#We don’t talk about Season 4 either lol
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no bc i am CONVINCED something happened between Mike and Will between season 2 and season 3 and here’s why.
The first scene we see of them together is on the movie date at the cinema. (Also, why show Mike noticing something is up with Will in the first place? Will doesn’t even confide in him about what he’s feeling, so why? It’s unnecessary unless they want to show us something about Mike and Will. And if it’s to show Will’s feelings for Mike through lip glances, WHAT ABOUT MIKE???)
Mike looks at Will’s lips while asking if he’s okay, meaning he had been already looking at him since Will hadn’t made any noise or drawn any attention to himself before Mike talks to him. There are many many many scenes of Mike looking at Will’s lips to the point that it’s a meme.
But then, look at Will. We all know Will is in love with Mike, has been for a while he just didn’t fully realize it until some time between season 2 and season 3, and didn’t accept it until some time between season 3 and season 4 (just in my opinion, this is flexible based off of your own perspectives and understandings). Either way, he has always been more discreet, looking when Mike isn’t looking at him in contrast to how Mike checks Will out both when he is and isn’t taking notice.
(Another thought, if we were supposed to pick up on the fact that Will is gay by the fact that he wears shorts shorts, BARELY EVER checks Mike out, is told “it’s not my fault you like girls,” and has been bullied for being queer, what does this say about Mike? Sure, he doesn’t wear short shorts, he wasn’t bullied for being queer except in regards to Will’s queerness, THEN it was always directed towards Mike, and Mike is always checking Will out and I’m gonna keep saying that because people are blind, and the fact that he even said that to Will in their rain fight was so out of nowhere like…what have you been thinking about when you’re alone? Huh? (i know what you are Michael Wheeler.) Then what? The only difference between the two is that Mike has a girlfriend, who he can’t even tell he loves to her face. Just saying. And I know Mike is queer coded in a different way than Will, but he also has all that proof I listed above and probably more. Moving on lol…)
Here’s some of Will looking at Mike in the arcade in S2E1 and in the grocery store in the fruit section S3E7. I don’t need to show examples for Mike because I’m sure we can all think of a bunch off the top of our heads. Will is a little harder to catch though.
Even in season 4 when we all KNOW Will has feelings for Mike, his glances are more discreet, we just see it more often because we are supposed to be aware he’s in love with Mike. So why, just why, does Will glance at Mike’s lips TWICE in the cinema. He knows Mike can see him because they’re talking, Mike is facing him, looking at him because he’s worried and is checking up on him. You could argue it’s because it’s dark, but their faces are illuminated by the screen, so it’s still a bold move on Will’s part. He knows Mike is looking at him and makes the decision to look at his lips twice when he’s usually so good at looking only when Mike can’t notice he is because he already has the subconscious feeling that he is in love with Mike, and that it should be a secret. Especially with what he’s always been bullied for by both his own dad and people at school. He’s learned to hide, which is funny because we all know how good at hiding Will is.
Mike on the other hand, bitch has been checking Will out since the very beginning. When Will tells Mike the roll was a 7, Mike just stares at him. He doesn’t even give a proper response, which is out of character for him. If it were Lucas or Dustin (who wouldn’t of told him the truth in the first place), he would have said something, like actually anything. But with Will, he doesn’t. He just stares at him.
We also know Mike & Will have a deep understanding of each other where they don’t need words to communicate. They finish each other sentences a lot, and in the 7 scene, when Will says, “it was a 7,” Mike furrows his brow. Will knows he’s asking a question without needing any verbal response, so he answers. And even then Mike doesn’t answer, just stares and watches as Will bikes away. (Kinna LGBTQ if you ask me).
Their ability to converse silently with little looks only adds onto the fact that Will thought he was picking up on something after season 2. He doesn’t need to be explicitly told by anybody that Mike is starting to realize things about himself and his feelings for Will because nonverbal communication is what the two have always been best at.
Back to the cinema date, it’s not weird for Mike to be checking Will out because he’s always been doing it. It’s also pretty brief in the movie theater, like he’s doing it with no thought behind it because it’s what he’s always done, so what’s the harm?
Now, for Will, he not only lip glances twice but it’s a longer gaze. A little linger. There is clearly something between them that only Will is reacting to because Mike is preoccupied trying to act straight with El. Maybe some hope that he could be grasping onto something between them.
Later, Will tells his mom he isn’t gonna fall in love. He doesn’t scowl or have a disgusted tone compared to when he saw proof of Jonathan and Nancy’s love. He probably believes that he’s not gonna fall in love, or get reciprocated love, for many reasons. He’s realizing he’s gay, he’s realizing Mike is special to him, he’s realizing that he is also special to Mike, but he says he won’t fall in love because even if he does, even if he’s realizing he’s also special to Mike, Mike can’t love him back because he has El.
Which is why I believe something happened between them some time between season 2 and season 3. It’s clear that El can’t hang out with the party with the way it’s established how she has a curfew and how Mike reacts to her being at the mall with Max.
Also, Dustin was away at summer camp for a month. This means Mike and Will were left alone with the other canon couple in the party, Lucas and Max. Mike and Will spent a lot of time together, and probably picked up on a lot of signs they were attracted to each other.
The differences between how they reacted to that are hidden between their families. Despite being bullied for being queer, Will has Jonathan who is seen supporting Will and his “freakness”. However, Mike doesn’t have anyone like that. He’s probably never seen his parents be in love. The difference between him and Nancy is that Mike is a boy who likes a boy and Nancy is a girl who likes a boy. So Mike hides in his girlfriend to avoid the feelings he knows he has for his best friend.
Anyway, the reason why Will decidedly looks at Mike’s lips when he knows he’s looking, why he lingers and does it twice, is because that he felt okay doing this action for once since Mike did something to make him feel like he could.
Then later, on S3E3, we get the Byler rain fight scene. At first, it really is all about their friendship and how Will feels left behind. But after Mike says, “It’s not my fault you like girls,” the gears shift in Will’s head. We then focus a lot on his face. He doesn’t say anything, meaning we are supposed to be reading something just from his expression. He looks hurt, for obvious reasons, but also like he wants to say something back but he can’t. And it’s noticeable how quiet he is after Mike says that in comparison to how much he was talking before. He thought Mike and him had something that summer, that those lip glances and nonverbal signs and cues meant something, but then it all comes crumbling down once Mike says those words. Will wants to say something, maybe about how he thought he had a chance, how Mike made him think he did, (or maybe even “What the fuck, Mike!?” because…wtf Mike,) but then he realized he didn’t.
This is further backed by what Will says in response to Mike talking about them playing games in his basement forever. “Yeah. I guess I did. I really did.” Because he really thought there was the possibility of that, thought he was picking up on something, but Mike’s words made him realize he didn’t. He was just projecting his own romantic feelings onto the scenario. He’s upset at Mike and himself for being so stupid, stupid for different reason though.
Only fools rush in, and in this moment, Will believes he is the biggest fool of them all.
SOMETHING HAPPENED BETWEEN WILL AND MIKE EARLIER THAT SUMMER AND I KNOW IT.
or maybe i’m delusional because it’s 2am
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Just the Three of Us
Steve Harrington x Reader x Eddie Munson
Fandom: Stranger Things
AU: Soulmate
Summary: After crashlanding in the mystical magical world of the 1980s, you discover that you have not one, but two soulmates and they are determined to take the best care of you they possibly can.
Note: Takes place sometime after Season 4 I guess?? Everyone lives and is happy (even though we don’t have those answers yet lmao). Also, yes another Soulmate AU. So sorry, but I am trash. Consider this my apology for discontinuing Stranded lol.
Warnings: poly fluff, swearing
Word Count: 3.2k
Reader Is: Female
Holy fuck, did your head hurt. Your ears were ringing really loudly and everything was black. Add to the list your limbs felt like they were full of sand and you were not having a good time. After a long moment, the ringing began to subside enough to make out some (unfamiliar) voices, who seemed to be bickering above you somewhere.
“She needs to go to a hospital. Like, now.” One of the voices argued. “Look at her.”
“And tell them what, Steve, that she fell from the sky?” Another voice, this one younger, replied.
“I don’t know, man, I think Harrington’s right. She doesn’t look so good.” A third voice, this one a bit deeper than either of the others, said. “Add to that the fact that she fell from the fucking sky.”
You tried your best to lift your eyelids, but everything was so heavy. Too heavy to move.
“Well we have to do something! We can’t just stand there and let her—” This voice sounded like a girl. A paranoid one at that.
“Wait, look.” The deep voice said, causing all of the others to stop talking for a moment. Even with your eyes closed, you could feel all of their gazes on you.
You attempted to speak, to say something, but the best you could manage was a low whine. You wiggled your fingers the slightest bit, pushing, pushing, pushing to the surface.
“I think she can hear us.” The first voice, Steve, deduced.
You felt a hand against yours. Large, warm fingers, and something cold, like metal.
“Hey, it’s okay. Take your time.” The deeper voice encouraged.
You took a long, deep breath, and then, after an impossibly long moment, you managed to open your eyes, all of your limbs tingling as you did so. “Fuck.” You groaned, struggling to move, but realizing very quickly that that wouldn’t be happening just yet.
“Oh my God,” The girl said, a hand covering her mouth. Her hair was cut short and there was this quirky, unexplainable energy about her. “Hi. Um. Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” You replied, exhaling a sigh as you looked to the others in the room. And as soon as you did, something was…wrong. For starters, one of them looked like he’d stepped out of an 80’s hair band, and the other older boy looked like he had about half a tub of hair gel holding up his shiny brown hair. “Oh God…” You muttered.
Slowly, you began to sit up. There was a fourth person in the room, this one obviously younger than the other three. He was wearing a baseball cap with vibrant neon letters on it, and he had a walkie-talkie in his hand. They all stared at you, waiting for you to speak, or say something further.
“I…where am I?”
“Hawkins, Indiana.” The youngest said, his eyes expectant.
You pressed your lips together, skeptical to say the least. “No, that can’t…” You looked at the décor around the room, old posters for movies and musicians and they were all a little…too vintage to be anything anyone your age would have. Well…unless… “Is this…What…year is it?”
You asked the question slowly and they were all quiet for a really long time, staring at you like you’d sprouted antennae all of a sudden.
“You’re not saying what I think you’re saying, right?” The youngest asked, visibly getting a bit excited at the prospect. “Because if you’re saying what I think you’re saying…”
“Let her speak, Dustin, Jesus.” The guy with the gel in his hair, Steve, you connected, based on his voice.
“Because, I mean, you all look like you’re…from like the ‘80s.” You shook your head. You sounded crazy even saying it out loud. “But that would be—”
“It’s not crazy.” The girl reassured you. “Because, uh, it is the ‘80s. 1986.”
“Fuck.” You repeated, this time more in awe and shock than when you had groaned it before in nothing but pain. Though, you would admit, you were a little nauseous, thinking about it. “I…wow.”
“You okay?” The guy with the deeper voice and the hair band hair asked, noticing your discomfort.
“I don’t know.” You repeated, shaking your head and letting out a breathy laugh. “Holy fuck this is not happening…” To say you were having a bit of a breakdown was putting it lightly.
“Do you remember what happened before you came here?” Dustin asked.
“Yeah, I blew out my birthday candles.”
“Happy birthday!” The girl said sincerely.
You smiled. “Thank you.” You paused, thinking back. “Yeah, no, that’s it. Twenty-first birthday party one minute and this couch the next.”
Putting the pieces together, you rolled up the sleeve of your shirt. Sure enough, there it was, silver and gleaming and glittering and fresh. Your soulmark.
“You…you don’t happen to know a Steve Harrington or an Eddie Munson, do you?” You looked up at them, watching their faces as they looked at you and then each other, and then raced to lift their sleeves to look for themselves.
“You’re (Y/N) (L/N)?” Steve asked tentatively, reading from his arm and looking up at you.
“Yeah, I am.”
“Holy fuck! I knew it!” Eddie jumped, pumping his fist while Steve’s handsome features broke into a giant smile, looking at you with soft eyes. Eddie knelt down in front of you and took your hand in his, looking into your eyes. “I knew there was something about you.” He paused for a moment. “But seriously, do you need to go to the hospital?”
***
It had been approximately an hour. Steve got you some Tylenol and a Cherry Coke and made sure you were comfortable on the couch. Dustin looked like it was taking every ounce of self-control he had to not ask you a billion questions, and Eddie hadn’t left your side for a single second. Robin, meanwhile, was informing the rest of their friend group as to what had happened, and developing a more permanent plan for you.
“When are you from?” Dustin finally cracked, curiosity glinting in his eyes. He had a notebook on hand.
“Dustin, please.” Steve said, exasperated.
“It’s okay.” You told him, chuckling softly. Steve and Eddie both waited for your answer as well, more than curious, due to your connection to them. “I’m from 2022.”
Eddie’s jaw dropped and Steve’s eyes widened. “That’s uh…” Eddie started to do the math in his head, but stopped when he realized what a large number it was. He whistled. “That’s a while from now.”
Steve made an awkward face. “Yeah, you could say that again.”
“How long have you two had your marks?” You asked both of them, looking from one to the other.
Steve chuckled to himself. “It’s only been a few months since we figured out we were each other’s soulmates. But we’d never even heard your name before, (Y/N).”
“Been looking for you ever since, though.” Eddie amended quickly. “To no avail, for obvious reasons.”
You looked down at his shirt. “Is that an X-Men reference?”
“Is what—” He looked down and then smiled. “Yeah, it is. I, uh, named my DnD club after the Hellfire Club.”
“Oh my god, you’re a vintage DnD nerd.” You said excitedly. “What class are you?”
He smirked confidently. “I’m the DM.”
“Holy shit.” You smiled. “That’s hot.”
Eddie was absolutely glowing at this compliment. “Glad you think so, sweetheart.”
“It’s like they’re speaking another language.” Steve chuckled to himself.
“See, Harrington, I told you, you need to start coming to Hellfire.” Dustin said, grinning.
“Should have known my other soulmate would be a nerd, too.”
Eddie smirked and gave Steve a little nudge. “You love it.”
Steve couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Yeah, I do.”
“Harrington here was cool in high school.” Eddie informed you. “King Steve. Got invited to parties and shit.”
You smiled and looked at him, taking in this new information. “That checks out.”
“He’s also a badass. He fights monsters on occasion. Saved my life a bunch.”
“Well damn.” You tilted your head, looking at him. “I can see it.”
“Eddie, babe, you’re gonna blow up my ego.” Steve laughed. He chuckled to himself about the whole thing. “How are you doing, by the way? You know, with all of this.” Steve motioned to the room around you.
You smiled softly. “I’m okay. You guys are making it a lot easier, that’s for sure.”
“Good. Good. I’m glad.” He nodded, a bit relieved.
Robin came down the stairs a few minutes later with a basket of clothes. “Mrs. Byers gave us some of her clothes, too. She said (Y/N) can stay with her if she wants to.”
“Aww, that’s nice of her.” Dustin said, smiling.
“We can take her back to our place, too.” Steve offered, looking at Eddie, who nodded. And then he looked to you. “You know, if you want to of course. We don’t want to rush you or anything.”
“It’s totally up to you.” Eddie tacked on. “No pressure.”
Their chemistry was adorable, you decided. You wondered how long they’d known each other before the universe decided to tell them they were actually meant to spend the rest of their lives together. Maybe you’d get to ask them soon.
“I’d love to stay with you two.” You told them.
“Cool. Awesome. Um, do you think you can walk?” Steve asked, looking you over. You seemed to be doing a lot better than when they first saw you, but given the circumstances, he couldn’t be sure.
“I might need a little help,” you admitted. Despite your best efforts, you were still trembling and your legs felt like Jell-O. Luckily, you had not one, but two soulmates more than ready to assist you.
“No worries.” Steve said, kneeling in front of you. He waited for your approval, and when you nodded, he slipped an arm under your knees, the other wrapping around your back for support. “I’ve got you.”
He lifted you with ease, carrying you up the stairs with Eddie following the two of you closely, your can of Cherry Coke in his hand and his car keys in the other.
“You’re strong.” You said, your arm loosely hanging around Steve’s shoulders for more support.
He blushed. “Well who do you think carried you in here, princess?”
“I think I now have the answer to that question.” You chuckled, very aware of just how close his face was to yours. God, it was true what they said about soulmates. The attraction was…immediate.
Eddie unlocked the car, opened your door, and climbed into the driver’s seat while Steve gently set you in the passenger seat, buckling you in. Steve then climbed into the back seat.
Unlike usual, Eddie didn’t peel out of the driveway at a neck-breaking speed. Instead, he backed out slowly and drove like you were made of glass and he was afraid at every turn that you would shatter. Or puke in his van, one of the two.
“Uh, what kind of music do you like?” Eddie asked, changing the radio to something a little more mainstream than his usual tastes.
“All sorts of stuff. In terms of stuff you would know, um…ABBA and Elton John and Queen…”
“Solid choices.” Steve said. “Is their music still popular then?”
“Elton John just had a musical made about his life, Queen got a Biopic called Bohemian Rhapsody, and ABBA’s music spurned not one, but two jukebox musical movies. So yeah, still pretty popular.”
“And the rock and metal and stuff?” Eddie asked.
“It still has a cult following. Tons of super dedicated fans, but it’s not super mainstream.”
Eddie grinned. “Okay, cool.”
The ride to Eddie and Steve’s new townhouse wasn’t super long. It wasn’t a huge place, but it was the perfect size for two—now three—people. Once Eddie parked, you opened the passenger door and swiveled so your legs were facing the opening. Steve got out quickly and stood right there, ready to catch you.
“I want to try to walk.” You said, sliding out of the seat and letting your feet touch the pavement. Steve’s arm hovered loosely around your waist, ready to catch you if this wasn’t such a good idea yet.
Somehow, though, you got up the steps and through the front door without too much trouble. Eddie went ahead and turned all the lights on, as the sun was nearing setting. You took in the surroundings. There wasn’t a ton of furniture, but that was the norm for college-age guys anyway. There were a couple posters on the walls, and you noticed a picture of Steve and Eddie together, Eddie wearing a graduation gown and grinning like he’d just won the lottery. Cute.
“Make yourself at home, sweetheart.” Eddie told you, his gaze soft and comforting.
And even though you hadn’t been there long at all, it was already beginning to feel like that word was accurate. Home.
“We, uh, have a VCR if you want to watch any movies.” Steve told you, motioning to the machine under the TV.
“You guys have Back to the Future?” You chuckled. “I feel like that one would be fitting, all things considered. Plus, it’s one of my favorite movies.”
“You’re into the oldies, huh?” Eddie teased, the concept of his present being your kind of distant past still weirding him out.
You thought about making some comment about them being the oldies, but decided against it. Probably too soon for that kind of thing. “Yeah, good thing, too.”
“Well, we do have a copy of it. I work at Family Video and—” Steve said, watching the face you made when he said it. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just…That is a very vintage sentence.”
His eyes widened with something akin to panic. “What happens to Family Video?”
“They close. All of them. It’s tragic, really. Most media is just digital in the future. Physical media is almost dead.”
“Damn.” Steve shook his head, thinking about it very deeply. “Well, I’ve got about 36 years to get that figured out, huh.”
“We’ll find you a new job by then, babe.” Eddie patted Steve’s shoulder, comfortingly. “That, or my band will be big enough by then that I can just spoil both of you rotten.”
You settled into the couch, and the boys followed after pretty soon after, once Steve put Back to the Future in.
***
The movie ended and you were tired despite taking quite the nap before. Something about time travel just wiped you out. Steve and Eddie could both tell you’d probably be going to sleep pretty soon.
“Hey, so uh, we don’t have a guest room. Um…I’ll totally sleep on the floor out here and Eddie can take the couch and you can have our bed.” Steve explained, sounding a bit nervous.
“I’m not gonna let you sleep on the floor and the couch.” You shook your head. “If you want, um…I’d be okay with…sharing the bed with you guys. I mean, if it’s big enough. And if you want me to. If not, I can totally take the couch—”
“You are not sleeping on the couch after everything you’ve been through today, princess.” Eddie put his foot down. “I’m fine with you sleeping with us. I’m sure Steve is too. Not…not like that of course, just—”
“I get it.” You chuckled.
“Cool. Great. I’ll go get everything ready up there, alright?” Steve said, jabbing a thumb back towards the stairs.
You nodded. Eddie handed you the basket of clothes the girls had rounded up for you so you could find some pajamas in it. It looked like Joyce had gone out to get you some other basics, too. Underwear and socks and a toothbrush and stuff.
You found something suitable pretty quickly. “Um, Eddie, where’s your bathroom?”
“Right this way, milady.” Eddie helped you off of the couch and led you to the bathroom upstairs, where all of their toiletries were. Yep. This was definitely a boys’ bathroom. “Sorry it’s a mess in there. We weren’t expecting a beautiful guest such as yourself. We’ll clean it up, though.”
“It’s fine Eddie, thank you.”
“Yeah, no prob. Um…I’ll wait out here and listen in case you fall, okay?”
You grinned. “I’m not made of glass, you know.”
“Well, yeah, but I can’t have you hitting your pretty little head, now can I? Harrington would kill me.”
“Why would I kill you, Munson?” Steve asked, leaning against the doorway.
“If I left her alone and she hit her head in the bathroom.”
“Oh yeah. Yeah definitely.” Steve agreed, his arms crossed and a playful smile on his face. “We’ll be right here. No rush, though. Take your time.”
You did just that, taking a good long moment to change into pajamas, brush your teeth, and rinse your face with some cold water. But even when you did that and looked in the mirror, you were still in the ‘80s. Huh. Weird.
You shrugged and walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, where Steve and Eddie were on the bed in their pajamas, talking kind of quickly about, you presumed, the crazy new shake-up in their lives. Eddie noticed you and stared, silencing Steve immediately.
“Oh, babe, hey, what side of the bed do you want?” Steve asked and then hesitated. “Wait, should I not call you babe yet? Is it too soon?”
“You can call me whatever you want.” You assured him, laughing. “And, uh…can I sleep in the middle?”
Eddie and Steve both said “Yes.” At the same time.
“Cool.” You chuckled and crawled up the center of the bed, getting under the covers while the other two got in beside you. It was a little awkward, none of you knowing exactly what to say or do, and none of you wanting to be the first to do so.
Steve turned out the light and the three of you laid there on your backs, completely straight in their dark bedroom.
“You guys can touch me, you know.”
“Oh okay cool.” Eddie replied, turning a bit to face you. He took your hand gently in his own and reached up to your face with his other one, pushing the hairs out of your eyes. “I think I speak for both of us when I say I am so stoked you’re here. And I know it can be hard being in a new environment like this, but if you need anything, you’ve got both of us, alright?”
“Thank you.” You whispered, nodding, your voice caught in your throat a bit due to his proximity, his warmth, and that sparkle in his eyes when he looked at you like you were made of pure magic.
“What he said.” Steve scooted a bit closer, an arm carefully settling around your waist. “We’re not going anywhere. We’ll be right here in the morning and…we’re all gonna get this stuff figured out. I promise.”
You nodded against him, your free hand resting on his. “Can I…kiss you guys goodnight?”
Instead of replying, Eddie leaned forward slowly, capturing your lips in a soft, passionate kiss. And then he kissed your nose for good measure. “Goodnight, princess.” Eddie smirked before passing you off to Steve. Steve’s kiss was a little firmer, a little more confident, but still very sweet.
“Get some rest, babe.” Steve told you, pressing one last kiss to your forehead before the three of you called it a night.
Part 2
#steve harrington#eddie munson#steddie#steve x reader x eddie#steve harrington x reader x eddie munson#stranger things#soulmate au
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Devi vs. David: aka a comprehensive list of every single time ben gross has referred to devi as one or the other (season four edition)
HERE IT IS!!! the final edition of devi vs. david!!! if you're new here and haven't checked out any of my other devi vs. david deep dives, please feel free to check them out here: season 1, season 2, season 3. you can also find all of my devi vs. david ramblings here. and as i've said again and again and again, this is a list of every single time ben refers to her as either devi or david, this time in season 4, with context + insight + my own lil insane thoughts, because i'm 100% totally normal when it comes to this topic (they said, like a liar).
heads up, not all of the netflix captions are accurate, or the whole quote wasn't all in one frame, so if the font looks different in any of the following screencaps, it's because i captioned them myself.
i already noted in previous analyses, as well as in this post, that ben tends to go for “david” during their rivalry and their friensdhip, as opposed to when they’re estranged/fighting etc and when they're in more...well, romantic situations, he defaults to “devi.” i’ll go a little more into this towards the end, but it’s just something i’d like to bring to your attention before i get started.
anyways, here we go!
hmm remember when i predicted we would get a “devi” first this season because of the months of distance and miscommunication? and when i thought it would happen immediately after devi sees margot kiss ben? i may not have had all the details right, but i saw this coming from a mile away. and this also fits into the pattern i thought was going to be established: season 1 we get “david” first, season 2 we get “devi,” season 3 “david” and now in season 4 they’re finishing the pattern with another “devi.” they’re in wildly different places in their relationship in each of these instances, which i go more in detail about in this post where i predicted that we would get a “devi” first this season.
anyways. this use of “devi” has me hurting for both of them. they’ve got this - this chasm of months of distance, of zero contact, of miscommunication and misread feelings and misrepresented actions (“he was clearly embarrassed for me.” vs “it was so clear she that thought it sucked. she got up and sprinted out.” i love my two unreliable narrators devi vishwakumar and ben gross!!). i’m having a lot of thoughts about devi’s intentions here that i…probably won’t go into further detail about, lol, because this post is about ben. so. of course he reverts to “devi” here - they aren’t friends, right now. they aren’t really rivals right now, either - i mean, they always will be, of course, but that’s not the focal point of their relationship here. they’re talking for the first time after three months of radio silence, of ben creating this rift between them because of some bullshit advice after misrepresenting what happened (okay like. i’m not here to hate on ben - i just. it’s his fault. it’s literally his fault). he can’t call her “david” because, as i’ve said before, “david” has turned fond. they aren’t friends, they aren’t rivals, they aren’t lovers. so, “devi.”
(didn't include the first "devi" he says to get her attention in this scene, sorry.)
okay this is. basically bouncing off the last one - he can’t call her “david.” they aren’t close enough for that, not right now - they won’t be for some time this season. but he’s also trying to set the tone of the conversation, a more mature version of the one they had in the beginning of the episode. and i do applaud him for this, for owning up to all of this being his fault, too (which. i don’t think all of it was, honestly - there is blame to be placed on devi and on margot over what happened this episode, but the 3 months of no contact? ben’s fault, 100%). big props to him for apologizing. however still a little salty about him internalizing those words from mr. basketball player all those months ago, because dude did not have all the info when he gave ben that advice. but to be fair - ben is a seventeen year old with low social skills (not faulting him for that because like. same) so i sympathize with him a bit there. overall, based on where they are in their relationship in 4x01, i was really pleased with how this convo turned out especially since the spoilers we were given from the premiere made it look so much worse than it really is.
hm. remember how that last convo of theirs was pretty mature and low-conflict. yeah then they give us this. ben’s…exasperated. within reason, i think - and to be clear i don’t think devi’s really in the wrong here, it’s just…he chose to be with margot because he thought it was the easier route. he distanced himself from devi because he thought it would be easier. but it’s not. of course it’s not - he and devi both still have all these messy feelings for each other that they’ve been pushing down and suppressing and denying. and it’s tiring. being around devi while he’s “““moving on””” is tiring. being sucked into drama over and over is tiring. he wants - or thinks he wants- something calm, and easy. -and like. it would be fuckign easy if y’all just got your shit together and admitted your feelings but that comes later so we’re moving on for now-
okay so. as i’ve said in my previous posts, it doesn’t make sense for him to refer to her as “david” to other people when she’s not around, so we’re not going to explain why he said “devi” here - that’s a given. but this whole scene…he kinda let devi get into his head before talking to margot. like, from the characters’ point of view, not ours, it definitely seems like margot had the most motive to deface her car. i mean ben straight up says, “you did have a good reason, so i could understand why you might.” and this isn’t me digging at devi for thinking margot did it, or ben for second-guessing margot, or anything like that - it’s just like. objectively. it does seem like margot could have done it. so i get where ben’s coming from.
okay so…we know that that is. false. a lie. an untruth. et cetera. bouncing back to the first instance of “devi” in 4x02, this, once again, makes me think that ben is just…trying to make things easier, calmer. he doesn’t want to deal with devi’s drama right now (again, not dissing devi, just explaining his pov). interrupting her with, “listen, devi,'' to get her attention, to shut her up because he just…can’t do this right now. he’s conflicted - he cares about devi so deeply that it’s detrimental to him at times, and after the events of 4x01 and 4x02, he thinks the best thing to help him keep “““moving on””” (bc like. i’ve touched on this before but there is no moving on for him when it comes to devi) is to go back to silence and estrangement. back to how they were over the summer. back to how they were in those few episodes of season 2, even, just with less vitriol. so, “devi” to further that distance - earlier in the episode, he says, “we are friends,” but here, he’s all but saying, we can’t be friends, not anymore. not now. maybe not ever again.
following this up with:
the thing is…he does look sorry. he doesn’t want to lose her again. it hurts her, yes, but it also hurts him. but like i said - this is easier for him, for right now at least.
oooh this brings me back to 2x08, “devi, you’re daisy.” ben, currently dating a girl that’s not devi, while still having all these complicated feelings for her, relating her to the material they’re currently studying, after she almost became the reason said girlfriend had to leave sherman oaks (temporarily for margot, of course, but still) - it’s not an exact copy/paste, obv, but i’m loving the parallel. also brings me back to 1x02, “it’s okay, devi. i know how hard it is to memorize seven facts,” the same tone being used then as it is now - although with different intentions, of course. ben is - bitter, i would say. of course he is. this whole situation is just…really reminiscent of that 2x05 to 2x07 arc, although with a bit less anger - they’ve got not just their rivalry and (currently, failed) romance behind them, but also those months of real friendship they had during season 3. there’s even more history between them to contend with now, which makes it harder for him to be angry with her. he still is - just not to the same extent as the s2 aneesa situation.
remember when i said ben stopped talking to her to make it easier? yeah. i honestly totally forgot he says exactly that until i got to this scene while writing this out. “it’s just easier this way. she just always complicates things.” just - ouch, ouch, ouch. this is just me reiterating everything i’ve already said, i guess. does he want to push devi away right now? no, i don’t think so. but it makes things less complicated for him. devi is messy, yes, they’ve established that well over all four seasons - but this isn’t really about how messy devi is, is it? he tells margot that it’s because of devi, and it is, partially, but it’s also because of him. because he and devi clash. because he and devi mesh. because, at least right now, it is so hard for him to separate all these things he feels - angry and disappointed, yes, but there’s this - wistful, i want to say, feeling there under all of that, this pull he’s always going to feel with her. and he’s not in a place where he can let that go unless he cuts her off.
god i do feel for ben here. i wish they had brought back some of the stuff from last season with him…chilling out more when it comes to academics and all that, but like, this is ben gross we’re talking about here - one intestinal blockage and heartfelt convo with his dad isn’t going to erase over a decade of self-set high expectations. dude is stressed, literally sweating through his clothes and now he looks like someone squirted a bottle of french’s on him.
and amongst all this, comes the last person he wants to talk to right now - he smells like sweat and acrylic paint and he just had his girlfriend judge the spiel he’s probably recited in the mirror a hundred times (which like, in all fairness to margot, it did feel like a bowflex commercial). and now here’s devi, all calm and collected with her power blazer and bouncy high pony - looking like the opposite of what ben’s feeling. he’s already frustrated, and her showing up makes it that much worse - until approximately two seconds later when she saves his women’s medium sized ass.
episode 5’s you never disappoint do you. i love, love, love this conversation between ben and devi - this vulnerability here, the way they tell each other that they’ll be okay, that yes, this is scary. our lives are about to change forever - but you’ll make it through. you’ll survive. you’ll thrive.
and this line…this so much. ben knows who devi is, has been in proximity to her for twelve years at this point, as a rival, as a friend, even as a lover for a short stint - and he knows her, and he knows that she knows herself. maybe - no, definitely - she didn’t know who she was before, drowning in fresh grief, but she’s grown, she’s healed (not completely, but she has healed nonetheless), and ben has had a front row seat to that. he has watched from up close as she became the person she is now. he believes in her, and he knows she can believe in herself, too.
i promise i’m feeling so totally normal about this…remember when i said i thought the first “david” would be at the end of 4x05 during reconciliation? i do, and, surprise surprise - i was right, because ben gross is nothing if not consistent (most of the time, at least). this “david” is driving me insane. they just had this heartfelt discussion about their fears with going to college, reassuring each other that they’ll be okay, fucking…pep talking each other, because they know each other better than they know anyone else, and ben drops a “david” like it’s nothing. like it’s easy. like he means it!!! i’ve said so many times that “david” has turned into this term of endearment almost exclusively used during their friendship, with ben avoiding using it when they’re not friends, and after last episode, where it had been verbally established (by devi, at least), that they still aren’t friends…now he slips a “david” in. this is the closest, the most vulnerable, they’ve been with each other in months. this is ben taking that step to pull them even closer - ben feeling safe enough to do so. this is ben saying, “i can be your friend,” thirty seconds before he actually utters those words.
okay full disclosure, “david” isn’t in the official captions on this one, so like, idk if jaren decided to add this day of filming or what - but whatever. that doesn’t matter here. what does matter is this absolute effortless slide back into their friendship. ben going out of his way to approach her, to tell her the good news (well. it’s not really good news for devi but like. he doesn’t know that, so). he’s excited for her!!! he gives her this boost of confidence (and yes i know it doesn’t last long, what with the deferral email coming in that day but. still.)
ooooh the way i love this scene!!! the fact that we get to see this interaction through paxton’s eyes is just delightful to me. like, okay, i’m not a “he’s mean to you so he likes you!!” kind of person, but banter like this coming about while they’re actively friends and post-bargot (bengot? ragross? ykwim) breakup…it’s thinly veiled flirting, and idk if we would have been given that perspective if this scene had been shot from devi’s pov, or ben’s. while this isn’t the first taste of mutual banter we’ve got all season (looking at you, 4x04 bathroom scene), this is the first friendly mutual banter, and god we were starving for it - at least i know i was. there’s bite behind their words, but it’s playful for both of them!! but like - then there’s the shot of them both immediately fixing their appearance after they’re no longer in each other’s line of sight (ben tucking in his necklace, devi taking off her cardigan) and i just. ooooh my god i love it. i’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again - peak crush behavior. and ben isn’t even posturing for paxton here like he would have before, thanks to the literal shitstorm of 3x06 - ben’s only…well, acting up, i guess i would say, for devi. not anyone else.
(and like this is totally unrelated but god do i wish we got more bexton interactions this season, but oh well.)
hi yeah no i’m still not over this scene. it’s. so unapologetically horny and it’s a side of ben i’m honestly so glad we got to see. like, okay, we already know he messed around a little with shira, had (bad) sex with devi, and is canonically a boob guy, but this more in-depth peek at his desires (cough cough degradation kink cough cough) is just…chef’s kiss. yes this is devi’s show first and foremost but god do i love the looks into ben’s brain we get. and this - this desire for devi, this want for her, something he can’t run from in his subconscious no matter how hard he runs from it in his waking hours - yes, it’s a wet dream, but it’s more than that. trent says it: “...you really love her.” ben loves her. he can’t get her out of his head. he wants her - physically and emotionally.
let’s, for now, ignore that this is moments before disaster. god, the look on his face, this eager, hopeful smile, the fucking bouquet he brought for her. he’s riding the high (ha, get it) of trent’s earnest pep talk, ready, for the first out of multiple times this season, to tell her he wants her. he’s done denying it, to himself and now to her, too (which. the latter obviously doesn’t really happen for another few months - but that’s beside the point).
this instance is pretty self-explanatory from ben’s pov (i mean, that’s what y’all are here for). checking in that she’s okay after seeing her throw up, congratulating her, etc. not spending too much time on this one - just noting the, once again, effortless slip back into “david” after the events of last episode. not saying there’s not some inner turmoil going on for him regarding his feelings for her; even though we can’t see it, it’s still there - but birthdaygate (as nalini called it) was…a disaster, to put it lightly, so. back to “david” it is…for now, at least.
god this followed immediately by the “is she okay?” and then ben rushing off to go check in on her…i’ll touch on this more in the next instance, but like. he’s truly the only one who gets how much this would hurt. not saying that no one else understands how devi feels, but he’s the only one who would really, truly get it if the same happened to him. just - the wondering how she didn’t get in anywhere, because she’s just as smart as (and, technically as 4x10 proves with that valedictorian sash, smarter than) him. the immediate concern for her, the need to check in...god, he cares for her so much.
“But you’re not a quitter.” bringing back the “no one knows them better than they know each other” thing - because it’s true. no one knows devi better than ben knows her. he knows what she’s capable of - has been on the opposing side of it for over a decade. he has won against her, lost against her, won with her, lost with her…he’s seen her rise and fall and pick herself back up to rise again. he understands her, and he understands why this is so painful for her - if it were him, it would feel like twelve years of hard work, of early mornings following sleepless nights, of flash cards and meticulous notes and extra credit projects, all being flushed down the drain. he gets it, gets her. this being the first use of “devi” (to her, and not in a dream sequence) since 4x05 - he uses it to set the tone, to get her attention, to get her to listen to him. because he knows she doesn’t really want to give up. and he as much as says that: “but if you don’t try everything that you can, you’re gonna regret it.” she already knows this - there’s no doubt in my mind about that, and there’s no doubt that ben knows that she knows this. she just needed to hear it from the one person who understands - and it worked. she does try - and, as we see in 4x10, she succeeds.
this…this is the biggest break in his pattern when it comes to “devi” vs “david.” he never refers to her as “david” with a - romantic isn’t the exact word i’m looking for, but it’s the one we’re gonna use - romantic intention. i think he’s using “david” here to sort of…ease the tension, so to say? to lighten the mood a bit. he wants to tell her - has wanted to since trent told him to speak his truth, likely longer than that. but after birthdaygate - he doesn’t want to show too much of his hand. “maybe i was wrong, david.” not “i was wrong, devi.”
feeling especially attached to this use of “david” tbh. the excitement he feels for her, immediately rushing to pull her into a hug, how proud he is of her, especially after the events of the last episode. again, he knows how hard she’s worked for this, and he knows what it’s like to feel all of that hard work pay off. she’s not alone in feeling this satisfaction - he’s feeling it with her.
i loved, loved all the callbacks to the previous seasons, and this is no exception. the addition of “david” here brings me back to this post by @catty-words that i’m still thinking about almost two years later (and have referenced in 2 out of 3 of these analyses): “it’s a relic from their rivalry.” obviously cori goes into it a bit differently in that post because it’s about their season 2 arc, but to re-work that line here: the equatorial guinea nametag (i would say plaque but like. it’s a piece of paper) is a memento of their first time teaming up, but it is also a relic of their rivalry in a way - the initial anger of devi infiltrating his club, the temporary alliance that was struck down just hours later, the nuclear attack. and so, yes, “david” here is used as that mark of friendship, as i’ve referred to it before, and so is the nametag, but they’re also both a representation of their enmity - albeit in a much more playful way than the "david" from 2x05.
i’m going to refer you to the genius of rae @ice-sculptures real quick, who had this to say in regards to ben’s patterns when it comes to what he calls her: “it could be that he “hides” behind david when the lines of their relationship are blurred and uses it as a way to convey the affection that he doesn’t think he can openly express. but when they actually get together he doesn’t need to hide anymore bc he knows that she’s aware of how much he loves her…so devi is enough.”
y’all. devi is enough. he doesn’t need to use a term of endearment, a pet name, with her here. he doesn’t need to hide behind “david.” and like. just in case you aren’t aware - “david” means “beloved” in hebrew. i’m sure ben’s aware of that - he’s a giant nerd, and he’s jewish - it never gets established in canon, so it may just be something we’re all collectively reading into, but like. i’m obviously going to continue reading into it - he doesn’t have to hide behind “beloved” anymore, he doesn’t have to use this roundabout way to tell her how he feels - he can just say it. and he says it without even knowing if she feels the same way. he’s following trent’s advice from 4x08: “you must go to her. [...] you must tell her how you feel. there's no time to waste. [...] you must speak your truth. she needs to know." he flies to her on a whim to tell her he likes her. actually, he thinks he loves her, “devi.” he loves her. this is the bravest thing he’s done - he doesn’t know how she feels, doesn’t know if she loves him back - but he tells her anyways. he can’t wait. it doesn’t matter that she’s flying to the east coast the next day, where she’ll be a two hour and six minute train ride away. he has to tell her now. there’s no time to waste. she needs to know.
god. i just - i love that they already had this - this whole soft, sweet love confession, full of shy, gentle smiles and giggles, followed by The Big Damn Kiss of All Time (and like. the big damn bang of all time) and he still feels the need to tell her that he wants to be with her. that he wants to start this next chapter of life with her. and there’s just…something so important to me about them not being high school sweethearts. about them not really giving this an actual shot until they’re headed to college. he doesn’t want “let’s kiss at our lockers in between periods and sit next to each other in the cafeteria while we eat gloopy square-shaped pizza.” he wants “let’s fall asleep on facetime during exam season. let’s spend one weekend in new york and the next in new jersey. let’s meet in the middle. let’s cram ourselves onto a twin-sized dorm room bed that’s definitely not made for two people. let’s learn how to be adults together. let’s give this a real try. let’s give us a real try.”
and so they do.
and with that...we're done. if you've reached the end, thank you for reading! i'm so sad that this series of posts has come to an end, but i've had an absolute delight doing these, and i'm so pleased with the ending of this show - because it didn't feel like an ending. it felt like a new beginning. i'm going to miss never have i ever (i already do), but i'm so happy to have spent the past few years yelling about it with all of you - and i'll likely continue yelling about it in the near future.
#long post#ben gross#devi vishwakumar#benvi#ben x devi#devi x ben#never have i ever#nhie#nhie s4#never have i ever season 4#devi vs david#went a little off the rails with this one but like. can y'all blame me they make me fucking insane#anyways pls validate me i spent so much time on this <3
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The Dixon Problem
❧ Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader
❧ Era: Season 1 (The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning series)
❧ Pronouns: she/her
❧ Warnings: swearing, mild violence
❧ Word Count: 5k
❧ Summary: Not everyone is happy with the Dixons’ presence in the camp, especially Shane. When things go haywire, the only solution is a compromise, and to let Daryl know you care.
❧ A/N: I realize I’m posting this after a weird little argument over the ethics of zooming in on a man’s crotch but here we are. This is a fanfiction blog, believe it or not. Anyway, here’s another fic set in the same universe as The Beginning (I really like doing these ok), and this one takes place between Chapter 4 and Chapter 5. I really wanted to do some oneshots that would’ve happened before they got together because idk it just seems to cool to read about them before they kissed at the CDC and sort of build up to that. I find it fun to hint at their burgeoning attraction to one another, and how they’re both kind of in denial about their little crushes lol. We all know it was love at first sight. Also I loved writing Daryl fighting with Shane it was so fun. Daryl should’ve punched Shane in the show don’t @ me.
A deep huff escaped your lips as the back of your hand wiped the dripping sweat from your brow. The sun was a few hours from setting, but Georgia summers were unforgiving, and even a setting sun would prove to be dangerous if you didn’t hydrate.
Taking a sip of water from the crinkly plastic bottle, you watched Lori skillfully sew up the rips in one of Shane’s shirts. It was a skill you had neglected, but at one point, you were pretty good with a machine. Hand sewing was something else entirely.
“You’re so good at that,” you said. “How’d you learn?”
Lori smiled as she looked at you, staring in awe. “My mom sewed, my granny sewed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if my great granny sewed, too.”
“That’s sweet… Maybe you could teach me sometime?”
“Sure, but I thought you were trying to get Mr. Crossbow to teach you how to hunt?” She spoke with a crooked smile, on the verge of laughing. You failed to see what was so funny, frankly.
But mostly, you were embarrassed. The warm blush on your cheeks and the butterflies doing somersaults in your belly betrayed you, though you just pretended none of it was there.
“Well, he, uh, said I should learn how to fight first. He said he’d teach me that, though.”
“Oh?”
“Mhm… Why are you laughing?”
Lori lowered her head until her hair covered her face, but you heard a few snorts and giggles from beneath the dark curtain.
“You’re so cute,” she said. “That’s all.”
“Cute? Why am I cute?”
“You just are…” She leaned closer to speak in a quiet voice. “I bet Daryl thinks you’re really cute.”
You scoffed, trying to laugh it off as you awkwardly nudged her shoulder with yours. “Stop. That’s not funny. Not true, either. I think he finds me annoying.”
“Oh, really?” she asked. “What about the little rock he cracked open for you? That doesn’t sound like the actions of a man who’s annoyed.”
That “little rock” was now your prized possession. You had one half, and you’d let Daryl keep the other. It was a simple gesture, but it meant the world to you. That rock was a geode, something your father would’ve added to his extensive collection. Maybe you were thinking too much into it, and maybe it was cliché, but you liked to think that it represented the last beautiful thing in the world. You kept it by your cot, on full display so it was the first thing you saw each morning. Sometimes, the translucent purple shards would catch the new light that streamed through your tent in just the most perfect way.
“He was just being nice,” you said. “Daryl’s… really nice. I mean, he’s a little… grumpy, but he’s got a good heart. I can tell. I wouldn’t have brought him here if I didn’t think so.”
Before Lori could respond with another teasing quip, you both flinched at the sound of Daryl, the man you were just talking, and thinking a little too deeply, about. His voice was raised, one decibel away from being a yell. It sounded like it was coming from the center of camp, near Dale’s RV, so you both jogged over, anxious to see whatever was causing Daryl to yell a series of curse words and a few other words you couldn’t yet make out.
“Stupid cop!” you heard, now getting closer. “Who the hell do ya think you are?! This ain’t Miami Vice.”
You stumbled upon Daryl, with his chest puffed up and his hands moving vigorously along with his hostile words, in some kind of argument with Shane, who only shook his head with his hands on his waist as the bowman hurled insults his way.
“Listen, Dixon,” replied Shane, who was visibly also beginning to lose his temper, “we gotta maintain some order ‘round here. Now, I don’t give a shit ‘bout what you and your white trash redneck brother used to get up to in bumfuck nowhere, but there’s women and kids here, and I don’t want this shit ‘round ‘em.”
Oh, noble Shane, you thought to yourself, but then again, you still had no idea what the men were arguing about, so maybe he had a point. Still, you did take some issue to being compared to a child, but you weren’t about to jump in the middle of a fight between two burly, hotheaded men for the sake of feminism.
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?! It ain’t nothin’, Merle goes off into the woods to do it! Ain’t no women or children gonna get hurt. You’re just as stupid as you look, Columbo.”
“It ain’t them seein’ the drugs I’m worried about,” Shane replied, getting closer to Daryl until their chests were nearly touching. “It’s you and your ugly ass brother.”
Drugs? You knew Merle had a stash of drugs, including crystal meth, and most others figured it based on, well, everything about him, but you didn’t think Shane would pick a fight with Daryl over it. Maybe Merle himself, but not Daryl. Merle wasn’t even there that day, having taken his turn to go hunting, though he never brought back nearly as much as his brother. You weren’t sure if it was because Merle wasn’t a very good hunter, or because he just didn’t care enough to bring back food for your group, but either way, it was clear which brother was better.
“Man, that’s bullshit,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at Shane. “You wanna see a threat then look in the mirror. There’ll be a big arrogant prick starin’ back at ya.” Daryl punctuated his sentence by shoving the other man backwards, but before Daryl could strut away as he planned, Shane shoved him back.
“Watch yourself,” Daryl warned, voice low and raspy. “I don’t want your pig blood on my hands.”
He tried to brush past Shane, but the man was fuming. He shoved Daryl back once more, knocking him to the ground.
A puff of dirt swallowed his body as you let out a small gasp of disbelief. No one in the group had gotten physical with anyone like this yet. Maybe it was only a matter of time before it happened. After all, a group of several strangers under incredible physical and mental stress in the middle of the end of the world was a recipe for disaster, but you’d hoped it wouldn’t happen so soon.
All you could register was the sound of Daryl’s grunting before he sprung back up to sock Shane across the face, disorienting him. He soon struck back, but Daryl ducked and delivered a blow to Shane’s stomach.
Shane had managed to deliver a few blows of his own, but at this point, all you could focus on was thinking of a way to break them up without getting hurt yourself.
“H-hey!” you shouted out, along with Lori and several other women who’d gathered around, yelling to the men to stop. “Stop it!”
Dale was frantically climbing down the ladder of the RV, then greeted the scene with wide eyes. “Hey, hey! Break it up!” He managed to get his arms between the two of them, but he could only keep Shane back. Daryl even tried to get around Dale so he could deliver one last blow to Shane’s face, but T-Dog came up behind and pinned the enraged man’s arms back.
“Get offa me!” he yelled to T-Dog, then turned his attention back to Shane. “I’m gonna beat your ass, you hear me, bacon bits?!”
Dale stood between them, holding his hands out to keep them both at bay. Their chests swelled with heavy, panting breaths as their faces molded into their own unique scowls. Shane’s was terrifying, much more than Daryl’s. His dark brown eyes didn’t need to narrow at all, they were just as terrifying in their wideness. His mouth wasn’t agape, it was sealed shut as the breaths pumped out of his flared nostrils. He stood completely still, like a ticking time bomb. You’d never been more terrified of the man.
Daryl paced back and forth for a few feet on each side of him, his face much more natural looking, but still enraged. At least you could make some sense of Daryl in his anger. He didn’t send a shiver down your spine like Shane did. Well, and maybe you were a little partial to Daryl now, since he’d shown you kindness. In any case, the awkward silence that permeated the stiff, humid air was excruciating.
“Just calm down,” panted Dale, arms still outstretched between them. “What the hell is going on here?”
Shane huffed before speaking. “I was just tryin’ to have a civil conversation about the drug use goin’ on in this camp.”
“Drug use?” questioned Lori. “No, no way. No drugs, not around the kids. That’s the last thing we need right now.”
Daryl turned to look at Lori, not with anger, but confusion. He seemed troubled, unable to reconcile something in his head. His eyes squinted shut as he wiped his nose, which had just begun to bleed from the punch. He spat a glob of pinkish saliva onto the dirt ground, then turned back to face Shane.
“Talk to Merle,” was all he said. His voice was quieter now, almost timid, but still with an air of defensiveness.
He turned back again, in the direction of his tent. You met his glance for a moment, at which point he seemed to stop in his tracks. His foot backstepped, flashes of blue still on you until they averted to the ground. When he regained his focus, he moved quicker, more determined. Still, his confidence seemed drained after he looked your way, but all you could pay attention to now was Shane, who was walking directly towards you, huffing and puffing.
“What the hell were you thinkin’, bringin’ those meth heads here, huh? You stupid or somethin’? I thought you were some kinda… librarian.” He ended his sentence with a sarcastic chuckle.
Before you could respond, Lori spoke up, and thank God she did. You were still petrified by Shane’s aggression, and Lori knew him from before the fall. Maybe he’d actually listen to her.
“Stop it, Shane,” she scolded in an almost motherly tone. Fitting, since the argument between him and Daryl seemed more like that of children than two grown men in their thirties. “It’s done. No point in arguing about it.”
For your part, you took a moment to collect your thoughts, then spoke to Shane with as much bravado as you could muster. “It’s because of Daryl that we’re not starving to death,” you said.
Dale stepped forward, hand outstretched slightly to gesture towards you. “That’s a good point, but what about the drugs?”
You shook your head profusely. “I don’t know anything about any drugs.” That wasn’t true, you knew Merle was getting high, and that he was a dealer, but that honestly didn’t matter to you much at this point. As far as you were concerned, everything that had ever separated the human race from each other was out the window. Drug addicts were no different from Mormons now. Granted, Merle could be unpredictable, and you hated him, frankly, but Daryl and Merle seemed like a package deal, so you’d have to deal with both of them if your group was to reap the benefits of having a skilled hunter.
Plus, you might’ve fostered a bit of admiration for him. Friendly admiration, of course.
“Well, I just ain’t havin’ no crystal meth in this camp,” replied Shane. “And I’m about this close to killin’ your buddy, so’s as far as I’m concerned, this is your problem to solve if you wanna keep them here.”
Diplomacy wasn’t your strong suit, but if it kept Shane from kicking out the Dixon’s, you’d try your best to find some common ground.
“Compromise,” Dale said with a nod. “(Y/N), you should talk to Daryl, ask him to talk some sense into Merle when he gets back to camp. We give them shelter, they get rid of the drugs.”
It sounded more like an ultimatum than a compromise, but you were perhaps the only person who’d had any meaningful contact with the slightly more tolerable brother, so you put aside your reservations to head to the Dixons’ camp, several yards away from the rest of the group.
He was on one knee as he chopped the head off a squirrel on the sawed log he was using as a butcher block. The sound of the axe slicing through the flesh and digging into the wood was so powerful that you flinched, alerting the hunter to your presence.
Though he didn’t look your way. He simply set aside the axe and continued skinning the creature as if you weren’t there.
“You want a piece of me, too, woman?” he asked. “Whatever you gotta say, I ain’t in the mood.”
You bit your lip as you stood still, thinking of what to say. Daryl was tricky, you knew that. Sometimes he was nice to you, and sometimes he wanted nothing to do with you. No one in the camp knew how to deal with him, really. You only knew a little because you somehow found yourself trying to ingratiate yourself with him, but why? You still weren’t exactly sure.
“May I sit down?” you blurted out, thinking that might be the first step to talking to him.
He looked up at you then, with a suspicious glare.
“Why?”
Just as you were still trying to get used to talking to him, he was still trying to get used to your desire to talk to him in the first place. Why would a woman like you want anything to do with a man like him, anyway? Surely you had an ulterior motive, though he couldn’t deny there was something genuinely kind and soft about your face. Maybe even, dare he say, pretty? Not just physically, though he was painfully aware of that, but through and through, you were quite lovely. Well, that’s how it seemed, anyway.
Merle always said that women couldn’t be trusted, that if they weren’t childlike and dumb, they were manipulative and cunning. Nothing else, nothing in between. Of course, Daryl had a hard time believing that. People weren’t that simple, and Merle’s authority on the topic of women was questionable at best. Still, old habits die hard, and maybe he was just a little skeptical of your intentions. After all, no woman or man had ever shown this much interest in talking to him.
Daryl was, for all intents and purposes, a loser. He still felt like one, though he had to admit, when you brought him to your camp, insisting that your group needed him, he did feel a small sense of real, genuine pride, for the first time in his life. Maybe he had something to offer, something good he could do. Maybe you really wanted him there, and he wasn’t just a loser with a bad temper and a meth head brother.
His deeply ingrained insecurity, though, told him otherwise, and that you were only kind to him because of what he could offer your group, not because you actually appreciated him. But then again, the rest of the group had all but ignored him since he arrived, and you were the one who’d spoken more than five words to him at a time. That had to mean something, right?
“I want to talk to you,” you said simply. “So, can I?”
He chewed his lip as he looked you up and down, as if inspecting you. Wordlessly, he nodded, then lowered his head again to focus on the mutilated squirrel.
As you cleared your throat, you sat yourself on a dinky camping chair across from the fire pit. Both of you were silent for a little while, with only the sounds of flesh tearing from the muscle of the little furry critters Daryl was skinning. You watched with furrowed brows, though at a certain point, you had to stop looking, otherwise you’d get a little woozy, so you lifted your gaze to the top of Daryl’s head, covered in short, choppy brown hair.
Surprisingly, just before you were about to say something, Daryl spoke first. “I ain’t no meth head,” he said abruptly. “I don’t touch that shit.” Not anymore, he thought, but something stopped him. Could it be… embarrassment? Maybe shame. All he knew was there was a part of him that cared what you thought, for some odd reason. He’d trained himself not to give a damn about anything, though it was in his nature to. Why was your presence bringing out his sensitivity? It was a blessing and a curse. It hurts to care, he’d always thought. Nothing good could come of it. He cared once, before he knew how cruel people could be.
“I never said you did.”
“S’what you all think,” he replied. “Y’all think I’m some kinda… stupid redneck bastard.” Wouldn’t be wrong, a voice inside him retorted.
“I don’t think that.”
He finally raised his eyes again, glowering at you. “You will.”
It shouldn’t have hurt you, but it did, just a little bit. “I bet you I won’t.”
He shook his head and stood up to retrieve the red rag that was often dangling from his back pocket. Wiping his hands, he nodded towards you. “What’d ya really come over ‘ere for? They send ya over to kick me out?”
You shook your head immediately. “No, no. Not at all. Just… You need to tell Merle to quit with the drugs.”
Daryl scoffed, almost a laugh. “Askin’ Merle to give up crystal’s like askin’ him to cut off his own hand. ‘Sides, ya don’t think I’ve tried? Ain’t no use in it. Might as well jus’ kick us to the curb ‘cause it ain’t gonna happen.”
His apathy frustrated you, and you let out an exasperated, now quite irritated, puff of air. “So you’d rather live out in the woods by yourselves than in a group, with people who will look out for you?”
“None of these people will look out for me,” he scoffed.
“Well, I would.”
He looked your way again, this time not suspicious, but confused. “Why’d ya bring me and Merle here in the first place? All ya got to show for it is bein’ yelled at and bossed around by that asshole Shane.” He spat the man’s name out in obvious distaste.
“I told you,” you said, “I thought you would be able to help us… And you saved me. I’d be dead right now if it weren’t for you.”
He lowered his head again, busying himself by cleaning between his fingers with the rag in the hopes of distracting you from the obvious blush on his cheeks. When he didn’t respond, you realized you hadn’t asked him a similar question.
“Why’d you save me, anyway?” you asked, your voice a little more quiet, as if afraid of him even hearing it.
After all, you were a complete stranger, why should he have helped you? What you knew from human nature was that people often only helped others if they knew there was something in it for them. True altruism was hard to come by, and often not evolutionarily beneficial. Those who helped others and put themselves in danger often died out before their lineage could carry on. Well, that was your vague memories of anthropology class resurfacing, but it still applied.
Indeed, you yourself hadn’t been acting out of true altruism. You had decided to bring Merle and Daryl into the fold because they were hunters, and they could benefit your group by providing your people sustenance. But Daryl’s motivations were less clear.
He swallowed hard as thought for a moment, himself now forced with the reality of facing that question. Why did he help you?
For the next several moments, he transported himself to that day just a month ago, when he was trudging around in the woods outside Atlanta, listening to Merle ramble on about some drunken memory, a relic of his “glory days” that he seemed unable to forget about. They had no destination, no idea where they were going. They’d tried the refugee center in the city, but that had been overrun about as soon as it was set up. Merle was quite content to rough it, and so was Daryl, so long as there weren’t flesh-eating monsters roaming around.
When he heard the rather faint sound of a woman screaming, somewhere ahead in the maze of aspen trees dotting the humid forest, something in him switched, and though he remembered the muffled sound of Merle’s protesting, all he could hear at the time was the scream getting closer and closer.
Soon he was in a small clearing, setting sight on a decrepit creature. Below it were two squirming legs, belonging to the screaming woman who was just inches away from becoming something’s lunch.
Without hesitation, he lifted his bow to shoot, snagging the creature in the head until it fell less than gracefully onto your chest. Pushing the body off, you faced him, mouth panting and eyes hazy with tears.
He tried to think of what he thought then, but it was difficult to put himself in that position again. He only remembered your face, how scared you were. You seemed so fragile, and yet somehow brave enough to look him in the eye. Most of all, you were peculiar to him, different from anyone or anything he’d seen before. Of course, there was nothing particularly strange looking about you, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. You were just… special, with a calming aura of warmth around you, something he was instinctively drawn to for whatever reason.
So, how was he supposed to explain that? You seemed special, important, warm… Creepy. He knew that would’ve sounded creepy. He was already embarrassed from Shane’s display earlier, and his stomach stung to think of you seeing that cop strike him across the face, to appear weak. Once again, he wondered why he cared in the first place.
He finally settled for a somewhat satisfactory explanation. “S’just what people do.”
Indeed, he would’ve done it for anyone. That wasn’t the issue Daryl struggled with, he knew right from wrong, for the most part. He struggled with understanding why you looked at him the way you did, and why he found himself wanting to keep you safe even after the creature attacking you was long dead.
At least you seemed happy with that answer, as one corner of your lips upturned into a small smile. “Well, I am sure some people wouldn’t have done anything. I’m really grateful… And I really don’t want you to go. Merle… I will put up with him if it means you stay here, but if you could please talk to him, try to get him to at least hide the drugs better and maybe go further away from camp to do it, I’d be even more grateful.”
Though he had no idea how he was going to get Merle to agree to changing anything about himself, he couldn’t deny that you were convincing. Something about your wide, almost pleading eyes. Somehow, making you happy seemed to make him happy, too.
“I’ll try,” he said. “But I ain’t promisin’ anything. Merle don’t care ‘bout what I got to say.”
“Well, he should,” you said as you stood to your feet. “He’s your brother… I have a brother, too. We used to talk all the time, though we sort of lost touch before all this.” You gestured around vaguely, ending your sentence with a small nervous chuckle.
Daryl almost didn’t speak, didn’t want to ask what he was thinking, but the look on your face as your lips began to droop and your eyes became vague made him wonder if maybe you needed to talk about it.
“Where is he?” he asked simply, though he immediately began to regret it when he noticed you shifting awkwardly where you stood. “I mean… I, uh… Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” you replied with a shake of your head. “No, it’s fine. He’s, well… I don’t know where he is. Last time we talked he was in Atlanta. Actually, that’s why I was headed there when it happened.”
“It’s okay,” you replied with a shake of your head. “No, it’s fine. He’s, well… I don’t know where he is. Last time we talked he was in Atlanta. Actually, that’s why I was headed there when it happened.”
It seemed to be a universally agreed upon signifier. The fall, the turn, the apocalypse, the plague… Everyone called it something different, but what it all came down to was The End, or The Beginning, depending on who you asked.
“Sorry,” was all he could reply, though he found himself going further, speaking more than he normally would’ve. “Hope he’s all right.”
That meant more to you than anything anyone had ever said to you since the world turned. You hadn’t told anyone about your brother, and you weren’t sure why you decided to tell Daryl, but it felt right. In a world where everything was suddenly wrong, lots of things still felt right, all of which had to do with him. Strange.
“Thank you. I do too. He means a lot to me… I’m sure your brother means a lot to you, too, so I understand why you care so much about him. He’s lucky to have you as a brother.”
If Daryl wasn’t so strangely calmed by your presence in this moment, he might’ve protested to the assertion that Merle meant a lot to him, but he supposed he really did, whether or not Daryl liked it.
As he shifted his shoulders, he raised his hand to scratch his neck, chewing the inside of his bottom lip all the while. The unique little nervous mannerisms he had were already becoming part of your ever-growing encyclopedia of quirks Daryl displayed, and you had to say you found that quite endearing. Indeed, you truly felt that Daryl could become a friend. You wanted him to be a friend.
It reminded you that Daryl spent almost all of his time alone. Whenever Merle was gone or at the edge of camp getting up to his illicit activities, Daryl was by himself. You figured he had to get lonely, and surely the sole company of a man like Merle would eventually drive him insane, even if he was his brother.
“Daryl?” you asked, moving closer as you tried to telepathically direct his gaze up at you.
He did, and a flash of silvery blue eyes that caught little sparkles of light from the sun looked up at you. His eyes were quite deep set and narrow, making them seem at first glance to be cold and uninviting, but that wasn’t really the case at all. Now that you saw them in full view, there was mystery there, something waiting to be revealed. You had a feeling whatever it was, it was something lovely. Your curiosity made you eager to get to the bottom of it.
“Yeah?”
Even the strange softness of his often rough, gravelly voice struck you. As he licked his chapped lips, you found yourself trailing your eyes to his light stubble, sparse on his cheeks but more concentrated around his lips, which weren’t particularly full, but beautifully sculpted as if by delicate, intentional little hands. You found his face much more tolerable than his brother’s. Handsome, even. Perhaps not an A-list Hollywood movie star (certainly no one so clean-cut as Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, both of whom you had at one point hung posters of on your closet door in the mid-nineties) but he had been blessed with good proportions and a pleasant visage that you only dwelled on for a moment until your subconsciousness took the image into its darkest recesses. The last thing you needed to do today was to admire a man’s physical appearance, though it did tempt you for just a few seconds. Maybe a few more.
“You should really join us for dinner tonight,” you said. “You know, around the fire… Dale’s going to make something special. I have no idea what, he says it’s a surprise.”
When his breath seemed to hitch and his muscles flexed in seemingly anxious response, you quickly tried to explain yourself. “I mean, I know it’s awkward, with the Shane thing… but Shane has watch during dinner tonight. Maybe you can just… talk to me, and Dale, Andrea, Amy, Glenn, Jacqui… We all sort of congregate, talk a little bit. I’m sure they’d like to get to know you more.”
He found himself wondering how to respond, how to tell you that he hated talking, especially to people he hardly knew. Then again, he liked talking to you. That was clear to him.
“Maybe… I dunno.”
Though you didn’t want to pressure him, it was hard not to try to convince him. You were shy sometimes, too, but the older you got, the more you realized that you needed people, and that couldn’t be more evident than right now, when people were hard to come by.
“All we have is each other,” you said. “You told me that the world’s never gonna be like how it was, and you’re right. We should never take people for granted anymore.”
He’d never wrap his head around the way you spoke sometimes, how you could be so articulate and intelligent, and at other times, so high-strung or bubbly or aloof… You were about as hard to read to him as he was to you.
“I’ll try,” was all he replied.
“That’s all that matters.”
When he briefly lurked around the fire that night, exchanging a few brief words with Dale and Andrea (and you, of course), you felt like you’d gotten somewhere further with the temperamental hunter.
He didn’t stay for long, and hardly ate any of Dale’s “mushroom mash,” but it was something, and though the day started with a fight between Shane and Daryl, it ended with the latter feeling just a little more welcome.
Most of all, you had no regrets about bringing Daryl Dixon to your camp. You had a feeling it was the right thing to do.
~
Thanks for reading! Likes, reblogs, and comments of any kind are always appreciated!
Masterlist
#the walking dead#the beginning series#daryl dixon x reader#daryl dixon#twd#the walking dead fanfic#daryl dixon fanfic#twd fanfic#norman reedus#norman reedus x reader#norman reedus fanfiction#the beginning oneshot#theteasetwrites oneshot#theteasetwrites fanfiction#theteasetwrites series
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You’ve heard of Yugo x Amalia, now get ready for Adamai x Lotie!
If you don’t remember who this osamodas girl is, she’s the daughter of Master Drill, the guardian who protects Grougaloragran’s Dofus. Season 1 is where she’s most present but you can also see her in the volume 4 of the Wakfu manga.
When we first see her in season 1, she helps Adamai, with her brother, by getting him into her animal sanctuary mainly because she thought he was an ordinary tofu who can talk since Ad was stuck in that state due to Igole.
The funny thing about this panel from the manga is that she’s a young teen now (about the same age as Yugo and Adamai so 13 years old in this) and Adamai looks….well he looks very attentive lol.
Even though we don’t get to see much from these two, it’s still funny to see that Adamai may have a small crush on Lotie (or that he could even still express that for her right now).
And it’s not like she’s going anywhere either, Lotie’s still on Grougaloragran’s island and taking care of animals so it wouldn’t hurt Adamai to visit her every now and then~
No joke, I think I’m warming up to this underrated ship….and I don’t know why?
Maybe it’s because it’s funny that Adamai, a dragon, would be into Lotie, an osamodas whose class literally respects dragons and has an innate understanding of other creatures.
Maybe it’s just because I wanna see the process of how a dragon behaves around his love interest.
Maybe it’s because I wanna see Adamai getting something for once.
Maybe it’s because I wanna see Adamai getting his ass rejected.
Or maybe it’s just all of the above cuz why not??
I just find it funny how Adamai likes an osamodas, someone who loves all forms of wildlife while Yugo loves a sadida, someone who loves all forms of plant-life.
#hold up what would be their ship name???#adlotie???#lotad????#shit if i know#wakfu#wakfu season 1 episode 23#wakfu season 1#wakfu s1#wakfu adamai#wakfu adamaï#wakfu manga#wakfu manga volume 4#ankama#krosmoz#wakfu lotie#wakfu lotie x adamai#wakfu adamai x lotie#wakfu lotie x adamaï#wakfu adamaï x lotie#wakfu dragon#wakfu osamodas#wakfu dragons#wakfu episode 23
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Hey! Salem here. From my personal account- my art account here is the same spelling as my twitter. You can verify by DMing me on my twitter if you wanna make sure I’m not some weird poser lol
I wanted to clear a couple things up just to avoid rumors. 1) July is when *my* NDA expires for reasons disclosed in the NDA. I have no idea on the terms or status of anyone else’s NDA. 2) I didn’t have anything “special” or “explosive” planned for July. I’m truly sorry to anyone who got their hopes up, but I avoid talking or even thinking about Spindle until an episode I worked on releases. I have a few more in season 2 but that’s abt it. 3) please don’t push on other people to speak right now. There’s varying levels of trauma going on from our time on the show, and some are safer to speak that others with or without NDAs. I get it- we don’t wanna see other people taken advantage of either. But truth is some people just aren’t ready and their healing timeline needs, well, time. 4) don’t worry abt defending me from the stans. If what they’ve commented so far is the best they can do, they’re really not worth anyone’s time. I was laughing at a few gems over a cup of coffee this morning- these guys’ delusions don’t get to me anymore. I’m good. They’re in their own little culty world and nothing an “outsider” says is going to shake them- that has to come from within. Let me know if I can answer any questions ^w^
Oh no, no verification needed. I trust that it's you!
Thank you for all of this extremely important clarification, and it's true, no one should press anyone to speak. These things can only happen when/if people are ready for them to happen.
It's been amazing to see what you've had to say, to see your work on the show, and it's reassuring to hear the stans haven't gotten under your skin. Glad you're in a better place now!
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hmmm okay new 911 theory popped into my mind at 3AM. woo! spoilers for 7x04 if you haven’t seen it yet below the cut!
alright I love buddie but I don’t think it’s going to be canon this season. I think abc knew it would generate enough to renew for an 8th season (which it did! yay!) and obviously now that we have BI BUCK RAAAAHHH there’s going to be some episodes focusing on that. and there’s only 10 episodes this season, we’re 4 episodes in now and the bi buck realization was at the very end of episode 4. madney wedding is happening at some point so they won’t focus that much on buck’s sexuality, but I can see it being a character moment still! so now I’ll get into the actual theory other than the buddie won’t be canon this season.
we know that Tommy and Buck aren’t going to be a thing for long and neither will Marisol and Eddie. so they’re going to be all “hmmm want partner :(“ and now buck’s going to realize he has more options of course and that the jealousy he felt with the eddie&tommy friendship was jealousy about Eddie hanging out with someone else, I feel like that will also be what ends up splitting Buck and Tommy. so he’s going to realize he’s interested in Eddie since Tommy has a lot of similarities with him and realize maybe he has a thing for Eddie. and he’s going to realize it more at the wedding when he sees other couples dancing I’m sure and he’s going to be off to the side talking with Eddie and realize all this mentally. and I think they’ll share one of their “looks” between each other. (one of THOSE looks. you know the one). and since they’re talking about relationships, after the look Eddie will realize something too and that he might be into men as well and take more looks at buck while he’s not looking lol. (I can picture it in my mind. either the clownery is real with me or I’m getting prophetic but 911 likes to pull little scenes like these lol with the characters just looking at each other lol). and I don’t think it’s going to go anywhere from there, just confirmation that eddie’s thinking about the possibility of being a with another dude and leave a sorta set up for his gay/bi/pan/likes men awakening next season, leaving it open for us to imagine if it weren’t to be renewed but something to set up a bigger plot thing. and then I think we’ll get the Eddie likes men plot beginning of s8 after the big emergency… and then they dance around feelings for each other for a minute (an episode or two) thinking “no way they would want to date me! 🥺” and then they probably get some sense talked into them by one of the other characters separately (I could see hen or Maddie trying to talk sense into Buck about this lol) and then boom scene of one of them approaching the other and awkwardly asking them to go out or something and the other being all “oh yeah, uh I’d love that yeah sounds good!” and then boom buddie go on date (date first gets postponed by big emergency maybe lol) and boom buddie canon and boom operation buddie success to finish off season 8.
abc if you’re reading this maybe take some notes?? lol
thank you btw abc for making bi buck canon. it no longer needs to be a headcanon. The truth is out. (wee)wooooooo!!!
#911 tv#911#911 abc#bi buck#!! finally!!#buddie#buddie has the largest grip on me#buddie theory!!#evan buckley#eddie diaz#when’s the eddie breakup arc coming#and then the buddie arc#buddie canon!!#cat lover thoughts
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what we used to be | XV
Pairing: Eli Moskowitz x Fem!Reader
Summary: You didn't think joining Miyagi-Do would end your friendships. But thankfully, you're making new ones.
Warnings: dojo rivalry, karate training, swearing, mentions of heartbreak
Word Count: 1.8k
A/N: A short chapter but its a good one! Have ch 16 done but I'm gonna give it some time to post cause then it'll give me time to edit ch 17. But we're closing out season 2 with ch 17 and season 3 is next! I already have up to season 4 planned out and a little written, still brainstorming for season 5 and even s6 lol!
Thank you to those who already reblog and comment, I see you and I love you all for it!
I don't consent to this work being copied, translated or reposted.
You frowned as another message to Aisha and Tory went unread. A few days ago, they were blowing up your phone, asking if you were okay. You were guilty that you didn’t respond, but you were going through so much heartbreak. You didn’t want to bother.
Now that you were part of Miyagi-Do and you felt happier, you decided it was time to reach out, the only thing—your friends weren’t responding.
Defeated, you walked through the dojo, phone pressed against your ear as it rang. Relief filled you when Aisha answered.
“I’ve been worried sick, you guys haven’t been answering,” you began.
Two voices scoffed.
“So now you’re worried?” Tory asked in disbelief.
“Of course, I am,” you furrowed your brows. “You guys are my friends.”
“Funny, I didn’t know traitors are classified as friends,” Aisha accused.
Confusion filled you. “What are you talking about?”
Tory muttered under her breath and she was annoyed, allowing Aisha to answer.
“We saw you hanging out with Miyagi-Do the other day and we confirmed with Moon that you joined,” Aisha said.
“We thought you just left Cobra Kai, but joining the enemy?” Tory questioned, disappointment filled in her tone.
“I didn’t think I was going to join Miyagi-Do,” you defended.
“So what? You accidentally joined?” Aisha scoffed. “Sorry about you and Hawk breaking up but joining Miyagi-Do is a low blow. Enjoy your new friends,” she said before hanging up.
You stared at your phone in disbelief.
“Everything alright?” Sam asked, holding onto the punching bag to stop it. She glanced at you with wonder, her brow raised and blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight.
“Aisha and Tory completely blew me off, some friends,” you shook your head. “Sorry, I know you don’t like Tory.”
You frowned, knowing their history. But after what had happened, you didn’t like her so much either.
“Don’t apologize, if they can’t see you’re trying to be better, then that’s on them,” she shrugged before going back to her warm-ups, her punches becoming stronger.
You shrugged off your backpack, warming up alongside her until the rest of the guys showed up.
Mr. LaRusso was nowhere to be seen and with the summer heat, you all made it under a tree in the dojo. Still, the shade wasn’t enough to keep you from burning.
“Oh God, it’s so hot out,” Demitri gasped. “I’m sweating in places I didn’t even know had pores,” he wiped his forehead against your shoulder.
You grimaced at the sweat, shrugging him off.
“Alright guys, get out from under that tree. It’s time to work,” Sensei said.
You all groaned as you got up, the small movement troubling in the excessive heat.
“Mr. LaRusso, it’s like 100 degrees out,” Robby complained. “Can’t we take it easy today?” He was saying what you were all thinking.
“Are you kidding? This heat wave is a gift. Today you are going to experience Shochu-Geiko,” he smiled.
You arched a brow.
“Like the car insurance?” Chris asked.
“Shochu-Geiko is a Japanese exercise where you train during the hottest days of the year,” he explained. “It’s about pushing yourself to the limit. The fight isn’t always gonna come when it’s 75 degrees and breezy.”
“Aren’t we supposed to avoid the fight?” Sam questioned.
You nodded. The whole reason you joined Miyagi-Do in the first place was to stop fighting.
“Sometimes you can’t,” he sighed. “Someday, the fight might come to you. And I want to make sure you’re ready,” he gazed hopefully. “So today, we’re gonna see what Miyag-Do is made of.”
That’s how you found yourselves formed in a circle out front. The sun beating down as Robby stood in the center, waiting for Mr. LaRusso to call out a number.
“Two!”
One of your classmates ran towards Robby but he punched him right in the chest, sweeping his leg and sending him to the ground.
Everyone reassembled.
“Five!”
Sam blocked Robby’s kick before spinning around and landing one straight on his abdomen. “Got you,” she smiled, their gaze lingering.
You sent Demitri an amused glance, one he didn’t match as he let out a groan.
“Alright, Demitri’s turn. Come on, Demitri get in there,” Sensei encouraged.
He reluctantly sighed before going in the middle. He raised his fists before Mr. LaRusso called a number out.
“Three!”
It didn’t take much for Chris to punch him in the stomach.
Figuring it was just a rough beginning, you waited for the next number, which happened to be yours.
“Seven!”
You lunged towards him. You wanted to give Demitri a chance to fight you off but it was so easy sweeping your leg and watching him fly to the ground.
“I hate this!” Demitri groaned.
“Alright, get up!” Sensei encouraged.
You offered your hand, helping him up. “Sorry, Demitri.”
He reluctantly forgave you, putting his weight on you as you made it back to your spots.
“Can we please take a break? This heat is brutal,” Sam sighed.
You all agreed.
“You guys want to cool off?”
“Alright, I think I can accommodate that,” he grinned.
You were hoping for a trip to the pool, not a freaking freezer storage.
“So, you couldn’t take the heat of Shochu-Geiko, perhaps you’ll find Kangeiko more to your liking,” he smiled with that same grin from earlier.
You shivered as you stood in the middle of the room, regretting you wore a tank top today.
“There are no “geikos” that take place in a spa?” Sam asked, the cold evident in her breath.
“It’s not about the heat or the cold. It’s about adapting to the environment around you and using that to your advantage” he said. “Look around, what do you see?”
“Frozen London Broil?” Chris asked.
You snickered.
“No, not the meat, look past that. I see the exhalation of breath,” he pointed to Sam. “The twitch of a muscle,” he glanced at Robby. “The shift of a stance,” he pointed to Demitri. “If you lean into the cold, it will heighten your senses,” he said. “And then you’ll anticipate the moment before your opponent strikes and you’ll always be ready,” he concluded.
You understood what he meant, noticing signs too.
His phone began ringing, hesitating to answer before he told you all to circle up, taking the call.
Now ready, you stood in your place. You watched Sam move about in the circle, looking out for obvious clues. She blocked Chris’s strike before Robby’s turn. They both battled, neither hitting the other and they stopped as they got lost in each other’s eyes.
You used to look at Eli that way. Your heart ached, memories flooding through but they were interrupted when Mr. LaRusso interrupted.
“All right, let’s get Demitri in there,” Mr. LaRusso said.
“Alright, here goes nothing,” he sighed. “Literally.”
He got kicked right in the stomach.
You sighed out in slight disappointment, knowing he had it in him.
“I can’t do it, Mr. LaRusso. Between the cold and the shouting and the hole in my sock. I’m not sure when that happened but it’s really uncomfortable,” he began complaining.
You rolled your eyes. Knowing your friend, he always had something to complain about.
“Demitri, you are the most neurotic person I know. You always expect the worst,” Sensei approached him.
Demitri sighed in agreement, a bit reluctant about it though.
“But you can use that to your advantage. It means you anticipate. Think of it like a spidey sense,” he stated.
“Actually in the comics, they call it Spider-Sense,” your friend corrected.
“Look, Demitri, this isn’t about who’s fastest and who’s strongest. It’s about instincts, using what’s in here,” he pointed to his head, your friend getting it now.
With some confidence, he took his stance, raising his fists.
“Two!” Mr. LaRusso called out.
Demitri noticed Chris, blocking his first strike and his second before he punched him in the gut.
You cheered for your friend, and the rest of the class too.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get the next person.
“Baby steps! It’s alright!” Mr. LaRusso reassured.
You patted Demitri on the back, the rest of the class crowding around you.
~
“Sam and I are more like acquaintances than friends,” you said.
It was unexpected to have Moon reach out. Knowing your situation with Aisha and Tory and now barely knowing Sam, it was good to have a friend.
“I’m sorry about telling Aisha that you joined Miyagi-Do, I didn’t think this rivalry was that bad,” she said, frowning as she sat on her bed.
“Don’t worry about it, I guess I would’ve had to tell them sooner or later,” you shrugged, sitting across from her.
“Listen, I’m glad we’re doing this, I really meant what I said about being friends. I did want to give you space though,” she offered, tipping her head to the side.
“Thanks, Moon,” you smiled.
It’d been a few months since she apologized before the All Valley. You never considered reaching out, still hurt that she wasn’t true to her word about showing you she was serious. But now she is and better late than never, right?
“So how are doing? With the breakup and everything?” She searched your eyes.
“Heartbreaking,” you hummed self-deprecatingly. “Eli was the first boy I ever loved, love,” you corrected. “I have karate as a distraction, but honestly, sometimes I just want to reach out,” you sucked in a breath. “Am I crazy?” You glanced at her.
“Not at all,” she shook her head. “It’s normal to experience that after breaking up. And considering how long you’ve known Hawk, your souls are connected. Best friends, boyfriend-girlfriend, first loves,” she listed, growing giddy. “I can’t imagine having a close bond with someone and it would suck to be apart even if it’s for the best,” she explained.
“That makes sense then,” you raised a brow. “The longest I spent without Eli was when he’d go to sleepaway camp with Demitri. That was only for a few weeks, this has been almost two months,” you hummed, shocked at the realization. “Thanks for being a friend,” you smiled genuinely.
“It’s nothing,” she giggled. “But as a friend, I have something I want to give to you,” she said, reaching under her bed and pulling out a wrapped gift. “I had this saved for the right moment. You’re right when you said talk is cheap,” she handed it to you.
You hesitated, eyeing her weirdly before you took it and unwrapped the gift, finding a lime green sketchbook.
“Moon, you didn’t have to,” you gasped slightly.
“I did,” she stopped you. “I hurt you, Y/N. I destroyed your property and I can’t undo what I did, but I want us to start new,” she sincerely said.
You grinned, leaning in to hug her and you felt happy as she returned it.
“Thank you,” you beamed. “It does mean a lot.”
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Invading your ask box!
I suck at coming up with questions and also I'm curious of everyone's answers, so in light of manifesting season 7, what are your hopes for when we hopefully get a full season 7?
Go as wild and unrealistic as you want!
Oh boy, this is tough 😂 but thank you so much for asking! I’ve missed being on tumblr and this was so nice to see in my inbox last night 🥰
Well, we might not know what the rest of season 6 will bring but if it doesn’t come up in any of the other six episodes, I’d love to have Lucy and Tim talk about officially moving in together and then actually doing so. I know they’re practically living together already, but I’d love for them to maybe get their own new place together? Get a whole new apartment/house that’s theirs. Honestly, just gimme all the cutesy domestic moments they can fit in because I’m a sucker for that - what else is new? But also, please let them keep working on properly communicating with one another even if it’s hard because no relationship can survive without good communication.
And, you know, if they're feeling like it, I would also not say no to a proposal.
I WANNA KNOW BABY GIRL EVERS’ NAME FFS. Obviously I’m most invested in Chenford, but it’s driving me insane that we’re 4 eps in, and still don’t know her name. Speaking of kids, I’d love to see more of all the kids Lopez and Harper have. Get rid of some of the unnecessary Bailan domesticity crap and gimme any of the other couples instead.
Speaking of Bailey.. I’m not a hater, also not exactly a fan, but can we get her in a storyline that doesn’t involve Nolan in some way? I think if she were to interact more with the other characters, we as the audience could potentially get more involved with her character. She’s basically tied to Nolan, and sometimes it feels like a disservice to everyone (including Jenna as an actress) to limit her interactions to basically just him and quick two-sentence exchanges thrown in every 20 eps like with Lucy in 6x04.
I know it’ll never happen, but I would love to see Chenford babysitting either Jack and his baby sister or baby Leah because we know they’d just.. well, maybe not suck at it but they’d likely struggle and lose a kid or two lol and it’d just be so much fun to watch.
I also gotta broach the sensitive topic.. I’ve been hoping for Lucy to do a long-term UC op practically since I started watching the show and even more so since Chenford became canon simply because I want to see how she would handle not being able to contact anyone she cares about. Give her a handler that’s not Tim, not Harper, not anyone she’s familiar with so she can experience what it would be like to be completely cut off from her life and the people she loves. Maybe I’m understanding her desire to be a deep cover UC officer and she’d flourish under those circumstances, but I think if she experienced an op without any of her friends (or her boyfriend) as her handler/back up, she’d have a better idea of what her life would really look like if she chose that path. She’s a people person, and I personally don’t think she’d like it as much as I think she wants to like it. (6x02 hinted at her not being as fine about it as she claims to be, and I hope we get to see more of the topic.) If not that, I’d also just like to see an op gone wrong. They’ve all been fairly straight forward without any kind of consequences even after her cover had been blown, and I’d be very interested in seeing something just not go as smoothly. Also, Lucy could do ANY job within the LAPD and absolutely kick ass. Where are all the departments wanting her on their team that the cop offering her that spot at UC school talked about?? Where?! WHERE?!?
I’m rambling now, great. Okay, I’m gonna stop here. I may have missed some obvious wishes here but for now these are some I could think of right off the bat.
Oh oh oh! Lucy’s called Tim babe before, can we get Tim calling Lucy by a pet name? Pretty pleaseeeee 🥺 and last but not least, give us Kojo back. And bring Genny.
Now I’m done. Thank you so much for thinking of me, Suz! ❤︎ This was so much fun!
#chenford#the rookie#s7 wishlist#because WE WILL GET A SEASON 7 🕯️🕯️🕯️#asked and answered#timandlucy#thanks suz 🫶🏻#these are always so much fun
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I’m Sorry. (Get Out part 2)
~Here is part 2. Hope you like it.~
Background: You are a softball player at the University of Michigan. You met Luke while on a recruiting visit to umich and began dating shortly after arriving on campus. The end of hockey season is rapidly approaching as is Luke leaving for New Jersey from Tampa. Talks of Luke leaving have been put off, due to both of you being busy with your respective sports as well as classes, but have been brought up just days before he’s leaving.
It’s angsty but 100% will turn into fluff.
(I’m calling her Isabella but having her go by Bella just because lol)
Bella’s POV
It’s been 4 days since my big fight with Luke and I haven’t seen him or talked to him since he showed up to my game the next day. I made sure the message was known that I was not gonna come crawling back to him and that he was gonna have to come to me.
Granted, I have locked myself in my room when I’m not in class or at practice. It’s now wednesday, the day Luke leaves for the Frozen Four and ultimately the University of Michigan entirely. Win or lose in Tampa, it’s his last time as a Michigan Wolverine. And my heart aches for him because I know he loves this place and loves everything about Ann Arbor.
It’s like 10 am and I know that he has practice before they were leaving from the rink. I’m not gonna lie, I’m extremely sad that he never came and tried to apologize. I would’ve let him. I feel the tears roll down my cheek as I process the fact that it’s really over between Luke and I.
I hear a knock at the door but I ignore it. I try to just burry myself in my blankets but the knocking doesn’t stop. I groan and go down to see who the hell is banging on my door.
I open it and see Luke standing there. He’s sweaty and out of breath.
“Luke?”
“Hi. I only have like 10 minutes before I need to go back but I couldn’t leave without apologizing.”
“I’m listening.” I say guiding him into the house.
“Izzy, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean half the shit that I said and I’m sorry for telling you to leave. I’m scared of leaving Iz, and I’m scared of being on my own, and I’m scared of losing you.” He says rambling.
“Luke, you’re not gonna lose me. I promise. I love you and we’ll figure it out. I wish I could go with you because believe me, I want to so badly, but I just can’t yet. I need to figure things out on my end before I even think about it. I’m sorry.”
“No no no. Don’t apologize Izzy. You have nothing to be sorry for. I do, I’m the one who fucked up. I never should’ve assumed you were just gonna up and move to Jersey with me because I asked. I’m sorry making it seem like my career is more important than yours. You are more important to me anything else in this world and I’m sorry that ever made you think otherwise. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry baby.” He says. I hear the crack in his voice and see the tears rolling down his face.
I quickly wipe them from his face. I say softly while holding his face in my hands, “Hey. It’s ok. Luke, we’re ok. We both said some things that we didn’t mean but we’re ok. I promise. I love you.”
“I love you too Izzy. God I love you so much baby.” He says and kisses me.
It’s only been 4 days but it feels like a lifetime without him. I wrap my arms around his neck and go on my tip toes to bring him closer to me. Eventually we pull away for air and we’re both breathing heavily. I smile at him and he returns it leading my to bury my face in his neck while hugging him as tight as I can. He tightens his grip on me too.
I say softly, “Luke, you have to go.”
“I know. I don’t wanna leave you though.”
“I know. I don’t want you to go either. But you have to. You have to go be my superstar and bring a national championship home to Michigan.” I say and play the ends of his hair. He leaves a kiss to my shoulder and rubs my back. Neither of us move an inch for a solid 3 minutes before I pull away. He groans and I say, “You need to go babe. I know it sucks, I don’t want you to go but you gotta. We’re ok, I promise.”
“Ok. There’s a box in my room at the house for you. Text Dylan when they get back and he’ll give it to you. The guys said you’re welcome there anytime and you can sleep in my room as often as you’d like baby. I promise to do whatever I can to make this work for us.”
“Me too. I’ll see you later ok?”
“Ok.” He says and kisses me. I pull away and walk him to the door. I open it and he pulls me in for a hug again. He’s stalling. I give him a tight squeeze before saying, “Luke, it’s time to go. Come on babe.”
“I know.” He says and pulls away from the hug but still keeps me close.
He smiles and then pulls me in for another kiss. I smile into the kiss before Luke pulls away and says, “I love you Isabella Smith. More then I think I’ll ever be able to tell you.”
“I love you too Luke Hughes.”
He smiles and then let’s go. He gives me a quick kiss before running down my front stairs. I say, “I’m proud of you and good luck. Tell the boys I said good luck too.”
“I will. I love you!” He yells as he starts running back towards the rink. I close the door once he’s out of sight. I have a smile permanently on my face for the rest of the day knowing that Luke and I made up and are gonna be ok.
My phone buzzes and it’s a text from Luke.
lukey❤️: hey baby. made it on time to the bus. I love you so much and I’m so sorry that I was an asshole. I’m glad that I was able to make it to you before we left bc you are the best thing to ever happen to me. I’ll text you when I land in Tampa. good luck this weekend against Rutgers, I know you’re gonna do great. I love you Iz.❤️
I smile reading the text and let out a sigh of relief. We’re ok. And we’ll be ok for a long time.
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here’s a few random thoughts about the Mayans premiere:
- first of all, how long since the season 4 finale has it been now at the beginning? I was under the impression it’s been 8 months to a year or something like it, but a few things don’t add up. like, why is Hank still limping? he was shot in the knee in the season 4 premiere, how long has it been? and why is Nestor still a prospect when they already have a new one? did I miss where they mentioned any sort of time frame?
- I would have loved to see the moment Emily comes back home to Miguel and how that “reunion” went. I want to see more of their house, it’s not the same one they lived in before they fled, is it?
- I also want to know how the rest of Miguel and Felipe’s conversation in the (former) butcher shop went, what exactly did Felipe tell, how much of the truth is actually out there now?
- the guy Miguel and Soledad had lunch(?) with talked about how Miguel’s father was a puppet for the government and for a second there I forgot the guy meant José and Soledad looked at Miguel like she knew. also, the way the guy ate visibly disgusted Miguel. and honestly, I wouldn’t have needed that close-up of it either, lol.
- when Felipe and Adelita were talking about telling Angel the truth, did they mean that Adelita is secretly working for the cartel as, idk, a hit woman? or did they mean that Felipe worked with Adelita’s father and knew him well? how would either of those secrets affect their relationship?
- the new Santo Padre guy, Guero, Ibarra’s son, is pretty damn cute, I hope he lives through the season. the cute ones usually never do... rest in peace, Manny.
- and Guero was right about that all female club, the Broken Saints. they’re hot. I’d watch that spin off.
- does Sofia not work at the animal shelter anymore, why’s she at EZ’s place every free minute of the day? she does have a nice singing voice btw.
- what big and dangerous thing is Louie planning to help Letty and Hope get those 13k dollars?
- I’m torn about Alvarez and Izzy having a baby on the way, but TPTB probably didn’t have much of a choice since Patricia was pregnant in real life. I like her so much btw. also Marcus, yell at Santi like that again and I’m personally coming for your ass. let him try on your kutte, it’s only sitting there collecting dust anyway.
- what did that DOJ accountant guy discover in those numbers he calculated? my guess is it has something to do with EZ’s record disappearing from the system, since Potter deleted it in exchange for KJ’s hit. let’s also remember real quick that during that hit not only KJ got killed but Bowen as well, and Potter can still use that as leverage against EZ and Angel. maybe that is what Potter has over Adelita? and even if he’s not a rat anymore, with that it would make EZ still look really good for it now and give the club a reason to finally riot.
- with Cole now being Soledad’s main supplier, my guess for who burnt down the warehouse shifted from Angel to him, and everything carefully masterminded by Potter. wouldn’t it be insane if he’s not with the government anymore at all but has become a king pin and in one strike took over the entire pipeline, while the Mayans and the Sons take each other out of the game on their own?
- generally I liked that there were a lot of funny moments again. we didn’t have jokes and humor in 2 seasons, this season feels like 1 and 2 again, the plot is still heavy and brutal but a lot less depressing. if that makes sense.
some of that sounds dumb, I’m aware, but I’m putting it out there anyway. let’s hear your thoughts.
#danny pino#miguel galindo#sarah bolger#emily galindo#jd pardo#ez reyes#clayton cardenas#angel reyes#andrew jacobs#guero#mayans mc#mayans fx
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CPN : stock photo clues care of xiao laoshi 🔍
all of this is clowning and connecting things that may or may not be related. that’s just how cpns work. if you don’t like it then scroll along. if some things don’t make sense to you then it doesn’t. don’t take this too seriously. i’m trying to add as much clues and cpn as i can but it will be virtually impossible to catch every single thing that will be talked about.
i’ve already talked about the same/similar furniture here cause that was so rude of them. lol. the photo in question for WYB was from his oasis post last 4/16/2019 and was about BAPE’s F1 merch. There are two other photos from that post so you can see more of the sofa in question. GG’s looks like it doesn’t have the backrest, but it seems to be the type that’s removable. I think the term is modular furniture or something like that. the wall behind too ( GG’s ) is similar to WYB’s ( p2 ) 1- I know it’s not the most unique paint shade in the world but you know what i mean. Also GG’s is 2022 so that’s some years apart and the look of it may change. what’s sus about this is it’s not the first time we CPNd them in the same place.
this is a visual representation of how they took their respective photos from the alleged same sofa. 😂 please im cackling! turtles are too funny!
Now let’s look at the other photos one by one and see what we can find 👀
P1: Wonder what this is? It’s called roasted brain flower, apparently. As per baidu search it’s described as : A traditional snack in Sichuan and Chongqing. It is roasted with pig's brain mixed with sea pepper powder, pepper powder and other seasonings. Now where did we see this featured before? In TTXS and WYB samples it. TTXS does a lot of these things, trying everything from different regions so this is not as CPN as we think. Also one popular restaurant that serves this has WYB’s face in their store because of that TTXS episode. Coincidentally, XZ also has a signature memorabilia from the same store.
I won’t talk about the jianguo photo anymore cause it’s the big 🍭 here. and let’s appreciate how cute this princess is! her cheeks!
P2: Of course, he will use this type of effect so we don’t know exactly what it is. Good thing turtles are detectives lol. The first guess is that it’s the titanic lego set because there was a LRLG fake rumor before that seemed to talk about it. it was about purchasing something that is expensive and the word “ship” was mentioned. At the time, this titanic set was out.
I mean, the lights/shapes and all that seem the same. This would be okay if GG was known to play with lego but he’s not. We all know who is tho. Either this is a photo taken by GG when WYB built it and he decided to share it a stock photo. Or this from WYB and he ( GG ) edited it.
Another more logical guess is it’s a night cruise ship that goes around Chongqing and you can eat there too. It’s one of those things that I can’t tell if GG is doing this because he knows he can get away with it. Any sensible / casual fan would think it’s some cruise ship or whatever. Focus on jianguo and his selfie. It’s only us tbh that would think about the Lego.
P3: The freakin hand held fan of destiny lol. We’ve all seen the tape he had on it during the WDB wrap up. We thought that it was broken or it may be a marker, tho the more popular guess is it was damaged. Now he’s using something that is in good condition. CPN is, he got Yibo’s. because WYB was seen using a really small one lol. Or maybe WYB bought a new one for him. Who knows. This hand held fan truly is one legendary piece of turtle history 😂😂😂
P4: AHHHH THE SELFIE, where he is wearing airpods when he answered he prefers wired headphones. sure. Also yes we can see your apple watch. The watch all turtles are eyeing between the two of them. They are both endorsing watches GG ( zenith ) and WYB ( casio ) so why are you both showing that off? 😂😂😂
The peace sign is also a match to Bobo’s — which was something we CPNd ( sort of ). Yes it’s a common gesture when someone takes a photo but whatever.
but i think the more important question is where are the other photos?
-END.
sources: one two three four five six
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wot on prime rewatch: 1x7 the dark along the ways (part 2)
spoilers through the end of season one of the wheel of time. I will do a reblog of this soon after I post it, with additional book-related spoilers.
1. And now we are introduced to Min Farshaw, a bartender in Fal Dara, and the Seer spoken of by Moiraine and Lady Amalisa. You can tell that she just Knows why Moiraine is here with this group of people lol.
2. She delivers drinks to their table and Egwene thanks her while Rand is involved in a conversation with Perrin about the Tuatha’an (though from what he says to Moiraine later, he’s partly paying attention to what Moiraine is doing here). Perrin is trying to explain their overall philosophy, but Rand is stuck on the idea that they don’t eat any meat at all (because it does harm). Now that he’s away from them, Perrin is very admiring of their ways. Egwene teases Rand about him being a bad cook.
3. Nynaeve, though, is paying attention to Moiraine over at the bar, and wondering what she’s up to and why she’s brought them here. Moiraine, of course, is grilling Min on whether or not she’s ‘seen’ anything. Min tells Moiraine that what she does is very invasive and that she doesn’t do it lightly, and Moiraine essentially blackmails her into talking when she balks at the idea of telling Moiraine what she sees (she ‘reminds’ Min that the Aes Sedai are keeping her a secret and that, if her talent were revealed, her life would get much harder and more complicated).
4. Much like how Rand’s Machin Shin whispers reveal part of but not all of what he hears, we don’t find out everything that Min knows yet either. But I like that, as we find out when Rand goes to speak to Min at the end of the episode, she really felt that he deserved to hear the truth first on his own, and when he was ready, rather than her spilling his personal secrets to Moiraine.
5. Min tells Moiraine a handful of vague things about what she sees -- a gold ring, a white flame, yellow eyes and blood, a baby, and all four of them linked together as sparks fight a shadow -- but when Moiraine tries to press her about if one of the visions is clearer, she says no. And instead tells Moiraine a viewing about herself -- the Amrylin Seat in full regalia, being her downfall. Definitely emotionally impactful for Moiraine!
6. Later that night, Moiraine comes and tells the group that they will be leaving for the Eye of the World at sunrise. And that’s it. She turns to leave at that point. Then Rand challenges her -- who was that bartender that she spent so much time talking to earlier? Again, continuing a pattern of Rand challenging Moiraine and of how him doing so gets them answers that she otherwise was not willing to give them. I feel like a lot of the people I saw who disliked Rand challenging Moiraine just straight-up don’t acknowledge how little information Moiraine was willing to give them without being challenged. Moiraine tries to deflect, and Nynaeve backs Rand’s play. And Moiraine bends, and tells them about Min’s gift. She tells them that she was hoping Min could say who the Dragon was but, since she couldn’t, Moiraine just has to bring all of them, sacrificing the lives of the ones who aren’t the Dragon.
7. Setting dressing & blocking note. I LOVE that there is a prominent empty chair every time we go to the group shot of Perrin, Egwene, and Rand. Constant reminder that one of the group isn’t there.
8. I also love, and we know this from the next episode, that this is a great illustration of Moiraine just being wrong. She didn’t die at the Eye of the World. The Eye of the World wasn’t what they thought it was at all. “Ground to dust between two forces of nature” isn’t what happened at all. But Moiraine believes it or she couldn’t say it! And it’s a great illustration of how Moiraine not being able to lie doesn’t mean that Moiraine is always right, even when she speaks plainly. She can be wrong as long as she’s honestly wrong.
9. Perrin -- who has been quiet through so much of this and who hasn’t ever challenged Moiraine before -- is the one who speaks up here, which I really like. He basically points out every possible flaw in Moiraine’s argument! What if Mat’s the Dragon (and then we all die)? What if we live because you’re just wrong and it’s not actually the case that the ones who aren’t the Dragon die? I love this so much because it actually really makes Perrin feel like he genuinely is The Thoughtful One. He’s just been keeping his own council all this time, thinking thing over, and now he’s coming out with specific questions that poke holes in Moiraine’s train of thought. (Moiraine is able to answer exactly none of his questions, by the way. She just deflects)
10. And Nynaeve tells Moiraine, straight-out, yes, you’ve chosen to follow this path. And now it’s our turn to make a choice. You don’t get to harry us along and make it for us. So that’s three of the four currently united against Moiraine. And Nynaeve has been standing off on her own during the rest of this conversation but now she goes and stands with the rest of the Two Rivers’ people. And I love the shot after Moiraine (and Lan) leave because we now have all four of the Two Rivers’ people... and that prominent emptiness opposite Egwene (because there are other empty chairs as well, but the actual head of the table is empty).
11. Egwene is generally a pretty vocal character but she sat out that entire conversation which is very interesting. She didn’t ‘pick a side’, essentially. But she didn’t argue on Moiraine’s behalf against the others, as she’s done before.
12. Now the Two Rivers’ folk are alone, and we get to see them clash against each other. All four of them have recently suffered a pretty big trauma (going through the Ways) and now they’ve been told that three of them are likely to die soon. Rand is edging towards fatalism, once Moiraine is gone -- “Nothing an Aes Sedai says is optional. She’ll force us if she wants to.” But Nynaeve is just... a very firm bulwark here -- “Let her try.”
13. I actually really liked this fight. It starts with Egwene saying “we need to do this to protect our families” while Nynaeve comes back with “so Moiraine says.” It’s essentially the same argument that Egwene and Rand had in 1x2, where part of the reason there’s a fight at all is because of how widely the level of trust in Moiraine differs between the two parties. “She can’t lie,” Egwene argues, and Rand comes in now with “She can mislead.” And Nynaeve says (which goes back to Perrin’s point) that even if Moiraine absolutely believes what she’s saying, she still could be wrong. But Egwene says (roughly) that she’s willing to sacrifice her own life on the chance that Moiraine is right, because if she is, then it would be a worthy sacrifice. And Egwene bringing this up after Moiraine has left also brings me back to 1x2, where she didn’t challenge Moiraine when the others were present but did challenge her in private.
14. Rand, of course, has been struggling with his identity all season, keeping a secret from everyone (about what his dad told him, that we get to see in a flashback later on). And he’s coming to a realization. “I can’t lose anyone else in this room,” he says. He doesn’t fully admit it to himself here, but he’s beginning to. Perrin momentarily deflects everyone off of this point by bringing up Mat again -- what if Mat is the Dragon? Egwene scoffs and Rand reacts immediately, incredibly protective even though Mat isn’t present. Which builds off of the way we saw their dynamic in the last episode too, how Rand tilted instantly into protective mode over Mat. Rand launches into an incredibly passionate defense of Mat here.
15. Nynaeve tries to calm down them down before the fight gets worse, but Egwene defends her position, saying that Mat was the one who stayed behind and that he’s probably gone after the dagger, and when she says that Mat left them (the group), Rand makes it personal with, “Well, I guess you’re the expert on that, aren’t you? ... you’re the only one that’s ever really left me,” and Perrin immediately jumps in to defend Egwene. The entire fight helped illustrate how the Rand-Mat and Egwene-Perrin pairs further bonded in their journeys together. Perrin’s protectiveness over Egwene mirrors Rand’s protectiveness over Mat. Rand takes an attack against Mat as if it were an attack against himself.
16. Then Nynaeve basically single-handedly derails the brewing fight into something that was between Egwene and Rand but still about Mat, into a fight between Rand and Perrin about Egwene instead. Nynaeve made a bunch of assumptions based on old information and instantly regretted it (you can see the “yikes, wish I hadn’t said that” on her face right after the words come out and stop literally all other conversation in its tracks). And their internal fears that Machin Shin to fed them helps lead into the fight, a hundred percent. Everyone is affected by what the Black Wind said, very much including Moiraine, despite her warnings.
17. Rand is just so completely ??? at the idea that Perrin might have been fighting with him “over” Egwene when Nynaeve brings it up, then he starts doing mental math on a subject that he has very obviously never considered before in his life. Egwene ALSO looks very startled at this idea. But this fight does also lead to a moment of Perrin having Vibes with Rand as he gets super close and says the only woman he loved was his wife while he stares at Rand’s mouth; lol, A+. Here’s another question I have, though - was Rand willing to let this fight happen once it started because he was already making his decision that he was going to sneak off to Moiraine and go to the Eye together? Rand picking fights with his friends to try to get them to like him less so that he can go risk his life alone is a canon thing from the early books. Poor Nynaeve is so upset that she made all that happen (from her PoV).
18. Lan tries to reassure Moiraine over the situation, as she broods at the balcony. This conversation between the two of them is great. “I feel like I’ve taken everything from you. And more.” Moiraine is seeing that Lan is capable of having a life after this mission and so, just like Rand does, Moiraine leaves Lan behind at the end of this episode as well. I also wonder if this version of Moiraine perhaps feels like she’s been more selfish than the book version, because she has had romantic love all these years, though she and Siuan have needed to spend time apart as well.
19. The dinner scene is cute. It definitely does soften Lan’s character beyond what we normally got in the books, but it’s implied that Nynaeve DOES see a softer Lan than pretty much everyone else, and this is a way for the audience to see what she sees. She gets to see him in the context of his culture and also gets to see the way he behaves around children. I feel like all that (plus their potential impending deaths) makes them sleeping together feel pretty earned, given that we already know from Rand and Egwene’s relationship that Two Rivers’ folks don’t have the same hang-ups around sex outside of marriage that they did in the books.
20. Rand is still struggling here. We can see that he lacks focus by his inability to hit the bullseye with any of his arrows. Egwene comes out, mad at him because he didn’t come apologize to her, which gives us more information about their relationship dynamic back in the Two Rivers, probably. I actually wonder if Rand was hoping that she would stay away entirely (though once she does come, he engages with her mostly sincerely) to make it easier for him to make his choice and come to terms with himself. I do note that though Rand apologizes to her (for letting himself take the whole Perrin x Egwene thing seriously), Egwene doesn’t apologize for attacking Mat’s character. She just tells Rand that he should have known that she cared about Mat anyway. Like, sure, maybe she would fight and die for him... but she also doesn’t seem to like him much as a person or think very highly of him. One does not necessarily imply the other. And she’s certainly not obligated to like Mat! But it does strike me as interesting that the characters are talking past each other again -- Rand apologizes for something that Egwene doesn’t care about (him taking the Perrin x Egwene thing seriously for a moment), while Egwene doesn’t really address the thing that was bothering Rand about how she was talking about Mat.
21. But Rand is definitely in “make my goodbyes” mode here -- he tells Egwene that he doesn’t want to lose her, and urges her to go to the White Tower to make the most of her abilities. Egwene says here that she doesn’t want to go without Rand - “I’ve already made that mistake once” (about breaking up with him to get a job, essentially; again, I am so baffled that anyone watched the first season and came out of believing that Rand was being clingy to a girl who wasn’t interested in him anymore -- Egwene has shown several times that she still cares about Rand romantically at this point in time). But obviously hearing this means a lot to Rand, because she did break up with him very abruptly in the first episode. ...and then he lies to her. “I’ll come with you to the White Tower. Every Aes Sedai needs a Warder.” They kiss and Egwene promises Rand that if he’s the Dragon, she’ll stand by him.
22. I am so curious about how long the show/Moiraine will keep the secret of Rand’s survival from the others. I’ve going to do a bit of speculation in the spoiler reblog.
23. After Nynaeve and Lan have slept together, they talk about responsibilities and obligations that they have. She finds out that Lan is the uncrowned king of a lost country, and she feels like that gives her some insight into why Lan and Moiraine are bonded together -- that Moiraine gives him a ‘home’, essentially. Lan turns that around on her and points out that she also has obligations (that she has chosen) to the Two Rivers’ kids. And he asks her to stay the rest of the night. <3 (I feel like Moiraine and Siuan having a current relationship also makes Lan making this choice more likely).
24. From one post-coital room to another -- Egwene has fallen asleep but Rand is having flashbacks to the night of the attack, when he found out that his father found him and then took him home to raise as his own. And he admits to himself that he knows the truth about himself. But he still wants to confirm it further, and he goes to speak with Min, the Seer.
25. I love how exhausted and jaded we can see that Min is. And now she softens when Rand apologizes and talks to her instead of at her, essentially. We learn that her first viewing ever was seeing Tam in armor in Tar Valon and ‘seeing’ him finding Rand and taking him home to raise in the Two Rivers, an ‘impossible’ baby.
26. And when we finally get to see the ending of the flashback, it’s genuinely such a beautiful moment. Tam reaching out and helping, instead of attacking her. This moment of two people connecting despite being on the opposite sides of a battle, because they are just two people at this moment, and Tam sees her humanity and sees that she needs kindness. And she gets to see Rand being born and gets to know that he’ll be safe before she dies.
27. In the morning, Egwene goes to talk to Nynaeve and finds that her room is empty and her bed untouched. When Nynaeve arrives, she teases her a bit. And Nynaeve apologizes for what she said the night before about Rand, Perrin, & Egwene. Perrin then arrives... also to seek out Nynaeve? It actually makes a lot of sense that they would go to Nynaeve’s room... they’re still thinking of her as their Wisdom. Egwene has a little bit of difficulty looking at Perrin, but then she does look up and she says she wants to go (to the Eye). She then wonders where Rand has gone to off and we get cuts between Lan arrives to Nynaeve’s room that morning to say that Moiraine is missing, while we get a cut to the night before of Rand arriving at Moiraine’s room, and Egwene connects the dots that Rand and Moiraine left together. So, everyone there knows that Rand, at least, believes that he’s the Dragon.
#wot rewatch#wheel of time#wot on prime#wot#the wheel of time#rand al'thor#egwene al'vere#moiraine damodred#perrin aybara#lan mandragoran#nynaeve al'meara#min farshaw
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Well THIS has been a long time coming. Today we’re reviewing Part 2 of the Miraculous Season 4 finale; aka “Strike Back”, aka more of the Felix arc. Sorry for the delay guys, I was just living in fear!
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Previous episode reviews:
“Felix” | “Gabriel Agreste” | “Risk”
Like previous reviews this is gonna get pretty long, so I’ll throw the rest under a cut and let’s get started once again! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿
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So here we are again. Literally everything delayed me from getting to this episode: catching Covid, Internet issues, IRL obligations, a general sense of doom. The universe was trying VERY hard to stop me so I think whatever I experience past this point is my own fault. I’ve signed the waiver.
Here’s where we’re at right now:
Everyone (except Felix?) is affected by the akuma “Risk”, whose power causes people within earshot to make impulsive decisions.
Felix is likely after the family rings again, and has taken over Adrien’s horrible modeling trip to stalk/rob Nathalie. I have yet to see how this affects Adrien negatively but I’m sure life will, uh, find a way.
No idea if Uncle Gabe is aware of this. He did set a trap for Felix in the office safe but that was a while ago; and he’s currently trashing Paris with a sentimonster believing Adrien is safe with Nathalie (he’s not lol) so I’m leaning towards him being genuinely ignorant.
There’s a VERY high possibility Ladybug is about to give a Miraculous to the wrong cousin.
So I’m very nervous. Lessgo.
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- No recap! I don’t think the last double feature had them either; I remember leaving a while between “Truth” and “Lies” at the beginning of the season and being very confused over stuff I forgot. Guess you either sink or swim when Miraculous decides to do some serious storytelling.
- So we start where we abruptly left off: with Adrien entering the Forbidden Office in search of his dad, finding Felix’s Phantom Thief monocle (what IS that thing...) and getting distracted by today’s sentimonster stomping through the city. He dashes up to his room, transforming into Chat Noir as he goes and leaping gracefully out the window without pause! Or paws. Haha. I’m in danger.
- Next we rehash the scene of Marinette talking with Tikki on the station roof, and getting the bright idea to go rescue “Adrien” (who is Felix in disguise) as Pegabug. She retrieves the horse glasses from her yoyo pocket dimension and is about to unify the two Miraculous when her attention is also caught by Strike Back.
SHE JUST STARES, THEN TAKES THE GLASSES OFF AND PUTS THEM AWAY AGAIN. The timing was very funny. Brawl now, true love later! >:0
- Cut to the interior of the Startrain, and now THIS I’m interested in. Nathalie is seated next to “Adrien”, who is actually Felix, and he’s glaring out the window either in boredom or cooking up a cunning plan. Definitely waiting for Nathalie to let her guard down so he can rob her. First old men and now disabled women; where will it end, Felix??
- Nathalie gently puts her hand over “Adrien’s” in a way I’m sure she thinks is reassuring, showing off the family ring in full view.
Isn’t actually touching this poor attention-starved kid way above her paygrade? She wouldn’t even give him a hug in “Felix” when she walked in on him crying in his room. Maybe her appreciation for Adrien has grown considering he brought her snacks while she was bedridden. Gabriel just came in and ate them while venting to her, but still.
Also, if this was Adrien, Nathalie flashing this ring so much (between the previous scene in the study and now) would be super rude, right? I know Adrien supports whatever his father has with her and it’s Gabriel who kicks off every time it’s brought up; but showing off his mom’s wedding ring like this with no explanation is another level.
And ALSO, again, where is this particular ring meant to have come from? The cover story in “Gabriel Agreste” is that Ol’ Gabe graciously bestowed his own ring unto his dear nephew (after Felix robbed, tricked and nearly outed him as Shadow Moth), and the other is still officially ‘missing’ because it disappeared with Emilie, who is definitely not in a fridge in the basement. Are they both banking on Adrien not recognising it, and it’s just terrible luck that this is Felix?
- ANYWAY. Felix reacts like he’s been burned, and I’m sure it’s because the ring he’s desperate for is right there on Nathalie’s hand, but I’m in tears thinking he’s just fucking OUTRAGED at being touched without permission. Like the first episode where he went to shake Adrien’s hand and got full-on hugged instead. He came here to rob people and he is feeling SO violated right now?? >:/
- Nathalie encourages “Adrien” to “try to make the most out of this trip”, and highlights how he’ll get to see the world and then come back to his friends with lots to share.
Not that I believe this is going ahead, but I hope that means she’s at least planning to give him a decent amount of freedom; like in the Shanghai Special where Gabriel actually let Adrien go out and explore the city (with a bodyguard). Maybe she really does care! Just a little bit. :’)
- Felix says something ominous about “seizing the opportunity when it presents itself”, so I guess he’s recovered from being so RUDELY manhandled - literally the worst thing that’s happened to him today! Move over, Aunt Emilie’s frozen corpse! - and is back to plotting atrocities.
- Lila interrupts to claim she and Adrien will become “the best friends in the world” on this trip! Now, Felix has been mostly separate from Adrien’s social circle with the exception of Kagami and Chloe (and that time the Girl Squad tried to kill him), so he doesn’t know Lila’s reputation as a liar or how much grief she’s put his cousin through; but maybe it takes a sneaky manipulator to know one?
- “Adrien” tells Lila he “hopes so with all his heart”. This should be her first clue that something isn’t right. He was ready to tear her to SHREDS during the photoshoot this morning and now he’s Prince Charming! Would the real Adrien be extra polite in front of Nathalie? :/
Also, if this is grounds for suspicion, does Lila know Adrien has a strikingly identical cousin? She hasn’t been around for this arc but she may have heard about him from their classmates. I wonder if Felix is common knowledge to people who haven’t been directly involved with his nonsense, or if he’s some kind of horrible unlockable item once you reach a certain friendship level with Adrien.
- At any rate, “Adrien” excuses himself to the bathroom with his duffel bag. Lila pokes her head over the seats with wide eyes to watch him leave; does she know something’s up? Gotta take those every-15-minutes model showers, I’m sure the Startrain has the facilities for it.
- In the train bathroom, Felix takes the fake Peacock Miraculous out of his bag and affixes it to his chest. What is it about the Agreste family and wielding dark magic in train bathrooms? The twins HAVE to be sentimonsters because I refuse to believe Felix isn’t related to Gabriel in any way, it’s ridiculous.
He also retrieves Nathalie’s tablet and deletes her Candy Crush flicks through scans of the Miraculous book to find details on the Peacock and how to activate it. I’m so upset Shadow Moth’s presence confirms this brooch is a fake; this would be so cool! :(
- Felix is perplexed when no kwami appears from the brooch. He tries the magic words - “Duusu, spread my feathers!” - and nothing happens. He crushes the brooch in the palm of his hand and it shatters easily, proving it’s just cheap costume jewelry his uncle planted as a decoy.
- FELIX REALISES HE’S BEEN TRICKED. Score one for Uncle Gabe! Turnabout is fair play after all, and it’s taken him over three episodes to get back at his nephew in any way. During their last conflict Gabriel may have been a fool dressed as a peacock in his secretary’s bedroom, but he’s not a fool dressed as Adrien Agreste in a train bathroom with no Miraculous. That’s Felix.
- Back to Paris and Strike Back is stomping around. He looks like one of those Laputa golems (which I’m sure is intentional). Ladybug and Chat meet up and fall into sync right away, agreeing to wrap this up quick because they’ve both got other pressing business. This pressing business is Felix, lol.
- Shadow Moth leers from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Risk (who I completely forgot about, lmao) cycles through the sentimonster’s path of destruction and influences nearby Parisians to stick around in the danger zone so they can catch sight of the superheroes/get videos for social media. I’m surprised this isn’t a problem they have to deal with more often since the heroes are very popular; this is exactly what Alya was doing in Season 1 and it’s apparently been less than a year since then!
- Ladybug has to actively “shoo!” the civilians away, which is very funny. She also drags Risk out of danger, not realising he’s an akuma; then Risk pushes straight onwards again and nearly gets hit by a car. WHY IS EVERY SINGLE TODDLER IN MIRACULOUS SO TERRIBLE.
- Chat’s Risk mark lights up and he nearly Cataclysms the sentimonster, which as we know is a HUGE no-no because it makes them go haywire. Ladybug trips it with her yoyo wire instead, and Strike Back makes a massive dent in the city with millions in property damage. Chat gets annoyed and says that was literally no better than what he was gonna do! Which isn’t actually correct but I’ll give him this one; he deserves a little snark today. As a treat.
- The heroes go on to argue, appropriately, about how Ladybug never wants to take any risks. I like this exchange; both kids are very animated and I love Chat’s flow of sassy/disgruntled expressions in particular.
Chat asks if Ladybug would ‘risk’ knowing who he was behind the mask, and Ladybug gets angry because she does NOT want to have this discussion right now! It’s REALLY dumb at this point. EITHER LET THEM SHARE IDENTITIES OR STOP ENGINEERING MORE REASONS WHY IT WOULD BE FINE TO DO SO, MY GOODNESS.
- This impromptu debate distracts them from Strike Back, who nearly flattens them. Chat grabs Ladybug despite them being super mad at each other right now (which is sweet); and the pair crashland in the streets and roll several feet while STILL arguing. This reminds me a whole lot of Stormy Weather and I wonder if that’s on purpose. Look how far we’ve come.
Geez, remember when this show wasn’t exactly what we’d expected but it also wasn’t a mess? Those golden days of staying up late and watching low-res Korean TV streams waiting for a new episode with no subtitles, instead of putting new content off for weeks because it’s too exhausting to see what they’ll do next. Edorazzi remembers. :’)
- Chat asks “Why do you know the identities of the other Miraculous holders? Why not me?” And Ladybug yet again tells him she’s protecting his identity in case Shadow Moth akumatizes her. Clearly the scriptwriters know what they meant, but I took that as Chat questioning why Ladybug shut him out of knowing ANY of the other superheroes so he couldn’t even help with stuff like Miraculous distribution. Wasn’t that where this started? Why are we back here??
- Chat says either he, she or both of them (I can’t figure out exactly what he says :/) will NEVER get akumatized. Ladybug has a flashback to Chat Blanc.
ARE WE REALLY BRINGING THIS UP. Like I’m sorry, but if we’re dragging that mess of an episode back into relevancy then Bunnyx should show up to slap Ladybug on the wrist whenever she’s about to do something which dooms the universe (because Marinette is somehow capable of breaking her own timeline without any outside influence); therefore if Bunnyx isn’t here right now then it’s fine and she has no reason to be defensive. Which is ridiculous but that’s the canon logic we’re living with. Welcome to the clown tent.
- “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” / “Maybe because you never talk to me about ANYTHING!” HE’S RIGHT, YOU KNOW. Ladybug doesn’t have to full-on share identities if she isn’t comfortable, but this season has a pattern of Chat getting left out of things and then being blamed for not knowing what’s up. Everything from Sentibubbler to the Scarabella mess and now this! JUST COMMUNICATE, HOLY SHIT. WHERE IS FELIX.
- IT’S ESCALATING. Through her earpiece Rena Furtive prompts Ladybug to dodge an attack. Ladybug’s Risk mark lights up and she thanks Rena loudly for Chat to hear. For a second she ACTUALLY tries to pretend she doesn’t know what Chat’s talking about, but ultimately confesses that Rena (who supposedly gave up her Miraculous way back in Sentibubbler) is on watch except she can’t tell him where.
I guess this is a sign she does want to share this stuff with Chat and just doesn’t have the courage; but it comes across as a slap in the face and more like she forgot he was there. Chat is getting FURIOUS and I’m not happy either, the disrespect!!! >:0
- Ladybug spots Risk heading back into the danger zone once again and swings off to save him. Chat spots Mayor Bourgeois breaking out his film camera to record the sentimonster and does the same (and it’s nice to see more followup on André’s passions!). The kids realise they can’t fight the sentimonster if they’re constantly saving civilians, so Ladybug goes for “reinforcements”. Which Chat isn’t allowed to know about, of course.
- Is she going for Felix, believing he’s Adrien and that this will be the perfect excuse to keep him in Paris. MAYBE.
- Ladybug dishes out a bunch of Miraculous to the usual suspects (Nino, Kagami, Juleka, Zoe and Mylene), including Marc and Ivan this time! That’s nice. Where is Luka though? I get the feeling the writers banned him from the rest of the season because all the drama comes from Chat and Ladybug arguing/ miscommunicating, and we’ve seen from Wishmaker that Luka knows exactly how to deal with that nonsense. Can’t change his nature so just lock him in the houseboat until Season 5. :/
- Apparently Roi Singe is here too. Why wasn’t he in the lineup? The heroes launch several attacks on Strike Back and nothing works, the sentimonster just duplicates and copies their powers into its clones. Is this an allegory for Ol’ Gabe FINALLY figuring out how to dupe Felix, by absorbing his trickery and turning it back on him? :V
- Strike Back rips up the Ferris wheel to throw at them, and Ryuko unknowingly deflects it towards the top of the TV studio where Rena is hiding. Carapace SCREAMS her name and throws Shellter over the building so she won’t get hit.
- EVERYONE INCLUDING SHADOW MOTH IS NOW AWARE RENA IS STILL AN ACTIVE MIRACULOUS HOLDER. Which could have been avoided if Nino just didn’t YELL OUT HER WHOLEASS NAME, right? It’s reasonable to protect one of the tallest buildings in Paris; might not have been the wisest use of his power but nobody would question it! It’s not even implied he shouted because of Risk, this particular dumbassery is all his own.
How on Earth did Nino know, though? Did Alya bring him back into the loop? I seriously don’t remember that happening, but hell if I can recall half of what goes on in this show any more. Not to be Old Woman Yells At Cloud but I used to have such a good grip on what was happening in Miraculous and now I’m barely clinging on. :’V
Also, for once Carapace is the one everybody’s going >:0 at, which is a nice change from him picking on Chat Noir so much this season. Ah ha ha.
- OKAY. Alya confesses she told Nino about Rena Furtive because she just “couldn’t keep it from him”, so this is something that happened behind the scenes. LADYBUG SOUNDS SUPER MAD AT HER. This is so funny. I don’t hate any of these characters but they’ve been deeply frustrating for the latter half of the season and watching this all turn around is cathartic. :D
- Rena FINALLY notices everyone’s frog-shaped marks. There’s also a moment where Ladybug is about to wring Risk’s neck but Chat intervenes because he’s “good with kids” and Risk clings to him immediately. It’s pretty cute.
- CHAT GETS THROWN FROM OFFSCREEN INTO A BUILDING. GUESS BABYSITTING DIDN’T GO WELL. The heroes finally realise Risk is an akuma, and Shadow Moth is pleased because now Ladybug will second-guess everything she does. It’s a neat little two-layered plan; first she’s blissfully reckless and then she’s paranoid!
Ladybug immediately orders Chat to go detransform because she won’t trust him with his Cataclysm, which I’m sure will do wonders for this argument they’re already having. :/
- Chat is left on the rooftop as everyone else leaves, and the fragile little way he mumbles “But I can help...” has me in TEARS.
His Risk mark flares up a moment later and he leaps off towards one of the Strike Back clones, presumably to do something reckless that Ladybug will get mad about.
- Meanwhile, the girls try to de-akumatize Risk but can’t find his akumatized object because he hid it. Which is REALLY sneaky and honestly something Shadow Moth should instruct every akumatized person to do. Forget all these “megakumas” or whatever else Ol’ Gabe’s working on, just hide the key items and they’ll be borderline unstoppable!
- Chat gets pinned by a vehicle and tries to Cataclysm it to get free, only to have his attack stolen by Strike Back. That’s disappointing; I really expected him to prove Ladybug’s fears wrong by being sensible regardless of risk-taking but I guess we’re not doing that today. :/
- Ladybug gets mad and Lucky Charms up a day-old zoo ticket. Not sure what her plan is, but she decides she needs someone who hasn’t been hit by Risk - and of course her mind goes to Adrien-who-is-actually-Felix who she vividly recalls having no mark on his neck as she watched him board the train. UH OH. I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, I JUST DIDN’T KNOW HOW.
- Ladybug goes on a confusing tangent about whether or not her ideas are too risky, just as Shadow Moth anticipated.
She plucks the Horse and the Rabbit Miraculous out of her yoyo dimension - never mind how she has the stopwatch after Season 1 established it belonged to Alix as a family heirloom. I don’t know WHAT is going on with the Bunnyx subplot any more, IT’S ALL STUPID - and merges them with the Ladybug Miraculous to come out looking like a video game avatar when you equip all your high stat items at once; then jumps through a portal to (I presume) give Felix his fifth heart attack of the day.
- Pegabunnybug and “Adrien” come out of adjacent bathrooms at the same time and spook each other. It’s like when the business convention has to share a venue with the sci-fi anime con!
Felix instantly goes into recovery mode, as is his #1 talent, and (after subtly throwing his bag of stolen goods into the bathroom stall and closing the door) puts on his best wide-eyed Adrien impression.
- Instantly getting into his personal space, Ladybug checks “Adrien’s” neck and confirms he’s unmarked by Risk. If Felix is trying to save his cousin from being a doormat this is a sign to redouble his efforts; he dresses up as Adrien for 20 minutes and everyone keeps touching him! >:0
- She produces a Miraculous from her yoyo (lord help me I can’t recognise any of them any more :/) and Felix is very interested in this little pocket dimension. Now I was already assuming he’d steal whichever item this is but IS HE PLANNING TO SWIPE THE WHOLE DAMN YOYO? SWEETIE. IF THIS IS WHERE IT’S GOING NO WONDER PEOPLE ARE MAD AT HIM.
- Oh, the Dog Miraculous! SO IT’S GONNA BE LIKE THAT WHEN FELIX IS TRADITIONALLY A CAT HOLDER, IS IT.
Not that I’m NOT Pro-Felix, and I guess they’ve recast the snake, the bee and technically the mouse when their holders didn’t suit, but this feels kinda mean to Sabrina when she’s done nothing to deserve losing it. I already know giving the power of item retrieval to a thief is a terrible idea, but I wonder who’s most at risk here; Nathalie, Gabriel or Ladybug?
- I wonder about “Adrien” doubting himself for a second here. Is that part of Felix’s impression of his pathetic cousin or a genuine reaction? I don’t see the point in hesitating if Ladybug is freely offering what he wants but maybe he’s just covering his ass; can’t look too eager.
I’ve talked about this before but this is what I mean with Felix, you know? When it comes to scenes like this nearly every Miraculous character can be sorted into two categories: “genuine” or “ingenuine but it’s very obvious”; but despite Felix’s theatrical villainy he has no clear goal or motivation like everyone else. I know this is a kiddie show for babies but I think the shift in parameters is why I’m consistently baffled and changing my interpretation of what’s happening.
That said, I’m sure he’s being fake as hell right now; just something to bring up. Let’s continue.
- HIS REACTION IS SO CUTE WHEN BARKK APPEARS. This is what Felix was expecting when he put on the fake Peacock Miraculous and he’s clearly amazed to see it for real!
Now I think about it, wasn’t Barkk a little set apart from the other kwami in a couple of previous episodes; being a bit more vigilant and purpose-driven? Maybe she(?) and Felix will get along? :0
- OH MY GOD, THE TRANSFORMATION!!! THEY GAVE FELIX HIS THIGH HIGHS. GOD FUCKING BLESS.
It’s a little disappointing he’s pretending to be Adrien right now, so we still don’t know what a costume tailored to Felix himself would look like (less gaudy than this, I imagine), but this is a lot more flattering than whatever Sabrina had going on and has several beats of Felix’s classic Chat Noir suit. The boots! The ball “bell”! The sharp shoulders, sleek arms and big ears!!! （ｉДｉ）
Throwing in a comparison. Those boots are spot on, pun fully intended.
Yet again I should switch this episode off here, I really should. Every single Felix Episode has a point where it can only go downhill and this is where I should stop; where he has yet to do anything horrific and also got a cute transformation. Alas, I press play. :(
- Yep, he immediately touches Ladybug’s yoyo under the pretence of learning how his powers work. Fortunately it’s ineffective since he needs to use the ball and not his bare hand, but he’s gunning for it. FELIX NOOOO.
- Ladybug’s plan is to go back into the past, I guess to find where Risk hid his akumatized object. That must be what the zoo ticket is for, I just figured it out. This is what happens when I don’t get a recap in a two-parter.
She takes “Adrien” into Bunnyx’s rabbit hole dimension, and I can SEE him having an absolute meltdown trying to process all this but he’s holding it together like a champ.
I should start keeping a scoreboard of Felix’s heart attacks because this makes at least six in one day. Dropping into the Butterfly Lair, discovering Emilie’s corpse, Gabriel nearly catching him in the study, Nathalie touching his hand (>:0!!!), Pegabunnybug ambushing him on the train and now the rabbit hole dimension scrambling his brain. Good thing he’s probably a sentimonster because this would kill a normal person.
- They get spat out into the zoo scene from the previous episode, where Risk has just been akumatized. “Adrien” is here to simply throw the ball and hit the akumatized object; I guess so they can locate it in the future and not disrupt the timeline by grabbing it now.
I’d question why Ladybug couldn’t just quadruple up on Miraculous and do this herself, but they have thrown in the crippling doubt over her own actions (and I’m sure the excuse to get Adrien in on things is appealing to her) so fair enough. Turns out I was right about Felix being the key because he’s a sociopathic little bastard who can operate normally under these circumstances. :V
- Wow, Felix actually does as instructed! I thought he would tag Ladybug’s yoyo and run, but he just dutifully hits the frog toy and they both jump back into the portal. I assume he can’t pick more than one target without refueling his kwami, right?
- They return to the present and PARIS IS IN FLAMES, SOMEHOW.
Is this shot a reference to the PV with Felix and Bri on the rooftop under the burning sky? It’s much less cinematic and Felix is dressed like a dog, but it definitely feels like a homage considering the characters we’re dealing with. That’s fun.
- The Miraculous Holders are dying, and Chat Noir is either the last one standing OR he’s gone off the rails and caused this whole mess.
Ladybug instructs “Adrien” (who is still unnamed as a hero, I think?) to use his power and they locate the akumatized object with ease. This solves the Risk problem but now they have to deal with the duplicating sentimonster!
- Chat eavesdrops on Ladybug absolutely WORSHIPING the new guy. My first reaction was “wow she really is obsessed with Adrien”, but this is also after Adrien failed spectaclarly as Aspik (and Viperion became the new Snake Miraculous Holder), which I don’t think gets brought up often enough and puts a new angle on Ladybug congratulating him for doing everything right on his “first try”. :’0
- LADYBUG BLURTS OUT ADRIEN’S NAME. GIRL WHAT THE HECK, THE RISK MARKS ARE GONE. IS SHE JUST DUMB.
- Felix picks some absolutely horrific name for himself that I don’t know how to spell (but have since discovered it’s “Flairmidable”). I guess it doesn’t matter since he’ll probably never be a Miraculous Holder again. Maybe he eschewed some more on-the-nose dog puns like “Retriever” or “Courage” or Scrappy, lmao just to make Adrien look ridiculous? I can dream.
Either way this should be a massive clue he ISN’T Adrien, who settled on the very creative “Black Cat” and had to stay up all night with Plagg’s help to come up with “Catwalker”, but nobody’s close enough to him to connect those dots. Adrien’s arguably better at costume design though; the cousins should pool their talents sometime.
- Chat seems to have missed Ladybug’s slip of the tongue, so he’s just very upset to see her bonding so hard with this new guy. It’s like a glimpse into an alternate universe where Adrien and Chat really ARE different people. Don’t worry honey, Flairmidable isn’t interested in girls like that; he just wants to rob her! >:V
- Ladybug returns Froggy’s plush toy to him, protective charm attached. Also, Rena Furtive is now out in the open with everyone? I know her existence got re-confirmed but unless Ladybug’s about to take her Miraculous away this seems like a horrible idea. Shadow Moth knows who she is! At least preserve the illusion of being a different person!!!
- Everyone goes to recharge, which I’m sure will give Felix another shot at stealing that yoyo. Chat is left alone and despondent. :(
- Shadow Moth is disappointed by Risk’s defeat, but is certain Ladybug must have made a mistake and “can’t wait to see what it is”. THAT WOULD BE FELIX, A TERRIBLE HORRIBLE MISTAKE UNCLE GABE IS PERSONALLY FAMILIAR WITH. :)
- Revisiting the sewers, Ladybug and Flairmidable detransform either side of the split tunnels like Marinette and Adrien have done before.
Mari resolves to return “Adrien” to the Startrain and feels wrong for interfering (as if the real Adrien didn’t have a whole outburst just this morning about how much he hated this?), but “Adrien” claims he wants to stay here and fight by her side instead, leering at Barkk in a comically menacing way. GUESS THE NONSENSE IS STARTING. I UNCLIPPED MY SEATBELT FOR A SECOND THERE BUT TIME TO STRAP BACK IN. :/
- “You’ve given me the courage I needed, Ladybug. I feel like from now on, NOTHING can stop me.” OKAY EDGELORD, TONE IT DOWN.
I really want to know what Felix’s goals are here. He hasn’t shown interest in destroying the superheroes like Shadow Moth or obtaining power/control like Lila and Chloe - it’s mainly been about getting the family rings plus a side order of ruining Gabriel’s day (and Adrien’s if he gets caught in the crossfire, sorry buddy) and his interest in the Miraculous seems like a relatively new thing. He was also horrified by finding Emilie which tells me he’s not completely sociopathic. Clearly he’s about to do something horrible but I have trouble believing he’s just a villain with no good motive, you know?
- Back topside, the remaining Miraculous Holders (plus Rena, sans Chat) are on the exact same rooftop they nearly died on earlier. Very smart. Ladybug shows up with Flairmidable and officially introduces him as “the new holder of the Dog Miraculous!” SO I GUESS IT’S OVER FOR SABRINA. OOF.
Chat Noir pops up over the railing right as she says this (while gazing at Flairmidable with adoration) which is VERY funny. Like oh no you DON’T. >:0
- Ladybug smooshes the pair of them together, clearly happy to have her two favourite guys side by side (Viperion wasn’t even invited today, second oof) and delighted with the cat/dog dynamic. Once again she’s ignoring Chat’s very obvious discomfort as if this setup is perfect! She laughs hysterically as the other Miraculous Holders look on with concern.
- Chat absolutely HATES this guy. Flairmidable gives a polite little “Nice working with you, Chat Noir :)” but it’s tinged with the same venom as Felix’s intro scene where he called Adrien his “favourite cousin”. I’m convinced this kid just can’t say ANYTHING nice without sounding evil, exactly like his uncle. :’)
- I’m wondering if this will be the consequence of all the times Chat had to put up with Rena. He didn’t trust her at ALL but had to just shut up and do what he was told as the girls worked everything out behind his back. Now Flairmidable is giving off positively evil vibes, but is Chat going to push it or assume Ladybug knows what she’s doing and he doesn’t have the right to say anything?
- Ladybug tells the boys to “shake paws” like they’re actual pets. Hold on to your ring, Chat, we all know what happened LAST time Felix shook hands with anyone. Chat reaches out very reluctantly but Flairmidable firmly grasps his hand and shakes it, putting in the extra distance like he’s REALLY determined to be friendly.
Ladybug is trilling in excitement and completely ignoring Chat very obviously wanting to die right now. I feel kinda bad for them both, honestly. Also, is Felix lefthanded? :0
- Ladybug assures the boys they’re going to be spending a LOOOOT of time together now Flairmidable is on the team. FOREVER.
Wasn’t this the exact problem they faced in Kuro Neko; when Adrien put on his princely public persona as Catwalker and Ladybug couldn’t function around him because he was too hot? Does her determination to have Adrien on the team overpower her decision not to work with anyone she’s attracted to? I’m sure this won’t matter because Felix will have robbed her by the end of the day and never be allowed a Miraculous again, but still.
- Ladybug Lucky Charms up a pair of sunglasses which Marc duplicates. While she’s explaining whatever the hell this plan is, Flairmidable subtly touches his ball to her yoyo. I KNEW he was up to shit.
There’s various shots of everyone wearing their shades, and Flairmidable carefully handling his pair while Chat has just slapped them on and continued to glare is very funny.
- Flairmidable gets some kinda look on his face when he asks what Ladybug is planning to do with the sentimonsters, like he’s nervous. Hmm.
- Everyone leaps away but Flairmidable hangs back from the crowd. He looks like Dave Strider in these glasses and that wasn’t a comparison I was prepared to make today.
- Pegabug OPENS A GIANT PORTAL WHICH DROPS THE SENTIMONSTERS INTO THE FUCKING SUN. OKAY??? I GUESS THAT’S WHY EVERYONE NEEDED THE SHADES BUT JESUS....
- Flairmidable takes off his shades with a look of sadness, drops them at his feet where they shatter, then turns away with a sorrow-filled whisper of “I’m sorry”.
And I’m going to interrupt myself here with a post-liveblog sidebar because I WAS DUMB AS ROCKS ON MY FIRST WATCH.
I initially interpreted this as Felix enjoying himself around the superheroes (especially after Chat accused him of having no friends; maybe this is his first experience being accepted by a group of peers) and being reluctant to betray them for whatever his bigger goal is, but now I absolutely believe he was talking to the sentimonsters, not the heroes.
He was fine dispatching Risk (an akuma) but instantly nervous about what Ladybug planned to do with the Strike Back clones, and ultimately had to watch them die at the hands of the Miraculous Heroes - in a sequence framed a lot more dramatically than other episodes - while being unable to step in. Jesus FUCK. “Felix is a sentimonster” isn’t even a question at this point, is it.
ANYWAY.
- At the top of the Eiffel Tower, Shadow Moth is so enraged he jumps over the edge. I’m sure he’s bounding away to do more evil but THAT’S SO FUNNY; HE’S LIKE A TODDLER.
- Rena and Ladybug land in an alley just like before, perfectly synchronised. Are they still gonna have a serious discussion or is Ladybug riding high on inducting “Adrien” into the gang and ready to forgive everything?
- Marinette is willing to let things go, saying she understands the need to share everything with her best friend (Chat Noir is CRYING on a rooftop somewhere), but it’s actually Alya who renounces her Miraculous because she knows it’s too risky to continue as Rena now Shadow Moth knows? WHOA. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
I’ve been liking Alya more and more this season; I found her pretty irritating and reckless earlier in the show (when all her plotlines were about hindering Ladybug, having a boyfriend and/or not respecting Marinette’s boundaries with Adrien) but she’s really pulling through. Miraculous or not I hope she stays as Mari’s confidante.
- Ladybug goes back to the sewers to find Adrien, who ISN’T THERE. QUELLE SURPRISE.
- Cut to Gabriel returning home (in a very dignified way, after leaping off the Eiffel Tower in a blind rage) while on a call to Nathalie, complaining about this plan failing and demanding she cancel everything and bring Adrien home. THE WHIPLASH ADRIEN WOULD BE GETTING IF HE WERE ACTUALLY THERE. He strides into his study, still on the phone, and cue the funniest moment so far of this Gabriel/Felix feud.
- FLAIRMIDABLE IS JUST LOUNGING THERE, FULL COSTUME, FEET UP ON SHADOW MOTH’S DESK AND PLAYING WITH THE BALL. Strikingly similar to the way he greeted Adrien in the previous episode, and again lefthanded.
He does shift to spinning it with his right hand later, and I think he was messing with Adrien’s basketball righthanded too; so Felix must be ambidextrous. It would certainly fit his character considering he takes whichever side is most beneficial to him.
- GABRIEL DROPS HIS PHONE, AND AFTER TWO FULL EPISODES FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGES FELIX’S PRESENCE IN HIS HOME. Albeit this time with genuine surprise instead of murderous rage. Felix clarifies that he was the mistake Ladybug made, which is what we’ve all been saying.
I did have an extra note here to the effect of “I haven’t forgotten the remorseful way he abandoned the heroes tho”, but that’s out the window now I’ve realised Felix was upset about the sentimonsters. In his mind the Miraculous Holders probably deserve whatever they get!
- Also, Nathalie starts dying on the Startrain. Lila notices and looks pleased about it. Moving on.
- Cut to who I assume is the real Adrien exiting his ensuite bathroom, back in his normal clothes, and Ladybug leaping in through his open window. TO CHEW HIM OUT FOR STEALING THE MIRACULOUS FELIX TOOK, I’M SURE.
- Okay, at least Ladybug’s giving him the benefit of the doubt at first; assuming she forgot to tell Adrien where they should meet after the battle. You could say something about her trusting Adrien is in the right while Chat Noir is currently always in the wrong at ALL times, but I’m just glad Adrien’s reputation isn’t actually suffering because of Felix’s mischief. I’m Team Felix here but Adrien deserves a break.
- Ladybug mentions the train and Adrien realises what happened, ominously growling “FELIX”, and Ladybug’s horror movie reaction is amazing.
Chill out guys, you don’t even know what he’s done yet! Adrien was still trying to figure out how Felix screwed him over by commandeering this modeling trip, you always expect the worst. Yes he’s actively committing an atrocity as we speak, but you shouldn’t just assume! >:0
- Back to the office and this is INCREDIBLE. I love these shots of Felix just making himself at home in other people’s stuff; he looks SO fucking full of himself. I also notice he’s got paw pads on his boots, which is another point on the “honouring Felix’s old costume” scoreboard:
The classic beans.
- So Felix wants the Peacock Miraculous now. He threatens to tell Adrien about the secret waifu dungeon beneath the mansion BUT offers Gabriel a trade: the Peacock for all the other Miraculous, and he’ll return the family ring he stole. I can’t believe we thought Lila was going to be the new villain striking deals with Shadow Moth, Felix is outrageous!
And I’m interrupting myself again, but lots of my commentary on this scene was “why does Felix want the Peacock? What’s up with him? Why is he giving up on the rings and why doesn’t he “need” the one he took any more?”; blah blah blah. He’s a sentimonster and the Peacock Miraculous is like handing a dog its own leash. Endless freedom baybee.
I think he was after Emilie’s ring - the one Nathalie currently has - because it contains Adrien’s amok (while Felix’s is likely in the ring he’s been wearing this whole time, which I believe belonged to his dad?), so he’s comfy returning Gabriel’s ring in this bargain because its only value is sentimental. I’m playing 5D chess in my brain with all this but I honestly think that’s what’s happening.
- “If I’d wanted to harm you, Uncle, I would have done it a long time ago.” KINDA FUCKED UP, BUT I GUESS THAT’S ON PAR WITH “I need only snap my fingers to make you disappear from here”. Affectionate death threats must run in the Agreste/Vanily families and Adrien gets excluded because he’s sensitive. Felix really tries being nice to him with the “my favourite cousin” stuff but it still comes out sounding evil. :/
- HOLY SHIT, GABRIEL ACTUALLY DOES IT. He renounces Duusu and swaps the Peacock brooch for the family ring!!! Both he and Felix hesitate warily before grabbing the items from each other; they really do NOT trust one another (despite being family; or probably because they’re family) and I love that.
- Felix makes good on his promise and “fetches” Ladybug’s compact. Gabriel grabs it from him in glee, cackling that Ladybug has FINALLY lost. GUESS FELIX IS HIS FAVOURITE NOW. Sucks to be the Miraculous Holders but I always said some kind of bargaining system would make things way easier than just threatening each other all the time!
- Upstairs, Ladybug is having a panic attack in Adrien’s room. Wouldn’t the yoyo disappear if she detransforms then reappear on her person? It’s tough to think clearly in a panic though and I do feel for her. I want to give her a hug. :(
- ADRIEN IS A TOTAL BESTIE. 10/10. He takes charge of the situation, instructs Ladybug to think and breathe, and shoves her into the bathroom where she can detransform in privacy. His ring is in full view for this shot - he’s ABSOLUTELY in Chat Noir mode and THIS is why he’s her partner! But poor Mari doesn’t trust anything about herself, her decisions or even that Adrien isn’t Felix right now and tricking her again. Sweetheart...! ; n ;
- Downstairs, Felix renounces the Dog Miraculous to Gabriel as well - who is cackling over his haul - and leaves the study with (I assume) just the Peacock. I’m sure Adrien’s about to rugby tackle him across the foyer and THAT I would love to see.
- Ladybug retransforms (baby girl, sweetie, if only you’d done that instantly...! :’0) and is too late! Gabriel took ALL the Miraculous except hers, Chat Noir’s, and the Peacock. Even the Fox is gone because Alya gave it back to Marinette this afternoon. THIS HAS ALL WORKED OUT HORRIBLY.
Is this implying Season 5 will draw back on the huge fleet of heroes but deliver on crazy new outfits for Gabriel? I hope so.
- Adrien gets a burst of courage (this time not from an akuma) and opens the bathroom door to speak to Ladybug; maybe planning to reveal his identity as Chat Noir to give better support than his civilian self can. She’s gone by the time he enters. :(
- Ladybug is outdoors crying in the rain. Hawk Moth (I guess he’s not Shadow Moth any more?) does a ridiculous Eye of Sauron thing in the sky; like his introduction in Origins except even campier with a massive ring of Miraculous symbols.
- During his evil speech we cycle through several of the (ex) Miraculous Holders looking mad about it. Hi Luka, nice to see you at least once before the season ends.
They have Chloe here too and even she looks upset; could this be a hint she’s coming back as Queen Bee or at least allying with the heroes?? PLEASE. It’s only been half a season and I am SO tired of Zoe.
- Cut to Felix on the Startrain, and I’m sure Ladybug’s wellbeing comes first but frankly I’m amazed Chat Noir hasn’t camped out at the train station to beat his ass. He’s gotta go home sometime! >:0
We see the Peacock Miraculous has redesigned itself to suit him which is really cool. It reminds me a bit of his classic Black Cat ring.
The pointed edges almost look like cat ears.
Felix also looks, like... really happy to have it. Not ‘evil’ happy, relieved happy; holding it to his chest and closing his eyes with a peaceful smile. This is clearly important to him on a personal level and not just about causing more chaos. And here is my VERY belated realisation that Felix is a sentimonster who just won his own freedom, holy SHIT.
- Back to Ladybug. Chat Noir appears by her side, standing upright and fierce while she’s curled up and small. She FINALLY realises all the nonsense she’s been putting him through this season and can’t understand why he’s still here.
I’m glad they’re actually addressing this. I’ve enjoyed the angsty dynamic of Chat getting sidelined but it’s frustrating when every confrontation has gone nowhere. Marinette’s had a huge amount on her shoulders this season so I don’t blame her for being stressed and distracted, but she will NOT let Chat help her and has preferred to ignore/placate him in small doses instead of actually sitting down to address the problem. Like it’s wildly inconvenient he doesn’t know what’s going on with her, but she also won’t tell him and then gets mad when he steps on her toes.
I don’t think they should reveal identities if Ladybug isn’t ready (and Chat is wrong to keep asking, even if he’s only pressing so hard because he thinks it’ll fix things), but it’s a big leap between that and just, like... keeping Chat in the loop so he isn’t confused. Fortunately that shouldn’t be a problem any more! :D
- ANYWAY. Chat pulls Ladybug to her feet and into a hug, swearing to her they’ll get all the Miraculous back one by one. GUESS THAT’S THE PLOT OF SEASON 5. Also the entirety of Paris is out here cheering for her (despite Hawk Moth blaming her for allowing this mess to happen) which is really sweet. And if the blush on her cheeks is any indication, maybe she’s falling in love with Chat Noir now? :0
Gorgeous final scene. Very atmospheric.
-
SO WOW. HOLY SHIT, WHAT AN EPISODE.
I was anticipating a Miracle-Queen-esque storyline which would take Felix from an intriguing character to a ridiculous villain with bland motives (and then I’d have to work overtime to insist he’s still likable/interesting), but this was so much more exciting than I expected!!!
Once again Felix gets more done in one episode than the rest of the characters in a whole season, but the way the status quo has been changed up is fascinating. It might not be just Hawk Moth vs the Miraculous Heroes any more - it looks like Felix has created a third side for sentimonsters and he’ll ally with or step on whichever group benefits him most. This is WILD.
So my thoughts on Felix specifically. I think he’s a perfect example of a “chaotic neutral” character. Here’s a DND definition I swiped from Google:
‘A chaotic neutral character is an individualist who follows their own heart and generally shirks rules and traditions. Although chaotic neutral characters promote the ideals of freedom, it is their own freedom that comes first; good and evil come second to their need to be free.’
Doesn’t that sound like him? Like they literally printed this out and stuck it on the wall while designing Felix “God Damn” Vanily.
I imagine a lot of fans hate him because he’s made things harder for the main characters, and I agree, he did! He tricked Adrien, undid three seasons’ worth of progress, delivered all the extra Miraculous directly to Shadow Moth, and Ladybug’s breakdown towards the end of the episode was painful to watch. I absolutely get it. But that doesn’t make Felix a villain. It doesn’t even make him a bad person per se - he’s just not on anyone’s side. He shows up, gets his shit done and leaves. Fair play.
(That said, I really do think he was planning to help Adrien get out of this international photoshoot and got distracted by the ring. Yes he wanted to break into Gabriel’s safe, but he could have done that at just about any time without engaging his cousin! Felix took the time to push that “freedom is something you make” sentiment and yet again encourage Adrien to stand up for himself. I think he does genuinely care about him his wellbeing at least, not Adrien’s reputation lmao and just has no clue how involved Adrien is with the Miraculous stuff.)
I also don’t know what to expect from him in the future. I’ve seen assumptions he’ll wield the Peacock Miraculous as a new villain, but if he sees sentimonsters as living beings then will he? Shadow Moth and Mayura were fine creating and dismissing as many as they pleased but I don’t think Felix could do that; he’d have to be extremely picky if he even used it at all.
Gabriel is the only one who knows Felix has the Peacock right now too; so it’s not like the Miraculous heroes will be kicking down his door looking for it (RIP my hopes for the London Special :’D). They know he’s a traitorous bitch but not what he got out of the deal; at least not yet.
I also wonder what his relationship will be with Duusu. Maybe part of Duusu’s emotional fragility is because he feels the same way about sentimonsters being alive/enslaved/abused, and if Felix is a sentimonster himself then they might get very attached to each other. And Felix has worked completely solo thus far, bouncing off people but having no actual allies, so giving him someone like Duusu (a magic pet who is a lot of responsibility and can hold a conversation) will be a very interesting exposé of his character.
I’m personally in the camp that he’ll huffily take care of Duusu’s ridiculous needs, loudly complaining that he should just ship the Peacock Miraculous back to his uncle while putting together an expensive Barbie Dreamhouse for him to live in and pre-slicing Duusu’s favourite trashy pizza rolls. Maybe they’ll just make Felix super duper evil in Season 5 but I can dream. :’)
SO. I THINK I’M DONE. JESUS CHRIST I NEED TO LIE DOWN.
Thanks for reading if you got this far! Rehydrate, take an Ibuprofen, tell me your thoughts and I’ll see you again for the next round of Felix nonsense! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
#LORD PRESERVE ME I HOPE THIS FORMATS CORRECTLY. i wasn't battling so much with the post editor this time but i'm still wary#hopefully this will be more entertaining than the previous review post now i know the outcome of this storyline!#also i have like. SO much flairmidable fanart to post. i adore this horrible dog boy#please let me know if you especially liked any part of this! but also go easy on me; i am fragile :'V#josie talks about things#felix graham de vanily#miraculous ladybug
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Your favorite song
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Summary: When Vecna’s curse affects you, someone who doesn’t consider himself as a hero outside of D&D comes to save you with his amazing guitar skills, playing your favorite song to save you from it.
Author’s Note: Heavily follows the plot and contains season 4 spoilers! Not any vol2 spoilers tho. The summary is for the entire series. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I really got emotional writing a certain scene and I suggest you to read it while listening to some sad love songs lol
(Also let me know if you have any ideas about which song should be the reader's favorite song!)
Word Count: 2.9k
What to Expect: Reader x Eddie Munson, Jason Carver, Confronting Jason and defending Eddie, Reuniting with Eddie after a long time, Fluff and angst at the same time, Dustin and Eddie being heartwarmingly cute, Eddie caring for the reader and comforting her, Some romantic moments, Others finding out about the reader's problem and more!
As Steve’s car disappeared into the woods, you made your way to Jason. When he saw you approaching, he put on a little smile and greeted you with a swift nod of his head. He looked like a mess with all of his clothes soaked up and he seemed like he didn't sleep all night.
‘(Y/N)! What are you doing here?’ He asked curiously, tilting his head. It was obvious that he was shocked to see you there. Only two types of people would’ve been there; weed addicts or people who would know where Eddie was this whole time.
‘Jason, hey… You good? What happened?’ You asked, trying to avoid his question while putting on a sincere, worried look on your face.
‘Answer me first, sweetie.’ He said in return, he was still smiling but now it was a fake, forced one. It didn’t quite reach his eyes.
‘I’m sorry… I don’t understand.’ You answered, frowning. You were trying to appear clueless. You also hated the nickname but you couldn’t let him get to you and show your anger, not now.
In an attempt to close the big distance between the two of you, he took a step forward and tried to be closer so that you would feel intimidated by his tall, muscular frame. You didn’t move even though you felt a wave of fear washing over you.
‘C’mon, tell me.’
‘...Fine.’ You sighed.
Then you rapidly took a look around, especially at the police cars and tried to seem like you were embarrassed about what you were going to say next. Seeing you in distress, he looked at where you were looking and turned to you, whispering:
‘Wait, are you here to… buy drugs?’ He furrowed his brows and you hummed in response.
‘Damn, didn’t know you were a fucking junkie, (Y/N).’
‘Well, you got me!’ You exclaimed as you put both of your hands up high, accepting the ‘defeat’... This guy knew exactly how to annoy you.
‘You don’t seem like the type to smoke weed and be a fucking coward. That’s awful.’
‘Well Chrissy didn’t either, did she?’ You blurted out. Being fed with Jason’s bullshit, you wanted to give him a piece of your mind.
‘What did you just say?’
‘Don’t you dare talk about her that way.’ He was now gritting his teeth, angry at the thing you said and continued,
‘Where did you even get this ‘Rick’ guy’s number? From the school’s freak?’ And with that, he stopped talking. He was trying to get a reaction out of you.
‘Oh, the D&D club leader? What was his name… Ethan? Edward?’
‘They call him Eddie. He is a fucking cult leader. I saw him last night, he was hiding in here. When he saw us, he tried to escape. I was with Patrick when that loser ran away. We were right after him, so close to capturing him when, when Patrick…’
He was having a hard time explaining what happened. But you understood what went down in a matter of seconds: Patrick was also cursed by Vecna and it was too late for him now.
‘I’m sorry about what happened Jason, it must be really tough.’
‘Are you really now? Insulting Chrissy like that… She wasn’t like any of you freaks.’
‘Look Jason… I’m trying to be understanding here… But you’re making it really hard. Stop calling us names. Not everyone is living the dream life you’re living, prince charming.’
‘You’re calling this a dream? My girlfriend and one of my best friends are dead. Because of that satanic cult leader.’ He said in disgust.
‘Satanic? He just likes to play a fantasy game, he doesn't worship the goddamn satan.’ You hissed, now it was your turn to grit your teeth. You couldn’t stand his attitude towards Eddie.
‘Why are you defending him?’ He asked and slowly started to put the pieces together:
‘...Steve dropped you off here, didn’t he? I saw some other figures in the back of his car. He was really close with the Henderson kid, what was his name… Dustin, right?’
‘Oh what now? You’re gonna go after King Steve with your little ducklings? …Good luck.’
‘(Y/N), you wouldn’t wanna do this. We just want to know where Eddie is. Help us out and I might find a way to return the favor...’ He said, grinning. You felt as if you were going mental.
‘Even If I knew where Eddie or Dustin was, you wouldn’t get a single word out of my mouth. You hear me? Not even a single word.’
‘Don’t make this harder than it should be. You wouldn’t like the consequences.’
‘Oh I would love to see you try, Carver.’
****
As you finished the conversation, you heard a car engine rolling up. It was, of course, Steve. Not wanting to risk the kids, he didn’t come near you. Instead, he parked right beside where the forest started and got out of the car.
After getting out and seeing you standing so close to Jason, he got worried and locked his eyes on him. You turned back, only to catch him glaring at Jason. With that, you gave Jason a look of warning and went to Steve’s car.
When you got in the car, you noticed that Dustin looked so relieved. You were about to ask what happened when Lucas questioned you, about what happened between you and Jason.
You started telling them everything as Steve drove off into the woods. After a few minutes, you filled them in with all the details and turned back to the passengers seat: Dustin was overjoyed with happiness. It has been a few days since you last saw him this relaxed and happy.
‘Guys.. Is he okay?’ you asked.
‘Dustin, just tell her the news.’ stated Robin, giving him a little shoulder blow because she was sitting in between him and Lucas in the backseat.
‘Okay okay. (Y/N), you ready to hear the amazing news?’
‘Is it about… Eddie?’
‘Bingo.’
****
As Steve parked in an unknown place, you got out of his car and started to gather your things. When all of you were ready to go, Steve volunteered to lead you to the destination. He said that the place was his speciality and it was: Skull Rock.
A few minutes earlier in the car, after being so curious for the longest time, Dustin told you that Eddie called them from a construction worker’s walkie-talkie. At first, it was hard for you to digest the information but later, after your talk with Jason you started to understand what happened.
Apparently, Eddie only told Dustin that he was at Skull Rock, that he needed help and on a special note, that he missed you.
Hearing Dustin say all of that made you feel over the moon. You were so happy to hear that Eddie finally reached out to you guys and that he was okay and safe. But even if you heard him say all of that, you had to see him for yourself as soon as possible.
And now, you were following Steve into the woods while he and Dustin were arguing about whether or not you guys were going in the right direction. Dustin kept telling Steve that you were going in the wrong direction and that they were going to get lost according to his compass.
After a few minutes of listening to Dustin nagging, Steve couldn't take it anymore and said: ‘Look, I made this place famous okay? I know where it is, so just follow me and trust me Henderson.’
You didn’t know where this infamous Skull Rock was and apparently, none of you knew it other than Steve so you followed him, hoping that he was true. At that point, Dustin didn’t have a choice but not to follow him so he took his place right behind him and let him guide you into the forest.
While taking a stroll down the forest, you thought to yourself that Eddie was indeed, waiting for you guys there. He probably didn't have anything to eat for a day or two, so you packed all the snacks and stuffed them into your bag earlier. But oh crap! You forgot the six packs at Hendersons’.
Luckily, you knew how to make up for it.
After a long walk in the woods, you finally made it to the Skull Rock. It was a huge rock that looked like… a skull. How surprising.
Your eyes were searching the spot like crazy for a sign of Eddie, the six of you were looking everywhere but none of you seemed to find him.
As you began to lose hope, you turned back to Dustin only to see Eddie jumping to the ground from the top of the big rock.
When both of you locked eyes, it almost felt as if the whole world stopped spinning. Almost felt like everything lost its meaning besides Eddie. Your lover was standing right in front of you, safe and sound. After all this time, seeing him brought tears to your eyes, tears of joy. Although he looked like a mess, you didn't care.
He was looking into your eyes so deeply you once again remembered how much you loved his doe brown eyes. His beautiful brown curls, his denim ‘Dio’ jacket on top of a leather one, the metal chain hanging off of his pants never looked so good and like home to you.
You never thought someone could’ve felt like home, but he did.
When Dustin saw how surprised you were, he slowly turned back and found Eddie standing there, staring at you. Without giving it much of a thought, he ran to him and hugged him, hard.
Eddie was taken aback by his action and you were really surprised this time, if you weren’t this much before. Understanding that he had no choice other than to hug Dustin back, Eddie patted Dustin’s shoulder and returned the hug.
When Eddie returned his hug, Dustin snuggled up to him and you heard a sniffling coming from him.
Eddie had a neutral face when Dustin hugged him at first, but after hearing him try to cover up his crying, he couldn’t help but have a little gloomy smile on his face. Knowing that he meant so much to Dustin made his heart melt and he hugged him tighter for a few more seconds before letting him go.
When you saw that scene unravel right in front of you, you couldn’t help but get more emotional. They had such a great, brotherly bond and you’ve never been aware of it like this before.
And the big moment finally came: After a few seconds of sharing a meaningful gaze, he started to walk towards you. There was kind of a big distance between the two of you and you didn’t want to wait any longer, so you started to run to him.
Seeing you running towards him, he opened his arms to his sides and flashed you a smile while a teardrop fell down his face.
Finally after a few steps, you jumped into his arms and buried your face in his chest.
He immediately wrapped his arms around you and placed his head on top of yours, sniffing your hair. He loved the way you smell, you brought so much comfort and happiness to him than you could’ve possibly imagined.
‘Eddie, I was- I was so scared that something… might’ve happened to you.’ You said, not breaking apart, still holding him as close as possible. You were a sobbing mess, feeling tears streaming down your face and staining his denim jacket.
‘Well, I was scared too but… I’m here now.’ He mumbled and hugged you tighter. You swore you could’ve held onto him for the rest of your life. After a few more seconds, he broke apart and started nudging your chin with his thumb until you were looking him in the eyes.
‘Hey hey hey, wipe those tears baby.’ He said, putting a strand of hair behind your ear with his free hand to see your beautiful face better. All you could ever do was to weep quietly while looking into his eyes with love and sadness.
‘I love you, (Y/N). Don’t you ever forget that.’ He said for everyone to hear and with that, his lips were on top of yours. It wasn’t anything intense or sloppy, it was more like a tender and gentle kiss. You were holding each other close, your arms wrapped around his neck and his wrapped around your waist, drawing you in.
As you broke apart, you whispered ‘I love you too Eddie.’
Not being able to open your eyes after the kiss, you wanted the feeling to linger. You were both an emotional mess but at least you got your happy ending, for now…
‘Where’s my ‘I love you’, man?’ Dustin yelled, in a playful yet surprisingly serious way. His eyes were still teary.
‘I love you too, Henderson. C’mere.’
****
After the three of you came back to your senses, it was time to discuss a new plan. During Steve and Dustin’s argument about where the Skull Rock was located, Dustin thought that his compass was broken. But later, he understood that wasn’t the case: There was another source that was more powerful out there which made the compass show north in its direction.
A brainstorming session after, Dustin said that it could be another gate to the Upside Down and that you had to check it out as soon as possible. In the meantime, he made Eddie agree on coming with the rest of you.
‘...So uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran. And I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor… but The Shire is burning. So Mordor it is.’
Dustin started to jump cheerfully and had this huge smile on his face. Though, the rest of you were pretty clueless about what Eddie just said. So he thought he had to clarify himself:
‘I’ll come with you guys. It’s better than hiding. Doesn’t even fit a Dungeon Master anyway.’
After some time, everybody was ready to leave Skull Rock when you heard a strange noise.
...A grandpa clock ticking to be precise. You felt a shiver run down your spine and turned your back, only to see one. It looked so real.
Thinking back about the things Max told all of you, you couldn’t help but to stare at the clock, eyes wide open with terror.
‘(Y/N), baby, what’s wrong?’ Said Eddie as he put a hand on your back. He was the first person to realize what was going on with you.
You didn’t hear him talking to you because you were spaced out; After seeing the clock, you lost the concept of reality and the knowledge of what was real or not in a matter of seconds. So when you felt his touch, your heartbeat quickened and you thought you were going to lose your mind right there and then.
‘Jesus Christ!’ You exclaimed, turning to Eddie.
‘Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.’
‘...You guys don’t see it, do you?’ You added, looking around frantically between the clock and the others. While doing so, you saw Eddie’s pale face and the worried expression he had which made you realize that you were once again seeing a vision.
You were still at the Skull Rock, everyone was now starting to gather around in a circle.
You immediately switched your gaze to Max only to see she had the same worried look on her face with a little bit of confusion. She quickly took off her headphones and gave all of her attention to you, asking:
‘(Y/N)... Why didn’t you tell us?’
‘I didn’t want to burden anyone… We were working on so many other things-’
‘How long have you been experiencing these symptoms?’ Nancy asked.
‘I don’t know, I always had nightmares but the headaches and visions began not too long ago.’
‘She told us that she saw a grandpa clock so... unfortunately she doesn’t have much time. Mine happened 24 hours later after seeing it.’ Added Max, a pained expression covering her face.
You knew eventually that you were going to be a victim of Vecna but you never thought that it would happen this soon.
When you heard the words that left Max’s mouth, you felt as if your legs couldn’t hold you any longer and you looked around for a rock to sit on. Luckily there was a log of wood near you so you carefully sat on top of it.
Eddie was next to you while you were standing and after you sat down, he sat right next to you, close. Your knees were brushing against one another and he reached his hand out to hold yours.
The warm sensation of his hand brought you some comfort and you flashed him a grateful little smile. He was still worried and when he saw you smiling, he felt a tiny bit of relief.
‘What can we do to save her from that… fucker’s curse?’ Eddie asked, growing impatient because of the urgence of the problem.
Although he was scared, he didn’t want to make you feel more anxious than you already were so he started rubbing your thumb with gentle motions.
Kate Bush’s song still being heard through her headphones, Max replied:
‘(Y/N), what is your favorite song?’
****
Thank you so much for reading chapter five of the series!
If you like this part, let me know by liking, reblogging or even leaving a comment. All of it is appreciated. Also If you’d like to be added to the taglist, let me know.
Stay in tune for the next chapter <3
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Steve Harrington, Elf Dad
Steve Harrington x Reader
Masterlist - Join My Taglist!
Requested by Anon!
Fandom: Stranger Things
Prompt: “I can’t believe you dragged me into this.”
Summary: Steve and Y/N have been dating for a few months, after they ran into each other through their mutual semi-adopted children, the members of The Party. Y/N works at a game shop and is a true D&D expert, and after a lot of convincing an cajoling, she and the boys have finally convinced Steve to come to comicon with them.
Word Count: 2,336
Category: Fluff, Humor
A/N: First of all, I haven't seen season 4, but it sounds like it's pretty D&D heavy, so if this seems like a weird mix of on and off topic for season 4 it's because I'm just a D&D nerd writing what I know lol. Second, all the D&D stuff I mention is definitely around in 5e, but I'm not sure about earlier editions, so just pretend with me that it's always existed. Finally, I made up Steve's middle name because he doesn't have a canon one.
Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.
"I can't believe you dragged me into this."
I turned around with a grin to find my boyfriend, Steve Harrington, squirming uncomfortably at the edge of the room. The kids had gone up ahead, practically in heaven, but it was taking a little more convincing to get Steve out and about.
See, I'd first met Steve through Dustin, Lucas, Mike, and Will. They came into the game shop where I worked fairly often, either as a change of scenery for their D&D games or to talk to me about different modules, dice, and characters I had experience with. I'd gotten to know the four of them well enough that I couldn't really avoid meeting Steve Harrington.
We hadn't exactly gotten along when we'd first met, mostly because Steve was completely jealous that I had such a good relationship with the boys. He eventually got over it, however, especially as the boys started calling us mom and dad and his friend Robin helped knock some sense into him.
Now, we'd been dating for a few months and largely co-parented the group. Steve still pretended he was too cool for D&D most of the time, but today, the boys and I had talked him into something I hadn't really thought possible.
Steve had come to comicon with us. And he'd even dressed up.
"C'mon, Harrington, we're gonna lose the boys!" I said, moving forward to grab his hand. He pulled away from me, trying to blend in with the wall again.
"I look like a complete idiot, Y/N!" he said. I sighed and put my hands on my hips.
"Steve. You look great." I should know, since I'd been the one to make our matching elf costumes. "Besides, it's not like you're gonna know anybody in here."
Steve snorted. "That's for sure."
"So let's go! Come on, it's fun! You just have to give it a chance." Steve still looked hesitant, so I sidled up next to him and wrapped my arm around his. "If I don't have my better elf half with me, I might have to find a handsome dwarf or tiefling to help me watch the boys instead."
Steve scoffed as he pushed off the wall, pulling me with him into the crowd.
"For the record, I know you wouldn't do that," he said. I just hummed in response as we made our way through the crowd. He was right, I wouldn't, but I didn't want him running back to the wall or the exit again.
After a few minutes of looking, we found the boys wandering excitedly between booths. They'd dressed as their current characters in Mike's latest campaign, and I'd helped put their costumes together, too.
"Hey, you finally managed to get him more than three steps into the room!" said Dustin excitedly as soon as he noticed us, turning to give me a high-five.
"Believe me, it wasn't easy," I said. We shared a laugh, ignoring Steve's indignant look next to me. "So, what have you guys seen so far since we came in? Anything good?"
"Yeah, there's lots of really cool booths around here. And Gary Gygax is speaking at a panel later!"
"What? No way!"
"Way!"
"Who the fuck is Gary Gygax?"
We both ignored Steve as Dustin continued.
"Oh, and I signed us all up for a costume contest."
"You WHAT?"
We couldn't ignore Steve this time, and neither could anyone around us as he cried out. The kids and I all turned to give him looks that said "seriously?", but he didn't look any less outraged.
"I'm not doing any costume contest, no way," he said, holding up his hands and taking a few steps backward. I sighed.
"C'mon, Steve, I worked really hard on these costumes," I said, taking a few steps towards him and away from the kids. Dustin turned back to the booth they were at, trusting me to handle this, as I took Steve's hands in mine and pulled him close. "Besides, don't you want everyone to see how good we look together?"
He closed his eyes and sighed through his nose, clearly struggling between letting my flirting work and standing on his anti-nerd hill. After a second, he shook his head softly but without opening his eyes.
"Y/N, I just don't think I can go up on some stage in public looking like this..."
I dropped his hands and took a step back, frowning at him. His eyes snapped open as he looked at me curiously.
"Steven Joe Harrington. You spend all day for the majority of the week interacting with the public in your Scoops Ahoy outfit. My fantastic elf costume is absolutely nothing compared to that."
Steve paused, looking thoughtful as he cocked his head. After a few beats, he looked back at me, a lot of the discomfort gone.
"That's actually a pretty good point."
I nodded. "I know. And at Scoops Ahoy, you see a lot of people you know. Here, odds are, nobody's going to recognize you."
Steve sighed heavily, but held out his arm to me. I took it, and he pulled me closer to his side as he took the first few steps deeper into the con, where the boys had wandered off again.
"Alright, what the hell? We're going full nerd, for one day and one day only."
We spent hours trailing after the boys, and slowly, Steve seemed to realize that here, looking like a full-emersion D&D nerd actually made him cool. He started puffing up as he got compliments for his outfit, even nodding confidently, smiling, and winking at anyone who stared at us for too long.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were starting to enjoy this," I muttered to him as we stood backstage for the costume contest, our last event of the day. He shrugged.
"This outfit gets the reaction I wish the Scoops Ahoy outfit did," he said. "Seriously, I'm just lucky you met me for the first time outside of work."
I smiled, then leaned up to give Steve a kiss on the cheek.
"I'm sure I would've fallen for you even if you were being a dork behind the counter in your Scoops outfit."
He smiled and wrapped an arm around my waist before pulling me to him, and I leaned into his chest. We stayed like that for a few beats, elf ears and all, and I would've been happy to spend the rest of the day right there in his arms if we hadn't been called onto stage next.
"Alright, you ready for this, elf queen?" asked Steve, leaning in to whisper in my ear.
"Actually I'm an criminal elf wizard-"
"Just go with it, alright?"
I gave Steve a smile as he took my hand and pulled me towards the stage, all of the boys shooting us thumbs up as we went. Steve, now fully aware of how much credibility his costume got him here, strutted out on stage, pulling me into a twirl of an entrance. The crowd erupted in cheers as we strutted down the runway together, and I absolutely beamed as we hit the end of the runway and posed.
Steve spun me around again, then pulled me to his chest and kissed me, hard. We broke apart pretty quickly, but it was enough to have the audience losing their minds cheering. I had to admit, I was pretty breathless as Steve took my hand and led me back down the runway again.
We strutted off and backstage, the crowd still cheering behind us and now, the boys cheering in front of us. I tried not to let on just how flustered I was as Dustin clapped a grinning Steve on the back.
"That was great!" cried Dustin.
"Yeah! Keep up that stuff and maybe we'll even let you join one of our games!" agreed Mike.
"No way in hell I'm ever playing your dumb game," said Steve, still grinning. The boys just rolled their eyes as I leaned into my wonderful, absurd boyfriend.
"What if we set up a system where everyone applauds you every time you do something cool?" I asked. Steve just rolled his eyes, but the smile never left his face.
"Hey, everybody shut up! They're about to announce the winners!" called Lucas, leaning just behind the curtain with Will. We all gathered with them as the contest's announcer got everyone excited, strutting back and forth on the stage with a microphone in-hand.
"All right all right! Without further ado, in third place, we have... the Misadventures!"
A group of people a little older than Steve and I let up a cheer and ran onstage. They celebrated and accepted their prize (a few sets of some INSANELY cool dice), then wandered backstage again before the announcer continued.
"And in second place... The Party!"
Lucas, Will, Dustin, and Mike screamed as they ran on stage, all four of them absolutely elated. I beamed as they went on stage too, happy to see them happy and happy to see my costumes in the top three.
The boys all got dice sets of their own, and I barely held back a gleeful cackle as I realized the prize winners would all be getting dice, at least. I hoarded cool dice like a dragon.
"Alright, and without further ado, our winners," continued the MC, pausing for dramatic effect as the boys made it backstage. Steve and I ruffled their hair and gave them congratulatory pats on the back, then refocused all our attention on the man onstage. "...Mom and Dad!"
I shouted, jumped up, and punched the air when our team name was announced. Steve gave the kids an eye roll, since they were the ones who'd given our signup name, but grinned all the same as he took my hand and pulled me onstage. People cheered as we went up to accept our prizes, and I clutched my new dice set like precious jewels.
"Congratulations, you two!" said the announcer. "And congratulations on winning our grand prize, a new campaign book that doesn't hit stores until next week!"
I lit up, taking the book excitedly and quickly surveying the cover. Steve thanked the guy, and I quickly nodded my thanks too before following Steve offstage. He had to lead me, since I quite literally had my nose in the book.
"Let me see!" cried Mike, the rest of the boys right behind him as they crowded around my new game book.
"No way!" I cried, laughing as I held it over all their heads. "If you read it, I can't run it!"
"Fair point," said Will with a smile as all four boys gave me a little space. I quickly double checked what I thought I'd seen on the first page, then grinned at all five of the boys (Steve included) when it turned out I'd remembered right.
"Steve, I have great news for you," I said, giving him a gigantic grin. He looked appropriately nervous as he responded.
"What's that?"
"This game can be run for five players."
"Well then I'm glad there's five of you."
I grinned as I took a few steps closer to Steve, tucking the book under my arm and invading his space. He didn't back down.
"I don't count as a player, Steve. The boys make four..."
"No. No, no, no way in hell," he said, holding up his hands and now backing away a step. "I came to comicon, I did the costume contest, I'm dressed up as a damn elf, but I am not playing D&D."
I just shrugged, pretending to drop it as I took Steve's hand and looped his arm around my shoulders. He relaxed, even as I winked at the boys to let them know I was far from giving up.
"Alright, is that it for the day, or do we have more nerd shit to do?" asked Steve, casually pulling me closer to him as he leaned forward and surveyed the boys.
"The costume contest was the last part of the con," said Lucas. "Congratulations, you survived a day doing easy, fun activities."
Steve rolled his eyes and I gave Lucas a sneaky high-five as the six of us started heading for the exit. We joined the general flow of the crowd out of the convention center, and as we left, some people recognized us for our costumes and gave us high-fives and congratulations. He tried to hide it, but I could tell Steve absolutely loved it.
As we stepped into the cool evening air with the boys, Steve's grip tightened around my shoulders. The kids all ran ahead to his car, and we strolled comfortably behind them, enjoying the end of the day. Steve would deny it to his dying day, but I knew he'd had a blast today. One step at a time, the Party and I were unlocking Steve Harrington's inner nerd.
We climbed into the car and Steve pulled out of the parking lot. Unlike this morning, when he'd been ducking and hiding at every traffic light, he seemed to forget he was even wearing the costume as we headed out onto the city streets and towards home. Steve used one hand to steer and took mine in his free hand, and I sighed, resting my head on the seat after a long, wonderful day.
I couldn't have asked for a better boyfriend and partner than him, and without even trying, he reminded me of it every single day.
#stranger things#steve harrington#steve harrington x reader#stranger things fanfiction#stranger things imagine#stranger things one shot#steve harrington fanfiction#steve harrington imagine#steve harrington one shot#1980s#dustin henderson#will byers#lucas sinclair#mike wheeler#d&d#dungeons and dragons#gary gygax#comicon#steve harrington fluff#elves
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