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recurring-polynya · 3 years

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Once again, I am thinking about the dubious claim that people make from time to time that Renji would have gotten better character development in the TYBW arc if Byakuya had died. The thing is, though, that Renji did get excellent character development in this arc, particularly with respect to his relationship to Byakuya, it was just very subtle and I want to talk about it.

So, the first thing I want to point out is that the captain-lieutenant relationships is one of the major themes of the TYBW. A lot of this is sort of weird and awkward, but this is perfect, actually, because captain-lieutenant relationships are, for the most part, weird and clunky and awkward. Take for example, the part that I always make fun of, where the captains are told not to go to bankai, and Hitsugaya, Komamura, Byakuya and Soi Fon immediately go to bankai-- but they all do this on the assumption that they are luring their opponent into a trap to see how this works, and that their lieutenant will somehow ??defeat them anyway?? (well, except Soi Fon who seems to think she can one-shot her Quincy). There’s Sasakibe’s funeral, where we find out that Yamamoto cared far more for him than we ever imagined. Kyouraku returns Nanao’s zanpakutou to her and stands behind her as she defeats an opponent he can't. Iba carries Komamura’s body off of the battlefield as he loses the last of his humanity. Isane struggles to keep her head above her grief because that’s the burden Unohana left her with. Rose avenging Kira. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto fighting and (sort of) dying together. The Zaraki-Yachiru thing. The Mayuri-Nemu thing. Momo and Shinji actually got to have a relatively normal one, which they each deserved, but at least they got to have normal one together. Anyway, that could be an entire essay, but as usual, I only want to talk about Renji and Byakuya.

Renji’s introduction as a character happens in stages. Initially, he sort of appears to be Byakuya’s sidekick-- he's here to do the dirty work during Rukia’s arrest, while Byakuya stands by and calls the shots, but even early on, it’s clear that Renji’s a little hung up on Byakuya. He’s trying to impress him, and gets more embarrassed and self-conscious as things go progressively pear-shaped. When Byakuya finally enters the action, Renji’s thought bubbles reveal that he’s watched Byakuya for a long time, that he knows all his moves. When we get the Renji backstory reveal a few issues later, we learn that Renji’s goal is to defeat Byakuya, which he seems to feel is necessary to seeing Rukia again, even though there has never been any sort of causal link revealed between these two things. Don’t get me wrong, if Young Academy Renji had tried to continue to be friends with Rukia, I think Byakuya would have kicked him out on his ass, but it’s clear that a lot of Renji’s hang-ups are internal-- he doesn’t want to face Rukia again until he can stand against Byakuya. I think the origin of this is that he simply wants what’s best for Rukia, and he can’t stomach the idea of asking her to leave her rich, noble family for him, unless, of course, he’s somehow better than Byakuya in some dimension, and the only thing Renji’s ever considered himself good at is fighting.

Even more interesting is that he’s chosen to go about this by... studying the man’s every move and becoming his lieutenant. But for as much energy as Renji has put into learning Byakuya’s favorite combat moves, he doesn’t actually know anything about him as a person. He’s shocked when Rukia predicts that Byakuya won’t lift a finger to help her, and then horrified when this actually comes to pass. A few chapters later, as he’s running Hinamori through, Aizen comments that “Adoration is the state furthest from understanding.” I would probably classify Renji’s feelings towards Byakuya more as admiration or idolization, rather than adoration, but I think this statement is also very true of Renji and Byakuya’s relationship. Unlike poor Momo, Renji gets a little more time and opportunity to do something with this information. With a little Ichigo-forced soul searching, he realizes that he’s not going to come out the hero of this story no matter what, but if he doesn’t do something, Rukia’s not going to come out of this story at all, and even if he’s not really ready, he’s spent 40 years trying to figure out how to beat Kuchiki Byakuya, let’s hope all that was good for something.

The Byakuya-Renji fight has no direct impact on the events of the Soul Society Arc. It makes Byakuya show up to Rukia’s execution 5 minutes late and without his scarf. Renji gets healed, so it really doesn’t matter all that much to him, either. You could argue that they both wasted a bunch of energy (that they could have used to fight Aizen later) but it’s primarily a character-driven moment of them both drawing lines in the sand about where they stand, vis a vis Rukia. Byakuya wins this fight, and he wins it handily, but he’s wrong, as he comes to realize a few issues later, when Ichigo kicks his ass and tells him he’s a bad brother, a lesson that Byakuya will take to heart for the rest of the manga. Byakuya claims that the difference between Renji and himself is class, but the real difference between is the heart, and in the long run, Renji is the real victor of this fight.

The hospital scene is an interesting footnote to this. Byakuya defeated Renji, but Byakuya was the asshole and everyone knows it. There’s an expectation that perhaps Renji will quit or perhaps Renji will give him an earful and perhaps even Rukia will choose to leave the family, either to go to the Living World or to be with Renji (and Byakuya would deserve this), but instead, both Renji and Rukia give Byakuya another chance, which is not, I think, a place Renji ever expected to be.

Rukia and Byakuya building up a sibling relationship after this is fairly straightforward (although I’m sure it had its weird moments), but Byakuya and Renji now have this profoundly awkward relationship where Byakuya is obviously in charge, but he sort of depends on Renji as a personal compass because he’s shit at dealing with people and he doesn’t want to screw stuff up with Rukia again. Take for example, the part of the Hueco Mundo arc where Orihime is kidnapped and Rukia and Renji desert their posts to come help rescue her. Kubo takes to the panel-space to tell us that Byakuya has tacitly approved this. As a clan head and a captain, a person who is entrenched in the hierarchy of Soul Society, Byakuya couldn’t possibly go to Hueco Mundo-- but he can turn a blind eye while his sister and lieutenant scurry out through the Kuchiki family senkaimon. Renji, for his part, tried to go to Hueco Mundo through official channels and got shot down. We don’t know what Renji would have done if Byakuya had explicitly forbidden him from going, but it doesn’t matter-- Byakuya enabled Renji to follow his heart here, because Byakuya can’t. Rukia would have gone to Hueco Mundo regardless. She cares about Byakuya, but she doesn’t depend on him for validation the way Renji does.

I said this was going to be about the TYBW, so let’s get to that. Early in the arc, we’re shown several scenes where it’s clear that Byakuya respects and values Renji as a lieutenant, but he’s also pretty damn patronizing to him. Renji is the first one to engage As Nodt, and when Byakuya shows up, he acts surprised that Renji hasn’t taken him out yet, but then proceeds to take over the fight (real, “stand back, fives, an eleven has arrived” energy). After Byakuya then loses his bankai like a doofus, Renji wants to take point so that Byakuya can figure out As Nodt’s attack and Byakuya won’t let him... and then proceeds to get thrashed.

This has to be one of the most emotionally charged fights in Bleach. Byakuya is losing, and Renji jumps in, absolutely incensed that As Nodt would use Senbonzakura against Byakuya. Renji isn’t doing great, but he’s not doing terrible when Byakuya gets up and tries to help Renji, even though he’s a big bloody mess. As Nodt reacts by shredding Byakuya into chunks, and Renji just loses it, and if Mask de Masculine hadn’t shown up and kicked him halfway across the Seireitei, I daresay Renji would have killed himself trying to take down As Nodt.

This is where I usually make the point that if Byakuya had died to here, it would have broken Renji into little pieces, but that’s not today’s essay. Instead, everyone goes to the Royal Realm, and by virtue of the fact that Byakuya is injured worse than everyone else, Renji has to go forward without him or his approval.

In typical Renji fashion, the thing that motivates Renji here is not glory or heroism, but the desire to accompany Ichigo, the need to be with his friends in their times of trial. In fact his companionship here is absolutely essential-- at Hikifune’s, Ichigo expresses deep doubts that he’s doing the right thing, and Renji reminds himself that if he wants to protect others, he has to take care of himself first.

At Nimaiya’s however, Renji and Ichigo are split up because they must follow their own paths. The other extremely interesting thing that happens here is that Renji’s sword is reforged. Byakuya shattered one of Hihio Zabimaru’s joints the very first time Renji used them in combat. Renji brushed it off at the time, saying that he could get by without it. Even though Byakuya has long been his motivating force and his mentor, he’s also been held back by his connection to him. And at this point, it’s gone.

I really wish we got to see where Renji and Rukia meet up again, but we don’t. Unlike with Ichigo, though, Rukia doesn’t seem to need anything from Renji. They travel together, fight together as equals, wear matching outfits, like you do. Oh. Wait. After all this time, in the 493 chapters between Needless Emotions and Blue Stripes, Renji can finally see himself as an equal to Rukia. They get. bankai. Together.

I want to emphasize that it’s not really anything about Rukia herself that allowed Renji to make bankai, it’s the fact that he’s finally managed to move past the feeling that he’s not enough. Defeating Byakuya would not actually have solved this problem, and having Byakuya dying in front of him wouldn’t have either. Renji gets criticized for losing a lot of his fights, but that’s such a key to his character. He’s not always the strongest, he doesn’t always win, but he keeps fighting for what he cares about. He struggles with his need for approval, for external validation, but Renji is at his best when he doesn’t have time to think about that, when he’s just fighting by his friends’ sides against impossible odds, doing what he knows in his heart is right.

I think people tend to make a little more than is strictly necessary of the line where he tells Mask that he’s “a villain”, I think he’s most just making fun of Mask’s own self-aggrandizement. On another level, though, this is just Renji being at ease with himself. Byakuya typically enters a fight bloviating about the honor of Soul Society and “how dare you raise your sword against me, the 28th Head of the Kuchiki” and even Ikkaku had the whole deal about telling people your name before you kill them, but Renji is more like “you beat up my friends, so I’m gonna break your face,” like there’s no ego in it, just you’re there, and he’s there, and then you’re lying on the ground and he’s taking a nap somewhere. This is so different than the insecure, posturing young man he was at the start of this series and I love this growth for him.

Even after he eventually meets up with Byakuya again, something has changed about their dynamic. The group gets split up and rejoined two or three times, and Renji and Rukia always stay together while Byakuya ends up fighting alongside others, Hisagi and later Hitsugaya and Zaraki. This is cemented in their last scene together, where Rukia and Renji try to stay with Byakuya and he sends them off to fight with Ichigo by saying “your help is not needed here.” In some ways, it’s an echo of Byakuya sending them off to Hueco Mundo, but in other ways, it’s acknowledging that they are their own people, not just an extension of him.

Hitsugaya follows it up with this:

There’s more here than meets the eye, though-- Byakuya and Renji have maintained a pretty strict superior-subordinate relationship, because that’s the easiest way for them to make sense of the world, but the fact is, they do care about each other and are important to one another.

I know there would be a certain narrative satisfaction in seeing Renji make captain at the end-- he’s one of the hardest working people in Bleach, and it frankly seems weird to see Iba get the haori when he doesn’t. But Renji has never wanted to be a captain. Renji becoming captain would, in some ways, be a failure. He spends years pre-canon chasing rank and prestige because that’s what he thinks will make him worthy, and it didn’t. Instead, he found worth in being himself, in loving his friends and being there for them, in learning things from Byakuya and teaching him things in return. Renji doesn’t need to be Byakuya’s lieutenant anymore, he just does it because he likes it. It makes him happy. What better character development is there than that?

#renji abarai #byakuya kuchiki #tybwa #god i love to get up on a saturday and write essays about renji's character development #tldr: renji checks off all the gotei career milestones *except* making captain and then proceeds to lean in to his true calling: malewife #we stan legends only

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tuiyla · 5 years

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Marvel’s Runaways casual review/ rant

Okay, so I watched both seasons of Marvel’s Runaways in like four days. Originally I was only going to write one post on it and that was mostly going to be about Deanoru but then I got carried away talking about the show overall so here we go. I’m still going to dedicate a separate post to Nico and Karolina because Gay™, that’s why.

I liked it is the short opinion. The longer version is that it’s very frustrating at times because it could be so much better. The pacing, while all over the place and very slow for some is an issue, but personally I don’t mind it all that much. Yes, it was weird that they only became actual runaways at the very end of season 1 and then season 2 was basically two seasons in one, but that’s not the main problem. It’s very frustrating how the tone can jump around and how there’s scenes missing from almost every single episode. What I mean by that is that there are crucial scenes that we should get in-between the life-altering moments that the characters go through, mostly a few lines of dialogue here and there, but we rarely ever get those. Some of it is related to Deanoru so I’ll elaborate more on that later but in general, it makes some otherwise heavy elements of the show hard to take seriously.

Darius’s murder is both treated as an atrocity and yet we never truly see Tamar grieve. Jonah almost making Janet sacrifice herself for Victor is brushed aside like it wasn’t a fucked up moment. Tina and Robert get back together and the fact that he cheated on her and supposedly didn’t love her anymore rarely ever comes up again. Karolina’s attempted rape is a similar situation. (I thought more about this and okay, I suppose this was given enough gravitas.) So many awful things happen that I get it, it’s hard to keep track and portray the emotional significance of all of them. But if you can’t, maybe you should reconsider writing all of these in and thinking about what kind of tone you’re going for. It’s especially annoying when it comes to character dynamics, like Molly never actually saying it out loud that she forgave Nico for the Topher thing. Just gonna forget that, huh? It’s not entirely unrealistic because Molly is barely 15 and Nico is one of the few people she can call family so they were bound to get over it relatively quickly, I just missed the acknowledgment. Two lines, that’s it.

Runaways is often a few lines away from being a much better show. Just give me the characters acknowledging trauma, or how they were fighting a minute ago, or anything that would keep it more consistent. It’s not Riverdale level bad but it does take away from my enjoyment a little bit. Like, remember when Darius kidnapped Alex? And not only did Geoffrey had a really weird scene there where he prioritised the shot Andre (so he can be killed for Jonah) over Alex's safety, but then Alex became BFFs with Darius. At least Chase pointed out said kidnapping but then nothing else was said about it. Okay, so you’re just gonna move past that, sure.

Some of the ridiculousness is acceptable because it is fundamentally a teen drama and a superhero show, so suspension of disbelief is necessary. But that only takes you so far and is mostly afforded to the supernatural stuff. I can roll with Karolina being an alien who glows and flies but she never really told Chase that she wasn’t interested and that annoyed me. Not that I wanted them to be a thing but they spent a substantial amount of time together in the first two-thirds of season 1 and then... nothing. Even if it was clear for us as an audience that she’s gay and Chase is falling for Gert, the two never had that “oh okay, I see now, you’re not into me, that’s cool” “thanks for understanding” moment. Two lines.

Much of this comes down to how little time the show has because of its enormous main cast. I get that, truly, and I’m not saying all character interactions leave something to be desired. I think the Gert-Molly relationship is near perfect, they almost always talk through their issues and their love for each other is clear even when there’s a conflict going on. There are other examples as well and overall, this is a fine show. Don’t get me wrong here, I didn’t binge it in a few days so I can show up late to the party and tell everyone in the fandom that the show they love is trash. It’s not. The concept is really good and from what I can tell they’ve made some necessary changes to the comics. The cast is also good for the most part, with some cringy moments but some very strong ones as well.

The teen drama part of it is interesting and handled well when they focus on it properly. I like that both Gertchase and Deanoru get more or less equal screentime and focus and the dynamic of the Runaways is something I love to watch. Reminds me of how Brooklyn Nine-Nine is so good because each episode they do different combinations of characters and all the relationships get a chance to develop. Runaways has a very different structure so doing the same would be impossible but I still appreciate the quiet moments between more unlikely pairs or trios. More of that if there’s a season 3, which there’d better be because I’m invested now.

So yeah, I know went off a bit with how frustrating it is when the show is inconsistent with its tone and characters and how just a few more lines or scenes could solve that, but I did enjoy Runaways. Okay, so I mostly enjoyed Deanoru, but other aspects as well. I think Chase being stuck in this cycle of abuse is heartbreaking but makes for a powerful storyline and I hope he’ll get a break eventually. Gert, while too much of a parody of an SJW initially has really grown on me and her need for meds was handled well, I would say. Her jealousy of Karolina when it came to Chase was understandable but not very cool and I would have liked more bonding moments between the two. Molly has some super weird moments but the way she keeps the group together and is allowed to be a kid and enjoy herself every once in a while is heartwarming to watch.

Alex, well, I’m gonna be honest here, is my least favourite. I don’t hate characters and I don’t hate him, but I’m sure finding it difficult to like him in any capacity. His vendetta, while justified in some ways, made him selfish and inconsiderate towards the rest of the group. Even in season 1, he had moments when I went “seriously? who the hell does he think he is”. His DW and nerd references ain’t winning me over. Plus he seems to just not care about most people, especially Karolina? Damn son, I kind of hope that remaining Gibborim is inside you so you can justify some of your actions. But I don’t hate him, I promise, I just hope I can grow to like him later on.

The parents are weird because they’re set out to be the villains and there’s this moral ambiguity around them at any given point, which is fascinating at times. I think Leslie is probably the best portrayal in that there’s a nuance to what she’s done and why. In some ways, she’s the worst of them all and in others, she can be “excused” - but then again, can she? I think it’s an interesting question for the show to answer if it proves itself capable enough to do so. I also like Tina in that I’m curious where her relationship with Nico will go. Okay, so now I just mentioned the mothers of the two characters I like the most, great for my bias. True though.

Part of me is also glad that Jonah survived because he needs more scenes with Karolina. I need it to be established deeper that in a sick way he does love her but also she needs to realize how cruel he is. Then he can die (again) and she can grow from it. The Yorkeses are by far the most puzzling ones because they’re quirky and kind of nice so their appalling actions are brushed aside more so than with the other parents. In general, this is what I find interesting and what I want the show to acknowledge and explore: all the parents have done awful things but not all of them are equally “evil”. Dale shouldn’t be on the same level as Leslie or even Catherine. Can we also get that in season 3?

Alright, that’s it for now. I really should do this after every show I watch. I had quite a lot of thoughts while and after watching this series and though I mostly just wanted to write about Deanoru, I’m glad I got it all out. And I genuinely do need that season 3 so you’d better prove your worth, Hulu.

#marvel's runaways #chase stein #karolina dean #gert yorkes #nico minoru #not gonna tag all the characters #my thoughts #casual review #molly hernandez #alex wilder #the other ones

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djinmer4 · 5 years

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Ghoul Goblin (Dresden!verse)

For context, Prescott never saw Harry’s ad in this universe, thus Dresden was never called in for the Talbot case. Conversely, Joseph Talbot had better luck finding a magical teacher in his early years, so someone else showed up.

“I’m sorry for calling you all this way, Kurt.”

“It’s no problem at all, Father Vincent. I’m glad to help in any way I can.” The old priest smiled at his pupil. “Did I ever tell you that you would have been an excellent addition to the Ordo Malleus. Sometimes I think you missed your calling, Kurti.”

The indigo man just laughed. “I don’t think I would have made a very good priest, Father, but thank you for the compliment. Now, what did you need my help for?”

The priest tossed a letter over to the acrobat. “Read that then tell me what you think.” After a few moments, gold eyes looked up. “Talbot, that’s the name of the apprentice you had before me, right?”

“It is. It’s also the name of a family cursed to be targeted by supernatural creatures. Joseph wasn’t interested in being part of the Church either, but he was desperate to come up with a way to protect his siblings.”

“You do seem to pick people who aren’t necessarily Catholic or even religious.”

“My teaching is open to all. Although you should meet Roarke. Man’s enthusiastic, embraces the priesthood whole-heartedly. I think you’d get along.”

“So why isn’t he here instead?”

“We’ve got rumors that a whole slew of vampires are gathering in Russia somewhere for a raid. He’s out there trying to run down some concrete information for us. But anyway, you read the letter. Joseph’s pretty sure that the curse has come home to roost and would like some help in taking down the hunters.” Father Victor sighed. “I’d go myself, but frankly I’m in no condition to take down anything that strong and durable anymore. I was hoping you could go in my stead and assist your fellow apprentice.”

Kurt winced, having found the photo of Carl Talbot’s torn up body. “I also think there are two killers. One man gets torn up while his sister gets poisoned? Most killers don’t change their methods so quickly. And given that the only inheritance worth claiming belongs to Joseph and he’s the one calling in the cavalry, I don’t think we’re looking at a professional on the job, as it were. Yes, I’ll pack my bags immediately and tell the X-Men I’m taking a sabbatical. Let’s try and stop this before it goes any further.”

“Joseph? Joseph Talbot? My name is Kurt Wagner, Father Vincent sent me.” Kurt knocked on the iron gates and wondered if he should have brought the holoimager. As much as he wasn’t ashamed of his appearance, it did make it difficult to blend into a crowd. He had wanted to scout out the funeral earlier today but hadn’t been able to get close enough to see anyone.

An older man came out, with a shotgun pointed at his chest. "First, prove that your human and not one of the supernatural creatures out to get me. Second, tell me something that proves you really were sent by Father Vincent.”

“Father Vincent has the Eye of Thoth tattooed on his wrist. As for proof-” Kurt teleported past the iron fence and grabbed the shotgun, carefully pointing it towards the ground and blocking the trigger with one of his fingers. The other man loosened his grip and let Nightcrawler turn on the safety before handing the gun back.

“Okay, you’re the real deal. Come on inside.”

Once inside the house, Joseph explained the situation. “I take it you’ve heard about the curse?”

“Father Vincent explained it to me. I take it the family is being targeted.”

“Yes,” the older man gestured to a photo on the mantle. “Carl, Sarah, me, Alex, Madeline or Maddie rather, John Jr or JJ, and Ella. Carl and Sarah are already dead and I don’t know what killed them.”

“Well, I’ve got some bad news for you. I’m thinking you’ve got at least two supernatural creatures after you. One very nasty predator, the one who ripped your brother apart. The other was more subtle. Has there been any updates on your sister’s case?”

“Poison then strangling. The poison only put her into a deep sleep, then whatever it was broke inside and suffocated her with her own scarf.”

“Hmm, that’s pretty unusual. Your brother was killed outside so it could be any number of things that are strong enough to rip a human limb from limb. But not a lot of supernatural creatures can break into a home’s barrier to do harm to the home’s owner.”

“So either someone she invited in or-” Joseph was cut off by the sound of a buzzer. Checking his camera, he swore. “Damn, that’s Deputy Sheriff Tremaine. I’d better go see if he has any new information. Stay here.” Kurt watched through the window, obscured by the curtain as Joseph went out. The officer seemed fairly sympathetic although it was clear the older man was in no mood for niceties. They talked for a while through the fence and then-

Kurt couldn’t see what had picked up the car and thrown it at the fence but it was clear that at least one of the attackers was in the area. He turned to grab his swords and teleport out but it was already too late. During the fight, Joseph had fired his shotgun out into the dark. Instead of hitting anything, the gun misfired, tearing a hole in Joseph’s chest and knocking out the officer for a few minutes.

At that moment the police officer recovered from his daze and looked up to see Nightcrawler looming over the dead body. The inevitable happened. “Monster!” he screamed and pulled out his gun and started firing.

Kurt bamfed away, into the trees just beyond the edge of the property. Things had just gotten a lot harder.

Kurt stewed in the corner of the bar and debated what to do. Joseph was dead but he still had four living siblings who needed to be protected. How Kurt was going to do that was the problem. He couldn’t exactly go up to Alex and Maddie and introduce himself. They’d probably had never even heard of the X-Men in Boone Mill. For once, Kurt cursed himself for not bringing the holoimager. Usually, he liked his appearance, despite all the trouble it caused, but it meant that strangers rarely trusted him. And since Prescott had started warning everyone about him, he couldn’t exactly go around questioning people to learn more. Even in the bar, he was completely covered up, with trenchcoat, hat, and aviator glasses.

As Kurt continued to nurse his last beer, two more people got up to leave the bar. He didn’t know who the girl was but he recognized Joseph’s younger brother from the photo. Dropping off enough money to cover his tab and tip, the hunter slipped into the shadows to follow the couple. The very least he could do was ensure that Alex got home safely.

Alas, this was not to be. Almost the moment the couple hit a busy intersection, a brief scuffle broke out, obscuring his view. By the time he had gotten them back in sight, it was too late. It looked like Alex had walked in front of a bus but Kurt’s reflexes had caught the flash of movement that had preceded the screeching brakes. More tellingly, the girl who had walked out of the bar with Alex was gone.

So. Alex’s murdereress had waited for him to wander out into public then used supernatural speed and strength to take him out. Probably the same creature who had murdered Carl then. This lacked the finesse of Sarah’s and Joseph’s deaths. Four Talbots down, two of them on his watch. But at least he knew the human form of one of them.

Kurt paused. Four Talbots killed, in order of birth. What was it that Kitty had said? Once is coincidence, twice is happenstance, three times is enemy action. The Talbots weren’t just being targeted by two separate killers, they had turned this into a competition. Kurt didn’t know why, probably some territorial dispute if he had to guess, but the reason didn’t matter. He knew the next target and the face of at least one of the killers. He needed to get Maddie Talbot behind Joseph’s walls immediately. That would at least keep her safe from the woman and the two killers wouldn’t go after the younger siblings until Maddie had died. That would give him more time to investigate and set up traps.

For a second time, his train of thought stopped. He was forgetting something. It had been the second killer who had killed Joseph, and he’d gone straight through the house’s threshold. Twice, since he’d killed Sarah too. So the house wasn’t a complete fortress.

Kurt shook his head. He’d just have to hope that whatever invitation had been extended had been revoked by Joseph’s death. The occult-obsessed Talbot must have been aware of the issue but he hadn’t had true sight. Something had been let in unknowingly. Kurt would have to go over Joseph’s security footage and see who had come by in the past month or so.

“Halt demon!” Looked like he had spent too long thinking. The sheriff and his deputy had shown up and were pointing guns in his direction. He wasn’t too keen on letting them arrest him but he wasn’t going to let them use the surrounding crowd as a backstop. So he let the younger one approach and even grab his arm . . . then teleported away into the woods, leaving his empty trenchcoat behind.

If Kurt had one thing to be thankful for, it was that he truly wasn’t as magical as his appearance suggested. If he had been, he’d have had a lot more trouble kidnapping the remaining Talbots out of their beds and teleporting them to Joseph’s manor. As it was, he barely got little Ella out in time before their house went up in flames. The two competitors saw the end of their little game in sight and were clearly stepping up their measures to win.

Maddie was apparently a bit more prepared for this scenario than he had anticipated. When he appeared with Ella in a cloud of smoke, she’d found another of Joseph’s guns and had it pointed right at him.

She was lucky he wasn’t actually here to harm them. He carefully placed the waking Ella on the ground and shooed her in the direction of her sister. Then, equally slowly, he raised his hands as a gesture of peace towards the Talbots. “Guten abend. My name is Kurt Wagner, but you can call me Nightcrawler.” Seeing the gun remain steadily pointed at him, he added, “I’m a friend of your brother, Joseph.” And silently thanked his humanity for giving him the ability to lie.

“Uh-huh.” The gun didn’t waver. “And you could prove that how?”

Think fast, Kurti. “If I wasn’t his friend, how would I have known to take you to his house?”

The blonde frowned. “True . . . but on the other hand, he died on his own property. Maybe he just trusted the wrong person.”

“If I had wanted you dead, Madeline Talbot, you would be dead already. I brought you here first, after all.”

“Point for your side.” She dropped the barrel to the floor and re-engaged the safety. “So, got any ideas?”

“I’m sure the attackers-”

“Attackers? As in more than one?”

“Yes. Two of them. Anyway, one of them has already attempted to burn your house tonight. I’m pretty sure they’re on their way here to attack again. I need some time to set up traps to stop them.”

“Do you really think you can win? You didn’t exactly help my brother.”

“Whoever it was, tampered with your brother’s gun before I got here.” The young woman looked at the gun she’d been pointing at him. “No, there were a few others that had also been tampered with, but I’ve already disposed of them. Also, the bomb in your brother’s safe room, I deactivated too. I don’t know who either of the attackers are but at least one of them managed to get past your brother’s precautions.”

“According to Deputy Tremaine, that person was you.” He reached over and grabbed one of the iron implements on the table. “Does this convince you I’m human?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it does.”

“Gut. Now, madchen, take your siblings and get down to the newly re-safened safety room. I’ve got some monsters to drive off.” Maddie nodded and turned to herd her brother and sister downstairs. But before she left she asked him, “Do you really think you can win?”

Kurt pulled out his swords and the C4 he had brought. “Fraulein, your brother was good but I’m better. I destroy vampires for a living. I’ll be able to handle these two.”

The first to charge in was the girl. But she wasn’t a girl now. Instead, she had grown, her height rising by at least 30 cm, her shoulders widening like a gorilla’s and her mouth opening to become a giant maw filled with shark-like teeth. In her giant hand, she held the badly mauled but still breathing deputy sheriff. “Come out, hunter! Bring me the girl or I’ll eat this man for a snack before taking all three siblings!”

“Verdammt!” Kurt started one of his traps. He got in Joseph’s car and sped straight for the duo. Just before he hit, he teleported out, grabbed the sheriff then teleported away again. He dumped the man on the porch and turned to the ghoul. The car’s momentum had carried her into a tree but that didn’t mean much to a ghoul. She had braced herself against the tree and was starting to lift the car to throw at him.

Kurt detonated the C4 he had packed into the car’s trunk.

The explosion pulverized the ghoul and to add insult to injury, set off the two extra jerry cans of gas he had included. The German watched then dodged the claw that came hurtling out of the conflagration. “Foolish hunter, did you think that would kill me?”

“No, but this will.” Kurt teleported onto her shoulders, grabbed the ghoul’s head, then teleported off again with her head. And only her head. He dropped it on the driveway and tasered it for good measure. “Try regenerating from that!”

He heard clapping and turned. The other killer had arrived. “I’m impressed. Not only did you take Ambre out, but you found the time to disarm the traps in the saferoom. O now need to worry. Now that LaChaise is dead, I’ve won our wager. No need for me to go after any of the other Talbots.”

Kurt retrieved his swords. “Nice try. But I am a Monsterjager. It wouldn’t be right for me to let a human hunting abomination go free.”

“Suit yourself.” The creature stepped into the light. It had the sharp teeth and asymmetrical features of a goblin. “One question,” Kurt panted as he warded off a blow that would have taken his head off if it had connected. “How did you get past the thresholds without an invitation or losing your powers?”

“I didn’t. I’ve been the local handyman for the past 20 years. No one suspected me in the first place.” As it turned out, maybe the goblin had a reason to avoid fighting the ghoul. He was good, stronger and faster than an ordinary human. But Kurt was better. And in the end, it was a simple matter of a hidden steel sword (coated with dark, non-reflective oil), lodged in the shade of a bush, and teleporting away when the goblin charged what looked like a disarmed opponent. The steel went straight through the goblin’s heart, instantly killing him.

Kurt waited to see if any more supernatural creatures appeared. But as the sun came up, he went inside to let the Talbots out of the safe room.

#dresdenverse #Kurt Wagner #case fic #attempted case fic anyway #one less death #but the talbots are still cursed

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vampiricmycelium · 6 years

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Solace

When Victor wakes up everything seems fine. He has to use the bathroom which isn’t anything strange and while he is almost too comfortable to really want to move, he knows that he has little choice.

Begrudgingly he pulls himself away from the warmth of the bed, keeping Biscuit clutch to his chest. He walked mostly half-asleep and unaware of what was going on. It was in the middle of the night, after all. Despite their adventure so far being full of excitement and sudden events, the time they were spending here in Celadon seemed to be rather peaceful. No one was kidnapping anyone or causing weird weather patterns.

As he left the bathroom, Victor’s attention was drawn towards another door at the end of the hallway. It was cracked open enough that light was peeking out into the dim hallway. Biscuit was alerted before him, ears perking up at the sound of... something. Hushed shouting and the sound of a Growlithe? The only person he knew that had a Growlithe was Rose but what would she be doing up in the middle of the night near the other bathroom where all the tubs where.

He went towards the room. Not the wisest decision he had ever made, but there was no sound of water. He was just concerned was all. As he peered past the door, he did indeed see Rose and Bango, on the edge of an indent into the floor. She seemed to be talking to Bango who looked just as unhappy as she sounded. He also looked tired giving him a grumpy demeanor. “It doesn’t make any sense. How could my own family, no matter how distant, be corrupted? Where did we go wrong?”

Bango growled, answering but in an unsatisfying way. The poor boy, he was trying to comfort her, but it seemed that she was not in the right place for it. Victor felt that he should just go and let her be. She probably wouldn’t welcome his company. But glancing back he watched her once more, tossing her dex on the ground.

Victor watched as half of the brush went skidding towards the wall, hitting it with a satisfying thud. Luckily it seemed unharmed. Whatever might have been on it was the cause of her distress if he had to guess. He moved into the room further unsure of why his feet were leading him inside the room and not away. Rose was cursing under her breathe, a series of rather vulgar words. Some that Victor hadn’t even heard before. There was a squeak as he almost fell, catching himself in time, but it alerted Rose to his presence.

Her face was an array of conflicting emotions. Anger and shock. Eyes wide and a mouth twisted into a scowl. He nearly left right then, holding Biscuit closer to his chest in order to steady himself. Her expression changed quickly though when she saw it was him, the anger draining out of her enough and she was turning away, almost ashamed maybe of her current state.

“Leave me alone.”

There was still anger in her voice, as if she meant to use it to scare him off. It nearly worked. Victor found himself continuing to shrink back away from her. He didn’t want to upset her further, despite not sure what was going on. Bango was watching him cautiously. He probably didn’t want to see Rose upset either. Something had happened without his knowledge, as it so often did. He wished he could know what it was, could offer her some sort of comfort. It was difficult to see a friend in pain. One last glance at the broken hairbrush and he got an idea.

Victor disappeared and appeared a few minutes later, holding a small box. Rose was still here, looking better than she had before, running her fingers through Bango’s fur. He was laying his head in her lap. Victor wasn’t that perceptive or he might have considered that now that someone was in the room with her that wasn’t a Pokemon, she had pulled herself together. She eyed the box with suspicion.

“I’m not a Pokemon.” She said this before Victor deposited Biscuit onto her lap, almost right on top of Bango’s head. The little Lilipup licked at her excitedly, Rose becoming half-distracted by the Pokemon on her lap.

“No you aren’t, but Pokemon aren’t the only ones who need grooming. I know it always calms Biscuit down and it has down the same for me, so I thought I could brush your hair for you.” The further he went on in the sentence, the softer his voice became. Rose still seemed suspicious, the lingering emotions of anger and frustration there. Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea after all. “If that’s alright with you.”

Silence echoed out in the room. As time ticked past, Victor got the impression she wanted to say no but didn’t know how to say it without sounding rude. He wouldn’t mind, he merely offered out of kindness and a way to help. Rose nodded, her fingers starting to brush through Biscuit’s fur.

“Okay.”

Victor kneeled down behind her. He could feel her stiffen when he touched her hair, probably out of habit but he wasn’t sure. As he gathered her hair he noticed for the first time that no one else was in the room with them beyond Bango.

“Rose. Where are your Pokemon?”

He hadn’t realized when he entered the room that none of the others Rose kept with her were around. Scramble’s and Sakura’s absence was strange. He didn’t want to pry. It was late and neither of them probably expected to find themselves here in the first place.

“They’re asleep. I hadn’t... planned on sticking around enough to be caught. I didn’t want to upset them either.” Victor could not see her face, but he could understand what she was saying. He thought that Scramble might not get as upset by her anger but Sakura seemed to be the sensitive sort. He didn’t ask again, focusing on the task at hand.

Her hair did have knots in it, most likely from sleeping. She seemed the type to take care of her hair regularly, so it was easy to slowly tangle away the small knots that were there. As he worked he could feel Rose start to slowly relax as well. The repetition of the strokes were soothing for Victor and he hoped it would be for her as well. They didn’t speak again as he brushed her hair until it was smooth. He paused, wondering if he should keep going or stop.

“Do you want me to do something with it? I could braid it for you.” There was no point really in what he was doing, he was realizing. The moment she slept it would be ruin again, but there was something about the atmosphere that seemed to have shifted during the time he had entered. He still didn’t know what had been burdening her. What drove her to angrily hide away in a bathroom and throw her dex, but it had to be a big problem. This wouldn’t solve it, but as he peeked around the back of her head, Rose seemed content.

That was enough for him. Any help was good, right?

“Sure. That would be nice.”

He nodded, sectioning off her hair and then weaving them together. “I didn’t think you knew how to do human hair.”

“It’s not that different than Pokemon. I don’t think I could do anything impressive like a stylist, but they aren’t too different. You have nice hair too.” She really did. It was soft and thick. He would never had thought to touch it before right now. He didn’t think he’d ever have the chance outside of this strange moment nor ever again. That was fine.

“Well don’t put any bows into it or anything like that.” She paused. “Maybe that wouldn’t look too bad with certain outfits. It might be too silly though. Never mind.”

He finished the braid, letting her hair fall against her back. He moved to her side, Biscuit coming over into his lap. He buried his fingers into their fur. Bango had fallen asleep, head still on Rose’s lap. She was petting him almost absentmindedly, but when he stopped, she reached back with her other hand to touch the braid.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m tough. I won’t let this get me down.” She gave him a small smile. It might not be as real as she wanted to, but it was something. “Don’t tell anyone about this, you understand me?”

Victor raised his hands in front of him. “I-I won’t. I promise.”

Rose stood, urging the half-asleep Bango to join her in returning to her room. She nearly forgot her Pokedex but retrieved it quickly. Tomorrow the braid would be gone and neither of them would mention it. Victor would do his best to pretend it never happened, but the concern would still remain. He had done something nice for her, at least, and he was sure that it had worked. If he could do it again, he would.

“Thank you.”

#Charlie writes #Pokemon World Tour United #PWTU #Is this good?#you're opinion #but I wanted to write something soft and nice for them esp. for Rose

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81scorp · 4 years

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Constructive criticism: XO: Wolverine

(Originally posted on Deviantart Sep 30, 2016)

Ah yes... X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

The first two X-Men movies may not have been perfect but they weren`t bad and at least they understood that at the heart of this comicbook universe was a theme about xenophobia. The third movie may have been bad but it was bad in a way that I was mostly OK with. Then... there`s this movie. I remember when I saw this in the cinema. The only people in the audience was me, two women and one man. Talk about overcrowded (he said, not without a small hint of sarcasm). I should have seen the warning signs right there. As the movie played on the screen I kept telling myself "It doesn`t have to be superfaithful to his origin in the comics, it`s still good, it`s still good... -ish". Technically, I was right. Then came the final fight in the climax, and that`s where I felt: "Really? You`re really gonna do it like that?" It was like, not only had they not put enough effort into getting it right. They had put extra effort into getting it wrong! Bastardisation of a popular character and crappy CGI claws aside, the movie had the structure of a videogame. Nothing wrong with videogames but (and I`m generalizing here) they don`t always have great stories and rely more on the player enjoying it because of the interactivity. Movies are not interactive. (And yes, I have seen walkthroughs of the videogame based on this movie, the story wasn`t that great in the game either but it was more enjoyable than the movie.) They had some great opportunities to tell a good, character-developing story. But when those opportunities came they just fastforwarded through them get to their own (mostly) generic revenge story. If I could travel back in time and rewrite this mess, what would I change? A lot.

We begin In Media Res (look it up on Wikipedia). Somewhere in... let`s say Kenya. Seven soldiers are preparing themselves for raiding a secret base. Four of them are wearing black clothes, black ski-masks and carry machine guns. (They are not mutants, they are normal humans who are highly skilled mercenaries. One of them have two swords strapped to his back). The three other soldiers are (besides not wearing ski-masks) dressed slightly different than the four other soldiers. They are Logan, Victor "Sabertooth" Creed and a woman named Domino. (In my version Sabertooth is smart, like he was when he was played by Liev Schreiber.) They enter the base, sneak around, fight some guards, find the Macguffin they were looking for (a rock made out of some alien metal) and exit the base. (Sabertooth seems to enjoy the killing more than Logan does. Domino`s superpower seems to be enhanced reflexes and agility.) On the planeride back to their HQ the mercs have taken off their ski-masks, the one with swords on his back seems to be ill. One of the other mercs asks him: "Wade. You OK?" Wade says that it`s probably just something he ate. He`ll get himself checked when they`re back at HQ. Back at HQ Stryker congratulates them for stealing the Macguffin and for another job well done. Wade goes to the doctor. Logan asks Domino if she`s ever had any second thoughts about the things that they do. Domino: (Short pause) "Nah." To get his mind on something else, Logan goes to the gym and starts beating a sandbag. He remembers his childhood.Logan`s childhood: Canada: 1887. Rose O`Hara, a young girl who`s parents have just died, have been sent to live in the mansion of John Howlett Jr. He was a friend of her parents and is a very kind man. She is soon introduced to the other people. John Howlett Sr (who unlike his son is not a kind man). Elisabeth Howlett (John Howlett`s wife, a reclusive shut-in). Thomas Logan (the grumpy, alcoholic, antisocial groundskeeper). "Dog" Logan (Thomas Logan`s son, a troublemaker who gets beaten by his dad). Last but not least: James Howlett (John`s son who`s physically weak and often gets sick). Rose, James and "Dog" become good friends after a while and we get a montage of them having a great time together. At the end of the day, Rose and James goes back to the mansion and Dog goes back to his father`s cabin. We get a small hint that there`s a thing between Elisabeth Howlett and Thomas Logan, the groundskeeper.

A few years later: The kids are now teenagers. Dog has become a jerk and one day he tries to force himself on Rose. Rose knees Dog in the groin and James, who saw the whole thing, runs to his dad to tell him what Dog tried to do. John Howlett has a stern talk with Logan and tells him to raise his son better. Logan doesn`t like being told what to do and a few nights later he and Dog breaks into the mansion with rifles to steal some stuff, kidnap Elisabeth and run away. John hears them, tries to talk sense into them. James comes into the room, wondering what`s happening. Logan`s rifle goes off and shoots John. James is in shock, he punches Dog in the face and attacks Logan. Logan dies, everyone realizes that Dog has claw wounds across his face and James has boneclaws coming out of his knuckles. James runs outside, Rose runs after him and Elisabeth commits suicide with Logan`s rifle. Rose finds James outside, sitting on the gound. He says that he feels different: He doesn`t feel sick or weak in the way that he has felt all his life (His immunesystem has improved.), his sense of smell has improved and the boneclaws in his knuckles have retracted back inside his hands, leaving small holes that are already healing. Rose goes to James`s grandfather to get protection for James and herself, but he wants nothing to do with them, especially not some monster like James. He gives them money and tells them to leave and never come back. Rose and Jack travel through Canada and after about a month they find themselves in The Youkon territories where they seek refuge in a mining town. They pretend to be cousins and try to find work in the quarry. When Smitty the foreman asks their names James is still unable to talk due to his trauma. Rose, wanting to hide their identities, comes up with a name, the first that pops into her head: Logan. A couple of days later: Rose helps Smitty organize his paperwork and James (now Logan) has worked on the quarry a few days. He doesn`t like it, growing up with rich parents he`s not used to hard, manual labour. He is picked on by a bully, the camp cook, named Cookie, who often uses his massive size to intimidate Logan and rough him up. Logan fights his desires to fight back and is often rescued by Smitty. Sometimes Rose finds Logan staring at the nearby forest, as if he wants to belong with the animals. One day Logan pushes a full wheel barrow up a hill but quits when he has come halfway. He`s tired, cold, hates manual labour and doesn`t want to do this anymore. But then he gets determined, decides that he`s not gonna be a quitter, grabs the heavy wheelbarrow again and continues to push it to the top of the hill. We skip forward in time, Logan has reached the top tof the hill and is no longer a teenager, but a man (figuratively AND literally).

We learn that Logan has gotten tougher, better, and has earned the respect of his fellow workers, especially Smitty (but not Cookie). They`ve even given him a nickname: Wolverine. Logan still has moments when he looks at the nearby forest. One day one of the workers dies of pneumonia. There`s a funeral and later that evening Logan discovers Cookie in the cabin of the recently dead worker, stealing stuff. Logan beats up Cookie and runs to Smitty`s cabin to tell him about Cookies behavior. Through the window he sees Smitty and Rose kissing. It causes him to run away into the woods where he finds himself surrounded by a pack of wolfs. The lead wolf stares at Logan and growls. Logan unleashes his claws and stares back. After a minute the lead wolf accepts Logan as part of the pack. Meanwhile, back at the Howlett mansion: Logan's grandfather is weak and lies in his bed. He regrets chasing James and Rose away and is talking to someone about finding James. The other man turns out to be Dog, now an adult, but still with clawmark-scars across his face. He swears to Mr. Howlett that he will hunt him to the ends of the earth. (NOTE: In my version Dog and Sabertooth is NOT the same person. Wolvie and Sabertooth doesn`t have to be related. They COULD be second cousins or something, but that`s as far as I`m willing to go.) Some time later: The mining town in Youkon: Logan has become distant from Rose as he is hurt by her engagement to Smitty. He tells her he always thought they would end up together. Smitty, meanwhile, is trying to sell off some possessions in order to raise money so that he and Rose can make their way to Vancouver, where he is to take another job, better suited for a family man. Unsuccessful in his attempt, Smitty decides to enter into a cage fight tournament to earn the money. Logan also enters the tournament when he finds out that Cookie`s in it. After getting the pleasure of beating up Cookie publically, Logan meets Smitty in the final match but takes a dive so that Smitty can win the prize money, travel to Vancouver with Rose and live happily with her. Smitty and Rose will leave in a couple of days and he tells Logan that since he knows that he can trust him he makes him the new foreman of the quarry. Smitty then leaves Logan alone to help Rose pack for their journey. Logan is attacked by Dog who has no intention to bring him back to the Howlett mansion but to kill him. Dog has the upper hand at first but then Logan starts to win the fight. The next moment everything happens so fast, Logan gets ready to unleash his claws to kill Dog, Rose tries to interfere and stop him and... Logan regains his senses. He realizes that he has stabbed Rose, his best friend, in the shoulder, and by doing so he has revealed to everyone that he is a mutant, a dangerous mutant. He flees into the woods. Smitty comes running to check on Rose and her injured shoulder, then they both watch Logan disappear. Back to the present: Logan is still in the gym. Victor Creed comes and talks to him, reminds him about what a badass and a killing-machine he was back in Vietnam and how he has lost a little bit of that edge now. He wonders what happened that made Logan go soft. Logan: "People change Creed, it happens." He walks out of the gym. We see that they were watched the whole time by a hidden camera. In a surveillance-room Stryker watches Logan leave the gym. He also points out that Logan used to be a more effective killer in the past. He`s afraid that Logan will one day grow a conscience and turn against him, good thing that he`s prepared. He turns and looks at another monitor, one that shows an X-ray of Logans skull, some parts of his brain has been highlighted. Turns out that they have been mapping Logan`s brain. Logan goes to his room, lies down on his bed and keeps remembering his past. Back to the past: We get a montage of Logan living like an animal in the woods, he still wears pants but they are very torn. A few times during this montage he steps out of the woods and looks at the human civilisation, wondering if it´s worth it to return to that world but rejects the idea. Finally at the end of the montage he decides to go back to civilsation. He steals some clothes that are hanging out to dry. A voice-over says: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy," followed by a montage of Logan fighting in World War 2. This is followed by a scene of Logan drinking in a bar in New york while eveyone else is celebrating that the war is over and Hitler is dead. Logan is not as enthousiastic as everyone else, probably because he has lived long, seen many things and knows this will not be the last war he fights in. Years later: Logan is fighting in Vietnam. He`s killing Viet Cong soldiers brutally and without remorse. He meets Victor Creed (who is nicknamed "Sabertooth") for the first time. They realize that they both have healing factors and become partners. In one scene Creed shows that he has great senses and aiming skills by throwing a knife at a tree. A dead Viet Cong soldier falls out of it, he thought he was safe, but no one is safe from Sabertooth. What made Logan go "soft"? He saw Creed kill too many innocent families. He saw a reflection of himself in Creed, what he could become if he continued down this path.

After the war is over Logan disappears for a few years. Stryker finds him one day in a bar in Osaka. He tells Logan that he has heard things about him and that he could have use for a man with his "rare talents". Logan is reluctant at first but agrees to join Strykers organisation: Weapon X. It only has three mutants so far: Logan, a woman named Domino and also (unforunately) Victor Creed. Domino`s power seems to be enhanced reflexes and agility but it`s actually the ability to subconscoiusly manipulate the probability in a situation to end up in her favor, or: luck. She explains that her power is largely participatory: in order for the luck to take effect, she must engage in an action whose chance she can affect. She can`t consciously control her ability, she can only activate it by being in a position in which she could be harmed. For example: If she where to stand still before a hail of bullets she would be a bullet-ridden corpse. If she tried to avoid the gunfire her power would kick in and allow her to miraculously move fast enough and duck just in time to avoid the bullets. "Learned that the hard way." she says and shows Logan some old bullet-wound scars. They go on their first mission accompanied by a team of four Ski-mask wearing mercs (the scene is short and the mission goes smoothly). Montage of them going on a few more missions. Finally they`re sent to the same mission we saw them do in the beginning where they had to steal an alien rock-Macguffin made out of metal. This time we see an abridged version of their robbery (because we don`t have to see the whole thing over again). Logan lies on his bed in his room, the flashbacks have caught up with the present. He closes his eyes and sleeps.

One day or a week later later: Stryker and a scientist are watching videos of Logan and Creed in action. The scientist asks: "So... Creed or Logan?" Stryker decides that the honor should go to Logan: He is more mentally stable than Creed and since he`s gonna be re-educated soon he will be easier to control. Stryker meets Logan later and tells him about a procedure that will make him stronger and indestructible. Logan thinks about it for a minute and accepts. They walk past a door that leads to the doctor`s office. The doctor gives Wade the bad news: he has cancer. Logan is led into a room where he is put into an aquarium and has a helmet put on his head. He is completely naked (with the exception of his dog tags, one says "Logan" the other "Wolverine"). Machines put the adamantium into his body and it is extremely painful for him. The pain makes him pass out and he goes to a better place: a happy childhood memory, back when he, Rose and Dog were children and best friends, before all the bad stuff happened. In the the real world Stryker gives the order: "Erase his memory." Zap! The happy memory is gone! And many other memories follow it`s path! Nothing left... but darkness... and an animal rage! A worker is removing the memory-erasing helmet (because continuity). Logan wakes up and unleashes his claws, he has only one thought: Escape! He acts purely on instinct and kills or wounds anyone who puts any effort in trying to stop him. After having killed a few people he is alone in a hall and has a few seconds to pause and collect his thoughts, this is when he notices that the claws on his knuckles are metal. Who did this to him? Why did they do it? How did he end up in this place? So many questions, no time to answer any of them. He must run! Run towards freedom! He opens a large metal door and is now outside. Stryker has given Creed and Domino the order to capture Logan, only kill him if absolutely necessary. (They can always use the adamantium on some other mutant with a healing factor. They only picked Logan over Creed because Logan seemed like the better choice.) The Weapon X facility is surrounded by woods (It IS near Alkali lake after all.) Logan has come a long way from the base and is now taking a pause so that he has the energy to run some more. Little does he know that Domino and Creed have already caught up to him. Domino is hiding on a cliff, aiming her rifle and Creed is hiding among the trees. (Logan can`t smell them because of the wind direction.) Logan`s words echoes in Domino`s memory: "Do you ever have any second thoughts about the things we do?" Domino whispers to herself: "Yes." We see that she`s actually aiming her rifle at Creed. Creed notices this and quickly throws a knife at her, she fires. BLAM!

Logan reacts to the gunshot and realizes that he`s still not safe. Gotta keep running. Domino hit Creed right in the forehead, Creed hit her... right in the shoulder. She gets up and, with a grimace of pain, pulls out the knife. Domino: "I hope that`s the last time I have to save your ass Logan." She holds her hand to her wound and walks away in pain. After a minute the hole in Creed`s head heals and he gets back up. His personality and intelligence has now changed, thanks to the bullet in his brain (Continuity!), he walks away, not remembering Logan and other parts of his life. Logan comes out of the woods, sees a town, steals some clothes that are hanging out to dry. One of the clothes is a cool looking jacket. He looks at his dog tags and sees that his name must be Logan. A new chapter of his life begins as he wanders towards the horizon.

Epilogue, before the credits roll: Wade Wilson sits in a bar. He`s had chemo but appearently it didn`t work. A man (who`s face we don`t see) walks up to him and reveals that he knows things about him and offers him a cure and a chance to be a superhuman. Wade is listening. Post credit scene: Creed is sitting in a bar, drinking. All the other guests are staying as far away from him as possible. A woman comes in, goes over to Creed and talks to him. She tells him that she works for a man that could have use for someone with Creed`s "special talents". Her eyes turn yellow for a second. (Gasp! It`s Mystique!)

THE END

And that`s how I would have done it.

#81scorp #x-men #last stand #constructive #criticism #movie #editorial

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a-dreamer-named-mars · 7 years

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Imagine Being Jealous of Jamie's New Partner (Part 2)

Dedicated to emmaljo on wattpad. Read this imagine series and more here.

- - -

"991. What's your emergency?" "Help...I...near the docks. Help."

* * *

"This coffee is getting worse and worse each day that goes by. We should start getting our morning dose of caffeine at that stand on the 5th."

It was just another morning in New York City and, as usual , Danny Reagan was complaining about the coffee served at the precinct.

"That guy's coffee is so good!" His partner said enthusiastically after getting the memories of what was to her, the best coffee she's ever tasted.

"Yeah well... Hopefully we'll have the chance to make a stop there today."

"Umm... I don't think so. Look at what we got today." She said handing him the file across the desks. "A woman called 911 about half an hour ago. The boss says he needs us on it because he thinks it might be related to that case we worked on back in 2014 - It was women trafficking."

"Let me see that..." He said picking up the file and looking at the, almost no leads they had.

"The docks... Yeah, I agree it could be related. I don't even need to re-read the file, they would throw them on containers and ship them to every other third world country."

"Yep, I remember it. Well, we should give the 911 call a listen and get on it. We don't know how many more women they have there."

Danny put down the file and went to the NYPD data base where he searched for the call they were eager to hear. He pressed Play and heard the woman's words and he immediately recognized it.

"This is my brother's girlfriend!" "What?" "I know it, I'm positive! This is Y/N , I gotta call Jamie!"

The detective quickly picked up the phone and dialed the officer's number as fast as he could.

"Hello?"

"Hey kid, when did you last see Y/N ?"

"Oh..." The dissapointment in Jamie's voice didn't go unnoticed and Danny figured out something was wrong. "We kind of, got into a fight a couple nights ago, I left her place and came to my apartment."

"What? Why? What happened?"

"She was acting super jealous over this new partner I have, I have been going for drinks with her and Y/N didn't like it... But nothing happened, Danny, really. The girl just doesn't know a lot of people in the precint yet and I just decided I'd help her make feel less lonely."

"Jamie... that doesn't matter right now. What I have is bigger than that."

"What's up?" "She called 911." "So? What happened?"

"Well let's just say she wasn't just robbed or anything... we think she might have been kidnapped."

"Danny..." Jamie said with a sigh. "Don't fall for it, I am sure she's just doing all of this so I move into hers again."

"Jamie... I cannot believe I am hearing you say those words. What's the matter with you?"

"You should have seen her when I came home the other night, she looked like she was about to beat me or something, she was acting like a maniac, insinuating Eddie and I slept together..."

"Hey, I'm not Doctor Love, I am an NYPD detective who needs to find this woman as soon as possible. Goodbye."

And with that, Daniel Reagan hung up the phone on his little brother and got up, his partner Baez following him.

* * *

"Was he that upset?" "He was... he basically said she was lying. But she wouldn't do that." "You sure?" "Yes, Baez. That girl's a sweetheart. Really, she wouldn't."

The partners were driving as fast as they could to the docks. Luckily, right when they were about to leave the precinct, the sargent stopped them and gave them the good news - someone called in because they could hear a woman's scream from a boat that's parked at the marina. Right near the docks.

That also earned them the right to a warrant, since this strongly indicates that there could be a relation between this and the women trafficking case they closed a few years ago. And also, there was a woman's life in danger as well.

After a few more minutes of driving they finally got there and carefully walked on the wooden walkway trying to be as quiet as possible, and searching for any signs of struggle like blood or pieces of ripped clothes.

"Hey Danny... don't you think it's strange that there is no one here? No one around the boat?" "And you don't think that would turn a lot of attention towards them?" "Eh, you're right."

After about a half an hour of searching they could hear what sounded like a moan. A moan of pain.

"Did you hear that?" Danny asked in a whisper. "It's from the boat on your three." "Yeah." His partner replied with a following sigh. "We got the search warrant, we should go in."

They got their guns ready and walked inside the large, blue boat. It seemed like it was an old boat, or a boat that wasn't taken care of since some of paint was gone in some parts.

"NYPD! Hands up!"

The guy that was bent down with his ass up got spooked when he turned around and saw them approaching him with a gun and he quickly put his hands up and dropped down in his knees, even without them asking.

He probably wasn't the ringleader.

"Is there anyone else in this boat?"

The bald, caucasian man who had his body filled with tattoos nodded a yes quickly.

"Do they have guns?" "No-No, sir." "Describe who's inside!" "Uh, uh... about ten women... I-I... don't know any more information, I-I was just payed to watch them for a couple hours or more..." "Baez, cuff him. I'm going in."

Danny's partner easily put the cuffs on the man while Danny went inside the boat and found out what he highly expected, but feared the most.

Jamie's girlfriend.

Plus nine other women, with their hands and legs tied and their mouths taped. Just like her.

Only difference being, she was bleeding. A lot.

"Hey Y/N, hey wake up!"

The other females kept looking at Danny, hoping he'd set them free, but that woman was bleeding. Family or not, she needed him first.

"Baez, call a bus immediately!!"

She did and after bringing the cuffed man inside so she wouldn't loose sigh of him, she rushed to Jamie's knocked out girlfriend, trying to wake her up but with no success. That was a lot of blood running out of her body... She didn't know how far away she actually was.

In less than four minutes the paramedics rushed in and took her to Saint Victor's, the hospital Danny specifically requested they took her to, so she'd have at least someone there.

The detectives stayed at the boat for a couple more hours. Untying the women, taking the duck tape out of their mouths, taking their statements.

"You're now a part of an on going investigation. A very important part." He complemented while emphasizing the word "important". "You can't leave the city. But if you do, we'll probably find you anyway." He said with a knowing smile and nod. And those were the last words he said before getting back in the car and leaving with his partner to the hospital to check on Y/N.

He was going to have a pretty busy week ahead of him - having to interrogate all nine women plus his brother's girlfriend when she'd be ready to leave the hospital or to at least talk; tracking down the boat and where it's been; tracking down it's owner aka the ringleader; closing the case.

* * *

"I heard Y/N is coming home today." Nicky said as she took a bite at the cake her mom had made for dinner that Sunday.

Everyone who was sitting at the table turned their attention to Jamie, hoping he'd say something about the new information he'd gotten about his girlfriend but, they had no such luck.

"Well, that's good news, right?" "Sean, maybe you shouldn't bother your uncle with this." Linda told her son. "Just finish the cake your aunt Erin made. "It's very good. You gotta give me the recipe." The nurse said now facing her sister in law.

During the rest of the meal, the family kept talking with each other except for Jamie who had been quiet for the whole time.

Eventually they finished eating and left the table, being this Sundays Jamie's time to do the dishes. He busied himself with the task, his thoughts speeding in his mind. He was so caught up in it that he only noticed Danny's wife approaching him when she waved her hand in front of his eyes.

"Jamie?" "Huh... sorry. I was, distracted." "Could have fooled me..." "What's up?" He asked while continuing to put some dishes in the washing machine. "You know, Danny told me you and Y/N got into a fight." "She was acting like an crazy person. Seriously." "I get it...I get both sides cause, me and Danny have been there. But the best thing we did was talk about it." "I don't know..." "You know, she was lucky she was alive. She lost so much blood. I do feel really bad about the baby, but... you could always try again if you two get back on your feet again." "What baby?" "Your baby... she was pregnant."

Jamie's heart sunk.

She noticed the confusion in his face and immediately assumed that he didn't even know.

"Oh my God... you didn't know! I'm sorry..."

He was still trying to manage how to understand all of this, but he still asked more questions.

"Are-Are you sure?" "Yes. I am so sorry." "How is she?" "She... She was heartbroken, obviously. But she wasn't too far along so the removal of the fetus wasn't very painful."

She could see the paina and confusion in his eyes and decided to help him out.

"You wanna go see her? I can finish here." "Thanks Linda."

He quickly grabbed his coat and left his childhood home to see his one and only true love and try to make things right with her.

#jamie reagan #danny reagan #danny reagan imagine #jamie reagan imagine #reader x jamie #tom selleck #cbs #cbs blue bloods #blue bloods #imagine #excerpt from a book i'll never write #writer

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Beakman's World/Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum story 5, Beakman's World, Episode 93, "Sight, Beakmania & Sound".

It is that time of year again, to enter the worlds of imagination. Again two worlds unite into unique ways, and surprising events unfold. Whether you wish to recapture your childhood, or you are visiting these worlds for the first time. We hope you will enjoy this fourth adventure, into the worlds of humor, science, and education. As with the earlier three version, these stories are presented in both English, and Portuguese. On our "Beakman Fans", and "Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum, Entusiastas" Faceboook pages.

This is a clip and paste image, by "Teary Eyes" Anderson, to go along with the fourth story in this series, also written by him. In the first 3 adventures in this series, the characters from the Unites States television show "Beakman's World" {O Mundo de Beakman}, visited the characters from Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum, the fourth story had the 'Castelo', characters return the favor, by visiting the "Beakman's World" characters. If you have not read these earlier stories here is a few quick links to begin your adventures into these worlds. As with the previous stories, and accompanying images, these were made for a friend's birthday.

Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum/Beakman's World, The Complete Fan Fiction Trilogy * https://archive.org/details/CasteloRa-Tim-BumBeakmansWorldTheCompleteFanFictionTrilogy

Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum/O Mundo de Beakman, A Trilogia Completa da Ficcao de Entusiasta * https://archive.org/details/CasteloRa-tim-bumOMundoDeBeakmanATrilogiaCompletaDaFiccaoDe

Beakman's World/Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum, story #4 https://www.facebook.com/BeakmanFans/posts/924363684408617

O Mundo de Beakman/CasteloRa-Tim-Bum, historia #4 * https://www.facebook.com/CasteloRaTimBumEntusiastas/posts/1998738060367719

#BeakmansWorld #OMundoDeBeakman #CasteloRaTimBum #FanFiction #FiccaoDeFa #Story5 #Historia5 #Castelo20Anos #RaTimBumOCastelo #Beakman #PaulZaloom #Lester #MarkRitts #Josie #AlannaUbach #Liza #ElizaJaneSchneider #Phoebe #SentaMosesMikan #DonAndHerb #BertBerdis #AlanBarzman #Nino #CassioScapin #Pedro #LucianoAmaral #Zeca #FreddyAllan #Biba #CinthyaRachel #ZecaNinoPedroEBiba #DrVictor #SergioMamberti #RosiCampos #Morgana #Adelaide #LucianoOttani #Godofredo #AlvaroPetersenJr #Mau #ClaudioChakmati #DeniBloch #Dina #GatoPintado #FernandoGomes #TheoWerneck #GersonDeAbreu #TapEFlap #SpeedOfLight #VelocidadeDaLuz #Hearthstone #BadgeOfAQuitter #Braille #LouisBraille #ValentinHauy #Blind #Cego #ColorBlindness #Daltonismo #CorrectiveColoredGlasses #OculosColoridosCorretivos #RGB #OpticalIllusions #IlusoesDeOtica #Cataracts #OpacidadeDoCristalino #Floaters #WallsOfSound #ParedesDeSom #SoundMaze #LabirintoDeSom #EchoMaze #LabirintoDeEco #SoundBall #BolaDeSom #Riddles #Enigmas #Puzzles #Dingo #Dogs #Caes #Cats #Gatos #Bats #Morcegos #MythBusters #CacadoresDeMitos #EyeColor #CorDosOlhos #Deaf #Surdo #HearingLoss #PerdaDeAudicao #EarTrumpet #TrompeteDeOrelha #HearingAids #AparelhosAuditivos #BoneConduction #ConducaoOssea #Beethoven #CharlieChaplin #Mime #PedroPonceDeLeon #SecretMessages #MensagensSecretas #Codes #Códigos

Beakman's World, Episode 93, "Sight, Beakmania & Sound".

Written By: Tyler "Teary Eyes" Anderson. Translated into Portuguese by, Otavio Almeida.

{Fade in, to illuminated image of the moon, on the wall.}

Don howling like a wolf: Owwhhaa

{Camera lowers to a darkened forest area, of Beakman's Information Center studio. Between the trees is a igloo surrounded with ice, and the two penguins standing outside.}

Herb: Don, your going to wake everyone up. Why are you doing that? We aren't at the South Pole anymore.

Don: Sorry penguin pal of mine. It's just that time of day, my instincts take over, and I think about our wolf friend, and how we would give him our fish left-overs.

Herb: I don't think he was a real wolf. I think he was a expedition dog, from the polar station, wanting to beg food from us.

Don: Either way, he woke us up every day at the right moment, to begin watching Beakman's World. And now here it is, time to start a new day, and to watch Beakman's World, from inside the studio itself.

Herb: Waking up to new science, and knowledge. The best way to start off your day, its a real howl. Owwwhaaa.

Don & Herb: Owwwhaaa. Owwwhaaa. Owwwhaaa.

{A penguin flipper is then seen pressing a button on the remote control, for the studio lights. An explosion type sound is heard as the lights come on, but it is Beakman yawning, sitting up, and rubbing his eyes.}

Beakman: Fast Fact, did you know that light has many speeds? Its speed depends on whatever environment it is in. Fog, gelatin, gas, or the vacuum of outer space. Each substance it goes through, it will have a different speed. However its top speed, is known as the "Speed of Light" which can only be achieved in a vacuum. However even something like a piece of paper can stop a photon of light. Catching these photons is how we see.

{The opening credits then begin. The camera then shows a overhead video of Information Center, Beakman getting off couch, Liza, Josie, and Phoebe waking up from their reclining chair beds. And a Lester wandering across the room, tripping over a footstool, then continuing across the room with his arms outstretched, as if half asleep. The Castelo kids, and their parents are seen rolling up their sleeping bags.}

Beakman: Good mourning Liza, I had a strange dream last night. I dreamed I was kidnapped by some goblin creatures, and told to teach them about science. Then they kept challenging me to card games, near their Hearthstone. Which of course I always won. I must have been doing too much research into your video game voice linguistic projects, and lost track of time, last night.

Liza: I always love falling asleep to voices. Their tones, and rhythms are like music, to loose yourself in, and pass into the world of dreams.

Pedro: I always liked falling asleep looking at the stars, or the moon, imagining I could use a radio, and contact life on the moon. And things like that. What do you enjoy dreaming of son?

Sancho-Esteban: I always dream about the adventures you had in the Castelo, and the time I got to visit it for myself. The Castelo is something magical, and wonderful.

Josie: Dreams are a way that our minds review our thoughts, categorize them, and try to analyze events, from a different perspective. Sometimes they are wish fulfillment, other times they are tasks that aren't completed. Now please hurry, and move these things to a distant corner, so we can begin the show. Children all around the world will soon be tuning into watch the show, and we haven't even picked our first question yet.

Phoebe: I'll go and check the mail room, and see how many new correspondences we have received. I'm sure there will be a great puzzler, in one of those letters.

Zeca: I enjoyed spending the night, here in the Information Center. It was like camping out, without the dangerous animals, or the having to go behind a tree, to use the restroom.

Maca: I liked seeing the stars from the skylight, and the lightly flashing exit signs. It was like being in a cave, and inside the big city all mixed together. However I didn't get much sleep, all I heard, the entire night was that guy in a rat suit snoring.

Beakman: Yes, he is like a lovable pet, that rarely does anything, which you ask him to do. But he does have his helpful moments. When he isn't sleeping, or looking for food.

Biba: Spending the night here was similar to the moments I spent with my scouting troop, back in my younger days. Earning badges, helping the elderly, learning to cook, and acquiring survival skills.

Phoebe, dragging two bags behind her: I was once a scout also, we sold cookies, tried to start fires, and made crafts. But I always forgot about the meetings, and rarely completed the tasks. If there was a "Badge of a Quitter", I probably would have gotten it. I think I got 6 skill completion badges, when I was young.

Josie: Move it along people, this episode isn't going to make itself. We still got research to do, correspondence to sort, experiments to check. And safety equipment, to put into place. Before Beakman starts his demonstrations. Do you remember what happened last time? He crashed through that wall over there.

Baba wondering around, after putting away her sleeping bag: Hello Gato, what are you doing now, reading?

Gato, seated at a desk, with his paw on a book: I have been reading this book for the last few hours. I did not want to wake anyone, so I began reading this Braille book.

Baba: You were reading in the dark? What is a Braille book? It sounds like it has a French origin. Is it a illustrated book?

Beakman, picks her up, and spins her round: From the questions of children, the education of the world can be achieved. Yes, that is correct, or at least partially correct. Braille was the name of a French teacher that lost his sight in his childhood. That will make a great topic for this morning's show.

Josie: Do you want me to get your French teacher's costume ready, for him to be our special dead guest scientist?

Beakman: Nope not today. I have a better idea whom can be our special guest for the day. All I will have to do is make a special phone call.

{Beakman walks over to a old style, rotary phone. Picks up the handle. Dials a number, and then places the handle back on the phone. He then lifts off the cover, showing a small cell phone under the larger phone.}

Beakman: You can never be too careful, with security around here. Once my phone was lost for an hour, and we had 30 pizzas delivered here a few minutes later.

Dr. Victor: Yes, Nino did something similar when you came to visit our Castelo, but they were expensive packages.

Nino: I apologized for that, already. I'm only half awake, what is going on, will we be on TV again like yesterday? I hope everyone at home in Brazil gets to see us. Including Dina, I think she is infatuated with me.

Pedro: As I recall you were the one chasing her around, with romance in your eyes, but she liked me more.

Nino: That was a long time ago, my relationship with her has become much better since then. I want to make her proud.

{A image of Dina appears above Nino's head, and he stretches his neck ready to kiss her.}

Zeca: I think they wear clothing, which is too similar to each other. I wouldn't be surprised if they dance in front of each other, and pretend to be mirror images of the each other.

Beakman: Okay, that's enough for now. I'm going to need Nino's help in a few minutes, after I finish my phone call. Off to the make-up chairs, your morning grooming, and remember to brush your teeth. A clay shaped rat fellow wanted me to remind you about that.

{Beakman then turns on his cell phone, and slides various sections of text into the center of the screen, and then quickly presses the "Send" button.}

Beakman: I just finished asking our guest teacher, to come onto our show today. Are you ready for a day of science today Nino?

Nino: Well I am still partially sleepy, but I'm glad to help you, if I can. You have always been a big inspiration to me.

Beakman: That's great I could always use a slightly dim witted assistant with my science demonstrations.

{Nino looks sad, and slightly confused, but follows Beakman. Next in the mail area everyone has gathered waiting for Beakman, and Nino.}

Beakman: Our first question for today, is from our special guest Baba. She asks, what is Braille, and how can it be read in books?

Nino: {Gulp}, I was never very good at reading.

Baba: He's answering one of my questions. Did you hear? Beakman is answering my question.

{Baba shakes Maca, as she questions him.}

Maca: I can't think, when your shaking me to pieces. He's already answered our questions before, or have you forgotten yesterday?

Sancho-Esteban: If you don't stop talking we'll miss the answers.

Mau: Oh sure Beakman answers their questions, and not ours. And we even have to wake up, before lunch time. I hope the show will be rebroadcast later today, so I can watch it after I am more rested.

Godofredo: I'm excited to watch the recording of a actual episode of Beakman's World. It is a dream come true. This is the best moment of my life. I can hardly control my excitement, I am shaking all over.

Mau: Settle down, or you will hear my fatal laughter, and then never hear anything again. Now do not disturb me, while I crawl back into our snot filled nasal tube, and take a nap.

Close-up view of Beakman: The word Braille, comes from the last name of Louis Braille the inventor of the writing system. Although there were several earlier writing systems that could be read by the blind. Louis's version was created with the intent of being simple to use, and to write. Earlier version of writing for the blind, or secret writing, involved raised {embossed} letters, or symbols. At the age of three he lost the sight in one of his eyes, and the other eye got infected, and by the time he was five years old, both his were blind. His teacher Valentin Hauy, at a school for the blind in France, tried to teach children to read with embossed alphabetic letters. This process was created by Hauy in 1784, but this proved to be difficult, to write and to read. A later writing and reading system was created for the French military in 1815, using raised dots to send secret messages. But this also proved to be difficult. At the age of about fifteen, Louis Braille began trying to create a version of writing, and reading which would be easier for the blind. When he turned twenty years old, he published a book about his new writing system. He later became a teacher, and eventually a professor. But his writing system was never taught, in his school, during his life time. But it became popular slowly, and soon after his death. Then is writing system began to be adopted around the world. There are also versions for mathematics, and music. Fast Fact, many countries are now creating money with surfaces that can be distinguished by feeling them alone. Come here Nino, close your eyes, and tell me if you can feel the difference in these four pieces of paper money. You can have two of them, if you tell us the reasons you choose each.

Nino: Well, these papers feel similar, and two of them seem longer then the others. I know that gold, and diamonds are more valuable then paper money, even though they are smaller. My guess is, that the smaller the paper money, the more expensive its value. I will take these two small pieces of currency.

Beakman: Well, congratulations. Here let me take the money you did not choose. You have chosen the Malaysian Ringgit 1, worth about 25 cents, in USA money, and the other is an Australian one dollar note worth about 75 cents, here in the USA. These other dollars were $100 USA, and the other was a 100 Brazilian reais, which I got during my last visit to Brazil. Thank you so much for playing. Yes, everyone that contributes to science is a winner in my book.

Maca: Wow, Malaysia and Australian money, I wish I could have earned that. Can I have them?

Nino: Sure why not, I just gave up a fortune, this small amount can't do me any good.

Maca: Thank You. Back in Brazil, I could probably trade them for $15, or more if I find the right buyer.

Nino: Huh? On second thought, maybe I should keep them.

Dr. Victor: Now, now, Nino. You already gave them away. It is not nice to ask for presents to be returned. What would Morgana think, if she knew?

{Nino kicks the ground with his toe, and walks away from the camera's view.}

Nino: Even when I'm a winner, it seems I loose.

Josie: Speaking of money that can be identified by the blind. Did you know that most people that are called blind can see something, whether its just shadows, or certain colors?

Beakman: Yes, that's right. Thank you Josie for steering me back to the topic at hand. The most common type of blindness is from proteins building up, on the inside of the lens of the eyes. Making a person's vision seem cloudy. Or like this.

{A thin piece of nearly transparent paper is placed in front of the television camera. Liza then rubs her face up against it, and moves her hands along it, making ghost type sounds.}

Liza: Ohhh, ahuuu. It looks a bit scary doesn't it? Things quickly going from shadow, to clear, then blurry again.

Beakman: Yes, thank you Liza for that hauntingly good representation of partial sight, due to cataracts in a person's eyes. Just like adding another piece of paper, cataracts, can get worse, and worse. Until hardly any light reaches the retina of the eyes. This condition seems to have first been diagnosed as early as 2,500 years ago, various treatments were developed, but surgery is needed for most of the advanced cases.

{Liza continues to wave her hand behind the paper, as more and more similar, transparent pages are added, making her hand less visible.}

Beakman: Another common type of blindness is called color blindness. This occurs when the color photoreceptors on the retina, are damaged or not working. The retina contains rod and cone receptors, but the color wavelengths of light are recognized mainly by the three types of cone cells. These cones are sensitive to the colors Red, Green, and Blue.

Phoebe: If you ever see the letters RGB, on a monitor, display, or on art store product. Remember that this is for the colors Red, Green, and Blue. A way to represent all the colors of the rainbow, with only using these primary colors.

Beakman: With color blindness, one or more, of these color receptors are damaged, or not working.

Zeca: What about the color yellow? Doesn't yellow and blue make green? I remember learning that, when I was as young as my son is now.

Beakman: In this RGB system of additive colors, yellow is created using a mixture of red and green. Another color system for painting, and printing of colors is called the "Subtractive Color" model. It focuses on Cyan (light blue}, magenta {purplish red}, yellow, and black {Key black}. Most comicstrips are made of these colors, including mine. Josie will you hand out the glasses please?

{Josie distributes sunglasses to the children, and their parents.}

Dr. Victor: No need for any sun glasses for me young lady. I have special glasses, of my own. Nino come here, you might want to see this.

{Victor then presses a button on his glasses, and three color filters slide down over his glasses.}

Nino: I'm going to go, and hang out with Lester. He is like me, downtrodden and misunderstood. Only he seems to understand my suffering. Its also fun listening to him play guitar.

{Liza, and Phoebe, walk infront of the camera, holding a large picture of a waterfall. Liza makes the waterfall sounds, while Phoebe makes a wind type sound. As they rock the picture slightly up and down.}

Beakman: Here is a photograph of a waterfall. Take a look at the various colors, with and without your glasses. These glasses separate the colors in a slightly different way, for each of these glasses. Correcting for various types of color blindness. The colors Red and Green overlap in most people's vision, but some people can not see the difference between these colors. For this reason, these glasses block light wavelengths that overlap in these people's vision. It in a way, helps them distinguish between the colors easier. After looking through your glasses, trade your glasses, with someone else, and see how the colors seem similar, but also different. For the people at home, we'll simply show the different color filters on the screen, so they can see the waterfall in its various color versions. Ray if you will, could you please put up the image for the people at home?

{The waterfall image is then seen with the various color changes, representing the different corrective colored glasses. Liza and Phoebe then flip the picture over, and on the backside is a negative version of the image, with colors reversed.}

Beakman: Now please take off the glasses, and stare at the center of the image for about 30 seconds. We will also now show this to the people at home, on their televison screens. After that time we will change the image to a black and white version of the image. But instead of seeing it as black and white, it will seem to be color. Because the other colors are tiring out your cone color receptors. They now see only in the colors that aren't there, making a optical illusion of color. But if you move your eyes away, and then look back at the image you will see that, it is actually black and white. This is called the color afterimage illusion.

{Liza and Phoebe, then pull on the bottom of the image, revealing the black and white image underneath. After the children and parents look away, and then look back at the image. Liza and Phoebe then look down, from behind the image, then look back up, and their eyes are crossed. They then tap the sides of their heads to try get their eyes to focus straight ahead again.}

Beakman: There are other interesting subjects about the human eyes that we could talk about. Floaters, little particles of cell debris caught in the jell of the eyes. These cause ghost like shadows, that pass back and forth across a person's vision. There is also "Visual snow", a sparkling of light and dark spots, that can be seen by some people, as they move from light to dark, or dark to light filled areas. Remember that even the colors that we can see, are only a small segment of the wavelengths of light. There are also gamma rays, x-rays, ultra-violet, and even radio waves, which we can only detect using electronics. Now with electronics, some people can recover some of their sight. With light sensitive devises attached to a person's skin, surgically implanted into a person's eyes, or attached directly to the brain itself. Speaking of electronical devises.

{Beakman then presses a button on his arm.}

Beakman's watch, begins beeping, and chiming: It's that time again, it's time for the...

Beakman: The Beakman Challenge!!! {His voice echoes through the Information Center.}

{Dr. Victor, pressing the button on his glasses again, and then in reverse, the filters on his glasses go back up.}

Dr. Victor: I see you've made a few improvements on your watch, since yesterday.

Beakman: Yes, late last night, while laying in the darkness, I found inspiration, to add a louder speaker. Sorry if it woke anyone. Speaking of inspiration from the darkness. Ladies if you please will you bring in the walls of sound?

{Josie, Liza and Phoebe push in wheeled plastic walls, and begin making coordinated zig-zagging paths through the studio. Then they leave them, and bring in a few more. Josie then hands everyone a noise clicker. While Liza and Phoebe begin blindfolding the children and their parents.}

Beakman: Here we have just created a echo maze. The object of this challenge is to use these little clickers, to find your way through the maze. You need to use the clicker to make a sound, and its sound will echo between the walls. This should give you enough information, to navigate the maze, even though you are blindfolded. This is similar to how bats, some birds, dolphins, toothed whales, and even underground animals like shrews echo locate. If you succeed in this challenge. you will receive, our special visitor gifts. Sound balls for playing catch blindfolded. And the shape shifting mirror 3x3x3 puzzle cube.

Dr. Victor: This sounds like something Nino would like to try. I'll go and get him. He should at least find that winning a prize, would be worth trying this challenge.

{Screen fades to black. Then loud banging, and guitar type sounds are heard.}

Don: I think I heard them practicing this event last night. I kept hearing things that went bump in the night.

Herb: Perhaps it was monsters under the stairs, or in the closet.

Don: Nope, not in the closet, Beakman keeps his skeleton over there, and his name is Bones.

Herb: That's why we have the night light on, to help keep the monsters away, and of course to find the restroom. Although I was hoping Beakman would give us a litterbox. But we can't have any litter around here. This is a laboratory, and everything needs to be tidy.

Don: I wonder what those noises were last night. If they were preparations for the challenge.

Godofredo: Sorry about that, those sounds were us, and Lester raiding the refrigerator.

Mau: Yes, it was difficult for the three of us to take things out of the refrigerator at the same time.

Godofredo: It's a puzzle how we all managed to fit inside, and empty all its food.

Mau: Speaking of puzzles, I have a riddle for you. What goes down white, and pops up brown or black. Gets hot, and then cold again. Answer correctly or fear the result of my fatal laughter. Ha, ha, ha.

Don: Is the answer, Food falling on the floor?

Herb: My answer is the stove. It is white on the outside, and dark inside. But I do not understand the popping up, section of the riddle.

Godofredo: I know, the toaster drops bread down into itself when it is white, and when the bread comes out it is brown, or black. Then the toaster needs to cool down.

Mau: Not fair, not fair at all. You were supposed to let them fail, so I could show off my skill, and petrify them with my fatal laughter. I guess I'll just have to continue singing to that music, the rat suit fellow, is playing.

{Camera then shifts to Nino sitting on a step, while listening to Lester play guitar. Lester's back is turned away from the camera, as he dances to the music, while he plays.}

Dr. Victor: Come along Nino, there is something I want to show you.

Nino: But I wanted to finish listening to Lester play guitar. He was going to teach me how to play it, when he finishes his performance.

Dr. Victor: You can play with your rat friend later. I think you should take the time to join in with the rest of the group. Besides you might win a prize, if you can successfully complete the maze, and come out on the other side. All it will take is a little concentration.

Nino: Okay I will go, but I want to bring Lester with me. I know he is the only one that will not laugh at me, if I fail. After all he fails all the time, and that doesn't stop him, even with all those failures he was able to make such great music, and finish college, after several hundred attempts. Lester reminds me of that guy from the television show DuckTales, and now that I think of it, the Darkwing Duck television show also. He may crash the plane, or fail at some task, but he always tries, and he is helpful, when he is not eating or sleeping. I'd even feel safer riding with Lester in a plane, with him piloting the plane, rather then on a broomstick with aunt Morgana, she flies like a crazy person. Because of her hyperactive broom.

Dr. Victor: Speaking of Morgana...

Nino: I already promised not to ask for my money back, so I hope you will not tell her about my loss. Come along Lester, let us go and win some prizes.

Dr. Victor: Thunder and Lightning, that boy is impatient. But he will learn soon enough, anyway.

{Fade to black, then fade in, as Zeca walks past the camera blindfolded. Then into the maze of plastic walls. One hand outstretched, and the other working the clicker.}

Beakman: Notice how the clicking becomes quick when he is near a wall, and long slow clicks in open areas. Sadly unlike the children that made it through with only a minimal of reaching out, all the adults need to also feel the wall before they are willing to believe their own ears.

{Thump sound, and a frustrated groan, as Zeca crashes into a wall.}

Biba: You children all did a wonderful job at finishing the maze. Sadly us adults, were less skilled at using our ears to navigate. I tried to make a map of the area around me, in my mind. Then it got erased every time I turned another direction, and thought I was walking into a open area, when I really just crashed into another wall.

Pedro: I had as much trouble with finding my way through the maze, as if I had been using my hat to bounce echoes to my ears. I had to touch the walls several times, so I could go in a straight line away from the wall.

Zeca still in the maze: It feels like I'm about half way through the maze. I think I'm going to complete it, see it isn't that hard when you try. {Crash} Ouch, where'd that wall come from?

Josie: Remember this maze doesn't even have any dead ends, it simply turns in different directions, and ends at the other side.

Liza: With my excellent hearing I was able to make it through the first time without touching any walls. Did I ever tell you that I also learned violin by simply listening to it, and trying to replicate what I heard? That's probably why I am so good at hearing accents, and I'm a expert in linguistics, and dialects.

Phoebe: And then there's me, I'm the expert in rhythm. Ba-da-bop-pop-pow. {She then begins tap dancing.}

Beakman: Here he is, Zequinha has finished the Beakman Challenge!!!

{Zeca while taking off his blindfold, then covers his ears for a second, as Beakman's voice echoes even louder through the walls of the maze.}

Beakman: That looks like everyone has had a chance to finish the maze. Phoebe I think its time you get prepared for...

Phoebe still tap dancing around everyone: I'm on it boss. Bop, bop, chaw, ba-da-bum. Ring-a-ding, bomp shoo wap...

{She dances away, as Nino and Lester arrive at the maze. She circles Lester, whose back is turned away from the camera, as he watches her.}

Josie: Here are the prizes, that each of you have won. The sound ball, to encourage you to listen with, and learn about, the world with your ears. And the fascinating shape shifting cube puzzle, great as a decoration, or a great brain teaser, if you are able to solve it. Without taking it apart. {Using her foot, she then pushes a bucket of the toy parts, behind a plant.}

Liza: And here is your signed, and notarized certificates of completion. It says that you have officially completed the Beakman Challenge!!! And it is signed by all of us, as witnesses, and anyone else we could find, that wanted to sign it.

Beakman: Its even got a hologram of me in the lower corner, near my signature. It's suitable for framing, or laminating, and placing it with your job resume pamphlets. Everyone whom sees it will be suitably impressed.

Nino: Wait a minute, I want a award, and prizes also. Me and Lester can do the challenge also.

Beakman: Well, this segment of our show is almost over, but we will give both of you the chance. Nino you'll start here, and Lester can start at the other end.

{Beakman then leans over towards the camera, and then winks one of his eyes. He then shows his two hands crashing together.}

Liza: Right this way, my lovely little Rat fink.

{She then takes him to the other side of the maze, and blind folds him. Nino is then blindfolded by Josie. From overhead both sides of the maze can be seen, and the path, which will lead both people to the center. Then a animated version of a car crash is seen.}

Nino: Let me see if I understand, I click this sound maker, as I walk through this maze, listening to the echo. Is that correct? It sounds, hehehe, super easy.

Beakman: Yes, that is the Beakman Challenge!!! Can you do it? While you are trying to accomplish this, we will set up the next segment of the show.

{Nino then walks into the maze with his hands over his ears, and shaking his head, because of the loud echo of Beakman's voice. He then sneakily raises up a corner of his blindfold to see where he is going. The lights then begin to dim, and red spot lights, and alarms begin sounding. Nino quickly pulls the blindfold back over his eyes.}

{Fade out to black, and fade in to flashing red lights, and "Beakmania" sign.}

Phoebe: Its time to baffle, your wits. Tie on your thinking ribbons, and put on your thinking caps. Here he is, the man without a cape, that will swoop in, and confound your intellect. The one... The only... The Beakmannnn!!!

Beakman: Let us slip loose, the knots of ignorance. Untangle the string theories, and practical sciences. Stand on the shoulders of giants, and scope out new frontiers of knowledge. Now let's Cha-Cha-a-round da-dingos.

{Scene quickly switches to penguins looking into refrigerator.}

Don: Howl.

Herb: No Don he said dingo, not wolf.

Don: I'm howling because all the food is gone. It has all been eaten already.

Godofredo: See I told you, we ate everything. Lester and Mau ate nearly everything. I myself only got a few crumbs.

Mau: I think the rat guy hid most of the food in his suit, to eat later. If someone doesn't bring food soon we'll all starve.

Mau, Godofredo, Don, and Herb: No, owww, howl..

{Fade to black, and back to Beakmania, and envelope drum spinning. Josie opens door and voice of message is heard.}

Envelope drum: What do you want from me? I was paid for in full, at the post office.

Josie: First question Beakman, it says, "What is a dingo, and were do they live?"

Beakman: A dingo is a Australian dog. It is thought that to be descended from ancient dogs of Asia. They can howl like a wolf, or bark like dogs.

Maca: I've got a question Mr. B. Do dogs and cats have a common ancestor?

Beakman: Many people think that the cat {Felidae} and dogs {Canidae} branches of the Tree of Life, join at a animal called the Miacis. A long bodied animal which is now extinct. It seems to have had, retractable claws like a cat, but with a pelvis bone similar to a modern dog. Fast Fact, did you know that the Saber-toothed cat had large teeth to hunt its main source of food, large animals. It needed the long teeth to puncture the hides of the bigger animals.

{Liza then sneaks up behind little Maca, and pretends to be a vampire, ready to bite him on the neck. He gives her a disappointed glance. She then lifts up two giant saber teeth.}

Maca: At least with big teeth like that, it would be quick to brush your teeth.

Pedro: Are dogs really color blind?

{Animated sign "Myth Busters" appears, with a asterisk behind it, and below saying "Not to be confused with the trademarked television show, of the same name".}

Beakman: Most dogs have blue, and yellow receptors in their eyes. Unlike the three color in human eyes. This is sometimes referred to as color blindness, but they can still see colors, only fewer of them. They can also see various shades of gray. Sort of like looking through sunglasses that tint everything one color, and it becomes difficult to determine which color you are actually seeing.

Biba: What types of colors can bats see?

Beakman: Bats can see more into the ultraviolet, the higher energy waves, which we need to be protected from. They can see in the Red and Blue range of light, they do not seem to be as good at seeing colors like Green. However this possibly changes for each bat species.

Baba: Why do I have colors in my eyes?

Beakman: The colored part of your eyes is called the iris. Its color comes from various colored pigments of your melanin, the same stuff that makes up your hair and fingernails. A eye's iris can be brown, grey, or even black because of this. However if the layers of cells are not dense enough, the light gets scattered in the eyes, and colors like blue, and green are created, similar to the sky. There is also a yellowish brown pigment named Lipofuscin that gives eyes a golden brown type color. That mixed with the refraction from the thin layer of melanin can result in a greenish type eye color. Because of different pigment in various other animals, birds and many other creatures can have eyes that are colored differently then humans.

{A thump is then heard. Nino then groans. There is then a view of the maze from above.}

Nino: Am I near the finish of this maze yet? It feels like I've been blind folded for hours. Lester how are you doing?

{In reply there is a distant thump from another side of the maze, as Lester crashes into another wall.}

Beakman: Fast Fact, did you know that trees planted in the ground can still move? Here is a picture of a tree, and here is another picture of the same tree a year later. Can you figure out how it moved?

Maca: Did its roots raise up above the ground, and pull it along, like a evil Triffid, with the goal of ruling the world? Mahahaha!

Baba: The ground around it also seems like it has also shifted. Is that part of the answer?

Sancho-Esteban: I think it was a land slide, and everything on the hill seems to have slipped, or creeped, down hill. You can see that the house in the distance is at an angle, so the picture is tilted to make a slope look flat.

Biba: Yes we have smart children here, they have watched your show through the years, and have learned to analyze everything, to try and understand things that seem impossible.

Pedro: We are proud of our children.

Zeca: It is also important to have a good imagination, and think outside of the box. Imagine the fantastic, and question the limits of what is possible.

{Sancho-Esteban then puts his hand into a pocket and brings out a note.}

Sancho-Esteban: Beakman, I wanted to know if you could pronounce this word for me. I saw it in a article about human ancestry. The article was about how children can look, and act, like their parents.

Beakman: Well, if it's a pronunciation you need, we should give the paper to our resident expert on the subject, Liza. She can break down the word for you, and give you precise explanations of its etymology, and terminology. Answer the question of, if it was written in a rhotic, or non-rhotic language. And explain how the word was constructed, and its exact pronunciation.

Liza: Ahh, let me have a look at that paper. You can see that the phonetic notations are missing. For instance this letter 'e' seen here doesn't sound like a 'e' at all. It would more closely sound like...

{Liza, Sancho-Esteban, and Pedro walk away to a table, for a better explanation. While they helplessly look back at Beakman. Josie is then seen mixing the caged drum, and Phoebe pulls out a envelope.}

Phoebe: This question, asks what if a person can not read or hear, how can they learn, and possibly read?

Josie: This is it! It's my chance to play Helen Keller, get my wardrobe ready. I've been waiting years for this. Don't worry Phoebe you can play my teacher Anne Sullivan. I no longer have to play second fiddle, I can be the star of the demonstration, showing how she learned to read, write and talk. After she became blind and deaf.

Liza from off screen: Did I heard something about playing fiddle? I'll remind you, that I not only play the fiddle, I also play the banjo, and any other instrument that I can find...

Beakman: Hold on Josie, I think this is a topic we can leave for our special guest teacher, flying in all the way from Brazil.

Nino in the maze: Oh, no! I hope he doesn't mean Aunt Morgana. She was supposed to be spending time with...

{Nino then collides with Lester in the center of the maze. From the overhead view, they can be seen falling over each other. Then laying on the floor in a jumble of arms, legs, and a tail, as they try to stand up. Eventually they get tired, and decide to rest there a while.}

{A broom then passes the overhead view, the legs of two people can be seen dangling from the broom. The camera then shifts to Beakman, and there are crashing sounds heard.}

Beakman: It is now my pleasure to introduce a great teacher, that has lived through much of history. Meet many exciting people, and learned first hand knowledge about important moments in history. {He then looks at the children.} You might remember her from her educational theater plays, or even her self titled musical song. Here she is the one and only.. Morgana.

Phoebe: I wish he'd let us do all the introductions. Where's all the rhythm, where's the fun, and dancing?

Josie: Well, we better get the demonstrations ready. Lester looks like he'll be stuck in that maze for a while.

{Morgana then comes out of a door, with foam flowing out behind her.}

Morgana: Sorry about that fire extinguisher. Valdirene, my broom sometimes has a bit of trouble stopping. She becomes hyperactive at times, and it is a bit difficult to calm her down. She'll sometimes start sweeping the floor, and won't stop until there is a big pile of dust in the corner.

Phoebe: We could use someone like that around here.

Morgana: But she mostly bumps into things, and causes a mess.

Josie: That sounds similar to Lester.

Beakman: Shh, be quite, the teacher is speaking.

{Josie and Phoebe, pretend to pull a zipper across their mouths, and touch their fingers to their lips.}

Josie and Phoebe: Shhh...

Beakman: The question was, how can a person learn, or read if they can not see or hear?

Morgana: Before I left home, I saw that you already explained blindness. I will now explain hearing loss. Just like loosing your sight, hearing loss can be experienced in small increments, or it can happen all at once. Hearing is done by a small bone in the inner ear. The sounds cause it to thump on the ear drum, and send the signals to the brain. However, the ear drum, the bone, or the nerves might be damaged. And the signals from the sound waves, do not reach the brain.

{Phoebe then mime acts the part of the sound waves shaking her, then thumping her finger against the side of her head for the ear drum sounds. Then waving her fingers, she covers her head, as the signals go to the brain. Overlaid on her image is animation showing the various stages of the sound wave's journey.}

Morgana: If a person knew the words you were saying, they could watch your mouth, and guess what you were saying. This is called Lip Reading.

Liza at the table: Excuse me for a second, I'll be right back.

{She then walks over to Beakman, gives him a piece of paper, then returns to the table. Pedro and Sancho-Esteban seated there with their hands on their faces as if they can not understand a word of Liza's notations. Mau and Godofredo look over the edge of the table.}

Mau: Wow very interesting, at last someone with a real interest in words.

Godofredo: Imagine the many new tongue-twister phrases we can learn from Liza.

Mau: When she is finished with her current task, I think I will ask her is she has ever heard anything like my fatal laughter.

{Back in the center of the studio, Beakman unfolds the paper and shows it to the camera.

Beakman: Here is a diagram that Liza made showing the tongue, and mouth positions of various sounds in the English language.

Morgana: When people had only partial hearing loss. For many years only shouting could help. But about four hundred years ago. A new invention was created. It was a ear trumpet, which acted like a funnel. It amplified the sounds, and conveyed them into the ear. This allowed the person to hear words, and understand them directly. New modern versions, are things like hearing aids, which also amplify the sounds electronically, or bone conduction. The sound passes through the cheekbones usually, which can bypass the ear drum itself and reach the inner ear which can then send the signals to the brain.

Beakman: Fast Fact, did you know that after Beethoven lost his hearing, he would bite on a rod of metal, and place the other end on his piano to hear the sound through bone conduction?

Morgana: I meet Beethoven once, he was a kind man, but he was always busy. Constantly working and reworking things until they were perfect. If a person could not hear you at all, or you did not know their language, you could do what people have done since ancient times. They would make hand gestures towards each other. Eating might be like holding a sandwich, and drinking might be represented by lifting a glass to your mouth.

{Josie and Phoebe then show how they could pretend to eat, and drink.}

Beakman: This type of gesturing was also very popular in the silent days of films. It was called 'Mime' acting. Charlie Chaplin was a very popular comedian that used this technique, which could later have subtitles added, and be shown in many different countries. Making him one of the first world famous actors.

Morgana then clears her throat: As I was saying, this hand gesturing eventually developed into sign language. With different hand gestures representing letters in the alphabet, or different words, or phrases. One of the first people to create a manual of these gestures was Pedro Ponce de Leon a Spanish monk, in the 1500's. I remember him well. He was always so energetic, and he tried to teach children, of the rich. I would tell him that he should teach everyone, and not just the rich. But he would say...

Pedro looks down at his son: See, your father is named after someone famous.

{Liza then gives him a look of concentration. He then looks back down at the paper, and tries to follow her explanations.}

Adelaide flapping her wings, and breathing heavily, lands on a table near Morgana: I finally made it here.

Morgana: You should have stayed hanging on to us, as we landed.

Adelaide: No thank you, I've seen some of your landings. When Valdirene gets excited, there is no stopping her. There doesn't appear to be too much damage, from your landing. Where is Eduardina, did she get hurt in the landing?

{Nino at hearing that name, quickly wakes up, and tries to free himself from Lester, and get away.}

Morgana: Dina is around here somewhere. She's probably looking for Nino at this very moment. My goddaughter has always had a mind of her own. Where was I in my lecture?

Maca: Did she really know all those people? How old would she have to be, to have known everyone of those people?

Baba: I remember hearing she created a theater play describing her search to discover how old she was. I think the results were hundreds of years. But it is not supposed to be polite, to ask a lady about her age.

Biba: You were talking about deaf people learning with their eyes, through sign language. But what if they couldn't see? Please continue your story.

Josie: Ah, like Helen Keller. I could quickly put on a costume and explain.

Beakman: We will let our special guest explain that as well. However we will need the science demonstration that is on that table.

Adelaide: Please continue your story. I want to learn more about this subject. I've always been fascinated with your stories of the past.

Morgana: If a person is also blind, as well as Deaf, the next sense that they will use, is their sense of touch. In this case, the finger tips are how people learn the shapes of objects, and their surface features. We have now come full circle, with Beakman earlier mentioning the reading and writing system of Braille. Now I think Beakman has a demonstration for us, that the children at home can try with their parents.

Phoebe: The tools that you will need are these; A set of bolt or wire cutters. A parent, a piece of wood, and at least six round headed pins.

Liza: And a piece of paper. A thick piece of paper like this.

{She then picks up the paper from the table. It still has all of her notes and explanations on it.}

Josie wearing safety glasses: You'll need a adult to clip off the tips of the pins so that they are about 1 centimeter from the pins head to the end. These will then need to be pushed into the wood, in two rows, of three pin heads each.

Beakman: With these 12 pin holes, we can add or remove pins to create up to sixty-four different combinations of patterns. We only have to place them in the holes, or take the pins out of the holes, to create letters, words, or phrases in Braille. All we need to do is press the paper down on the rounded pin heads, and they will leave dents on the paper. We can move the paper slightly to the side and change the pins around, and press down on them again, creating another set of bumps.

{Beakman then unfolds the paper, revealing that the single piece of paper he was holding, is now several pieces of paper with bumps on them. He then places them on the table in front of the children. Beakman then reaches up behind his head and pulls out the original paper with Liza's notes on it. He then turns over the paper, to show a guide to translating the Braille into alphabetical letters.}

Beakman: You can also send secret messages, using this secret writing technique.

Sancho-Esteban: That was some pretty good magic. I saw Liza, and Beakman's hands the entire time.

Pedro: It's not magic... It's...

Everyone else: It's science!!!

Morgana: They probably watch his show a lot.

Dina: Speaking of watching this show, where is Nino?

Dr. Victor: He is sadly still in the maze. Although to be precise, he did go in with Lester at the other end of the maze.

{Dr. Victor then waves his hands in the air. And like magic, the moving walls slowly move away to show Lester, and Nino tangled on the ground.

Dina: There you are Nino, let me help you up. We were watching you on television before we left from home. You mentioned my name, and then I saw that you had won some money. Did you really think, I was infatuated with you? And if so, does that mean, your willing to give me the money you won?

Nino: Sadly I do not have the money any more. I gave it to Maca, I was tricked into giving it to him, I think.

Dr. Victor, you thought it seemed worthless, and then when you heard it might be valuable, you wanted to ask for the money to be returned.

Morgana shaking her finger at Nino: Nino, did you do that?

Adelaide: Very selfish Nino. Haven't you learned that giving, and sharing are their own rewards?

Nino: I'm a good guy. I did give away the money I won. And I'd do it again if I had something else that someone wanted.

Josie: Speaking of winning, since you and Lester went into the maze at the same time. The other person was in your way, and it is understandable that you only managed to get half way through the maze. But here is your reward. I hope you like your prizes.

Dina: Oh, what wonderful prizes you got. I especially like that shape shifting puzzle cube. Remember you just said you'd give anything you had away if you had something. Can I have it?

{She leans close to Nino, and he begins to blush. She puffs out her lips as if she is about to kiss him. He pulls away.}

Nino: Okay take it, I probably wouldn't be able to solve it anyway.

{She then hugs Nino, instead.}

Dina: Oh thank you, this is such a amazing cube, I could spend hours just looking at the ways it changes shape, and reflects the light. I think someone that was blind, could probably solve it, if they knew the solution.

{Mau and Godofredo, then raise up behind Lester, whom is curled up into a ball, and sleeping.}

Mau: It is such a shame, I was not able to show Liza my Fatal Laughter.

Godofredo: Well, at least we know that Lester isn't going anywhere, he's sound asleep. If he stays asleep he'll miss the end of the show. Maybe we should wake him.

Mau: Leave it to me....

{There is then a loud pitched guitar type noise, and Lester is seen running away from the camera, and into the distance. As he leaves, his tail knocks over Mau and Godofredo. Nino startled by the sound tosses the ball into the air, and Adelaide swoops in to catch it, and then flies to a distant table. The kids then run into view, with their translated messages.}

Maca: Look Mr. B, we solved your puzzle message. It says. "Tune in tomorrow".

Baba: Mine says, "At the same beak time".

Sancho-Esteban: This last one say, "And the same beak channel".

Beakman: Bada-Bing, Bada-Bang, Bada-Boom. That is correct. Here's another autographed picture, and certificate. Don't look so sad Nino you still have your Beakman Challenge!!! Certificate.

Nino: Yes it is vary nice of you to have signed it. What does it say down at the bottom, it looks like a barcode, or something?

Beakman: Ahh, one last puzzle for you, my friend. Tilt the paper away from you, and you should be able to read it.

Nino: It says "Zaloom".

Beakman: And it was personally autographed just for you, look on the back.

{Nino then turns the paper over and tilts the paper again.}

Nino: It says "and Cassio".

{Beakman then looks over Nino's shoulder at the piece of paper. With both of them looking at the camera, they both wink at the viewers.}

{Fade to black, then slowly fade back in, to reveal that the penguins are now wearing glasses, in front of a studio made, igloo home.}

Don: What do you think of these color corrective glasses, Herb?

Herb: I don't see any difference, you still look black and white to me Don.

Don: Maybe they'll help us find some cute female penguins. After all don't you think they make us look cool?

Herb: We're penguins, we're always cool. But sadly, we aren't as popular with the females of our species.

{The camera turns slightly to the side, and shows a shelf with shoes on it.}

Tap: Can you imagine that, they want to be hip, and cool by wearing sunglasses.

Flap: It takes more then that to be cool. It requires dedication, attitude and a bit of that special magic from a person's personality.

Everyone: After all, glasses aren't magic, they're science...

{The staff credits then roll.}

0 notes

yourewelcomeforbeingmyfriend · 7 years

Text

It Had to Be You (Part 2)

Summary: Dean and the reader meet again after trying to be friends years ago. Can they really be friends or will something else develop? Sorry that’s a terrible summary womp womp

Characters: Dean, Reader, Marie (OFC), Sam, Joe (mentioned OMC), Lisa (mentioned)

Warnings: Mention of sex (not described), a fake orgasm, angst, fluff, language a little

A/N: This is part 2 of my When Harry Met Sally rewrite. It’s pretty long so apologies in advance, but the ending is fluffy so that’s kind of a reward for sticking it out. If you have heard of the movie, you probably know the infamous fake orgasm in the deli scene. It’s here, too, lol. I really had fun writing this so I hope you have fun reading this. Feedback, of course, is welcomed and encouraged. Thanks for reading it! :)

Part 1

(gif by deanandcasstuff)

Present Day

The bar was musty and slightly too crowded for a Wednesday night, at least in your opinion. Your body ached from years of being too hard on it and more recently from a werewolf hunt you just completed. Your friend Marie dragged you here for some post-hunt drinks and to allow her to find a man for the night. She was going on about one of her latest conquests but you couldn’t quite keep up with the conversation – your mind was elsewhere.

“I’m just saying I think there’s something nice you being with Joe. If we were normal, you’d have someone to share national holidays with,” she finishes whatever point she was trying to make.

That brings you out of your daze. “Joe and I broke it off,” you say quietly as you look down at your hands.

“What?” she said incredulously. “When did this happen?”

“About a month ago,” you look up at her with that thought, as if you were trying to prove to her that the time had healed the wound. It hadn’t.

“You’ve been broken up for a month and you didn’t tell me?” she was hurt. “I’m your best friend.”

“Well, it’s not like we see each other every day.” That was true. The two of you hunted separately most of the time; she just happened to be nearby when you caught this werewolf’s scent. “I told you now.”

“You’re right,” she took a long sip of her drink. “You know what? You need to find you a new man to help you get over him. Trust me.” She scanned the bar for potential options. After a short moment, she lowered her head to your ear, “there’s a man staring at you across the bar.”

You weren’t necessarily a stranger to men in bars, but her words still shocked you a little. You wouldn’t tell her, but the breakup had you feeling down on yourself. You didn’t even put much effort into your outfit for the night. You looked up where she noted, though, and it was true – a tall man with a familiar set of green eyes was staring at you.

“Oh him?” you write him off with a wave of your hand. “I know him. You’d like him – he’s pretty sure of himself. But he’s in a relationship anyways.”

“Who is he?”

“His name is Dean Winchester. He’s another hunter.”

“That’s Dean Winchester?” Marie looks as if you told her a celebrity entered the room. “How do you know he’s in a relationship?”

“Because last time I saw him he was in one. He was getting the ‘apple pie life’ he said,” you said the phrase with little air quotes tucked around it.

“And when was that?”

“Six years ago.”

“So he might not be with her anymore,” she gives you a playful shove.

“Also he’s a little obnoxious,” you think back to your last two encounters and almost roll your eyes. “And he never remembers me.” The two of you were too busy with your conversation to notice that Dean had gotten up from his table and walked over to yours.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” he says with a smile.

“Hi Dean,” you say back to him with a polite smile.

“I thought it was you.”

“Yes, it’s me,” you stare at him for a short beat before you remember you’re not alone at the table. “This is Marie,” you turn to where your friend once sat. You look up from the empty seat to see her at the bar getting to know the bar tender better. She gives a small smile and wave to the two of you. “Was Marie,” you give a weak laugh.

Dean gives you a warm smile, “how’s Joe?”

“Fine,” you sigh. “I hear he’s fine.”

“You’re not with Joe anymore? I’m sorry about that.” He takes the seat next to you.

“We just broke up, but yeah.” You weren’t sure how you felt about him being here, but it was strange to you that you didn’t feel annoyed. “Anyway, how’s Lisa?”

Dean’s smile went away as he looked down to his hand resting on the table. “We, uh… we didn’t make it either. It’s complicated.”

“The life of a hunter,” you sigh and sip your drink. He nods in agreement. You both sit in silence for a minute as if to mourn your fallen relationships. Finally, you turn to look at him again, “want to go grab some food and talk about it?”

The two of you head to the diner next door and share your stories. You tell him about wanting to retire and have your own apple pie life with Joe, but how he never wanted that. He said he couldn’t imagine living a life without hunting. How it’d be boring and what was he supposed to do – get some office job while you played housewife? That was not the life he pictured for himself. At least that’s what he told you.

Dean just listened quietly as you went through your story. He even gave you a napkin to dry your eyes when you teared up a little. When he took his turn you felt a little foolish for crying over such things, though. He had the real apple pie life – a home, a normal job, friends – and he left it all behind to start hunting again. Then Lisa and Ben were kidnapped by demons for leverage and she almost died. Your heart broke a little to hear him tell you his decision to wipe their memories of him.

That’s worse, you say to yourself, to never be remembered.

He took a bite of his burger. “You know the first time we met, I didn’t really like you that much,” he said with his mouth still a little full.

You laughed a little at his words. “I didn’t like you,” you pointed your fry at him.

“Sure you did. You were just so uptight back then. You’re much softer now.”

“Gee thanks,” you take a bite of your fry. “I just didn’t want to sleep with you, and you had to write it off as some character flaw instead of thinking it might have something to do with you.”

He put his burger down and looked at you. “What’s the statute of limitations on apologies?” he asks sincerely.

You’re touched by the gesture and think of a number, “um… twelve years.”

“Ooh, I can get it in just under the wire.”

Something about him had changed since you saw him six years ago. He seemed kinder, more mature. Life had certainly not been too kind to him. He even looked handsome with his scruffy beard and his hair a little messy. You couldn’t remember if he seemed that handsome to you the last two times you two crossed paths.

“Would you like to have dinner again with me sometime?” you ask.

“Are we becoming friends now?” he looked up again from his burger.

“Well…” you thought about it for a moment, “yeah.”

“Great. A woman friend.” He set his burger down and wiped his hands. “You know, you might be the first attractive woman I have not wanted to sleep with in my entire life.”

“That’s wonderful, Dean,” you say as you playfully roll your eyes.

It had been a few months of hunting with Dean and his brother Sam and you were surprised how much you were enjoying it. Sure, they seemed to have some of their own drama, but for the most part they handled their work well and they knew what they were doing, which you appreciated. It was nice to have a people to rely on after years of lonely hunting. You even stayed at their bunker from time to time. Everything was nice.

“Can’t sleep?” Dean says as he walks up to you watching TV late one night.

You look up at him standing behind the couch. “No, I was just watching Casablanca.”

He gives a little groan of interest as he comes around to plop down beside you. “Mind if I join you?”

The two of you sit on the couch watching the story unfold. You smile a little at the simplicity of the situation.

“Now you’re telling me that you’d rather end up with Victor Laszlo than with Humphrey Bogart?” he says after a minute or so.

“When did I say that?” you turn your head to look at him.

“When we drove to Illinois,” he turns his head to look back at you.

“I never said that. I would never have said that.”

“Fine, have it your way.” He turns to look back at the TV.

You give a little sigh and turn back to watch the movie.

“Do you miss Joe?” Dean said after a couple scenes. It wasn’t unusual for him to bring up Joe; he had been helping you through the breakup. “I miss Lisa.”

You thought about it for a minute and look back at him to see his sad expression. “I don’t. I really don’t,” you say with confidence.

“Not even a little?”

“You know what I miss? I miss the idea of him.”

“Maybe I only miss the idea of Lisa.” He pauses for a moment then sighs, “no, I miss the whole Lisa.”

You reach over and rub his arm reassuringly. You both let his thought hang in the air as you continue watching the rest of the movie.

“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Rick says on the TV as the soundtrack swells.

“Ooh, best last line of a movie ever,” Dean says, his spirits seeming a little higher now.

You sigh and stretch your arms out. “Well, I’m going to try to go to bed,” you give his leg a pat. “Will you be able to sleep?”

“If not, I’ll be ok. I’ll just sit here in the dark and moan. Maybe I should practice now,” a weak, sad moan begins to escape his throat. He’s trying to make you feel sorry for him, but you’re too tired to fall for it.

“Good night, Dean.” And with that, you give him a peck on the forehead and leave him on the couch – still moaning.

The next day the two of you went to lunch at the deli in town. You swapped stories about your weird sex dreams. That was what you two did nowadays, you talked about these things. You could share all sorts of thoughts with him and not feel judged. You’d tell him about the men you had sex with and he would tell you about the women he had sex with. It was sort of freeing. It was different than the type of friendship you had with Marie, and it was different than the type of relationship he had with his brother. It felt comfortable. The past few months of getting to know Dean had shown you a whole new side of him – though not one you always enjoyed.

“So what do you say to women? You just get out of bed and leave?” you ask as you rearrange the contents of your turkey sandwich. The topic had changed to his most recent one night stand with a local shop girl.

“Sure,” he says with his mouth full of pastrami on rye.

“You know I’m so glad I never got involved with you,” still picking at the meat on your plate. “I would’ve ended up being some woman you had to get up out of bed and leave at three in the morning because you had an early squash game. And you don’t even play squash! Not that I would know this.”

“Why are you getting so upset? This is not about you.”

“Yes it is. You’re a human affront to all women and I am a woman.” You finish your rearranging and take a bite of your sandwich.

“Hey I don’t feel great about this, but I don’t hear anyone complaining.”

“Of course not, you’re out the door too fast,” you say with your mouth a little too full.

“I think they have an okay time,” he gives you his usual lopsided smile.

“How do you know?” you cock an eyebrow at him.

“What do you mean ‘how do I know?’ I know.”

“Because they…” you roll your hand in front of your face to finish your thought.

“Yes, because they…” he makes the same gesture back at you.

“How do you know they really…” you make the same gesture again.

He begins fake signing with his hands, “what are you saying? That they fake orgasm?”

“It’s possible,” you take another bite of your sandwich.

“Get outta here,” he takes another bite of his sandwich.

“Why? Most women, at one time or another, have faked it,” you say matter-of-factly.

“Well, they haven’t faked it with me.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know,” he says confidently.

“Oh right,” you set down your sandwich and wipe your hands. “That’s right. I forgot. You’re a man.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he lowers his sandwich before he could take his next bite.

“Nothing. It’s just that all men are sure it never happens to them, and most women at one time or another have done it, so you do the math.”

“You think I can’t tell the difference?” he was becoming defensive now.

“No.”

“Get outta here,” he takes another bite of his sandwich.

You give a little smirk then let your eyes begin to close a little. “Oooh…” you moan.

Dean, sandwich in hand, chewing his food, looks up at you.

“Oh… Oooh!” you continue to moan. A seductive look creeps on to your face. “Ooh…”

“Are you okay?” Dean asks with a mouthful.

Your eyes close as you bring your hand up to ruffle through your hair and down your shoulder. “Oh god…”

Dean begins to realize what you’re doing and sets down his sandwich.

“Oh god!” you continue to moan and throw your head back. “Oh! Oooh!” you continue as you run your hand over your face and own your neck. “Oh my god! Oh yeah, right there!” your breath begins to hitch.

Dean looks around and notices other deli patrons are noticing you, too. You’re making a show of it now.

“Oh!” you gasp. Your breathing gets heavier as you continue through your screams of pleasure. “Oh! Oh!” you gasp, “Oh god! Oh! Yes!” you begin pounding on the table with both hands to punctuate each word. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Thump, thump, thump.

Dean stares at you in disbelief. He gives embarrassed smiles and nods to the other customers as they continue looking in your direction.

“Yes! Yes!” you gasp loudly. By now, the whole deli is silently enthralled in your ecstasy. “Oh! Oh!” you thump the table more. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” You lean your head back, as though the final waves of your orgasm are crashing over you. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” you throw your head forward and your hair flies in to your face.

Dean still just stares at you in disbelief.

You sink in to your chair and rub your hand through your hair as you begin to calm your breathing. “Oh. Oh. Oh.” You sigh. “Oh god…” You give a final heavy sigh.

And with that, the act was over. You calmly pick up your fork at pierce it in to your potato salad. You smile innocently at Dean.

From the corner of the deli, you hear an older woman tell the waiter, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

More months of friendship pass filled with hunting and funny stories. The two of you are more inseparable than he and Sam usual are. He truly is your best friend. You’ve even moved in to the bunker permanently. It’s nice to have a steady place to call home and even nicer to have a makeshift family. For the first time since you and Joe broke up, you feel safe and cared for, and this makes you very happy.

It’s New Year’s Eve and for the first time in your life you weren’t on the road. You desperately wanted to be normal and attend a party, so you begged the boys to help you crash a fancy party at a local hotel. You dressed in your nicest black dress and flicked your eyeliner just so. You felt beautiful, and according to Sam and Dean, they thought you looked beautiful, too. They, of course, looked devastatingly handsome in their tuxedos.

The party was equally beautiful. The hotel ballroom was filled wall to wall with guests in jewel toned dresses and tuxedos, all donning bright hats and tiaras. There were twinkle lights strung around the room and over the ceiling. Champagne flowed freely. It was the nicest place you had ever been.

“I want to thank you for taking me out tonight,” you look into Dean’s familiar green eyes as he dances with you slowly later that night. Sam had found his own dance partner early in the evening and disappeared.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Dean reassured as he turned you around. “And next year, if neither of us is with somebody, you got yourself a date.”

“Deal.” You smile up at him and truly take in his features for the first time that evening. “I like that you shaved,” you say as you stroke his cheek with your index finger, “now we can dance cheek to cheek.” You move your face beside his and you close your eyes in contentment.

Dean hums in agreement as his eyes close, too. The music fades out but the two of you continue dancing in your own world. Neither one of you says it to the other, but for the first time since your breakups, you feel truly happy. An inkling of some mutual attraction stirs up inside you two. Sensing it in each other, you pull your heads away and meet each other’s gaze. Dean’s eyes fall to your lips and yours fall to his for a brief moment. That inkling begins to bring your lips closer together.

Suddenly the band leader comes on the microphone and interrupts your moment, “Hey everybody! Ten seconds to the New Year!” and the crowd begins to count down: ten, nine, eight…

It pulls the two of you back to reality and you give a weak laugh.

“Want to get some air?” Dean says, pulling you from your thoughts. Six, five, four… He grabs your hands and leads you out to the balcony overlooking the city.

Three, two, one. Happy New Year!

The guests on the balcony begin embracing one another and kissing their partners sweetly and sincerely. You turn to see Dean watching you watch the guests.

“Happy New Year,” you say to your best friend.

“Happy New Year,” he replies.

Neither of you know what to do after your almost kiss. You move awkwardly between a handshake and a hug and finally settle into each other’s arms. You give him a quick kiss on the cheek and he returns it with his own. You internally vow to never let something like that happen again.

Dean had been cleaning his guns in the library one night that summer when he heard sobs. He set down his gun and made his way towards the source and found you crying in the garage. You’re in your pajamas with your cell phone by your feet where you had dropped it. His heart sank a little at the sight of his friend so distraught.

“Y/N? Are you ok?” he walks cautiously towards you.

“He’s getting married!” you shout over your sobs.

“Who?” Dean was confused at your outburst.

“Joe!”

Dean suddenly realizes what’s happening and rushes to your side. Unsure of whether to give you a hug or rub your shoulder, he awkwardly chooses the latter option.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” you take some shuddering breaths as you attempt to calm down.

“It’s ok. It’s alright,” he soothes and finally pulls you into a hug.

The moment of comfort pulls you back to reality for a moment. You release yourself from Dean’s embrace. “I need a Kleenex,” you state and walk to your room.

Dean follows behind you as you enter your room and search for the box of tissues. You find them and sit on the edge of the bed with them in your lap. Dean takes a seat next to you with a concerned look on his face.

“Marie called. She’s working a vengeful spirit thing in Omaha with Joe. Blah blah blah. And she’s talking about him and I’m sitting there thinking, I’m over him. I’m really over him. I can’t believe I was ever remotely interested in any of this.”

Dean just nods as you keep retelling the story, though he would never admit to you that it was hard to follow along.

“Then she said ‘I have some news,’” you continued. You begin to cry again at your next thought and you grab another Kleenex. “She’s not even a hunter. She’s some insurance girl in Oklahoma City that he met on a case. Her name is Kimberly.” You let out a sob. “All this time he said he didn’t want the apple pie life. But the truth is, he didn’t want that life with me. He didn’t love me.”

Dean rubbed your shoulder, “If you could take him back now, would you?”

You blow your nose loudly. “No, but why didn’t he want to be with me? What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing.”

“I’m difficult.”

“You’re challenging,” he shrugged. “But in a good way.”

“I d-drove him a-way,” you cry again. You’re making no noise now while you choke out more sobs. You raise your tissue-filled hands a little, “and I’m going to be forty.” You drop your hands back to your lap.

“When?”

“Someday.”

“In eight years.” You can’t see Dean’s eye roll through your tears.

“But it’s there, it’s just sitting there like this big dead end.”

“Oh, c’mere, c’mere,” he pulls you in for another hug and you cry into his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be fine, you’ll see.” You sniffle into his shirt. “Don’t worry, it’s not one of my favorites anyway. You’re going to be okay.” He gives you a kiss on the top of your head as he continues to hold you. You take in deep breaths of his cologne. He begins to break the hug, “I’ll go make you some tea.”

“Dean, could you just hold me a little longer?” you look into his green eyes.

“Sure.” He pulls you back in a rubs his hand on your back comfortingly.

After a moment, you look up at him, almost searching for something. You kiss him. It’s hungry and needy. Dean is caught off guard, but returns the kiss. A wave of comfort washes over you as the two of you fall back against your bed and make love.

The next morning, you wake to find the other side of the bed empty. Last night’s events come flooding back with regret. The crying, the kissing, the sex. What have I done?? You think to yourself. You make your way to the kitchen to grab some breakfast and find Dean sitting with Sam at the table.

You both make awkward eye contact. “Good morning,” you say as calmly as possible.

“Good morning!” Sam says cheerily. Dean only smiles at you.

You rush through making a cup of coffee and power walk back to your room. The only thing you can think to do is call Marie.

“Hello?” she says through the phone.

“I’m sorry to call you so early. I’ve done something terrible.”

You’ve caught Marie’s attention now, “what did you do?”

You proceed to tell Marie about the whole thing. How Dean found you in the bunker’s garage crying over Joe’s marriage and how he tried to comfort you. How one thing led to another and you had sex.

Little did you know that an almost identical conversation was happening in the kitchen between the two brothers.

“Dude, Y/N and I had sex,” Dean says to his brother.

“That’s great man, it’s about time. How was it?” Sam had been waiting for this day for the past year but never said anything about it.

“The during was good…” Dean thought about it for a moment, “but then I felt suffocated.”

Marie was still downloading all the details she could from you in the other room. “How was it?” she asks.

“I thought it was good,” you say, “but then I guess it wasn’t.”

“Jesus, I’m sorry,” Sam says.

“That’s the worst,” says Marie.

“He just disappeared,” you sigh.

“I felt so bad,” Dean looked at the mug in his hands.

“I’m so embarrassed,” you begin to walk back to the kitchen for food.

“That’s horrible,” Marie sighed. She, too, had been waiting for this day for over a year.

Back in the kitchen, Sam gives Dean a light hit on the arm, “hey, listen – it’d be great if it had worked out, but it didn’t.

“You should never go to bed with anyone when you’ve found out your last boyfriend is getting married,” Marie says through the phone.

The boys hear your shuffling footsteps back towards the kitchen and drop the subject. You enter still on the phone with your friend.

“I’ll call you later, okay? Bye.” You bring the phone down and hang up. You look up at the boys and smile, “who’s hungry?”

The two of you awkwardly avoided each other the rest of the day. Neither one of you knew that the other was feeling the same regret for the night’s events. Later that afternoon, you find Dean had gone back to cleaning his guns in the library. You take the seat opposite him and sit in mutual silence for a moment.

“It was a mistake,” you finally break the silence.

He drops his gun on the table and looks at you. “I’m so relieved you think so, too,” he sighs. “I’m not saying last night wasn’t great,” he quickly adds.

“It was,” you nod. “We just never should have done it.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“I’m so relieved!” you give an awkward laugh and sigh. He goes back to cleaning.

You both sit again in awkward silence. It hangs heavy in the air. He looks back up at you and smiles.

Nothing is quite the same after that night. The awkwardness is still there even though Dean acts like it didn’t mean anything. You become busy with your own hunts thanks to the British Men of Letters. You’re on the road constantly hunting down everything from vampires to ghouls. Part of you feels incomplete. You miss your best friend but know that the feelings you have for him now are complicated, so it’s just better to bury them in your work.

It’s winter again by the time you return to the bunker. You didn’t realize how much this place had become your home until you pull your little blue Mustang into the garage. You walk up into the war room to find Dean and Sam sitting at the table talking.

Sam smiles warmly at the sight of you. The two of you had become just as close in your time at the bunker. “Y/N! We’ve missed you. Welcome back!”

Dean looks at his brother angrily for his warm welcome to you. “Where have you been?” he says flatly. What you don’t know is that he’s missed you just as much as you missed him.

You feel a little sting from his anger but don’t show it. “I’ve been out hunting. You know that.” You walk to the table and set down your bag. “But I’m back now.”

“You’re gone for months without as much as a phone call to let us know you’re okay?!” Dean was getting riled up.

“I-I didn’t think you cared,” your voice was small.

Sam took that as his cue to leave. His chair scraped the floor as he inconspicuously left the two of you to hash out your feelings.

Dean seems shift gears and calm down a little. He drums his fingers on the map table for a moment. “How’ve you been?” he looks up at you.

“Fine,” you look down at him from where you stood.

“So…” he couldn’t seem to find the right words to ask his question. “Are you… seeing anybody?” His feelings had become complicated for you, too.

“Dean,” you tilt your head to the side with a sigh, “I don’t want to talk about it.” You turn to walk towards your room.

“Why can’t we get past this?” he gets up and follows after you. “I mean, are we gonna carry this thing around forever? It happened six months ago.”

This stops you in your tracks and you turn to face him.

“You know how a year to a person is seven years to a dog?” Dean tries to begin.

You narrow your eyes and give him a long look. “Is one of us supposed to be a dog in this scenario?”

“Yes. You are.”

“I am the dog,” you laugh incredulously. You stare at him for a moment then turn back towards your room in anger.

Dean follows you again.

“I’m the dog?” you repeat when you reach your room. “If anything you’re the dog. You want to act like what happened didn’t mean anything.” Your voice was growing louder now.

“I’m not saying it didn’t mean anything,” his volume matched yours. “I’m saying why does it have to mean everything?”

“Because it does!” you yell. “And you should know that better than anybody because the minute that it happens, you walk right out the door!”

“I didn’t walk out.”

“No sprinted is more like it!” you shut the door in his face.

“We both agreed it was a mistake!” he yells through the door.

“The worst mistake I ever made.” Your voice was a little quieter now.

Dean opened the door back up. “What do you want from me?”

“I don’t want anything from you!”

He still stands in the doorway. “Fine! Fine!” he points at you. “But let’s get one thing straight – I did not try to comfort you that night to have sex with you. That is not why I did that. But you looked up at me with those big weepy eyes, ‘hold me a little longer, Dean.’ ‘Don’t leave me, Dean.’ What was I supposed to do?!”

“What are you saying, that you took pity on me?!” you’ve reverted back to yelling. “Fuck you!” your hand reaches out and slaps him across the cheek.

Dean is taken aback by the action. “Fine. Fine,” he clenches his jaw and nods a couple times before walking out the door.

The following weeks were awful. You spent some of your time quietly crying in your room over what seemed to be the loss of your friendship. Dean spent the time trying to apologize to you for the way things went. He’d leave you voicemails while he was away or try to send you funny pictures to try to make you forget his harsh words. You just kept to yourself to avoid any more pain.

One day you finally give in and answer the hundredth phone call. “Hi Dean.”

He’s caught off guard by your answer. “Hi. Hi! I didn’t – I didn’t think that you would pick up. What are you doing?” he tried to make casual small talk.

“Well I’m just researching for Marie.”

“Oh? What’s she got?”

“What do you want, Dean?” you sigh.

“Nothing. Nothing. I-I just called to say I’m sorry.”

You’re quiet for a moment as you think on his words. You desperately want things to return to the way they were, but your feelings are still too complicated. “Okay,” you say quietly into the phone. You’re quiet for a little longer. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Wait a second – “ he begins. He’s trying to think of something to keep you on the phone but he’s coming up short. “What are you doing for New Years?” he chuckles weakly. “Because we’ll be back home, and if you’ll be home then I figured we could be each other’s dates to that party again like we always said. You know…”

You shake your head and look down at your feet. “I can’t do this anymore,” you say in a broken voice. “Goodbye.” And with that, you hang up.

You can’t see Dean’s pained expression on his face as he lowers the phone from his ear.

It’s finally New Year’s Eve and you don’t know what to do with yourself. You’ve decided it’s your last night in the bunker. The boys will be home any moment now and you can’t bear the thought of being there much longer with Dean. You’ll miss them, but you know it’s for the best.

Marie had joined you at the bunker a couple days ago. You had called her almost immediately after hanging up on Dean in tears because of the pain you felt. You decided you were going to hunt with her for a bit while you got back on your feet, but tonight she was forcing you to go out. You sat on your bed and stared at the same black dress you wore last year. The same night you first felt something more for your best friend. You cursed that night in your head. It felt like the cause of all of your problems.

Unbeknownst to you, Dean was rushing to get home. All he could think about over the past few days was every interaction he’s had with you. The long drive to Illinois when you first met; seeing you again after all those years across the bar; the way you smiled brightly after a successful hunt. He couldn’t get his mind off of you. Marie had texted him where you’d be that night and he had pedal to the metal to get back in time to kiss you at midnight. He had to tell you how he felt about you.

You’re dancing with a boring stranger when you finally decide you’ve had enough of the party. The lights didn’t seem to shine as bright as they did last year. You were miserable. You find Marie in the arms of some tall dark stranger.

“I’m leaving,” you say as you grab her.

“But it’s almost midnight,” she stops you.

“The thought of not having someone to kiss at midnight is just…” you let the sad thought eat the rest of your sentence. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” You kiss her on the cheek and head for the door.

Halfway there you stop dead in your tracks. Dean is standing amongst the lavish guests in his signature jeans, flannel shirt, and army jacket searching for you. Your eyes meet and he smiles. He slowly starts towards you and stops in front of you.

“I’ve done a lot of thinking,” he begins over the noise of the party. “And the thing is, I love you.”

“You what?” you heard him the first time he said the words, but your brain does not believe what’s happening.

“I love you.” He says a little louder.

“I’m leaving,” you move past him and head towards the exit, parting the crowd as you go.

Dean follows you closely. “Doesn’t what I said mean anything to you?”

“I’m sorry, Dean,” you turn around. “I know it’s New Year’s Eve, and I know you’re feeling lonely, but you can’t just show up here, tell me you love me, and expect to make everything all right. It doesn’t work that way.”

“Well how does it work?” he was becoming riled up again.

“I don’t know, but not this way,” you turn to leave.

Dean grabs your arm and spins you back around. “How about this way -” he moves closer to you, “I love how you get cold when it’s seventy-one degrees out. I love that little smile you get on your face after a hunt. I love that you roll your eyes at me when you think I’m being annoying. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you’re the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night.”

You don’t realize it, but your mouth is wide open in shock of his words.

“And it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” He takes a couple heavy breaths and looks into your y/e/c eyes.

You’re furious at his final thoughts as the crowd begins their countdown. “That is just like you, Dean,” you stomp your foot. “You say things like that, and you make it impossible for me to hate you, and I hate you, Dean.” Your volume lowers a little as tears sting at your eyes. “I really hate you.” You’re no longer mad, though you’re not entirely sure you ever were. “I hate you.”

Happy New Year! Rings out through the crowd; guests around you embrace and kiss.

Dean steps forward and puts his arms around you. You wrap your arms around his neck and bring your lips to crash in to his as the band begins to play “Auld Lang Syne.”

Dean breaks his head away from yours. “What does this song mean, anyways?” he jokes.

“I think it’s about old friends,” you smile up at him and he smiles down to you.

You ring in the New Year with another long, loving kiss.

Tags:

@emilywritesaboutdean @pinknerdpanda @wheresthekillswitch @trexrambling @emwinchester1 @narisjournal-blog @winchesters-favorite-girl @thing-you-do-with-that-thing

#dean x reader #Supernatural fanfic #spn fanfic #stuff i wrote #supernatural fluff

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victorluvsalice · 5 years

Text

AU Thursday: As Long As You Love Me – Are You Ready For It

HOLY CRAP IT’S THIS AU AGAIN. Yes, while “The Technicolor Phase” is on a “I need to write more of it” hiatus, we’re having a brief but grand return to the “Holistic Assassin!Alice and her tagalong Victor” AU! I’ve had this particular snippet waiting in the wings for a while now, and it’s time to finally bring it out into the light.

When we last left our intrepid heroes, Victor had watched a very convenient news report and discovered Alice had been injured and arrested in the line of duty. Which led to him realizing that maybe the reason he feels so out of joint with his current life is because he’s not where he’s supposed to be anymore. So he’s called up Victoria (and Emily by proxy) for a very important meeting. . .

"You're what?!"

"Going back to Alice," Victor repeated obligingly. "I leave today."

Victoria and Emily gawked, first at him, then at each other. Victor didn't blame them – he probably would have done the same in their place. "You're – going back to the woman who says it's her mission in life to kill people?" Emily said at last, turning back to him.

"Purpose," Victor corrected. "And yes, I am."

"Do – do your parents know?" Victoria asked, scrambling for solid conversational ground.

Victor burst out laughing. "Do my – Victoria, do you honestly believe they'd have let me out of the house if they knew I was about to head off to become the official accomplice of a serial killer?! No, of course not! Mother thinks I'm on a date with you, actually. It was the best way to leave without them suspecting anything."

Victoria's eyes flicked to the duffel bag sitting by his chair. "They thought you needed all that for a date?"

"Oh, no, I packed this last night and hid it in the bushes," Victor said, nudging it. "I picked it up before coming to find you. It's not that much, really – my keyboard and sketchbook take up the most space. The rest is just clothes, pens, a couple of books, a few CDs, a photo album, and some snacks."

"Sounds exactly like the sort of things I packed to go meet Barkis," Emily said darkly. "Victor, you're really just going to vanish from your own life? For someone like – you yourself admitted she was a serial killer!" She rubbed her ribcage, searching out the scar under her shirt. "How do you know you're not walking into your own grave?"

"Because I'm supposed to be with her." Victor pinched the bridge of his nose. "I – oh, how do I explain? Alice doesn't kill randomly. It might look that way when you first meet her, but. . .you two didn't stay with her as long as I did. You didn't see how it all worked."

"How does it work, then?" Victoria asked, leaning forward. "Please, Victor, we want to understand. But all we know about this – purpose of hers comes from you screaming at her that it was her job over Barkis's – corpse."

Victor winced. "Yes, I know, not the best first impression. . .but things had gone a little awry then. . ." He rubbed the back of his head. "Barkis is the kind of person Alice is called to kill. The lowest of the low, the scum that have escaped all other justice. I told you that she rescued me from my kidnappers."

"But – did they really deserve to die? Not that I'm saying it wasn't a horrible experience for you, Victor, or that they shouldn't have been arrested, but–"

"But I'd likely be dead if she hadn't come along when she had," Victor cut in. "I left this out before because you and Emily had already gone through enough, and I – I was still reeling over Barkis, but Hugo Landis and his crew made snuff films. Alice learned of them when one of them handed her a business card."

Emily sucked in a shocked breath. "What?"

Victor nodded. "They tricked people into coming to their studio, then murdered them on-camera. All without ever getting caught. And Hugo offered to put me in their pictures once or twice – goodness, the day Alice showed up, he was preparing to cut off one of my fingers to show he meant business." He flexed his hands, shuddering at the mere memory. "If she hadn't come along, I might not have ever made it out. And who knows how many young women and men looking for their big break she saved by slaughtering the lot of them."

"Be that as it may – how can you be sure she only kills evil people?" Victoria pressed, a lock of hair escaping her bun.

"Because that seems to be who the universe sends her way. How else do you explain her killing some biker in the parking lot of a diner, only for him to be revealed to be part of a notorious band of violent thugs who burn anyone who crosses them? Or the mechanic who helped fix our first car when it broke down – only to reveal he intended to steal it, kill us, and then quietly sell our organs on the black market? Goodness, the only reason we were anywhere near where Barkis was keeping you captive was because our second car mysteriously stopped just across from his house!"

"But – it ran fine when you brought us back to it," Emily pointed out, blinking.

"That's exactly what I mean. The world – warps itself around her. It always makes sure that she's going in the right direction – and being aimed at the right targets." Victor clasped his hands together. "We were kidnapped by the rest of the gang of that biker I mentioned before. They had us tied to a fence in our underwear, helpless. And then one of them threw a baseball at me, and it bounced just right to free her. In under a minute, she'd gotten a gun and killed them all. Does that sound like totally random chance to you?"

Victoria worried her lower lip between her teeth. "Well. . .still. Victor, you're throwing away your entire life to chase after a murderer."

"The life my parents have planned out for me, you mean?" Victor responded, deadpan. "The one where I take over the cannery despite having very little head for business? Where I spend all my free time schmoozing with the elite despite hating parties and preferring a night at home with a good book? Where, somehow, you and I end up married despite you being in love with Emily?"

Victoria went pink. "Surely there's something worth staying for."

"You could just leave Hill Valley, you know," Emily added. "Make your own way somewhere else. Your parents can't force you to stay."

"My mother would probably find a way. . .but no," Victor said, shaking his head. "The universe is calling me, and I have to answer. I haven't felt right since I came back, and when I saw her on the news the other night. . . ." He leaned forward, hands clasped before him. "She's in hospital. She got hurt again on a kill, and that – that's not supposed to happen. And now. . .n-now I think they're going to try and throw her back in a sanitarium."

"Back?!"

"She was committed before – it's a long story," Victor said, waving a hand. "I know she'd fight it with everything she had – she'd probably even find a way out. But. . .when they interviewed the captain about it. . .he looked right at me when saying that they probably wouldn't have caught her if she'd had an accomplice. If I'd been there. . .she'd be okay." He pressed on his eyes, squeezing them tight against sudden wetness. "You w-weren't there before. You didn't see her singing along with the radio, making jokes about the edibility of shampoo, teasing me for being such a mother hen. Telling me I – I was important. That I had a purpose in this world. She and I – we fit, somehow. We can survive apart, but – when we're together, we live. She needs me. And I. . ." He sucked in a breath, fighting to master his emotions. "I need her."

There was a significant silence. ". . .Guess you've finally moved on from us, huh?" Emily said at last.

Victor nodded. "I only let myself appreciate how I felt yesterday. Maybe if I'd done so earlier. . .perhaps calling her my 'soulmate' is a little far, but I know we're meant to be together." He forced himself to look up. "Please, trust me – she's not evil. She's just doing what she has to. And I – I want to be there for her. More than that, I need to be. It's my destiny."

Victoria leaned on her hand, considering him. "We're not going to talk you out of this, are we?" she murmured. "All right. But – why tell us at all?"

"Because someone needs to know where I've gone – what I'm doing. Just so my parents don't panic." Victor reached across the table, taking one of their hands in each of his. "And – I wanted to see you both one last time. Say goodbye." He smiled. "You two – you were the best part of living here."

Emily snorted. "Being told you had to date this one girl by your parents, accidentally convincing another you wanted to be her boyfriend, then getting dumped by both of them for each other was the best part of living here? Cripes, Victor, you must be miserable."

Victor laughed. "Hey – it made my life a lot more interesting, at least." His expression softened. "And you were the ones who always understood me best. You've been wonderful friends. And you were great girlfriends too, for however little time it lasted." He gave them each a squeeze. "Frankly, I'm glad I killed Barkis if it means you two can stay in this world. And I hope you can find your purposes soon. You deserve so much better than this town has given you."

"Oh, Victor. . ." Victoria got up and came around to give him a hug. Emily immediately followed suit. "You were one of my best friends. And certainly the best boyfriend I've ever had."

"Same here," Emily agreed. "I know the competition wasn't particularly stiff in either case, but. . ." She chuckled, then her face went soft. "And you deserve better than this place too. So – if you think you can find it with Alice. . ." She sighed and shook her head. "I still don't quite get it. But I know a lot about doing anything for love." She leaned down, looking him dead in the eye. "Just be absolutely certain she's not going to put a knife between your ribs."

Victor patted her back reassuringly. "If she was supposed to kill me before, she would have done it already. And if she stabs me after we get back together, I'll know I did something to deserve it."

Emily shook her head. "You are a very odd person, Victor Van Dort. And the people you fall in love with are even odder."

"Present company excepted?"

Emily giggled. "Well. . ."

"If you can, let us know that you're all right, once you find her," Victoria said, ruffling his hair. "Even if you're going to be on the road the rest of your days, you must pass by a postbox every so often."

"I'll do my best," Victor promised. "Hopefully the universe will be kind." He looked between them, taking each of their hands and giving them a squeeze. "I – I guess this is it then. You both have a good life."

"You too," Emily said, patting his back. "And please, stay safe out there."

Victor bit his lip as he remembered being tied to the fence by Blackwing, the hot metal searing into his back. "That's – kind of up to the universe. But it hasn't killed me yet, so. . . ." He shrugged. "You stay safe as well. No more getting kidnapped."

"God forbid," Victoria said, grimacing. "The first thing I did once we got back was look up some self-defense videos on YouTube. Mother doesn't approve, of course, but she's hasn't tried to take the computer away yet. . ."

"Father and I found a class at the old aerobics place – starts next week," Emily told them. "If I don't know how to take care of myself after that. . ."

Victor smiled. "Good. I hope it goes well." He retrieved his bag and stood up, reluctantly breaking the hug. "As it is, I'll let you two get on with your date. I'm off to Zemeckis Plaza to catch the next available bus to the train station. I'll work my way toward Millsville from there."

"I – suppose that sounds like a plan," Victoria said with a little nod. "Good luck."

"Thank you. Goodbye."

With that, Victor shouldered his bag and started on down the street, leaving them at the table. It stung a little, to leave such good friends behind him, but it had to be done. He certainly couldn't ask them to give up everything for this quest. It wasn't in the cards for them – as far as he knew, anyway. At least I got the chance to say goodbye, he thought, absently playing with his collar. And I'm glad they took it as well as they did. I thought for sure there was going to be more of an argument. . . He rubbed out an itch at the corner of his eye. All right – bus, then the train station. What was the route I found again? Greenville, then a switch to Pickerton, then another bus to –

"Victor!"

Victor started, then turned to see Victoria and Emily still standing over the table, watching him with worried eyes. "You're – you're absolutely sure you're doing the right thing?" Victoria asked, twisting her hands together.

Victor bit his lip, a tiny frisson of doubt going up his spine. He was almost totally sure he was – could feel the tug in his bones – but. . .looking at their anxious expressions. . .was he really? Was all this him following the plan of the universe? Or was he the victim of a number of odd coincidences and about to make an utter fool of himself? He opened his mouth, unsure what was about to come out but hoping the right words would magically find themselves falling off his tongue –

SCHREEEEEEEECH!

Victor just about jumped out of his skin. Out of seemingly nowhere, a bright cherry-red convertible pulled up alongside him, one tire jumping the curb and just missing Victor's foot. The engine had barely stopped revving before the owner – a man with a truly atrocious fake tan and the worst bleached-blond hair Victor had ever seen – jumped out of the driver's seat and thrust the keys into his hand. "Park it for me, noodle-boy," he ordered, jabbing Victor in the chest. "Don't bother about the slip."

"I–"

"I don't care if it's policy," the man said, talking over him as he adjusted his sunglasses. "I'm already late! Shouldn't be more than an hour anyway." His lips turned up in a mocking sneer. "And trust me, vampire, I'll remember your face."

And with that, he was off, slapping his phone against his ear without even a glance backward. Victor blinked rapidly as his brain scrambled to put events in order. "But – I – sir – I-I'm not–"

The man just waved a hand in a very "stop talking to me" fashion, babbling away to whoever was on the other line. Victor stared at him, then at the keys, then at the car. What on earth had convinced that jerk he was a valet? He certainly didn't know of any businesses around here with that service available. Sure, he was wearing a suit, but that didn't really mean anything – people went around in suits all the time! And wasn't the duffel bag a rather big clue that he was on his own important business? Park it, he says, he thought, frowning. Would serve him right if I just took the damn thing and –

Oh.

Victor turned back to Victoria and Emily, staring at the scene in open astonishment. He grinned and held up the keys. "Yup."

And then, well aware that he only had a limited amount of time before the spell was broken, he slid across the hood, slipped into the front seat, and fired up the engine. He gave the shocked girls a final wave, then, with an ease he'd never felt before, did a smooth U-turn back onto the main road and hit the gas. On a whim, he switched on the radio. Sure enough, there was Taylor, belting out, "In the middle of the night, in my dreams – you should see the things we do, baaaaby. In the middle of the night, in my dreams, I know I'm gonna be with you – so I take my tiiiiime. . .are you ready for it?"

Victor beamed, coasting through a set of traffic lights that turned green the moment he reached them. "I am indeed. Hang on, Alice – I'm coming."

#as long as you love me au #fanfic #I figured Victor ought to tell SOMEONE what was happening #and his parents were definitely out so #and this allowed me to do a proper 'I'm in love with her' moment too #I mean he basically realized it in the last bit #but now it's truly out in the open #can't have a Valice AU without a bit of actual Valice #I liked writing the goodbye scene #it was a good tender moment #I like showing Victor Victoria and Emily all being friends #in those universes where it's not a group thing anyway :p #and writing the 'not a valet' scene was a hoot XD #I always wanted to do that in this AU #it was one of the cornerstones #and yes another taylor song #look I like her music and that was a good song for this moment #queued

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