in the songs, and the band looked between themselves, confused.
“Y/N, what are we going to do with him? karen asked after a show, leaning into your ear as you watched billy open a bottle of vodka. you stared as tears fell down your face.
“there’s only one thing to do.”
you forced billy into your car, giving the band members hugs before you drove off.
“w-where are we going?” billy asked, dazed.
a tear drop fell on your leg as you drove, and billy’s eyebrows furrowed.
“you know where,” you whispered.
“Y/N, i’m sorry.”
“i know you are," you replied numbly.
you heard billy sniffle, like he was also crying. you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. “i can’t live without you. you’re all i ever wanted, and now i’ve thrown it all away.”
you bit your lip as you suppressed your tears. “i know.”
you pulled up to the rehabilitation center, and got out of the car with billy. you stood in front of him, close to him. he looked down at you with melancholy, and you looked up at him.
“take care of yourself, okay?”
he nodded. “i-i’m sorry, Y/N.”
you nodded as the tears fell harder. you were leaving behind one of the greatest things that has ever happened to you.
you turned away before you could hesitate and headed back to your car as you watched billy enter the front doors of the center. when he was out of sight, you broke down, releasing the sobs that were hiding in your body.
*
the rest of the tour was cancelled, and back at laurel canyon, the band wasn’t sure where their future stood. not having billy around had left a hole in the group, and you fell into a pit of depression not having him around. the band tried their best to cheer you up. whether it be graham offering to play games with you, or warren buying you useless knickknacks, or even just crying on karen’s shoulder, you appreciated their efforts but you couldn’t seem to get billy off your mind.
when you got the call two months later that billy was coming home, you felt excited and scared all at the same time. you were looking forward to having him back, you needed him. but confronting everything that had happened seemed too overwhelming.
graham brought him back to the house, and he got out of the car to greet the band. warren showed him his mustache he had been growing, and eddie showed billy his bass he had built. karen squeezed your hand before going up to billy and hugging him.
you stood behind the rest of them, afraid to make an appearance. billy was trying to look for you, and when warren noticed, he stepped away so you were visible to billy.
you could tell billy was feeling the same as you were. you watched as guilt flashed across his face, then nervousness, then eventually, relief.
you stepped forward at the same time, and he wrapped you in an endearing hug. it felt nice to be in his arms again.
“i’m never letting you go again,” billy said into your hair. “i’m staying clean for you.”
you pulled away so you could look at him, your arms still loosely around each other. “you get one more chance, dunne. one more slip up and whatever this is is over.”
after settling into normalcy again, you felt like you were getting to know billy all over again. you were rediscovering why you began to like him in the first place. you missed him.
not long later, you watched as graham angrily stormed out of the room with billy in it. you frowned and peered into the doorframe, finding billy with his head down.
“what’s wrong?” you asked, sitting down next to him. you placed a hand on his thigh, and he stared at it.
“i’m quitting the band, Y/N,” he said quietly.
your jaw fell slightly. “what?”
billy scooted away from you. you could tell he was emotional right now, and was pushing you away not because he didn’t want you there, but because he didn’t know what else to do.
“i love music, but i can’t keep doing this. there’s too much temptation, and i can’t go through that again. i can’t lose you again.”
you softened. billy was willing to do anything for you, but this was one act of selflessness that you couldn’t let him get away with.
“billy,” you started. “you’re the strongest person i know. i trust you. i’m not going to let you quit on this band because of me, you’re just getting started. please, at least think about staying. i won’t be able to do this without you.”
he continued looking down. he paused, and you could tell his hard exterior was crumbling around you. “i’ll think about it.”
and he did. only a few days later, he came to the band with a new song in a new direction that he was ready to get recorded. it was a beautiful song that he called honeycomb, and when he first played it for you, you had some thoughts.
“it’s good,” you said, nodding your head as you sat down on the couch next to billy.
“but…” billy asked, sensing your hesitation.
“it’s missing something.”
billy squinted, a devious smirk forming on his face. “like what exactly?”
“i don’t know, it just sounds too… hopeful, maybe?” you said.
billy looked at you with genuine confusion. “what’s wrong with having hope?”
“nothing, nothing at all, it’s just-” you paused. “no one wants to hear a song about hope. people like to hear things that are messy, and dark, and imperfect.”
billy rolled his eyes and kissed your cheek. “Y/N, you know i love your opinions, but i think you’re wrong about that one.”
you giggled. “i can guarantee teddy will tell you the same thing when you get it recorded.”
“is that a bet?”
you smiled. “hell yes it is.”
then you shook on it, and as it was, you ended up being right. in the studio, teddy told billy it was a good song, not a great one, and you and teddy had a new artist come in to sing vocals on the track named daisy jones.
billy was less than welcoming at daisy’s arrival, and they clashed over everything. billy wasn’t informed that daisy had changed his lyrics, and he stormed out of the studio, taking you with him by the wrist.
“billy, what the hell?” you said as you stumbled behind him, finally coming to a stop when you were outside.
“i can’t fucking believe this, Y/N, you and teddy are ruining my song by adding daisy. it’s not supposed to be a duet, and it’s suppose to be about hope,” billy said harshly.
“daisy adds more layers to that song whether you like it or not. she makes it better, and it gives the song a story.”
“no, she’s not. i wrote a beautiful song, and it’s being taken over.”
billy was frowning, and you stepped forward so you were right under him. at this point, you were frustrated too.
“stop being so fucking stubborn, billy. your ego is getting in the way for the success of this song. we’ll record it daisy’s way, and then we’ll record it your way, okay? we can decide which one sounds better later.”
billy paused, and looked down at you. you could see his harsh eyes soften a bit, and then he nodded his head.
you never did record it his way.
with look at us now came a rush in popularity and invitations to perform at festivals. at the diamond head festival, you saw for yourself the magic on stage that was billy and daisy together. daisy wasn’t a want, she was a need. that is, until billy made a particularly snide remark about daisy to the news following their performance.
“billy, are you crazy?” you asked when you had a private moment after the interview.
billy seemed confused. “what are you talking about?”
“billy!” you exclaimed. “you could have been a little nicer to daisy in that interview.”
billy looked at you, shocked. “i was! i couldn’t have been nicer! seriously Y/N, what’s the big-”
“the big deal is that daisy makes you better. she makes all of you better. you didn’t even give her any credit for the song.”
billy stepped closer to you. “it was my song.”
“daisy wrote the part that everyone remembers.”
billy paused. “she will ruin us.”
you shrugged. “you’ll never know until you try.”
for a while after that festival, things went back to normal, but you knew your work with daisy wasn’t done. you and billy were throwing a house party, and you invited daisy to try and work out the bad blood between the two. getting them to work together was not an easy task, but by the end of the night, they found common ground. it didn’t take long for daisy to be formally invited into the band.
you noticed daisy and billy continued to be unwilling to work together, despite all your efforts. finally, teddy sent billy and daisy away to write material together, and the pair didn't come back until the night time.
as the band recorded let me down easy, you could tell something special was building. as billy sang into the microphone, you hoped he would catch your eye so you could give him a proud smile, but his eyes stayed locked on daisy. you didn't think much of it at this point.
billy and daisy found their groove, and the two would walk into the studio after a day of writing laughing and giggling like children. you remembered when billy would do that with you. now, it seemed like a distant memory.
"karen, can i ask you something?" you asked karen once when you were the only two in the lobby of the studio.
"anything," she replied, putting out her cigarette.
"do you think something is off will billy? like, with me?" you asked sheepishly.
karen frowned. "what do you mean?"
you looked down. "he hasn't been the same since daisy has been in the picture. i rarely see him anymore, and when i do, he's not all there," you said. "and i felt so involved in the last album. i was involved in all of billy's decisions, and now it's daisy. should i be worried about..." you trailed off. "you know?"
karen looked at you, her eyes softening at your worried expression. "i know what you mean. billy's a great guy, Y/N, and i think you can trust him. if you're worried, i would talk to him sooner rather than later."
you nodded. "i'll see if it gets any worse, and if it does, i'll talk to him."
you hated that things were getting worse between the two of them. you could tell he was hiding something, and a part of you always knew that those two had some type of connection. they had to, for the sake of the music.
you tried to trust them and let him run off with daisy, knowing that they made each other better. but you knew he wasn't telling you something.
you didn't realize how far along their connection was until daisy and billy stormed out of the studio while recording more fun to miss.
you followed them out, a few paces behind them, to make sure everything was okay. as soon as you stepped out onto the pavement, you watched as daisy yelled something at billy, close to his face. then, you watched as billy pulled daisy closer, leaving a kiss on her lips.
you gasped, and the two immediately broke and turned to look at you. billy went as pale as a ghost, and you stood horrified.
"Y/N, this isn't-" billy started, walking closer to you.
you put up a hand, stopping him in his tracks. "don't."
billy paused. "daisy, can we get some privacy?" he asked sternly before daisy hurriedly made her way inside.
"can i explain?" billy asked quietly.
a tear ran down your face. "what is there to explain? i know what i just saw."
billy nodded understandingly. "i know, i know what this looks like, and i'm sorry. but truthfully, there's absolutely nothing going on between us."
you laughed. "you call that nothing?" you asked, raising your voice. "you kissed her, billy! and god knows what else you've been doing behind my back all this time. there's a reason you came out here to do this, so i wouldn't find out."
billy put his hands on your shoulders. "there's nothing of substance between us. this is all an act, we're building our connection so fans can see it and believe it onstage. that's what the fans want. please believe me, there's nothing between us. there never was, and there never will be."
you shook your head, tears streaming down your face harder. "and you expect me to believe that?" you asked quietly, walking away into the studio.
you had locked yourself in a storage closet for some privacy, and you could tell the band, minus billy and daisy, was looking for you around the studio. you sat on the floor crying, thinking about all the times billy left you to be with her.
you felt so stupid for letting this happen. you should have known something was off. you couldn't believe what billy did, but you couldn't believe that you fell for him the way you did. this should have been expected.
suddenly, you heard a faint voice from outside the door, down the hallway. "daisy, we need to talk."
footsteps. "don't tell me what i think you're going to tell me," she replied.
"we were a mistake. we never had anything, and we never will."
a pause. "you're a big fucking liar, you know that?" daisy asked him.
"Y/N is the one i love. she's the one i will choose every time."
"so that kiss just now meant nothing?" daisy asked, getting angrier. "you did that just so i'd sing like that on the album?"
"i did what i had to do," billy said, matching her tone. "this is all an act, for the music. we had to build chemistry so the fans will believe it. none of this is real." there was a pause before billy spoke again. "i refuse to lose Y/N. not again."
there was another long pause, before a loud "fuck you" and the sound of daisy's heels walking out of the studio doors.
your heart was beating fast after hearing that exchange. you wanted to trust the man that you had grown to love again.
you quietly unlocked the door, stepping out and finding billy down the hall. he looked at you and his harsh features softened when he saw your tear stained face. "hey, i've been looking all over for you," he said sweetly.
you stood in front of him, and he put his hands on the sides of your face, forcing you to look him in the eyes.
"i'm so sorry, Y/N. for all of this. temptation got the best of me, and i lost sight of what i wanted and needed. you're it for me, and you always have been. even before you knew i existed, i knew i wanted you and no one else."
you rested your forehead on his, briefly staying quiet. "never do anything like this ever again, okay asshole?"
billy smiled. "you have my word."
you kissed him, and it made you forget everything that had just happened. you could tell that he truly meant what he said to you through a single, meaningful kiss.
he made all of your worries dissipate in an instant.
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Ep. 8 "Bad Territory" Review
This episode was honestly the fluff I needed after last week's tense and crazy two parter. There was the usual action and excitement, but I loved the amount of fluff we got. Omega is forever our little ray of sunshine. I feel a bad feeling that it's going to get much darker after this week so I'll take any fluff I can get.
As always, spoilers below
It was really cool to see Fennec again and it makes senes that out of all the bounty hunters, the boys would choose to seek her out. She was originally after Omega, but she's not needlessly cruel like Cad Bane. If Omega's life were truly in danger, I don't think Fennec would want to see her get hurt. Cad Bane wouldn't give a second thought about it. Speaking of the ending, I definitely think she was talking to Ventress or someone like Quinlan. After all, Ventress is a Force-wielder and could be connected to whatever Hemlock is doing.
Overall, I really liked the interactions between her, Hunter, and Wrecker. Their banter was great and the joke about the Batch being straight up broke had me cackling. Like yes, these 5 guys with a kid are clearly enjoying Space Greece or whatever the fandom calls it. They're not gonna be looking for jobs right now. I also enjoyed seeing the boys use their skills like Wrecker's demolitions knowledge again. It's been so, so long since we've seen the boys go on a classic mission. That's not a bad thing either to have an "adventure of the week" style episode. It was cool to see them back in action (you know, non lethally).
The environment looked great, Wrecker and Hunter throwing hands with gators was pretty epic, and the final fight with the other bounty hunter (?) was exciting. I'll admit, the antagonist's design was cool and it allowed from some fun fight choreography.
Shoutout to the Phee cameo btw! Love seeing her as always. I think she'll be back after the Pabu invasion or she'll be back in time for that event to happen. Crosshair not knowing who she or Fennec was though was pretty funny. He's missed so much. (Also, this is the first time we hear him call Echo by his name fun fact).
Of course, Crosshair and Omega were the standouts because their dynamic is just that good. They're finally getting Crosshair's hand addressed! And I'm so glad Hunter stepped up to make sure it got looked at. Hunter loves Crosshair despite the past and he will look out for him. As many of us thought already, Crosshair's tremors are psychosomatic. We don't what happened on Tantiss (aside from some vague details), but whatever it was, it was bad; real bad. Crosshair is afraid of talking about it because it hurts. His reactions to even thinking about it were heartbreaking.
My theory is that Hemlock did something that broke a part of his identity. Maybe the identity erasure almost worked. Maybe he had Crosshair kill someone during a trial session to see if the reconditioning worked. Whatever it was, it traumatized Crosshair (on top of everything else he went through). For Crosshair to move forward, he's going to have to confront his trauma. He'll need to accept what happened to him and learn that it doesn't define who he is now.
Omega is so gentle and patient with him; I absolutely love it. She doesn't push him nor does she just leave him to get trapped in his mind. Instead, she tries to teach him coping mechanisms. The way he trusts her is so good too. Crosshair doesn't know what to do, but here is sister whom he loves. She's never left his side since they were imprisoned together and she was the only one who really advocated for him back in season 1. This girl loves him and he loves her. The scene where she holds his hand because it won't stop trembling genuinely means so much to me. It's such a small gesture that means so much. I really do appreciate that the writers are taking their time to show Crosshair going through the healing process. His hand doesn't get magically fixed because he escaped Tantiss nor because he redeemed himself. He achieved that. Now, he needs to finish the rest of his journey. AZI even mentions that it could be permanent. Real life mental health issues don't disappear in one night nor do they go away permanently. It comes and goes and that's what Crosshair will have to do. He'll have to cope with his trauma and hopefully the tremor will steady over time.
Many have pointed it out, but I would love to see a scene with him and Echo. Echo understands Crosshair's plight as he too was held captive and subjected to horrific experiments. I hope we get a scene between them where Echo comforts him. It would be a nice moment between two characters who often don't interact much.
Aside from that, the animation and music were great as always. That last scene of Cross and Omega meditating while Pabu's sun begins to set is truly gorgeous and it might be my favorite landscape shot of the show. It's also reminiscent of Hunter and Crosshair together on Barton IV. I am truly so happy to see Crosshair finding peace and happiness after so long. I honestly never thought we'd see him like this. But now, we do. (Side note: he looks so much smaller and vulnerable without his backpack or shoulder pads).
Anyways, I could go on and on about Crosshair. But I'll save that for another post. Can't wait for next week and hopefully we'll see Ventress!
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thewitchwannabe · 6 months
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Sneaking in (ninja style!)
The plan was simple enough, sneak in, get any information they could find on whatever the purple dragons were building, get out. Master Splinter even accepted their little endeavor. And so Leona stood on the top of the rooftop with her siblings and their two human allies. The plan was simple; the four turtles would sneak into the mechanical shop that worked at one the dragon’s hideouts, to find anything as to what they are doing with the tech. Casey will provide the getaway distraction, while April oversees the whole thing through the security cameras around. Donny set April up with their laptop and a headset with a microphone, “you have 6 cameras to watch over, you can double click on any of them to freeze the video for a few seconds, but if everything goes right you won't even see us”. 
April nodded with a confident smile, Casey crouched next to his childhood friend to look at the screen. His mind seemed to get a thought as his lips pulled into a tight line trying not to say. “Jones, don't you dare” April warned, but it was completely ignored. “Oh my gawd it's just like fnaf!”, the vigilante said. The two humans burst out laughing, quickly joined by Mikey who also thought the joke was hilarious. Donny, Raph and Leona stood watching the scene, with mostly amused smiles. Leo walked closer, placing her hand on Mikey’s shell, “according to the research Donny made, the opening should be happening in a few minutes so we gotta get moving”, she said “Casey you stay with April until we give the signal, alright?”
“You got it, blue” The human boy said with a sly smile. Leo felt her cheeks warm up at the nickname, but quickly went back into leader mode, instructing her siblings to follow her. The four ninjas jumped from the window with practiced ease.
The back door of the mechanical shop opened revealing a rookie member carrying two trash bags. From the shadows of the alleyway, four pairs of white eyes watched the unaware guy as he opened the trash bin. A fast shuriken shot from the shadows, creating cuts in both bags, making all the contents spill onto the floor. Making use of the distracted guy and the unlocked door, the four turtles slipped inside the building. 
The building had two stories, one used for the actual mechanic stuff, having different cars and car pieces around the first floor. While the other was offices and storage rooms. Or at least that's what they appeared to be. In reality it was more like the purple dragon's little club house. Leo spotted about twelve guys scattered across the floor, with only three of them actually working on a green van.
Carefully the ninja made their way to the second floor. A hallway of doors in front of them, one of said doors busted open as a clearly intoxicated guy walked out. The guy didn’t even see the turtles as they quickly climbed onto the ceiling and into a vent. Making their way through the air ducts, they looked through and counted another 6 gang members chilling and drinking around the place. But nothing that looked important. That is until Raph signaled at the vent he was checking. It lead to a sort of office. Two figures stood inside, the bigger one, that Raph recognized as Hun talked loudly.
“Those Foot bastards are holdin’ up on us, only giving us Baxter used stuff.” The gang leader said picking up some sort of machine and throwing it against the wall.
The other guy was of a darker complexion, clearly fit but significantly smaller than the huge Hun. “I still don’t get why we need them, we’ve been doing perfectly fine on our own,” the guy said, not even flinching at Hun’s actions. 
“Cuz right now we’re only small pond fishes, Xever, but with the stuff those ninjas can get us, we’ll be able to expand even further” Hun explained rather angrily. 
The guy, Xever, rolled his eyes at Hun. “So did you have anything important to say or did you just come here to talk shit about our sponsors?” 
Hun narrowed his eyes at Xever, as he walked over to the smaller man. Towering over him he roughly pushed something none of the turtles could make out into Xever’s chest. “Shredhead wants to meet with us” he said “Don’t be late”
Xever looked as Hun walked out the room, before pocketing the object. “Whatever you say boss” he said before following behind the gang leader. 
The office room was left silent and completely abandoned. Donnie asked April to freeze the video of the room before the youngest turtle busted the vent and jumped down, quickly followed by his siblings. The room was filled with blueprints and what looked like unfinished prototypes. Donny quickly got to work scanning the blueprints, quickly followed by Mikey completely destroying them. Leo and Raph looked through the boxes finding similar machines as the ones they got with Casey. Once he was done, Donny tossed Mikey a tiny mic, “Place it somewhere they don't see it” they instructed. The orange banded turtle gave a joking salute and went to find the perfect spot.
Donny reached his other siblings inspecting two almost completed models of the robot depicted in the blueprints. “We’re taking those, it’s much more finished than the ones we have in the lair”, Leo gave a sharp nod and went to pack the robot and a few spare parts into boxes. Raph looked up at the vent they had used to get it, and then back at the rather large boxes. “I don’t think we’ll be able to fit those through the vents”. Mikey appeared suddenly leaning heavily against his younger brother, who tried to swat him away only getting a chuckle from the other turtle. “I think Raphie is right guys” he says finally letting go of his brother.
The older sibling looked at the vents and then back at each other, silently agreeing. They agreed that they were going to have to get out the “normal way”, aka actually using the hallways. But doing so while carrying two big and heavy boxes and not being spotted by the approximately 20 gang members inside the building was not exactly easy. Luckily they had a distraction at the ready. Leo pressed her fingers to the earpiece, “Hey Case, time to do your thing” she said. The line turned to static for a second before Casey’s voice resonated in Leo’s earpiece, “Roger that, preciosa”. Despite not knowing what he had called her, the playful tone of the vigilante’s voice made her face warm up. Her mask hiding the small blush that formed on her cheeks. 
April informed them that Casey, now decked out with his mask, hockey bag filled with sports equipment and a pair of roller blades, had gone out to the main entrance of the mechanic shop to rile up the gang, with somewhat disturbing efficiency. Easily getting Xever and the whole gang inside the building to come out. Which correlated to the turtles hearing how the people in the second floor ran out their respective rooms. Waiting a few seconds to make sure everyone was gone, the four ninja carefully slipped out of the office. As they reached the first floor, they noticed the garage door wide open. Outside stood the gang members surrounding Casey. The gang was rowdy and impatient, ready to jump on the teenage vigilante.
Xever held a hand up, telling his guys to calm down “Go home garoto, Hun is already gone, so no need to beat you up” he said.
“What's wrong? Not so tough without your boss around, huh?” Casey loudly teased. Xever stood in front of the vigilante with an annoyed look. 
“You do realize we drastically outnumber you right?” Xever asked
“You do realize half your guys are completely drunk right?” the vigilante retorted 
The turtles knew exactly where the human’s little conversation was going, so they got back to action. They were almost at the door they entered through, when Donny spotted the green van sitting in the workshop. “I got an idea, go help Casey!” Donny said, running to the van with one of the boxes. Quickly picking up on Donny’s idea, Leo dropped her own boxes next to the vehicle and instructed her brothers to follow her. As the turtles start making they way towards their friend Xever brings down his hand, telling his people to go at Casey. 
The vigilante used his rollerblades to quickly evade the attacks coming at him. Many of them were sloppy, and unrefined as they tried to fight their own intoxication. Pulling his hockey stick, Casey blocked and hit his opponents. But he became predictably outnumbered, as the gang came in closer. Suddenly a fast blur that knocked out several goons appeared before him. “You really do know how to make an entrance blue”, Casey said. The turtle turned to face her friend with a confident smile and both swords drawn. “Not just me”, she said and as clockwork two more figures joined them, Mikey and Raph beating their way to them. 
The four stood with their backs against each other as the dragons quickly surrounded them, everything stood still for a second before one of the goons yelled “Get them!” and the fighting resumed. The four vigilantes took on the onslaught of gangsters, while Donny worked on hijacking the van in the mechanic shop. Casey used his great variety of equipment to attack his opponents, keeping them at a hockey stick length, while he used his rollerblades to skate around them and place a solid hit. Mikey jumped around the battlefield, mocking and teasing the drunken goons, easily avoiding their sloppy attacks and returning fast and hard hits with his chucks. Raph stood closer to his brother, taking on the guys that were left stunted from a nunchuck to the face, using his sais to bring them down. Leona was elegant as always, moving light on her feet like a butterfly, swiftly disarming her opponents as well as assisting both her brothers and Casey when needed. 
Xever stood back watching the fight, finally seeing the turtle freaks Hun had told him about with his own eyes. He dodges a few of his stumbling men as they walk off the hits they got and makes his way to the center of the fight. He pushes his way through until he’s face to face with the masked vigilante one again. “So little Armando really is friends with freaks”, he said, taking a hold of the baseball bat heading his way. Casey immediately dropped the bat and fell to his knees allowing Leo to jump on his back to attack Xever. The sword managed to grace Xever’s leg as he moved out the way. The two teens stood side by side, Leo gripped her katana tighter as Casey pulled out a golf club. Xever looked around to see most of his guys laying on the floor semi unconscious. 
Just as he was weighing his options, from the open garage a van rolled out at max speed towards them. Making a large drift it surrounded the group and got behind Casey and the turtles. Behind the wheel was Donny and April who had made her way to the mechanic shop while everyone was distracted with the fight. Leo signaled for Mikey and Raph to get in the van. The younger turtles gave their opponents a final hit before quickly getting in through the van’s back door. Once his little siblings were aboard Donny shifted the gear into reverse and back away and onto the street at a somewhat moderate pace. 
Leo and Casey stood back not making sure they weren’t trying to follow them. Leona shot three shurikens at the guys trying to go for their own vehicles, while Casey rounded the still conscious goons with his skates. Xever could only look as the group of teens left his group in shambles. Leo looked back at the van seeing it a little further down the street with the back doors fully open. “Casey! let’s book it!”, she said, deming her opponents effectively defeated and her siblings at a safe distance. Both her and Casey started running after the van which slowed down a little after seeing them approaching. Using his rollerblades to move faster Casey caught up to Leo “Let’s go preciosa!”, in a swift move lifted her from the ground bridal style. Leo’s eyes went wide open and her face warmed up as the vigilante held her tighter. Casey made sure to turn his head back at Xever who was watching them get away, and stuck his tongue out mockingly. It didn’t take long for the two of them to catch up to the moving van. Casey dropped Leo inside as gently as he could and was quickly pulled up by the oldest turtle. 
They looked back at the mess of purple dragons laying in the street, Xever looking rather pissed. Casey could help but smirk at their handiwork, “Hey blue, wanna learn some spanish?” he asked. Leo looked at her human friend and nodded with an amused look. The vigilante took a deep breath and yelled “CHINGUEN A SU MADRE!”. From the front seat Leo heard April burst out laughing, quickly followed by Casey and her sibling. She copied Casey’s deep breath, and tried her best to repeat what Casey had said. Knowing very well it was most likely a curse word but not finding it in herself to care, as she was filled with adrenaline and joined the human’s laughter. Quickly followed by her siblings. She and Casey closed the van’s door, big smiles plastered on their faces. Leona felt her face warm up in a way that was becoming rather familiar as she laughed with Casey. The teens rode on their new van back to the lair to celebrate their successful mission.
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yunacoeur · 11 months
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the choices we make
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our last dance: chapter iii
chapter synopsis: you, as the oldest royal child of your family, are up to take the throne. in your search for a partner to be consort, the royal family is throwing a party in your name for you to meet potential suitors.
look at me like i’m the only person in the room.
word count: 3.2k
a/n: i apologize this is kind of the filler chapter to get us to the climatic ending of the main story! so excited to show you chapter 4, but in the meantime: enjoy!
taglist: @en-ct @dimplewonie @cherriegyu @zerobaseonefics @haesunflower @shiningstar-byulxx @kpoprhia @harus-simp @taerrrrrae @zhanghaos-hairclips @big-uwu-stan @seok02 @kpop17 @quanrui-vamp @mins-fins @huipinkhair @beomibeom @wonluvrbot @gyuvinie08 @flwrinn @wigobkm @deadlycute-cutelydead @ladyestelleofthesea @aerzb1 if you’d like to be on the taglist please fill out this form!
you wake up the morning after, after having been right to assume you’d be restless. the whole night was spent thinking about all of them. you couldn’t eliminate a single one without some part of your brain begging you to reconsider. a small memory shard would be given to you every time you tried to eliminate them. a moment that made you like them.
and then you’d be back to square one.
gyuvin seemed younger, but he was charming in a youthful way. he still had all the stars in his eyes, while the others seemed to only have a few. he had beautiful dreams and ideas and you wonder if maybe, just maybe, you could run away with him. to a place where nobody knew either of you.
matthew was polite and kind and everything you expected in a partner. he’s practically perfect for you. he’s strong and saved you from so much embarrassment when you fell. he kind of felt like the hero you needed in life.
hao was someone who felt real. he felt genuine. you didn’t feel like royalty around him, you just felt like you were someone and he was someone and you were destined to fall in love. you could see it when you were deciding whether or not to dance with hanbin. he felt it too. he was comfort and protection and calm. maybe that’s what you need a little more of.
taerae, the hopeless romantic. god it felt like a typical romance straight out of a movie. what’s nice is that these kind of movies are predictable. there are no surprises, just a guy who falls helplessly in love with you by the end of the story. you could be the happy ending that romeo and juliet never got.
jiwoong is familiarity, and also unfamiliarity. he’s someone you’ve known for years, and also someone completely unknown to you entirely. and while you have spent this time not really knowing him, he has spent his time falling in love with you, to your surprise. he said he’s wanted to marry you all his life. maybe you could make his wish come true.
yujin is also familiarity, but in a different way. you could never marry that kid, but maybe you should consider the possibility of giving the position to him on paper so he could get the chance to rule like how he’s always dreamed of, and your real lover could be someone else behind the scenes. perhaps that is a good ending too, is it not? sacrificing everything so yujin gets a happy ending?
gunwook, the noble scholar, who gives meaning to the stars in the sky. he’s smart, effortlessly so, and he’s beautiful, adorable, sweet, etc. he could say there’s meaning in the most innocuous things and you would believe him. the sun is shining a little bit brighter today? it’s a sign that we’re meant to be together, shine together.
and ricky. a ghost of a presence. an orange rose hidden in the bouquet, waiting for you to search and rescue it. he’s a mystery, but as you think more about him, ask around more, you learn how sweet the people around him think he is. they compare him to a kitten. you’re not sure you see it.
the night is slowly coming to an end. you can feel it in the air.
you look for a place to rest your unconventional bouquet, finding an expensive vase resting on a podium in the center of the room. you assume it’ll do the job. you put them in the vase, adjusting them so each one stands out just a bit more. they look chaotic and mismatched together, but even still, they’re all reminders of the beautiful people you’ve met tonight. it would be a shame to hate them and their lack of uniformness.
your eyes search for suitors with flowers still in their suit pockets, a sign that you must still speak to them. one last suitor stands out to you. he’s tall and his hair is bleached blonde. he's wearing more modern styles of jewelry and makeup, he looks cool. trendy even. it means he doesn’t fit in super well with the rest of the crowd, but he also stands out. he is incredibly attractive and his modern look is not doing him any disservice. he’s quite beautiful. you make your way over to him, but as he sees you, he walks over to meet you in the middle.
he tells you his name, but you don’t quite hear him, “my name is ricky.”
“hi, ricky,” you say with a giggle. it’s weird that you feel so shy, but the way that he’s looking at you is making you question everything. his eyes are enchanting, but he’s a little more reserved than he seems from far away and he’s quieter than he seems as well. he hasn’t said anything this whole interaction besides his name.
that’s probably the only reason you can keep talking to him without getting flustered, “i saw you fall earlier. you were with another suitor, i believe? it was so shocking.”
“what do you mean?”
“well, so many people saw but you kinda fell into that guy’s arms so no one said anything,” he shrugs, “are you normally that clumsy?”
a part of you is screaming at yourself to recognize that he hasn’t addressed you respectfully this entire time and that he’s talking way too casually. the other is too charmed by him to really care about the disrespect.
“i-i guess so,” you murmur.
“you should be more careful,” he advises. you mumble out a shaky acknowledgment as he looks at his watch for the time.
“it’s getting late,” he comments, looking back up at you, “did you succeed tonight? did you find ‘the one’?”
a part of you wonders how he even knew of your worries about not finding ‘the one’. a part of you knows he could of overheard. it’s still shocking.
“i don’t know,” you say, and he shakes his head.
“no, i think you do,” he says in return. he’s serious, and the fact that he’s so self-assured makes you believe him just a bit.
you remember talking to a staff member earlier in the day, from a neighboring kingdom. they had sent a son of a powerful, wealthy duchess. they had called him something, an adoring nickname that didn’t make sense nor matter at the time, and now looking back on it you’re wondering how someone like this could be so adored and practically babied by the people around him.
but they definitely referred to him as the one with the blonde hair.
the nickname was something you could not remember, but you could never forget how highly they spoke of him, like he was the sweetest person they had ever met. like he was a teddy bear.
which was ironic because the guy in front of you doesn’t seem like that. maybe there’s more under the surface.
because he is definitely a softer guy than he’s letting on. he can hide it with his intimidating energy and mystery, but you can see it in his eyes, in the way he’s nervous fidgeting with his hands. he seems sweet under it all.
you try to talk to him more, but he almost seems to be rushing to run away, disappearing practically mid-conversation into the crowd. it’s disappointing, but you can finally seem to drag yourself out of the spell you seemed to be under while he was around.
and then it hits you, he never gave me a flower. as you realize it, you walk over to the vase in the center of the room where you had put the other flowers.
you find an orange rose hidden in the bouquet. there’s a note attached to it, taped to the thorny stem.
“remember me. ricky.”
the party has been over for a while now. not literally, you suppose, considering all the people still here. they won’t start to trickle out until you leave.
you retreat to the bar, hoping to find a certain comforting face once again. now that all the dancing has stopped, most of the guests are standing around, drinking, and chatting with their comrades. it may be hard to find the particular face you’re searching for.
and yet, right when you wanted him, he appears before you. it might just be magic.
“hello, stranger,” you say to him. your tone is much warmer and more fond than before. it has lost all sarcasm.
“didn’t i tell you not to call me that?” he replies as he turns to face you. it makes you smile knowing he recognized your voice, your teasing before he saw you. maybe he’d see the personality before the status, unlike so many people in your life, “are you doing alright?”
“yeah, why wouldn’t i?”
“i told you to come find me if you needed a break, so i had assumed-”
“don’t assume anything, dear stranger. i can’t only come to you during bad times. that is not love,” you say, reaching for his hand. he lets you take it and hold it in yours.
“my apologies, your highness,” he says with the most endearing smile.
“but unfortunately you were right,” you say, and he breathes out a laugh. it’s such inappropriate timing, but he can’t help it. you playfully glare at him and he rushes to defend himself.
“i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have laughed,” he says, “what’s wrong?”
you look away from him to gaze over the crowd, eyes wandering to your bouquet sitting gently in the center of the dancefloor. it stands out even more on its podium now that no one is dancing.
it’s an ominous thing. just sitting there peacefully, holding a representation of 8 different guys who offered to marry you, and also yujin, who you think forgot to give you the flower that was sitting in his pocket. you smile fondly at the thought.
out of all the possible thoughts to share with hao, you choose a very unspecific one, “i don’t feel right about any of this,” you say.
“what do you mean, your highness? the party?”
“this isn’t right, hao,” you whisper anxiously. even though he can tell you didn’t mean to say his name so casually, that it just slipped out without you noticing, he smiles. you’re already comfortable with him and that gives him peace, “i don’t feel good forcing people to perform and be the perfect candidate for my husband so i can find ‘the one’.”
“hey, don’t say that. you’re not forcing anyone,” he squeezes your hand to get your attention back on him. you seem distracted.
“i just- it all feels so wrong,” you say, and he heaves out a big sigh like he’s preparing to make a huge mistake.
he pulls you by your hand into him, his free arm wrapping around you as your head rests on his shoulder. he rests his head against yours, letting you relax and breathe before he says anything else.
“i’m sorry,” he whispers, “i’m sorry i keep doing things without asking you. i’m sorry i keep disrespecting you as the future monarch of this kingdom. and mostly i’m sorry that you feel like you’re the villain here.”
you’re not crying, because keeping in emotions is something you’ve been learning to do for years. god if you aren’t a little bit close.
“this should have been a cute story. a love story. finding your perfect match and having a perfect, happy ending,” he taps his hand against your back as a soothing motion, “instead you’re here feeling like you’re the bad guy, like you forced everyone here. that must feel horrible.”
“it does,” you whisper back.
he chuckles, and you feel the vibrations from his chest. his rhythmic heartbeat comforts you.
“i’m sorry, your highness. if it’s any comfort, i can assure you that no one you’ve met tonight feels forced to be here.”
“how would you know?” you mumble against his shirt.
“because i’m standing here with you. i could not imagine being displeased with your company,” he smiles, you can’t see it but you can hear it in his voice, “i could not imagine disliking you. i couldn’t even begin to describe what that would be like.”
you raise your head to look at him. his eyes are so intense, but they’re beautiful, burning into your soul.
“thank you, stranger,” you whisper to him with a giggle, and he scoffs, letting you go but still holding your hand.
“you’re never gonna let that go, are you?”
“i don’t think so,” you smile, and he smiles back.
“are you thinking of calling it a night soon?” he asks.
“yes, i think so. i am tired. i will think it all over in the morning,” you say, thinking of the restless night you are about to have. all those pretty smiles and charming personas. it will definitely take some time to decide who you’re going to marry.
“then i suppose this is goodbye until i see you again,” he sighs, and it feels tragic. there’s this heavy feeling on your soul, “whether i see you again as my fiance or as an ally, please know that i will always be here to be your peace, should you ever need me.”
“thank you, hao,” you tell him, before suddenly, you remember something, “oh, my, i almost forgot!”
he looks shocked for just a moment, “what? what is it?”
you look back at him, apologetic for getting up to leave so suddenly, “i promised something.. to someone.”
of course, you see in his eyes that he’s not fond of what you’re implying. he looks subtly upset like he’s hiding it well. maybe your heart likes that he already wants you to himself.
you don’t have to do it. you could stay with hao and be comfortable. he seems to be the only real person here. he’s sweet and charming. he’s a perfect bachelor.
but you see hanbin from across the room. his darling charming smile and his cheek dimples stand out the most. he is exciting, breathtaking, and it would be a crime to not dance with him at the very least one last time ( hopefully this isn't the last).
“stay with me,” hao says, tightening his grip on your hand. you stare at your hand being held in his, desperately holding on, “stay. please.”
“i promised him,” you whisper, looking up at him. something is going on inside his head, an emotion you can’t exactly pinpoint. you give one last look to hanbin, who at very long last makes eye contact with you. his eyes shine impossibly brighter, like he’s found what he’s been looking for.
hao sighs, “then go,” he changes his mind suddenly, and you turn back to face him, “no, really. go. dance with him. it’s okay.” it’s confusing and heartwrenching to see hao let you go like that. you know he hates the words leaving his mouth.
you mouth a simple thank you to him before running off to fall into the arms of your final dance partner of the night.
you get to him easily. he’s still just as effortlessly beautiful up close as you remember. he immediately reaches for your hand to hold. he’s warmer than zhang hao is. he’s not as soft spoken. he’s brighter. his grip is less gentle. so many little differences.
“hanbin,” you smile, and he smiles back. he adores how softly you say his name. it’s only been hours, but he thinks he’s ready to fall in love. it feels too fast and too quick, but he’s been preparing for this moment his whole life. considering he has no chance for his own kingdom's throne, marrying you would be fulfilling his destiny.
plus, he likes the way you look at him. he likes how clumsy you dance, it’s kind of charming. he likes how humble you are despite your position. he likes a lot about you already.
“will you join me?” he asks, but when your face falls just slightly, he gets concerned. he’s faulting just a bit, his hand retracting slightly. he’s worried that you’re giving him this last dance as a final goodbye, “what is wrong, your highness?”
“you’re asking for the… last dance,” you mumble, and before he has a chance to even respond to that, you wipe the sadness from your face and take his hand, “very well, i suppose i will join you.”
he’s slightly stunned, but he follows. he feels out of place for wanting to correct you. you haven’t given him the opportunity, but he still feels like he must. for your feeling’s sake.
“your majesty, i had asked for your first dance as a formality. and i had asked for your last dance out of avarice for your time, but if i'm being honest,” he says, his grip on your waist as you sway together making the moment even more intimate. god, he’s so close to you, you can feel the breaths he exhales on your skin, “i think i’ll need more than just those two.”
“yeah?” that, in all your dazed glory, was all you were capable of responding with.
“i would ask for all of them if that didn’t feel just a bit too greedy, your highness,” he gives you a goofy smile and it just all stops. time freezes for just a second.
you let it all go for a moment, just enjoying your last moments of the night with him. he decides to relax and enjoy these moments as well, twirling you around and smiling so endeared when you giggle. he might just be in love already.
you’ve gotten a little bit more bold since the first dance with him, and now that it is the last one, he happily lets you lead him around in your clumsy rendition of the graceful dance he had led you in earlier. he is so much better of a dancer than you are, but he’s patient with you. you step on his toes at one point, and you hurriedly apologize, but it doesn’t even matter to him. his expensive shoes are replaceable; this moment with you is not.
people who look on simply see you and him, giggling and laughing at your silly dance, holding onto each other for fear you’ll fall, and they must wonder if all these other suitors thought they even stood a chance.
“i have a request,” you say to him, “could you promise me this is not our last dance?”
he smiles so endearingly, “your highness, no matter what your answer is in the coming days, should you ever lend out your hand, i will reach for it. i will always twirl you around and dance with you, and we will come right back to this moment,” he says. it gives you comfort for a brief second before the anxiety of the question of who to pick comes back to you.
hanbin?
with his perfect smile and dimples, are you going to choose to spend your mortal life ruling a kingdom with sung hanbin by your side?
“thank you,” you say, pulling his hand close to your lips to kiss the back of it.
he shakes his head adorably, pouting, “oh, your highness, that should be me. i should be thanking you for your consideration and time-”
“hanbin,” you stop him, “thank you. i should go now, but i thank you for everything.”
the feeling of the kiss on his hand still lingers after you’ve left him there.
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mysticcollectionbee · 7 months
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Loki S2 Ep.2 (Breaking Brad): Pros & Cons
(SPOILERS!)
First the Bad to get it out of the way:
• Biggest thing I got a problem with: NOT a fan of the TVA brutality thing and really hope the TVA isn't seen as a 'flawed' system but just a system built to be awful. Only thing I agree with Sylvie is that the overall system is bad. And the protags shouldn't be chill using these tactics. Gonna hope this was just a one time thing because of X-5 just being a massive dick and pissing them to an extreme extent (Doesn't make it right, but if someone blamed me for a loved ones death...I might loose my morals a bit too).
• Sylvie being a bitch to Loki FOR NO REASON. Like everything else going on with her I love, but, why is she being horrible to Loki? He didn't betray or stop her. SHE BETRAYED HIM AND SCREWED EVERYTHING OVER, BUT SHE'S THE PISSED ONE?
Now that we got all the bad out of the way, onto the good stuff:
•Badass Loki, with MAGIC, with a bit of intimidation? YES. Sure, I don't like him and Mobius torturing X-5 BUT I'm all for Loki weaponizing his villainous history. And surprisingly keeping his temper under control. Nice.
• Unlike Mobius...My dude ya good? I love what this could be hinting and going for. And also showing that he isn't pure good, but as Loki said, Not all good which is why they get along.
• Loki being the one that kept a cool head and is the one trying to comfort is so interesting! He's never tried doing that for anyone besides Thor in a few small scenes. And that's his brother! He just wants to be there for Mobius and let him have some pie while they chill and talk stuff out, even trying to relate to mobius (albeit a funny ridiculous comparison).
•Both of the time duos being horrible with tech makes a bit too much sense. They are great at manipulating and reading people, but they probably can't build a single IKEA chair.
•CASEY! I love Casey actually becoming more of an important/useful character. And apparently a fan of O.B. So maybe our tech guy won't have to wait hundreds of years for a visitor anymore!
•B-15 being the heart of the team and the TVA, she should be in charge. Please. Also I need an offical name for her and D-90 because I really want to call them by actual names.
•X-5 is an asshole but a well written and neat asshole. I do kinda want him to get back to his movie life, that way he won't be such a dick to the characters I like and he gets to keep having his dream life. Win-win.
• Sylvie gets a fun retirement life please! I don't think her being on the team is good for her or for the team. I think she should only join when her life is endangered and when it's all over get back to it. I used to think she might join Loki and Mobius on maybe continuing fighting Kang after the season is over but like...That's not her fight? Leaver her be. And bad for the team cause well...The morale is already kinda shit and she's gonna be miserable and make everyone else miserable too.
• Just realized this: Is everyone keeping secrets??? Loki seemed to not have been planning to tell the others about the Ravonna and HWR convo until it was needed to mention (Mobius literally was asking, "When were you gonna-" then was caught off), Mobius seems to already know or have a serious fear that he's hiding, B-15 has yet to mention what she saw of her past life despite it obviously leaving an impact, etc.
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littlebluespoon · 5 months
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hi I hope you don’t mind this but I just need to vent and I feel like I can trust you, I was just in the store with my mom buying stuff for thanks giving and we walk down an aisle and there’s this thin tall guy and he looks at me and as we walk past him he keeps watching me and fully turns and sort of follows us and as my mom is picking something out he grabs his phone and tries to discreetly record me and I notice and so as I turn around my mum does too and he leaves to the back of the store… this is the first time this has happened to me and it makes me hate the world I’m curvy (DD chest, small waist, and thicker thighs) and I have to worry about shit like this yeah I’ve heard crude perverted comments about my body before but have never fully been recorded by a man that looks in his mid to late thirties and I’m terrified and scared and feel like it’s my fault I just don’t know what to do right now so could i possibly get a small König comfort? :(
-🐙
Octo! I hope you're okay and feeling better. I would have answered this earlier but tumblrs notifications are crap.
First of all, it's not your fault. It's never your fault. These guys are creeps and unfortunately its our fear that they enjoy but not having some fear can also make these situations worse. Keep your head up Octo, I'm glad you weren't alone either. Don't be afraid to make a scene if you ever have to, a little embarrassment is better than something worse.
As for König and comfort, I can definitely do that.
TW; small mentions of panic and stalking, allusions to a panic attack, comfort
Sonne - Sun , Sonnenschein - Sunshine (In german, internet translations)
--
Usually König would come with you when you were doing the bigger shopping trips. This one was for a dinner with some of his teammates and their partners but unfortunately he was called to base for a paperwork dispute so you went alone. Of course this would be the time your ex decides to make a nuisance of himself.
The brief encounter had left you shaken, he hadn't said anything to you but his looming presence as you walked the store was enough. You pulled over halfway through the drive home to compose yourself and when you eventually got there, König was already home.
Forgetting the shopping, you ran straight through the door and into his chest, wrapping your arms around him,
"Sonnenschein? What's wrong?" He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you so that you weren't in view of the open front door. He keeps an eye on the door as he carries you to the couch.
"Sonne, are you okay?" He feels your small nod against his chest, "I'm going to close the door and then we can cuddle, okay?" He waits for your go ahead before doing so and before you could blink he's back at your side.
He pulls you down to the couch, on top of him, and pulls a blanket over both of you. He doesn't ask what happened, he's assured that you're safe and uninjured and he knows you'll tell him once you've calmed down and feel safe.
The shopping's forgotten as the two of you lie on the couch for the rest of the night, stroking each others skin where you could, just basking in the comfort of each other.
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Text
Misty Boardwalks And Vampires, Oh My! Ch.3
Dwayne x Fem!Reader
Prev.
Chapter Index
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“Well?” David asked with a smirk from his spot on a chair when Dwayne walked in.
The two exchanged looks before David let out a laugh while Marko and Paul glanced between the two in confusion.
Dwayne sighed and sat on the floor. “It went well.” He mumbled softly, refusing to look at David and admit he was right.
“But you changed your mind, right?” David leaned forward in his seat, intrigued by the not so sudden turn of events.
“Maybe… I just feel drawn to her.” Dwayne replied, looking at David sternly. He himself was quite concerned yet confused at the same time, his shoulders slumping as he let out a frustrated sigh.
“Luckily for us, I had another group picked out. Looks like blood’s back on the menu, boys.” David chuckled and sat back, shaking his head in disbelief at how quickly Dwayne had changed their plans on what to do with ______.
“I feel like we’re missing something here.” Marko spoke up, letting go of the pigeon he’d been playing with and exchanging glances between David and Dwayne.
“Well, you remember our dear friend, _____. Right?” David reminded them, waving his hand as he reminded the other two.
“Yeah, she was a total babe we picked for the kill, why?” Paul asked, glancing at Dwayne then back at David.
“Well boys,” He began, placing a hand on Dwayne’s shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.. “It seems like our brother here has gotten a little… attached. So back off until we figure out what Dwayne’s got up his sleeve, got it?” David finished, giving Marko and Paul commanding looks to deter them from trying to mess with _____ further. He knew Dwayne was typically quiet, but he also knew he wasn’t a force to be messed with.
The duo looked at each other, nudging each other playfully and letting out a chuckle.
“Yeah yeah. We’ll go check out the boardwalk before Dwayne freaks out.” Marko half teased, shooting a smirk in said male’s direction.
Dwayne’s dark eyes followed Marko, glaring at him then rolling his eyes in annoyance and trying to ignore the other boy. After releasing a heavy sigh, he got up and walked to a more secluded place in the cave for some peace.
David craned his neck to look at the remaining boys, watching them leave and debating if he should go to talk to his leather clad brother.
“What did you get yourself into?” He thought to himself and walked towards the entrance for a smoke.
Dwayne remained in a room deep within the decaying hotel, it being his safe space away from everyone else when he needed it. The room consisted of lots of dust and the smell of decaying wood and fabrics filled the air. Time certainly hadn’t been kind to this place, nor had it been kind to him. It took his mortality, and the life of his brother, and that was something he couldn’t bring himself to forgive and forget about quite yet.
He sat on the dusty floor, resting his head against the wall and listening to the sound of the ocean nearby to soothe his nerves.
Paul and Marko on the otherhand, well they were currently scoping the pier, grinning and arguing with a vendor about pricing.
“No way that leather cuff is actually worth $10! Look at it man, it’s got a scuff on it!” Paul argued, shaking his head and pointing at a small scuff that he made on it.
“Yeah, look at that! It’s not worth no $10!” Marko chimed in, smirking at the frustrated vendor.
The vendor scratched his head, trying to figure out how to respond as people drew near to see what was going on.
“This guy’s a rip off! He’s selling damaged goods for full price!” Marko exclaimed, making sure the people nearby could hear him clearly.
The crowd began pressing in, murmuring and watching the scene unfold before them.
“Fine! Fine, $5! That’s as low as I can go.” The vendor urged, practically sweating bullets at the unwanted attention.
“$5 sounds good to me, what about you Paul buddy?” Marko asked his blond friend, slapping his shoulder and smirking.
“Sounds good enough to me. Here ya go.” Paul smirked and paid the guy, grabbing the leather cuff and kissing it. “Pleasure doing business with ya!” He grinned and walked off towards Max’s store with Marko.
In the meantime, David was overlooking the cliff, kicking a stone around out of frustration and annoyance. As much as he hated to admit it, he had a sneaking suspicion as to why Dwayne had taken such a liking to ______. The thought frightened him, only because he knew he couldn’t control it and he had to just sit back and let things work out for themselves. Besides, it was only a hunch, and though usually he wasn’t wrong about these things, he wanted to hope he was wrong for fear of issues that would come if his hunch was in fact correct.
He ran a gloved hand through his hair, then rubbed his face as he let out an irritated groan. “I better be wrong, just this once.” He spoke to himself and lit his second cigarette of the night. “This is going to be a 3 pack problem.” He sighed and took a drag from the cigarette, puffing out the smoke in annoyance.
Shortly after, Dwayne approached David, giving a small smile and a playful nudge.
David smirked and shook his head. “Looks like you’re in for a big one, huh?” He half joked, offering his friend a cigarette.
Dwayne let out a chuckle and took one from the pack. “Thanks, and uh… I don’t know. The whole thing’s a little confusing. I really like her, it just feels weird this time. It’s not the usual sort of crush thing and I can’t pin point what I feel for her yet, however, we do got a date Saturday night.” He explained, speaking in a more serious tone now.
David’s eyes widened and he frowned. “Dwayne, I hate to bring this up, but we both know how this will end. I know you’re not reckless like the other two, but keep in mind, we’re vampires Dwayne. There’s only two ways this can end, and either way, it ends horribly for us all. There is no way this can possibly turn out okay for either of you… Look, I hope it ends well, you deserve to be happy, but right now… We need to lay low.” He spoke a tad harshly, though it could be understood considering how serious the situation is.
“David, I know. Believe me, my mind is jumping to every single thing that can go wrong, but I can’t just shake off how I feel for her out of fear. That’s not living, and I’m trying to figure this out as I go too. The minute things start going south, I promise, I’ll get rid of her myself. Until then, let me handle this. I’ve never asked you for anything before, but just give me a little room to grow and give me a bit of trust here. Okay?” Dwayne responded, his gaze softening as he looked at his friend, understanding their predicament and giving him a reassuring pat on the back. He finally lit his cigarette and watched the moon reach its high point.
David took a drag and let out a heavy sigh. “Alright… just keep me updated. I’m here for you, and I got your back.” He spoke, sounding more sure of himself now. He sincerely wanted Dwayne to be happy, and if it meant taking a risk, he’d make sure that risk had the odds in their favor. Even if it meant using his abilities to manipulate the situation and change the ending, should things start looking sour.
Though they both hoped that wouldn’t be the case, and if, and that’s a huge if, David was right, none of that would be necessary. This whole situation would be easy, and any problem that comes their way will stop before it even begins, but that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?
Afterall, this isn’t a fairytale with happily ever after’s while the heroic lovers ride off into the sunset, no, no this is the real world. In such a world, our protagonists are in fact the villains when you view them correctly. In fact, they’re quite monstrous, capable of bringing the world to its knees if they so felt like it. Now, the question is, in the real world, do villains ever even get their happy ending?
~~
Tag list: @goodiesinthecloset21 @binightowl
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violetren · 4 months
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Controversial opinion but, Gabe's level of crappy was well adapted actually.
I think the fact that the maintenance guy felt the need to apologise to Percy because Percy had to go into the house with a freshly annoyed Gabe, and the fact that Percy "my mother is more important than the gods" Jackson was surprised that Gabe has been answering her phone implying that its a breach of privacy and not a thing Sally would normally allow if is she knew, and just a few other things in general do work well as subtext that Gabe can be a lot worse than we got to see of him so its weird for me seeing everyone be like "idk man its probably gonna feel bad when the medusa him like the books, he's just kind sucky."
Like it's a live action disney show made for CHILDREN, there are a lot of things they are never going to get away with showing. Like showy domestic abuse. Violence only flies if its fantastical or if it is in small doses by people in the same peer group, like kids fighting kids, adults fighting adults. There isn't as much wiggle room as in say animation where its easily stylised to be less confronting, or in text where its all theatre of the mind.
Just because a lot of the original fans of the series are adults now doesn't mean the show was made for us, and would go in on those darker themes. It was made because its popular children's franchise that has the potential to get a whole new generation of viewers, they aren't gonna get by today's ethical standards for a children's show by making Show!Gabe more overtly like Percy's descriptions Book!Gabe.
Also do you know what actions we get from like the dozen or so lines we get of Book!Gabe at the start of the story when you strip away Percy's internal monologue about how awful he is? We get an entitled man child who sits on his ass playing poker for most of the scene and cares more about having cash to gamble than Percy or Sally's happiness. A loser who is placated into leaving the scene and becoming irrelevant by being offered food he likes.
So no, we didn't see him asking for Percy's change from the cab fare but we also didn't see Percy get a cab. And no, he didn't make some shitty comment about the money for the trip coming out of Sally's clothes money, but we did get him answering Sally's phone without permission and telling Percy he better take his shoes off in the car implying that Gabe sees his boundaries and belongings as sacred whereas theirs aren't. Gabe was only ever just kind of a pathetic jerk who had to prompt his so called friend twice for the guy to get in on jeering at Percy so honestly it makes sense that a modern version would only play online because he wouldn't have the charisma or attitude to get an in person table.
Book!Gabe only seemed more hardcore because we had Percy's internal monologue adding layers that couldn't have been put into adaptation without adding an extra 10mins of run time or using a voice over technique that wouldn't mesh with the rest of how they have constructed the show and would have come off as cheap. And arguably even with the internal monologue the only reason his death still feels justifiable as an adult is because we've been steeping Percy's (aka the heroic audience surrogate protag that our young minds all latched onto) satisfaction at his death in nostalgia for almost two decades.
So yeah, he seemed pathetic and kinda manageable in the beginning, but the reason abusers can be so prolific is that a lot of the time they do look pathetic, or manageable, or if you're especially unlucky they can even seem charming, and attentive, right up until they aren't.
For the adults and older kids that know the character that means we know what he is under that pathetic facade, for those that don't some red flags were dropped, and for the kids he's just vaguely a jerk compared to Sainted Mother Sally Jackson and that might be enough of a hand wave when they have much cooler fantasy shit and other characters their age to be more busy sympathising with.
Obviously we don't know how things will play out, maybe because they "scaled him back" they'll drop the medusa statue approach. Maybe we'll get flashbacks or conversations about Percy growing up that will show Gabe's more sinister side to justify it happening anyways. Maybe we'll see nothing but when Percy and Sally will arrive home and Gabe will blow up at them for having to sit through the big game alone and without his sandwich completely ignoring that they were missing for over a week beyond how it inconvenience him, and make it a moment of self defence. Maybe it will be played for cheap laughs or a cheaper girl-power™ moment.
My point is for what the show is and who its aimed at, Gabe was an acceptable level of crappy, and its too soon to make a judgement call on whether he deserves his book death since we don't know if they'll have scaled that back to match his new incarnation. It was funny and felt kinda like justice in the books, but it wasn't a major plot point, it was just a loose end being tied up. They could end the season evoking much of the same emotion just by kicking him out of the apartment with nothing but his wrecked car and a sandwich that doesn't even have peppers in it.
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fourseasonsfigs · 11 months
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The Old King is Dead, Long Live the King
We're finishing up what has turned into a Wen Kexing week with bang. A bit of a gore warning on this post, both for fig blood and movie-scene blood. There's also some disturbing subtext here, depending on how you read this scene.
The scene that inspired this fig is from Episode 21, when some of the 10 Devils are recounting how Lunatic Wen deposed the previous Ghost Valley Master to become the new Ghost Valley master. And by "deposed", they mean, "skinned the old Ghost Valley Master alive". We're treated to a short flashback of this event through Changing Ghost's eyes:
The director's approach to this scene is pretty intense. This is no kingmaker power scene - from this perspective, it's not even a scene of revenge. Instead of some overpowered, unstoppably triumphant, bloody conqueror, we see a young, dirty, barely dressed man, covered in patches of blood, with the glassy, thousand-yard stare of someone living through their own personal nightmare.
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Below are some photos of some of the scene that was cut from the final version. I'm assuming the bloody corpse of the old Ghost Valley Master was too gory for TV.
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He looks traumatized and exhausted. He's got like one and a half layers on. His belt is just a strip of fabric and knotted in a tie so plain and utilitarian it's like I tied it. Hobo-Xu wore more clothes than this. The only thing that's in any way actually publically presentable is his hair, which you can see was originally neatly arranged (there's actually a braid in the front) and adorned with his hairpin. This is about as stark and non-glamorous as a scene as I could possibly imagine for someone taking both revenge and a throne. Full kudos to the directors and Gong Jun.
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Our young Wen Kexing arrived safely in his protective box. Which is good, since for sure this poor guy doesn't need any more damage.
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The fig arrived with the heads of his enemies, but not in his hands.
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At his feet, where they belong. We have our choice here of two corpses.
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Canonically, I had to have him hold the old Ghost Valley Master, of course. I'll leave the other corpse at this fig's feet on my display shelf.
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The hair knot of the old Ghost Valley Master looks like it should fit tightly in Wen Kexing's hand, but it does not. It fits well, shape wise, but it's so loose it doesn't hold at all. I tried using some museum putty, but the putty isn't sticky enough and the cream/white of it shows through. I was going to glue it, but then decided there was enough room to try a sliver of a fig sticker instead, so that's what you see here. This seemed to work perfectly - the fig sticker filled in the loose gap.
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The fig maker sure captured that thousand-yard stare. This fig looks as traumatized as Wen Kexing looked in the show.
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No printed box for this one, but we do have a box card:
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I like the blood red background of Ghost Valley the fig maker has here.
Speaking of the Ghost Valley, the background to my header picture actually is Ghost Valley. It's from the official art book / photo book from the show. I wanted to take a pic against the burning tree, but the photo in the book was too small.
We'll have a happier fig post tomorrow, I promise!
Material: Resin and the bodies and blood of his enemies
Fig Count: 392
Scene Count: 27
Rating: Sometimes karma comes in the form of Wen Kexing
[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]
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