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2996-sana · 4 years

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Not So Unrequited Love - Jennie

At 11 on a Friday, Jennie finds herself at Coffee Beanz where her, Jisoo, Lisa, and Rosé usually meet for their weekly brunch. The quaint little coffee shop that huddled despondent among huge city buildings has cemented itself as their go-to place ever since Jisoo came across it during their freshman year of college. The interior was warm and cheery and always played really good jazz during Fridays which Jennie absolutely loved.

Now professionals with outstanding positions in their own industries, the four girls still haven’t forgotten about the one place that always gave them a bittersweet recollection of their time as broke and stressed college students. Not that they need the weekly trips to the coffee shop to see each other. They all lived in the same apartment complex separated by just a few doors from each other after all. It was just a nice little tradition that reminded them to remain grounded no matter how far they come in their own careers.

This week, the topic at hand over their usual coffee and brunch orders was Jennie’s struggle to find a date.

“Why is this happening to me?” Jennie complains, throwing her hands in the air. “Am I lacking something?”

The three girls rolled their eyes at their best friend. Jennie really did have a flare for the dramatics.

“Jen, you literally have people lining up to date you.” Jisoo reassured while the other two hummed in agreement.

“That’s right,” Rosé says, taking a pause to sip her coffee. “I mean Y/N is literally the living embodiment of that statement.”

Lisa snorts at Rosé’s words. You were Rosé’s childhood best friend and business partner who first crossed paths with Jennie about three years ago during their company launching and was notorious in their friend group for your not so subtle crush on Jennie.

This was not lost on Jennie however. Not at all. Moves were made. These so-called moves could’ve definitely been executed better, Jennie was sure of that, but she appreciated your efforts.

You just weren’t her type.

Jennie grimaced hearing your name. “I-I don’t know, Rosie. Nothing against her or whatever. She’s just not my type is all.”

“You know, Jennie, just because Y/N isn’t the typical person littered with tattoos that you usually go for, doesn’t mean she won’t make good company on a date.”

She wanted to rebut Lisa’s argument but she knew the girl had a point. Looking at her dating history, she was known for being with people – boys and girls – who all looked and acted like their moral compass could use some adjusting. What can she say? She has always been a sucker for someone wild.

You on the other hand could be compared to sunshine. Jennie can’t ever recall seeing you without a smile on your face. It almost seemed like it was the last step in your morning routine before walking out of your house. In Jennie’s eyes, you were too nice. Nicer than Rosé (if you’re on her good side) and that is saying a lot.

“Lisa is right, Jen. Y/N is actually super cool,” Jisoo insisted, remembering the time she bumped into you at an art exhibition. It was there that she discovered that you were one for the arts and had two of your paintings featured that night. She also noticed how people lit up at your presence and appreciated how you commanded the room whenever you began talking. It reminded her of how tough and demanding you were during a meeting she was able to attend that one time she visited Rosé. The impressed faces of your investors were ingrained in Jisoo’s brain. She was convinced you were a whole different person when needed to be.

Jisoo was fond of you. Especially for Jennie. She knew that if Jennie just gave you the time of day, Jennie would be able to look past her perception of you: boring and plain – and discover that you are more than what meets the eye.

“Yeah, Jen! Give her a chance,” Rosé was sporting a pout, clearly wanting both of her friends to get together.

With her best friends’ eyes on her, all looking like they were expecting the same answer, Jennie sighs in defeat.

Oh, what the hell. Just one date. What could go wrong, right?

“Fine.”

“Wow, we can tell just how excited you are.” Lisa was giggling at Jennie’s pained expression. She was sure Jennie was just overreacting anyway. Lisa actually thought you were cute and 100% dateable.

•

You were tapping your foot on the wooden floor of your office finishing off some paperwork when your silver-haired best friend slash business partner Rosé entered unannounced, a big smile on her face that was becoming borderline creepy.

“Why do you look like that?”

Rosé began to squeal in excitement complete with jumping up and down. “Jennie wants to go on a date with you!”

The words cause you to come to a halt as your cheeks are suddenly kissed pink, your blush searing through your cheeks.

For a minute Rosé thought her friend’s face was on fire.

“What?”

“Don’t act like you didn’t hear me loud and clear,” Rosé teased. “Anyways, she’s free this Saturday and I did you a favor and called for a reservation at her favorite Italian restaurant by Graves Street under your name. 7PM, don’t be late! Bye!”

That was the last you heard before the girl slammed the doors of your office closed.

•

As planned, you were sat in one of the tables at Jennie’s restaurant of choice. Large mullioned windows, long embroidered curtains, dark walnut tables with splendidly proportioned cabriole legs, romantic candles on each table, soft live piano music, and a flagstone tile floor. The restaurant was fancy, that you could tell as you observed from your seat.

You resorted to playing with your fingers as you waited for the girl who has lived in your heart and mind rent free ever since you saw her that evening of your company’s launching. You were twenty minutes early due to the nerves that haven’t left since Rosé informed you of Jennie’s approval of the date. You couldn’t believe Jennie actually agreed to this. Last thing you heard was Jennie’s break up with her designer boyfriend of one year and that she was back on the market. You didn’t think you would be lucky enough to even be a candidate that could potentially bring her off it again.

You shake your head at your thoughts. You were getting way ahead of yourself. For now, you should just focus on getting this date right so that a second one could be on the table.

“Hey, you’re early.”

You cast your eyes upwards to see Jennie plopping down on the seat in front of you and you had to forcefully tear your eyes away from the beauty that finally graced you with her presence. She looked sinfully stunning in her black vintage Chanel dress.

“Oh, um…I-I actually just got here.” you blurted, looking bewildered. “You look beautiful.”

You wanted to hit yourself for such a basic compliment but being there with Jennie was nerve-wracking enough as it was so you cut yourself some slack. Jennie couldn’t help but giggle at how obviously flustered you were.

Cute, she thought. “Thank you, Y/N. I think you look dashing yourself.”

You felt heat rising to your cheeks and prayed it wasn’t noticeable. Thankfully before you could embarrass herself, a friendly looking waiter approached your table with a menu.

“Are we ready to order ladies?”

Jennie looked to you for confirmation which you answered with a tentative nod.

“I’ll have the poached lobster with butternut squash and chestnuts and…” Jennie threw you a glance from her menu.

“I’ll have the, um, beef tenderloin with the crab salad.” You read the first thing you saw from the menu, the pressure of Jennie looking at you throwing you off. “Thank you.”

“Okay, would that be all ladies?”

“Oh, and two glasses of white house. Thanks.”

As the waiter walked away with their orders, a silence settled over them.

“I know everything seems pretentious but I promise the food is worth it,” Jennie remarked with a teasing smile.

“It’s all good, Jennie. How’s work?” Your smile fades as you notice the girl you so badly wanted to impress was suddenly distracted, her attention everywhere but on you. You tried to see what Jennie was so focused on, following her line of sight.

After a couple moments, you realize that Jennie was focused on a couple eating across from each other a few tables away from you. The boy was studiously bent over his meal while conversing with the girl as she collapsed with helpless giggles. It didn’t take you long to realize that it was Jennie’s ex, Kai, having met him during Lisa’s birthday party last year. A big point to also remember was how the dude was literally Rosé’s cousin.

“Jennie?”

Jennie was snapped out her trance, desperately trying to compose herself.

What the fuck was Kai, her ex-boyfriend, doing here with a girl? She wasn’t jealous. Not in Kai’s wildest dreams. She wouldn’t get back together with him even if he was the last option she had left. No, she was annoyed because Kai managed to bag someone before she could. She was Jennie Kim. Why wasn’t she in a disgustingly cute relationship by now? She wanted so badly to curse the boy out until she remembered she was also here for a date with Y/N. Y/N! Right, Y/N.

“Shit, sorry. I just thought I saw someone I knew,” Jennie shrugged. Her tone was apologetic but you could tell she was still distracted.

“It’s okay,” you tried to sound nonchalant, sporting a counterfeit smile, but you could practically feel the uneasy tension in the atmosphere.

You just hoped you could salvage the night.

•

You weren’t able to. Jennie stayed distracted and uninterested the rest of the night, eyes either glancing at the couple a few tables away or at her phone. She answered your questions with one worded answers and empty laughs and you were left to shift uncomfortably in your seat, grasping your sweaty and nervous hands under the table.

You threw yourself on your bed, screaming into a pillow. You couldn’t digest the defeat you felt. You had one chance to show Jennie you were worth her time and you couldn’t even get it right. You felt traumatized and humiliated. Jennie would have that disaster of a date seared into her brain forever and the thought was ready to pop up and torment you for the rest of your life. You knew the regret would come to you in random moments, demanding to be reexamined again.

No, you shouldn’t beat yourself up for it. You tried your best. As far as you were concerned, you didn’t do anything wrong. If anything, Jennie was the reason why things didn’t go as planned tonight.

You gave your pillow another scream at the realization. Jennie was uninterested because that’s what she was – uninterested. She obviously didn’t like you enough to be present during the date.

She could’ve at least pretended to be happy to be there, you thought bitterly.

•

A week after that disaster of a date, you were walking down the street enjoying the only time of the week you had to yourself. Work had been excruciating these past few months as you were in the middle of negotiating with foreign investors and hopefully sealing the deal by next week. The late afternoon sunlight, soft and diffuse, giving way to the strong rays of the day, was doing its job of convincing you that it was gonna be a great day.

You’ve been feeling down ever since the date and you badly needed a day to recuperate and gain back the confidence that you lost. Rosé was nothing short of apologetic when she found out about the disappointing events and reassured you that she, along with Jisoo and Lisa, gave Jennie the scolding she deserved. Although your best friend’s desired reaction was for you to feel better, it just made you more embarrassed knowing that Jennie’s blatant dislike in dating you was known to all of her friends.

Today, it was your mission to forget all about Jennie and that night.

The antique store has been a treasure trove to you. It never failed to give you objects of delight and interest that instantly claimed your attention. Today was no different. Your eyes lit up as you see the old woman, who looked like your typical ahjumma, behind the counter. She wasn’t the kind of old woman you pity with old bones and troubled limbs, but the kind who could still run an entire marathon if given half the chance.

“Ah, Y/N!” the woman exclaimed, “I didn’t see you last week, dear.”

“It has been a nightmare at the company. I’m surprised I’m still walking,” you sighed, making your way to the shelves filled with odd objects.

“Y/N, you should really learn how to take a breather. You’re always at work! No wonder you’re still single,” Nora shook her head, shooting you a look of disapproval.

You laughed as you looked through every rack for some knickknack you wanted to bring home. There was a carved sandal-wood box packed tight with aromatic cotton-wool, and between the layers of cotton-wool were little brass figures, hump-necked bulls and peacocks and goblins, delightful to see and handle.

“You don’t need to remind me of my impending doom of living alone for the rest of my life, Nora.”

You let out an involuntary gasp as you spot a teapot fashioned like a china duck before carefully putting it inside your basket. You continued to stare amazed at the different peculiar objects, completely entranced, that you didn’t hear someone walking up beside you.

“Y/N?”

You jumped in surprise at the sudden voice. And not just any voice. You turned around to see Jennie looking at you with the same look of shock on her face. “Jennie?”

She looked down at your basket before giving you a tight-lipped smile. Something akin to an apologetic one.

“I’m… actually really glad I ran into you,” Jennie stammered, head bowed as if ashamed. “I’ve been meaning to apologize about my behavior last Saturday. I was being rude and incons-“

You cut her off with a soft smile, “Jennie, it’s fine. It’s all behind us now. Apology accepted.”

“Ugh, why do you have to be so understanding? I feel like shit,” she groaned, stomping her feet on the ground.

You almost laughed at how genuinely disturbed she seemed but figured you didn’t want to make her more upset.

“Stop beating yourself up for it,” you urged, gently patting her shoulder. “Anyways, I’ll have Nora ring this up on the counter. Good seeing you, Jen.”

Before you could walk away from the cat-eyed girl, you feel fingers wrapping itself around your wrist.

“It’s a beautiful day out. Care to spare a couple of hours to spend it with me?”

•

Jennie wasn’t lying. It really was a beautiful spring day out. Try as you might, your focus was scattered, filled with nervous anticipation. You were afraid you wouldn't be able to hold a conversation while your thoughts danced in infinite directions. Yeah, operation move on from Jennie Kim was not looking too good. Still as you walked with Jennie along the local park, you were determined to move past that and tried to convince yourself that this was nothing but a platonic hang out.

“How’s work been?” Jennie questioned, hands in her coat pockets as her eyes drifted to the kids playing around the field.

“Hard,” you sighed. “We’ve all been hard at work but I’m sure you know that given Rosie never really shuts up about it.”

Jennie laughs and you don’t feel the familiar butterflies you get whenever you heard the melodic sound and you think that maybe you’re finally making progress.

“Yeah, she always makes sure to give us an earful about it.”

“How about you though? The magazine is doing really great. I’ve seen at least a hundred people reading this month’s issue just today,” you exaggerated, wiggling your eyebrows which again brought out a laugh from Jennie.

She playfully nudged your shoulder, “Real funny, but yeah everything is doing really great. Getting Lady Gaga on this month’s issue was a really great move. We have Selena Gomez up next. We bagged a really great exclusive interview.”

You could hear the pride in Jennie’s voice and you knew it was warranted. Being the self-made CEO of her own fashion and lifestyle magazine, Jennie had every right to feel proud. Plus, it wasn’t easy pulling off having such A list celebrities to feature in your magazine.

“That’s really amazing, Jen. You should be proud of yourself. It’s only going up from here, I know it. I’m rooting for you,” you quipped.

Jennie shot you her famous gummy smile before letting out a whispered thank you.

As the both of you observed your surroundings, you realize you reached the pier.

“It’s getting pretty dark. Should you head home now?” you ask while taking in the beauty of the pier at night.

The pier was a permanent fun fair; bumper cars, the hall of mirrors, the ghost train, a loop-the-loop roller coaster and the big wheel. Waves playfully splashing below, gentle salty breeze, smoothies, burgers, donuts and cotton candy.

Jennie was equally taken by the bustling fair, shaking her head. “I think I can stay a little while longer.”

You broke out into a smile, holding out your hand. “Come on then!”

You dragged Jennie to the end of the dock before sitting down on the edge and beckoning her to do the same. When you tilted your head upward, you could see clearly millions of bright stars dotted on the black canvas of the night.

“It’s so beautiful,” Jennie mused.

“The pier is most beautiful at night. It never fails to shove aside the worries corrupting my mind even for a couple hours,” you smiled.

“Do you come here often?”

You snorted, “Are you flirting, Miss Kim?”

Jennie gasps before throwing her head backwards, erupting into laughter. “You know what I mean, Y/N! Also, what if I was?”

You decided to ignore the last part, suppressing the tingling feeling spreading throughout your body, “I used to come up a lot when Rosé and I were still struggling with the company.”

You could feel Jennie’s stare burning right through you.

“Tell me more about you, Y/N.”

•

Hours later, Jennie laid on her queen-size bed staring at the ceiling. She couldn’t shake the giddy state her night with you left her in. Spending time with you was filled with meaningful conversations and playful (and a little bit flirty) banter. Things with you felt natural and refreshing, like a breath of fresh air from the cocky and overconfident types she was used to going on dates with. Was this what she was missing out on when she decided to act like a complete imbecile on your date?

She couldn’t help the smile making its way to her face as she remembered the events of tonight. She felt light and warm and basically everything good in the world balled up into one. She felt like a high schooler with a crush. The thought of seeing you again tingled through her like electrical sparks on the way to the ground, gathering in her toes.

She was crushing hard.

So, when Jennie found out that Rosé was throwing a big party for her birthday next week, all she could think about was seeing you, talking to you, and maybe stealing a kiss. She was convinced she was just floating through her way on the days leading up to Rosé’s party.

The party was electric just as Jennie expected. Everyone was feeding off of each other’s smiles and fast dancing. She was in one of the lounge couches chatting with her friends sipping on a rum runner as she tried to look past the sweaty dancing bodies with the mission of spotting you.

“Jendeukie, you seem distracted!” Jisoo yelled through the music.

Jennie chuckled, feeling a blush form on her cheeks. Thankfully, the glow from consuming one or two glasses of alcoholic drinks successfully masked it.

“Excuse me for a sec,” she announced as she got up and made her way to the kitchen.

“Jen!”

She cringed as she realized who the voice belonged to. She almost forgot Kai was Rosé’s cousin and was most likely invited to the party.

“Kai, hey…” she sighed.

She was annoyed that the boy had interrupted her attempt to find you, plus she really wasn’t in the mood for small talk with an ex.

“You look ravishing tonight,” Kai smirked, reaching out for Jennie.

She quickly dodged Kai’s advances and whooshed past him, leaving the boy confused in her wake.

“Nice seeing you but I gotta go!”

She breathed a sigh of relief as she escaped her lame excuse of an ex-boyfriend but the relief was short-lived as her eyes found the scene not a couple feet away from her. You were by the sliding door that lead to Rosé’s poolside talking to some woman who was clearly interested in you, judging by the way she was caressing your arm up and down with her ugly wicked fingers. The woman started laughing and she knew you probably said something stupidly funny, reminding her of how much you made her laugh last week. This time though, Jennie was not on the receiving end of your witty remarks and she didn’t know how to feel about it.

This was probably how you felt that night when Jennie ignored your whole existence just to stare all night at her ex. Jennie felt disappointment bubble inside her as she finally decided to tear her gaze away from you and the girl. She sighed as she accepted the fact that you were done with her. Why wouldn’t you be? Did she really expect you to pine over her for years and then come crawling back just because of one night where Jennie did the bare minimum and was a decent human being to you?

Dejected, she takes a break from the loud and busy party downstairs and made her way to the upstairs balcony. The balcony was a concrete ledge with square rough edges but it quickly became an oasis to Jennie as she found comfort in the silence.

“Hey there, stranger.”

Jennie turned her head so fast she swore she almost had whiplash.

“Y/N?”

You grinned as you joined her near the railings, “The one and only. What are you doing here?”

Jennie shrugged off the bitter feeling of seeing you flirting with another girl and forced out a smile, “Needed some fresh air. How about you? You seemed really busy downstairs.”

You raise an eyebrow at Jennie’s icy tone, narrowing your eyes at the girl. What was she on about?

At your (admittedly adorable) confused look, Jennie sighed as she explained.

“You were busy chatting up a girl downstairs, were you not?”

“Careful,” you teased. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous.”

Expecting a defensive reply, you were surprised to find the girl fiddling with her hands. “Jennie?”

You saw as Jennie struggled, clenching and unclenching her jaw, eyes closed in frustration.

“I…I was really looking forward to seeing you tonight,” she lamented, finally opening her eyes to meet yours.

“For some reason, I can’t stop thinking about you. That night at the pier…” she went on, “I realized how stupid I was for not paying attention to you sooner. This amazing person right under my fucking nose the whole time. God, I could’ve saved us both a crapload of time if I weren’t so dumb.”

To say you weren’t expecting this was an understatement. Was Jennie Kim confessing to you? You wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

“No use thinking about what could’ve happened if you did this or that,” you stared seriously at the girl in front of you. “Um, I’m right here now, aren’t I?”

You tried to laugh but it came out strained. You still couldn’t believe what was happening.

“So, the girl downstairs?”

“Literally just met her tonight. She’s cool. Didn’t really pay any mind to her to be honest,” you smiled.

“Good,” Jennie hummed, satisfied with your answer. “I meant what I said by the way. I’d really like to start over.”

Before you could come up with a reply, soft plump limps planted itself on your cheek.

“If you’ll have me,” Jennie whispers against your cheek.

•

“Ugh, today was so stressful!” Jennie agonized as she plopped down on the soft cushion of your sofa. Immediately, her body finds itself entangled with yours. This, Jennie knew, was all she needed after a long day.

“Tell me about it then baby,” you started running your fingers through her messy curls while your free hand intertwined your hands together.

“First, the AC in my office broke down and I was sweating buckets half the day since the repair team didn’t arrive until 2PM,” Jennie revealed, planting a soft kiss on your neck. “To make things worse, my beautiful girlfriend wasn’t able to visit me because she had a meeting come up last minute.”

You giggled hearing your girlfriend’s words, “Clingy.”

Jennie breaks away from your hold, a wild look on her face. “How dare you! Is it a crime that I’m desperately in love with you and wanted to see you during my lunch break?”

“I’m kidding,” you chuckled. “You know I would’ve loved to see your pretty face today.”

“You better be,” Jennie taunted. “I love you.”

…

...

“Hey Jen?”

“Hm?”

“Remember two years ago on our first date you ignored me the whole time to glare at your ex-boyfriend?”

Your soft laugh filled them room as Jennie groaned, hitting you square on the stomach, “Don’t you dare bring that up. I don’t even wanna imagine not being with you. Just the thought makes me wanna puke.”

You rolled your eyes at your girlfriend’s dramatics, “Good thing you don’t have to ever live through that then.” hi:) i accept requests now

#blackpink #blackpink x reader #blackpink imagine #jennie kim #jennie x reader #jennie imagine #jennie #blackpink scenarios

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citadelspires · 3 years

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since I’m more or less back in business I feel it’s past time I ramble about another au I will (probably) never write. I’ll start off simple with an amphibia owl house au I was thinking up last night at work. (slight disclaimer that I have not seen any of season 2 yet so this is with exclusively information through the end of season 1). Concept below the cut cause it’s a pretty extensive one.

The concept starts at the same point the owl house does, more or less. Camila is concerned, Luz is getting sent to summer camp etc. etc. This time she gets distracted by an unusually pink frog hopping into the woods, and decides she probably has time to go chase after it. So she follows it into the woods until she suddenly trips over something and falls to the ground, turning around she sees it to be a music box sticking out of the forest floor. Curious, she digs it up and starts examining it. She thinks it’s really pretty and she’s about to open it when she hears voices coming from nearby and goes to check it out.

She finds Willow and Amity in a small clearing, think essentially the scene in the actual owl house where she sees them for the first time, except here they’re both human, though Luz doesn’t know them because they both go to some pretentious private school, Amity because she’s a Blight so she had to, and Willow because she got a scholarship for it and didn’t have the heart to tell her dads she didn’t really want to go. The scene plays out in a similar fashion to how it does in the actual show, with the exception that this time without the magic element Luz doesn’t feel the need to keep hiding and instead marches up from her hiding place to chew out Amity for being a jerk. Unfortunately she stumbles on a tree root as she approaches and, still holding the music box, accidentally pops the lid open.

So that’s how the three of them get transported to Amphibia. I like the idea of taking the setup and world of Amphibia, which we’ve seen through the lens of the characters that got transported all being close “friends”, and coming at it from a different perspective, i.e. one of them is a complete stranger to the other two and the two that do know eachother are already not on very good terms going in. (Amity and Willow have essentially the same history in the au that they do in toh).

Luz is dropped right in the middle of Newtopia, and while she’s very excited about the prospect of a fantasy adventure, she’s also pretty worried that she has no idea how to get back home, and she doesn’t take to the city as well as Marcy did. Part of this is due to her having her doubts about the ruler of Amphibia, who in this case is not Andrias, but Lilith(I understand Belos is probably a more fitting character for the role but I just don’t know enough of his character or really care about him enough to implement him, so Lilith it is! She’s more interesting for the setup anyway, depending on what Andrias’ weird master thing ends up being, maybe that would be a belos type deal but honestly I’d probably just not implement that part into this. If you can’t tell this is much less a “amphibia but with the owl house cast” and more of a actual approach to writing something new with the old setting and characters).

This is mostly due to the fact that, while wondering around the city attracting suspicious stares from newts that have never seen someone like her before, she ends up bumping into a newt who appears to be running from the majority of the city guards. They both fall down and Luz helps her stand up, a showing that is enough to convince the guards that, whatever the weird creature is, it’s in league with the felon, so they begin chasing her too. The criminal newt, who is of course Eda, takes pity on her and brings her along to her hideout, where she meets a weird little robot that insists she refer to him as King. He begins to declare that his full title is “King of...” and then kinda falters off as he seems to realize he actually isn’t quite sure what he is. Luz gives Eda a concerned Look but she just kinda shrugs it off and says he always does that.

Luz finds out that Eda deals in the trade of questionable artifacts and considers herself pretty lucky to find someone like that as soon as she did, and she asks if Eda knows anything about a music box, describing it as best as she can, because she didn’t really think to take any pictures. For her part, Eda is pretty sure what it is, and that’s the moment where she resolves to watch over Luz, at first just because she’s Concerned the box is back in Amphibia, though it eventually ends up that she gets a soft spot for the kid.

Though Luz doesn’t find out a good deal of this until later, and it’s gradually, Eda is still Lilith’s sister here, meaning that yes, she had equal claim to the newtopian crown, but the history of the crown never sat well with her (i.e. she finds out newtopia was built on the foundation of bloody conquest, along with the fact that it’s encouraged they want to get back to that point and nopes out of there). While she’s on her way out she starts off her new life of stealing shiny things by grabbing a weird little statue that had always seemed kinda off to her. She figures she could sell it at least, but while looking over it after escaping she realizes that it isn’t a statue at all, but what she decides must have been a defective robot from newtopia’s past, being much smaller and more... expressive? Than it should have been. For some reason she decided to try fixing it, and though it took a good deal of time she eventually got it to work again, which is how she came to be friends with King.

Luz’ story is largely slice of life relationship building with her, Luz, and King, until the point where the path to the valley opens, and the three of them go on what Luz finds out is an annual trip Eda takes around the valley to see if she can find anything interesting to add to her stand, as well as find new customers in the valley. Luz figures if she has a shot at finding either of the two girls she came with, and hopefully the box too, it would be on that trip.

Willow gets thrown into Toad Tower before she even realizes what’s happening to her. She has no idea where she is, didn’t even get a good look at Luz before the teleportation happened back on earth, and is overall not having a great time. She’s not convinced she’s not dreaming until she’s literally tossed into her cell and the impact hurts enough that she’s sure she’s really there. At first she believes she’s alone in her cell until she hears an awe-filled voice ask what she is and why she’s there. She isn’t able to figure out where the voice is coming from until a tiny blue frog jumps up on her hand. She introduces herself as a human, which gets him very excited, and he introduces himself as Gus, explaining that he was thrown in prison for “almost kind of knowing things he shouldn’t” as he put it.

It turns out Gus is something of a scholar, though he admits that most frogs are more inclined to call him a crazed conspiracy theorist. All of his studies have to do with mysterious other worlds and their inhabitants, which he has always been stubbornly insistent do exist. He’s overjoyed that he finally has “a real life specimen!!” and Willow is excited enough at the idea that there might be someone who actually knows what happened to her that she lets that comment slide. She quickly finds out what the meaning behind his weird prison sentence is, as she brings up getting sent to this world from another, and he attempts for a wise nod as he goes “ah yes, you must have experience an encounter with the calamity bucket.” Still he’s kind of helpful and he and Willow get along pretty well, so they end up hanging out together for the rest of the story, he basically tags along everywhere with her Jiminy Cricket style.

Amity has arguably the hardest time adjusting to the world she suddenly finds herself in, as she ends up in the forest on the outskirts of Wartwood, and promptly determines that this is the worst thing that’s ever happened to her. Despite having the box that “weird girl” used to send them here, opening it and closing it over again provided no help at all, and trying to go into Wartwood provided even less. Still being in Full Blight mindset she is really haughty and superior and the townspeople do not take it well. Even deducing Toadstool as the only persons superficial enough to potentially care about her status, she can’t get anything out of him cause he views her as a massive publicity risk, which he’s already not doing super well at.

The only frogs in the village that seem to not turn away from her immediately are a mischievous pair of frog twins that joke around and mess with her, and though it’s all lighthearted she’s stubborn enough at first that when they do offer to help her out she flat out refuses them. Eventually between living in a cave and their hanging around her whenever she’s in town anyway she’s worn down enough that she begrudgingly accepts their offer of help.

Not being Blights in this au has done a good deal in the way of making Edric and Emira happier. While they’re just as much of tricksters as they always are, and they occasionally overstep a little in their jests, they’re quick to apologize, and lack any of the actual malice behind their knack for causing trouble. The two of them run one of the stands in the marketplace, something they get Amity to help out with eventually as the town warms up to her. The two of them find it easier to grow closer to Amity than the rest of the town does, maybe it’s cause they’re the only ones who have really tried, or maybe it’s cause they’ve got a reputation for being trouble in the town already anyway. Whatever it is Amity gets begrudgingly closer to them until she eventually refers to them as her siblings once, and though they refuse to let her hear the end of it for a few days, they’d been calling her their little sister since the beginning, and while Amity had been certain for a long time they were just doing it to mess with her she starts to like it eventually.

Like in Amphibia, the three girls all represent one aspect of the Heart, Strength, Mind trio. Figuring out what those all are takes a lot more for these girls than it does for the amphibia trio though. The focus of this story is less on the relationships the characters have, though that is definitely a part of it, and more on the attributes their assigned to and the personal growth they have. Each of them holds the attribute that is both their strongest and most repressed. The three all hold themselves at very little value in the areas they’re actually the strongest in, and through their journey in Amphibia they start to learn.

Willow had always believed that strength was an inherently negative thing. Strength equated to power, and people who had power used it to hurt others, without fail. People like, well, Amity. She prefers gentleness and peace, and to her that and strength is mutually exclusive. She reacts to the concept that she could be charging the box with the attribute of strength very negatively.

Through her time in Amphibia she gets to learn that her strength can come in different forms, and while she is undeniably strong physically, her physical strength is nothing compared to her emotional resolve and capacity to extend that emotional resolve in the strength of heart to pick up the people around her when they need it. She does, though, get to learn that power isn’t something that is inherently evil, and even that if she uses the strength she has to protect the things that are important to her, that doesn’t mean she’s forsaken any of the things believes.

aka she gets to punch a heron in the face. Boscha (captain of toad tower) is very impressed, though she pretends she isn’t. Speaking of Boscha, she gets to experience a similar development to Willow, but more on the reverse side of the coin. Having always been powerful, and that having always been enough to make her more important than everyone else, Willow strikes her as weak at first, given her lack of aggression. The longer she stays stuck with Willow though, the more she comes to realize some important things, foremost among them being that Willow could totally kick her ass, and just chooses not to, which isn’t something Boscha understands at all, and Willow ends up teaching her how to be more of a person than a weapon, even just leading by example.

Much to Willow’s complete disbelief, (she swears to Luz the box is broken and they’re doomed), Amity is the heart. Amity doesn’t really believe it either. Strength would’ve been Okay, but personally she would’ve picked the attribute of intelligence for her. It was like the box went through all the effort of looking into their souls and didn’t even bother to check her report card. Ludicrous. It doesn’t help her that her time in wartwood is miserable for a good deal of the start. For the first time in her life Amity isn’t perfect, and it’s all because there’s nothing to be perfect at in this stupid little town. She should have all the frogs praising her superiority, but literally None Of Them are impressed by her in the slightest. They didn’t even have a school!

The only thing Amity took to quickly in Wartwood was the town motto, resolving that she would be even slower to respect the citizens of Wartwood than they would her. This started off a bit of a rivalry between her and the town, but the longer she had the horrible influence of her parents replaced by the well meaning nagging from her frog siblings, and the more time she spent not being perfect because for once in her life she literally couldn’t be, she started to think it wasn’t so bad after all, and the little rivalry between her and the town became much less of a real one, and a lot more of the friendly banter type, though she couldn’t recall ever making a concious choice to do so it just sorta... happened.

Eventually she starts to think about the school she was initially so annoyed didn’t exist, and begins to wonder if really no one is gonna do anything about it being in ruins. Eventually, she starts going over to the ruined building and reading to whatever kids in wartwood were in the mood to listen. before she knew it she had built up the closest thing to a school Wartwood had in a while, and where she once would have felt a smug pride, she only felt a casual happiness that was new to her, but not entirely unpleasant.

Luz never would have considered herself good at any of the three options. She knows she’s not strong so that’s out. All the kids at school think she’s weird and she has no friends so she really doesn’t think the whole “heart” thing works in any capacity. But the only thing left besides that would be intelligence, and she’s had enough students and teachers alike call her out for being an idiot that she’s absolutely confident that isn’t it. It doesn’t help that since she’s with Eda, who actually knows what the box is, she ends up worrying over what she’s supposed to be from the very start. She spends a lot of the time before the valley opens up thinking the box made a mistake, and since she didn’t have any of the attributes it wanted it wouldn’t work again at all.

In the end she only finds out what she’s supposed to be through process of elimination. Knowing Willow is strength and Amity is heart she finally comes to the realization that she’s supposed to be intelligence, and her confidence crumbles. Of all the options that’s the one she’d been hoping it wouldn’t be the most. How could so many people be wrong after all? It was pretty unanimous back home that she didn’t really have much going on upstairs, and after hearing it enough time she had gotten around to believing it. Her path in the story largely focuses on coming to terms with her own worth, despite her insecurities and the weight of everything she’s ever heard to the contrary constantly on her mind.

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stilljustbitten · 2 years

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Hi! Can you tell me more about Grindr and hitman!Martin?

Yes, dear anon, of course I can!

Hmm, Grindr... The idea is very simple, Martín is single, on Grindr, but he's been through most of the guys in the app. When he's bored and horny after a long day at the office, he notices someone new - but the new guy has a full body pic of himself in a suit, and Martín decides he's way too pretentious for his liking. Until he changes his mind, ten minutes later, because there was something about the guy, and he ends up inviting him over.

Here's a snippet from when they're watching some cooking documentary on Netflix:

“What are you doing?”

“Art.” Andrés squinted and leaned forward to focus on what the chef in the show was doing to his food. “Interesting,” he added before he briefly looked at Martín. “I’m making art and dealing art.”

Martín had the feeling that Andrés was more interested in what was going on in the show than what was going on between them - or what should have been going on. After half an hour of the stupid documentary, Martín cleared his throat and placed his hand on Andrés’ thigh. He didn’t seem to notice, so Martín let it slip higher until it almost touched his crotch. Then Andrés’ focus turned to him.

“Let’s finish this first,” he said and nodded towards the tv. “I find it quite interesting.”

“Sure,” Martín muttered and removed his hand, internally rolling his eyes. If he wanted to just watch Netflix, he would have done it alone.

But Andrés said first, which means there will be an after, and Martín could be patient because Andrés was definitely worth the wait. The more he looked at him - out of the corner of his eye, of course, pretending to watch the documentary - the more he was sure Andrés was the best looking guy he’d ever met on Grindr. Or in his life.

hitman!Martín is a recent idea inspired by a dream I had - about me being Martín, sneaking around in some creepy corridors trying not to get killed. It was super intense and I loved the vibe of it.

My draft is still pretty messy and full of notes, but here's a part that's written-ish:

Still cautious, but already with the taste of success on his tongue, Martín made his way to Andrés’ office. The music might have saved him earlier, but now it made it impossible to hear anything from inside the office.

Andrés was probably sitting at his huge, wooden desk in the middle of the room, working on some papers or reading. Shooting him without showing himself wasn’t a possibility because the desk was facing the door, but Martín didn’t care. A man like Andrés deserved to see what was coming if Martín was to believe his sources. He wanted to see him scared, maybe to even say a few words before he ended his life, and Martín was quick. Andrés wouldn’t have the chance to go through his drawers for a gun before Martín put a bullet to his head.

He took a deep breath before he turned the knob and opened the door, pointing his gun at the chair, but stopped the second before he pulled the trigger. Andrés wasn’t there. A moment of confusion was all it took for him to become unfocused, not to see Andrés as he appeared to his left. Pointing a gun at Martín.

Martín took a few steps back towards the wall.

“Put down your gun or I’ll shoot.”

#my wips #ask game

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spaceskam · 4 years

Text

what’s it gonna be? (2/3)

previous | next

ao3

The difficult thing about approaching Alex Manes was that you couldn’t just talk to him.

He was closed off and boarded up, his dark clothes and edgy taste in music were loud indicators that he didn’t want to let anyone new in. That meant Michael was going to have to be creative. Which honestly wasn’t fair at all considering Liz was probably the easiest person in the world to talk to, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Michael clicked his pen against the table as he stared a few rows down where Alex was hunched over his guitar, gently strumming and scribbling down some things every once in a while. The whole prospect of Alex bringing his guitar to school in the first place already felt like a red flag and Michael was waiting for him to just break out into Wonderwall.

Still, Max apparently liked the guy and they made a deal, so he got up and walked over to him.

Michael stood in front of him, waiting for Alex to catch sight of him. And Alex did, starting at his feet and slowly following the length of his body up to his face. Michael flashed a smile.

"Play me a song, guitar boy."

Alex stared at him for a second before rolling his eyes, looking back down to his guitar. Michael sat down in front of him.

"I play guitar too, you know?" Michael went on. Alex hummed mindlessly, but he didn't tell him to go away. "Pretty good at it if I do say so myself."

"Good for you."

"Play me something," Michael prodded again. Alex sighed and looked at him.

"Why are you talking to me?" he asked. Michael blinked innocently.

"Who else am I supposed to talk to?" Michael said, "Everyone else sucks."

"And I don't?" Alex said. He had a genuine curiosity in his tone, strands of hair falling from the bun at the nape of his neck and falling around his face. For a moment, Michael got a little overwhelmed. Dark hair, big dark eyes, nice lips, nice figure. He shook it away before he could think too hard about it.

"Well, I don't know you well enough to make an educated statement," Michael said, "So I guess I'm just gonna have to bother you until I figure it out."

Alex stared at him for a moment before a smile started to tug at his lips and he looked back down to his guitar. He seemed to hide behind his hair and Michael wondered how anyone thought he was scary. So what if he got in fights? He got flustered too easily to pass as scary.

"So, guitar boy, you should teach me some shit about music," Michael said, "After school, maybe?"

Alex looked back up to him, eyes a little wide as if he was actually shocked by the invite. Michael just stared unwaveringly at him. He nodded slowly.

"Yeah, okay," Alex agreed, "After school."

Michael grinned, climbing back to his feet. He gave Alex a parting salute and went back to his spot, not addressing the way he could feel Alex's eyes on him. This was going to be easy.

He could only imagine how easy it would be for Max.

When Max walked into English and saw that the seat beside Liz was open, he couldn’t help but feel like he won the damn lottery.

He easily strolled up to her, clutching his backpack as he watched her stare down at her notes. Her hair fell over her shoulders and onto the page like a waterfall and the end of her pen was between her teeth. Liz almost looked like a painting and he couldn’t help but think that his brother had good taste.

“Hey, Liz,” Max said. She lifted her eyes to him and dropped the pen to her notes, smiling that warm and welcoming smile that she always had.

“Max, hi.”

“Can I sit here or is this seat taken?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, no, it's open. Sit," she said.

Max nodded, taking the seat and pulling out his binder. He looked between it and her a couple times, trying to find a good thing to spark conversation with. He decided starting with science would be the best way since that was her speciality, the only one in the school who had taken every science the school had to offer.

"Hey, do you understand the whole balancing equations thing in Chem? It's still a little confusing to me," Max said, pulling out his thankfully unfinished homework. She nodded and leaned into his space. Her hair smelled nice.

"Yeah. So the best way to get the hang of it is to break it down in a visual way. So, like, the left has one carbon, four hydrogen, and two chlorine while the right has one carbon, one hydrogen, and five chlorine. So the right needs four hydrogen, but since it's paired with one chlorine, it makes the total on the right eight, and now you need to make the one on the left eight too, so you add a four," Liz explained. Admittedly, the information when in one ear and directly out the other. "Make sense?"

"Well… No, not really," he said. She laughed, pulling her hair over her shoulder and out of the way as she looked at him.

"Class is about to start, but if you want to study after school we can. I'll work on my explanation skills before then," Liz promised. Max smiled and nodded.

"Sounds good."

For the rest of the class, Liz whispered small comments and told him jokes. It was almost too easy. Max didn't understand what kept Michael from befriending her. It was the easiest thing he'd ever done.

Hopefully Michael wasn't as bad at approaching Alex as he was at approaching Liz.

Okay. He got it. Alex was cool.

There was one record store left in Roswell and Alex wants to spin the afternoon there, so Michael followed. He'd shucked his flannel off at some point, leaving him in a tight black t-shirt and jeans with the flannel tied around his hips and knock-off docs on his feet. He flicked through a stack or rack of records before he found the one he wanted. Alex held it up for Michael to see, raising his eyebrows.

“Elvis Presley? Really?” Michael asked, following him over to a record player that had a set of headphones at it. Alex unplugged it and plugged in his own pair.

“Yes, really,” he said, holding out one earbud to Michael to take, “I’d show you something cooler, but I always go easy on someone’s first time.”

Michael laughed, his skin feeling a little hot at the insinuation. Alex just kept that smug smile as his skillful fingers started the record. The smooth sound started up with a swing feel to it and Alex seemed to be watching him, waiting for his reaction.

"This is the first album he released after he was honorably discharged. And I mean right after. They rushed the shit out of it because they were scared he would lose his relevancy," Alex explained. Michael nodded, focusing more on his words than the sound of Elvis singing about trying to get someone to prove to him they wanted him. "It peaked at number two on the charts, but still had super mixed reviews. Which is weird, honestly, because his service in the army gave him a lot of support from an older audience."

"You know a lot about Elvis," Michael said. Alex shrugged.

"Not really, I know about his time in the army and that's about it," he explained, looking at Michael in a way he couldn't quite place. It was almost questioning, like he was testing the waters. Which didn't make fucking sense because he was Alex Manes. "I know a little bit about a lot of things."

"Like what?" Michael prodded. Alex stared at him in silence for a few seconds, his gaze intense and overwhelming. Michael's skin felt hot under it, his heart thudding in his chest. The only sound being Elvis singing along to snapping and a soft bass.

'You give me fever when you kiss me,' Elvis sang, 'what a lovely way to burn.'

"I guess you'll just have to stick around and see what I can teach you," Alex said. Michael nodded without even thinking, his body working on it's own accord.

"Okay."

Alex smiled and tucked his hair behind his ear and turned to search through a bin he was standing beside. He pulled out a new vinyl.

"Black Sabbath," Michael read, clearing his throat. Alex nodded.

"They've got good shit."

Was it wrong that Michael didn't ever want to leave?

"Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, yeah, thanks."

It was a little weird, Max thought, that the first girl he had in his room that wasn't Isobel or his mom was Liz Ortecho. He'd never really pictured her there. He quite liked the sight.

"Knew you'd get it," Liz said, "It's not hard, just takes focus."

"Yeah, you're also just a good teacher," he said. It was a little bit of a lie. She rambled a lot, getting distracted by her own train of thought and assuming he knew more than he did, but he didn't mind. He liked listening to her talk even if he wasn’t sure what she was talking about. Max didn’t understand how Michael had even formed a crush in the first place if he hadn’t listened to her ramble.

“Thank you,” Liz said, smiling as she leaned back.

They were sitting on his bedroom floor and her head was against his mattress. Would the smell of her hair linger on his sheets? Was that weird to think about?

"So, you wanna be a scientist when you grow up?" Max asked, leaning his head against the wall. Liz shrugged.

"I think I'm going to go into biological engineering. I like knowing how all that stuff works and messing with things," Liz explained. Max nodded.

"My brother's like that," Max said. Liz furrowed her eyebrows. "Michael."

"Oh, wow, I didn't know he was your brother," Liz laughed. Max shrugged.

"Yeah, we just got separated wherever Iz and I got adopted," Max said. Liz nodded, pulling her leg up to her chest and resting her chin on her knee.

"Well, what do you want to do when you grow up?" Liz asked. Max laughed a little as he allowed Michael's name to disappear from the conversation.

"I wanna be a writer," Max admitted. Liz had a knowing look on her face as she nodded.

"I can see it, you got that whole," Liz paused and gestured to him, "Slightly pretentious vibe about you."

"Hey!" he laughed.

"What? It's not a bad thing as long as you don't let it overcome you. I'm a firm believer that you have to be a little pretentious to be a creator of any kind. The confidence helps you succeed," Liz insisted. Max shrugged slightly, but he couldn't help but smile. "Trust me. My friend Alex is totally pretentious about his music, but we love him for it."

The mention of Alex felt a little jarring as he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. But Liz didn't let that memory last long.

"Well, show me some of your writing," Liz said. Max's eyes widened.

"What? I don't know if you'd wanna–"

"I do, c'mon, read me something," she prodded. Her eyes scanned the room before landing on the notebook on his nightstand. "Is there any in that?"

"Well…"

A mischievous smile crossed her face and she reached for it. Max didn't even think it through as he quickly went to grab it. He didn't want her to read anything in it. Each page was a different story, all disjointed and too many of them involving a love interest that were inspired by beautiful people he saw in school that he'd be embarrassed if she recognized.

Liz squealed in a joyous fashion as he tried to grab it first. She snatched it, her laughter contagious as he tried to grab it from her. She let go as he yanked it and he fell backwards. Liz took the opportunity of him being caught off guard to lean over him and grab it. Max caught her waist and flipped over. Suddenly, the book had slid a few feet away and he was just hovering over her.

Before he could really let it register, Liz grabbed his arms and locked her legs around his hips, flipping them over again and pinning his hands above his head. She had a victorious smile on her face, her long hair pooling around his head and making it impossible to look at anything but her. He swallowed harshly.

"Don't underestimate me just because you're tall, Max Evans," Liz told him. He nodded, probably a little too entranced by her, well, everything.

"Trust me," he said, "I wouldn't dare."

Alex was a master of saying something and meaning something else entirely. It left Michael feeling like he was starving and Alex's intentions were the only thing keeping him alive.

"What do you mean you haven't noticed?" Alex scoffed, shaking his head as they walked towards Michael's truck. It was Friday, four days into spending all his free time with Alex Manes and already he struggled to see a day he didn't do just that. "It's so obvious!"

"Obvious to who?" Michael laughed. Alex threw open the passenger side door without any hesitation, climbing it and dropping his messenger bag to the floor. He waited for Michael to get into the driver’s seat before answering.

“Anyone who claims to be interested in horror movies, Michael Guerin,” Alex said, giving a slightly dramatic sigh. Michael snorted as he started up the truck.

“Look, man, when I watch a movie, I don’t really pay attention to the music,” Michael admitted, looking over his shoulder as he started to back out of the parking spot.

“Oh my god, you’re speaking blasphemy, shut up,” Alex said, earning more laughter from Michael, “So horror at its peak in the 50s and 60s was heavy in strings, but once the synthesizer started gaining popularity in the 70s-ish‒by the way, did you know it was invented in the 50s?‒it took over. Just recently, like the last few years, they’ve been going back to strings, but like a distorted violin type of strings.”

“Okay, I think I see what you mean,” Michael said, nodding his head as he thought back to all the movies he’d seen in his lifetime. If he thought hard enough, he could think of movies that fit what Alex was talking about.

“Yeah, dude, it’s super obvious. Oh, shit, the drive-in is playing The Thing tonight at 8, that’s a perfect example of the mix between synth and orchestral since it’s, like, the early 80s,” Alex said. Michael looked over at him, seeing him looking down at his phone. His hair was down and shielding half of his face, but the sun was still hitting him like he was made for it. He was fucking gorgeous.

“Is that your subtle way of suggesting we go see a movie tonight?” Michael asked, glancing over at him again. Alex adjusted in his seat and looked up, tucking his hair behind his ear.

“I mean, yeah, we can,” Alex said, “Wouldn’t mind an excuse to stay out of my house.”

“I feel that,” Michael laughed, “Yeah, let’s go.”

It was how Michael ended up at almost 9pm at the drive-in, shrouded in darkness and watching The Thing while undeniably close to Alex Manes.

“Listen, listen, listen,” Alex whispered, leaning so close that his lips were almost touching his ear as he pointed. Michael moved his eyes off the screen to look at Alex only to see his eyes attached to the screen, sheer wonder in his eyes. “During most of the true horror moments in this movie, there’s no music at all, usually just letting you feel the moment. But, but but…” Alex breathed. Michael watched him instead of it again. But, still, he heard the slow build of synth in time with Alex’s smile growing. “You feel it? It’s right before shit gets bad, it’s preparing you, but letting you still feel the actual moment. It’s fucking genius.” Just like that, the synth stopping, just the screams of the creature and the people. Alex breathed in and dropped his hand, smiling. “This whole movie is a masterpiece.”

“I was kinda expecting you to jump out of fear,” Michael whispered, trying to shake that absolute entranced feeling watching Alex like this. In the darkness of the night, his face only lit by the screen and the dim street lamps that were set up, his guard was completely down. It was incredible.

“Jump scares are cool maybe once or twice a movie, but even that’s pushing it. Real horror lasts in your brain long after you watch it,” Alex said, looking at him for just a second, “All good shit should leave you unable to think about anything else.”

Michael nodded. “You’re right.”

“I know I am,” Alex said. His eyes flickered down and then back up to Michael’s eyes before he turned his gaze back to the movie. “Look, look, this is my favorite part.”

Michael looked and didn’t comment as Alex settled into his side. Alex’s best points were always unspoken and this felt like one of them.

“Let me see!”

“I am letting you see.”

Max laughed as Liz just glared at him, standing on her toes as she pulled on his arm. He continued holding the English paper he’d gotten back well over his head. Liz wanted to see his so they could compare them, but he found it much more enjoyable to hold it up and let her try to grab it.

“Stop,” Liz groaned.

Liz ended up taking a fist full of his shirt, dragging him over to one of the booths in the Crashdown. Max kept laughing as she forced him to sit down, kneeling on his thighs to keep him in place as she plucked the paper out of his grasp. She stuck his tongue out at him and the smile on his face was impossible to get rid of.

“You could’ve asked,” he teased. Liz glared at him, still just staying there with her knee in his lap. She was looking at his paper and he was looking at her. She seemed to get more gorgeous by the day, slowly but surely becoming unbearably attractive.

He watched as her eyes skimmed his paper, reading quickly as she settled her weight against him. She flipped to the next page, reading over it more, but then her eyes widened as she caught sight of his grade. Max smiled.

“A 102?” she scoffed, looking at him with a faux-offended face, “How the hell? I just got a 100!”

“Bonus points for using vocabulary words and using more than three sources,” he said. Again, that adorable glare. “But a 100 is still great.”

“Mhm, we’ll just have to talk when I get a 103 on my science test and you get a 91,” Liz said. Max grinned, shrugging shoulders. He was well past the point of caring as long as she stayed this close and kept talking. Sadly, though, she got off his lap and stood up straight.

“I can help you on your next paper,” Max offered. Liz looked at him with a knowing smile, tilting her head to the side.

“Well, I would hope so. I helped you with your science test, you’re definitely not off the hook. Now sit right there, I’m gonna go get us fries,” she said, not even waiting for an answer as she spun and went into the back. Max took a moment to let himself melt a little into the seat.

Soon, Liz was coming back with a basket of fries and a milkshake. She sat on the other side of the booth, that sweet smile still on her face.

“Only one?” Max asked playfully. She put her hand over her heart and gasped, giving an offended look.

“How dare you? Do I look like a woman who doesn’t share?” Liz asked. Max tilted his head and scrunched up his nose, enjoying the way it pulled laughter out of her. “Yeah, you’re right, but I’ll be nice today.”

Max watched as she pushed two straws into the shake. It felt a little too real and he looked at her to make sure she was actually okay with sharing. However, she didn’t even seem phased as she leaned forward to take a sip, marking her straw with a shiny stamp of lip gloss. Max, albeit hesitantly, leaned in and took a sip from the other one. She was still smiling.

He liked this.

“All things aside, though, I really like your paper,” Liz said, pointing at him with a fry, “If only you’d let me read something you wrote that you actually care about.”

“Maybe one day,” he offered. She raised her eyebrows, leaning closer.

“When is one day?”

“One day, I don’t know,” Max laughed. Liz shrugged a shoulder.

“Soon, I can feel it,” she stated firmly, “I’ve got a certain charm and I don’t think you’ll be able to resist.”

And Max had a feeling she was absolutely right.

Alex tilted his head back, breathing out a puff of smoke as he relaxed in the bed of Michael’s truck.

Michael’s lips parted as he watched him, his mouth feeling dry and his skin feeling too hot. He looked like a goddamn model at that moment. How the hell was anyone supposed to think straight? The weed definitely didn’t help.

“How many people have you slept with?” Alex asked, blunt and without preface. It only made Michael’s mind feel even more cloudy, the mix of wind and Elvis Presley’s Fever playing from his phone doing him no favors.

“Uh,” Michael said, stretching his legs out parallel to Alex’s, “Two?”

Alex nodded, not saying anything else as he leaned forward to pass the joint to Michael. He accepted it, his eyes still on Alex as he put it to his lips. Alex’s eyes lingered on his face before slowly scanning his entire body. When he got to his legs, Alex reached out and put his hand on his calf. His thumb rubbed small circles over his jeans. Michael’s brain was malfunctioning.

“Roswell has a population of a little over 6,000 people,” Alex said softly, his hand staying on his leg as he looked up to him. The joint was limply in Michael’s hand, too drunk on Alex’s existence to hold it properly. Alex plucked it from his grip, stubbing it out on the bottom of his shoe. Once it was completely out and done smoking, Alex moved even closer to tuck it behind Michael’s ear. “6,000 people and I can’t stand most of them, but I people-watch. I understand them and social cues and how to interact. I hate it, though, the uncertainty of it.”

“Yeah,” Michael breathed, agreeing with him on principle alone. Alex’s lips twitched up into a smile that didn’t last, his fingers letting go of the joint and tracing over his ear and his neck. Chills rose to his skin and his breathing got a little heavier. Alex’s eyes fluttered over his face again.

“I like certainty,” Alex said, “So I think I know what your goal is, but I’d really like you to spell it out for me.”

“My goal?” Michael clarified. Alex nodded, somehow even closer. He tilted his head to the side and he ditched all sense of preservation, his eyes on Michael’s lips and not moving. Which, maybe Michael was stupid, but he slowly let his eyes drift to Alex’s lips, focusing on that part of him in the same way.

Alex leaned in a little more, their foreheads touching just a little. And, just as Michael was about to close the space, his phone went off. Michael jumped and looked away to search for it. Alex sighed, sitting down as Michael checked to see what had ruined his moment.

Max: tomorrow after church?

Michael swallowed harshly and looked up to Alex who’s focus had drifted to playing with a loose string on the hole in his jeans at his knee. He kind of forgot about Max and what the point was. He was supposed to be learning about Alex for Max, not for himself. Guilt slowly started filling his veins as he realized how selfish he’d been.

Fuck.

“God, Max, this is beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

There were a lot of nerves that went into letting a pretty girl read your inner most thoughts, but Liz was endlessly respectful of his feelings and didn’t insult him for being too sappy. She scrolled down on the long document that he typed his story in, still reading as she sat right beside him.

“Seriously, you should look into getting published,” Liz said, finally looking at him. They were in his room again. This time the door was closed. It felt good.

“I don’t know, I feel like that’s a lot harder than you’d think,” Max said, shrugging his shoulders. Liz rolled her eyes.

“Well, you won’t know until you try! And, who knows, all it’ll take is a little willpower. Or maybe you could self-publish. I could help you figure it all out,” Liz offered. Max furrowed his eyebrows, a disbelieving huff leaving his chest.

“Why would you do that?” he asked, “You’re far too nice to me, Liz Ortecho.”

“I’m a nice person,” she insisted, “And you’re way too talented to just let it go to waste.”

“I don’t know. I want to travel first, see stuff, get inspired by something real, you know?” Max said. Liz nodded without hesitation.

“Yeah, I want to travel too,” she said, looking down for a second before looking back at him, “Maybe we could travel together.”

His eyebrows shot up, blinking a couple times. “You’d want to travel with me?”

“Well, why not?” she said, “I’ve always wanted to and why not go with someone you like spending time with?”

“You really have that much fun spending time with me?” Max asked, really not buying that. She was so… and he was just…

“There’s just something about you, Max Evans,” Liz told him, fondness thick in her voice. It warmed his heart in a way he didn’t quite understand. No one had ever said something like that about him before. He always just assumed he was just Max. “I don’t know. I’ve known you all my life and sometimes… Reading this, I kinda feel like this is the first time I’m really seeing you. Seeing you and seeing how you see other people. It’s beautiful, Max.”

“I get that,” Max said, his chest feeling a little tight and his mind overwhelmed. She was way too good for him. “Sometimes I feel like you’re the only girl in the room.”

“Well,” she said, tilting to her head to the side, “Right now I am.”

Max smiled and bit his lip. It was too easy to get entranced by her, too easy to miss when she started to lean in, too easy to get obsessed the way her hand touched his cheek.

And too hard not to get pissed when Isobel busted inside before either of them could close the space.

“Hello,” Isobel said, clearly happy to ruin the moment, “Hate to break up the love fest going on in here, but your dad called, Liz. Said he tried calling you, but your phone was dead and he got worried. He wanted to know if you were going to make it home for dinner.”

“What time is it?” Liz asked, glancing down at the laptop and her eyes widening, “Oh, shoot, sorry, Max, I gotta go. I had fun.”

“Wait, I’ll drive you,” he offered as she got up quickly. She shook her head as she grabbed her bag.

“Don’t worry, the walk isn’t far. I’ll see you later?” Liz said. He nodded and she slipped past Isobel, hurrying down the stairs. Max sighed and leaned back.

“Way to ruin the moment, Iz,” he grumbled. Isobel raised an eyebrow.

“Way to move in on the girl Michael’s been staring at for a year,” Isobel pointed out, “Does he know that you’re doing that or is this just a fun way to get back at him for breathing too loud when he sleeps?”

Max couldn’t see himself, but he was sure his face paled as he was reminded of Michael. He’d forgotten that’s what he was doing. Hell, he’d forgotten everything that wasn’t Liz. Guilt overcame him too fast and he quickly pulled out his phone.

Max: tomorrow after church?

“Hope you enjoy telling him,” Isobel said in a sing-song voice as she walked away. Max swallowed and very quickly made the decision not to tell him. Michael didn’t have much, he deserved something. If that meant he couldn’t have Liz, then so be it. It would just be the worst.

Fuck.

#malex #malex fic #echo #echo fic #michael guerin #alex manes #max evans #liz ortecho #rnm fic #my fic #whats it gonna be?

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marvelslut16 · 4 years

Text

Closure

Pairing(s): Steve x reader, Steve x OC!Ana, Reader x OC!Mike

Synopsis: (Y/N) and Steve are paired up as partners for a year. The problem is she hates the golden boy. Quickly she learns that he isn’t as horrid as she once imagined and they become best friends. Will (Y/N) realize before it’s too late that she’s madly and deeply in love with one Steven Grant Rogers?

Word count: 5,100 whoops

Warnings: Some fluff, some angst. Swearing. Mentions of stitches, but now graphic descriptions of gore. A super clueless reader. Bucky is a bitch in this. Jealousy.

A/n: I should have been writing my Stan Uris request (which I’m more than have done with) or my next chapter of can’t fight this feeling (it’s getting there you guys!) but I wrote this bad boy instead. I hope you guys enjoy it and are staying safe and healthy during these crazy times.

Steve was never the man you planned to fall for. Hell, you hated the man for three years. You thought he was pretentious and full of himself when he snootily corrected you on a mistake only he noticed. Everyone praised him, said he was so fantastic; he could do no wrong, he’s America’s golden boy after all.

A few years had passed since the incident where he corrected you on an almost nonexistent mistake in the middle of a mission. You two were suddenly paired up by Fury to be partners on any future missions. Bucky was still recovering from all the pain Hydra caused so he couldn’t be Steve’s partner, but you had been hoping to get either Nat or Tony as yours. But life never works out how you want.

Being partners also meant you two had to train together too, help you bond and become a stronger pair on missions. Blah blah blah. You had a sprained wrist from a mission you had just been on, it was supposed to be a simple in and out until the shield agent helping you made a mistake. The worst part is that you happen to be dating that shield agent, Mike can’t go thirty minutes without apologizing. The more he does it the more it gets on your nerves, so you always try to take hold of the conversation and steer it away from that topic.

So as you're in the gym for your first training session, sitting on a bench board out of your mind watching America’s golden boy workout his already perfect body, you text Mike and complain about being stuck with the blonde soldier. Steve breaks the tense and awkward silence randomly, causing you to put your phone down for the first time since entering the gym.

“Do you know how to work this thing?” his thumb is pointing over his shoulder at one of the many treadmills, he’s giving you a sheepish smile.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” you smile softly, quickly getting up and pressing the buttons, setting it up for him. “There ya go.”

“Thanks,” he lets out a sigh, running a hand through his slightly sweaty blonde locks. “I’m still new to all of this technology stuff.” You don’t respond, not verbally at least. You give him a warm smile and small nod, his grin seems to grow at your first real interaction.

As your time with him in the gym becomes more frequent when you're healed, you notice that he doesn’t actually need your help setting up the machines. He even sets them up for you if he beats you to the gym that day. You realize that it was really just an icebreaker, this way it wouldn’t be as awkward and you would finally talk to him. It turns out he doesn’t even remember correcting you all those years ago, so maybe he isn’t as bad as you’ve always made him out to be.

To nobody's surprise, but your own, you and Steve become fast friends. You didn’t think much of it, he’s your partner and you two are supposed to get along. So the friendship was a good thing, right? Steve soon became your confidant, the one you would seek out if the mission was hard or if you and Mike were in yet another fight. Besides that, Steve was just a great person who was fun to be with.

He was surprisingly political for a man that was frozen in ice for seventy years, so he’ll talk your ear off about what’s going on in the world. It’s not too surprising, you suppose, he was political propaganda and has an unwavering moral compass, so it’s to be expected. He keeps you educated and up to date, something that amuses your teammates when they see you guys hang out. You and Steve will have animated conversations about World War II, comparing the political climate and leaders back then to now over lunch. What really amused everyone was how quickly those serious conversations could flip and turn into pop culture talk. If one of you says a reference from a show in your conversation, it immediately switches to that show or ones like it.

You had introduced Steve to friends, and he had come running to you as soon as Ross and Rachel had their we were on a break fight. He was so distraught over the show, he wanted Ross and Rachel to just talk out their problems. You thought his reaction was adorable, and so did Nat who was quietly laughing to herself in a corner.

There were days where you didn’t even have to talk, content with sitting in silence and filling out mission reports. Typically spent listening to songs from the forties, or you trying to get him into modern music. Everyone was shocked, especially Bucky who is now back from Wakanda good as new apparently, that you got Steve to get a cellphone. The super soldier frequently texts you with questions or to complain that he misses you if you’re too injured or sick to make it to training.

Very rarely was Steve moody, one reason you were glad when you got him and not Tony, but when he was it was unbearable. He had gotten in a fight with Bucky and ignored you in training. No setting up the machine for you, even though he was already running on his treadmill when you got to the gym. No offering you water after a tough set, or apologizing if he thought he pinned you to the mat too hard, which he always did.

“Stevie, what’s wrong?” you finally broke the silence.

“It’s nothing (Y/N)!” there’s a flash of anger towards you in his icy blue eyes. “I’m done training for the day.”

“But we still have another hour!” you holler at his toned back, white shirt clinging to the sweat, as he walks away from you.

“I don’t really care, I don’t want to talk,” Steve doesn’t turn to face you. His voice drops so low he thinks you won’t hear him, but you do, “I don’t want to be around you right now.”

Your heart squeezes at his words. Was Mike right when he called you too much the other night? Were you so annoying that both your boyfriend and your best friend didn’t want to be around you?

Steve’s blue eyes softened as he apologized for his actions the next morning. He didn’t know you heard his last bit, but you weren’t gonna tell him you did. So you just dealt with the little bit of your self esteem chip away, but that was nothing new.

You’re knocking on his door in the middle of the night, instantly regretting it when you see the dark bags under his sparkling blue eyes. His arm flexes as he rubs a hand over his face, gray sweatpants hang low on his waist, and his navy blue shirt is slightly twisted from tossing and turning.

“Sorry,” you sniffle and quickly apologize. You start to walk away but Steve’s thick fingers wrap around your wrist and pull you towards him.

“What's wrong?” the sleep gone from his eyes, replaced with worry at the sight of your tear stained cheeks.

“It’s nothing,” you sigh, running your hands through your hair. “It was stupid.”

“Is it nothing or is it stupid? ‘Cause it can’t be both Doll,” his voice is soft and inviting, it makes you start crying all over again.

“Mike and I got into such a bad fight,” you cry, he immediately pulls you into a hug and into his apartment. He ushers you over to a stool in the kitchen, grabbing you both a beer, claiming that you look like you could really use one. “He threatened to break up with me, he just kept saying that I have too much baggage from before. Telling me that I’m too annoying, too clingy, too much.”

The super soldier stayed up with you all night, letting you cry and vent about your relationship troubles. Again. He even took you out for breakfast when morning rolled around, you two laughing over what seemed like a gallon of coffee. While you had never woken him up before, you two had talked for hours if Mike had done something stupid or hurt you.

Steve and Mike had been sort of friends before this, having worked with each other on missions before your partnership. But the words that Mike had been spewing at you hours earlier made it so that Steve could never look at him the same way again. Who could be that cruel to you on purpose?

The Avengers were going to a local hospital to surprise the sick children in the cancer ward. You’re paired up with Bucky much to your disappointment, everyone wanted Captain America and Black Widow together, they were well known. You don’t dislike the ex assassin, but he’s practically Steve’s brother which makes you infinitely more nervous around him.

As you're waiting for the all clear from one of the oncologists you get a text from Tony with an updated schedule, one child was able to go home a day early so they were no longer there so a new room with a new kid was added. You briefly smile down at your lock screen, a picture of you and Steve making stupid faces in your uniforms- he even let you hold his shield.

“Is that you and Steve?” Bucky’s long strands of hair hit the side of your face as he leans down to get a better look of the picture.

“Uh- yeah,” you turn to look at his face, a small frown of confusion graces your features. His gaze goes from curious to a large frown, confusing you to no end.

“Why did you guys take it?” he asks, crossing his thick arms across his chest, making sure to flex them.

“Uh, we had just gotten back from a long mission and we needed to decompress,” you smile fondly at the memory of the bleach blonde man making you laugh when you didn’t think you could even smile. He somehow managed to take your stress away, he always knew how to make it better; you’re convinced it was a power that came with the serum. “We were just goofing around and having fun, Steve suggested we take a picture to remember it.”

“You’re so annoying,” he rolls his eyes and shakes his head, brown locks creating a curtain around his face. Your jaw momentarily drops open in shock, but you quickly close it as the oncologist comes back to the two of you. You put on your well practiced mask, cheering up the kids was far more important than your measly little feelings.

For some unknown reason Bucky told Steve about the interaction. Steve immediately apologized the next day for Bucky’s actions, but it meant next to nothing coming from him and not the man with the vibranium arm. Steve just kept going on about how Bucky’s brain still wasn’t back to hundred percent yet, but you knew Bucky had meant what he said.

“Are you sleeping with him?” Mike storms into your apartment that Tony gave you in Avengers tower, perks of the job.

“What?” your eyebrows furrow, you aren’t a cheater. “Who?”

“Steve,” his name comes out of Mike’s mouth like it burned him, but you can see the sadness in his eyes.

“Of course not!” anger starts to fuel you, how dare he make these accusations about you and your friend!

“Sharon came up to me at work today and said she wouldn’t be surprised if you two were sleeping with each other behind my back!” he defends. Of course it was Sharon, you restrain yourself from aggressively rolling your eyes at the annoying woman's antics.

“Steve and I would never do that! And you know that. You also know that Sharon is obsessively in love with Steve and is most likely jealous of my friendship with him.”

The conversation ended there that night, but you knew it wasn’t over yet. Mike left shortly after to go to his apartment twenty minutes away from the tower, and you were left to wonder why the hell Sharon would ever suggest a thing. Steve was just a friend! Right?

The next day during training you were complaining to him about Sharon and Mike as you were punching one of the many bags filled with sand. Knuckles bruising and bleeding, but you don’t notice. Far too occupied with everyone sticking their noses where they don’t belong, just looking to start drama within the Avengers.

You and Mike had gotten into yet another fight about Steve a month later. This time you didn’t want to go to the man at the center of your problems, so you went to two of your friends Marie and Trisha. They’re both Shield agents that work with Mike, so they know the both of you enough to give you good advice.

“He just keeps getting so mad at me for being friends with Steve!” you complain to the two girls, who roll their eyes at the words they’ve heard come from your mouth a thousand times before.

“So break up with him,” Marie shrugs like it’s no big deal, checking her nails.

“But I love him,” you blanch.

“Do you though?” Trisha asks with a judgmental eyebrow raised.

“Of course I do! We’ve been together for two years, I see a future with him,” you furrow your brows at how rude they seem. “But do you think he’s right? Do you think Steve likes me?”

“Not even close!” Trisha laughs. “(Y/N), he would never go for someone like you, he could have any woman- or man- that he wants.”

“Dump Mike and forget Steve, they aren’t worth your time,” Marie looks up from her nails to give you an annoyed look.

So much for friends, huh. But Trisha was right about one thing, Steve would never go for someone like me. I’m not special, I’m not beautiful; I’m just annoying and I carry too much emotional baggage for anyone to deal with. You walked out of shield headquarters that day feeling worse than you did when you came, and no closer to solving this whole Steve Mike business.

Steve was reading the briefing for your next mission when you entered the common room in the tower. You plopped down right next to him, swinging your legs over his lap and resting your head on his shoulder to read it too. He threw the arm that you’re leaning on across your shoulders to make it more comfortable for the two of you. You and Steve would sit like this all the time; during movies, reading up on missions, while talking about anything and everything.

It made Mike uncomfortable, and maybe you were naive because you never understood why. Steve was your friend, and friends cuddle. Plus it was extremely comfortable and some days you just needed it. The first time you did it you did as a joke, trying to make Steve uncomfortable, it was a game you two play. But you both quickly found how much you both liked it and you do it without giving it a second thought now. Plus, it’s a nice added bonus when Sharon sees it and gets upset.

Before you and Steve knew it a whole year of partnership passed, and Fury decided to change partners around. Steve obviously got Bucky and you got Nat. While she was your original first choice, now all you wanted was for Steve to have your six. There wouldn’t be anymore inside jokes, long talks, or silly photos to take. You would miss the way his nose crinkled when he would laugh at one of your stupid jokes, or how his face would scrunch up and the tip of his tongue would peak out from between his lips when would sketch you during your free time.

If losing him as your partner weren’t enough, he was moving out of the tower. He found a cute little brownstone to move into, him and Bucky were going to be roommates. You believed Steve when he told you he would come visit you all the time, but it was just an empty promise. You felt like you were losing a piece of your heart and soul. Steve had become your best friend and you weren’t sure when you would be able to see him again. He left the tower one night, never telling you goodbye first.

If anything good came out of Steve’s move, it was that you and Mike weren’t as rocky as you once were. You were crushed that you didn’t have Steve by your side anymore, but you would never tell Mike that. He’d never understand how you missed the super soldier as a friend. He and I would still text occasionally, or talk briefly if we ran into each other in the halls, but it was never the same. And it never would be.

The next time you saw Sharon she was smug, as if she were gloating because you weren’t close to him anymore either. But that all changed when Steve entered the tower with a shorter woman with long black hair on his arm named Ana. She was a nurse for shield, apparently they had met when she insisted he get a cut stitched after a bad mission, even if he would be healed within a few hours. You used to make Steve get checked out after every mission, made sure he took care of himself, but you were useless now.

“She’s cheated on every guy she’s been with,” Sharon whispered to you as Ana swung her own legs over Steve’s lap and curled into his side. The smile on his face was so wide and loving, it was honestly revolting. Nat, Tony, and Sam all turned to watch your face at the interaction, you masked any possible emotion. But Tony saw the hurt in your eyes, you had officially lost Steve. But he was never yours to lose.

You pushed off Sharon’s words, why would she tell you the truth when she hated you so much. But when Trisha and Marie texted you out of nowhere freaking out about her being a cheater you knew it was the ugly truth. Steven Grant Rogers, the love of your life as you always jokingly called him, was going to get his pure heart broken by someone who would never love as much as he loved her.

Mike caught you one night, when he came over to surprise you with dinner, looking at the drawings of you that Steve had done while swiping through the pictures you had taken with the blonde. Mike, seeing that you were grieving the loss of such an important friendship didn’t say anything about it. Instead you guys ate your food and talked about your future together. He kept repeating that he wanted to marry you one day soon.

While the prospect of spending the rest of your life with Mike was exciting and inviting; it was a nice safe choice. You couldn’t help but wonder, would Steve go to your wedding? Would he be your man of honor like you two joked he would be? Or did he not care about you now that you weren’t partners anymore? Because your life would be gray without him in it.

Tony threw his yearly charity gala. You were dressed in an ombre blue dress that made you feel like Cinderella. Mike had surprised you and paid for you to go all out and get your hair and nails done. What you didn’t know was that Mike was trying to spoil you so you would be happy again and maybe fix your crumbling relationship. While your relationship was fine, better even, when Steve had moved, it was falling apart now as you wallowed in self pity over the fact that you lost your best friend.

You had begged Mike for hours to go dance with you, but he wouldn’t. He just told you he didn’t want to and sat at your table sipping his drink. Steve and Ana were spinning around the dance floor, they looked so happy it hurt. You couldn’t help but stare, that could have been you. What did you have to sell to get Mike to seem like he cared about you and to dance with you? A kidney? An arm or a leg? Your soul? Because you would do it.

Nat and Wanda saw how depressed you looked, so they pulled you onto the floor with them. And for a few minutes everything felt right in the world, you were finally happy. But that ended as soon as it began when Ana bumped into you while she was dancing, you would have fallen if it weren’t for Wanda and her powers. She giggled out a fake sorry before pulling Steve in the opposite direction.

When you sat back down next to Mike again you couldn’t tear your eyes off of Steve. Who had he become? He was so enraptured by Ana that he didn’t even try to talk to you like he always did at big events like this. What you didn’t know was that while you were holding back tears Mike was trying to talk himself into breaking up with you. He knew you weren’t happy anymore, that you would much rather be with Steve. Even if you didn’t know that yet.

After a long talk with Fury it was decided that it would be better for everyone if you went back to being a normal shield agent instead of a part of the Avengers. While it stung a little and felt like a downgrade, it was what you wanted as well. To make things even better, you were now paired up with Sharon. Your long hours together proved she wasn’t as horrible as you once thought, but she was definitely not your favorite person.

Mike started working in a new sector where he was partnered up with a new agent named Jana. He spent more time with her than with, you so you started hanging out with Trisha and Marie regularly again. The two girls tried to get you to shit talk Ana with them, but you wouldn’t. Steve was happy and that’s all that mattered to you.

Mike broke up with you. He sent you a text at three in the morning telling you it wasn’t working. You wholeheartedly agreed, nothing felt right anymore, but you would have preferred the break up in person. That was the decent thing to do.he started dating Jana, and you were happy for him too. Just like Steve, you wanted him happy.

Months passed after the break up and you were still friends with Mike. He was your partner and your friend before the relationship, so you were sure as hell going to be his friend after the end of your three year relationship. Your break up wasn’t a secret, it seemed like everyone at shield knew the details of it.

Mike, Jana, Maria Hill, and you were all eating lunch together when a familiar blonde haired blue eyed man walked through the cafeteria. Your heart started to pound, you hadn’t talked to Steve in almost a year and hadn’t seen him in even longer. Mike gave your arm a quick squeeze as Maria was getting ready to go talk to him. But Ana locked eyes with you as soon as Steve waved at you, and pulled him away from you. Mike pulled you into his side and Jana gently rubbed your hand that was sitting on the tabletop.

Maria runs away from you and Sharon and up to talk to Steve when she sees him in the hall later that day. You and Sharon share an unsure glance before following Fury's right hand woman. Steve has a long talk with Maria about an upcoming mission she is accompanying him and Bucky on. He even talks with Sharon about a new technique Nat taught her when the redhead visited a few weeks prior.

“Hey Rogers,” you give him a small smile when his eyes finally land on you.

He opens his mouth, ready to speak to you for the first time in ages. But before he could get any words out Ana let out an annoyed sound, sent Steve a look, and stormed off. Steve gave you an apologetic smile before running after his girlfriend.

Your mouth opens as you let out what would have a mix between a sob and a scoff if it hadn’t come out silent. It felt like something was wrapping around your heart, giving it a painful squeeze. That feeling snaked up and constricted your throat, momentarily causing you to forget to breathe. Maria is looking at you with soft confused eyes while Sharon is glaring at Steve’s back as he runs after Ana.

Ironically, you ran crying to Mike. It was a sick twist of fate, after a year of running to Steve when things went wrong with Mike, he was now the one helping you when it came to the hurt America’s golden boy caused. He took you out for dinner that night and spent hours comforting you. Because after all this time you finally realized it. You’re in love with Steve, you have been for years. But now you’ve lost him for good.

“Are Steve and Ana still together?” Wanda asks when you visit her and Nat at the tower.

“I think, why?” you glance between the two redheads confused why they would be asking you this and not Steve.

“Well her and this other shield agent came with us on a mission,” Nat admits. “And the entire quinjet ride she was hanging all over him.”

“We had to spend the night there,” Wanda says slowly, like the next words out of her mouth could change everything. And they do. “I caught her sneaking into his room.”

The world around you seems to slow and your fragile heart seems to crack even more. You knew it. You knew that bitch would hurt your Stevie.

After leaving the tower for the night you immediately message both Marie and Trisha because they were right. At the office the next day you join in on the shit talking for the first time. Nobody hurts your Stevie.

Tony invited you to the charity gala again, he kept whining that he missed your annoying ass. So you're put on a gorgeous deep red dress with a slightly bedazzled bodice. You're at the bar with Tony, Nat, and Wanda when Sharon comes running over; her dress, Trisha, and Marie trailing behind her.

“Is Steve still with Ana?” Sharon asks, slightly out of breath.

“Why do people keep asking me this?” not only are you confused, but you're angry that it keeps coming up. “How am I supposed to know? Steve and I don’t talk anymore.”

“Ana came with the guy who’s room she snuck into,” Marie eyes you nervously as she speaks.

“That's her ex,” Jana adds as her and Mike join the group forming at the bar.

“Check their socials!” Trisha hollers unhelpfully. But you do anyway, and what you see breaks your heart.

You check Ana first, but after typing her name into the search bar nothing comes up. Mike quickly looks her up and shows that she still pops up on his phone, she obviously blocked you. Ana and Steve were still her profile picture, but you weren’t satisfied with that.

Your fingers fly as you type in Steve’s name. He pops up, but you suddenly aren’t friends with him anymore and the option to send a friend request isn’t there. Your cracked heart shatters. Everyone around you seems to fade and all you hear is white noise, you never meant anything to him. You don’t realize you're crying until your tears hit the picture of him and Ana laughing which is his new profile picture.

Tony makes you another rum and coke, which you chug. Screw Ana. Screw Steve Rogers. And fuck feelings. You spend the night dancing with Nat and Wanda when they aren’t with Clint and Vision. Mike, who refused to dance with you a year ago, even took you for a spin around the dance floor.

You eventually cut Trisha and Marie out of your life, they were nothing but trouble. They were bad influences, trying to get you to be a meaner person than you were. And it worked for a while, you had let them manipulate your hurt into anger since that was an easier emotion to process. Shortly after the gala you got transferred to a shield base in Sokovia, Wanda and Pietro excitedly showed you around their home. Sharon texted you a year after you left that Steve had apparently broken up with Ana.

It has been almost three years since the day of that gala and about two since Steve and Ana had broken up. Mike is still your best friend, he’s planning on proposing to Jana soon. He’ll occasionally see Steve and tell you how he is. Recently you decided to look him up on Facebook again to see how he was doing; he looks good, happy. You had the option to send him a friend request again, so you did. And within ten minutes he said yes.

It has been about a month since that happened, you haven’t messaged him and he hasn’t messaged you. You’ll react to some of the old photos from the forties that he’ll post, or the memes he posts about Stranger Things, another show you had gotten him into. Facebook friends doesn’t seem like too much, but for you when it comes to Steve it means the world.

While you don’t have that connection you had with Steve once, him accepting is like he’s accepting your apology for how poorly you acted when it came to Ana. You finally got your closure.

And with that you put down your pen and close your composition notebook. The one you're shield appointed therapist, you had to talk to her for your yearly eval, had suggested. She thought it might make you feel better to have all of the words written down, all of the truths and emotions out in the open. You realized far too late how you really felt, and the notebook was the only way to fully process everything that had happened these past four years.

Forever tags: @crimson-knuckled-queen @rexorangecouny

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heartofether · 3 years

Text

Episode 12 - Bicycle TRANSCRIPT

[You can listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts, or go to our “Listen” page if you’re on desktop.]

AUTOMATED VOICE

[GROWING SLOWER THROUGHOUT] Please state your message.

[THEME MUSIC AND INTRODUCTION PLAYS.]

VAL

Three-Eyed Frog Presents: The Heart of Ether.

[THEME CONTINUES BEFORE COMING TO A STOP.]

[PHONE BEEP.]

[INT. THE OPEN EYES BOOKSTORE, UPSTAIRS.]

[PHOEBE AND HOLLY ARE HEARD GOING UP THE STAIRS TO THE APARTMENT.]

PHOEBE

[RUSHED] I’m so sorry I called you on such short notice, it’s just—oh, I have a bird by the way, her name is Michelle, I’m sorry I forgot to tell you, but I, anyways—it’s just that it all happened really fast, and I just need to talk about—

[AS SHE TALKS, PHOEBE IS HEARD OPENING THE DOOR TO THE APARTMENT AND CLOSING IT BEHIND HER AND HOLLY AS THEY WALK INSIDE. IN THE APARTMENT, THE OCCASIONAL CHIRPING OF MICHELLE IS HEARD IN THE BACKGROUND.]

HOLLY

[OVERLAPPING] Dude, it’s chill. Really.

Oh, and uh, I got you something. It’s from that super pretentious place around the block. I know you don’t like coffee, but I hope matcha is okay?

PHOEBE

…oh! Oh, my gosh! I didn’t even realize you were carrying anything, um—thank you! Wow. Thank you so much, er—matcha’s great! Wait, how much was it, I can—

HOLLY

[SHE LAUGHS.] No need to pay me back. It’s a gift.

PHOEBE

[A BEAT, THEN, SINCERE] Thank you.

HOLLY

No problem, I’ll just set it on the table here—?

PHOEBE

That works, yeah.

HOLLY

Cool.

[HOLLY IS HEARD WALKING TO THE TABLE AND SETTING THE CUP DOWN.]

HOLLY

…so, is your friend okay?

PHOEBE

...what?

HOLLY

The one you said got attacked.

[A BRIEF PAUSE.]

PHOEBE

Oh, right. Sorry, sorry, I er uh, heh, got distracted. But yes, they’re okay.

HOLLY

[SHE CHUCKLES.] I gotta hand it to ‘em. Of all the things I expected to hear about when you called me, sentient mold was not on the list.

PHOEBE

I’m still not sure how it works, honestly. I’ve been trying to go through Grandma Doe’s notes, see if she had anything about the mold. At the very least, Valencia knew about it, because he had big jugs of lemonade saved in case of an attack—which I didn’t even know lemonade lasted that long.

HOLLY

He must have had some way of preserving it. Maybe more spooky weirdness?

PHOEBE

[SHE GIGGLES.] I doubt it. I mean, I suppose the lemonade doesn’t have to be safe for human consumption, so long as it works on the mold.

HOLLY

[UNSEEN NOD] Mm, sure.

PHOEBE

I still haven’t found much about the mold itself, though. I’ll have to keep looking.

HOLLY

Gotcha.

So, shouldn’t we be down in the backroom looking? ‘Cause you brought me up to the apartment—

PHOEBE

There’s a reason for that.

HOLLY

…oh?

PHOEBE

Er, can we, sit down?

HOLLY

Oh, yeah.

[THEY ARE HEARD PULLING THE CHAIRS OUT AND SITTING DOWN AT THE TABLE.]

PHOEBE

[NERVOUSLY RAMBLING] Look, I, I don’t know what’s going on. All this stuff, what, with my grandma’s research, whatever Valencia was doing—I mean, he has even more research apparently, which, wow.

And I’ve been really stressed about it, what with all my already existing shop worries, now I’m facing this unknown, inhuman power without any—

HOLLY

[OVERLAPPING, COMFORTING] Hey, I understand. That shit out there? It’s pretty terrifying. You’re allowed to be worried about it.

[THERE’S A PAUSE.]

PHOEBE

Why do you care?

HOLLY

What?

PHOEBE

[GUILTY] …oh, gosh, I’m so sorry, that was so rude of me, I mean, uh—about all of this. You said you were looking for, like, monsters or something, when you came in. Why do you care so much about helping me? I mean, evidently, it’s really dangerous. Seriously, someone I know was nearly killed today. So, why are you so, um, I guess, invested?

[A BEAT.] If you don’t mind answering, that is. I know that might be, er, kinda personal. Sorry.

[A LONG PAUSE.]

HOLLY

Did you know that owls are my favorite animal? That’s why I was so enthralled by that wicked statue your grandmother put out in the shop. They’ve been my favorite for a few years. And you wanna know why that is?

It’s because they’re so, I don’t know, calculated. They’re silent killers. Widely respected. People associate them with wisdom, and mystery, but there’s also a hunger there. A need to survive, and they know damn well how to do it. It’s not even uncommon for them to eat other owls.

PHOEBE

Um, I—

HOLLY

[SHE LAUGHS.] Sorry, I just, owls are super fuckin’ cool. I promise I’m going somewhere with this. Hang tight.

PHOEBE

[SHE GIGGLES.] Okay.

HOLLY

So, owls. They’re calculated, but they’ve got, like, a fierce hunger in their eyes.

And I…I’ve got a hunger. I mean, I’m not eating owls, obviously, no, it’s a metaphorical hunger. A need to…to act. To protect. I used to be so good at standing by silently, watching, unnoticed, but unlike the owl, who hunts, I never did anything. I was frozen in place.

[SOFTER, SHAKILY] And then, when I needed to protect someone, I failed. I watched silently, but I never struck. I walked away…empty-handed.

[SHE TAKES A DEEP BREATH.] I’m not doing that again. If people are in danger, and there’s any way I can help, I’m going to step in. Whatever I can do.

[ANOTHER LONG PAUSE.]

PHOEBE

I’m sorry, Holly.

HOLLY

[SHE LAUGHS IT OFF] Don’t worry about it. It’s all in the past. Just, I want to make sure nobody suffers at the hands of whatever monstrous forces we’re dealing with.

PHOEBE

That’s really admirable.

HOLLY

Thanks.

[FLATTERING] I mean, I’m no braver than you. You’re kinda diving head-first into all of this. That’s badass.

PHOEBE

[FLUSTERED] Oh, um, thank you! Heh.

[MUTTERS] I mean, I didn’t really have a choice, it was this or burn the shop down…

HOLLY

What?

PHOEBE

D—Don’t worry about it! Um, sorry. Thank you again.

HOLLY

Of course.

[SOFTLY, SINCERE] You’re really special. You know? You and this shop.

PHOEBE

[A BEAT, THEN, SOFTLY] You seem so certain about that.

HOLLY

I am.

PHOEBE

[REALIZATION] Oh.

[LONG, GAY PAUSE.]

PHOEBE

[SHE CLEARS HER THROAT.] Sorry, sorry, um…There is one way you can help. Not just, um, you know, carrying boxes. It’s a big thing, um, and also why I brought you up here.

HOLLY

Oh, alright.

PHOEBE

I said my grandmother didn’t leave any guide behind to help me? Well, I lied.

[A BEAT, THEN, RUSHING TO REASSURANCE] I promise that’s the only lie I told you, though, and I had a good reason for it.

She…she left a box. Full of super secret letters. You’re the only person I’ve told. Irene doesn’t know anything about it.

HOLLY

I mean, you don’t have to tell me about anything you’re not comfortable sharing, Phoebe—

PHOEBE

[OVERLAPPING] I need help with something, and I don’t know how you’re gonna feel about it because I don’t know how I feel about it yet.

HOLLY

[WARY] …I said I’d do anything to help. Whatever it is.

PHOEBE

Do you promise? To keep it a secret and not, um, freak out, I guess?

HOLLY

[A BEAT.] Cross my heart.

PHOEBE

Okay. Okay! I actually don’t think I should record this next bit, so I’m gonna turn it off, but in order to actually read the research, I have to—

[PHONE BEEP.]

[RECORDING ENDS.]

[ANOTHER PHONE BEEP.]

[INT. CAROL’S APARTMENT, NIGHT.]

[THERE IS THE CREAKING OF A PULLOUT MATTRESS.]

CAROL

Hope it’s not too uncomfortable for ya’.

IRENE

Honestly? I’m just glad to have a place to sleep. Thank you.

CAROL

Not a problem, Irene. You’re always welcome here.

[THERE IS A LONG PAUSE. IRENE IS HEARD ADJUSTING HER BLANKET BRIEFLY.]

CAROL

Right. Well, I’m guessing you have questions, and it’s been a hell of a day. If you’ve got ‘em, now is the best time to ask.

IRENE

[SHE THINKS FOR A MOMENT.] What was that?

CAROL

[A SHARP INTAKE OF BREATH.] I wish I had a good enough answer for you, Irene. We’ve just been calling it the mold. Well, those I’ve talked to about it, that is.

IRENE

So, you don’t exactly know what it is, but you’ve heard of it.

CAROL

More than that, I’ve seen it myself before.

IRENE

[TAKEN ABACK] Before today?

CAROL

Mm. [GRIM] A while back, I was visiting a real close friend of mine. We were, ah, having tea out on her patio. It was a nice day. Didn’t seem like a catastrophe was gonna happen. We talked for a while before she said she had to go to the restroom and went inside.

I’m a patient woman, Irene, but after about twenty minutes, I knew something was wrong. I opened the back door and called out to her, but got no response. When I went inside to check on her, she didn’t answer when I knocked on the bathroom door. I was worried something had happened to her, but…man, I never could have seen it comin’.

The mold had spread out all across her bathroom. She laid dead in the center, just like that ol’ inspector. I haven’t been the same since then.

I tried my best to move on, but I didn’t get the time to. About a week later, that same mold started growing in my own house. I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do. I knew I shouldn’t touch it. So, I did all I could think to do: move out. I got this here apartment as soon as I could. I’m lucky I got out in time. After I moved, it didn’t come after me again, and I hadn’t seen it since. Until today, that is.

I’ve hardly told anyone about this. I mean, hell, I was worried people would think I’m crazy. I told Aden about it ‘cause I trust him and care for his safety, and thankfully, he believed me. I would have probably told you eventually if it hadn’t gotten you first.

IRENE

[DEFEATED] So you don’t know what causes it.

CAROL

[SHE CHUCKLES DRYLY.] Hell, until today, I didn’t even know there was a way to kill it.

[IRENE SIGHS.]

CAROL

Look, I know there’s something going on in this town, Irene. I’m not blind. I’ve seen things that can definitely be classified as strange, and in fact, I’d count Valencia under that category even before I saw his research.

I’ve never gotten any answers, though, just glimpses into something I know is there, but don’t understand yet.

IRENE

[A WEAK CHUCKLE.] Like some big secret the whole town is keeping, but they don’t actually know the secret.

CAROL

I’m sorry I can’t offer you more than that.

IRENE

It’s fine. I can’t expect you to know everything.

[THERE’S A PAUSE.]

CAROL

Well, I’m gonna go take a shower.

IRENE

[SHE CHUCKLES AGAIN.] I don’t blame you. My skin is crawling after spending so much time around the mold.

CAROL

It’s open to you next if you want it.

IRENE

No. [SHE YAWNS.] I’m going to try to get some work done.

CAROL

Well, make sure you get some rest soon, alright?

IRENE

Sure. Goodnight, Carol.

CAROL

Night, Irene.

[THERE’S FOOTSTEPS THAT TRAIL OFF BEFORE CAROL CLOSES THE BEDROOM DOOR. IRENE SHIFTS.]

IRENE

Right. Where do I even begin?

After we found out it was weak to lemons, we poured the jugs of lemonade Valencia had over all the mold we could find. It wasn’t enough for the whole house, obviously. We had to go to the store and buy more.

[SHE CHUCKLES.] I have no right to judge the meat lady anymore. Imagine the look on the cashier’s face when Carol and I went up with twenty bottles of lemonade.

Luckily, it didn’t spread anymore while we were at the store. I think our initial dousing weakened it—or, however that works.

I called Phoebe about it, and she said she’ll look into it. Aden was worried that the sugar contents in the store-bought lemonade would render it ineffective. [SHE LAUGHS WEAKLY.]

Honestly, I don’t know how I’m going to repay Aden. While we were cleaning up the mold, not only did he check in on us constantly, he brought us food once we were done. We never did get lunch like we planned, obviously. Even if he didn’t help with the mold itself, I’m still thankful he was there. As overwhelming as his worried spam can occasionally be.

[A BEAT, THEN, IN A GUILTY AND ALMOST SCARED TONE] The mold inspector…we tried to do something with him. His body just deteriorated, though. We could barely even pick him up without his flesh falling apart—and no, we didn’t use our hands, of course we didn’t.

We had to use garden tools to put his decomposing remains into several layers of garbage bags. Carol said she disposed of it as best she could. I hope she’s right.

The van is still there, though, which is part of why I’m spending the night here. [mutters] Also, because lemonade is incredibly sticky, and right now, my entire house is covered in its gooey residue.

I know his death is going to come back to haunt me. I’m not stupid. At least the guy worked independently, I guess? He probably had a family, though. I have no idea what to do. I mean, I wish I could have prevented it, but—

[SHE STOPS HERSELF. THERE’S A PAUSE.]

IRENE

I’m trying not to think about it right now. [TRYING TO JOKE, BUT FAILING] I mean, this town seems to be all for covering up people who disappear without a trace, right?

I guess I should be happy I got answers, right? Got a whole attic full of them. I’m not, though. I’m the most terrified I’ve ever been. There’s something out there, something that isn’t human—maybe multiple somethings—and as far as I know, it’s shown that it wants to hurt me.

What if the mold comes back? [A BEAT.] What if something more powerful than the mold comes after me, now that I’ve proven to be a threat?

Look, I should get some work done. I’m sure I’ll be up all night thinking about this, but right now, I have a schedule to keep. Clearly, I didn’t get anything done after around noon, so I have some work to catch up on.

[THE MATTRESS CREAKS AS IRENE GRABS HER BAG AND BEGINS TO LOOK THROUGH IT. IT STOPS AS SHE PULLS OUT HER LAPTOP.]

IRENE

Thankfully, along with some spare clothes, I was able to grab my laptop. We’ll see how long that occupies my mind.

[THERE’S CLICKING NOISES AS IRENE TURNS ON HER COMPUTER. A BRIEF PAUSE.]

IRENE

[HESITANT] There’s another new audio file on my computer. It—it’s labeled as the date of the incident.

[A BEAT.] You know what? I could just close my computer. I’ve been through enough today. I don’t have to put myself through more.

...who am I kidding? I’m just going to keep worrying about it otherwise. Might as well get it over with.

[SHE CLICKS IT.]

[PHONE BEEP.]

[INT. ROSE’S BEDROOM, THE NIGHT SHE WENT MISSING.]

[ROSE IS HEARD FRANTICALLY PACKING A BAG.]

ROSE

[PANICKED] I think she—it—I think it’s gotten back up.

My name is Rosemary Quinn. Rosemary Quinn. If you’re listening to this, don’t come after me. Don’t—

[A VASE IS HEARD BREAKING IN THE BACKGROUND. ROSE GASPS.]

ROSE

It’s my mom. She did something. I don’t know what. Some sort of ritual? Not a traditional one or anything like that. I don’t know what it was she was doing.

I just—I walked in on her screaming, and there was blood coming from her eyes, and then she just—she just started changing! I can’t describe it! It’s like her body was morphing into a different body, like, like clay, I don’t—

[THERE’S A LOUD BANGING AT THE DOOR. ROSE YELPS.]

GRACE?

[IN A DISTORTED, INHUMAN VOICE, MUFFLED BY THE DOOR] Rose, dear, won’t you open the door? What are you so afraid of?

[A BRIEF, EERIE INSTRUMENTAL ECHOES IN THE BACKGROUND.]

ROSE

[WHISPERING] No. No, please no.

It tried to attack me, but I hit it over the head with a candleholder. That incapacitated it for a bit, but now I think it’s just angry.

[SHE ZIPS THE BAG SHUT.]

ROSE

Whatever that is, it is not my mother. I know she’s not a good person already, I know that, but that’s not her, it’s—

[ANOTHER BANGING AT THE DOOR.]

GRACE?

Rose. Open the door.

ROSE

Stop, please stop!

SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD

Meow.

ROSE

Sir Griffin the Third? Were you, were you hiding under the bed this whole time?

[THE DOORKNOB JINGLES. CREEPY, DRAMATIC MUSIC BEGINS PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND.]

GRACE?

Rose, dear, my patience has run very thin.

ROSE

[DISBELIEF] That voice. It sounds like…no. No.

GRACE?

I warned you.

ROSE

Stop. I’m begging you, stop! Mom? Mom, are you still in there? Mom, I’m sorry, please listen—

[ROSE’S MOM IS HEARD BREAKING DOWN THE DOOR. ROSE SCREAMS. THE DOORKNOB FALLS TO THE FLOOR.]

SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD

Meow!

ROSE

Oh, I can’t just leave you here. Come here.

[SHE GRABS SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD. SHE IS HEARD OPENING HER BEDROOM WINDOW. THE SOUND OF WIND AND CRICKETS OUTSIDE IS HEARD AS SHE DOES THIS.]

GRACE?

Don’t think you can get away from me, dearest.

ROSE

[MUTTERING IN PANIC] No…no, no, no!

[ROSE IS HEARD CLIMBING OUT OF THE WINDOW ONTO THE GROUND AND RUNNING FOR HER BIKE.]

SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD

Meow.

[ROSE IS HEARD LIFTING THE BIKE UP, ITS BELL CHIMING, AND CLIMBING ONTO IT.]

ROSE

[TO SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD] Come on, come on—I know you don’t like the basket, just—

[SHE IS CUT OFF BY A GLITCHING NOISE. THE MUSIC ENDS WITH THE CHIME OF A BELL. THERE IS BRIEF STATIC BEFORE ANOTHER GLITCHING NOISE.]

[ROSE IS HEARD RIDING HER BIKE FOR A FEW SECONDS, BREATHING HEAVILY. THE SAME NIGHTTIME AMBIANCE AS BEFORE IS STILL PRESENT.]

ROSE

...no, Sir Griffin the Third, stay in the—!

[SHE IS CUT OFF BY ANOTHER GLITCHING NOISE.]

[THE BIKE IS HEARD COMING TO A STOP. ROSE BREATHS HEAVILY AS SHE GETS OFF. SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD MAKES A CHIRPING NOISE.]

ROSE

I think…I think I’m far away enough now.

SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD

Meow.

ROSE

[DISTRAUGHT, TO SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD] Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.

SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD

Meow.

ROSE

I’m sorry, but I can’t bring you with me. I didn’t even get to grab your food. I’m sorry. I’ll bring you somewhere where you’re safe, okay, baby? I promise.

[THERE’S A PAUSE.]

ROSE

I, um…I can’t go home. I don’t even think I can stay in Seattle. I don’t know if my mom will ever go back to her normal self, or if whatever that thing was is who she is now.

Regardless, I believe that the demon will continue to hunt me down, no matter whose body it has to use. It did not seem like a being that goes down easy.

[SAD YET BEAUTIFUL MUSIC PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND.]

ROSE

[GRIM] My mom. I never got along with her. She was an awful person. I know that wasn’t her, though. I don’t know what she did, or what kind of forces she tried to harness, but it is not a kind or benevolent force.

I’m not quite sure what to do now. I mean, I suppose I wanted to run away, but not like this. How could I even tell Irene—

[A PAUSE.] Oh. Irene.

[SHE TAKES A SHAKY BREATH.] I can’t tell her. It will put her in too much danger. I can’t risk her getting involved with whatever it is that is chasing me.

[THERE’S A PAUSE.]

ROSE

[SHAKILY] Irene...Irene, if you’re listening to this, don’t come after me. I, I don’t know how you could ever be listening to this, but still. Don’t look for me. Not yet, at least.

I promise, when it’s safe, I’ll find you. I won’t abandon you. [SINCERE] Of course I wouldn’t. I just, I need to go away. Just for a little bit.

I love you, dear. So much. Wait for me.

[THE MUSIC AND NIGHTTIME AMBIANCE FADES OUT.]

[PHONE BEEP.]

[RECORDING ENDS.]

[INT. CAROL’S APARTMENT, PRESENT DAY.]

[THERE’S A PAUSE AS IRENE PROCESSES WHAT SHE HEARD.]

IRENE

[QUIETLY] I love you, too.

[IRENE BEGINS CRYING.]

IRENE

I love you, too. [SHE SOBS.] Of course I do.

[SHE SOBS FOR A FEW MOMENTS LONGER.]

IRENE

[DETERMINED, BUT SHAKY] I don’t care what you said. I’m going to find you, Rose.

I’m going to find you.

[PHONE BEEP.]

[RECORDING ENDS.]

AUTOMATED VOICE

Today’s quote is: “Perhaps some day I'll crawl back home, beaten, defeated. But not as long as I can make stories out of my heartbreak, beauty out of sorrow.”

Sylvia Plath, as published in The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, 1982.

[A STRANGE, EERIE, ALMOST HOLLOW SOUND SLOWLY BUILDS IN THE BACKGROUND.

AUTOMATED VOICE

[SLOWING DOWN GRADUALLY] You are the outlet. We are the light.

[THE EERIE SOUND IS CUT OFF BY A LOUD WHOOSH.]

VAL

The Heart of Ether will return in Season Two.

[OUTRO MUSIC AND CREDITS PLAY.]

#heart of ether transcripts

3 notes · View notes

artificialqueens · 3 years

Text

Galactica, Chapter 28 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Since we have about 200 or so chapters to go, I’m gonna stop pretending that I have anything important to say in these author’s notes. Love you all though! Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter: Adore still failed to get Pearl’s attention, Sutan and Violet reconnected, and Trixie and Katya announced their engagement.

This Chapter: Paris fashion week continues with a spark of hope, an injury, and a well-timed present.

***

“Ugh!”

All Adore wanted was to reach her best friend and tell her the amazing news she had, but of course, Courtney wasn’t answering. She’d sent a bunch of text messages, tried her personal cell twice and her work cell four times. She knew it was business hours in New York, but so what? She needed to talk, and they were supposed to be ride or die besties.

Adore knew there was one surefire way to reach her, though, so she smirked to herself, calling Fame’s office line--through the hotel, so her own number wouldn’t come up on the caller ID.

“Miss Fame’s office.”

Adore affected her best French accent and said, “Hello, I have Madame Delano from French Vogue for Ms. Courtney Jenek.”

“Speaking.”

“Courtney, you fucktard, it’s me!” Adore laughed, flopping backwards onto her hotel bed. Bianca had booked them a suite, and she was deeply enjoying herself so far, wrapped in a spa robe, gorging herself on champagne and a huge room service seafood platter.

“Oh god, sorry. It’s been a day,” Courtney said, finally dropping her pretentious work voice and sounding more like herself. “How’s France?”

“C’est bon, mais oui!” Adore said, making her friend giggle. “Actually, I’m calling you because I have something amazing to report. But if you’re too busy, then-”

“For you? Never!” Courtney assured her. “I mean, sure, I have about a hundred things that Violet said I need to get done in the next ten minutes, but...eh, it can wait. What’s up?”

“That’s my girl!” Adore grinning, settling back against her pillows and dipping a shrimp into some very delicious mystery sauce. “Okay, so, I was kind of bummed last night because I saw Pearl but she like, didn’t say hi or anything, and so I thought maybe she just wasn’t interested anymore, you know? And even this morning, I couldn’t get a read on her. But then…”

Adore paused dramatically, popping the shrimp into her mouth.

“Then...? What happened?!” Courtney exclaimed.

“We were at this dumb fashion show, a super boring one for like Celine or something, and it was just like, suit suit suit suit...and I literally almost fell asleep, but then afterwards, I’m just standing at the bar with a drink, and guess who came up behind me?”

“I want to say Pearl, but that seems so obvious.”

“Yes! Pearl! She came up to me, and she was so funny, all ‘what are you even doing here? You’re way too cool for this shit.’”

“I mean, she’s right.”

“And the way she like, said it in this low voice right in my ear. I got all tingly and lightheaded and I almost just swooned right into her arms.”

“Oh my god.”

“Yeah, so then I turned around and it was like those movies where the music swells and everything slows down and ugh, she’s so hot, I cannot take it,” Adore rolled over, hugging a pillow to her chest, the memory of Pearl’s scent still clinging to her skin.

“What did you say?”

“I was like…” Adore took a deep breath, trying to do her best impression of the sexy voice she’d used earlier, “Oh, you think you know me, huh? You have no idea…”

“Stop it, you did not!”

“I did! And then she was like, ‘will i see you later at-”

“Shit! Shit shit shit!”

“What? What’s wrong?” Adore sat up, slightly annoyed that her story had been interrupted, but also concerned for her friend.

“I just spilled tea all over the...I gotta go, Adore, sorry.”

“Oh. But I still haven’t told you about the-”

“I’ll call you later! Love you!”

Adore glared at her phone as the line went dead. “Rude.”

***

Violet hurried behind Fame and Raja, on their way to a cocktail party. She knew that Fame had barely eaten any lunch, and that her dinner tonight wasn’t for another three hours, so when Fame held out a hand to her wordlessly, Violet knew exactly what she wanted. She fished the raw coconut date ball, Fame’s favorite snack for when her blood sugar dipped, out of her purse, even quickly opening the package before placing it in her boss’s hand.

“That show was something, wasn’t it?” Fame asked, and Raja chuckled.

“I know it makes me a terrible person--” Raja shook her head at Fame, who was offering her a piece of the snack. “--But I love watching a model take a proper dive off stage-”

“Raj!” Fame squealed, hitting her arm, hiding her mouth so no one could see her chewing. “Don’t make me choke on my dinner.”

They had just finished watching the Giambattista Valli show, Violet standing against the wall with all the other assistants.

“What happened to that poor girl was terrible.” Fame huffed. She was in bright white, her red Valentino bag the only pop of color, the accessories matched perfectly to her lipstick.

“Absolutely horrible-” Raja smirked, everything about her radiating confidence as she walked down the street. “A true tragedy.”

“Karma will get you for this.”

Violet knew that Raja and Fame could bicker for hours, but they were cut off as they had finally made it to the historically old building where the evening’s cocktail hour was held. Violet didn’t wait, simply holding her arms out to take Fame’s coat, Raja followed suit, dumping them in Violet’s hands before they both disappeared.

Violet nodded at the coat check girl, carefully putting the numbers in the zipped part of her purse. She had never lost anything of Fame’s, and she wasn’t about to start in Paris of all places.

***

“TanTan!”

Raja spun around at the sound of a familiar voice calling her brother’s name.

“What the-” Sutan stood up straight.

Raja looked out over the crowd, fashion faces all around them. The cocktail party had been going for well over an hour, small oases set up for lounging around, which Raja took full advantage of.

“Tan!”

Raja had always prided herself at being able to keep a calm head in any situation, but as soon as she spotted her fiancée, she felt her stomach clench.

“Raven?”

Raven was hobbling towards them, her fiance’s long black hair spilling down her back. She was in a black corset top, her neck adored with the emerald necklace Raja had so lovingly put on her that very morning.

As soon as their eyes met, though, Raven’s icy demeanor shattered, her face crumbling as she reached for her. It had been one of the first things Raja had noticed about Raven, was how indifferent she was, how difficult she was to impress. It was what had made her stand out like a shining beacon in a sea of beauty.

This wasn’t good, this wasn’t good at all.

“Oh Raja!”

Raja answered instantly, rushing to her side, not even noticing that Fame and Violet had returned to their table, her twin right behind her.

“What happened?” Sutan flanked Raven right away, blocking both of them from view.

“My shoe broke-” Raven was shaky, and if Raja didn’t know any better, it almost sounded like she was about to cry, but that couldn’t be right. She put a protective arm around her fiancée, and Raven instantly leaned against her, letting her take her weight.

“Is everything alright?” Violet showed up behind Sutan, and while Raja didn’t have anything against her, she really didn’t want anyone she didn’t completely trust around right now.

“I think my ankle-” Raven gestured vaguely, and Raja looked down for the first time. Raven’s foot was visibly swollen, her golden Jimmy Choo missing it’s heel.

“Fuck.” Sutan crouched down, Violet’s hand coming to rest on his shoulder. “I have to make calls, if I’m lucky Jaslene can substitut-”

“NO!” Raven cried out. “No, don’t-”

Raja wanted to say something, wanted to butt in, but she didn’t know what to do. It was clear that Raven couldn’t walk a runway with a broken foot, and as a former model herself Raja knew just how much trouble there would be if Raven couldn’t honor her booking.

“Raven,” Sutan reached out, touching her shoe, and Raven immediately winched.

“Don’t touch it!”

“If I can’t touch it, how can you possibly think I’ll let you walk?” Sutan bristled, irritation clear on his face.

“I need to walk tomorrow!”

Sutan touched her foot again, and Raven yelped, gritting her teeth through the pain.

[Let’s get her down.] Raja looked at her twin, and Sutan nodded. Raven allowed Raja to escort her to a nearby sofa, sitting down heavily and moaning, “What am I going to do?!”

“Let me take a look.”

Raja turned, surprised to see Violet standing there with a big glass of ice and her purse. She hadn’t even noticed her leaving, but she couldn’t help but be impressed with her foresight.

“Please-” Raven gestured to her foot, and Violet crouched down, Sutan sitting down next to Raja.

“Holy shit…”

Raja looked at her brother, his mouth hanging slightly open, his arms crossed as he was staring directly at Violet.

“I know you’re scared,” Violet ever so gently took Raven’s shoe off, and Raja barely managed to hide her reaction to the ugly purplish bruise that was forming on her foot, “and I know you’re in a lot of pain, but I need you to be strong and I need you to be quiet.”

“I can do that.” Raven nodded.

“Sutan, give me your handkerchief.”

Violet held her hand out, and Sutan accommodated her immediately, handing her the fabric which Violet used to wrap the ice she fished out of the glass. Violet held it in place on Raven’s foot, even as she gasped, burying her face against Raja’s shoulder.

“Are you okay, princess?” Raja whispered.

“No.”

“We’ll take good care of you, baby, don’t worry.” Raja pressed a kiss against Raven’s hair, the lush locks smelling faintly like orange blossom, and Raja couldn’t help but think back to that very morning where she’d been exploring damp and slick shower-fresh skin.

“Raven,” Violet said, trying to get the girl to focus on something other than her ankle. “Did you hear that Cordelia took a stage dive at the Giambattista Valli show?”

“Quelle tragique,” Raven said, turning her face towards Violet, a hint of a smile pulling at her lips. “Poor little lamb.”

Raja couldn’t help but be impressed with Violet’s ability to divert her attention from the pain so quickly.

“Who are you walking for tomorrow?” Violet asked, and soon Raven was chatting away, telling Violet all about her plans for the rest of the week. After a few minutes of icing her ankle, Violet removed the kerchief and examined the bruise, nodding to herself before pulling a roll of white tape out of her purse.

“Have you been carrying that all day?” Sutan looked surprised, his voice filled with a sense of wonder Raja rarely ever heard from him.

“Perhaps.” Violet smiled, and Raja snorted, watching as Violet expertly opened the roll.

“Is it gonna hurt?” Raven asked, nails digging into Raja’s hand.

“Yes,” Violet admitted, her tone flat, like she was simply stating the obvious. “But if you want to walk tomorrow-”

“I do, I do!”

“Good.” Violet began wrapping Raven’s ankle, briefly catching Raja’s eyes, nodding her head slightly, clearly trying to tell her she needed to distract Raven.

Raja did her best, but it was impossible to concentrate when Raven let out whimpers of pain, and she ended up just stroking her hair gently while the brunette worked away. Finally, the whimpers began to fade.

“Your toes are okay,” Violet proclaimed. “It’s not broken, and I don’t even think it’s a sprain. You’ll be able to walk just fine.”

Raja breathed out a sigh of relief, only now noticing that Violet’s Dolce & Gabbana dress was touching the floor, but it didn’t look like it bothered the young woman at all that her clothes were getting dirty.

“You’re tough, Raven. You and I, we get it done because we have to, and you can do this. Let’s test it.”

Violet had finished wrapping Raven’s foot, and grabbed Raven’s hands, helping the other woman up as she carefully put pressure on her foot, not screaming in pain.

“You should keep it elevated, and continue icing it as much as possible, but not more than fifteen minutes at a time-”

“Oh my god, Violet, I love you…I really fucking do!” Raven exclaimed.

“It’s not that much-“

“No. Seriously, you have just earned yourself a best friend for life.” Raven pulled Violet in for a tight embrace before sitting back down, allowing Violet to refill the handkerchief with a fresh batch of ice.

“Don’t mention it.”

***

Pearl was standing outside of the hotel, being unreasonably slow as she lit her cigarette, doing her very best to drag it out for as long as possible.

She had put on one of her very best outfits, her ass looking like sin in the black leather pants she had struggled to get into, the fabric practically painted on.

Pearl knew that Fame was leaving the hotel at 9.45 sharp, and that Violet was always 10 minute early.

She hadn’t fully figured out yet exactly how she’d get Violet to talk to her, but she knew that she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her, the sensation of Violet’s fingers on her skin still there.

Pearl was aware that she hadn’t acted her best, and while she didn’t initially agree that it was fair that Violet had freaked out about her kissing another girl at the Vogue party, Pearl had been able to find it in herself to forgive her.

“Oh-”

Pearl turned, a smile blooming on her face as she saw Violet, who had just exited the building. She was beautiful in the morning light, her dress of the day showing off her collarbones and the barest swell of her breasts perfectly.

“Good morning, Pearl.”

Violet smiled, and Pearl smiled back, the easiness on Violet’s face filling her with warmth.

There was no way she’d be happy without making this gorgeous girl hers, and when Pearl Liaison decided she wanted something, she got it.

“Morning pumpkin.”

Violet didn’t flinch, didn’t look annoyed at the nickname, and Pearl could swear they were back to the good old days. Violet checked her phone, and Pearl see her relax, Fame probably still in her room. Violet sent off a quick message, looking up at Pearl.

“Are you feeling any better?”

“Mmmh.” Pearl nodded. “Thanks to you.”

“I barely did anything.” Violet took a step forward, settling besides Pearl on the wall, the two of them chatting away, and Pearl knew without a doubt that she’d have Violet in her bed where she belonged before Paris was over.

***

Courtney’s hands flew over the practically smoking keyboard as she tried to keep up with the barrage of emails from Violet. How was she able to send emails so fast, all while attending fashion shows? Shouldn’t she be sipping a café au lait or something?

She felt like she hadn’t had a moment to breathe since yesterday morning, when she’d woken up at 4 am to message after message, an endless list of tasks to complete before she even had a chance to pee. Today was no different. She supposed that the entire week would be like this. At first, she’d had a faint hope that the time difference would mean going home early, but so far no such luck. Violet clearly expected her to be in the office until 7 just like always.

Courtney groaned. It was only Tuesday and she was already so tired, so stressed, so aggravated. Any task that wasn’t an absolute emergency was getting put off, added to a to do list that was growing exponentially. She never thought she’d be praying for Fame and Violet to return to the office, but she couldn’t wait until this European extravaganza was over.

Her phone rang, and she answered quickly, seeing that the call was coming from reception.

“Yes?”

“Come to the front desk,” Roxy said. “There’s something I need to show you.”

“Now? But I just-”

“Yeah, now. Hurry.”

The line went silent as she hung up. Courtney finished her email, made a note on her pad, and then heaved herself up from the desk, hurrying to reception to find out what could possibly be so urgent.

“What’s going on?” she asked, confused by the giant grin on Roxy’s face.

“Someone loves you,” Roxy said.

Now, Courtney was really confused. Her brow furrowed deeply.

“Huh?”

Roxy rolled her eyes and gestured to a flower arrangement sitting on the ledge in front of her. It was a huge, extravagant flower arrangement of pink and champagne roses. It was so big that Courtney hadn’t even noticed it at first, mistaking it for part of the office decor.

“Those are for me?” Courtney asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah. And these too.” Roxy held out a huge gold box of chocolates. “For a second I wondered if it was Valentine’s Day. Then I remembered it’s fucking September.”

Courtney stepped forward, pulling the card from the flowers and ripping open the envelope.

“Who’re they from?”

To the most beautiful girl in the entire world,

I know you’re stressed right now, so I hope these cheer you up. It’s only been 2 days but I already miss you like crazy, would give anything just to see your face. Don’t be a stranger.

XO, W

P.S. Don’t worry, the chocolates are vegan.

A smile tugged at Courtney’s lips. She’d had another amazing date with Willam on Sunday, almost disgustingly adorable: an extended brunch, followed by hours of strolling through the park, fingers laced together, taking in the foliage already turning brilliant fall colors. She’d confided in him, even more than she had before, about all of the things weighing on her mind, all her secret dreams and hopes for the future. And he hadn’t interrupted her once, had been interested in all of it like nobody else she’d ever met.

And at one point, standing on a little footbridge, breathing in the crisp autumn air, he’d kissed her. A sweet and tender kiss. It was strange: he had such a bold sense of humor, almost crude, but their relationship was the exact opposite. Chaste. Victorian, even.

For someone used to being treated like a piece of meat, it was a lovely and refreshing change of pace, and Courtney found herself thinking that in fact, she was wrong to be worried about their supposed lack of passion. So he didn’t want to jump into bed right away--that was good! It gave them time to get to know each other. And she had to admit, it was a bit of a relief that he wasn’t only looking for sex; she could just relax and enjoy their time together without worrying about all the usual things.

The truth, the real truth, was that Courtney had never liked dating very much before. Oh sure, she enjoyed attention, being told she was beautiful, seeing the effect she had on boys. All of that was nice. But actually doing it: sitting through excruciating conversations about sports and cars and comic books or whatever the boys she dated happened to be obsessed with, listening to empty promises and fancy words when she knew for a fact that the only thing they wanted was between her legs. And the sex itself--never particularly satisfying, mostly just another thing she had to Get Through for any chance at being held (and even that was hit or miss).

Courtney had been telling herself for years that it was the boys: she just somehow always ended up with shallow jerks and exhausting douchebags. Someday, she’d find a great guy, who was exciting and funny and considerate, who made her feel all those fluttery things that she was supposed to feel.

Was Willam that guy? He certainly should be. He was kind and patient and objectively good-looking. It made Courtney a bit uneasy to think that maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe she was the one with the problem. Maybe she was just incapable of the kind of epic romance that she’d always dreamed of.

“Oh, just this guy I’m seeing.” For a moment, Courtney found herself wondering if she should use the word ‘boyfriend.’ It still felt too soon, but was it? He was certainly angling hard in that direction.

“You must be amazing in bed,” said Roxy.

“We haven’t actually slept together yet,” Courtney told her, gathering the flowers and chocolates into her arms. Since Miss Fame was gone, nobody could stop her from keeping them in her office, so she could look at them anytime her day sucked. Which, if the week continued to go the way it had been, would be frequently.

“You haven’t slept together and he’s sending this shit?!” Roxy’s eyes practically bugged out of her head. “Marry him!”

Courtney laughed, rounding the corner back to her office and setting the roses down. She sighed happily, pulling out her cell to send Willam a thank you text, when her office phone began ringing. She dropped her cell, scrambling to pick up her headset, pulse quickening and stomach sinking when she saw that familiar number on the caller ID.

“Hi, Violet…” Courtney closed her eyes as Violet began to rant at her about Fame’s latest emergency, bracing herself for an incredibly un-fun afternoon.

#rpdr fanfiction #thedane #veronica #galactica #adore x pearl #raja x raven #vitan #pearlet #witney #adore delano #courtney act #violet chachki #raja gemini #raven #miss fame #pearl liaison #roxxxy andrews #lesbian au #fashion au

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radramblog · 3 years

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Top 5 Games, ever...?

This was sort of on my mind, considering the recent GOTY post I made. Come explore the hyperfixations that managed to stick around long enough to be my top 5 list.

5. Uhhhhhh

So turns out I haven’t figured out what number 5 is yet. I suppose instead I’ve got to split it among the honourable mentions, huh.

Kirby Super Star Ultra is probably the best game from the GBA/DS era of the series and is just a blast to play. It introduced Masked Dedede, and all the banging music and memes that come with it, and probably deserves a spot here just for that.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth removes all the awkward Flash Stuff from the excellent original, and adds so, so much more content- the game’s final expansion still isn’t out yet as of writing but even now there’s just so much to unlock. While some aspects of the game can be pretty unforgiving, you probably aren’t going to be exposed to the worst of it unless you get into it pretty hardcore, and if you do, you’ll get used to it. It’s a roguelike, after all.

Speaking of roguelikes, FTL: Faster than Light is chaotic yet serene, brutal but fair, and a bunch of other pretentious dichotomies wrapped into a neat little bow. It takes some getting used to the mechanics, but once you get the hang of it, building your little ship up and up in the face of all odds is extremely satisfying. Have fun dying hopefully not too many times.

SPEAKING of permadeath, Realm of the Mad God gets a spot here just out of sheer hours I’ve spent with it. After a messy few years with a not-so-great owner lead me to dropping the game, it seems finally to have recovered and has devs and community that actually freaking care about it, which is nice. Also, it’s free, and the recent transition to unity has the game looking better and playing smoother than 12-year-old me could ever have dreamed of.

Terraria isn’t just 2D Minecraft btw, its actually more of an RPG/Metroidvania thing, you probably know at this point, but its pretty good hey. Still haven’t fully dove into 1.4 but considering I thought Red was done at 1.1 I’m not complaining with what I have played.

4. Fallout: New Vegas

(...ish??)

I’d argue that between the primitiveness of the original Fallout games (I’ve tried to get into them, but I just can’t) and how…meh… the other Bethesda ones are, New Vegas is the only one in the series to stand up strong. Obsidian’s excellent writing and tweaks to the gameplay of 3 make New Vegas feel like an actual world, rich and characterised, which was something I found lacking in previous open-world RPGs I’d played up until that point (which admittedly might just have been Skyrim). It’s a game that challenges you to make choices that actually matter for more than the mere moments of an altered dialogue tree, both in dialogue and character building, which helps make the game actually replayable. It is also the first game in a long time that really sold the idea of DLC on me, seeing as each of the game’s 4 expansions adds an entire new region of world with its own stories and unique gameplay, tying together with the main plot but standing on their own. I am excluding Gun Runner’s Arsenal from this for obvious reasons, though it isn’t like GRA is a bad DLC or anything- on the contrary, the sheer scope of modifications and munitions makes playing a repair/science-based character incredibly fulfilling- but it just isn’t at the same scope as the other 4 (Courier’s stash barely counts seeing as its just oops! All preorder bonuses).

New Vegas is one of the few games I have actually 100% completed, achievements and all, but I’m still pretty sure there are bits I’ve missed, paths I haven’t taken, characters I haven’t talked to. Despite its inhospitability, the Mojave is always a comfortable place to return to.

3. VA-11 Hall-A

(Hey look, my phone background)

Vallhalla is a masterclass in storytelling, atmosphere, and aesthetic. Like all good cyberpunk dystopias, you get themes of class and transhumanism and artificial intelligence, but they aren’t the point of Vallhalla. Through the window and lens of cyberpunk and PC98 nostalgia is focussed a surprisingly human story centred around the protagonist, Jill, which through multiple replays still hits me in the feels just so. Of course, Jill’s story is not the only one being discussed, as every single patron of the bar has their own life going on, and the glimpses we get imply a rich, often interconnected, world. Glitch City is, frankly, a shithole, and it’s not like you don’t get some assholes coming into the bar while you’re working it. The first patron you serve, in fact, is a great example of this- Donovan D. Dawson, essentially a parody of J. Jonah Jameson, is a colossal prick and knows it- but its clear he has his own system of morals and it is mentioned that he’s excellent at his job, much as he gripes about it. He’s rude and more than a little sexist, but frustratingly charismatic and authoritative, and he’s just one of many people who show up throughout the game. Vallhalla is the perfect game to sit down, grab your preferred beverage, and just relax with.

2. Total Annihilation

(This image is on the steam page for this one, despite blatantly not being from vanilla TA)

I think I actually need to explain this one. Total Annihilation was a game released in 1997 made largely by Chuck Taylor, who would later go on to produce spiritual successor Supreme Commander. It’s an RTS game featuring exclusively robotic units with a fairly chunky aesthetic, allowing the visuals to age better than some, and a fully orchestrated soundtrack by Jeremy Soule, who would later go on to do work on a whole bunch of stuff, most notably Skyrim.

Total Annihilation is an intensely nostalgic game for me, being one of the first games I ever got to play as a kid outside of edutainment stuff, and I’d argue still holds up today (especially with the excellent Escalation mod). What it lacks in story (it’s pretty basic, but functional) it makes up for being miles ahead of its time mechanically, being the first (?) RTS to function in 3 dimensions- heights of things actually matter, hills exist and certain units climb them better than others, shooting down airplanes is difficult without anti-air but possible if you aim *just* right. While appearing pretty similar and having largely analogous units, the two factions of Arm and Core are well fleshed-out in terms of aesthetic and playstyle- Arm preferring fast and cheap equivalents to Core’s slow but powerful- and the unit variety is sufficient that strategies can vary wildly based on the map. Both campaigns as well as those from the game’s expansions are challenging, but satisfying, limiting the units you can produce to force exploration of different playstyles.

Total Annihilation isn’t something I tend to binge play for hours anymore, but I’ll pick it up for a bit every so often, and I don’t see that stopping for a long time (especially due to the recent steam release).

1. Pokémon Emerald

(At the top, where it belongs)

Yeah, this was inevitable. Pokémon is my favourite series ever; Emerald is my favourite in the series. Go figure.

Emerald, being the final game for the franchise’s days on the Game Boy, reflects everything Game Freak had learned in the first 3 generations of the series’ history. The game’s balance is challenging but fair, never spiking so tough that it is insurmountable but never holding your hand either. The AI opponents are throwing odd combinations of mons and moves at you from every corner, double battles are everywhere but rarely mandatory, and the variety of available mon both before and during the postgame is excellent. The added features on top of Ruby and Sapphire are great- Battle Tents serve to replace 3 of the contest halls (they should have all been under one roof to begin with) and provide a taste of what would later be available in the Battle Frontier. The Frontier is probably the single most expansive and challenging postgame in any Pokémon game, providing the game with a longevity that is sorely needed due to the inaccessibility of Pre-DS multiplayer. The game also manages to tie together the plot of both Ruby and Sapphire into something that feels natural, and provides the series’ first ever actual cutscene, which felt a lot cooler at the time than it sounds now. The return of animated sprites gives the Pokémon a level of life far beyond the static sprites of RSFRLG, and in my eyes wouldn’t feel the same until Black and White several years later. The return of the Pokégear phone in the form of Match Call, as irritating as it is to some, makes the world feel alive in a way that Sinnoh and Kanto probably never will, in addition to making grinding a fair bit less tedious and more beneficial. It is, altogether, probably the perfect Pokémon experience, and in my opinion only one other game comes close (its Platinum).

Oh also, they got rid of the font from Ruby and Sapphire, thank fuck, that shit is atrocious.

#ramble #video games #pokemon #retro games #lists

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sureivan · 4 years

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( robert sheehan, cis man ) hey ! have you seen “IVAN” ANDERSON around ? HE works as a SNOWBOARD INSTRUCTOR ( KIDS ) at big bear resort, but they must be off their shift by now. well, if you do see them can you let me know ? they’re 27 years old & they’ve been working here for THREE YEARS. they tend to be +GREGARIOUS & +CREATIVE, but can also be -IRRESPONSIBLE & -CAPRICIOUS. the other employees have labeled them THE ICARIAN. thanks a lot ! ( an air of dream continuing to cling to this place, meteor showers and falling stars, the duality of being human )

me ? being pretentious and playing with production notes from death of a salesman in ivan’s aesthetics ? just as likely as you think ! howdy howdy howdy ! i’m jude ( 20, est, she/her ) and i ! am really pumped to be here it looks so warm ! anyway !

TRIGGERS: mental illness (schizophrenia, mention of depression), suicide, drugs

so ivan is kind of a spin-off of a muse i’ve tried to play a few times before ( every time i’ve tried,,,, the rp has died i think the longest i played him was for ~2 weeks which tbh is decent in our current rp climate ) and, personality wise, he is always:

aquarius sun, leo moon, gemini rising

esfp

4w3

has a tattoo of catherine zeta-jones on his calf after meeting her and deciding she’s the greatest human to ever exist.

(tabbed bullet) over here tho?? he also has a portrait tattoo of jamie lee curtis on his bicep bc he loves her more than anyone ever

seems friendly, but you don’t want to actually go up and shake his hand because you think he’d somehow like...... put a tadpole in yours.

(tabbed bullet) has no history of putting tadpoles in people’s hands, but could.

a failed musician because he’s dumb and doesn’t realize that glam rock, especially when done solo, isn’t really a thing anymore.

backstory wise:

actually named william shaffer.

born to a single mother. said mother was afflicted with schizophrenia. of course, that doesn’t mean she had any less love to offer him and his older brother ! however, as she got older, it did begin sending her to mental hospitals more and more often, leaving ivan’s older brother to be his primary caretaker.

but schizophrenia has a genetic potential. while not large when it comes to parents -> children, ivan’s brother was in the very lucky population and inherited his mother’s disorder ! we love inheritance !

now both ivan and his brother were terrified. ivan’s brother ? clear reason ! ivan ? having looked up the statistics, because we do love the internet, he found that, while still considered unlikely, siblings had a higher chance of inheriting it because ! very similar genetic makeup !

so when he was 19, he decided to informally change his name and change his entire being before any disposition had the chance to. he basically forced himself to become more outgoing, express more of his eccentricities –– basically he created an alter ego and pulled a “fake-it-til-you-make-it”

it was during this time that he began attempting a music career. he took inspiration from david bowie’s ideas of forming different personas for each album and attempted to write songs tailored to different personalities...

he had a very brief taste of success after the informal, ( self ) release ( because what label... ) of his first album. however, soon after, his brother, still frightened of wasting away, fatally shot himself.

that quickly changed ivan’s career trajectory. thrown into a deep depression and also coming to the realization that he would now be the sole provider for his mother’s care, he gave up on his music. the dream had been just in reach, alas...

having a criminal background, it wasn’t the easiest to find work... even though the crimes mainly consisted of doing things such as stealing chickens. while crimes such as those could easily be overlooked, the few they had on record of drug possession hurt his potential.

so off season, he works a couple of jobs with terrible pay. he bags groceries during the day and pulls a larry daley at night ( see: is the night guard of a local museum )

that being said, he thanks GOD when winter comes around. he gets to do something fun and interact with people who actually think his eccentricity is fun ( see: children ). having been born in colorado, he was already adept at snowboarding and skiing, so naturally...

tl;dr: sad dumb boi who is a grocer by day and larry daley by night.

i’m not super good at wanted connections, but a few i can come up with (italicized = ‘pls’):

childhood/high school friends – he’s lived in colorado his entire life, so !

people he met in new york – he took a brief venture to the concrete jungle where dreams are made of when he was trying to get his career up and running

fan(s?) – i mean... he was very briefly famous. probably not radio-play famous, but at least spotify recommendation famous for sure! tried to pull off glam rock if ur muse is into that.

good influence – someone’s gotta do it!

bad influence – he’s a bad influence on your muse / he and your muse egg each other on –– not necessarily at capacity, but....... i have so many of these y’all

confidant – not super open, but there is SOMETHING ABOUT THIS MUSE. can be mutual. –– roman

fwb – why not!

exes – on good terms or bad terms. again, lived in colorado his entire life with a brief new york foray. can be any gender (but age should be looked at when deciding when they dated since a lot of the muses here are a good many years younger than ivan)

they matched on tinder and texted a lot but never met up and now they accidentally have and “this is awkward i started to think you were a catfish i was about to email nev and max” –– aylie

roommates who wreak havoc

probably!! others!! i j got real general!! but i’m totally open to just brainstorming too or j going with the flow!!

#bigbearintro #SO EXCITED!!

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moralityblurred · 4 years

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What do your muses love about Elio?

oh gosh, i’ll just go individually.

dalton - elio is another of the male witches in the covey, so there was already that connecting them before they’d even met. and then when they DID meet, they had this immediate, electric connection. elio grew up with magic, whereas dalton only just discovered he was a witch & a dreamwalker a few months before meeting elio. somehow, though, dalton’s never felt judged by elio for his lack of knowledge, nor does elio come off as pretentious or a know-it-all ( despite the fact that he very much can come off that way – it’s goddamn CANON, y’all. )

they had an immediate physical chemistry as well, which kinda ended up in some lights busting bcuz dalton has urban magic fueled by electricity in particular and when he gets a little overexcited, he tends to send out surges of energy that overload bulb filaments and breakers and wires and shit. they bonded leading up to the battle against thanos in our infinity war/endgame plot in the server, with elio helping dalton learn a few spells, along with don, and then his brother, ash. but basically they just have this deep, instinctual connection.

dalton loves elio’s kindness, that he loves to cuddle just as much as he does, that elio helps him grow in his magic without pushing him or making him feel lesser than just because he didn’t grow up knowing magic. he loves his insatiable sexual appetite, and the fact that elio doesn’t mind topping him but also isn’t afraid to ask dalton to top, too, because dalt is usually very bottom & subby, but can switch, too. it’s never been an issue for them. dalton loves that he can take care of elio, too, reminding him to eat when he gets too involved in something or is having a depressive episode.

when elio’s familiar, oliver, was dusted following that first battle, dalton was there for him to try to comfort him, and when they defeated thanos & the fallen ones returned, dalton also forged a bond with oliver, as well. it’s a poly household, so that aspect doesn’t surprise him so much, but that elio and oliver both want to invite him into their bond means so much to dalton.

oliver - god, do we even need to go over this?? i think first of all, oliver liked elio’s interest in him, which was pretty clear from the beginning even if elio thinks he was slicker than that. actual interest in elio himself came later, as it was revealed in snippets of conversation and moments in the sun just how intelligent elio was. oliver’s a philosophy student, he loves someone who can hold a deep conversation with him, someone who is well-read, but he’s also a twenty-four year old American kid, so he needs someone who can have fun and go dancing, and running through the streets of rome singing at the top of their lungs. elio is all of these things, but he’s also good. for all his moodiness, his rapid changes in mood, his retaliatory, passive aggressive antics, elio is a good, kind person who feels things in ways that oliver never could, and he says things with such eloquence and emotion that it reaches right into his chest and strums his heartstrings.

oliver could listen to elio play guitar or piano for hours, especially when he starts showing off a little and going into all of his variations on the same tune. he’s not musically inclined himself so it’s just dizzying to think about, yet elio does it so easily and naturally. he loves elio’s passion for music, his passion for life, his courage to go after what he wants and be an imperfect human. there’s so much structure in oliver’s worldview, so many things he has to be, and yet elio is so unapologetically himself.

there’s also just an unnamed part of this, something that tugs at his very soul. and maybe they’re soulmates, or it’s fate, or whatever else you want to call it, but oliver found something in elio that he could never replace, to the point where he would hold his own private ritual every year on elio’s birthday to remember what they had and imagine what they might be doing this year if they had somehow chosen each other. if he hadn’t married his wife, micol. it took him twenty years, and a night where someone else caught his eye and then played that very bach piece that elio had played around with one summer day, to realize he would only be happy with elio and to go back to italy where it all began. bonds like that aren’t a dime a dozen. it’s super special what they have to be able to last that amount of time, and through other relationships on both sides.

nic - this is still a new relationship we’re just starting to explore, but nic has a lot of self-esteem issues and some problems with co-dependency, too. a lot of his relationships in the past have been very toxic for him, largely because they fueled his drug use, but also because his reliance on having those relationships for his self-worth led to some abusive behavior. but basically elio doesn’t make him feel like he’s a bad person because he’s an addict. yes, he’s in recovery now, but it’s not a smooth road by any means. elio’s extremely patient with him when he has to cancel plans suddenly, or when he’s agitated and moody. he wants to celebrate nic’s successes, but he doesn’t expect him to be expounding positivity and perfection. also tallulah, his dog, took to elio pretty much instantly, and considering she was a stray who showed a pretty big distrust of men ( kinda like himself when he’d been homeless & turning tricks for drug money ) if she trusted elio, it meant he was a good person.

njála - it’s not quite to LOVE yet, but she does thoroughly adore him. she’s a musical person herself, so his musical talent and magical abilities immediately resonated with her and drew her in. well, really, it’s because she’s never heard her friend, sim ( my loki muse, ) talk so much or so fondly about anyone who wasn’t his mother. so she went into meeting him already having some prior knowledge. his sexual appetite is also very attractive, because hers is pretty damn healthy, and he’s not just take, take, take, pound, pound, pound. he actually shows an interest in her pleasure. he’s also a total goofball, and so adorably enthralled with her that she can’t help but be endeared.

#prlman #( dalton x elio. )#( call me by your name | oliver x elio. )#( and we are in bed together laughing | nic x elio. )#( njála x elio. )#( ooc. )#( anon. )#( asks. )

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phveniix · 4 years

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✧ · ˚ . reece king? nah, that’s just phoenix “nix” campbell. you know, they’re the twenty-five year-old musician from manchester… still doesn’t ring a bell ? come on, dude ! they’re all over ME.MIAMI’S homepage. it’s impossible for them to stay off of it because of the fact that they’re super pretentious & spacey. they’re not all bad though, ‘cause they can be intelligent & personable too ! you can totally tell they’re a libra… it’s almost scary. look, if you want to remember them, just think of clothes that always smell like weed and cigarettes, organized chaos in a bedroom, and a 3am drive with the music turned up , and you’ll be golden. ( he/him, cismale. )

hello babies !! it me lainie back from the dead now that the semester is over n i’m so excited to bring u my brand new bby boy. the intro got kind of long so at the bottom (before the connection ideas) u can find a tl;dr :’)

tws for drug use/abuse and mental illness

background

nix grew up in hardcore suburbia in manchester, england. his parents were just sort of……….basic parents? attentive and loving but with issues of their own. he inherited anxiety and depressive disorders from both of them so his childhood was rough not because his parents didn’t try to be there for him (he had a lot of issues with his dad though) but bc his mental illnesses just made it hard to be a teenager (harder than usual fdhgsjsj). it led to a lot of drug abuse when he was in high school, and he was one of those kids where he was like really smart and did exceptionally well when he went to class so his teachers and his parents got on his case about it but he just wasn’t in the state of mind for giving a shit about school.

he and his friends got up to a lot of shit even when he was not in one of his depressive episodes just bc like it was boring suburbia and they had nothing better to do than drive around smoking weed and drinking beer. on the side nix was starting to get into pills and his friends were like *eyes emoji* but they were 16/17 so they didn’t rly know what to do about it ydgfuhjsa

he spent some time in an adolescent psychiatric ward of a hospital while he was in high school bc his parents were like okay something needs to be done !! and it didn’t really help. he did graduate high school, but it literally just took getting older and learning to deal with his mental shit to stop abusing drugs eventually. which did not happen fast

at 18 he went to New York by himself to attend NYU for music but dropped out in his second year when the band he and one of his friends had gotten together started getting actual attention on two eps they’d put out. his parents weren’t THRILLED bc they wanted him to have a degree (and they’d literally helped him pay for going to another country specifically for school purposes) but they were like really excited about the success so in that regard they were Cool with it. what they weren’t Cool with was how the shows and the lifestyle were conducive to his drug habits, of which they were very much aware (from all the way back in manchester) despite his trying to hide it and lie about.

so when he was 20 the band finally dropped their debut album and it was wildly successful and nix rly grew to have a toxic relationship with the career itself and the fame that came with it. the depression and anxiety were always still there and those random episodes he’d have on top of the pressure of doing shows and wanting to connect with his fanbase was what ultimately led him to doing harder drugs than pills, and it turned into a full on addiction. they almost broke up as a band a few times, his friend he started it with threatened to kick him out once, and there were multiple instances of him tweeting or saying insane shit while he was fucked up and then having to delete it later and pretend it never happened yguhkjksa

it was when they were in the middle of writing their second album (when he was 21) that nix finally hit rock bottom and checked himself into rehab (with the help of casey). he was there for three months, got sober, and for the first time he actually stayed that way a while.

so they finished the second album, it was just as successful, and by the time he was 23 they had a rly solid fan base and some international recognition and nix was still sober and things were relatively Good. he moved to miami when casey did bc he was like ok why tf not lmao and the whole ass band came to miami to start working on their third album. i imagine he dated a bit in this time, probably had one really healthy relationship for a while, and it was probably that relationship that got destroyed when he finally relapsed at 24 during an especially bad depressive episode that coincided with a big show for a festival. it was rly obvious he was high but it didn’t cause a scene or anything, people were just like hell yeah we’re all high it’s a festival lmao yeruhw but his friends and gf afterwards were like ??? hello !!! really ???!! so that was a thing again for a good 5 or 6 months until, once again, he hit a rly scary rock bottom and had to go to rehab.

and he got clean. again. and it stuck, again. he’s currently still clean and he and his band are working on their third album again yeet

personality

so nix is like…..a sensitive soul eryguhsja like yes he’s rly sarcastic and dry and can unintentionally come off as pretentious but he’s very personable and outgoing and just rly enjoys talking to people and like?? engaging in human interaction. when his anxiety gets really bad he’ll withdraw a lot and it’ll be really obvious and the same goes for the depression. when he’s having episodes, it’s like rly clear bc he’ll be moody and irritable and start reverting to bad habits

his favorite thing in the world is writing music bc he loves expressing his emotions and he feels like he does it best that way. so it’s also like rly meaningful to him when people like his music bc it’s like validation of himself and who he is yk

pansexual king

used to sleep around a lot and had an unhealthy relationship with that too especially when he was on drugs. now he like still enjoys it but doesn’t go out looking for it usually and would in general prefer a relationship probably ?? we’ll see

his aesthetic is p much thrifty clothes, big shirts, band tees, jeans and converse, the no sleep bags under his eyes a little too skinny for comfort look, small heavy metal boy even tho his music is lowkey soft, smelling like cigarettes and weed all the time

he’s so obsessed with the idea of love and human connection and shit like that. he’s always analyzing people and relationships (even ones that aren’t his own) and the world and being pretentious xisbdjskdb but like genuinely he just has a really oddly optimistic romanticized view of humanity and the world for someone who’s dealt w so much shit

also like he can come off like i don’t give a shit what anyone thinks!!!! but he actually cares so so much about what everyone thinks and even he will admit that djsbdkwndj

tl;dr born in manchester, england, moved to the states to go to nyu for music, dropped out when his band (the dead lights) started making it big, has had drug problems most of his life, been in and out of rehab, currently clean and working on the band’s third album. pretentious and can come off as a smartass but is actually v personable and kind and is obsessed with the idea of love and tends to romanticize absolutely everything from relationships to the world to literally other people’s relationships

connection ideas

if there’s a 1975 song that fits ur muse or one of ur muse’s relationships??? lmk bc nix will write it about them/their relationship !! a lot of his songs are stories abt other people he finds interesting

his band thank u !!! guitar, keyboard, drums, backing vocals, the works. one of them would be the one who started the band w him while he was at nyu and they’d be rly close and maybe live together

the girl he was dating when he relapsed the second time in miami !! up to plotting how it ended tbh

ok like bad influences who were maybe people he was friends with when he was doing drugs?? who like lowkey try to get him back into it??

and good influences ofc of all kinds!

smoking buddies/a weed dealer

unrequited things on both ends please please please i REALLY want him to have a thing for someone in a relationship who he can’t have but wants so badly

enemies ofc bc I’m angsty!!! Maybe people who think he’s a pretentious wannabe poser try-hard

also ex friends possibly either bc they couldn’t handle him at his worst OR bc he cut them off bc like nix will do that if he doesn’t like someone’s vibe

I don’t think he does many collabs on his own albums (possibly some random singles tho???) but gimme things where he featured on other people’s music

#ritzyintros #this is a mess lads

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