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mittensmorgul · 3 years

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So for the most part, I outright reject the finale. But I do think, in light of the whole "Jimmy was supposed to be in the bar, and Dean was disappointed by that because his perfect heaven would have Cas in it" just makes me all the more convinced that the final episode was some kind of djinn dream. Like.... There's no other explanation in my opinion. If Dean's perfect heaven was supposed to have Cas, and he tragically gets faked out by Jimmy (????? Why tf would jimmy be there anyway), it just proves that it's not ACTUALLY heaven. That, along with he El Sol beer he's drinking is all the evidence I need. I think after 15x19, Dean and Sam got whammied by some monster, and are stuck in a hallucination, and that's what we're seeing. (My headcanon is that it's actually The Empty doing it, because it knows if it doesn't keep Dean and Sam occupied and spinning in circles, they'll invade the Empty to save Cas. So its trying to prevent that) :)

Hello, anon friendo! I am gonna start by offering the socially distanced version of a high five, because yeah... There is just so much to unpack here, and you provided such a succinct and all-encompassing series of statements to start from. Thank you!

*flings open array of questionable suitcases*

First off, Congrats on having rejected the finale. I know a lot of folks are still struggling with that one, for many reasons. But you have hit upon so many of the points I’ve been trying to make about the finale since it aired. I’d just like to start with some of the assumptions I’ve heard from folks about the finale that make it impossible for me to consider it fully honestly canon. Because so much about it just makes no goshdang sense... like... not at all...

One of the biggest issues I have surrounding the reception of the finale in parts of fandom is that it portrayed a “happy ending.” The show itself spent the entire final season telling us that a gravestone marked Winchester was not and never would be a happy ending (thank you Becky Rosen-- words I never thought I’d say, but honestly and most sincerely meant). Let’s break this down a bit.

Starting from the assumption that “heaven was fixed” so that characters could have true free will there, making it satisfying in any way that Dean died so young and never got to truly experience happiness during life, I would like anyone who has adopted this attitude to then explain Kansas the band. I mean... explain that in any satisfactory canon-compliant way. (hint: you can’t. it makes zero sense in canon, if heaven is truly reformed and “happy” with everyone in possession of free will.)

Which brings me to Misha’s comments about Jimmy being in the Roadhouse. Why, if heaven were truly fixed, would Jimmy ever in a bazillion years attend a party for Dean Winchester? If Heaven were truly a “happy” ending for Dean, why introduce this element of eternal tragedy and heartbreak to his heaven experience? Why taunt him with the eternal loss of Cas-- even if you don’t think he reciprocated Cas’s romantic feelings, he was canonically the best friend Dean ever had, and being forced to exist forever in a place where he had everyone else he ever cared for except for Cas? Is frankly horrific.

How the actual fuck is that a happy ending, in any sense of the word?

How is this the sort of heaven that Dean would’ve made for himself before it was “fixed?” At least in the memorex heaven, he could’ve lived in oblivious peace with Cas, even if it was always just his own memories and not ~actually Cas~. I honestly think that would’ve been happier than the abject tragedy of what we did get, and what we would’ve gotten had the original script played out.

All of this kind of makes me wonder if they ever even actually defeated Chuck. Like... it feels more like Dean got pulled into the Empty at that moment with Cas and Billie, and everything else after that point was the Empty’s endless experience of sorrow and despair we knew it subject its charges to. So that’s one potential for what could’ve actually happened. I mean, everything about the finale was sorrow and despair, you know? Dean didn’t even get to enjoy his pie at a pie festival because Sam smashed in in his face. How is any of it happy, in any way?

Because if that was actually heaven, there wasn’t actually any free will (because why tf would Kansas the band have chosen to put on that concert? why tf would Jimmy have been there, just to torment Dean with the taunt of Cas returning to him only to have that hope snatched away again? It’s cruel. It’s, in fact, a source of intense despair).

The djinn theory could also work, and I’ve read some excellent fix-it fic using that as a premise. But that doesn’t really explain what happened to Jack (and Amara, since she was in there with them) after hoovering up Chuck’s power, you know? I think the simplest explanations in canon are that Chuck actually won via the unified power of Light and Dark being transferred into Jack and effectively using him as a vessel. With Sam and Dean convinced they’d won, they effectively stopped resisting Chuck’s story for them, and using Jack’s understanding of humanity and the Winchesters specifically, Chuck finally was able to implement a version of his story that the Winchesters would just waltz into without thinking it was supernaturally influenced at all. Going bigger and bigger with monsters and cosmic troubles hadn’t worked, but going so small Sam and Dean would barely even notice the influence-- even with the incongruous reappearance of a vampire that appeared in their lives once, for like two whole minutes 15 years ago, and an unsolved case from the journal from more than 30 years ago that John had never even linked to vampires at all.

At this point, I need to mention that I’m watching 10.23 as I type this up. An episode in which we confront the Mark, along with Death, and Dean’s despair, where he learns a version of the truth (but by no means the full truth, or even accurate truth in some respects) about Chuck’s Story, Amara/The Darkness, etc. That would unfold more fully over the next five seasons. And what was the case Dean took in this episode? Vampires. LOLOL omg this show is nothing if not horrifically consistent, yes?

So because of this, I went haring off through my own blog looking for a post I made a long time ago about the symbolism of how various monsters are used on this show (because again, consistency). I got sidetracked by other posts in my monsters tag, including this from after 15.09 aired, which feels particularly awfully relevant. This was my reaction to Chuck’s Story he showed Sam in that episode, about what the future would look like should he successfully trap Chuck with a Mark, and which... yeah is basically exactly thematically consistent with what we saw in the finale, right down to a cheesy twist on vampires. Read the whole post right here, but this is the part that reached up and punched me in the face:

this is how Dean personally reacts when he loses Cas. We know how he reacts when he loses anyone else– think about what he did when Charlie died. He went on a murder rampage against the Stynes for killing her. When Mary died he broke some furniture and went full bore toward both resurrecting her and stopping Jack. But without Cas, Dean loses the will to fight. Sam has… always been different. He referenced Jess in 15.04 to remind us of how he was after she died in the pilot episode. Just like John, he picked up the revenge mission and ran with it. But for Dean, Cas is different. Without Cas… Dean gives up.

Because... Dean gave up. Sure, he and Sam weren’t overrun by vampires in the end. Chuck knew they’d never stop fighting the monsters, one way or another. The only way to get Dean to give up is something Chuck hadn’t quite figured out yet... maybe not until after 15.17, after confronting Cas in the hallway of the bunker, after absorbing Amara’s power, knowledge, and perspective on Dean.

Chuck needed Dean to give up, and honestly? Pushing Billie to clear him off the table and send him (and Cas, that pesky angel who never did what he was told) to the Empty would’ve been a direct way to deal with that... pretty much akin to having one sibling locked in a cage forever, yes?

Also, still looking through my monsters tag, I’m reminded of 14.15, and still cannot differentiate the version of Heaven in 15.20 from what was done to the people of that town. This... is not... paradise. This is actively what Dean has been insisting is the OPPOSITE of paradise since like… 4.22… No ending where Dean was a “Stepford bitch in paradise” ever had the possibility of being “happy,” at the core of things, and this “fixed” version of Heaven just doesn’t hold up to any degree of inspection. Something is seriously wrong here. https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/183465650390/so-can-we-talk-about-this-monster-of-the-week-for

And since I was unable to find the post I wrote who knows how long ago about Monsters and how they’re symbolically used on Supernatural to represent larger themes in the episode, I’ll just attempt to sum up what Vampires have been used for. Revenge. Vampires are always, in some way connected to themes of revenge.

(and hooray, I found at least a post adjacent to the one I’ve spent the last four hours trying to find... https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/187207052080/i-obviously-did-not-think-this-through, where I mention that shapeshifters are about revealing hidden truths (mostly about Dean since most shapeshifters are connected to Dean), zombies are about grief and the inability to move past it.)

So why... why at the end of their road is the monster that comes after them-- literally FOR REVENGE for something that had never been blamed on Sam or Dean to begin with, from season 1, directly connected to John’s revenge mission and the first time they learned about the Colt AND the first time they learned in canon that Vampires were even real... like... this feels very specifically like some kind of layers-of-meta levels of shade on them, you know? Vampires are for revenge, so what vengeance exactly is being visited upon Sam and Dean in this episode? If not Chuck’s entire story for them itself?

So yeah, 100% agree, something is incredibly rotten in the finale. And I am sick to effing death of people trying to convince us that anything about this was “good” or “happy” or “satisfying” in any way. Or even “how it was always supposed to end” with Dean dead bloody, as if the entire back half of the series hadn’t been suggesting that a true win was the subversion of all of Chuck’s story for them, and Dean finally being able to have his chosen family all alive, happy, and chilling on a beach somewhere watching the sunset. Nothing will ever convince me that the ending portrayed in 15.20 wasn’t exactly how Chuck thought he “won,” rendering it entirely irrelevant to the rest of canon, unless all of canon was ultimately the tragedy we’d been encouraged to believe would be firmly defeated in the end.

Folks, you can’t have it both ways.

#spn 15.20 #chuck's process #if this was the 'happy' ending for dean they sure did fail big time to make it actually happy!#it makes me feel sick thinking that dean's happy heaven ending was more like an eternal pit of torment #like actively tormenting him and taunting him with the fact that cas was truly gone forever #like wow they went all the fuck out to make it clear that even in heaven #dean would never be allowed to respond to cas's declaration of love #like... it's the most hurtful and hateful thing the show could possibly have done to us #and it still fucks me up knowing there's people who think this heaven was a 'good' ending for dean #like... fuck that entirely and with extreme prejudice #i feel like i have not been emphatic enough about my absolute hatred for this episode in these tags #but sadly there are limitations to expressing the actual feelings i'm feeling in the english language #sometimes the only effective word for these feelings involves velociraptor screeching #Anonymous

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k1ttyadventurer · 4 years

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AvA Thoughts and Ideas

Yes, this is my first blog post. I can’t believe it was Animator vs Animation that made me want to interact with people on this site.

@sammy8d257 (I’m the anon that wanted to add to your theories) and @inksandpensblog, I’m tagging you guys because I really like your AvA theory crafting and I want to share my thoughts with you. Hope you don’t mind getting tagged. (Also, I’m so down to discuss this stuff in DMs or on Discord if you want? I’m craving AvA discussion.)

Edit: Rephrased a few things to flow better or be better understood. Also added a new point I just thought of. Edit 2: Fixing things that didn't get fixed the first time.

Okay, so, AvA.

(Also, I will be calling Orange/Second ‘Orange’ because that’s what Alan calls him, unless I’m referring to “avatar-state” Orange, then I may refer to him as ‘Second’.)

((Also, also, my thoughts jump around quite a bit, sorry about that! Hope you can follow my thought process.))

(((Also, also, also, my opinions and headcanons expressed here are not set in stone. They could definitely change, which has already happened over the course of writing this.)))

1) Chosen’s relationship with Dark. - I definitely think that Chosen liked Dark (no offense to shippers, but I’m talking purely friendship here), however, I would guess that Dark considered the two of them much closer than Chosen did. - Chosen initially followed Dark’s lead when destroying things. It was all he had known, and Dark wanted to do it. But Chosen started noticing it was actually hurting others, and didn’t really achieve anything. - When they came to odds, Chosen struck first, while Dark just tried to stubbornly continue with his plan. It makes Chosen look like he immediately jumped to attacking, but I’d like to point out, in the flashback, he actively wanted Dark to stop attacking others when they were on the Newgrounds page. I think this means that this tension had been building up for some time. It wasn’t a sudden thing of Chosen deciding to attack Dark. It was likely sudden for Dark, because Chosen didn’t communicate with him (probably), but for Chosen, I think the creation of the virus was simply the last thing that convinced him that his former friend was actually an evil person. - (I would love to see a reformed Dark and Chosen being friends! But, I think trying to say he wasn’t all bad in the first place is severely glossing over the fact that he did--and was going to do--some awful, awful things.) - Chosen had no hesitance when he returned from defeating the first spider virus. He was going to beat Dark. - (I also find it interesting that Chosen knew where this second location was. From what I can gather from the AvG reaction, it was meant to be a more secret location for Dark? Did Chosen watch him from afar and discover it? Just thinking.) - TLDR: Chosen had already started expecting Dark might become an enemy before Dark revealed the virus.

2) Chosen’s opinion of Alan. - Plain and simple, I don’t think Chosen hates Alan. I don’t think he even holds a grudge anymore. - Yeah, he definitely hated Alan when he was chained up. He held a grudge for a long while after he escaped. But. I think as he watched Dark’s actions and the impact his destruction had on others, he started to see what Alan saw when Chosen was destroying Alan’s PC. - When he entered Alan’s computer, and started trying to defend Alan’s PC, he was now in Alan’s shoes. He was the cursor, the anti-virus, who didn’t want or choose to have this destruction happen. - After the fight, he sees other sticks on the computer and is forced to consider it may have been his own fault he got 'tamed', since the proof of Alan getting along with, or at least tolerating, stick figures was in front of him. - It doesn’t mean what Alan did was right, but Chosen now sees why Alan chained him. After all, isn’t Chosen himself now on his way to destroy Dark? He and Alan aren’t so different. He nods to Alan, acknowledging him, even forgiving him. Alan nods back. There’s a level of acceptance that has been established between them. Alan respects stick figures significantly more, and Chosen sees Alan isn’t a heartless monster. - So, when Alan’s cursor joins the fight against Dark, they were already on the same page. Preventing needless violence with violence. Not to mention, have you seen how many hits Alan purposely took for Chosen? As soon as the black blades came out, Alan got between them and Chosen as often as he could. Alan came to help Chosen, not just to defeat Dark. - If Chosen could ally so quickly with Dark, and then turn on him when he realized Dark’s morals were wrong, why can’t the reverse be true with Chosen realizing Alan had changed for the better?

3) Chosen’s opinion of Orange. - I believe it was Inks who said that Chosen feels something along the lines of submissive towards Orange at the end. While I do agree that Chosen’s bow doesn’t seem worshipful, I don’t think it’s Chosen ‘giving up’. I think it’s simply showing respect and gratitude in a very similar sense to how the five bowed to him after dealing with the virus. He’s just... far less emotive. It’s a nice parallel.

4) The effects of the virus spiders and blades on Chosen. - Personally, I think the reason it looks like the virus has so little effect on Chosen is because of his coloring. Orange is, well, orange, so the black wounds are obviously going to show. - You can see Chosen showing weakness in both his fight with the spider virus and his fight with Dark. The weakness shows itself in hesitation, slower response, straight up laying in a crater or the water for an extended period of time. - I think at the end, when the Dark sends the virus to infect the internet, Chosen is laying there unmoving because he literally can’t move. His body language reads of someone looking up weakly, unable to do anything but wanting to. The viruses temporarily disabled him (but, notably, it took all of them to do so). Dark can’t actually kill Chosen or delete him, but he’s been successfully incapacitated, so Dark can move forward with his plan, unhindered. - I just don’t think Chosen would ever, ever give up. If he can fight back, he will. He has never backed down once, even when there seems to be no way he can win. He almost lost to a spider virus--there’s even subtle hints later that he’s afraid of fighting them--but he still attacks the whole swarm until he literally can’t anymore.

5) Dark fighting Orange. - With stabbing Orange, it becomes clear that he’s not being as quickly affected by the blade as his friends. That’s why the Dark lord raises him off the ground; he grew impatient. (Also, Chosen reacts to Orange being stabbed? Is it because he knows Orange is one of Alan’s creations as opposed to the other four sticks? Or does he literally feel something?) - Dark becomes absolutely furious at Orange’s attempts to attack him and frustrated that Orange won’t simply die. Too reminiscent of Chosen. Also, I would like to note that, before he even stabbed Orange, Dark hits him the hardest out of the four still standing.

6) Orange’s powers. - Before I say anything about Orange’s avatar-state, I want to point out that his talents seem a whole lot more like Victim’s than Chosen's? I don’t know, if it weren’t for the fact that he has some label saying “The Chosen One’s Return,” I’d say he’s actually the ‘second coming’ of Victim. - Okay, now to his powers. Almost all of them are souped up versions of Chosen’s, with two exceptions. The whole reviving/restoring code ability, and the ability to fly/float without flames. The latter of these two abilities is something we see Dark do after he puts on his black band. The former could also very well be associated with Dark, considering Second had to go to Dark’s console to revive his friends. Food for thought. - There’s a trade off here in the power scaling. Second is so much stronger than Chosen, but obviously can’t tap into his powers whenever he wants. Not to mention, he seemingly can’t use them indefinitely. If Dark somehow managed to avoid getting blasted into the beyond, Orange would be in major trouble if his super-state has a time limit. - Then there’s the whole sleeping thing in videos that likely take place later chronologically? On the build competition video where Orange literally can’t stay awake for fifteen seconds despite punching himself in the face, there was something Alan did that always struck me as odd. He hearted a comment saying something like ‘should we be concerned about Orange’s narcolepsy?’ almost implying that we should be concerned? Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I haven’t seen him just heart “funny-haha” comments before. (I would also like to point out it is very possible for this to be planned out. These AvM video scripts were likely written after AvA’s scripts even if the videos were finished first.)

7) What next for Chosen doing things with the color squad? - I think, despite the many, many issues that will come up if Chosen ‘play-fights’ with the others (as I stated as an Anon to Sammy), it would be incredibly healthy for him once he can do it safely and have fun. He was born wanting to fight. It’s his calling. And he’s really good at it. Finding a way to do it without hurting others? That’s the best thing he could ever have. - Okay, and, what if, Chosen doesn’t quite understand why Orange doesn’t remember going super, but he decides that he’s going to get to the bottom of Orange’s powers and, in the process, starts training Orange. (It probably starts with Chosen being all, ‘come here’ and flies up, while Orange is just, ‘what? I can’t do that.’ ‘Yes you can. Do it.’ Of course, that blunt method of teaching is not going to work, so Chosen has to learn to communicate better.) Training may or may not actually be successful, but imagine him and Orange bonding. - Both the color squad and Chosen adopting each other. They both parent the other in their own ways, and just. Be cute together. Chosen learns how to people and relax, and gets, like, super attached to these weak little sticks? So, the color squad now has an overprotective higher being watching over them, and the awe they have of his power is quickly cut short when they learn he’s never played cards before? - The sticks also show off their skills to Chosen and he’s just. Confused. Why would you tap blocks just to make a sound? Make something to harvest wheat when you can do it by hand? Why are you eating that. Animals? Okay, actually, holding this cat is nice.

(I deleted my old conclusion on accident, and I don't remember what it said. I don't think it was important, though. Thanks for reading! Please share any thoughts if you have any!)

#K1ttyTalks #K1ttyTalksAvA #Alan Becker #Animator vs Animation #AvA Shorts #AvA #AvATheory #AvAHeadcanon #AvAAnalysis

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fiddlepickdouglas · 4 years

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Reasons I Care About Bobby Wilson (this post is for people who wonder why I do):

Sorry, just saw an anti-Bobby post and I shouldn't get like this over a fictional character, but here I go, I guess.

The things people don't like

We can agree that not crediting Luke, Reggie, and Alex for their songs was awful. That is a serious line to cross and he's got to make up for that if he's ever to be seen as a truly good guy.

It can also be agreed upon that his shady/not as cool character is set up by the way he interacts with the boys and Rose. Lying about being vegetarian, trying to send the boys off to eat hot dogs so he can flirt more (from which we have a thousand heacanons about him being in a relationship with Rose and also theories that he somehow killed his own band).

These things don't paint him as brightly as the rest of our himbos. I'd like to assert that we are being shown a mere glimpse of this character and the intro showed him in a weak moment. We can discuss good and proper flirting tactics elsewhere, but these methods aren't uncommon, especially for a teen in 1995. The song stealing - absolutely inexcusable. There's no way I, or anyone else, would or should try to dispute that.

This next part is in response to the tag I read saying 'he acts like a douche' and aside from the above things, what else do we see?

What he really does

Let's look at Bobby as a teen briefly. He plays Now or Never with the boys, and upon finishing the sound check goes right into celebrating their performance. Then he sees a cute girl who is also celebrating the performance and wants to get to know her better. This attempt is momentarily interrupted by the rest of his band, and while he is slightly annoyed, he isn't outright rude. He reminds them of plans they already had to send the message that he wants a chance with this girl - if I were in a similar situation I don't imagine myself handling it too much better. I understand that's really up to individual scrutiny, but I don't take this as 'oh he's a jerk'.

We don't see him again until the issue of copyright comes up and they visit his mansion. In these moments, we see him the way Luke, Reggie, and Alex do: an intolerable thief. However, the use of the songs is already a thing of the past. The Bobby, now Trevor, we see presently makes a practice of checking in with his daughter briefly, meditating, and has a therapist. We can all laugh at Reggie's line about the sunglasses, but without the boys there, he just comes off as a chill dad who sticks to his cool dude aesthetic even when his child finds it embarrassing.

The fear he experiences when the boys haunt him is clearly very mixed. Regardless, resurfacing the trauma of his band dying and then seeing paranormal activity in his own home that is targeted toward him in a mildly antagonistic manner is sort of a weighty subject. That poor therapist.

Then he sees the Edge of Great video. Can I just point out that he takes interest because he sees Julie? She's what grabs his attention. Whether it's because of Julie's goddess-like talent or because he recognizes his daughter's friend and notices his daughter bringing her up in a way she hasn't in about year, we don't know yet. But Julie is the star and he knows it. And then he sees them. His old band from 25 years ago, back from the dead and not a day older than 17. He doesn't even have to feel guilty to respond the way he did - that's just the response of a 42 year old man who is seeing straight *read: it's never straight* witchcraft before his eyes.

I'm not sure why he would call to get himself and Carrie into the show on the spot aside from pure curiosity. The who, what, when, where, and why of it all is a lot to take with his guilty conscience on top. Seeing him shake at the end is definitely a combination of all those things.

I almost forgot to include him playing in Unsaid Emily, but not much can be said about it. I still think it's sweet that Luke felt comfortable enough sharing that song with his whole band and that they rehearsed it. As a bandmate and a friend, Bobby must have been at least cool enough to gain that confidence, and more not to include it in the songs he claims as his own later.

Anyhow, those things are what we see and it's somewhat polarizing apparently. Julie's mom, Rose, retained a fairly close friendship with him, which says a great deal. If Julie is anything like her mom, or if we extrapolate from Julie's character how good of a parent Rose was, we can imagine how good of a character judge she was. As a teen, maybe not quite as good (although she is played to be specifically in tune with her feeling about how good the band is, so I don't think so). Maturing into adulthood and still having Bobby as a friend implies that either he was extremely fake with her the whole 24 years they were friends, or he actually wasn't that terrible to be around.

What we don't know

As much as we all love our headcanons, there's still a great deal of mystery about Bobby. And frankly, I feel like it depends on which headcanons we choose to like that cement our feelings toward him (although enjoying Taylor Kare as an actor and a human being can also have great influence here as well). I've seen some hcs that say he was a big brother to the guys and that make him seem soft and I really enjoy them. I choose to believe we are shown some of his worst moments and he has potential for good. Others really like the drama and mystery behind the "he somehow murdered the boys" and frankly I can't say they're wrong for it. But there are certainly details that could help define him that we've yet to see:

What was he actual relationship with the guys? Was he really a fourth wheel, just a rhythm guitarist they needed, or was he just as close?

What happened right after the boys died? Did he go on with the show or did he cancel?

Was he involved in telling their families the bad news? Did he attend their funerals? Did he disappear before he could get involved?

How did he manage to bury his old identity and keep his friendship with Rose?

Was he victimized by the music industry? Was taking the credit his idea or was he put in a difficult position that made him make a bad choice?

Who in the world is Carrie's mom and is she a part of their life? How does this affect them?

What is he going to do about the boys now? Could he actually do anything to harm their career as a band? Would he or does he want closure?

I guess what I want to accomplish here is explain that you're welcome to feel what you feel about Bobby, but you can't tell me "it's not that deep." It is. Plus I love the representation we get from both actors who play him on the show and anyone who is mad about that can assume I don't take their opinion seriously.

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #bobby #bobby wilson #trevor wilson #long post #sorry i got carried away #when i swerved into this lane i stayed

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passable-talent · 4 years

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what about,,, modern au,,, punk mucisian au,,,, anakin with tattoos pLEASE

may I introduce u to my new favorite gif...

also. plot twist! what if,, and hear me out,, you’re the musician, and he’s the fan?

i made an entire setlist for this fuckn au of my taste in punk-ish rock-ish music to base certain lines, moods, and lighting off of. it exists. i’ll hand it over if you ask.

stumbled over this headcanon as i wrote but,,,, modern au anakin absolutely grew up in nevada. desert. middle of nowhere. close to vegas and the racing. automobile industry. thank u for ur time

This whole ‘music’ thing was actually working out. Imagine that.

You were gaining fame slowly- your record company still didn’t get you big gigs, but you got something.

Something like this, in fact. A small, dingy laser tag place, but it was perfect nonetheless. Perfect for you. You felt right at home- it was too hot, and the audience was still loud, since the music hadn’t started. The stage was small, but the lights were bright, and you were standing behind the curtains that had been hung barely a foot from the wall.

“Ready?” you heard Padme ask- Padme, the lead guitarist, your best friend. She was on stage, currently, hidden from the crowd by a blanket of black. On the other side of the stage, you knew, was Ahsoka, the drummer, a little tiny teenager you’d picked up last summer when your original drummer quit, and beside her was undoubtedly Aayla, your bassist. You were lucky- you were surrounded by such great friends that you could pull your weight without having to play the guitar. Which was good for everyone- you were an awful guitar player.

“Anytime, loves,” you said, a smile lighting your lips. You’d almost overdosed on the anti-anxiety pills this morning- the feeling of playing a gig still unfamiliar and nerve wracking.

But you heard the music start, and started to sing.

Only when this particular song really kicked into gear did you toss open the curtain, and the cheer went up, almost drowning out the music. You were certainly the fan favorite of the band, only because you were the most expressive. You didn’t have an instrument, so you got to run around on stage, and kneel down to reach out, brushing your fingers to the crowd’s as you sang, like God to Adam.

It really wasn’t a looks thing- for some, it might be, but not to most. Hey, if there was anyone that should really get the attention, it was Padme. She was unfairly beautiful.

The great thing about being a punk artist was that most of your fans were, too. They came with their tattoos and snuck in their weed, their ripped jeans always leaving with a few more holes than they arrived with. A band like yours, so dominated by women, had really caught on with a female crowd, but there were always guys here, too. You never really cared to know if it was their dicks or their ears that brought them.

There was a little bit of a problem, though. You were well known for trying to make connections with as many fans as you could- not for your sake, but for theirs. You loved taking selfies, touching their fingers, winking at them during a particularly suggestive lyric, guys and girls alike. Which lead to a little problem, one that Ahsoka loved to refer to as your ‘wattpad fantasy’.

Growing up when you had, you’d all been all over the internet, into each of its corners. You knew the common trope that teenaged fans had with their favorite artists- that they’d catch the eye of the main singer, and get dragged backstage after the show.

You had the opposite fantasy. Too many times did one or another audience member catch your eye, and yeah, sometimes you did consider catching them before they left after the show. It never worked- either you lost track of them, or you didn’t have the guts to go through with it.

When you laid eyes on him, though, you wanted so desperately to go through with it tonight.

You tried not to be obvious, you really did try to be subtle- but whenever the multicolored lights caught his hair, your gaze was pulled back to him, no matter how much you wanted to give equal attention to every audience member brave enough to wrestle their way to the front row.

But you also wanted to make sure he knew. That you’d noticed him.

With one or two lyrics, lines like “tell me that you love me, even if it’s only for tonight”, you let your eyes catch his, hoping to whatever powers there might’ve been that he’d be looking back at you.

The halftime break, the intermission, came faster than expected, and you dropped into the one room the laser tag place set aside for you, and tried to clean as much sweat from your scalp and hair as you could.

“Alright, what is it?” Padme asked from behind you.

“What to you mean?” you asked, glancing at her through the mirror you were using to try to artfully smudge your eyeliner.

“You’re favoring the left side of the audience. What, find a wattpad boy?”

“Another one?” Ahsoka called from the other side of the room, rubbing sore callouses on her palms.

“Yeah, yeah,” you waved them off with a laugh, “let me dream.”

Act II came around, and back to the stage you went, trying to be even more subtle this time around. Still, you kept track of him- he hadn’t moved far. Maybe, if you watched him carefully enough, you’d get to meet him before he left.

It was hard to do, and you hadn’t yet been successful. You really weren’t supposed to offer fans any ‘free’ attention, or at least, that was the way your manager had put it. If you let everybody take a picture with you, then no one will buy backstage passes.

A sentiment that your anarchist side absolutely resented. Fuck capitalism, you wanted to chill with your fans.

But hey, back on topic! It was amazing how you could totally tune out during a song, and tune back in, still strutting around the state, still singing perfectly. Luckily, you’d brought yourself back to reality, right when the second to last song was about to end.

When it faded away, you stepped to the center of the stage, readjusting your mic quickly and letting a real smile come over your face.

And this- this was it. No matter how fantastic any show was, it would never top this. You always went out with the same song, way back from your first album, one of the first you’d ever written. You heard Padme start to strum.

“And with that, we’re coming to the end,” you said over the guitar, speaking to the audience like you knew every person there. “So I want you to all sing along with this one. Every damn word. Because tonight- this is a night none of us are going to forget.” You’d said it a hundred times, and yet, you meant it every time. When you stopped speaking, you started singing, abandoning your strutting and stomping for just standing at the front of the stage, looking at them all.

“It was a fall night, late night-” There was a reason you always ended with this song. It was so beautiful, and so sensual. It was a promise, between you, and your band, and your fans, a promise that it was all for them, not for whatever rode in their wallets. A promise that you would keep looking out for them.

And when you began the chorus, you dropped to your knees, getting that much closer to them, your smile so genuine, because you could hear them, every single one of them, like they were performing for you. It was their night as much as yours, it was their music more than it was yours.

A hundred voices welling up around yours was always what kept you awake at night, kept you coming back, pushing through the looks that people gave you when you said you were trying to make it in the music industry, pushing through the late nights where you couldn’t make it through that lyric. This song, right here, this was what brought you back, kept reminding you what mattered.

You stopped singing, and they continued without you. They always did- they would see how you just looked at them all, with the realest smile they’d ever seen, and they sang for you.

You couldn’t help it. You watched him- and he was singing, too.

This time, you knew for sure. You knew he was watching you, too, and when your eyes locked, the voices around you all swelled to a crescendo, like a soundtrack to the scene you were living through.

You had to snap yourself back into the world to pick up the second verse. It stayed just as intimate, just as amazing, all the way to the end of the song, when you sang the final note, and just stood there, basking in it, in a world made just for you.

The stage lights flickered out, and you disappeared into the dark.

Over your earpiece, one of the roadies informed you that your mics were off, and that’s exactly the way you liked them. You dropped onto the stage, hanging your legs over the front of it. You were still a few feet from the closest little fence, but it was closer than you’d been to them yet.

“Hey, guys,” you hissed toward anyone within earshot. That alone, in the dim light, gathered a crowd of twenty or so who had noticed you. You always did this at the end of the show- just to let them hear their name on your tongue.

And maybe, today, to find him.

You looked to a girl who had her hand outstretched to you, and you took it briefly.

“Hey, what’s your name?” you asked, and she shouted back “Oran!”

“Oran, almost like the color, huh?” You were so much more at ease now than you were, before the show. “I bet you hear that all the time.” You turned to someone else, always trying to make it through as many people as possible.

How many could you touch base with before turning to him, so that it wouldn’t be suspicious? Was three enough, or should you do one more?

No, when you caught his eyes, there was no turning back.

“Hey, what’s up,” you said, fighting to keep your heartbeat under control.

“Anakin,” he said, then pulling a bright yellow card out of his jacket. That, you’d recognize anywhere- that was a backstage pass.

Like the universe was aligning for you.

“Well, Anakin, if you’ve got a pass, I’ll see you later, yeah?” As you usually did from a person who had a pass, you moved on quickly, giving this time to others who wouldn’t get more. You heard six or seven more names before Ahsoka was tugging on your shoulder.

“Alright, alright,” you groaned, throwing your legs over the stage again and standing up, but not before blowing one last kiss toward the small crowd you’d gathered.

As soon as you made it back, into where the speakers cluttered up all of the space, you collapsed against Ahsoka, laughing as she struggled to hold you up.

“What, thinking about your wattpad boy?” she said, throwing you to your feet.

“Oh, not again,” Aayla whined, “he’ll be no different than every other one that you dream of finding at next week’s show, and then never see again.”

“No, no, this one’s different!” you insisted, grabbing onto Padme’s shirt. She brushed you off with a laugh.

“Oh yeah? How?”

“His name is Anakin,” you said, rubbing your lower lip between your teeth. “And he’s got a backstage pass.”

“What??” Came the collective cry, and you shushed them all before your manager appeared.

It was showtime, baby.

There were two or three of them, in total. The passes tended not to sell too well, and there were only a few available, anyway. The band just wasn’t quite big enough to pull that kind of fandom, save for a few die-hards who would one day get to pull out a photo and say ‘see? I was there at the beginning.’

Anakin was the last of the bunch.

“Great to meet you,” you said, shaking his hand for real this time. His eyes were damn intense- no wonder you’d been mesmerized by them.

“You too,” he said, and introductions went just as seamlessly with the others. Padme hugged him, and Ahsoka, little firecracker, gave him a playful punch for telling her that she looked taller when she was on stage.

Now- there’s a reason Padme’s your best friend in the world.

“Hey, it’s getting late,” she informed you, as though she were telling you to wrap it up. But she was smarter than that, and had set up the perfect trap.

“Oh,” Anakin said, looking slightly guilty and quite disappointed. “Well, I-”

“Nah,” you cut him off, smacking the back of your hand against his chest, “You paid for fifteen minutes, you’ll get them. We’ve just got to start packing up. You can chill with us, if you want.” No matter the fame difference between the five of you, he was just another guy in his early 20′s, the same as the rest of you, save for eighteen year old Ahsoka. He meshed well with the lot of you, and even helped load ‘Soka’s drums into the truck.

And, hey- he knew what he was getting into when he climbed into the back of the van with the four of you.

And what he was getting into was a bumpy-ass ride to one of the shittiest hotels the area could offer. It wasn’t even midnight, and you didn’t feel like climbing into bed just yet, so you let him follow the four of you upstairs so you could grab your phone and room key before leaving them to entertain themselves for the evening.

“Come home alive!” Aayla called as a farewell, and Ahsoka snorted from where she was laying on her bed.

“Come home capable of walking,” she said, and Padme saved you by slamming the door shut.

“So what’s there to do around here?” you asked him, shoving your hands into your pockets. You walked close to him, shoulders almost brushing with each step, and his smile was just for you.

“Are you kidding? Absolutely nothing. You’re lucky you found the laser tag place.” You looked toward him with a laugh, the ugly carpeting of the hotel hallway stretching on forever in front of you.

“Seriously? How could you survive?”

“Hey, not every town is downtown LA.”

“I’m flattered you think I’m famous enough to live in LA.” You stopped at the elevator, punching the down button. He nudged your shoulder playfully, those piercing blue eyes flicking over your face.

“You’re gonna be. You guys are really good.”

“Good to know I have your blessing for my career.”

“I’m serious!” he said with a laugh, and when the elevator door opened, he let you inside first.

“Yeah, yeah. So if there’s nothing to do around here...” You tilted your head at him, watching as he rested his shoulders back against the buffed metal wall. “What do you do?”

“Find a friend’s basement to smoke in,” he said with a laugh, and you couldn’t help but join him. “Mostly we go see movies, or sneak onto a roof, if we’re lucky.” You narrowed your eyes, letting your gaze slide to the elevator buttons.

“A roof, you say?”

“I don’t want to get you in trouble-”

“Anakin, answer me this-” You pulled out your phone to check the time. “Do you think the lobby security agent of this Comfort Inn is going to be dedicated enough to check the roof at 12:23 AM?” The world outside this elevator didn’t exist as his lips turned up into a smirk.

“No, I don’t think they will.”

“In that case-” You slipped your second knuckle against the highest number on the wall- 6. Not very impressive, but it would do.

Once the elevator went down to the lobby, and back up again, you stumbled your way to the stairwell and up, finding the door that said ‘roof access- do not enter’. Since when do you ever listen?

If you listened to some red sign on a door, you wouldn’t have your head on Anakin’s shoulder, looking up at more stars than you’d ever seen in your entire life.

You’d grown up in California, too close to some of the largest cities in the country to ever see the night sky like this. He’d grown up here, where there were warehouses for shipping to Reno, or Vegas, or Salt Lake City, but none of those cities were close enough to steal the sky.

“See those two, right on top of each other?” He asked, pointing to an area a few degrees up from the horizon.

“Yeah, I think,” you said, and he lifted his left arm, where he had a constellation pattern tattooed between his elbow and wrist.

“It’s this one. The phoenix. The first constellation I actually saw in the sky.” You reached out, taking hold of his elbow, and positioning his arm, from your perspective, just next to the constellation. “My mom took me out to a field and showed me the stars,” he said, and though you couldn’t see his face, you could hear the fondness in his voice. “For a long time, I wanted to be an astronaut.”

“Me too,” you said with a laugh, “but I wasn’t good enough in math.”

“My mom’s friend Watto says I’m too good with cars to fly a ship.”

“Wouldn’t that make you better?” You asked, readjusting so that your shoulder pressed to his. It was a little cold.

“You’d think so, right?” You were such a loud person, that all too often you fought against silence- not tonight. You let it envelope you, bringing with it peace. You could hear Anakin breathing, and it was so calming, your eyes slipped closed.

“You’re going to fall asleep up here,” he said, a hint of playfulness in his voice.

“Shut up,” you groaned, “I had a long day, and you’re warm.”

“You should go back to the room, then.” You rolled over onto your stomach, then, taking a good look at him.

“But that would mean that this night has to end.” He lifted his chest up by planting his elbows down, bringing himself closer to you.

“You said it yourself,” he said, voice smooth and quiet, “this is a night we’re not going to forget.”

“But that doesn’t mean I want it to end,” you breathed, unable to look away from him. You barely noticed it when he begun to lean forward, but then his lips were on yours, and that you certainly took notice of.

Your eyes fluttered closed, thanks to the shock and the welcome nature of it, and you leaned into it. He brought his furthest hand up and let it slide to the back of your neck, as though he could keep you from pulling away. You wouldn’t.

Your lips were still parted when he pulled away, your mind struggling to catch up. He’d- he’d just-

Calloused fingers brushed your hair back, and you opened your eyes to their touch, being drawn right back to his gaze.

“Then it doesn’t have to.”

-🦌 Roe

part 2

#anakin x reader insert #star wars anakin #anakin imagine #anakin x reader #anakin skywalker imagine #anakin skywalker #punk!anakin #modern au #musician au #star wars #fics

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themetaphorgirl · 4 years

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(1/1) This is at_the_chamber_door from A03. I've got a Boarding Alternate Universe headcanon--study groups! Maybe if everyone's loaded with work, projects, or upcoming tests, they'll get together at night (preferably at a round table, ha) and work. Well, work-ish: The only people actually working the entire time are Hotch, Alex, and JJ. I'm running out of characters so I shall send another ask with a part 2!

drabbles are supposed to be short. this is about 2,000 words. oops.

I hope y’all like it though! I love these kids with my whole heart.

my writing tag | the boarding school AU

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JJ rifled through her piles of papers, frowning. Her biology info packet was in there somewhere, she just knew it. But maybe she could wait and work on biology later, maybe she should work on history first.

“Okay, you guys, I’m starting to freak out,” Penelope said, knocking over her stack of rainbow-colored gel pens. “How bad are midterms? Like...really. What should I expect?”

“They’re not bad, as long as you study,” Hotch said absently.

Penelope dropped the gel pens she’d started to pick up. “I’ve forgotten how to study!” she shrieked. “Oh my god! Everything in my brain has been erased!”

Spencer perked up. “Ooh! It could be lacunar amnesia!” he said. “That’s when-”

“Spencer, no,” Hotch sighed.

“Take a breath, baby girl,” Derek said, scooping up the pens and handing them back. “You’re smart, you’ll remember stuff.”

She set the pens back into rainbow order. “You say that now,” she said. “What if I do forget? Or I forget which exam is at which time? Oh, god, what if I sleep through them!”

“You’re not going to sleep through them,” JJ reassured her. “I’ll wake you up.”

She turned back to her own piles of notes and worksheets. This was the sixth time that Penelope had freaked out in the last two hours, and doubtless she’d freak out a few more times until midterms were over. At least since they were studying together, other people could chime in and help calm her down.

They’d agree collectively to spend Sunday studying together for their respective tests. As a group they had overtaken the seventh floor common room, lounging around in their pajamas, piling up textbooks and coffee cups and snacks. Hotch, Alex, and Spencer sat at the round table while Dave sat between James and Emily on the couch; Penelope and Derek sprawled on the rug in front of the silent television. JJ had claimed a corner of the room for herself, spreading out her papers in small piles.

James pulled his binder close to his chest and frowned. “Dave, are you copying off me?” he asked.

“No, never,” Dave said. He ate another handful of pretzels. “Absolutely not. I’m copying off Emily.”

James squinted at Dave’s mostly-empty notebook page. “You are copying off me!” he accused. “Do your own work, Rossi, Jesus.”

“Okay, then I will copy off Emily,” Dave said. “And she won’t know because she’s listening to music.”

“Fuck off,” Emily said absently, her airpods still tucked in her ears.

“She’s not even in any of your classes,” James pointed out.

Dave shrugged. “Whatever, it’s fine,” he said. “I’ll get into college either way.”

Penelope dropped her sticker-covered composition book. “Oh, god! What if I don’t get into college?” she said.

“You’ll get into college, Pen,” Alex said. “Don’t look so far ahead. Focus on this week’s tests.”

Penelope huffed in frustration. “JJ, do you have your notes from biology class?” she asked.

“Uh...yeah, somewhere,” she said. She rummaged through a stack. “Hold on…”

“JJ, can you find anything in there?” James asked. “It looks like everything you own exploded.”

“I have a system,” she explained.

“You can borrow my notes!” Spencer said. He leaned forward to stretch across the table; Alex caught him before he could tip out of his chair. “Here! Do you have any questions?”

Penelope frowned. “That’s it?” she said. “A single piece of paper? And...your handwriting is completely illegible.”

He shrugged. “It makes sense to me,” he said.

“Spencer, sit down before you fall on your face,” Hotch said. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

Dave threw a pretzel at Emily. “Hey! She’s not studying!” he said. “Repeat, Emily Prentiss is not studying!”

“Narc,” she shot back, scooping pretzels off the couch and throwing them back at his face.

“Everyone!” Dave said, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Emily Prentiss is online shopping! Shopping for-” He leaned over her shoulders. “She’s bidding on a seventy-five dollar tee shirt on eBay.”

Emily slammed the lid of her macbook shut. “That tour got canceled after three stops, it’s a collector’s item!” she said.

“Emily, didn’t your mom say that she was going to cancel your credit card if you got below a C on your history midterm?” Alex asked, tapping her pen against her chin.

“Just the Amex,” Emily shrugged. “Also, that pen isn’t capped.”

“Oh! Shit.”

Spencer frowned. “Can I borrow somebody’s computer really fast?” he asked. “I don’t think this source is correct.”

“Here, munchkin,” Emily said, holding out her macbook. “Just for Miller’s satisfaction, I’ll study for my history test. You can borrow it for now.”

Hotch caught the laptop from Spencer’s small hands and set it down on the table. Spencer squinted at the keyboard. “Where’s the control key?” he asked.

“It’s a macbook, squirt, it’s a command key.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “God, see, this is why I stick to my chromebook,” she said. “Everything makes sense.”

“Your chromebook is the size of a novel.”

“I know, it’s easy to carry.”

Spencer scrunched up his face, pecking at the keyboard letter by letter with his index fingers. “Can somebody type this for me?” he asked. Hotch silently pulled the laptop closer and typed as Spencer spelled out his question.

With Emily distracted by her argument, JJ stole her pillow from the couch and propped it up with her piles of papers, getting comfortable. She bit back a yawn. Studying was exhausting work.

“Okay, I’m done,” Spencer announced. “You can have your computer back, Emily.”

“Thank god, there’s only ten minutes left in this auction and I need this shirt,” she said. Alex rolled her eyes and put on her headphones.

Derek pushed himself off the floor. “Pretty boy, if you’re taking a break-”

“Oh, it’s not a break, I’ve memorized everything.”

“Show off,” Dave grinned.

“Okay, since you’ve memorized everything, you wanna go down to the vending machine in the lobby and get more drinks?” Derek continued. Spencer frowned. “You can pick out something for yourself.”

“Deal!” Spencer said. Derek handed him a handful of crumpled dollar bills.

“Hold on, caro,” Dave said. He dug out his wallet and handed him several more dollars. “Get enough for everybody.”

“Thanks!” Spencer said, and he took off, his little socked feet thumping down the stairs.

“Walk, please, before you faceplant again!” Hotch called. The footsteps faded, but did not slow down. Hotch sighed.

“Derek,” Penelope said. “Derek. Derek Morgan. Chocolate thunder. Pay attention to me.”

“What?”

She thrust a folded paper fortune teller in his face. “Pick one!” she said.

“Pick one what?”

“You have four options, pick one!”

JJ raised an eyebrow. “You’re making cootie catchers?” she said. “I thought you were worried about getting into college.”

“First of all, where I come from, we call them fortune tellers,” Penelope said. “Second of all, I’ve decided I’m not going to college, I will never be able to pass these tests, so I will never get a college degree, so I will just play my ukulele on street corners for the rest of my life.”

“You can always get a college degree and play your ukulele on street corners,” Dave pointed out.

“Derek, please, pick one,” Penelope begged.

He looked at the phrases. “Uh…koala bear, I guess,” he said.

“Now pick a number.”

“Um...three.”

Penelope unfolded the fortune. “You will fail your midterms, flunk out of school, and play the dulcimer in Penelope Garcia’s busking band,” she read. “Oh, that’ll work out nicely.” Derek shook his head.

Spencer ran up the stairs, arms laden down with soda cans. “I’m back!” he said. He dumped them on the floor. “Maybe don’t open them right this second. The carbonation-”

“We’re cramming enough knowledge in our heads today, we don’t need an extra lesson,” Emily said, scowling at her history textbook.

Spencer’s lower lip dropped in a pout. “Don’t make that face,” Hotch warned. “We’ve talked about how sometimes it’s a bad time for facts.”

“I’m not pouting. And there’s never a bad time for facts.”

“Yes, there is,” Derek said. “Like now, when we’re all trying to study.”

“Except me, I’m going to join the circus,” Penelope informed them.

“I’m trying to study too, you guys,” JJ called from her fortress of papers and books.

James rubbed his temples. “Guys...please…” Dave threw a pretzel at him. “Goddammit, David.”

“I was just trying to explain that the carbonation-”

“No!” Emily said, tossing a pillow at Spencer. It bopped him in the face and knocked him backwards.

“Jesus, Emily!” Derek exclaimed.

Hotch buried his face in his hands. “For the love of god, you guys, stop.” he said.

“I’m sorry!” Emily said. “Spencer, wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to smack you, you were just really getting on my nerves, please don’t tell Alex.”

Alex looked up from her chromebook and took out her earbuds. “Hm?” she said. “What’s going on?”

“Emily hit-”

“Penelope said-”

“David threw-”

“Oh my god,” Alex said. “Okay, okay, stop. Just...stop, everybody. One at a time, please.”

Hotch dragged his hands over his face. “I just want a little peace and quiet,” he mumbled into his palms.

“Spence, I’m sorry, really,” Emily said earnestly. “Are you okay?”

Spencer sat up. “To quote Anne Shirley...I am well in body but distinctly rumpled in spirit,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“What’s the translation?” Emily asked.

He pushed himself up off the floor. “You threw a pillow at my face, and I think I’m mad about it!” he accused. “And yes, I know I’m pouting, and I don’t care!”

“Oh, now you’ve done it, Prentiss,” Dave said.

Hotch got up from the table and stomped over to them. “That’s enough,” he said. He picked up Spencer under his arms and plunked him down on Alex’s lap. “Emily, you are six years older than him. Chill.” Dave snickered. “Dave, stop making it worse.”

“Penelope, you’re not going to busk on street corners or join the circus, if you take a second and stop freaking out you’ll realize that you know more than you think you do,” James added.

“Yes! Thank you,” Hotch said. “Derek, you need to take this seriously. You have to keep your grades up or they’ll move you from varsity down to JV. And Wallace will get your spot.”

Derek scowled. “Fuck Wallace,” he grumbled.

“And JJ…” Hotch paused.

“What?” she said. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“No, you’re the most well-behaved, but...why are you upside down?”

JJ blinked. She hadn’t realized how she got there, but sure enough, she was lying on a scattered heap of worksheets with her heels propped up on the wall. “I don’t know, these things happen,” she said. Hotch sighed.

Emily scrambled off the couch. “Okay, okay, I know tensions are running really high right now,” she said. “And I know some of it is my fault-”

“You knocked me over like a bowling pin,” Spencer sulked.

Alex adjusted him on her lap. “I think you’ll live,” she said, and he crossed his arms.

“Stop reminding me! Jesus, I’m trying to apologize!” Emily said. “What if I order pizza for everybody? It’s almost dinner time anyway and we’re all stressed, we should take a break. Will I finally be forgiven?”

Spencer opened his mouth to argue. “Yes,” JJ said immediately. She rolled over to sit up, shifting her papers around. “Oh my god, yes, please.”

“I’ll always vote for pizza,” Derek said.

Penelope looked down at the half-a-dozen fortune tellers scattered around her. “Maybe a break will help me focus again,” she said sadly.

Emily crouched down next to Alex’s chair. “Spencer?” she said sweetly. “Am I forgiven?” He huffed, blowing a lock of hair off his forehead. She poked him lightly. “Am I? Am? Am I?”

His mouth tilted. “Can I tell you the facts I was going to say?” he asked.

Emily sighed. “Yes,” she said. “Go ahead, Dr. Reid. Tell me everything you know about carbonation.”

“You brought this on yourself, Prentiss,” Hotch pointed out.

“I know. I know.”

#au: patron saint of lost causes #criminal minds fanfiction #caitlin writes things #spencer reid #aaron hotchner #david rossi #jennifer jareau #james blake #alex blake #emily prentiss #derek morgan #penelope garcia #these babies are so precious #spencer keeps ending up on alex's lap and I don't care #emily is a terrible role model #jj is an organizational disaster

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missjoolee · 3 years

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Rules: Answer the questions and tag ten people you’ve met because of jatp

I’ve been tagged by @claire8216 @story-courty and @pink-flame so I figured I should give it a go

Favorite Scene: It's difficult to pick. I'd say the "gift of dipping" scene because it's got the banter, the suspense at Carlos figuring the band out, and it was very well executed for being two conversations happening at the same time without overlapping. But I also want to say the end of the school dance where Julie drops some great truthbombs at the guys and doesnt put up with no guff! (I for some reason have a soft spot for women having enough with another person's bs and verbally putting them in their place. and if the other person doesn't listen, just leaving situation)(I have no clue why)(i say as if i didn't know that i wish i were that badass)(confrontations are my enemy)

Favorite character when you started the show: Probably Alex's Dramatics

Favorite character now: I think maybe Reggie? He's probably the most fun to make goofy headcanon's for and the fandom's affinity to write Reggie Whump makes me want to give him all the happiness in the world.

Favorite ship when you started the show: I was pretty even steven between juke and willex at the beginning

Favorite ship now: Juke. I blame some very talented fic writers for my spiral into almost exclusively seeking out juke content.

Favorite song when you started the show: Flying Solo. Hands down. I know I'm in the minority on this but those slidey harmonies... they get me good. I also like that it's the first song they workshopped together and they are just having fun together while playing it to Flynn. It's a song about friendship and it's really the start of Julie's friendships with the guys in a way and just FRIENDSHIP GUYS

Favorite song now: I'm going to answer this instead as "Which song has your opinion changed the most about". Perfect Harmony is the song I've changed my mind about the most. In my first watch of the show, I had to skip this song due to secondhand embarrassment. (Julie, you are in the middle of class! People can see you but not him! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??) and even though the scene following it outright told me that it was a fantasy, I didn't go back and watch. I didn't make a connection with it like the other songs so when I would listen to the Soundtrack, a lot of times I would skip it. After my next time watching, the ball got rolling and now it's one of my favorite songs to sing along to because I was an alto in high school choir and i live for fun harmonies to sing.

Month you first watched JATP: October 8th. I know this because I was taking a week of PTO haha it maybe kinda changed my life 😝

Favorite thing about the fandom: The people I've met, at least in my little corner. They are some of the most uplifting, encouraging and kind people I've seen in a fandom. Plus the middle of the night/day head canon spirals and tags are all amazing

Favorite thing about the show as a whole: The relationships between characters. For only having nine <30 min episodes, they did an amazing job and building and showing off some amazing relationships (familial, platonic, romantic) and portraying emotional responses to things within those.

A lot of the people I interact on a regular basis are the ones that tagged me sooooo @moreflowersthanweeds ? Anyone else, if you want to be tagged, consider yourself tagged.

#tag game #jatp #julie and the phantoms

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that-was-anticlimactic · 3 years

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I was tagged by the lovely and wonderful @zukosaturtle-duck :) thank you, Ellen:)

1. name/nickname: Corey actually is my nickname! My full name is Corrina but when I first made an Instagram fan account in 2012, someone asked my name and sixth grade me panicked and said Corey! I’m sick of having my name mispronounced even after correcting them, so I like giving people options:) I’ve also had two teachers accidentally call me Corona in the past year so I guess that’s a nickname too lol

2. gender: female

3. star sign: Capricorn

4. height: so. I haven’t measured or weighed myself in literal years because I just didn’t ?? Last time I measured myself, I was 5’1 1/2, but I think I’m 5’2 now?? Maybe 5’2 1/2???? I should probably measure myself haha

5. time: 12:31pm

6. birthday: December 29th

7. favorite bands/groups: ... I listen to Broadway:) so I’ll just name my favorite musicals: Aladdin, A Chorus Line, Come From Away, and Starry:)

8. favorite solo artist: ummm again, I listen to mostly Broadway so umm I’ll just name some more musical I like: Dogfight, Finding Neverland, anything by Team Starkid, Into the Woods, The Lightning Thief:)

9. song stuck in my head: Love Thy Neighbor from The Prom

10. last movie: Legend of Everfree

11. last show: I’m actually currently rewatching Psych (like literally right now I’m watching the episode Shawn (and Gus) of the Dead as I type this). It’s, in my opinion, the best live action show out there.

12. when did i create this blog: imma be real— I don’t remember?? Either 2017 or 2018???

13. what do i post: my blog used to be Ninjago, but now it’s a mix of atla / lok, Ninjago, The Hollow, and pretty much any cartoon! I also reblog some musical stuff, friendly reminders, and just stuff I think is important! I do post fanfiction on occasion as well! Love reblogging art because I can’t draw for crap and seeing beautiful art is 🥺🥰

14. last thing i googled: “when is kiss of the spider woman set” I was on a face time with my internet friends last night and every night I practice trying to say all of the MLP episodes in a season (alternates by night) in order, so I did s5 and then my other friend was like “gimme a year and I bet I can name all of the Tony nominees for best musical every year” and we were double checking haha

15. other blogs: this is my only blog akbekejrj

16. do i get asks: sometimes! The majority of my asks have to do with Sokka with Tourette’s headcanons or anything with TS, and I love that:)

17. why did i choose this url: my favorite word is anticlimactic and one of the scenes that made me laugh the hardest in Ninjago is in s5 ep4 when Cole thinks the other three are playing a prank on him and they’re running after him and Jay screams “DON’T OPEN THAT DOOR” and then nothing happens and Kai just goes “... well that was anticlimactic” and it’s just my favorite thing ever and I’ve considered changing my url to zukkaclimactic but I love that line so much I’m wjevjebr

18. following: 253 (crap I should follow more people wksbejje)

19. followers: 434🥺 thanks for putting up with my crap, friends🥺

20. average hours of sleep: hahahhaha umm god question. not sure. terrible sleep schedule, just ask Grace lol

21. lucky number: 3! I just love odd numbers and years ago (like sixth grade again) my friend and I made a dumb little Ninjago number code for whatever reason and my favorite character was three and idk I’ve felt a “connection” with three ever since haha

22. instruments: I played alto saxophone in band for seven-eight years, three years in marching band and tenor sax one year in marching band and part of my junior / senior year of high school!

23. what am i wearing: lol haven’t left my bed yet today so pajama pants with cute little cartoon pigs on them and a black long sleeve shirt hahahha

24. dream job: well, I’m going to college for English education, so teaching high school English is absolutely a dream job, but my impossible dream job would be voice acting, Broadway (if I could I actually sing ugh), or I would like to write a cartoon television show (and also lowkey voice a character). I do actually love my major, though, and it is a dream job!

25. dream trip: DENMARK DENMARK DENAMRK DENMARK!!! I love Denmark. I’m literally attempting to learn Danish for fun because I love Denmark. I know three Danish sign language words (I’m also almost fluent in asl but this is Danish sign language I—) but um ahem aside from Denmark, any trip where I meet my internet friends

26. favorite food: ngl I really like tomatoes. I eat whole tomatoes like apples a lot. Fantastic.

27. nationality: american

28. favorite song: my favorite song will always be High Adventure from Aladdin. That song is so important to me for reasons I won’t get into right now because this is long enough as it is, but that will always be my favorite song.

29. last book read: hmm I think the last book I read was fanfiction uhh but I am currently reading The Color Purple!

30. 3 fictional universes you’d like to live in: bro. Bro. Can I just live in a fictional universe. How must I choose only three ??? Umm Equestria from MLP, there’s just something so magical and powerful about the world from Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts and maybe it’s the fact that in the end humans and mutes live on the surface together so that’s my number two, and uhhh the world in Land of Stories like the book world.

Oh boy the hardest part: tagging people who haven’t been tagged yet. Umm @evelinaonline (I know you aren’t on tumblr as much, but friendship is magic haha), @tikmasjiens , @dnd-beyond (my fellow starkid fan), @rainydaysammy , and @canyourscienceexplainthis (feel free to not do this if you don’t want to! There’s no pressure to do it!)

#tag game #ellen I love you #thank you for the means to procrastinate #and rant about musicals lol

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thedemonhunterscousin · 3 years

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Senses and Other Oddly Specific Headcanons

1. What does your muse smell like?

The smells of hunting follow Sarah around - metal, smoke, gun powder. A little like leather and convenience store coffee. Mix that with the smell of cheap laundry detergent, and complimentary motel soaps, and the cheapest, closest to unscented shampoo/conditioner/deodorant she can find (the ones that have a fairly pronounced scent linger - and the last thing she needs is the thing she’s hunting finding her cause she smells like vanilla and strawberries or something).

2. What do your muse’s hands feel like?

Strong and callused. Years of hunting and having to work with weapons has made them steady and sure, and firm in their grip, but it’s also left it’s mark in the form of calluses on her fingers and palms, as well as a scar on one hand from having to cut it to draw blood on multiple occasions.

And because she doesn’t always think about things like moisturizer, in the winter it’s not uncommon for her hands to become dry - unless it’s really bothering her, she just ignores it.

3. What does your muse usually eat in a day?

Sarah’s diet generally consists of meals that can be made in a motel room, or bought in a diner or fast food restaurant. It’s not necessarily the healthiest way to live, but she doesn’t exactly have a lot of opportunities to get more, and it keeps her going when she’s moving around and hunting.

Oh, and a lot of coffee. So much coffee in her system.

4. Does your muse have a good singing voice?

She does! But you’re more likely to hear her hum, which she does pretty often when she’s doing menial tasks and things. She only really sings in the shower or along with the radio when she’s driving somewhere, especially on the long highway drives between hunts.

5. Does your muse have any bad habits or nervous ticks?

The biggest and most obvious one is that she swears like a sailor, all of the time. Growing up around hunters will do that to a person. She has enough control to think to sensor herself around young children she doesn’t really know, but that’s mostly because she doesn’t want to be tracked down by an annoyed parent who’s children just learned some new fun words!

She will also sometimes pickpocket people for fun, or if she needs some quick cash, or just to see if you’re paying attention - if she likes you, she will give you your stuff back. Eventually.

She also doesn’t sleep nearly as much as she should, often plays with her pens while writing, and hums when she’s nervous or just bored and doing menial tasks. I don’t know if having one night stands to short term solve her need for non fighting for her life human contact and intimacy and using it to ignore how much she misses affection counts as a bad habit but it’s something! The whole burying that need for affection probably is though.

Her most notable nervous tick is that when she’s stressed or nervous or upset or angry, she will slowly open and close her fists. She doesn’t always realize she’s doing it, but it’s a good way for others to tell she’s upset.

6. What does your muse usually look like / wear?

Most of Sarah’s clothes have that worn in look of being owned and taken care of for years and years. A lot of it has been, or it’s been found at a cheap thrift store and came like that already. Her appearance consists mostly of tank tops, flannel shirts, old band tees, sweaters (some stolen from hook-ups/college exes, some not), jeans and sweat-pants, the old leather jacket she’s had for years, and a pair of sturdy old work boots that have lasted through so much wear and tear. She has one, maybe two nice dresses/outfits for when she needs to dress up.

Most times her hair is pulled back into a braid, bun, or ponytail so it’s out of her way, and make up is generally only used when she needs to go somewhere that it would be expected of her - being at a bar to try and lure out a vampire or something.

7. Is your muse affectionate? How much? How so?

Sarah can be deeply affectionate with people she really likes and is close to, but it’s not necessarily something you’ll see from her on a day to day basis, because a lot of the time she’s by herself and not around other people.

The main two ways she shows it are physically, and through gifts. She likes sitting in people’s laps or having them sitting in hers, hugging or just throwing an arm around someone, just casually being in contact or leaning against each other while doing something together or just doing their own things.

Gift giving is generally something that happens when she comes back after being away on hunts. She’ll return with a charm, or pendant, or amulet, especially the protection kind - she wants the people she cares about to be safe when she can’t be there to protect them. Sometimes she will be closer to home though, and still pick up something just because she saw it and it made her think of them. Either or, its a way for her to say I’m still thinking about you. Even though I can’t always be here, I’m always thinking of you.

All of this goes of course for both friends and romantic partners.

8. What position does your muse sleep in?

On her side, facing the door, usually with a knife near by if not in hand under a pillow or something. She knows better than to trust things won’t try to break in and attack her in her sleep.

9. Could you hear your muse in the hallway from another room?

Sometimes. If she doesn’t want you to, you probably won’t know she’s around. Years of hunting and having to sneak up on that have made her good at being quiet and sneaking around - even if she’s not really thinking about it, which can lead to her spooking people by sneaking up on them. She also likes the quiet because it allows her to hear things she might miss if she was playing music, so you generally can’t tell that way either.

Sarah does sometimes talk to herself out loud though, especially when she’s trying to work through a problem, so there is that. And she hums when she’s doing things, which if you’re in the other room you might hear!

tagged by: the wonderful @listered !

tagging: @bitchetrope, @dragontold (any muse!), @aeipathic (any muse!), @driftinglightofthewoods and anyone else who sees this and wants to do it! go ahead and steal it and say I tagged u!

#headcanons #ooc #this was so much fun thank u!!

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asimovsideburns · 3 years

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tagged by @acefitzroymaplecourt to answer thirty questions and tag twenty people. I will absolutely not be tagging twenty people. I don’t think I even know twenty whole people???

1. Name/Nickname: Andre

2. Gender: okay you know when you grow up as a boy and you occasionally think “man I wish I was a hot girl, girls are so great, and also girls are hot that’s definitely why” and sometimes you see a dress and really love it and feel a nebulous sense of longing that you somehow know can never be fulfilled and you think trans characters and trans headcanons are really really cool and then you’re an adult and start to put some stuff together and you’re like “cool! let’s never unpack this.”? like that. also I recently thought of a cool name I thought about trying out but I don’t want to do that. but I kind of do. but I don’t. I still like my birth name though. actually now that I think about names, when I was really young I liked to pretend I had different names a lot. let’s never unpack this. he/him or they/them pronouns.

3. Star Sign: Libra!

4. Height: 5′11″

5. Time: 2:02am

6. Birthday: October 18th

7. Favorite Bands/Groups: asking me for my favorite of almost anything is a surefire way to get my brain to shut down but I’ve been listening to The Altogether lately. Sort of. I’ve been listening to their podcast Let’s Make a Music where they make funny songs out of submissions from listeners based on a one-word theme. the baseline for Akimbo unironically fucking slaps, though. They have a bandcamp where you can just listen to the songs, if you want to, but imo you should listen to the podcast ep first because they go through the process, sort of, and the song will make zero sense if you don’t, probably. But you might want to listen to the music to see if the podcast is worth listening to, I guess.

8. Favorite Solo Artist: again with the favorites. I don’t actually know that many artists? Uuuuh let me check my 150-song youtube playlist real quick. Nope, no strong feelings about any of the solo artists on there. Oh! here’s throwback, check out Miracle of Sound! I used to listen to him all the time. Haven’t listened to anything that’s he’s put out in, like... five years? more? but I still have some of his older stuff on my playlists and it’s good.

9. Song Stuck In My Head: it was Ship of Stone but now it’s Akimbo

10. Last Movie: still Klaus from when I watched a bit of it around christmas

11. Last Show: Nailed It!

12. When Did I Create This Blog: oh fuck, I have NO idea. you guys still think time is real? but for real probably around... 2013? maybe? I’m trying to place it in landmarks of my life and I’m just not sure but that seems right.

13. What Do I Post: I literally stared blankly at my screen for, like, several seconds, which is a long time for me. buddy, if you can figure it out, I would appreciate you letting me know. there is no method to this madness.

14. Last Thing I Googled: Wilmington Insurrection

15. Other Blogs: I have a couple other urls but I’ve literally never used them for anything. no sideblogs we smash all our interests together into one unsorted mess like men.

16. Do I Get Asks: no :( I did for a little bit there but then they stopped. I’ve gotten a couple recently but for the most part, no. You can send me asks! I crave interaction! I will probably answer them at 1am, though!

17. Why Did I Choose This URL: okay listen you’re not allowed to judge. cringe culture is dead. I was in high school and I thought sideburns were super cool so I googled them? for some reason? and I saw a picture (artist interpretation) of Isaac Asimov and his really great sideburns. and then I was Asimov’s Sideburns in a couple of internet places (my old username was cringier) and then I got an xbox 360 which was my first internet-enabled console and it was like “make an account!” and I was like “WHOAH... an ACCOUNT...” and Asimov’s Sideburns wouldn’t fit so I shortened it. and then I was like, I have to be the same everywhere so people can find me (nobody was trying to find me. I didn’t even play multiplayer games.) so that was the thing. Except my Steam name is different, because I am nothing if not consistent. Consistently inconsistent, one might even say. But it’s still sideburns-related.

18. Following: 417

19. Followers: 930

20. Average Hours Of Sleep: somewhere between 4 and 12 per time I am asleep (not per night, because I have an unmedicated sleep disorder and when I sleep varies wildly. It’s very inconvenient.)

21. Lucky Number: 7

22. Instruments: okay so I took piano lessons as a kid for a little bit and also played baritone in band class and took lessons for that but then my dad pulled me out of lessons for both because he didn’t want to drive me around and then the next year I went to a different school and played the tuba and then the next year I went to a different school and played the trombone and then the next year I went to the same school but I played the french horn, and I stuck with that for a couple more years until I dropped band class, and also I took bass guitar lessons for a bit. but I never really got good at any of those so I guess the truest answer is “not really”

23. What Am I Wearing: sweatpant, seahawks t shirt (I don’t care about sports but it’s pretty much the only comfortable shirt I own), and a jacket. Not like a heavy jacket, but not a light jacket either. medium jacket. some heft but not a winter coat. also socks and slippers and glasses. and underwear? I think that’s a given though. And a bandaid on my finger.

24. Dream Job: I Do Not Dream Of Labor. no, but seriously, I would love to do voice acting. I also enjoy tutoring math! I just wish people would hire me! I’m good at it, I promise! but also like. because of my sleep issues and my health working can be difficult for me, so being able to dip in and out of work as convenient while still having a safety net in the form of universal basic income is the dream.

25. Dream Trip: I’m actually kind of a homebody, I like to travel but I also like to stay home. Given infinite money, I think I would love to just go ALL over the place, though. World Tour. but mostly for cities, because I’m bad at the outdoors.

26. Favorite Food: really good kabob koobideh, and if I get sides, with must-o-khiar (NO DILL), fresh baked sangak or pita bread, and saffron rice with barberries. And a non-carbonated Doogh (plain, not mint).

28. Favorite Song: literally changes once a day at least. obvious answer is Bohemian Rhapsody, though. Also, what happened to number 27?

29. Last Book Read: currently reading Middlegame, although I’m stuck because of bad brain disease. if this means last completed book, then Over the Woodward Wall. both by excellent author Seanan McGuire, although the later is under the open pen name A. Deborah Baker (I found out after reading it that it’s actually a plot-relevant in-universe book in Middlegame! I love meta shit like that!)

30. Three Fictional Universes You’d Like To Live In: mass effect but not during the games, uuuuh i’m trying to think of literally any non-shitty fictional universes hang on, okay i’m hitting random media on tvtropes and I’m gonna put the first ones that I’d like to live in here goes, OH WAIT I THOUGHT OF ONE!, theirs not to reason why by jean johnson but again like. not during the war, okay the tvtropes one was lilo and stitch but I kept looking and then a different one mentioned a webcomic and I was like OH SHIT! those are fictional universes too! so uh idk questionable content universe. that one’s got robot people and no major world-spanning badness so far.

Okay! if you got this far, I commend you. If you didn’t... I understand. but you aren’t reading this. Unless you just wanted to see if I tagged you, I guess. I just looked at the clock and I spent like literally an hour on this holy shit.

I’m just gonna tag... YOU! if you see this, you have been tagged. that’s what you get for staying up late (in my timezone, at least) and/or being interested in me. You get to decide if it’s a reward or a punishment. now GO! spend less than an hour on your version hopefully! it probably only took me so long because I literally can’t ever shut up!

#mine #tag game #about me #gender stuff #long post

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chaoticspacefam · 3 years

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OC Worldbuilding Tag!

I was tagged by @raven-of-domain-kwaad and @rainofaugustsith for this one, thanks both of you! :D

I shall tag (if you want to ofc, no pressure!) uhh... @thelastenvoyyy , @dragonheart-swtor , @darth-bagel and anyone else who wants to do this, yes I promise I mean you! <3

So...because I’m always talking about her girls, I feel like I should maybe talk about D’leah for once because she’s actually tied to a fair bit of interesting worldbuilding for Subterfugeverse :3

This is a long post oop so here ya go, all under the cut!

(art is comissioned from @.varjopihlaja :3 since the in-game scar options are a little...limited) -Her face got hecked up in one of the battles against the exiled Jedi’s occupation of Korriban, a stray concussion grenade went off before she could get out of range and did quite the number on her face as you can see. She lost most of the spurs on the left side of her face and therefore struggles a bit after that with non-verbal communication - because if Twi’leks and Nautolans can emote/communicate with their lekku and tentacles respectively then 👏 Purebloods 👏 can 👏 emote/communicate 👏 with 👏 their 👏 spurs/tendrils 👏👏 And yes, I am going to die on this hill XD (I have a good portion of these worked out already but haven’t had time to work on diagrams yet, but I will eventually make a lore post of sorts when I have!) Since in general, Purebloods are used to the spur movements occurring in pairs depending on what they’re trying to communicate, it took a lot of time, confusion, patience and frustration for D’leah (and her family) to work out the “adjusted” signals to account for her missing spurs so she could still communicate non-verbally even after the injury.

-Didn’t re-marry or even re-partner after Kissai’s death. He was her soulmate and even though that probably made things worse for her in the long run (nigh on 300 years without your soulmate and a gaping hole where your Force bond with him used to be? yeah, ouch ;-;) she just couldn’t (nor did she want to) “replace” him because she loved him too much. She had enough to remember him by with the twins, Kas looks like him and Saarai acts like him and that was enough to keep her going as long as she managed to.

-Her relationship with the twins is complicated, and while she did do crappy things (and was a Bad Parent because of those things), it wasn’t always like that and when they were younger she was actually a very good mom to them if a little okay a lot strict; but what are you gonna do when you’re (as far as she knew) the last three remaining members of your entire family dynasty having to hide away in Wild Space just to survive while your userper prances about your Empire like he owns the bloody place. I’d be salty about that too if I was D’leah.

I could write a whole essay about the difference in her headspace and why she reacted to the whole Ty Mess the way she did but that’s prolly a little heavy for a headcanon post (and is once again Complicated) so I am not going to do that. If you’re curious you can either ask (in the askbox or in DMs) and/or wait for the breadcrumbs to come when I start releasing the twins’ parts of the series 😬

-I’ve mentioned how she replaces Kallig’s ghost for Ni’kasi in my HCs before, and it’s absolutely Subterfugeverse canon that Ghost Mom continues to stick around and help the twins right up until the final fight with Valkorion at the end of KOTET. And probably after that, too, though much more sporadically at that point because it’s clear the twins are fine on their own so it’s more a case of “they can come find her if they need her help otherwise she’s gonna let them do their thing”

-If she were to ever run into Satele while she’s prowling around in the Odessen wilderness she likely would chew her (and Senya she also has something to say about your taste in men, Senya :’) ) out for being a shitty mom to Theron after learning from her own mistakes with Saarai/Ty and patching that up. Satele wouldn’t know what hit her. XD

-Also helps Ni’kasi, Lana and the others to drag Valkorion out of Vano’s head for good when the time comes, I like to headcanon that exorcising Valkorion’s spirit from Vano’s head would’ve been a lot more damaging/painful without D’leah’s help. Another spirit-being that he can’t manipulate or weaken certainly helped them to give him the shove and not kill Vano in the process.

-She likes to keep Kas’s crew on their toes by randomly moving objects and suchlike on the ship or suddenly popping up (sometimes as a disembodied voice for those who lack the ability to “see” ghosts - poor Andronikos, Talos gets a fright a few times but adjusts a lot quicker than the poor pirate LOL) to remind them to stay on task if she thinks they’re slacking too much. She may be a 400+ year old ghost at this point but she still has a sense of humour! XD

-She’s canonically Lawful Evil on an alignment chart and absolutely would have had No Mercy for the Republic or the Jedi (see again: the Jedi/Sith colonisation thing which IMO is justified for her, given the information we have on all of that. You don’t have to agree and if you don’t that’s fine but that’s my take on it LMAO) but to the rest of the Empire? Actually a pretty good leader and definitely better than Valkorion; none of that slavery bullshit in the Subterfugeverse pre-Valkorion era, thank you, I’ve talked on a lengthy rant before about why we aren’t doing that ;) Also, older Sith and Overseers were definitely held accountable in making sure that acolytes/underaged apprentices were trained safely and without being made to kill each other. That’s all Vitiate/Valkorion in Subterfugeverse - a slightly band-aid solution maybe but I have to fix the mess somehow and I don’t feel like doing that much brain gymnastics. She’s definitely a no-bullshit gal but she’s not about killing kids

#swtor #OC worldbuilding tag #elven's swtor worldbuilding #swtor oc: d'leah ahaszaai #sith pureblood #elven's swtor headcanons #the ahaszaai family #elven's sith pureblood headcanons #kinda #little bit #elven rambles a lot about spiky tomatoes...again #this is what i have so far at least. i have...a lot more stuff tbh #especially tomato-related lore #it's just a lot of it requires me to get off my butt and draw a crap ton of things to accompany them #and i ain't had time for that #:P #but here we go. surprise!#sith mom may have been Kinda Problematic but underneath she is actually not as awful as she may appear #because we are *here for* Evil-alignment characters who stick to their guns but Do Love Their Spouse/Family Actually on this blog #😤👌#yet another hill i will die on #the ty thing is very complicated for a multitude of reasons and probably a bit heavy/potentially trigger-y so i'm not gonna go into it #but there are explanations for that too #but it does end with d'leah being held accountable for that and having to own up to her bullshit #which she does do i swear #projection? i don't know her. no sir.#but there are plans for that #one day. when i get there lol #i am the world's slowest writer and you may ironically get more out of me quicker in tag games like this than in fics #because i am easily distracted by the 1000 other things happening in my brain

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tev-the-random · 4 years

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A casual Sonic Forces rewrite + some headcanons, because why not

Part 1 – Infinite and Episode Shadow

Just a warning: none of the images used here belong to me! They all belong to SEGA – the game screenshots, the official art and the comic pages.

Next Part ->

I have yet to see the Sonic Movie, because the universe seems devoted on not letting me do so, for some reason. Being as desperate for Sonic content but as determined to not receive spoilers from the movie as I am, I decided to go for the next coolest thing: writing really long and random posts about a game that came out three years ago and no one cares about anymore.

This shall be fun!

(Update: as of posting this, I have finally watched the movie! But I don’t want to throw this away, so I’ll post it anyway. We can have a nice talk about the movie later.)

*“Fist Bump instrumental” intro plays*

*“This is Our World: a New Hero” plays in the background*

I’m the type of person to always try and see the best in every game, and Sonic Forces is no different. Despite its obvious flaws, I love this beautiful game! Mostly the concept of it is one of the coolest things I’ve seen this last decade, but the execution… lacks on a few things. I mostly just fill in the gaps with my imagination and enjoy it nevertheless, but, upon going through the tag and seeing that some of my concerns were shared by other people, I decided to try my hand at rewriting Sonic Forces juuust a tiny bit. Just for fun!

For this first part (and I have no idea how many parts we should have), I’d like to share some of my ideas about…

*Infinite’s Theme plays in the background as I try hard not to sing along*

Oh, my poor jackal boy, what do we do with you? Despite being so heavily promoted and having an undeniably awesome theme song, Infinite’s backstory and general development throughout the game came out as lacking, having the self-proclaimed edgelord become a laughingstock amongst most fans. Nevertheless, I still love Infinite, and it saddens me how much wasted potential he had; it’s like they were trying to write a really interesting character, but gave up halfway through.

So yeah, let’s talk about it. And let us begin with his origin story.

I believe you are all familiar with this scene:

I… I want to defend my boy here, I really do. But honestly, the way this was portrayed, it just sounded like he was throwing a childish tantrum. It seems as if his entire motive for becoming a villain was “Shadow beat him and called him weak”; dude, you’re not the only one: Shadow does this to basically everybody who’s ever crossed his way! We’re not given a reason as to why Infinite gets so bloody offended, nor are we given a reason why we should care.

So, how can we fix this? I think we should firstly focus less on “I’M NOT WEEEEAAAAK!!! URRAAAAGHH!!!” and more on:

It doesn’t need to be – and I don’t even think it can be – as sad of a situation as the Rivaille Squad in Shingeki No Kyojin or anything, but I believe that showing us that Infinite lost something important would already do wonders to his backstory.

The simplest way – that is, the way that doesn’t majorly change how things go, but does give the jackal a clearer motive – to do this would involve the ever so humble inclusion of two new cutscenes and one new in-game battle, plus a few tweaks to some already existing scenes.

Episode Shadow begins not with the usual reading introduction, but rather, with Shadow’s voice. “I was a couple of months before the Doctor took over the world. The first time I encountered him… I didn’t know what he would become.” Then we open with what used to be a couple of months prior (aka where they presented Infinite’s memory, aka where they screwed up), so we’ll go through things in a chronological order instead of having a flashback inside of a prequel, because that’s confusing AF.

Now, instead of starting the Mystic Jungle level immediately, we should get a small cutscene: Shadow gliding through the jungle, cool camera angles/lighting and all – maybe something similar to the opening scene of Episode Shadow in Sonic 06? –, on his way to invade Eggman’s base as a voice coming from the hedgehog’s communicator reminds him about his mission (yep, that’s some subtle exposition to the audience so we don’t think Shadow is there just because). My idea for said mission would be the simple task of retrieving a Chaos Emerald (yeah, remember those?) from Eggman. Nothing too serious; just another day, another emerald stolen like usual; we’ve seen this before, there’s no need for a long dialogue.

As the black-and-red blur crosses the screen, the camera pans to a group of people hiding above in the trees: Squad Jackal. Infinite is not among them. One of the jackals asks “where’ the boss?” to which another one replies that he’s on the other side of the base/talking to the Doctor/whatever and they have no time to waste; their mission is to take down the intruder and protect the base. We get something in the lines of “the boss is counting on us. Expect no mercy, show no weakness. Let’s go!” and the camera fades out as the squad drops from the trees and runs after Shadow.

I believe that having the phrase “show no weakness” – or any possible reference to “I’m not weak”, really – appear earlier as seemingly common and then have it become something the character gives a lot of importance to due to consequences and parallels sounds a bit more interesting than having Infinite’s inferiority complex come out of nowhere.

The Mystic Jungle level plays as usual, except the dialogue in the background doesn’t say that “the Defence Squad has already been completely annihilated”, but rather that “the Defence Squad is on the case. They’re the best mercenaries there are, Shadow won’t stand a chance!” because Doctor Eggman is naive like that.

Once we reach the end of the level there’s another change: a boss battle against Squad Jackal. You see, we don’t want to hear the squad was taken down like some sort of lazy exposition, because it feels incomplete; we want to participate, we want to be the protagonist and see with our own eyes just what is Infinite’s squad. This gives faces and voices to something that will become an important plot point instead of just telling us “yeah, this happened or whatever”. This could also play as some sort of sympathy point for Infinite, because we, while in control of Shadow, took down his squad; it makes the villain’s animosity towards Shadow and his general anger at least a bit more understandable.

The idea is that this battle should play as some sort of field fight – that is, differently than most boss battles in Sonic Forces, this is not a racing track where you attack your enemy while running, but rather a large secluded area, much like the one we get in the fight between the Custom Hero and the DeathEgg Robot –, where squad members would attack individually in different patterns before going for a group attack. The individual jackals would have both projectile (perhaps something like a wispon, knives or some Eggman invention to keep it family friendly enough?) and close-ranged attacks, while the group attack would consist of this mass of wild jackals changing at you, trying to run you over. The opportunity windows could be either the moment when the opponents switch or band together for the group attack.

(I don’t know, maybe some of you can think of better ways to fight the Jackal Squad? This is just a random idea! I’d like to hear different ones!)

Once the fight is over, we get another cutscene: Shadow stands among the fallen jackals – don’t worry, they’re… sleeping… yeah, there’s no visible blood, they’re not dead… except they’re totally dead – and looks around for a second or two. His expression is indecipherable, and he soon leaves without saying a word – one might say he feels bad for them, or maybe he doesn’t give a damn; we leave that open to interpretation. Not a moment passes and we get to see the leader of the squad arriving at the scene. The camera moves in a circle around him as he looks at his fallen comrades in shock. How did this happen? They were the strongest, how could his whole squad be dead? This is a rather touching moment, where Infinite sticks his sword (because in his origins comic he used to have a super cool red sword and I want to pretend we have a reason for it not existing in the game) to the ground; there’s a feeling of anger and vengeance going on as we get a closer look at the last standing jackal. He clenches his fists and faces the direction of Shadow. “Expect no mercy, show no weakness,” he says in an infuriated, strangled voice. He starts to run and the camera fades out.

(Look at his sword and his squad, man. I do wish we could have seen them in the game…)

When the camera fades in again, we get that exact same cutscene from the game. Blah blah, “destroyed my squad”, blah blah, “ultimate mercenary”, a legendary ass whooping and Infinite falls to the ground, weak, pathetic and defeated.

Now, I’d like to add just a few lines to their dialogue, because this:

Doesn’t really sound like Shadow to me. I mean, man: you beat this random guy to the ground, called him worthless and pathetic out of nowhere and then you just leave? I know Shadow is rather apathetic and he’s supposed to be savage and all, but this just felt kind of out of place…

So instead of going full rude mode, what Shadow actually says is:

‘You’re part of the Defence Squad, aren’t you? Why would a bunch of mercenaries work for the Doctor? What is he hiding?’

‘The doctor paid well enough to not have his secrets spilled,’ Infinite retorts while trying to get up. He’s too hurt to do much, but he’s still willing to fight. He looks at Shadow with fiery eyes as he continues, ‘My squad… you took them down like they were nothing… why wouldn’t someone as strong as you be a mercenary?’

‘Mercenary work is for the weak,’ the hedgehog states matter-of-factly. ‘I’ve sworn to protect, not to follow the dirty line of work you did.’

This blows Infinite’s mind and he simply stares at Shadow, dumbfounded. He murmurs, ‘weak? How dare you, I’m not… We’re not weak! We’re the squad o-’

‘Where’s the Chaos Emerald?’ The jackal’s statement is completely ignored. However, Infinite is having none of this, so tries to attack Shadow once again in a fit of rage, only for the hedgehog to give him a signature roundhouse kick free of charge.

(Image merely illustrative)

‘What a waste of my time,’ Edgelord Number 1 says, aware that he’s not getting any useful information from this. He steps closer and Edgelord Number 2 flinches, ‘here’s some advice: don’t show your face around me ever again, or else I will finish you.’

And with that, Shadow teleports away, leaving Infinite to his existential crisis. He wasn’t able to avenge his friends; he wasn’t able to protect the base; heck, he wasn’t even able to hold his title of ultimate mercenary! How useless of a leader was he? Were mercenaries truly weak? Everything they’ve done… was it all worthless? Show no weakness… what did it even mean? They were all defeated, and Infinite can’t shake the feeling that he’s to blame for it. Wasn’t he supposed to be the best?

‘What is this? I’m…’ He looks at his hands, which are trembling ‘I’m shaking? I flinched? I... We failed… How pathetic… All because…’

Infinite stops as if he’s just gotten a moment of clarity. He then gets up and starts walking inside Eggman’s base. ‘I’m not weak,’ he says in a decided, chilling whisper; it’s almost scary. The view is set at the entrance, right in front of the jackal so that he starts blocking the light from the outside as he slowly walks towards the camera - while saying in that scary voice, “No mercy, no weakness”.

(I can totally see Liam O’Brien delivering this line perfectly…)

Then the last expository narrating happens about the same, except that Shadow narrates it – giving continuity to the fact that he was the one who started narrating this episode for a reason I will talk about later –, so we change a few words to match his speech more; it’s all in the third person and very husky and brooding, but with a subtle note of dread (oh, if only Jason Griffith would voice it… No disrespect to Kirk Thornton, but he just doesn’t hit Shadow’s perfect voice like Jason did; for me, at least. His Orbot voice is fantastic, though).

Now, instead of having Infinite looking forward for a few seconds before he gets the Phantom Ruby out of nowhere and places it in his chest very anti-climatically, we’ll do something different: as soon as he puts on the mask, he starts walking away, and we change settings to a dimly lit room, where we see Infinite from behind, fitting the frame perfectly. Following the beat of the background music, the camera changes to a close shot of his masked face as he’s holding the Phantom Ruby, which is glowing, reflecting on his mask and giving us a beautifully red-lit scene; it’s possible to hear very low, indiscernible whispers coming from the jewel. We then hear a small, evil chuckle from the masked jackal – he already sounds rather different from the guy who stuck his sword to the ground in honour of his friends earlier. The screen goes black, the whole “I was… Reborn!” thing dramatically happens in Infinite’s echoing voice and the not-flashback is over.

(I know this last part was quite specific and oddly detailed, but I had the scenes very clear in my head I wanted to try conveying how intimidating it looked to me o3o)

Ok, now that that’s done, prepare yourselves for an intermission. And by that, I mean prepare yourselves for a long analytical commentary on what I just wrote.

*”This is Our World: Phase 2″ plays in the background*

(Who is Shadow working for again? I don’t even know, man…)

Shadow isn’t just the guy who called Infinite pathetic. He’s the guy who killed Infinite’s squad (his friends) without any apparent remorse – and to be hypocrite as to say he’d sworn to protect when he just did something like this (yeah, Infinite doesn’t know any context of Shadow’s life, so of course he doesn’t understand what he meant); the guy who ruined everything he had going with his new job as leader of the Defence Squad; the guy who put him several levels under what he thought he was; the guy who questioned his entire way of living and the guy who put him under a lingering threat; “don’t show your face around me ever again” feels more intimidating now. Not only that, but, despite how Infinite might hate Shadow, he recognizes him as strong, admirable even – “why wouldn’t someone as strong as you be a mercenary?” Remember that Infinite himself is a mercenary; to actually acknowledge someone would be good at something you’re good at, specially someone you don’t like, has to be a sign of admiration, albeit a frustrating one. All of this puts a lot more of weight on how Infinite thinks of Shadow and why being stronger than the hedgehog is so important to him.

I made it so that “expect no mercy, show no weakness” is something like the Jackal Squad’s motto, their philosophy. I like to think it means that they should never count on someone’s mercy, for their enemies won’t spare them; they should always go into battle aware that they might actually be fighting for their lives. At the same time, they should always stand their ground and never let anyone think they can take advantage of a squad member. This is what the jackals live for. But seeing as Infinite’s world has just been shattered and he failed hard on everything, he revises his mentality. “No mercy, no weakness” is what he’s going for now, as he wants to be above everyone, he wants to effectively be the strongest and for people to know that; he will be the one who doesn’t spare others, and he won’t be weak at all. Never again would a failure cost him that much, for never again would he fail.

To have Infinite place the Phantom Ruby on his own chest in Episode Shadow contradicts the opening scene of the main campaign. Remember the episode is a prequel to Sonic Forces’ main game, so it shouldn’t be completely detached from it; things must make sense when put together. As the main game begins by showing us Infinite inside of a tube in Eggman’s lab, we can assume one of two things: he’s either a robot/biological experiment created entirely by the scientist, or he’s a guy who’s been experimented on, thus Eggman was the one who placed the Phantom Ruby on him. With this in mind, it wouldn’t make sense to show us Infinite doing something if you’re going to tell us that he couldn’t have possibly done it on his own. But to have him hold the ruby as someone who deeply desires its powers and who listens to its ominous whispering? Not only does it line better with the aforementioned scene, but it also makes Infinite seem more prone to the ruby’s power (instead of just… you know, “random angry dude”).

As this intermission has gone on long enough, I’ll only make a brief commentary on the Phantom Ruby: I like the idea of the ruby being somewhat alive and exerting influence over Infinite. Now, I won’t say it’s the kind of influence where it justifies his horrible behaviour or the awful things he did. It’s less “mind-control” and more “that best friend who always encourages you and never calls you out on your bullshit”. Its grooming Infinite’s ego and just nudging him to keep making bad decisions, to keep shutting himself in this new reality where he’s all powerful and above everyone else. So it’s the jackal’s pride, spite and grief, along with Eggman’s overall encouragement and the Phantom Ruby’s influence all put together that, in a general sense, make Infinite what he is. (I can go into more detail about this idea once I make a Part 2.)

Mission Accomplished: “angry bitchy boy turned edgy, OP and unimpressed” changed his status to “tragic boy turned edgy, bitter and extremely power-hungry”.

Intermission’s over, let’s get back to the story!

With Infinite’s backstory slightly redone (or rather, shown under a different light), I could stop right here. But I don’t want to, oh no! I say we take this a few steps further and just finish Episode Shadow! Yeah, I told you this was going to be a long post.

*”Battle with Infinite: Second Bout” plays in the background*

Ok, now we cut to a few months later, where Episode Shadow would originally begin. Rouge comments that Omega was on recon mission in that “unknown base of operations that seems to be totally outside the chain of command for Eggman’s army” (whatever that is supposed to mean) when he spotted an unidentified masked person with strange energy readings and an unknown battle ID. Omega reported a “large scale troop” and… that’s it, he just stopped talking. Rouge then talks about that “new weapon” Eggman was supposedly developing and sends Shadow to the base to investigate along with Omega. She makes a remark about how they should get the entire Team Dark together for this (“It should be fun”), but Shadow dismisses the idea, saying that he’s enough on his own. “Omega said the same thing. You two go together like chilli and hot dogs.”

We can keep this at the whole “dialogue on screen” thing. I don’t really mind and it sure spares the budget.

The City stage plays as usual, except the dialogue in the background changes a bit, because Team Dark bickering (or just talking in general, I love this team so much) is my jam.

‘E-123 Omega here. Extermination proceeding without incident. No problems to report.’

‘Omega!’ Rouge exclaims, ‘Why have you stopped responding earlier? We- wait, extermination? This is supposed to be a recon mission, what are you doing?!’

‘I was spotted. Priorities conflicted; therefore I decided to eliminate the enemy altogether. New Mission Objective: Defeat Eggman.’

‘But you can’t go making a scene like that!’

‘See, this is what happens when you send the giant killer robot for this kind of op,’ Shadow sasses. And I’ll imagine Jason’s voice for this too, thank you.

‘I have several reports of recon missions where you retaliated, Shadow.’

‘I might have to join you boys soon enough. I turn my back for five seconds and this happens…’ Rouge comments in a tired voice.

Omega is ready to start robotically recounting the reports of failed recon missions where Shadow retaliated, but he is suddenly cut by static and the vague sound of the Phantom Ruby. Rouge tries to contact him again and we get small bits of his original lines here – “All sensors offline”, “Casualty report”, “Unidentified system intrusion. Emergency withdrawal!” and “I am E-123 Omega, the most powerf-sjfpstswq”, that stuff – before his communication is completely cut. Shadow asks something like “what’s going on?”, but his communication with Rouge is cut as well. We play whatever’s left of the level in silence (except for the sweet background music).

(Oh yeah, this happened or whatever…)

Now, I know the next scene is a screen dialogue again, and I know I just said I don’t mind it, but watching this:

… Is so bloody uncomfortable. This feels dumb. This is so dumb. I feel like they robbed us an epic scene in exchange of some awkward reading with absolutely no context. What the hell is “!” supposed to mean?! What did Infinite do?! If I wanted to imagine the action scenes all on my own, I’d spend my time daydreaming! What, did they not know what to do here so they just threw in some random lines to fill the gap between this and the next level?!

… Sorry, I got a little carried away. This simple scene frustrates me a lot by not existing. So yeah, we’re throwing in a cutscene.

(I just noticed how salty this post is getting. This was not my intention at all, I still love this game, oh dear…)

Shadow reaches the edge of the city and encounters a dark silhouette hovering just above the flames that cover the ground; there’s debris scattered everywhere. The figure has its back turned, and the world seems to glitch ever so slightly around them.

‘The world’s most powerful robot is no more a challenge than crabmeat. Even the Doctor’s most daring designs can’t compete with my power… It is without peer,’ the figure chuckles to themselves.

Shadow starts approaching silently, analysing the situation. Despite this being Omega’s location, he can’t see the robot.

‘Wonder how easy it would be to end this entire planet. Don’t you…’

Suddenly, the voice speaks close to the hedgehog’s ear:

‘…Shadow?’

He turns around to see that the unknown person has appeared behind him, which throws him off. The hedgehog takes several steps back and puts himself in a fighting stance.

It’s hard to see past the jackal’s mask, but he seems amused as he looks down on Shadow. Twistedly so.

‘How wonderful to see that our not-so-tall, dark and brooding guest has arrived. I’ve been waiting for you, Shadow~’

‘Tell me what you did to Omega. Now,’ the agent demands.

‘Oh, come now, Shadow. Our long-awaited reunion and still you spout such nonsense.’ Infinite floats down to stand a few meters away from his enemy.

‘I don’t know you,’ Shadow states. The masked jackal tilts his head, but doesn’t say anything, so he asks again, ‘what have you done to Omega?’

‘Only what is ought to be done when someone stands in your way. Weaklings like E-123 Omega are of no consequence, don’t you agree?’

‘The only thing of no consequence is that big mouth of yours.’

Shadow launches himself at Infinite, who easily avoids his attack. The jackal starts laughing manically.

‘Ah, I suppose you would think so,’ he states. ‘After all, it’s not so funny to be the one losing the battle, is it? I am Infinite. You say you do not know me, and yet I remember you so very well… I’ve lost all I was, I’ve become what I am because of you. Savour that thought as I return the favour.’

Guess what happens? That’s right, we get another boss battle! I think it’s only fair that Infinite gets to have his rematch with Shadow. Besides, it establishes a comparison with the “old” Infinite and how much stronger he’s now – from Shadow’s perspective, that is.

I have no idea how this battle would play out. Maybe something similar to his second battle in the main story (no, don’t worry: we’ll talk about the exceeding amount of Infinite battles in the next part), with the 2D layout. Let’s say Infinite is surrounded with his Red Cubes of Doom while he’s not attacking, so you can’t touch him. Maybe he makes the fire glitch and get closer to you at some point. Maybe he makes clones and you have to defeat each of them to get to the real guy, I don’t know! Tag your ideas, I’d love to see them! ^^

Anyway, once the battle’s over and Shadow “wins” (because Infinite is not defeated, he’s just done with this fight), the jackal might say something in the lines of “I suppose I’ve let this duel go on for long enough. I have other matters to attend to, Shadow the Hedgehog.”

We get back to the cutscene and Infinite is glitching a bit, quickly recomposing himself, laughing. Shadow is panting.

‘What’s the matter, Shadow? Can’t take down a measly jackal anymore?’ The masked one says sarcastically. ‘It seems like I’ve overestimated your strength. You’re no fit to be a mercenary at all.’

There’s a beat and Shadow realises what this is about. He looks at Infinite, frowning. ‘It’s you… Defence Squad Jackal…’

Infinite stares at the hedgehog. He doesn’t seem to be as amused anymore. His golden eye’s glowing under his mask, and so is the Phantom Ruby on his chest. A tense background music plays as Infinite answers dryly:

‘Yes.’

‘I’ve spared you, but now you’re going too far. It’s time to finish this! Chaos Spear!’

The spears of light simply go through Infinite as if they didn’t exist. Shadow goes for a spin dash/homing attack/kick to the face or whatever you can think of, but the masked villain glitches out of the way with ease and lands an almost perfect copy of Shadow’s roundhouse kick.

The hedgehog glides across the floor, almost falling over. Infinite scoffs.

‘This new “me” has limitless power. I have no mercy; no weakness! I am the true ultimate force that will tear this world apart, and what may have worked to bring me down before…’ the jackal starts floating again; thousands of red cubes start dancing around him and, as he raises a hand, they all group in the sky not far above them. ‘… No longer does.’

(Why yes, this is a reference to Mephiles the Dark and that time he destroyed the Sceptre of Darkness!)

Infinite throws his “Take THIS!” and Shadow does the “!” – which is him frantically trying to get out of the way as the thousands cubes of doom come crashing down on him.

The screen goes black.

Scene ends.

The Virtual Reality level should play as usual from there. I don’t even want to change the background dialogue, because I really like it: it’s confusing, it’s weird, it’s unsettling and it slaps Shadow in the face in a way that we rarely see. I love it! (Although, I do think the gameplay should have a tiny little bit more of 3D parts. We love Green Hill, but we also love the freedom to move on more than two directions when playing as the Ultimate Life Form. But it’s cool)

After that, we could get another cutscene (we’re full of cutscenes, huh? Well, this is a hypothetical rewriting with a hypothetical budget. Also, Episode Shadow is more of an exposition episode anyway). In this cutscene, we would start with some shots of different known locations: Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Crisis City, Mystic Jungle, Kingdom Valley, Babylon Garden, you name it! And all of these places are somewhat “corrupted”; they’re glitching out, full of those red cubes, and there’s just this ominous atmosphere in them, as if they’re abandoned, desolated despite looking roughly the same as ever. We then see a black-and-red blur cross the screen, and a short narration takes place:

“I’ve been here for longer than I can remember. This… alternate reality, this fake world. There seems to be no escape. Rouge and Omega talk to me occasionally…”

We see Shadow leaning against a wall. His communicator plays only white noise, then Rouge’s voice comes in; it’s strangely echoed as it calls out to him. Shadow throws the device far away and sighs.

“… They’re fake too. No matter where I go, no matter how much I run…”

Shadow is skating through Pumpkin Hill or something, when the world suddenly starts to glitch out massively; we hear the Phantom Ruby’s noise and suddenly, we’re on the ARK.

“It’s like this place was made to torture me. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.”

‘I’ve moved on from this a long time ago,’ Shadow says to the void of the Universe as we hear gunshots in the distance. He’s not being completely truthful. ‘Putting me through this scenario dozens of times changes nothing. Don’t you have anything more creative at this point?’

There’s silence, except for the shouts in the Space Colony. A voice calls out to Shadow, and he promptly ignores it, albeit with a pained look in his eyes. He’s visibly tired, almost hopeless, if one could ever describe Shadow the Hedgehog that way.

He sighs.

‘Alright, how do I get out of this one?”

We then get a start of a short level in the ARK. Don’t worry, it’s not one of those hellish mazes that usually haunt every ARK level there ever was; this is more straight forward, with doors closing all around you so that you know where you shouldn’t go, and some G.U.N. robots trying to kill you, simple thing.

The catch happens when you’re halfway through the level: as you’re crossing a long corridor, the game begins to “crash” – in the sense of you losing control of the character, the visuals beginning to glitch and the soundtrack going weird, all in a way that makes the soul leave the body of the player for a terrifying four seconds of “HOLY SHIT, I BROKE THE GAME”. But nope, you didn’t break the game: the Phantom Ruby is trolling you. We soon find that out as the signature noise plays and the glitching effect on screen disperses to show a new scenario: Mystic Jungle. The real Mystic Jungle. Congratulations: you get to play in a totally different zone for the rest of the level.

‘My head…’ Shadow murmurs to himself. ‘That was too quick; this can’t be right, it- ugh, why is it so bright here? Where are all the red things? This place seems too normal… is it… am I back in the real world?!’

We then finish the level, get our nice score and head to the last scene of the episode.

Shadow is going through the jungle, taking in everything that isn’t an illusion. He passes by a red sword stuck to the ground and leans against a tree, still a little out of it, still struggling to believe that anything is real anymore. The hedgehog then takes his communicator – surprisingly intact; hadn’t he thrown that away? – and tries to make contact. There is static for a moment, when suddenly…

‘Shadow? Oh my- Shadow, is that you?!’

He’s startled for a moment, but so relieved to hear Rouge’s normal voice again.

‘It’s me, Rouge. What’s the situation? Where’s Omega?’

‘Omega? We lost contact with him months ago; the Resistance says he must have been shut down after the Doctor took over!’

Shadow raises both his non-existing eyebrows in surprise, barely holding a gasp. He then frowns.

‘Shut down? Resistance? What do you mean “the Doctor took over”? What the heck happened?’

‘What happened? What happened?! I should be the one asking you that! You’ve been offline for six months! Everyone keeps saying you’re working with Eggman and Infinite, and I couldn’t contact you or Omega, I thought… I thought we’d lost you for good…’

‘Nonsense,’ Shadow states. We start hearing voices in the distance, and the hedgehog starts looking around while still talking ‘I’ll tell you the details later, it’s long story. What’s the current situation?’

‘Shadow…’

The (Tired) Ultimate Life Form spots something from behind the trees. Still in hiding, he looks closer only to see the Custom Hero holding the prototype Phantom Ruby they just found and talking to Tails and… Classic Sonic, much to Shadow’s confusion.

‘… We’re at war.’

Shadow takes a moment to process what’s just been said. He doesn’t even pay attention to what Rouge says next (neither do we, as the background music starts getting louder than the bat’s voice). He still watches the avatar, Tails and Classic Sonic as they leave; he focuses on the Phantom Ruby.

‘Meet me in the City. I’ve got a lot to tell you,’ Shadow says.

And with that, he leaves, the scene fades out and Episode Shadow is over!

*”The Light of Hope: Menu Version” plays in the background*

Now, a few more analytical notes before we close this ridiculously gigantic thing:

The immediate reason why we have Shadow being stuck in the Virtual Reality for six months is to indicate to us why he doesn’t show up earlier in the main game. It’s not like he was being useless this whole time and just decided to show up whenever it was most Ex-Machina of him; much like Sonic, he was trapped by the enemy. A mental trap that put Shadow on survivor mode for months without any way of communicating with anybody; with twisted versions of his friends trying to get to him and remind him that, hey, they’re still out there, probably in high danger; with these illusions mocking him, reminding him of painful memories, isolating him in familiar places… I say: if you want to emotionally hit a character, hit them hard. And this experience is bound to leave Shadow with some emotional scar, alright.

(Ever heard of conveniently coming out of nowhere?)

Shadow is bound to lose his sense of reality and sometimes it should be hard for him to acknowledge that this is the real world. I hope I can showcase some of his reactions in the later parts of this o3o

The Virtual Reality isn’t all glitchy by mistake. No, no: Infinite is perfectly capable of making a “perfect copy” of the real world, but he doesn’t want to. He wants Shadow to know this is a fake world and to know that he’s completely trapped in it while his real friends and allies are out there doing who-knows-what in a world run by the enemy. He wants to throw Shadow off-balance as much as he can, because he’s spiteful and doesn’t just leave the hedgehog to the side without a second glance.

In the game, Infinite says that they didn’t really have time to tune his power yet, so we can tell putting Shadow in the Virtual Reality was more of a practice of sorts. But man, I think this is too much of a cool concept, so I’ll say Infinite did put his power to the test before all of this; because Eggman, sir: you don’t simply throw your super-secret, amazing, unparalleled weapon in the battlefield without testing it first. This is something that can be inferred, it doesn’t need to be directly told, it just- I’m telling you this right now, ok?

I know Shadow is supposedly “over” this conflict with what happened in the ARK and it probably feels over-used to add it in again, but… it’s a thing the games haven’t tackled in such a long time, I feel like this would be a nice call-back. Besides, Infinite would want to know what would bring distress to Shadow; what happened in the ARK isn’t exactly a secret, especially if he’s working with Eggman. And Shadow can be as “over it” as he wants: it’s still a scar that will never truly leave him. Even if he watches it happen dozens of times, it’s still at least a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

ALTHOUGH! I also think this ARK level could be easily replaced with some other random level if you want to argue that Forces happens in Mobius or something, where Gerald and Maria and G.U.N. maybe never existed and whatnot.

What brought Shadow back, you ask? Well, it probably has to do with a certain someone spontaneously activating a Phantom Ruby. Maybe the avatar was thinking of Shadow and how it’d be nice to have him on their side again? Maybe they were thinking of undoing Infinite’s evil deeds? Maybe the raw power of the Phantom Ruby prototype being suddenly activated by the Custom Hero just crashed something another Phantom Ruby user did, like magnetic waves interfering with each other? Who knows?

I also find it important to show the Custom Hero here not only to show that there’s a connection between Shadow’s sudden freedom and their actions, but also to establish the tiniest amount of early familiarity between Shadow and the original character. Then maybe (maybe) I’ll give them a bit more of interaction in the main game, because it’d be nice to have a cool interaction with Shadow; and as endearing as his smile after the avatar does their thing with the sun of destruction is, it feels like it comes out of nowhere, if you think about it…

(I mean... Does he even know who we are?)

Infinite’s sword stuck to the ground goes completely over Shadow’s head, as he has no idea what that is or who it belonged to or what it means. It’s really just there for the viewer to reminisce the beginning of the episode and have a slight existential crisis.

When playing the main campaign, we get some pretty convenient information from Shadow once he finally shows up. Episode Shadow should give us a sense of how he knows those things. Want it or not, he did spend a long time studying the Phantom Ruby’s power far more closely than anybody else – well, maybe Sonic spent almost as much time as Shadow in a similar state, but that’s something to cover in another part.

The fact that Shadow is the one narrating this entire episode is supposed to allude to him telling Rouge exactly what happened during those six months he was gone. But if you want to read it as him talking to himself in the Virtual Reality as he slowly descends into madness, then be my guest!

I don’t know if it’s noticeable, but I’ve tried to tune Infinite’s cheesiness down a bit. I don’t think I can rid him of it entirely – after all, he is somewhat of a pompous, edgy, over-the-top character in general; he’s a full-on drama queen 24/7 and the only character cheesier than him is Sonic. Now, what we do with Infinite is to at least give a base to what he says. Also, I wanted him to sound a bit more like he lets the power get to his head. Oh well, I surely hope we’ll be tackling more of Infinite in the future!

Episode Shadow is extremely short, even for a DLC. I mean, it’s about only 20 minutes long – even less, if you’re good at it! With the addition of the cutscenes, the small changes, the boss fights against Squad Jackal and Infinite, and the added levels, the episode shouldn’t get overwhelmingly longer, but longer enough for it to feel more satisfying!

And with that, we’re done! I hope you enjoyed this massive thing. Despite me really liking Sonic Forces, I do think a few things could be improved. It’s not like it will happen, but rewriting is a lot of fun!

And why, no: I don’t take myself seriously.

#Sonic Forces #Episode Shadow #Sonic the Hedgehog #Infinite #Shadow #Rewrite #Headcanon #Character Analysis #Word count: why do I even bother?#phew that was a lot #I'm so tired

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rogersbabyyy · 5 years

Text

anatomy lessons | roger taylor

summary: your best friend, roger taylor, is studying to achieve his bsc in biology and is currently focusing on the human reproductive system. he’s having trouble remembering his anatomy, so you offer some help.

pairing: smile/early queen era roger taylor x fem!reader

word count: 3.2k+

warnings/tags: SMUT!, fingering, squirting, oral sex (female receiving), foul language, best friends to lovers uwu, a bit of fluff

a/n- hi lovies!! this is my first queen fic that i’m posting on here. i hope you like it, and if so, feel free to send me requests or headcanon ideas for any of the borhap/queen boys! ps i highly doubt that biology students learn about vaginas in detail but whatever i dont care just pretend they do for the story pls<3

It was a quiet evening. Dressed in sweatpants and a jumper that you nicked from Roger’s closet, you busied yourself in the kitchen making a cup of chamomile tea, with the intention of sitting down to do a bit of reading afterward. Roger, your best friend and despairingly gorgeous roommate, was sat at the dining table, surrounded by a sea of thick and confusing-looking glossy biology textbooks, his eyebrows furrowed. He was trying his best to cram in weeks worth of information for a quickly approaching exam that he’d neglected to study for; you found it rather amusing. Not to mention, he’d been recovering from a hangover in bed for most of the day, and had a gig with his band, Smile, starting in roughly two hours. Roger was unusually intelligent, as evident by the university course he was studying, and yet he could be an absolute idiot when he chose to be.

“Want some tea, Rog?”

Receiving nothing but silence as a response, despite the frantic murmuring you heard from the dining table (he sounded like an absolute madman, talking to himself like that), you sighed. “Rog!” Sticking your head out of the kitchen, you yelled in his general vicinity for his attention.

“Mhmm?”

“D’you want a cup of tea?”

“Nah, thanks!”

You rolled your eyes and, nonetheless, pulled a second mug from the cupboard; you knew that he’d steal sips from yours anyway, he always did. As you put the kettle on and waited for it to boil, you leaned on the kitchen counter, resting your chin in the palm of your hand. You had a clear view of Roger from this angle, and it was entrancing to see him so focused, a sight that was usually only ever apparent when he played the drums. He was beautiful, as always, even with the frown lines that traced along his forehead, already dressed in his costume of the night with his blond locks a perfect mess.

The hiss of the kettle made you jump, and you flushed at the thoughts of Rog that had clouded your consciousness. Thinking about him like that wasn’t going to do you any good. You poured the tea, jiggling the tea bags in the warm water, adding a dash of honey to Roger’s cup, just how he liked it. Sucking in your stomach as you skirted precariously around his rather inconveniently placed drum kit near the kitchen’s entrance, careful not to knock the cymbals, you set the steaming mugs on coasters on the table.

Roger took a precious moment to glance up from his notes as you settled into a chair, curling one leg underneath you and nudging his tea in his direction.

“Said I didn't want one, silly.” He shot you a mocking glance paired with one of his signature smirks, yet tugged the cup toward him and blew the steam rising from it.

“Rather unfortunately for me, I know you too well.” You retorted. Roger snorted at the response, but promptly returned his attention to the work in front of him after sipping the hot drink cautiously.

“What topic are you up to?” You asked curiously, trying to catch a glimpse of the cover of one of the textbooks for any inclination.

“Human reproductive system,” He scoffed, flipping through one of his several textbooks frantically until he came to rest on a detailed, coloured diagram of the vagina. You felt a scarlet blush cloud your cheeks as he began chewing on the end of his pen, studying the image intently. You glanced down at the cup of tea in front of you, fiddling with the tea bag as a distraction as Roger muttered to himself.

“Can’t fuckin’ remember all this! Frenium of labia minora? Labium minus? What’s the bloody difference?”

Your thighs clenched together as he turned another page to a detailed explanation of the purpose of the clitoris and the existence of the female G-spot. Roger scanned the page quickly before beginning to jot down a note in his exercise book, murmuring under his breath in a staccato fashion as he wrote.

You’d liked him for years, since you were fifteen or sixteen and your hormones were running ramage. God, you were probably in love at this point. It killed you whenever you woke up and there was a stunning, tall blonde in your kitchen, helping herself to the eggs, wearing just a pair of knickers and one of Roger’s button downs. You wanted to be her. Even if it was just for a night. And when Roger suggested moving in together since neither of you could afford a full month’s rent by yourselves (you worked part time at a cafe and Roger relied on the sporadic earnings he gleaned from gigs), you thought that, perhaps, you had a chance.

Your train of thought was interrupted as Roger started up again.

“The most sensitive female erogenous zone of a female body is the clitoris… by stimulating the clitoris through masturbation or sexual intercourse… a sexual physiological response can be set into motion-”

Was he doing this on purpose? It was like you weren’t even there, as he bit his lip, concentrating, scribbling frantically.

“Roger.” His name came out in a choked tone, and you coughed once after speaking it.

“Yeah, Y/N?” He responded absentmindedly, frowning over another diagram.

“I can help you.” You were going to regret this. Oh, for sure. You were going to regret this when he’d reject you, and you’d end up crying at three in the morning listening to something sad on vinyl with the volume turned nearly all the way down. That’s usually what happened when a guy said that I thought we were just friends or there’s someone else. In those circumstances, Roger was there to slip in bed next to you and hold you while you sobbed into his shoulder and drenched his pyjama shirt. Not this time. Not if you fucked this whole thing up.

This caught his attention, his head snapping up, an eyebrow quirked. “What d’you know about this?”

You hesitated, starting to rise from your seat. “Nothing! Just teasing. I might call it a night, Rog-”

“No, you weren’t.” He hand clasped around your wrist, preventing you from leaving. Reluctantly, you sunk back into the seat.

“I’ve got a vagina, Rog, believe it or not.” You flushed as soon at the words left your mouth, shifting in your seat. He was silent for a moment, his expression unreadable as his eyes studied yours. “You can look… if you want.”

His lips parted slightly, still gripping his pen, as his eyes trailed slowly over your body. “You’re… you’re my best friend, Y/N.”

You interlocked your fingers together, fiddling, the heat refusing to leave your cheeks, as you realised the stupidity of your suggestion. God, maybe you should just go to bed and cry and never get up. Roger set his pen down softly, his gaze never leaving yours.

“I want to.” It was barely a whisper, just loud enough for you to hear. You let out the breath you didn’t realise you’d been holding in a shaky sigh, your eyes meeting his; yet still not believing you’d heard correctly.

As if he read your mind, he repeated himself, louder. “I want to. Christ, I want to.”

Roger rose from his seat and offered his hand to you, a bashful smile forming on his lips. You took it, hesitantly, but gratefully, as he lead to you to the sofa and let you take a seat. He sunk down next to you, his arm stretching behind you to rest on the couch; a move you’d seen him use on countless other girls he’d brought back here. It was odd to now be in their position; oh, how you’d longed to be one of those girls.

“I-I s’pose I better-” You laughed softly as you tugged off your pants, leaving your knickers, clenching your legs shut self consciously as you glanced up at Roger. His eyes were dark as they surveyed the space between your legs, something he’d only come close to seeing when he walked in on you changing.

“If you want to… lay back fo’ me… and, uh, open your legs.”

You followed his commands, arms trembling as you fought to hold your weight as you propped yourself up on a pillow. Roger noticed, and his arm quickly finding a place at the small of your back.

“It’s okay, ‘ve got you. No need t’be nervous, it’s just me.”

Just him? Jesus Christ, you couldn’t believe this was happening.

As you settled into a comfortable position, you spread your legs slightly, causing Roger to bite into his lip.

“... May I?” His fingertips trailed over the grey cotton knickers that covered your heat (you wished you had the foresight to wear something lacy and a little bit prettier). A nod from you was all the confirmation he needed as he pried the fabric from your body, sliding the underwear past your ankles and throwing it to the floor.

You hissed quietly as the cool air hit your core, and Roger inhaled sharply at the sight of your pretty pink pussy, all spread out and ready for him. His boxers were already uncomfortably tight, his cock growing in his pants; fuck, he’d wanted you for years. You were his best friend, and this was all wrong, but you were fucking perfect. All those girls he’d been with, every single time he was thinking about you. He’d even gone as far to groan your name as he came inside some brunette tease he picked up at a bar (that didn’t end well for either party involved).

“Let me know if you don’t feel comfortable at any point, love.” His usual high voice had dropped an octave, becoming increasingly rough. His arms hooked around your thighs as he tugged you closer to him, making you squeal; you both laughed softly, breaking the tension for a moment.

His thumb came to rest gently on your clit, you were so sensitive, so needy for him, your pelvis bucked toward his hand involuntarily as you let out a quiet whine. Embarrassment washed over your face, and you apologised profusely,

“Shit, shit, shit, sorry Rog-”

“S’alright, love. Don’t say sorry. Only natural.” He smirked, as his thumb brushed upward over your clit; the cocky expression on his face told you that he knew exactly what he was doing to you.

“Clitoral hood, glans, and frenium… the primary source of female sexual pleasure…” He muttered softly to himself, beginning to rub short, quick circles over your clit. Fighting back a groan, you gasped, clenching the edge of the sofa so hard your knuckles turned white.

“How does that feel?” Roger looked you straight in the eye, his expression serious, inquisitive, as if this was only ‘for educational purposes’, and purely platonic (and you both knew fully well that it wasn’t, not at this stage).

“Fuck… so good, Rog...”

“Can you be more descriptive for me?” He pressed harder on your clit, his cock throbbing as your lips parted in pleasure

“Oh, fuck! S’like… m’so sensitive, it’s like this pressure just building up in my pelvis, but it feels so fucking good.”

“Perfect.” Roger rubbed faster circles over the swollen area, almost coming in his pants at your expression; the way your pretty eyes fluttered shut, your jaw relaxing, your back arching up from the couch. He resisted the urge to squeeze his cock for some kind of relief, not wanting to make you uncomfortable. Despite how blissed out you looked with just him playing with your clit, if Roger’s many sexual encounters had taught him anything, it was that you needed friction.

He pulled away, making you whimper at the loss of contact. “Sorry, babe. I want t’make you come, alright?” He fought back a grin as his fingers rubbed over your entrance. God, he was going to be the death of you.

“When a woman is sexually excited, blood flow increases to the genitals so that the vulva and clitoris swell and the vagina lubricates itself…” He recited, spreading the wetness leaking from your entrance over your pussy.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck-” Your hips bucked upward toward his hand again.

“So wet for me, aren’t you?” He murmured. “And there’s the labium majus, labium minus, all part of the vulva… Can I put a finger in you, love? Jus’ to have a feel.”

“Please, Rog, I need you.”

His cock throbbed once again, and Roger felt his boxers becoming uneasily wet due to the precum leaking from the tip of his cock. His finger entered you slowly, yet quite easily; you were so fucking wet. A moan caught in your throat as your pussy contracted around his finger, and Roger hissed softly. He could only imagine too well how he’d feel inside you.

“Fuckin’ tight little pussy you’ve got, hm?” He withdrew his finger slightly, only to thrust it in further. “Another one, babe?”

You nodded frantically as Roger pushed his ring finger into you. “All feels perfect, if you were wonderin’. No cuts or bumps. Perfect, smooth little pussy.” His fingers increased their pace, beginning to fuck you hard and fast. You’d been fingered plenty of times, but never like this. You’d faked orgasms plenty of times, but tonight, you knew that wouldn’t need to be the case.

“See if I can find your G-spot, huh? Shall I make you come? Give you the best fuckin’ orgasm you’ve ever had?”

You let out an obscene moan worthy of a porn movie at his words, spasming around his fingers. “Please, please, let me come Rog, wanna come so bad-”

Fuelling his ego, his fingers pushed deeper inside you, curling upward, searching for your G-spot; a slightly rougher spot of the vagina that he knew, if he touched it just right, was going to make you come like you never had before.

“I’ve wanted you for so long, Y/N. So long. Since we were sixteen, wanted to see you under me like this, wanted to make you come and scream my fuckin’ name.” His fingers sped up and suddenly curled just right, touching a spot inside you that no guy had ever found, making you scream as you clutched blindly at the sofa cushions.

“That’s it, huh? Are you close, love? Ready to come around my fingers?”

“Yes! Roger, please, please, please, I’m so close-!”

His fingers were a blur, his free hand gripping your hip to hold your squirming body still. Your slickness coated his fingers, sweaty tendrils of hair framing your pleasure stricken features, your hardened nipples apparent through your sweater. You looked so beautiful, he couldn’t help himself as he leant down to press his mouth to your clit, flicking his tongue expertly over the bundle of nerves.

“FUCK, Roger, oh my God, fuck, I’m gonna come, m’gonna come-”

“Come for me, darlin’,” He murmured against your heat, the vibrations from his voice and his fingers repeatedly nudging your G-spot sending you over the edge. A plunging shudder overcame your nervous system, a terrific gasp and a string of obscene curses the only indication that you were coming; well, that and the clear juices that ejaculated from your pussy and took Roger by surprise only for a moment. His hips thrust into the sofa for some kind of relief as he lapped at your core to gather the juices on his tongue. He’d made you squirt.

As you came down from your orgasm (still quite literally seeing stars), snapping your legs shut against the cool air that was enough to overstimulate your clit, you noticed the mess you’d made.

“Shit, ‘ve never done that before,” You were still trembling, looking in shock at the soaked sofa and Roger’s gleaming chin which he wiped with the back of his hand, beaming. “M’ so sorry, Rog, m’ so embarrassed-”

“It was so fuckin’ hot. Don’t you dare apologise, love, I almost came in my jocks. You’re beautiful. You’re so beautiful.”

“Fuck, you’re good, Roger, that was… that was incredible.”

“M’ not bad, am I?” He smirked and gently kissed your forehead. “Let’s get you cleaned up, darlin’.” He left the room and you took a moment to catch your breath and get your head straight. You were scared to think of what would happen after this. What if it was just one of those things you’d never speak about again, like when you caught him getting a blowjob in the bathroom of the apartment?

You didn’t get a chance to ponder this any further as Roger returned with a warm, damp towel, resuming his position beside you.

“Can you open for me, babe?” His voice was gentle, his free hand resting delicately on the side of your thigh. Slowly, your prised your still-trembling legs open. Roger’s face became concentrated as he carefully wiped the insides of your thighs and your entrance. The latter made you shudder, and he apologised softly.

“Sorry, love, you must be so sensitive.”

He finished up quickly, touching you as if you were made of porcelain, before wiping the sofa down, before folding the towel and setting it to the side.

“What you said before…” You paused, as you adjusted yourself so that you were sitting upright.

“Yeah, love?”

“That, since we were teenagers…” You trailed off, and it was his turn to blush.

“Yeah… yeah. I really like you. A lot. Have for a long time. I just didn’t want to fuck it up, I wasn’t ready to commit and I couldn’t hurt you, not like that. You deserve better than me.”

And in one swift motion, you looped your arms around his neck and pressed your lips to his, a kiss strangely more intimate that the experience that you both just shared. Roger responded instantly, groaning into your mouth, his palms sliding across your back to pull you closer to him. The kiss was wet and messy and passionately open mouthed as years of yearning for one another came to fruition. His hand cradled your face as his tongue danced desperately with yours, and he only pulled away when it became apparent that neither of you could breathe.

You laughed breathlessly, causing him to smile, as you looked him straight in the eye and proclaimed, “I think I like you too.”

Roger persuaded you to join him at the Smile gig that night. You rocked up to the small pub hand in hand, a subtle way of announcing to the all the people that knew you both what had happened. Brian simply grinned; a man of pure intelligence and intuition, he knew this was a long time coming. And when the usual gaggle of girls approached Roger afterward, he could sense your visible discomfort. So, he simply slipped his arm around your waist and pressed his lips flush to yours in front of everyone, much to your utter embarrassment. Yet, you couldn’t hide the smile that refused to leave your face afterward, earning Roger’s gentle teasing as he laughed and pecked one of your rosy cheeks.

Finally, that night, as you became distracted with saying goodbye to Tim and his partner, Brian took the chance to slap Roger on the back, leaning down to speak in a hushed tone, “Don’t fuck this one up. She’s brilliant.”

“Never.”

3K notes · View notes

invisibletinkerer · 5 years

Text

Fic: The Secret Journal of 'Stanford' Pines

Size: ~3000 words AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20864183

Stan Pines keeps a journal of brief daily notes during the summer of 2012.

Note: We all know that the Gravity Falls timeline makes no sense whatsoever. Therefore this is based on a headcanon timeline I made a year or so ago, trying to incorporate as many of the canon dates (in show and published J3) as possible, but ignoring the ones that were contradictory or made no sense. This still means some episodes did not happen in a strictly chronological order.

June 1

Kids are here. I have no idea what to do. Why did I agree to this.

Boy is a grump and girl made macaroni art in the kitchen. Did I even have macaroni?

June 2 Sunday

I think boy got spooked in the forest. He seems fine, though. Good taste in gold chains.

Girl is now dating some punk kid.

June 3

Kids looked like they’d been run over by the golf cart when they got back tonight. Not good.

Gave them some free gifts from the shop to cheer em up. Yes I know

Boy got a new hat. Should get him to wear a Mystery Shack shirt next. Girl found a grappling hook that was not in my inventory. Bold choice.

What would they say if they knew about me?

June 4

Fishing Season Opening Day – took the kids fishing.

Of course, they got excited about monster hunting instead. They’re listening to reason about as well as I and Fo did as a kid.

But. They came back to me in the end. We had fun.

I love those kids.

June 5

Soos found those cursed old wax statues I sealed up some ten years ago. Don’t seem all that cursed now. One had melted.

Mabel’s gonna make a new one for the wax museum. Meaning I’ll have to figure out how to make suckers pay to look at wax statues again.

June 6

Mabel’s wax creation nearly gave me a heart attack. It looks just like my twin me.

She’s crazy talented.

June 7

I’d say the wax museum reopening went well. Assuming “well” means “profit”.

Did anyone actually think I’d hand out free pizza?

June 8

Hanging out with my wax twin Stan, and the moment I turned my back he was murdered.

June 9 Sunday

Tried to hold a funeral for Wax Stan. Failed to keep it tounge-in-cheek.

Face it, Ford is long gone

June 10

Guess the wax people were still as cursed as I remembered. Kids killed them with fire – I should have done that long ago.

Dipper crawled in the vents all day looking for a wax head that got away.

If I keep telling him he’s delusional, he’s got to stop looking for trouble eventually, right?

June 11

Mabel decided I should date Lazy Susan. Couldn’t stop her. Now Susan and her cats keep calling me.

This was a bad idea. (I will never tell Mabel that.)

June 12

Went on a date with Lazy Susan to shut her up. That ended just as well as expected.

Need to figure out some more specific excuses.

June 13

The worst thing is, the Portal should work now. It’s functional. I just can’t get it to start.

Maybe I’ve been doing it wrong all along

I did fix that old copier. Don’t know if it still makes copies of people, but at least it makes copies of paper again.

Caught Dipper making oogly eyes at Wendy. I smell drama.

June 14

Did not expect “The Duchess Approves” to be that good.

June 15

The traditional Mystery Shack party that has nothing to do with any birthdays.

Mabel is a great singer, and that Northwest brat cheated.

Happy birthday, Sixer.

June 16 Sunday

Gideon Gleeful’s running TV ads again.

Of course my family goes to his show just to spite me.

June 17

Mabel played with Gideon today. Did not see that one coming.

As long as she’s happy, I guess.

June 18

I hate Pioneer Day.

Stupid people acting even stupider than normal, nothing works, then someone (me) ends up in the stocks.

June 19

Gideon and Mabel are dating!?

Seemed like a horrible idea, but Bud Gleeful has a point on the moneymaking opportunities if we play it right.

June 20

So if Mabel marries Gideon, his business will be incorporated into mine. I sure like the sound of that.

Bud is already making t-shirts.

June 21

June 22

OK, no. No deals with the Gleefuls. Not now or ever.

Mabel broke up with the little pest. Good riddance.

Got me a nice painting from Bud’s house, though.

June 23 Sunday

The Mystery Fair! It may look cheap, but it brings in the money.

Though someone broke all safety protocols and brought a futuristic laser gun to Dunkle the Grunkle. That’s unfair.

Mabel has a pig now.

June 24

Got roped into the gaming arcade with the kids.

Maybe get one of those games for the Shack?

June 25

Mabel decided to fix my fear of heights.

I can say this – being on top of a water tower about to fall over was unpleasant. Compared to that, a high but stable ground isn’t so bad.

Dipper got into a fistfight with Wendy’s boyfriend over teenage drama, but good on him for standing up for himself.

June 26

For some reason Gideon has gotten it into himself that he wants the Mystery Shack now.

Good luck, kid. I’m a better conman than you’ll ever be.

June 27

Mabel is slightly taller than Dipper. This is funny.

Gideon Gleeful trying to be threatening while throwing a hysterical fit after breaking my new mirror maze – mostly confusing. Wish I knew what went on in that kid’s head.

June 28

Kids made me wear the golden teeth. Guess they think I’m a dishonest man.

Fortunately, I’m good at bullshitting even when telling the truth. Think I scandalized the poor things. Hilarious.

Could have been disaster, though. Could have easily made them hate me.

June 29

Spent half the day falling down the Bottomless Pit.

June 30 Sunday

Summerween, now that’s a respectable local holiday.

Scaring children for fun and profit. Celebrating true evil together with family.

July 1

Hottest day of the year. Wax Stan was permanently murdered by the weather.

Closed the Shack and went to the municipal pool with the kids.

Gideon stole my perfect pool chair. It’s on.

July 2

Broke into the pool area at night to get the chair to myself. Which was a good plan, until I wanted to get up later in the day. The pest had coated it with glue.

The kids broke into the pool at night, too. Didn’t ask.

July 3

Opened the Shack again.

Can’t be too lazy. Tourists to fleece and all that.

July 4

July 5

Mabel bet she could run the Shack better than I can. Well. I’m nothing if not a gambler.

So, three days of vacation, in which I will make more money than she will make running the Shack. Winner takes the Shack, loser sings a silly song.

Best case scenario, she learns something about business and stops complaining. Worst case, she actually makes money and then runs the Shack for me the rest of the summer. Not bad.

July 6

Made it past the line to be a contestant on Cash Wheel, using my Old Man powers and lack of common decency.

Why is it so hard to sleep

July 7 Sunday

Well. I lost at Cash Wheel.

Guess that means I lost the bet with Mabel, too. Unless I go rob a bank or something in the time I have left. Hm.

July 8

Turns out Mabel barely broke even when running the Shack. She did win the bet, but she didn’t want my job, no surprise there.

I’m proud of her for learning something.

She still made me sing that song. On video tape. It’s kinda catchy.

July 9

Mabel’s friends came for a sleepover. They make a lot of noice.

July 10

Soos managed to uncover the door to Ford’s that old study I sealed thirty years ago the very moment the kids demanded separate bedrooms.

I never wanted to see that room again. His glasses were still there

Guess they didn’t want the room in the end, but now it’s open. Can’t re-seal it.

I think they messed around with the freaky carpet. Took it away at the end of the day just in case.

July 11

I fucked up, but I fixed it.

I got Mabel’s pig back, even when I had to punch a pterodactyl in the face for it.

She doesn’t hate me.

I love that kid so much.

July 12

That weird egg I pocketed from the dino-cave hatched. Dipper says it’s a compo-whatnot.

I call him Compy. He’s now my Mystery Pet.

July 13

Soos’ birthday. The kids tried to throw a party, which is. Bad idea.

Think he appreciated laser tag, though. And the magic pizza they got him. Never seen him so happy on a birthday.

July 14 Sunday

Turns out Compy is a very tiny dragon. Hoards stuff, mostly cash. In places I can’t reach.

It’s no good. Gonna hand the chicken-lizard over to farmer Sprott first thing in the morning before he bankrupts me.

July 15

Mabel and her friends went to some boy band concert. Got back late with a large pack of spoils. Probably robbed someone.

Wendy’s boyfriend is charming her with homemade music. Dipper suspects magic. Can’t rule that out.

July 16

There was a hypnotic message in the music, but telling Wendy about it only made the teenage drama worse.

Went bowling with Dipper afterwards to cheer him up. Should have a chat with Wendy, too.

July 17

Gideon I’m How could

Didn’t know Gideon was that serious.

As if half-lucid dreams about that yellow triangle wasn’t bad enough. (The kids know something. Not asking. I want them to stay away from that stuff.)

We’re staying with Soos as I panic figure out how to fix this.

July 18

I can’t fix this.

Gideon’s got the whole town eating out of his hand and I’m just a grouchy old man.

Doing the responsible thing. Got bus tickets to send the kids home tomorrow.

Whatever I do next, don’t want them to watch.

July 19

GIDEON IS A LITTLE SHIT AND I AM AWESOME.

Figured out his trick, proved it in public and now he’s in jail.

Got the Shack back. Got the kids back.

And. Get this. Gideon had one of Ford’s missing journals. I have it now.

July 20

I can’t believe it. Dipper. Had the third journal all summer.

All three of the dumb books are right here in front of me.

I activated the Portal. Simple as anything.

It’s scanning for Ford right now.

I’m actually bringing him back.

July 21 Sunday

Grand reopening of the Mystery Shack turned into a zombie-fest.

Kids could’ve died because I was too busy with the Portal to pay attention. That won’t happen again.

Should have talked to them about weirdness sooner. Hope they believed me when I said I have no more secrets.

A little worried that government might have picked up signals from the Portal.

July 22

Repairing the Shack. Too much undead slime to attract tourists like this.

July 23

Re-reopened the Shack.

Dipper got himself an old laptop computer from somewhere. Probably stolen. He tried to hide it.

July 24

Went minigolfing with the kids.

Mabel challenged Pacifica Northwest to a duel at midnight. I’m so proud of her.

Letting kids into minigolf courts at night to take a rich snob down a few pegs – finally putting my skills to good use.

July 25

I still can’t believe the Portal works.

It keeps scanning.

July 26

Tried to bring old Goldie back to the gift shop but apparently he’s unhip and scary. Had to throw him away before the parents sued me.

What I do need is a singing animatronic robot badger. That’s what kids like these days.

July 27

Soos missed work for the first time ever. Seems to be girl trouble, but the kids are handling it.

Would’ve stolen myself a robot badger if it hadn’t tried to kill me. Saved by old Goldie. No way I’m not keeping him now.

July 28 Sunday

Went for a Vegas vacation because I deserve it.

Not because I’m nervous.

Brought Goldie, might have gotten slightly drunk. And slightly married.

July 29

Mabel found herself a new obsession with hand puppets.

She’ll throw a big show on Friday. Made me rent Gravity Falls theatre for her. (Can’t believe I did that.)

July 30

The Shack is full of sock puppets and kids and Mabel keeps singing.

Guess this is my life now.

July 31

August 1

Soos went to his cousin’s wedding with his new girlfriend. Good on him.

Mabel’s still obsessing about puppets.

Dipper looks like he hasn’t slept in days. Can’t blame him with all this ruckus.

August 2

Play was good! Think it paid for the costs, too. Mabel’s got showmanship.

Don’t get the ending, though.

I mean. Children fighting always makes for good footage, but was it necessary to beat Dipper up that bad? I swear Mabel don’t know how strong she is.

A little worried about Dipper. He seemed high as a kite all day. Probably sleep deprivation. At least he’s sleeping now.

August 3

August 4 Sunday

Gravity’s going more crazy around the Portal the longer it’s on, but I don’t care.

It hasn’t found Ford yet.

It won’t find him if he’s dead

August 5

The Portal ate my notebook.

Got a nasty cut on the back of my hand from some debris, too. Could have been worse.

August 6

Tried to advertise the Mystery Shack for the kids at the Woodstick Festival. Hilarious disaster.

Being feared is worth more than being loved anyway.

August 7

August 8

IT FOUND HIM.

He’s alive. There’s a lock on his position.

Fuck I don’t I have to

I know how it works. It needs to calibrate for a while. It needs to be fueled for the big moment.

I’ll go rob a government facility right now.

(So glad the kids are off at the Northwest party tonight.)

27 hours and then I’ll see him again.

August 9

Ford is back.

I had to run from the feds and the kids found out everything the wrong way but it worked and he’s back.

But he doesn’t He still hates me.

Why would I expect anything else.

Don’t know what I’d do with myself if the kids weren’t here.

It’s fine. I fucked up everything, but. Mabel trusts me. Dipper forgives me. I’m fine.

not crying

August 10 Sunday

The Shack needs repairs again.

Spent most of the day making Duck-tective finale preparations with Mabel. We had fun.

Told the kids to stay away from Ford.

August 11

Dipper has predictably decided to be nerd friends with my brother.

Can’t stop him. He looks happy. Both of them do.

Still can’t figure out why Ford would have reality altering dice lying around in his sci-fi pouch.

Anyway. I knew Duck-tective had an evil twin.

August 12

I hate everything.

Ford will take my his place here soon enough, does he have to undercut me while I’m still here?

I’m running for mayor now.

August 13

Kids are helping me with a political campaign. Apparently I know nothing about politics and have unpalatable opinions. Bah.

August 14

The Stump Speech went great! I relax, words happen, people cheer.

Dipper got a lucky tie for me. Think it really works.

August 15

Should’ve tried being a politician before. Almost feels like people like me.

August 16

Nope. Politics is not for me. Too much mind control.

Should’ve known it wasn’t me making those speeches.

(The kids shouldn’t get into politics either. Can’t always be there to save them from murder.)

Turns out I’m not mayor material, but I’m a HERO.

Take that, Ford.

August 17

Rented an RV and took Soos and the kids and Mabel’s friends on a road trip.

Pranking the tourist traps. Good old Mystery Shack tradition for the last time.

Dipper’s practising flirting like a pro.

August 18 Sunday

Almost got eaten by a spider-woman. That could have gone better.

Have to admit, the kids are heroes too.

Don’t think Ford noticed we were gone.

August 19

Opened the Mystery Shack for the final stretch.

Two more weeks, then I’m gone for good.

August 20

Made a good deal on illegal pugs. Still got it.

Ford and Dipper put some magic mojo on the Shack. Not gonna ask.

Might have something to do with how badly Ford is sleeping.

August 21

Ten days left until the kids’s birthday and the end of summer.

Guess I’m doing a countdown now.

August 22

Nine days left.

August 23

Eight days left.

I’m gonna order a ponytail kit.

August 24

HELL NO I DON’T NEED THIS.

It’s the literal end of the world and the kids are missing.

Suddenly orange skies, goats turning into monsters, the whole shebang. I thought I had enough troubles.

That magic on the Shack seems to be protecting it, but. THE KIDS ARE MISSING. So is Ford.

??? 1

Day and night are replaced by eternal glowing orange and every single clock is busted, so no more dates.

Went out looking for the kids, but all I find is other people. Also demons. No sign of Soos or Wendy, either.

Been taking people to the Shack. Safest place on Earth for all I know. I have enough brown meat and elected myself Chief.

The kids are fine. Probably with Ford. That’s the ticket.

??? 2

Went out looking again. Found the Northwest girl dressed in nothing but a potato sack. She was crying and I don’t want to know, but she didn’t deserve it.

Been told the head honcho is the yellow triangle. He calls this Weirdmageddon.

Old McGucket showed up more coherent than usual, herding a whole flock of forest creatures into the Shack. Starting to get crowded here.

The kids are fine. Of course they are.

??? 3

There’s still people alive out there. I heard cars over at Gleeful’s place.

Didn’t see anyone else.

I’ve lost I couldn’t even

Mabel and Dipper are definitely still alive. So is Soos and Wendy. And Ford better be.

??? 4

They’re alive!

All four of my kids, bursting through the door like cops doing a raid but they’re alive!

Now all I want is for them to stay here and be safe. Why can’t they see that?

I’m done saving my brother’s skin and getting nothing but scorn for it.

Ford made his own bed with that demon. Forget it.

??? 5

Did I mention, the plan concocted by five kids, Soos, and a known madman is utterly insane?

They’re rebuilding the Shack. I just had it repaired, too.

It’s my house, but no one’s listening to me.

??? 6

I keep having this bad feeling about Ford.

It’s dumb. My brother has made it perfectly clear how he feels about being saved.

??? 7

Well then.

Not letting the kids lead an apocalypse rebellion against a demonic triangle without me.

August 25 Sunday

August 26

August 27

August 28

Huh. I can’t remember writing this, but it does ring a few bells.

It’s like I

I need to talk to Ford.

August 29

So. The apocalypse is over, and we’re all fine.

We killed the demon by burning my mind out when he was inside, pretty much.

My mind’s still there, but it’s kinda. Well. In need of repair.

Spent a few days reliving good memories.

Turns out there’s more than a few bad ones, too. But.

Everyone is so good to me

I don’t deserve this

August 30

I remember how Ford looked at me after I brought him back.

Now he acts like he likes to he thinks I’m

Now it’s like he’s my brother again.

He said. “Thank you.”

August 31

The kids have left. I’ll miss them, but I’ll see them again.

Until then, my brother and I are going sailing.

#gravity falls #fanfic #stanley pines #i still have feels about this old conman #it writes #unconventional writing

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yesloverboy · 5 years

Text

Neighborly (mgk!Tommy Lee x Reader) Part 3

SUMMARY: Mötley Crüe has two shows this weekend, and you’ve agreed to help your intrusive neighbor, Tommy, do his makeup properly for both. Despite how it might look to the rest of the world, you see yours and Tommy’s relationship as a really fast-developing friendship. However, as Friday draws closer, it starts to become more evident that your relationship with Tommy is headed in a different direction.

word count: 5,191

[Warnings: swearing, mention of injury, vomit, body image, drug and alcohol mention– oh and lots of fluffy goodness.]

NOTE: I hope y’all like fluff, because I’m coming to rot all of your gorgeous teeth right out of your skull. The real question is: will the fluff last forever? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. As always, thank you so much for give this series a little bit of time out of your day. I’m considering doing imagines/headcanons for The Dirt boys in between chapters, so if that’s something you’re interested in feel free to submit your ideas/requests! I also have anon asks turned on again just in case that’s more your thing. Love y’all!

p.s. I am so sorry this is so fucking long, I don’t know what came over me.

tags: @kwyloz, @scarecrowmax, @lavendersoundbarrier, @stevenandsam, @totallynotkaibiased, @rogertaylur, @fatheadtheroger, @secretly-a-groupie

As the week went by, you were surprised to find Tommy was actually staying out of your hair– well, at least for the most part. No matter what you thought you expected from Tommy, he always seemed to do things in his own, weird way. Just a day after dropping off donuts at your place, Tommy’s weirdness decided to manifest itself yet again. Only this time, he wasn’t necessarily around to inflict it.

That Tuesday afternoon, you returned home from touring your new college to find something sitting right outside your front door. From where you were standing, it appeared to be an old jar of some kind with pink blossoms peeking out from the top. Upon closer inspection, you realized that the jar didn’t just contain flowers, but a flowering cactus. The little cactus was planted firmly inside of the jar with rocks and dirt, as if it was meant to be some kind of terrarium. You picked the jar up with tender fingers, finding yourself still completely uncertain of its purpose outside of your door. Just as you lifted it up off the mat, a crumpled piece of notebook paper fluttered to the ground beneath it, resting at your feet like an autumn leaf.

Unfurling the paper, you realized that it was a handwritten note from none other than your seemingly over-attached neighbor. It struck you as odd that Tommy would be the type to leave his neighbor a handwritten letter– your mind momentarily forgetting that you really didn’t know all that much about him.

Y/N,

Mick also reminded me that people usually like to receive housewarming gifts when they move into new places. He suggested flowers, but I saw this little thing and figured it was more your style.

Although, I can’t promise it’ll make your house any warmer.

– T.

You could feel yourself beaming at the note in your hands. There was something utterly endearing about the thought of Tommy fumbling around with a cactus in hand just for your sake.

Damn, Tommy still must really feel bad about the other night, just thinking about Tommy feeling guilty made you frown. Honestly, you wished he wasn’t taking the whole incident so seriously. Sure, it was definitely a weird start to your L.A. journey, but it also wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened. Besides, there was a good chance he would go down in the history book of your life as your first L.A. friend, and that mattered to you.

As happy as you were to feel like Tommy was becoming something close to a friend, it also struck you as odd that you hadn’t run into any of the other Crüe boys yet. You kind of met Mick, but you hardly regarded having your soul stared into by a total stranger as a proper introduction. If the others were anything like Mick, just thinking about running into Tommy’s bandmates would be enough to make your stomach turn a little. A small part of you hoped that Tommy already told his band about you after the incident with his hand. If this ended up being the case, maybe the merry band of rowdy rock stars beneath your feet would be willing to go easy on you.

Little did you know, you wouldn’t have to wait so long to find out.

Friday creeps up on you much faster than you originally anticipated. Since Tommy left the cactus on your doorstep, you hadn’t seen much of him around. Eventually, you attributed that to the screeching sounds of heavy metal rattling the floorboards under your feet. It started sometime on Wednesday evening, and eventually bled into all of Thursday.

Sure, the sound of Mötley Crüe rehearsing their set downstairs was disruptive, but they thankfully never decided to take their playing late into the night. During the day, however, was a completely different situation.

In order to find some kind of escape from all the commotion, you had spent the last few days driving around and getting to know the area. Each passing hour, you found yourself falling more and more in love with the rows of palms decorating the streets, each one reminding you of just how far you’d come. In the truck you always rode with your windows down, gladly welcoming the salty breeze as it tangled into your hair. Your mind would wander between the rays of sunshine on your skin, and you would think about all the possibilities in front of you; ranging from anything between going to a new college in the fall and the cute neighbor that you can’t seem to keep out of your head, or apartment. You always dismissed those thoughts soon after, knowing that they probably weren’t all that realistic.

After yet another prolonged drive and a trip to the drugstore, you return to your apartment to prep for Tommy’s inevitable visit later that evening. You knew he most likely wouldn’t have minded if you used some of your own makeup on him, but figured he could at least use some new eyeliner for when he’d eventually have to do it himself.

Rummaging around your apartment, you start gathering an inventory of any makeup products you have. For the most part, it had been all neatly tucked away in an old makeup tote you’d had since high school. However, because you’re still freshly moved in, you end up rooting around through old boxes just in case. As you check the last of the boxes, you notice they have all but formed a cardboard tower in your living room over the past week. Deciding that the mess is getting out of hand, you think it’s probably time to make a run to the dumpster out back.

Arms teeming with torn and deconstructed boxes, you step into the sweltering heat and out to the back of the building. As you approach the dumpster, a flash of shadowy movement catches your eye. From what you can tell, there seems to be someone lingering over by the back entrance to the apartment building’s mailroom. Not thinking much of it, you continue to chuck boxes into the gaping mouth of the dumpster. The way you figure it, a mysterious figure hanging out behind the building in broad daylight was the least of your worries.

As you turn to leave, a man with a mane of fluffy blonde hair steps out from behind the wall, propping himself comfortably against the bricks. His tan skin appears almost golden in the sunlight as his slightly effeminate figure bends confidently to the side. There’s something about him that you find uniquely beautiful, and the more his eyes bore into yours, the more you felt like you were observing some kind of predatory feline rather than a person. You personally don’t find him attractive, but you can’t deny that something about his presence feels magnetic.

Deciding to break the silence, you speak first, “Uh, hey there, man. You live here?”

He doesn’t answer you immediately, and pulls a pack of cigarettes out from the back pocket of his jeans instead. Pulling one out using only his teeth, he tilts the pack in your direction, his eyebrow quirking as if to ask; want one?

Usually, you weren’t all that much of a smoker. However, you always seemed to find yourself unable to resist one when offered. It was almost like some form of social ritual that you couldn’t quite shake, especially if it had been a long day.

Aw, fuck it. You take a few steps closer, and pull a cigarette from the pack. It rests comfortably on your lips as you wait for the man to light his own. He passes the lighter to you, and you take it with a mumbled thank you in his direction. The sparkwheel turns with ease under your calloused thumb as you breathe in deeply, lungs filling with smoke.

“Yeah I live here, right up on the third floor,” the man finally replies, taking his lighter back from your open palm.

Your eyes widen with the realization that the guy in front of you is none other than one of Tommy’s bandmates. Honestly, you feel a little silly for not immediately making the connection, but lately your mind has been in another place entirely.

“Wait so you know Tommy?”

The man laughs mockingly, “Of course I know that idiot. Kid’s a total terror–and just so happens to be my drummer.” He takes another drag of his cigarette, smirking at you knowingly. “Wait a sec–you’re that girl on the fourth floor, aren’t you?”

Your chest tightens at the knowledge that Tommy had clearly mentioned you before. Deep down you should feel flattered, but on the other hand, god only knows what he had said about you.

“Yep, that would be me,” you admit, silently praying he wouldn’t pry any further. “I’m Y/N, by the way.”

“I already knew that,” he extends a hand to you, “Vince. Nice to finally meet you.”

You take his hand and shake it, wishing more than anything you could wipe the shit-eating grin off of his face. To your knowledge, you and Tommy were just friends, barely, and here this guy was acting as if he knew something you didn’t.

“Well, thanks for letting me bum a cig, Vince, but I gotta get going,” you take one last puff before letting the cigarette fall lamely to the ground, grinding it into the asphalt with the toe of your boot. It was getting increasingly more difficult to hide your frustration from Vince and you’d much rather be back inside your apartment.

Just as you’re about to turn away, Vince stops you.

“Wait, Y/N! You should really come see us play, I know Tommy would love it.”

When you look at Vince, it seems as though he’s dropped his act a little. The smirk on his face has faded into something softer, and for a moment he seems genuine. You open your mouth to speak, but Vince interrupts you.

“You’re all he talks about, you know.”

For a moment, it feels as though your heart might stop. He talks about me? Honestly, you hadn’t expected Tommy to talk about you in any context other than helping you move and injuring his hand. You manage to keep yourself composed in front of Vince, but on the inside your thoughts are swimming giddily. Although, you’re fairly certain Vince is talking about Tommy, your self-doubt forces you to make sure.

“Who?” You ask, playing dumb. Knowing full well it’s an utterly ridiculous question, you brace yourself for Vince’s reply.

Vince only rolls his eyes as if what you asked was just the same shit, different day. “Tommy, of course,” he huffs. “Jesus, if you’re that fucking stupid I’m sure the two of you are made for each other.”

This time, when the giddy feelings return you let them have free reign. “Well, Vince it was real nice meeting you,” you say, a smile suddenly engraved onto your face. “Make sure my friend Tommy comes over around 7:30. Okay?”

In any other instance, you wouldn’t have allowed some guy you had just met to call you stupid and keep his teeth intact– but today could be an exception. Besides, you couldn’t really deny the fact that you’d set yourself up for it.

Long after you had retreated back to your apartment, you found that Vince’s words were still echoing through your skull.

“You’re all he talks about, you know.”

Despite the fact that Vince lives with Tommy, your skeptical side can’t help but wonder if he was just messing with you earlier. Aside from Tommy drunkenly proclaiming your “beauty”, you really didn’t have much evidence to believe that Tommy would be that fixated on you. Although, you had to admit that Vince seemed pretty earnest when he mentioned it. No one could be that good at acting, could they?

With all this thought about Tommy, you’re horrified to realize that maybe your casual crush was becoming something a little bit more. Something a lot less manageable. Sure you’ve had casual crushes on guys before, everyone does. Whether it was a nice cashier at the supermarket, or an impressively smart teaching assistant– the small crush would be there for a minute and gone in a flash.

Somehow, Tommy was different. Everything about him that should annoy you didn��t, and the thought seeing him was always nestled comfortably in your mind. No one has left an impression on your life quite like he had, and that was worrisome to you. What if he’s just a nice guy? There was always the possibility that he really was just being friendly, and you and the rest of the world were just mistaken.

Trying not to dwell on the matter any longer, you busy yourself with a pot of coffee and flip on the radio. You had just been able to tweak the radio antenna enough to get some kind of signal, when a knock sounded at your door.

“Hey, Y/N! It’s Tommy!”

Glancing over at the clock on the wall, you notice it’s only 7:12pm. He’s early, you think, a smile roseying your cheeks.

Tommy knocks again, growing impatient. “Ya know, for the makeup stuff!”

Chuckling, you open the door to see Tommy’s grinning face lighting up the doorframe. Rather than his usually short tee, or ratty tank top and jeans, he’s wearing tight leather pants and a short-sleeved mesh top. You notice his top is secured to his chest with some kind of harness that resembles both a dog collar and a seatbelt; it was like nothing you’d ever seen before.

“You’re early,” you comment, stepping aside so he can walk past you.

“Oh, sorry about that, dude,” he lightly punches your shoulder in a playful manner, “I just couldn’t wait any longer. We finished setting up at the venue early and I’ve been bored to death.”

“Thanks for the gift, by the way,” you remark, suddenly remembering the little cactus Tommy left on your doorstep on Tuesday.

Tommy perks up, practically bouncing on his heels in excitement. “Wait did you really like it? The damn thing ended up giving me five splinters, but it was so worth it.”

“I love it,” you said earnestly, “it’s actually been sitting on my windowsill since I brought it in.” You point to your open bedroom door where the little jar can be seen soaking up the sunlight.

“Right on!” You suppress a giggle as Tommy actually pumps his fist excitedly. There isn’t a single person on the planet that you’ve seen express their joy so openly and eagerly as Tommy does. He was like a puppy, in a way; just stoked on everything and happy to be alive.

Tommy eventually flops onto a chair at your dining table, obviously drawn to the pile of makeup you had been accumulating for tonight. He picks up a bottle of foundation and shakes it, all the while holding it up to his ear like he’s expecting to hear the ocean.

“Is this all for me?”

You take the bottle out of his hand and place it firmly on the table. “Well some of it is,” you remark poignantly and gesture to a small paper bag next to your tote of makeup. “This is what I got for you, but we’re also going to play around with some of mine, okay?”

Tommy’s enthusiasm is unshakable. “Righteous!”

You can’t help but love how enthusiastic Tommy is about doing his makeup for the show. Sure, rockstars doing theatrical stage makeup was nothing new, but something about Tommy being secure enough in himself to want to give it a shot was admirable.

“Ready to get started then, drummer boy?” You allow yourself to flash Tommy a flirtatious smile, figuring that, no matter what happened between the two of you, you were determined to have as much fun as possible. Let’s face it, hanging out with Tommy makes you happy, even if there’s a possibility that it’ll never be anything more than platonic.

“Hell yeah, man! I can’t wait ‘til you’re done, Nikki is going to be so jealous.”

Leaving Tommy to sit at the dining table, you went to your bathroom to get a hand mirror, and some clips to pin Tommy’s hair back. “Nikki?”

“Nikki-fucking-Sixx, dude! He’s Mötley Crüe’s bass player,” Tommy says, all the while inspecting the variety of makeup products on the table, “and probably my best friend.”

When you eventually meet Tommy at the dining table, he’s still rambling on about Nikki. “I swear, he’s the raddest guy ever– and he always does the coolest makeup, but I’m not nearly as good. I want to be, though. Most def,” he nods decisively, his eyes sparkling with adoration for his friend.

“He does sound rad,” you agree, “did you want me to try and do something he would do?”

“Yeah dude! But I was thinking we could do something a little more me, ya know? Like I kind of want to look like a vampire, but, like, a punk vampire.” Tommy’s face is animated with excitement, his hands gesturing wildly as he describes his ideal stage persona. “Nikki’s more into a warpaint kinda look, but we could make that fit, right?”

You look down at Tommy, he’s so tall that, even sitting down, the two of you may as well be eye to eye. If you were being honest, Tommy’s request is a bit bizarre, but all rock and roll aesthetics kind of are. You try to envision a classic Halloween vampire look in your head, but all you seem to come up with is the traditional hollowed out cheeks and heavy eyeliner. It’s all so pathetically overdone.

How can we possibly make this work? Shifting your gaze from his face to the makeup on the table, a pan of fuschia eyeshadow catches your attention, instantly transforming the vision in your head. You bite your lip, hoping that Tommy will be on board with it when the time comes.

“Okay, Tommy. I think I have an idea. Is it okay if I move your hair out of your face?”

“Go for it, dude.”

You pluck a barrette off of the table and place it between your teeth, leaving both hands free to twist Tommy’s shaggy layers into place. His hair is light and fluffy against your fingertips, and somewhere deep down you wish that you could find more excuses to play with it in the future. Pulling a clump of his wavy fringe back, you secure it with a satisfying snap of the barrette.

“Ow! Y/N! That fucking hurt,” Tommy hisses, reaching for his head defensively.

You swat his hand away mercilessly, “Beauty is pain, drummer boy.”

“Since when?”

“Since, I said so,” you begin pinning back the other half of his fringe, trying not to laugh as Tommy cringes in discomfort. “God, where was all this complaining when you nearly cut your hand off?”

“Oh come on, that was so different and you know it!” Tommy’s working hard at maintaining his stubborn pout, but you can see the smile threatening to escape beneath it.

You pick up the bottle of your foundation Tommy was messing with earlier and start shaking it up. “Alright, tough guy. I’m going to need you to start paying attention for this part.”

Gently, you place your fingers under Tommy’s chin and tilt his head up so you can see better. You squeeze a few drops of foundation onto Tommy’s face, then use a wedged beauty sponge to pat it into his skin.

“Do I need to close my eyes?” Tommy asks, seeming genuinely concerned.

“Nah, not until I work on your eyes.” As you pat in the foundation, you realize that maybe your shade is just a little too light to be a perfect match for Tommy’s sun kissed complexion. It’s a little odd, but maybe it works for the subtle vampiric look he’s going for. “This is just a little foundation, alright? Really you don’t need much of it, but I think it’ll help everything else stick.”

When you feel as though his face is thoroughly covered, you grab the pan of bright pink eyeshadow, and a large brush you’d typically be using for regular blush.

“Okay, so I was thinking, maybe we could do those crazy, dead-looking vampire cheeks,” you begin, “but instead of using black, we use pink instead...” you trail off and hold your breath, worrying that the idea you’re proposing is too feminine for Tommy’s liking.

Much to your surprise, Tommy looks completely stoked at the idea. “That sounds awesome! No one would ever expect it,” he gushes, “plus, I’m wearing all black so it’ll really stand out. I’m gonna look like a fuckin’ superhero.”

Tommy’s excitement suddenly gives you a newfound confidence in your abilities. You really appreciate the way that Tommy makes you feel like you can do anything, and wonder if other people feel the same way whenever he’s around.

Blotting your fluffy brush, you set to work carving out his angular cheekbones with the hot pink pigment. Shockingly, it doesn’t look nearly as insane as you feared it might. It actually looks kind of cool, and reminds you of a more exaggerated version of the new wave fashion you typically hated. One thing’s for sure, Tommy was absolutely right when he said that no one was going to expect it.

Despite how still Tommy had been when you applied the foundation, something about the way you were applying the color to his cheeks was causing him to fidget.

“Jesus Christ, that fucking tickles!” he exclaimed, bursting out in a fit of laughter.

You giggle at his sudden outburst, having to use both hands to wrestle his head back into place so you can finish. “Come on, you freak! Hold still, or you’re going to make me mess up.” If you weren’t quite literally putting pink eyeshadow on Tommy’s face, you’d dare to say he was blushing.

When you finish hollowing out his already angular face, you hold up the hand mirror so that he can properly assess your progress. Immediately, Tommy yanks the mirror out of your hands, his mouth falling open in shock.

“Holy fucking shit, this is so gnarly!” he’s smiling from ear to ear, and you can’t help but feel your chest swell with a little bit of pride. It’s true that you’re no makeup artist, but it didn’t really matter what anyone else was going to think so long as Tommy was happy with it.

“Alright, alright. Settle down, because now we’re getting into the hard stuff.”

The final step is eyeliner and eyeshadow, which is actually what you feel the most competent at. However, with the way Tommy is seated while you remain standing is going to make the process a little complicated. It probably wouldn’t be so bad if Tommy wasn’t so goddamn tall in comparison to rest of the human population.

Grabbing a freshly sharpened eye pencil, you lean in get a good view of Tommy’s eyes. “Look up for me,” you instruct and Tommy complies.

As you work the pencil into his waterline, you realize that you’re unable to get a good enough angle to actually apply it evenly.

“Fuck,” you mutter under your breath, clearing becoming frustrated at how terrible the eyeliner is looking compared to the rest of his makeup.

“What’s the matter?” Tommy asks, looking up at you earnestly.

You can’t stop a sigh from escaping your lips, “Oh nothing major. It’s just hard to work on your eyes with you being so tall– and I know sitting in a chair isn’t going to help our cause.”

“I’m not tall, you’re just a shorty,” Tommy mocks, sticking his tongue out at you playfully. Tommy’s antics ease your frustration a little, but you’re still worried about how you’re going to successfully complete the look in time for his show.

As you try to think of other solutions, Tommy sudden speaks up.

“I have an idea, Y/N...but you’re not going to like it.”

“What is it?” You find that the sudden apprehension in Tommy’s voice is making you more and more nervous by the second.

“I’ll tell you but you have to promise you won’t get mad,” Tommy’s face is suddenly more serious than you’ve ever seen it.

“Get mad? Why on earth would I get mad?”

“Promise first!” Tommy insists.

You throw the eyeliner pencil down on the table in exasperation, “Okay fine I promise, now please just tell me.”

“You could sit in my lap,” Tommy blurts out, his words connected by a string of anxiety.

Your first instinct is to laugh at the absurdity of Tommy’s idea, automatically assuming he’s pulling an elaborate prank on you. However, a quick assessment of Tommy’s grave facial expression makes you realize he’s dead serious.

“Oh my god,” you scoff, “you can’t be fucking serious.”

Tommy throws his hands up in defeat. “See! I knew you’d be fucking mad, god this is so embarrassing.” He rests his head in his hands, his fingertips most definitely making contact with the makeup job you just did, but you don’t have the heart to accost him over it.

You consider Tommy’s proposition, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt for a moment. “So...how do I know that this isn’t just some attempt to get into my pants, huh?”

“Listen,” Tommy starts, clearly on the defense, “I just figured because my legs are so long you wouldn’t even have to get that close to me, okay? Look, I’ll even put my hands behind my back if you want.”

Tommy demonstrates by clasping his hands together behind the back of the chair. “See? It’s that easy,” he looks at you triumphantly, clearly believing in his heart that his logic is rock solid.

Against all odds, you actually consider what Tommy is saying for a moment. You think about all the other guys you’ve met in your life and know that you’d be absolutely out of your mind to fall for whatever Tommy was trying to pull. On the other hand, would it really be so bad if you did go along with it?

“Fuck it,” you say, throwing your sense of caution and self-preservation completely out the window.

This seems to surprise Tommy quite a bit, his wide-eyed expression hilarious against the backdrop of his half-finished stage makeup. The way you figure it, if Tommy managed to maintain his control while passed out drunk on your floor the first night you met, he most likely wasn’t trying to pull anything now.

Approaching Tommy, you try your best to keep your cool but can’t deny the way your heart is pounding against your ribcage.

“Just know, if you try anything I will break you in half,” you threaten, knowing full well that the only way you could kick Tommy’s ass is if he let you.

Tommy puts his hands back behind the chair once again, this time keeping them there. “What did I tell you?” he laughs, instantly removing some of the tension that had been building up over the last few minutes.

With a heavy sigh, you place a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, effectively using him for leverage, as you swing a leg over both of his. You gently rest the remainder of your weight onto his knees until you’re straddling him at the furthest distance possible. To your pleasant surprise, you fit in Tommy’s lap comfortably.

Being closer to him than ever before, you can now smell the woodsy scent of his cologne in combination with the cigarette smoke that clung to his clothes. To prevent your mind from wandering, you decide to put all of your energy into focusing on the task at hand.

“Alright, I guess we’ll finish this then,” you say, swallowing your nerves and reaching for the eyeliner. Tommy only smiles back at you victoriously, completely aware that he won the battle.

“Ugh for chrissakes, if you keep smiling at me like that your face is going to stick that way,” you complain, going back to work on smoking out his eyeliner.

Tommy flinches a little at the lack of warning, but quickly adjusts. “Why wouldn’t I be smiling? There’s a pretty girl in my lap!”

You don’t want to laugh, but you can’t help yourself. There’s something about Tommy that seems to bring out the best in you.

“Yeah well you won’t be laughing when I punch you in the dick.”

Tommy snorts with laughter, “There’s the mean girl I know and love.”

You ignore him, but a smile still remains firmly planted on your face. Oddly enough, Tommy doesn’t seem to mind having his eyeliner done all that much. After you’ve successfully created two smokey black rings around Tommy’s eyes, you decide to take some of the pink pigment from earlier and add it to his eyelids. You try your best to explain how you’re doing it along the way, but describing the process is a lot harder than it seemed. As much as you didn’t want to admit it, being able to sit on Tommy’s lap like this actually helps tremendously.

Per Tommy’s request, you end up adding two solid black lines to the right side of his face so that he can look “just a little more like Nikki”. It’s obvious that Tommy admires Nikki a lot more than he had been letting on, which is almost hard to believe considering how highly he speaks about him already.

When you finish, you unclip the barrettes in Tommy’s hair, mussing it up with your hands in an attempt to get his shaggy locks back into place. Holding hand mirror up to Tommy’s face once more, you figure that the look has to be just about done if Tommy ever hopes of being able to recreate it without you.

“I love it! I totally fucking love it, thank you so fucking much,” he lets the mirror fall slowly onto the table, his eyes meeting yours with a familiar stare that you can’t quite put your finger on. “Can I ask for one more thing?”

“Sure, what is it?” you ask, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“The lipstick you’re wearing, do you think you could put some on me?”

You had all but forgotten the fact that you’d put on a red lipstick earlier in the day, and found yourself surprised it had even stayed on this long. “Sure thing, man. It’s in my purse though so let me just go get it real quick–”

As you move to get up, you feel a large hand grip the side of your thigh. The touch is gentle, yet firm enough to hold you in place.

“Tommy what are you…” you try to finish your sentence, but end up getting lost his gaze. The deep blue of his eyes makes you shiver involuntarily, and there’s no doubt in your mind that Tommy could feel it.

“I think I can get it myself,” he murmurs as his lips catch yours, pulling you into a gentle kiss.

Part 4

Masterlist

#it's finally done #whew am i exhausted #neighborly series #neighborly part 3 #mgk!tommy lee #mgk!tommy lee x reader #tommy lee #tommy lee x reader #motley crue #mötley crüe #vince neil #nikki sixx #mick mars #the dirt #the dirt movie #the dirt netflix

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