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sevensoulmates · 3 months

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Buddie 7x01 Meta

Okay! Finally, I was able to watch the full episode uninterrupted and have had a couple days to gather my thoughts. Quite simply this episode was fucking fantastic. My meta does sometimes include some spec, so if that's not your thing feel free to ignore those parts. Those of you who follow me know I write long ass essays, so fair warning for a long meta under the cut. ((Also idk how to make gifs, so enjoy my shitty screenshots)).

First, I love to see Buck and Eddie back at it again in their natural element being partners on a scene.

This was very obviously a call back to season 2, even down to the positioning, having Buck watch Eddie be competent in defusing a bomb. Buck has complete faith in Eddie's abilities, it's the fighter pilot whom he distrusts. In the end, they narrowly avoid getting blown up, just like they did in 2x01. This one scene re-establishes the Buck/Eddie work dynamic and shows how they inherently trust each other on and off the field.

Next, we get a scene of Buck and Eddie getting dressed in the locker room. Notably, Buck is fully dressed and Eddie is without his shirt until halfway through the scene. Buck also keeps his eyes on Eddie's naked torso pretty much through the whole shirtless section. This is another blatant callback to season 2x01 when Buck's first introduction to Eddie is when he's shirtless. This draws attention specifically to Eddie's physical attractiveness and how that affects Buck. This scene is odd to have with Eddie half-naked if we're then gonna make comments later on about "sexual tension" with friends, no?

In the same scene we are reintroduced to Buck and Eddie's separate love lives. Eddie is just now learning that Buck and Natalia broke up, and gives an odd facial expression that looks far too much like vindication. We know from the graveyard scene in 6x17 that Eddie wasn't really a fan of Buck's relationship with Natalia (I don't think there's ever been a relationship Buck's had where Eddie has legitimately been happy about it, which is weird if they're just friends, right?) so to him, this was always coming down the road. He seems proud that Buck was able to end it this easily.

Meanwhile, Eddie's going on a "not-date" with Marisol to chaperone Christopher's date with Penny. It's telling to me that Eddie doesn't classify this as a date with Marisol, but Buck does. Buck considers being at home watching Christopher as a date, and yet he seemingly doesn't classify all the times he's been over at Eddie's hanging out with just him and Chris to be a date? To me, this shows the first big disconnect in Buck/Eddie's brains that the show will likely dismantle this season: what is classified as platonic and what is classified as romantic, and which gender is allowed to be in each category. We'll come back to this when we get to the next scene.

Eddie is very supportive of Buck breaking up with Natalia. He doesn't say it directly to his face, but it's implied that Buck really lost himself when he was with Natalia, hence Eddie's "Welcome back to the land of the living". While Buck did struggle with figuring out his life purpose at the end of season 6, he falsely prescribed that purpose to Natalia. Thankfully, this was rectified here. This also shows significant growth for Buck from his last relationship with Taylor Kelly. Buck was able to identify issues in his relationship quicker and was able to cut the relationship short when he realized it was no longer healthy to maintain for him. I am extremely proud of Buck in this moment, as is Eddie, which is the first of two big moments in this episode where Buck and Eddie really showcase their pride in the other's personal growth. "You were missed" is such a simple yet perfect line for Eddie to give to Buck. To show Buck that Eddie has always seen him, and will always see him, even through personal lows, and will still remain by his side when they come out the other side. I really love this showcase of unconditional love here.

The next time we see Buck and Eddie, the chaperone date has already passed. Eddie and Marisol are seen watching Chris and Penny from behind the wall, but it's highkey awkward to watch and the focus of this scene is really not Eddie/Marisol but rather Chris and Penny and Eddie relaying this info to Buck. I first want to point out that we don't actually get to see Eddie/Marisol's first date, we don't see any subsequential dates, and the first time we DO see her, in an episode meant to be establishing couples, she's so blink-and-you'll-miss-it that I had to try 3 times to get this screenshot because it went by so fast. It's never a good sign when we don't actually get to see the beginnings of a non-established relationship.

Additionally, Eddie/Marisol's relationship is framed WITHIN Eddie recounting the night to BUCK. The important Eddie relationship we're supposed to be paying attention to in this scene is not Eddie/Marisol but Eddie and Buck's. It's not important for us to see Eddie and Marisol hanging out, but it IS important for us to see Eddie TELLING Buck about the night. That isn't insignificant. This means the show is clearly placing far more importance on Eddie/Buck than on Marisol, and for a pointed reason to be revealed hopefully later this season.

This is the only line that Marisol has in the entire episode. This being the one line she has is interesting because it's a callback to Eddie's arc last season ie. "Eddie has no game with women". Christopher makes a pointed comment about it in 6x18. And of course, it's a callback to Performance Anxiety 6x14 where Eddie was being pressured about dating women and 6x17 Love Is In The Air where he once again pressures himself into dating women until he finally settles on Marisol. It's an interesting call back to have, considering this scene could have been considered Eddie successfully dating a woman. And of course this ties into later in this episode where we get the "turning women off" comment, which I'll talk more about later.

Eddie goes on to tell Buck that he didn't really see any difference between Christopher hanging out with his male friends vs hanging out with his female friends. This is drawing attention to two things. The first is a call-back to Buck and Eddie's previous scene where we saw that Buck and Eddie have two different ideas of what constitutes "a date" when it's with a man versus a woman. Buck thinks that an at-home date with Marisol to watch Chris counts as a date, Eddie doesn't. Yet Buck doesn't consider his own at-home "hang-outs" with Eddie and Chris to be a date despite them being far more frequent and more meaningful than what we just saw with Marisol. Eddie also doesn't see it that way. This line is an indicator that both Buck and Eddie have blinders on currently when it comes to their interactions with each other, interactions which very much COULD be considered a date (including the later mentioned "underlying sexual tension") if they had done the same thing with a woman. They're just unable to recognize the truth of it at the moment, and this is clearly demonstrated when Eddie can't tell the difference between Chris having his date with his male friends vs. female. My prediction is that this will become more defined for Eddie by the end of the season or leading into next season.

But it's very interesting that this idea of not being able to recognize the possibility of romance except for the heteronormative options is coming into play now because there's really only one gay way to subvert that.

Which is then doubled down by Buck in the very next scene.

This is blatantly not a true statement. Buck is not only assuming Chris's sexuality, but he's assuming the same would be the case in general, which is not true. Buck knows many queer people, but at the same time, every queer person he knows canonically falls more into the gay-lesbian binary, and not really anywhere in the middle (ie. bi/pan people). It's an oddly heteronormative statement coming from Buck, who is known to be very open-minded and also researches a shit ton? So why are we being shown that Buck has this sort of narrow-mindedness specifically when it comes to the possibility of people being bisexual?

(Spec) Firstly, I think this is to set up for a bisexual Buck arc. It's showing that Buck actually 1.) hasn't ever been with a man before so this is not just a casual bi reveal and 2.) that he's never actually considered it a possibility to have sexual tension with a man before. This is what we in writing call "the character's fundamental misbelief" and it is brought in specifically to be challenged, and I'm near-positive it will be at some point in the season.

Secondly, On the surface, this statement is telling the audience that obviously Christopher would only have tension with his female friends, right? (sarcasm). But what's interesting is that this statement is purposefully gender-neutral. It leaves the real meaning up to the audience to decide. Why? Because this part of the conversation is not really about Christopher. On the surface, yes, but beneath that, this line and the line before it are about Eddie and Buck's relationship with each other. Buck's not out here talking about Christopher having sexual tension with people, and even Eddie recognizes that it's weird to talk about in relation to their child. He's still in the nest for christ's sake! These lines are in relation to Buck and Eddie's friendship and how both of them are blind to the fact that it very much IS possible to have sexual tension with your female AND male friends.

And this is where the gender-neutrality of that phrase gets extra interesting. Because as we've seen before, Buck and (more prominently) Eddie often lack chemistry with their female love interests. It's up for debate, but the general consensus was that most people did not feel any chemistry between Buck/Natalia, and Eddie/Ana or Eddie/Marisol. What's fascinating is that Buck has had chemistry with some of his female love interests, but Eddie hasn't had any since Shannon (and this is not an endorsement of Eddie/Shannon's romantic relationship. I'm not getting into the extreme nuances of that right now.) Some argue Eddie's had chemistry with Felisa or Vanessa, but they aren't the ones Eddie's dating right now, are they? So Eddie, unlike Buck with his female LI's, hasn't really had any sexual tension with Ana or Marisol. The only person that (most) people agree Eddie has had sexual tension with is Buck. And we had a scene with them earlier with Buck watching a half-naked Eddie change too. So in this case, the line might also be a reference to Eddie having chemistry with men, but not really with any of his female LI's. I think the purposeful vagueness here though was a very telling choice on Tim's part.

Additionally, the use of the word "underlying". Underlying implies that the sexual tension isn't overt, but rather is something that lingers unspoken. Under the surface. Subtextual, if you will. Of course, it's possible to have subtextual sexual tension between an M/F pairing. But placing it in the context of this scene, where Buck is being weirdly heteronormative, it feels contradictory. If Buck believes that he (and Chris by proxy) can only have sexual tension with a female friend, why is it something that is hidden under the surface? If anything, due to heteronormativity, the sexual tension between a boy and girl should be plain as day for anyone to see, on the surface, very much textual and with no room for interpretation (ie. "He was a boy, she was a girl, could I make it any more obvious?"). But let's flip this around. With queer pairings and couplings, there's a huge history of their sexual tension and romance only being able to live and breathe in the subtext. This line being spoken between two men that many people for years have pointed out are heavily queer-coded and have a romantically-coded "bro" relationship with each other that so far has only been able to exist in subtext? Tim, you're not sly. I see right through you.

After that, Eddie tells Buck about Christopher seeing 5 girls at the same time. Everyone's shocked and Eddie insinuates that Christopher didn't get this from him. By pointing out that Buck is a reformed playboy (I personally disagree with aspects of this statement but that's neither here nor there), Eddie is implying that Christopher may potentially be getting this trait from Buck. Which is an interesting thing to say to someone if they're not already heavily involved in the process of raising your child. Eddie claims that he's a "nester", which in my mind means someone who is very paternal/maternal, or constantly trying to build the home or the family. ((Sidebar: I googled nesting and apparently it's ALSO a term used in both polyamorous spaces and was later separately coined as a term referring to "where men treat women like they’re in a relationship, but they expect those women to know that it will never lead to real one." I don't interpret this line to mean either of those other definitions, I just think it's interesting that this is what popped up when I googled Nesting)).

Eddie then says he "married the first girl he dated" and Buck instantly volleys back with "think you mean slept with", which is EXTREMELY telling of a few things. First, I want to point out, that I don't believe this is Buck denouncing or disrespecting Shannon's important role in Eddie or Chris's life, but rather recontextualizing it.

We got clarification last season that Eddie fell into his relationship with Shannon almost in the same way that he fell into one with Ana and Marisol. It was heavily implied that Shannon was the pursuer, the one who made their relationship happen. Not Eddie. While Eddie was a little less passive with Ana and Marisol, being the one to ask both of them out, he still exhibits extreme passivity in the furthering of each of these relationships, preferring to "stick it out" rather than actually end it when it's not working. This is the exact same thing he did with Shannon. It's interesting that Buck argues that Eddie married the first girl he slept with rather than the first girl he dated.

Dating someone implies you really genuinely want to form a deep romantic relationship with someone (ie. call back to Buck's line to Maddie "at least when I date someone, I date them"), whereas sleeping with someone does not have to immediately mean wanting to be with them romantically. To me, this implies that while Eddie might've deeply loved Shannon as a friend and eventual mother of his child later and had sexual chemistry with her, the reason why he stayed with her is not because he wanted to continue dating her or being with her because he was IN LOVE with HER but rather because they slept together. And what came about from sleeping with her? A fucking traumatic teen pregnancy.

Both Buck AND Eddie recognize that in this scene (which is huge, especially for Eddie). I'm kinda blown away honestly. It's extremely important for the audience to see that while Eddie did, does and will always love Shannon, it is NOT romantic love, and may have not ever been. Which is FINE. They were literal teenagers for god's sake.

This is once again a recurring theme in Buck and Eddie's story in this episode. Defining what is considered romantic and what is considered platonic AND the possibility of redefining those distinctions years later. And it's interesting that in this case with Shannon, a woman, it's finally being acknowledged that it might not have been as romantic as Eddie may have believed for all these years.

Eddie then asks Buck to be the one to talk to Christopher about his relationship indiscretions. We see Eddie making the active choice to bring Buck deeper into the co-parenting role that's already been established in seasons 2-6. Right after Eddie talks about being a nester, a home-builder, he brings Buck deeper into his family in a parental role. To me, this scene doesn't imply that Eddie can't do it, or that it's out of his wheelhouse, but rather because he feels like Christopher might relate to Buck more about this. But even more so, it shows that Eddie inherently trusts Buck to be the one to talk to Christopher about this, because he's seen how Buck has grown over the years.

Eddie doesn't want Christopher to continue making bad choices in life and he tries to convey this to Buck, but Buck, with his own self-esteem issues, assumes that Eddie doesn't want Christopher to end up like Buck. Which is fascinating because Buck's made it a huge point throughout the series to show that he's grown past his sleeping-around phase (which was never about disrespecting or using women, it was always about Buck's own desire for love and connection that he felt he could only get through sex). And yet with this line, we see that Buck still doesn't realize how far he's come. He still feels like he isn't worth emulating or being someone to look up to. But Eddie does. Eddie sees and loves Buck to his core, and so he points it out to Buck that no, Buck actually didn't become that person, and that Buck is, in fact, worthy of being the one to parent Christopher in this situation. Once again, this is a great moment of showing how these two are able to see past their facades to the truth of each other's issues and provide strength, reassurance, and clarity to each other, as an ideal life partner would be able to do.

Then we get to see this amazing scene of Eddie talking down a panicking woman using his own unique "jello" methods. This coping mechanism tool he walks her through really does sound like something a therapist might teach their patient. Eddie not only is able to admit to having panic attacks but he's able to do it in front of strangers and his team alike with no shame (even a bit of pride at the end). This scene, which could've gotten very awkward very fast, ended up becoming a very sweet, serene moment where we also get to see that love reflected on Buck's face just how proud he is of how far Eddie has come. This episode made a point to show Buck and Eddie recognizing the other's growth and their pride in the other, as well as demonstrate how both are able to be there for the other emotionally in their times of need.

What's interesting is that this is all stuff that we've seen before. Buck and Eddie have been each other's emotional pillars for many years now. This is just a re-establishing episode. We know that this season their relationship is going to be shifting, growing, and showing a new side to it. So I'm intrigued to see how that will manifest given that we have already seen in one episode how Buck and Eddie are each other's closest person. Some might argue that this episode actually frames them to be closer and more emotionally supportive of each other than two of the other canonically romantic couples on the show.

Bathena are shown to be having marital problems in this episode, with Athena worrying she and Bobby might not actually have that much in common outside of the chaos. Madney is shown with pre-martial problems, with Chimney unnecessarily worrying he and Maddie's spark might fizzle out over the years and they might grow to resent each other. I'm not saying either of these relationship problems is really accurate, but it's just interesting to look at in comparison to how Buck and Eddie were framed in this episode, despite not being in a canonical romantic relationship at the moment.

This exchange absolutely took me the fuck out. Because this line did not need to be there. Even for the giggles. It could've even been a line of Buck being sincere and saying that he's proud of Eddie or something. Instead, we get this. "I've never seen a man turn a woman off with such skill". This line connected with the line from Marisol are both callbacks to Eddie's series-long issue with dating women. We get this in conjunction with Buck pointing out that Eddie doesn't really date these women he's in relationships with. He's just with them due to circumstances. Even if the circumstances are of his own making (which could be a symptom of compulsory heterosexuality). Eddie has never once talked about dating women like he's actually attracted to women. I'm so sorry. AND combined with the line where Buck and Eddie actually acknowledge that Eddie wasn't really with Shannon because he wanted to be with her but because of the family they accidentally created. All of this in ONE episode leading up to this line where it's heavily implied that Eddie's skill is his inability to turn women on, and to actually be able to turn them all the way off. And I'm just going to say it, but this line HEAVILY implies queerness. This is the kind of line you'd expect someone to say to a gay man or someone who doesn't actually want the sexual attention of a woman. This, again, in conjunction with Eddie not being able to tell the difference between a date with a woman vs. a man, is all too pointed.

This line alone in a vacuum could maybe not mean queerness, but alongside the whole rest of the episode where beat after beat after beat implies that Eddie has in fact NEVER been in a relationship with a woman 100% of his own active desire for her as a person and not just for what she can provide to his or his son's life?

This points to a very particular direction with Eddie that I'm expecting to see him fight against really hard this season. I would not be surprised if he ends up holding onto Marisol as the last shreds of perceived "normalcy" (ie. heterosexuality) are being threatened. Hopefully, he'll be able to reconcile the truth by the end of the season or going into season 8.

God this is so long and we haven't even gotten to the buddifer scene yet. This part will be a bit more condensed because I'm not really analyzing Chris as a character here or his relationship with Shannon. Maybe I will later.

I'm really loving seeing Christopher become his own person this season. But what really fascinates me here is Chris as a parallel to both Buck and Eddie. Christopher's abandonment trauma is starting to manifest in him through his choices with his love life. The same thing happened with Buck and with Eddie individually. Buck's trauma growing up informed his choices of sleeping around and seeking love from a myriad of individuals who didn't necessarily have his best interest at heart. Eddie's trauma manifested in him being so self-sacrificing that he can't ever choose a relationship for himself, but it always has to be in service of someone else or in pursuit of a perceived "Normal" standard.

In this case with Chris, his trauma is manifesting in a way more similar to Buck's, which is another reason why it's so perfect to see Buck being the one to discuss this with Chris, even though they don't necessarily delve too deep into it. There's no question Buck sees his own issues reflected in Chris. This has been true since 4x08 Breaking Point when Chris runs to Buck's house and confides in Buck his worries about people leaving him. Chris demonstrates a similar issue that Buck and Eddie both hold individually. That being the notion that "it doesn't matter what I do, or how good of a person I am, or how good of a partner I am, I am not worth staying for."

But the difference here is that Eddie and Buck, like the amazing co-parents they are, recognize the problem and take steps to address Christopher's trauma in a way that gives Chris autonomy and isn't condescending or out to make Christopher feel bad about making mistakes. The Buckley parents and the Diaz parents both failed Buck and Eddie in these ways because they blamed their children, never actually took the time to see the underlying issues let alone address them, and made them feel like everything was their fault, even going so far as to actively put their children down over and over and over again. Eddie and Buck get the beautiful chance to break the cycle here with Chris and get to be the parents that they never had.

It was so amazing to watch this episode with Buck and Eddie being supportive partners to each other and supportive parents to Christopher. It was an episode of growth just as much as it was an episode of reintroduction to a new audience. It was also extremely telling of what the future conflicts and themes will likely continue to be for Buck and Eddie for the rest of this season. I'm so excited to see what the rest of this season brings! And thank you from the bottom of my heart, ABC.

#911 abc #911 meta #buddie #buddie meta #buck meta #eddie meta #911 #911 spoilers #911 analysis #buddie analysis #damn this was long as fuck #thank you to anyone who actually sat here and read all this #I will likely do one for episode 2 once I get back from my trip #this episode was fucking amazing #and it's only the beginning of the season

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stevie-petey · 5 months

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episode eight: the upside down

You know you shouldn’t, but you laugh. Honestly, after everything you’ve been through tonight with Steve, how can he possibly think the two of you aren’t friends? “Why are you laughing?” Steve mumbles, confused. “Sorry,” you wheeze out, still uncontrollably laughing. “It’s just–I mean, dude! We almost died together, of course we’re friends now!” “We are?” He looks like a little kid on Christmas day being given the gift he’s always wanted. Your heart warms. “Yes, idiot.”

summary: drinking game time ! take a shot every time jonathan tries ditching you or every time you almost die at the byers house, you find out that steve really is an athlete and tbh it's hot, but you know what's even hotter ? saving hawkins and reaching a tentative compromise with steve after he loans you $5 for snacks. after, jonathan makes a promise you really hope he can keep.

rating: general, cursing and slight scary violence

warnings: violence, use of fire and weapons, guns, use of fem!reader and use of y/n, slight mentions of blood and death

words: 13.7k

before you swing in: the final chapter ,,, my heart </3 please enjoy my child, i put so much into this chapter. action scenes scare me, they're hard and i'm weak, so i hope this lives up to everything you guys wanted n more ;) i cannot believe we're at the end (but i do have another chapter planned that's set in season 1, so shhhh). thank you so so so much for all your support. i never thought this silly lil fic would get that much attention, but i'm insanely flattered and grateful for each and every one of y'all. i'm so proud of what i've created and you guys are my beloveds ,,, anyways, enjoy !!!

You almost miss Jonathan and Nancy sneaking off.

You had been explaining a comic book that had been in your bag to El when you noticed a shift in your periphery. Turning your head, you see Jonathan stand, offer Nancy his hand to help her up, and then walk towards the main doors together.

What the fuck.

“They wouldn’t dare…” You excuse yourself and run out the gym and into the hallway to follow them, absolutely furious. You’re so sick of their bullshit, of Jonathan’s bullshit and putting Nancy first. This isn’t even a petty jealousy thing, this is about the years of friendship between the two of you that has just suddenly disappeared within a damn week all due to circumstances completely out of your control.

The slam of the main door is the only warning Jonathan gets before you’re yanking him by his coat and flinging him back, forcing him to look at you. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

You’ve never, ever yelled at him like this before. Not even earlier this week when he’d given you that bullshit apology after screaming at you for being in his room, for saying the two of you weren’t family. You didn’t yell at him for hiding Nancy’s pictures from you, for going off without you to find the monster. Despite everything, you’ve never been this cruel to him, even if he may have deserved it at times.

Jonathan’s wide eyes stare down at your hand that’s still clutched around his coat, frightened. “Bug, we were just–”

“Just what? Sneaking off without me?”

“It’s not like that, Y/N.” Nancy now steps in, her hands held up as if you’re some rabid dog she wants to calm down. “We just figured we’d help Joyce and Hopper.”

“‘We’? Are you fucking kidding me? You two talked about this, had an entire conversation, and still somehow came to the conclusion that ditching me was a great fucking idea?” You scoff, deeply hurt by the fact that the two of them had an entire conversation without thinking to include you in it.

“Bug, can we talk about this one on one?” Jonathan asks, his voice lowered. You can see the genuine upset in his eyes and for a moment your grip on him lessens, but then you see Nancy behind him and your anger only returns.

“No, we can discuss this right here.”

He sighs and tries to grab the hand not clutching his coat, but you slap it away. “Bug–”

“You’ve lost that privilege.”

“Bug–I mean, Y/N,” His voice falters. “Look, my mom and Hopper are out there right now trying to find Will while that monster is still out. Nance and I… We want to finish what we started.”

“Without me?” You don’t mean for it to happen, but your voice catches at the end.

Jonathan’s gaze softens and this time he succeeds in grabbing your hand. You let go of him and allow him to pull you in, weak against him as always. “I’m doing this to protect them, to protect you, Y/N. I’m always trying to protect you. You know that, right?”

You used to think that you did, but now? You’re not so sure, and it terrifies you.

Nancy has stepped away from the conversation, now kicking at rocks while you’re with Jonathan, and you can’t help but think about how wrong all of this feels.

Throughout this entire week it’s felt like someone has given you a photo of Jonathan, smeared its lines and edges, removed his moles and his crooked smile and made it neater, altered so that if you squint you can see the boy you grew up with underneath it all… But it’s fuzzy, almost too unclear to really see.

Now he’s standing in front of you, his smile once more crooked and cunning and his moles faded underneath the moonlight and for a second you can see him. There he is, clear and untouched and him in a way that’s never quite been yours.

“I know,” you tell him. “But how many more times do you expect me to forgive you for lying and ditching me? If you want to protect me, you need to talk to me.”

Jonathan winces. “I know, I know it sounds stupid and I know I’ve fucked up more than enough this week, I just get caught up in wanting to make sure you’re safe. It’d kill me if I let anything happen to you… I just, I can’t lose you, bug.”

“So pushing me away is your grand plan of keeping me?”

“I’ve always been an idiot.” He manages a smile, and you can’t help but laugh.

“That’s true, but if you attempt to ditch me one more time I swear to god I’ll pour tar all over your car.”

The boy laughs and for a brief moment everything feels okay again, but it doesn’t last very long. “In our defense, we figured you’d be better off with the kids since you’re not really a fighter, ya know?”

You drop his hand. “Excuse me?”

Jonathan’s smile is gone. “What?”

“I’m not really a fighter? You’re kidding, right?”

“Hey, no I didn’t mean it like that–” Jonathan fumbles over his words, clearly taken aback by your sudden mood change.

You step away from him. “How many times did I defend you against Lonnie? Better yet, remind me how we became friends in the first place. Wasn’t it because I threw milk at a bunch of idiots bullying you? Huh?”

“Y/N–”

“God, I can’t believe I almost let you get away with it again! I mean, do you even hear the bullshit that comes out of your mouth?” You deepen your voice, now doing a poor impersonation of him. “‘Hey, bug! You know I love you, right? Cool! Now, I’m gonna go do fuck all and ignore you and ditch you and then somehow turn it into me being a good guy because duh! I can never do any wrong!’”

“Please, just–”

“Did I get it right? It was a pretty good impersonation in my opinion. I mean, I am the one who has had to deal with this shit all fucking week. I think I'm an expert on this topic now.”

Jonathan looks pained but you don’t fucking care anymore. You’ve reached your limit, you’re sick and tired of being treated like some delicate creature that’s incapable of taking care of itself. You literally slapped Tommy Hagan this afternoon in order to help Jonathan, yet here he is basically calling you weak.

And yet Nancy is the fighter. She’s the one who gets to go along on the adventure while you’re sidelined because for some damn reason you’re always the second option. Never taking matters into your own hands, always the one left behind to clean up the mess and take care of those also discarded.

You’re sick of it.

You step closer to Jonathan again, so that you’re nose to nose, and whisper, “I’m tired of never being good enough.”

And with that, you reach into his coat and snatch up his keys, a game you’ve always played with him but now has turned into a bitter taste in your mouth, and run back into the gym. Someone has to inform the kids of the plan, make sure they’ll be okay on their own.

Dustin sees you approach and smiles, but when he notices the angry pace in your steps, he frowns. “Uh oh.”

“Yeah, uh oh.”

“Jonathan again?”

You nod, still too angry to trust your words. “Yeah.”

He notices the keys in your hand. “Where are you going?”

Mike and Lucas look over now, curious as to what’s happening.

You sigh. “I’m going with Nancy and Jonathan to the Byers house, we’re going to kill the monster.”

“Why the hell are you going?” Dustin exclaims while Mike shoutes “sick!” and Lucas mumbles “great, alone again”. El remains quiet, still resting.

You flick your brother’s hat. “I have to, Dustin.”

“For Jonathan?” He shakes his head. “I like him, but aren’t you mad at him right now?”

“Is it just me, or is she always mad at him these days?” Mike whispers over to Lucas, who simply shrugs.

“Girls, man.”

You ignore them and focus on Dustin. “It doesn’t matter. He needs my help, and no one in the party gets left behind. Remember?”

“Y/N–”

“I love you,” you kiss the top of his head. “I promise I’ll be safe, just be careful, okay? I’m putting you in charge, so don’t let me down. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll see you in a few hours tops!”

Dustin tries to argue some more, but you quickly run back outside before he can get another word in. You feel horrible leaving him behind, but you know this is the right decision. If you can kill the monster, there’s less of a chance of the kids or Joyce and Hopper getting hurt. Jonathan and Nancy may be fine on their own, but there’s always power in numbers and they’ll need all the help they can get.

You just… you have to help. You know this is what you’re supposed to be doing, even if it pains you to do so. Dustin and the kids are smart; as long as they stay at the school, they’ll be fine.

In theory, that is.

Nancy and Jonathan are waiting for you outside. You push past them and march towards Jonathan’s care; they awkwardly follow after you. You unlock it, throw yourself into the backseat, and promptly dig through your backpack to make sure you have everything.

The two teens get in a few minutes after you. Not one word is spoken as Jonathan starts the car and the three of you drive off, leaving Hawkins Middle behind.

–

You thought the car ride with Nancy and Jonathan from the funeral home had been tense, but this one? Downright painful.

Jonathan has a tight grip on the steering wheel and keeps trying to catch your eye through the rearview mirror but you avoid his gaze. You’ve spent the last five minutes arranging and rearranging your backpack to give you something to do while Nancy has tried three times to make conversation to make this car ride bearable.

“El seems nice.”

“You said four words to her, Nancy.” You retort, switching open your switchblade once more to watch the moonlight dance off of its blades.

“Right.”

Nancy shifts uncomfortably in the passenger seat. You know she realizes she’s once again upset the balance in your relationship with Jonathan. It was only an hour ago that she tried getting you to admit your feelings for him before convincing the boy to up and leave you. Sure, Jonathan made his own decision in the end, but damn. She could’ve at least pretended to want you around.

She notices your knives and tries to spark conversation again. “I love the color of the handle, it’s beautiful.”

“Thanks,” you switch the blades closed and sit up in your seat. “Anyways, you geniuses have a plan or were you just counting on ditching me and winging it from there?”

“Y/N–”

“No, Nancy. I insist, let’s talk about a plan. We’re here to kill a monster, right?”

She closes her mouth and frowns, turning to Jonathan for help, but he’s no use. He’s busy tapping his fingers against the wheel and praying that the world will just swallow him up whole. Too bad for him you’re a stubborn pain in the ass and would simply pluck him back up so you can torture him some more.

Nancy sighs. “Well, Jonathan and I were thinking we use the supplies we got earlier and lure the monster to his place, then we kill it.”

“Awesome plan, guys!” You say, your voice dripping with sickly sweetness that leaves them both feeling even more uncomfortable. “But may I suggest some actual details or shall we just bank off of this wonderfully dull and vague plan?”

“Sure, Y/N. Tell us what you had in mind.” Nancy rubs her face tiredly, knowing she deserves this.

“Great! I’m assuming we’re luring the monster with blood?” They nod at you, so you continue. “Okay, so before we lure it I think we should completely booby-trap Jonathan’s house. Nail the bear trap down onto the floor, make sure the floor is cleared of anything that could trip us up. Then, once we’ve got the house secured, we knick ourselves to draw some blood and pray to whatever god is up there that we can kill the thing.”

You pause for a moment, remembering how all the Christmas lights had been unscrewed by Joyce earlier. “The lights, we need to fix them. The monster communicates through the lights so if we have them, then we can track it.”

“That all sounds great, bug.” Jonathan finally speaks up, ass kissing.

“Thanks, pal. Still don’t have the bug privilege back, but I’m sure you simply forgot.”

He gulps, once more going back to being silent as he drives you and Nancy to his house.

Nancy again tries to diffuse the tension. “How do we even kill the monster though? I mean, will my bullets be enough?”

“I have this idea, but it’s… well, it’s out there.” You bite your lip, now feeling your cocky demeanor slipping. “If we can safely set fire to it, I think that’s our best bet.”

“Fire?” Jonathan exclaims, but Nancy shushes him.

“I think you’re right.”

“Y/N, I know you’re mad at me but do we really have to set fire to my house–”

Now it’s your turn to shush Jonathan. “This isn’t about that. I wouldn’t burn your house down, I already told you I’d just pour tar on your car whenever I get the chance. For now, I really do think the best thing to do is burn the monster alive. In every horror movie and book, fire always gets the job done.”

Despite herself, Nancy lets out a soft chuckle as Jonathan parks the car, now at his house. “She’s right, Jonathan. And who burns down houses these days? Tar really is the best form of revenge.”

“I’m flattered, Wheeler. At the rate you’re going, you’ll be off my shitlist in no time.” You tell her, patting her on the shoulder before getting out of the car. You quickly open up the trunk and gather the monster hunting supplies while Jonathan and Nancy take their time getting out.

You let yourself into the Byers home using your own key to the place. It’s been nestled in between the key to your house and the spare key to Jonathan’s car on your keychain for a few years now.

The first thing you get started on are the lights. There’s hundreds of them to get through, but you drop your supplies and begin screwing them in one by one. Nancy and Jonathan come in soon after and silently begin to help.

No conversation is made besides the necessary comments about the prep work. You’re all too focused on the possibility of what could happen next; the danger of the situation has finally set in. After the lights have all been fixed, you instruct Jonathan to begin nailing the bear trap down while you and Nancy discuss where to pour the gasoline. You both agree to make a path from the living room to Will’s room.

As Nancy pours the gasoline, you follow behind her and pick up any flammables. You weren't lying to Jonathan earlier, you really don’t want to burn his house down. While the house is wrecked, it’s still a home despite everything that’s happened in it. You practically grew up within its walls, you’d do anything to keep it as protected as possible.

When you’re done, you watch Nancy load her gun. A shiver runs down our spine; she looks at ease with it, which you figure should be reassuring, but the gravity of everything leaves you feeling on edge. You leave her alone and walk into the kitchen where Jonathan is, now hammering a ton of nails into his bat.

You begin to sharpen your blades next to him, still finding that you only feel secure by his side. The rhythmic sound of his hammering calms you, in a sense. It serves as a distraction. You know you insisted on coming, you don’t regret it and you know you’re stronger than everyone seems to give you credit for, but you’re also terrified. This isn’t just some adventure in the woods; this could kill the ones you love dearly.

Once you’re both done preparing your weapons, the two of you walk to Will’s room and rig up a simple snare. Jonathan grabs a yo-yo and you pull up a chair to set it on. The idea is that when the string gets pulled, it’ll alert you that the monster has sprung the bear trap. It’s not the most efficient warning system, but it’ll have to do.

The last thing to do is set the bear trap, which takes all three of you to achieve. Jonathan and Nancy hold down the edges with their body weight and you very carefully set the trap with your hand. You shake a bit as you do so, but you force your nerves down. You remind yourself that Jonathan thinks you’re too weak, too cowardly, you have to prove him wrong.

When the bear trap clicks into place, you let out a harsh exhale and sink against the wall, your heart still pounding. Jonathan and Nancy copy you and the three of you sit in silence. You’re still shaking a bit, and Jonathan is next to you just as tense, but for the first time since you’ve met him you can’t reach out to grab his hand to steady yourself. He’s too far, both literally and figuratively. Even with him next to you, you couldn’t be more far apart.

In the back of your mind, you hope the kids are alright. Hopefully they’re having a better night than you currently are.

“C’mon,” you say after a few minutes, getting up to walk over to the living room. “We’ve done all we can, now we just have to draw some blood and be the prettiest bait in Hawkins.”

–

Nancy and Jonathan decide to cut the palm of their hands, but you respectfully would rather die than have a matching scar with them. The idea makes you so uncomfortable you visibly cringe when Jonathan tells you the idea. “Yeah, no thanks. I think I’ll find somewhere else to cut.”

He looks hurt by what you’ve said but doesn’t voice it. Instead, the three of you stand in the living room in a triangle facing each other and he begins reciting the plan. “Remember…”

Nancy goes first. “Straight into Will’s room and–”

“Don’t step on the trap.” You finish.

Jonathan nods. “And then?”

“Wait for the yo-yo to move.” The girl says.

“Then…” Jonathan flicks the lighter on.

You whistle low. “Let there be light…”

“Right. Light.” The boy nods again. “Alright, we ready?”

“Ready.”

“Scar time.”

Jonathan and Nancy bring their hands up and place their knives flat against their palms. You roll up your sleeve and place your own knife against the upper part of your arm, just below your shoulder, and take a deep breath.

“On three,” Jonathan says. He begins counting and you all can’t seem to stop shaking. He senses your unease and looks up at you and Nancy. “You guys don’t have to do this.”

Nancy glares at him, her own voice shaky. “Jonathan, stop talking.”

You nod. “Yeah, what she said.”

Jonathan tries to argue, but Nancy squeezes her eyes shut and yells, “Three!”

You close your own eyes and slice at your arm, the pain immediate. You gasp out, never having been good with pain, but you know you have to do this for Will. The blood trails down your arm, dripping from your elbow onto the ground, and you watch as blood from Jonathan’s and Nancy’s own cuts falls onto the ground too.

Well, at least it’ll be an easy scar to hide compared to theirs.

“Fuck, that stings.” You say to break the silence, and Nancy nods her head in agreement.

“Not the most pleasant feeling.”

Jonathan guides the two of you over to the couch and grabs the first aid kit that you had prepared on the coffee table. He sits in the middle, leaving room for both you and Nancy on each side of him, but you’re still pissed at him and opt to sit on the floor in front of the couch.

Nancy begins to patch up his wound, and it takes everything within you not to reach over and help him yourself. It feels unnatural to watch someone else taking care of him, but the space between you still feels too vast to cross.

You patch up your own cut while the two of them talk quietly. You wind a bandage tight around your arm, ensuring you won’t bleed through, and Jonathan watches above you with guilt in his eyes. Nancy is trying to reassure him that everything will be okay, but as he watches you struggle to tie the bandage he wonders if he’s fucked up more than just your friendship.

“Bug, let me help with that.” He leans down and ties your bandage before you can stop him.

You glare at him, still having not said anything to Jonathan besides what was needed for preparation. Nancy distracts herself by cleaning up around his cut and your stomach twists into knots. This is all so miserable.

“Y/N, I know you’re upset with me and you can go whenever. I won’t blame you, you’ve done enough for me.” Jonathan says, trying to catch your eye.

You turn away and inspect your bandage, still reeling over the fact that he tied it for you. “I’m here for Will, and only Will.”

“Y/N…” There’s a hurt in his voice that almost makes you turn around to throw your arms around his neck and whisper a million apologies to him. To tell him everything, that you love him and that you’d do anything for him and that’s why you’re so terrified of how you feel. You know you’d burn yourself up if it meant he’d be taken care of, if it meant he was safe and happy and far away from anything that could harm him. You know you’d use up everything within you to love him.

Instead, you remain silent.

After getting no response from you, Jonathan clears his throat and begins to say something about how the lights will serve as an alarm for the monster, trying to pretend that everything is okay, but he’s cut off by a sudden pounding on the door.

You all jump and your fingers tighten around your switchblade, ready to open it. As your heart pounds you think of all the possible ways the plan could go wrong. When you’re on possibility number twelve, a voice calls through the door.

“Jonathan?”

“Is that… Steve?” You say out loud, in complete disbelief.

Steve continues to pound on the door. “Are you there, man? It’s… It’s Steve! Listen, I just wanna talk!”

You’re the first to react, standing up to run over to the door. You fling it open and step outside, making sure Steve won’t be able to see inside the house. When he sees you, he stumbles back a bit. “Henderson?”

His face is still bleeding from earlier and his hair is a mess, and yet there’s a softness to him that you haven’t seen before with him. “Steve, now isn’t really a good time.”

“Can I just talk to Jonathan real quick? I just… I want to apologize about what happened earlier, see if we can maybe–” His eyes land on your bandaged arm. You curse and roll down your sleeve, feeling like an idiot for forgetting to hide the wound before going outside.

Steve reaches out to touch it, a hint of worry on his face and his voice is now full of concern. “Hey, are you okay?”

You shiver at his touch, it’s gentle as he skims along the bandage and inspects it for any other problems. You pull away, now hiding the wound. “It’s nothing, but you should really go.”

“I want to help you, Y/N. Do you need me to get you anything?” His face is so full of worry for you that it makes you ache. Then a thought occurs to him. “Wait, where’s Byers? Why isn’t he here to help you?”

You’re about to make up a lie, but Nancy flings the door open. “Steve, listen to me.”

He looks between the two of you in complete shock. “Okay, what–”

“You need to leave.” Nancy orders.

Steve looks at you. “I’m not trying to start anything, okay?”

“I know, but–” You get cut off by Nancy.

“I don’t care about that. You need to leave.”

Steve begins to plead with the girl and you step away a bit, not wanting to intrude. You feel bad for him, he looks so beat down by what’s happened today and you suppose that you can’t really blame him. After spending maybe a total of ten hours with Nancy and Jonathan, you also have come close to losing your mind.

If you were with Jonathan, if you truly had him, you’d react the same as Steve. Begging for the girl he loves to listen to him, to give him another chance with the promise of him changing.

“I just want to make things right.” Steve says, impressing you with his vulnerability. He’s openly admitting to his mistakes and taking accountability mere hours after the situation has occurred, leaving you both in awe of him and also saddened for him. He loves Nancy more than anything, you can hear it in his voice.

He deserves better.

As you’re thinking this, you see his eyes flicker down towards Nancy’s bandaged hand and his brows furrow. “What happened to your hand? Is that blood?” His eyes now flicker over to you again. “Why are you both hurt?”

“We’re clumsy?” You say as Nancy yanks her hand away from Steve.

“It was an accident.” She agrees.

Steve looks between the two of you, now sensing that something else is wrong. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing!” Nancy insists, but something in Steve’s demeanor shifts.

“Wait a second, did he do this to you? To Y/N?” His once soft voice is now filled with anger and you step in front of him.

“Steve, it wasn’t Jonathan. You need to go, I promise I’ll explain everything later–”

He grabs you by your side and gently moves you so that he can get past and shove through the door. Nancy yells at him to stop and tries to push him out, but she’s useless against his strength. When he manages to break in, he stumbles inside and scans over the house.

“Shit!” You follow after him, your brain running a million miles a second trying to figure out how to explain everything to him.

“What the fuck?” Steve mumbles, eyeing the bat with nails in it. “Y/N, what’s going on here?”

He’s looking to you for reassurance and you guess he assumes that the two of you are allies in this Jonathan and Nancy situation. You really wish you could explain, but Jonathan has grabbed him by the shoulders and is trying to push him outside. The two stumble around for a few seconds and you just helplessly watch.

“Steve, there’s no time to explain, please just listen to Jonathan and get out of here!” You’re helping Jonathan now, trying to get Steve out the door and away from harm’s reach, but he’s still fighting back confused and lost as ever and you pity him.

You hear a click and turn around, gasping when you see Nancy holding her gun up to Steve. “Woah, what the fuck Nancy?”

“What! What is going on?” Steve yells, now more panicked than anything else.

While Jonathan has stepped away, you find yourself standing in front of Steve as if to somehow block the bullet. You can’t let him get hurt, he doesn’t have any part of this, he can still have a normal and happy life if he just leaves now. “Nancy, put the fucking gun down, this isn’t helping!”

Steve pleads with her as well and the two of you scream at the girl to just listen and not swing around loaded weapons, but Nancy remains firm in her stance. “You have five seconds to get out of here. I’m doing this for you.”

“Because holding a gun to his head is any better than telling him the truth?” You exclaim, entirely over the situation.

As the four of you are arguing, the lights begin to flicker. Steve and Nancy don’t seem to notice, but you do. You look at Jonathan and say your first real words to him in hours. “Jonathan…”

He hears you and he runs over to your side, grabbing your hand as the two of you stand shoulder to shoulder. You feel your heartbeat race and you can feel him shaking beside you. He’s terrified, so are you, but his hand around yours manages to steady you.

“Nancy!” Jonathan tries to get the girl’s attention, but she’s too busy counting down to hear him.

He shouts at her again and the lights start to flicker more wildly and you draw your switchblade out, adrenaline coursing through you. It’s time.

Jonathan yells once more and finally catches Nancy’s attention. “The lights!”

She whips her head around and curses, Jonathan, still tightly holding your hand, tugs you along so that you follow him as he secures his weapons and grabs the bat. “It’s here.”

“What’s here?” Steve is flailing around, utterly lost.

You all ignore him and now stand back to back in a triangle. Nancy holds up her gun, Jonathan wields his bat, and you flick your wrist to bring out your knives. “Where is it?”

“I don’t know!”

The lights flicker rapidly and you feel overwhelmed. They were supposed to serve as a guide towards the monster, but there's no possible way to see which direction it’ll come from and for a fleeting moment you think you’ve made a huge mistake.

Steve is still screaming, demanding answers, but you’re too busy scanning your surroundings to offer him some information. “Hello? Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going–”

The roof opens up, cutting Steve off, and you scream as the monster attempts to come down right above you. Jonathan shields you from the fallen debris and you cling onto him in utter fear. This isn’t real. This cannot be happening.

Nancy begins to shoot at the thing while Jonathan guides you to safety. He brings you to the edge of the living room and holds your face in his hands, forcing you to really look at him for the first time all night. “Listen to me, stay here while I get Nancy.”

He kisses your forehead and then leaves, rushing over to Nancy to pull her away and guide her towards Will’s room. Steve stands next to you, frozen, and it forces you back to reality. The plan, you have to stick to the plan.

You grab Steve’s hand and yank him so that he follows. The monster has dropped down now, a horrible creature on all fours that opens its gaping mouth to let out a horrible screech that you feel deep within your bones. This is what killed Barb.

The four of you run to Will’s room and you only just barely have enough time to warn Steve about the bear trap. You look over your shoulder and shout, “Jump!” right as your ankle catches on its chains.

You fall. Hard.

Pain sears through your ankle and you try to get up, but any pressure on it sends flames through your entire body and you let out another scream. The monster catches up, looming over you, and you brace for your death. There’s no fucking way you’re getting out of this.

You squeeze your eyes as the monster stalks close to you, its ugly mouth open and ready to kill you. Jonathan is screaming at you to get up, but Nancy is holding him back from helping. You’re relieved by this, knowing that someone has to be there for Will once this is all done. He’ll need his brother, and Nancy seems to understand this. You catch her eye and nod at her, sending a silent thank you.

“Bug! No, let go of me! I have to help her, Nancy!” Jonathan’s voice becomes hoarse by how loud he screams, his voice breaking with fear and desperation.

Then, right before the monster lunges at you, you feel a familiar pair of arms slide underneath your legs and pick you up. “What–”

Steve Harrington has swooped in to save you, picking you up as if you weigh nothing, ever the athlete, and swiftly jumps over the bear trap while screaming his head off. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!”

You’re so delirious from the pain in your ankle and the adrenaline pumping through your veins that you can’t help but let a laugh escape you. No fucking way is any of this real. Steve Harrington is carrying you bridal style into Will’s bedroom with Jonathan and Nancy as witnesses.

What a life.

Once you’re both secured in the room, Steve sets you down gently right as Nancy yells at him to shut up. As soon as Steve lets go of you, Jonathan is at your side and pulls you into a crushing hug.

“Bug.” He breathes out against your ear, relief heavy.

“I’m okay.” You tell him, threading your fingers through his hair. He’s shaking harder than ever, and holding onto you as if he’s scared he’ll lose you again. “I’m okay, bee.”

He pulls away and his hands are all over you, checking everywhere for any other injuries. “Did it hurt you, are you bleeding? There should be a first aid kit–”

You grab his hands and kiss his knuckles, which seems to calm him down a bit. “I’m fine, just twisted my ankle. If you help me up, I’m sure I’ll be able to stand again.”

Jonathan quickly helps you to your feet and you lean against him for the extra support. While you put on a brave face for Jonathan, you’re terrified out of your fucking mind. You almost died. Jonathan is still holding your hand and he’s looking at you as if seeing you for the first time and you force yourself to look away. It’s the same look from the field days ago, when you thought he’d kiss you.

You have to focus on what’s at stake.

How the hell are you guys supposed to kill this thing?

The monster screeches, breaking the moment between you and Jonathan, and he flicks his lighter on and forces you to stand behind him. Nancy holds up her gun and you bring your knives closer to your face, Steve standing weaponless behind you.

You all wait, tense, for the monster. It stalks closer to the room, its awful growls alerting you of its proximity, but it doesn’t appear.

“What’s it doing?” Nancy asks, frustrated.

“I don’t know.” You respond, equally as frustrated and scared.

Another few agonizing seconds pass, and you stare at the yo-yo and hope that it remains still. Then, the lights stop flickering and it becomes quiet. All you can hear is your blood roaring in your ears.

Nancy looks around. “Do you hear anything?”

“No,” Jonathan shakes his head, inching closer to the door.

“Wait!” You tug at your still interlocked hands. You pick up his bat that had been thrown on the ground and hand it to him. “Be careful. Please.”

He gives your hand one last squeeze before letting go, accepting the bat.

As Jonathan pokes his head out to see if the monster is outside, Steve bends his head down and whispers in your ear, “Romantic.”

“Shut. Up.” You hit him in the chest, fearfully watching your best friend to make sure he doesn't die. When he motions an all clear, Nancy follows him outside, then you, then Steve.

The house is silent and your heart sinks when you see that the bear trap has been left untouched. You realize with a horrible gut wrench that the monster is smarter than the three of you had anticipated.

So much for your plan, then.

“It’s smarter than we thought.”

“Yeah,” Jonathan agrees with dismay.

He stalks against the wall towards the living room and you all follow in a single file line. You do your best to stick close to the wall but you limp with every step. Your ankle is definitely out of commission for now. Great.

All of you are on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It couldn’t have been that easy, there’s no possible way that the monster simply up and left. You enter the living room, which has gotten even more wrecked due the monster. The wallpaper has been torn off of some parts of the wall and you see papers scattered everywhere.

“Shit…” you mumble, kicking at a shredded wallpaper strip.

In the corner, Steve has started to hyperventilate and mumble to himself. “This is crazy, this is so crazy, this is fucking crazy.”

You limp over to him and grab his shoulders, making him face you. “Steve, hey. It’s okay, I’m here.”

“Y/N, what the hell just happened?”

“It’s… complicated. For now, can you trust me that everything will be okay?”

“Of course I trust you, it’s just…” He nods, his eyes softening. You lessen your hold on him and give him a smile, he seems to be calming down. Then, he looks around the room and seemingly remembers where he is. “This is crazy!”

Steve lunges for the phone on the wall and tries to call for help.

You stumble after him, the pain in your ankle slowing you down. “Steve, wait–”

Nancy gets to him first, grabbing the phone out of his hand and throwing it across the room. He looks at her, shocked. “What are you doing? Are you insane?”

“It’s going to come back!” Nancy yells at him, and you wince at the way she treats him. You know Steve will only listen to her, but she could at least be nicer about the whole situation. The three of you have had some time to process everything happening, Steve was thrown into the deep end.

“You could be a little nicer,” you mumble, and Nancy sends you a glare. You raise your hands up in surrender. “Sorry.”

“Steve, you need to leave. Right now.”

He looks so overwhelmed and you give him a pitying look. He stares at you, reminiscent of the way he looked at you earlier in the alley, silently begging you to say something, anything, but again you can only shake your head at him. You won’t force him to stay, it wouldn’t be fair.

“Y/N, please…” He tries one more time to get you on his side, but you can’t. Frustrated by your lack of response, Steve groans. “Fuck it!”

He runs out the door.

You’ll admit that you’re a bit disappointed, but you also understand. Who in their right mind would stay?

You and Nancy share a look before the lights begin to flicker again. Dread fills you. “Fuck…”

Jonathan is back by your side and he and Nancy again form a triangle with you, all your backs pressed together as you desperately try to locate the monster. You all stumble in a circle, searching for any sign of the thing, but there’s nothing.

“Where is it?” Nancy gasps out.

“Just fucking show yourself!” You shout, just wanting this all to be over with. Your body is drained from living in a state of fear for so long.

“Come on you son of a bitch!” Jonathan echoes your taunts.

Suddenly the lights turn off and you’re left alone in complete darkness. Faintly you can hear the monster’s familiar growl approaching from behind you. The hair on the back of your neck stands up, the air stands still. It’s back. Before you can react, it pounces on Jonathan.

“Jonathan!” You scream alongside Nancy. Desperation takes over you and before you can even process what’s happening, you ignore the pain in your ankle and jump onto its back, stabbing repeatedly at it.

Your blades only bounce off of its thick skin and the monster struggles to get you off. You hold on as tight as you can, shouting and kicking at it so that it can’t hurt him, but then it opens its mouth and for a horrifying moment you’re afraid that Jonathan will die.

“No!” You scream even louder than before and double down on your effort, stabbing and slashing as much as you possibly can to try and create some damage, but your arms are starting to ache and your ankle now feels like it’s on fire.

“Nancy, its skin is too thick!” You sob out, nearing complete exhaustion. Then, just as you’re about to collapse from exhaustion, gunshots fill the room.

Nancy begins to shoot at the monster and with the help of your blades, the two of you manage to pierce its skin, but even then the damage is minimal. It’s not enough, it won’t be enough. Tears stream down your face and the monster only gets closer to Jonathan, so you do the only thing you can think of: you crawl onto the top of its body and stab at its mouth.

The monster lets out a blood curdling scream and flings you off of its back. You go flying across the room and land against the wall with a groan. All the air has been knocked out of you and your ribs are definitely going to be bruised tomorrow. Every part of you aches, but you manage to lift your head up and blearily process the monster now approaching Nancy as she continues to shoot at it, but it remains unphased.

You crawl over to Jonathan, who is still laying on the ground. He’s motionless, and you fight everything within you not to break down and sob. You have to keep going, he has to be alive. As you reach Jonathan and frantically check for a pulse, the monster has now cornered Nancy and her gun seems to be out of bullets.

It’s over. You know it is.

Right as you’ve accepted your fate, a screaming Steve Harrington wielding Jonathan’s bat once again manages to save the day.

He hits the monster with the bat, effectively saving Nancy and you’re so impressed with his batting skills that you almost find him attractive with how easily he hits and dodges the monster. However, you file those thoughts away for later and finally manage to wake Jonathan up. He startles with a gasp and you check over his chest, scared he may have gotten pierced by the monster’s claws.

“I’m fine, we need to help.”

You help each other up and you have to lean heavily against him due to your ankle. You bull riding the monster has only made the sprain worse; you’re too afraid to look down and see the damage that’s been done.

As the two of you hobble over to Nancy, Jonathan looks at you. “Is Harrington really here right now?”

“Yes.”

“Lovely.”

Steve manages to lure the monster closer and closer to the bear trap and you watch him in awe. He’s quick footed and so sure of himself, the complete opposite of the boy from only ten minutes ago who had run out of the house screaming his head off. Now, Steve is swift with his hits and even twirls the bat in his hand to show off. The small act causes you to smile despite the horrible circumstances.

By the time you and Jonathan are up and recovered, Steve has successfully led the monster straight into the trap. It clamps around the monster’s foot and it screeches, flailing around in the trap. Steve still has his bat held up, now frantically looking over to everyone else. “He’s in the trap! He’s stuck!”

“Jonathan, now!” Nancy screams, motioning over at him to use his lighter.

Jonathan listens, using his free hand to flick the lighter on and then drops it onto the ground, right into the trail of gasoline. Immediately the monster goes up in flames, letting out horrible noises. You all shield your faces from the flames and Jonathan pulls you closer into him, still having yet to let go of you; you feel yourself sink into his side as you watch the monster wither away.

“Bug, I have to get the fire extinguisher, do you think you can stand on your own?” Jonathan asks you, his voice soft but urgent.

You quickly nod and brace yourself for his departure. “Yeah, go.”

He lets go of you as gently as possible before running to grab the extinguisher. When he has it, he orders everyone to get back and then smothers the flames. It takes a couple seconds, but eventually the fire gets put out, leaving behind an awful stench that makes everyone cough and gag.

“Holy fuck,” you wheeze out, hunched over. “Burnt monster smells horrible.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Steve coughs out.

Nancy covers her face with her jacket. “Where did it go?”

“It has to be dead.” Jonathan pants against the wall, looking like he’s three seconds away from passing out. “It has to be.”

“It fucking better be dead.” You mumble, hobbling closer to see what exactly was left behind. When you get closer and see the giant lump of melted skin all over the bear trap, you gag. “Oh god. Yeah, okay. It’s dead.”

Everyone sighs with relief.

Then, you notice a Christmas light above you flicker on. Your heart stops, terrified that the monster has somehow survived, but then a second one turns on, then a third, until a path seems to be guiding you towards the living room.

You all follow, cautious but curious, but these lights don’t feel threatening. There’s an energy to them, a comforting one that leaves you breathless. When you get to the living room, tears form in your eyes, now understanding what this all is. You look at Jonathan, who also seems to be thinking what you are.

It’s Joyce, you know it is.

“Mom,” he breathes out.

You limp over to him and grab his hand. He turns to you, his eyes shining with an appreciation that he only ever has for you. He seems to be drinking you in, as if now realizing just how close the two of you came to dying tonight. You’re doing the same, thankful that he’s alive and standing next to you despite everything. There’s so much the two of you want to say, but as always the words aren’t needed. You understand each other perfectly, the balance between you centered once more.

You put your head on Jonathan’s shoulder and he brings his hand to your hair to softly stroke it. The two of you stand like that for a second, breathing each other in and enjoying the tenderness after such a miserable day, before you slowly break apart and follow the lights going outside.

The porch light flickers and Nancy stands next to you, watching it with uncertainty. “Where’s it going?”

“I don’t think it’s the monster.” Jonathan tells her.

“It’s Will.” You don’t know how you know this, or what makes you feel so certain that you’re right, but somehow you know that you are. Somewhere deep within you, you feel the faint outline of hope flicker.

A new silence surrounds the four of you at your words, and for once there’s hope between you all. Then, after a minute or so of silence, everyone begins to head back inside. Steve first, then Nancy, and finally Jonathan, leaving you alone with the crisp early winter air.

You take a deep breath, the cold air serving as a reminder that you’re alive. You let it fill your lungs until you can’t breathe in anymore, then you release the air through an exhale and feel your body settle into its exhaustion. This is the first time you’ve had a moment to yourself, so you let the exhaustion weigh upon you like a warm blanket.

Will is safe, you can feel it. Despite everything, he’s safe and alive. Jonathan is too, still your best friend regardless of all the unspoken words between the two of you. Dustin is at the school with the kids, away from danger. Everything is okay, it’ll be okay.

You let the moment wash over you, incredibly grateful to be lucky enough to have survived it all. Everyone you love and hold close to you is safe. You didn’t fuck up this time. God, you did it.

Jonathan comes running out after a while, his face alight with joy and he crashes into you and picks you up to twirl you around. You laugh, loud and freely, and bury your face in his hair as he continues. “Bee, stop! Put me down, you dummy!”

He does as he’s told, but doesn’t let go of you once your feet are on the ground. “My mom just called, they saved Will. He–he’s in the hospital, he’s okay.”

You squeal and throw your arms around Jonathan again, squeezing him so hard that you’re afraid you'll hurt him, but he simply laughs and squeezes you just as tight. Tears come again, but this time they’re happy ones, and if it weren’t for your ankle you’d be jumping up and down right now.

Jonathan’s laughter dies down and he cups your chin around his fingers so that you look up at him. “You did it.”

“We did it, bug.” You softly push against him. You can’t take all the credit.

His eyes are shining again, you haven’t seen him this happy in so long, you get lost in it. His face is lit up and his smile is back and you’re so in love with him that it claws against your throat and threatens to spill out in excess.

A beat of silence passes and Jonathan just soaks your presence in. You can’t quite read his face, but for once this doesn’t frighten you. You enjoy it, you relish in the fact that he’s still yours yet now forming into someone new and lovely and wonderful.

“You never gave up.” He whispers at last, adoration in his voice.

“Never.”

“You never left me.”

“Never.” You breathe out, the word so simple with such heavy weight behind it.

The moment is so raw, so tender, and Jonathan is giving you that look again, the one that leaves you feeling like the sun itself has settled upon you and kissed your cheek. His eyes flick down to your lips and you smile, taunting him to lean in. He seems to understand, giving you his own teasing smile before leaning in. You lean in as well, every part of you buzzing, and right before your lips touch his, Steve bursts through the door.

“Jonathan, dude, do you have like, any food in the house?” He asks, completely oblivious to what he’s just interrupted.

You and Jonathan break apart, laughing the tension away. He ducks his head down, clears his throat, and turns to Steve. “Sorry, man. Been a little busy this week for grocery shopping.”

Steve’s eyes bulge out of his head. “Oh shit, right. Sorry, okay. Uh… Well, I’ll be inside, I guess.”

“We’ll be in shortly.” You tell Steve. You want to be frustrated by his timing, but something tells you that you’ll have all the time in the world to tell Jonathan how you feel. Now just isn’t the time.

–

The moment you arrive at the hospital, Jonathan sprints out of the car and straight towards the front desk to find out where Will is. You and Nancy follow behind, figuring you won’t be able to see Will for a while since you’re not blood related, so the two of you wish Jonathan goodbye and head towards the waiting room.

Steve lags behind, obviously unsure where to go. Nancy immediately walks inside, but you notice his hesitation and nudge his shoulder. “I’m sure that the cut on your eyebrow needs to be looked out. Let’s go sit, okay?”

He sighs deeply. “Yeah, sure. Totally. Let’s go sit in a room full of people who probably hate me. No biggie.”

“Either come or don’t.” You shrug. “But the way I see it, you can start mending some metaphorical wounds while you wait in there.”

You don’t wait for Steve to figure out what to do, you know that Dustin is somewhere inside the waiting room and you’re buzzing to see him and the rest of the kids. You hobble inside, still very much in pain due to your injuries, but the moment you see your brother it all fades away.

He runs into your arms and almost knocks you down with the force. Dustin clings onto you, mumbling over and over again how sorry he is.

“Hey, wait a second,” you pull him away and crouch down, groaning a bit at the pain. “What are you sorry about? What happened?”

You look around the room and see everyone there. Nancy, Hopper, the kids, Steve, even Nancy’s parents, but there’s someone missing…

“El,” you breathe out.

Dustin’s lip trembles and he begins to cry. You soothe him, grabbing his hand to bring him over to the seats and sit between him and Mike. Lucas is to the left of Dustin and you can’t help but notice how all the boys have dried tears in their eyes.

When they’re ready, you have the kids explain what happened, and the more they tell you, the more guilty you feel. You should’ve been there for them, you left them all alone with that monster. You got Will back, and yet you’ve lost El as a result. It seems that no matter what you do, it’ll never quite be enough in the end.

“It’s not your fault.” You tell Dustin, who still keeps apologizing. It was you who had left him in charge, you’re why El ended up vanquished by the monster. “You did everything you could. I shouldn’t have left you guys all alone, but I’m proud that you all took care of one another, okay?”

He sniffs and nods his head, but you know he doesn’t believe you. All the boys are somber; you know it’ll take time for them to recover. So, you do what you do best, you console them. You hold their hands and rub their backs and offer your spare comics in your bag. You do whatever you can to comfort them, to reassure them that they’re safe now and that no one will hurt them, but the light in their eyes has dimmed.

They’ll never be the same again.

And El… she had been so young, you don’t think you’ll ever not feel the heavy weight of guilt whenever you think of her. She had been so sweet and had trusted you.

You should’ve been there, you wish you could’ve saved her.

Steve watches from his seat across from you. He listens in as you comfort the boys, taking care of them in such a natural way. He admires this softer side of you, one he hasn’t quite seen before. Sure, you’ve always been gentle and sincere, but watching you with the kids is something special in itself. You manage to get them to laugh, you offer them your shoulder to cry or sleep on, and you read aloud to them stories from your comics and Steve finds himself drawn towards your interactions with the kids.

It’s sweet, something delicate and lovely, and Steve admires everything that you are. When he sees you awkwardly stand up and stumble over to the vending machines in the hall, Steve finds himself following after you.

“Bitch!” You slam the palm of your hand against the vending machine in vain. The bag of chips hangs by the little spiral, taunting you.

“That’s not a very nice word, Henderson.”

You turn and see Steve, leaning against the wall with a fond expression. “You stalking me?”

“Nah, just wanted to watch you fight against a vending machine.”

“Ha,” you snort, turning back to the machine. “Unless you can help me get this last chip bag, you’re free to go sit back down.”

You mean it to be a joke, not expecting Steve to actually listen, but he’s at your side within a second. “Step back, let Steve handle her.”

“What–”

Steve motions for you to move, so you reluctantly do as you’re told. Once you’re out of the way, Steve claps his hands, stretches out his neck, and then begins to aggressively shake the vending machine.

“That is so not what you’re supposed to do–”

Suddenly the bag drops down from the hook and into the retrieval slot. Steve reaches inside, grabs the bag, and then dangles it in the air. “Tada!”

You laugh and grab the bag from him. “Okay, I’ll admit, that was impressive.”

“What can I say? I’m charming like that.”

“Sure,” you smile at him, neither of you have moved yet. He’s still standing in front of you with that cocky smile on his face that’s slowly started to warm on you. You truly do understand why so many girls have fallen for him. If you ever saw Steve on the street, a stranger passing by, you’d fall a little bit in love with him yourself.

The thought startles you. “Well, uh…”

“Yes?” Steve raises his eyebrows at you, smiling.

“Thank you for the chips. The kids haven’t eaten anything in hours, so…” You wave the three bags in your arms. “Gotta keep 'em fed.”

“Wait a second, there’s only three bags there. Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

“I only had enough money for the boy’s chips.” You say, feeling suddenly sheepish. “It’s fine, though. I’ll just eat a few pieces from them and wait until we get home.”

Steve scoffs. “Yeah, no.”

You frown at him, confused as he rustles through his jean pocket and pulls out his wallet. “I don’t want your money–”

He doesn’t listen and simply puts the cash into the vending machine and punches in a few numbers. Slowly, one by one, multiple different bags of sweets and chips come falling down within the machine. Once the last one has dropped, Steve bends down and offers the huge stash to you.

“A feast, on me.” He winks at you and you can’t help but blush.

“T–thanks, I guess.” You now carefully balance the rest of the snacks in your arms, the mound almost blocking your view. You’re not sure how much Steve just paid, but with all these snacks you and the kids will surely be well fed.

Steve shrugs, and if you weren’t so tired you’d think the blush on his face was a real one. “It’s the least I can do, all things considered.”

His words give you pause. You know he’s referencing earlier today, back in the alley where fists slammed against skin and he had dragged you away from your best friend, but the memory feels like years ago. So much has happened since then, Steve has saved your life since then.

“Steve…” Your ankle is starting to sting again from standing for so long, so you adjust your footing and try to figure out what you want to say. “I never got to thank you back at Jonathan’s.”

“Thank me?” His face scrunches in confusion in a sickeningly cute way that it almost distracts you.

“Yes. You saved my life tonight, Steve. I won’t ever forget that.”

“Oh…There’s no need to thank me. I mean, what are friends for?” Steve freezes and clears his throat. “I mean, shit. We aren’t friends, you keep saying that. Sorry. You know what I mean.”

You know you shouldn’t, but you laugh. Honestly, after everything you’ve been through tonight with Steve, how can he possibly think the two of you aren’t friends?

“Why are you laughing?” Steve mumbles, confused.

“Sorry,” you wheeze out, still uncontrollably laughing. “It’s just–I mean, dude! We almost died together, of course we’re friends now!”

“We are?” He looks like a little kid on Christmas day being given the gift he’s always wanted.

Your heart warms. “Yes, idiot.”

Steve starts moving around in what you can only guess is a happy dance. “Sweet! Does this mean I get a cool nickname, too?”

“A nickname?” A bag of chips threatens to fall from your arms, but Steve catches it before it can land on the ground and takes a few more snacks off of your hands.

He readjusts the snacks he now has so that he can carry them easier. “Yeah, I mean. Byers has one, why can’t I?”

You don’t think you’ll ever stop feeling so thrown every time Steve mentions a small detail about you that he’s somehow come to notice. He has a habit of doing that, surprising you by how much he seems to pay attention to you. You thought that no one ever had before, but Steve continues to prove you wrong.

“I’ll tell ya what,” you begin to walk back towards the waiting room, careful to step carefully to not drop anything or upset your ankle. “Let’s see how this ‘friends’ thing works out, then I’ll decide what nickname fits you best. Deal?”

Steve thinks for a moment and follows. “Hmm. I don’t know, I think I’ll need some type of precaution to make sure you give me a nickname in the end. I want one, Y/N. I’m so serious right now.”

You laugh at his pleading tone. “I can add you to my baking list. Whatever I bake, you’ll get a piece of it. Is that better?”

“God, yes!” Steve punches the air and cheers.

You’re smiling so much that your face aches. You haven’t felt this light and carefree in so long, you’d almost forgotten what it’s like. The two of you don’t say anything else as you walk back to the waiting room, though Steve seems to slow down so that you don’t hurt your ankle keeping up, though you still let out a few winces and groans.

When you’ve arrived back at your seat, Steve sets down the snacks and runs off without another word. You’re confused by his sudden departure but don’t think much of it. Instead, you wake the boys up and show them your array of snacks, which wakes them up immediately.

You’re mediating a fight between Mike and Lucas over who gets the bag of Chips Ahoy when a nurse interrupts. “Excuse me, ma’am. This young man over here told me I should come over and check out your ankle?”

The woman smiles and you look past her and see Steve sheepishly waving from his seat across from you. You’re stunned. Had he really gone out of his way to ensure your ankle gets treated?

You shake the thoughts out of your head and inform the woman all she needs to know. You tell her how you’d fallen and what type of pain you feel when you stand up. She inspects the ankle, her fingers cold but kind, and within a few minutes has diagnosed you with a sprained ankle.

“All you can really do is stay off of it for a few weeks while it heals. I can go and get you some crutches, if you’d like?” She asks, rolling her gloves off and tucking them back into her pocket.

You nod. “If you wouldn’t mind, that’d be great.”

The nurse leaves with the promise of being back soon. In the meantime she instructs you to keep your ankle elevated, so you prop it against the coffee table and wait. You’re annoyed that you even have to have crutches, but then you think of Barb, of El. You’re luckier than you should be.

–

After an hour or so, Jonathan opens the door to the waiting room. He spots you and Mike talking softly with each other and whistles over to catch your attention. When Mike looks up, Jonathan nods at him and the boy scrambles out of his seat.

“Guys! Guys! He’s up, Will is up!” Mike shakes awake Lucas and Dustin, who had been cuddling on the seats fast asleep. “Will’s up!”

Once they’re awake, they quickly follow after Mike and the three boys are gone in an instant, sprinting down the hall towards Will’s room. Clearly they’re eager to see their friend.

You do your best to get up as fast as possible, but your new crutches serve more as a nuisance rather than an aid. As you struggle to get up, somehow knocking over the mountain of snacks, Steve rushes over.

He grabs the crutches and offers you his hand. “Here, careful.”

“Thanks,” you awkwardly accept his hand and get up. Jonathan watches from the doorway, a curious look on his face. Nancy does the same from her seat, not saying a word as she watches Steve gently help you navigate the waiting room with your injury.

Jonathan holds the door open for you and takes over once you’re out the door. He grabs the crutches from Steve and is now the one to hold your hand, balancing you. “I can take it from here, Harrington.”

“Right, yeah.” Steve scratches the back of his head and coughs. “I’ll just… yeah.”

He heads back inside and you and Jonathan watch as he leaves. As soon as he’s out of earshot, Jonathan turns to you. “Are you two friends now or something?”

“We almost died tonight, bee. I think it’s safe to call Steve a friend now.”

Jonathan bites his lip, though there’s a far off look in his eye that leaves you feeling like you’ve missed something in the conversation. “Guess that’s true. Anyways, let’s get you to Will.”

By the time you make it to the room, the boys have swarmed around Will and are telling him everything he’s missed this week. He’s listening eagerly as they’re telling him about El, but when he sees you enter the room, his eyes light up and he tries to sit up.

“Y/N!” Will calls out, pure excitement in his voice.

You practically fall over in your haste to get to him. The second you’re close enough, you collapse onto his bed and give him the tightest hug you possibly can without hurting him. He feels so small against you, smaller than he’s ever felt before, and his sunken eyes and pale skin make you want to cry.

But he’s alive and here and in your arms once again, happy and wonderful and safe.

“Little bee,” you try not to cry, but tears are thick in your voice. “I missed you.”

Will manages a weak smile and shrugs, trying to play off the gravity of the situation. “Took a little detour home.”

You laugh and ruffle his hair. “At least you came home, that’s all that matters.”

“Ahem,” Mike obnoxiously clears his throat, effectively ending your moment with Will. “You’re hogging Will, move over.”

You laugh again and move away, allowing the boys to resume their millions of updates. You maneuver your crutches and walk over to Jonathan, who is standing by the door. He’s looking at the boys and Will with a soft smile on his face and you join him, standing side by side as you watch your boys finally come together again.

Then, you feel a pair of eyes on you and you turn around. Nancy is leaning against the doorway behind you; she looks frail and distraught. There’s a sadness in her eyes as she watches the kids. You know that watching the boys reunite with their friend must remind her of Barb. She never got her happy reunion.

You feel awful for the girl, so when her bittersweet smile drops and she turns to leave the room, you nudge Jonathan to make him aware of the situation. He sees her fleeing and begins to follow after her, but he stops.

“What are you waiting for? Go.” You tell him, knowing it’s for the best.

He shifts his weight, uncertain. “Are you sure?”

You’re not sure how to decipher the hidden meanings underneath those three words, but you find that you’re exhausted trying to keep reading between the lines. The feelings you’ve kept buried bubble to the surface, but you remind yourself that he loves Nancy, despite your weird moments of almost with him. There’s something there between you and Jonathan, you both can feel it, but it feels too raw and fragile to bring into the light.

Without having to ask, you know that Jonathan will choose her.

It breaks your heart, but you look over at Dustin and Will, who are laughing about some joke while Joyce gazes at them fondly, and you know that you can’t lose this. Maybe Jonathan knows this, too. The small family you’ve built together, it’s too precious to ruin.

Joyce and your boys, you can’t lose them. They’re yours, and Jonathan is yours in a way that you can’t quite keep to yourself forever, but for now it’s enough. You approach Joyce, grab her hand and give her a tired smile, and the smile she returns to you reminds you that this is more than enough for you.

You turn to Jonathan, pushing down your feelings once more in favor of appreciating the fact that Will is looking at you again, alive. “Go, bee.”

Jonathan gives you one last look. You study his face for a moment, watching as it shifts from confusion, to hurt, then finally into acceptance. You’ll never be sure of what exactly he’d been thinking in that moment, but it seemed to have been enough for him, too.

He smiles, lets out a deep breath, and then leaves.

The door closes softly behind him.

–

A month later you find yourself in the passenger seat of Jonathan's car, tired from your shift at Bookstrordinary but excited to pick up your brothers. Somehow, even after missing three consecutive shifts last month, Mrs. Waters refused to fire you.

But Jonathan? He hadn’t been so lucky. His boss fired him from the Hawk, but he hadn’t been too upset. He still drives you to and from work, so you suppose things could be worse.

It’s late, but the two of you take your time driving to the Wheeler’s. Nothing much has changed between you two following Will’s reappearance. Sure, maybe you’re at his house more just to make sure Will is adapting well, but besides that everything seemed to go back to normal.

Well, almost normal.

Steve appeared at your job a few days after your conversation in the hospital. He had surprised you when you walked in, and when you asked what he was doing in a bookstore, Steve simply shrugged and said, “You can’t figure out my nickname if we don’t hang out, right? So, I’m here.”

He had become a regular at the store, stopping by whenever he could, and slowly the two of you became good friends. You’ve come to enjoy Steve’s presence, something that you never thought would ever happen. But he keeps you company as you work, he wanders around and explores the comics and books you recommend to him, and it’s nice having someone to goof off with.

Plus, you did promise to add him to your baking list, so he’s also become your taste tester who happily eats any creation you bring in for him.

As for Nancy…

That was more of a sore subject for Jonathan.

There was a few weeks following Will’s reappearance that you thought Jonathan and Nancy would get together, but it never happened. You’re not quite sure why, maybe it had something to do with Jonathan’s hesitation of approaching her, but it had crushed him when you and he saw Nancy and Steve making out in the hall as if nothing bad had ever happened.

The way Jonathan’s face crumbled when he saw the couple only solidified that he’d never be yours, but you comforted him anyways. You told him he deserved better and then dragged him away. It’d taken him a few days, but eventually Jonathan was able to fake a smile again.

You haven’t spoken about it since that day, but you leave your window open most nights for him to crawl in. The nightmares from that night fighting the monster plague you both, and the loneliness feels a little heavier than usual, but at least you have each other.

“Jonathan! Y/N! Come in, the boys are downstairs.” Mrs. Wheeler answers the door, letting the two of you in. “And Y/N, I love that sweater on you.”

You thank the woman. “It was a gift from my mom. She claims I need to up my wardrobe, whatever that means.”

“Well, I think she has lovely taste.”

“I’ll let you know you think so!” You open the basement door and motion for Jonathan to go down first.

When he reaches the bottom of the steps, Jonathan makes a face. “Woah, what’s that smell? Have you guys been playing games all day, or just farting?”

“My vote is farting.” You say, hopping down the last step. Your ankle has mostly healed by now, but sometimes if you land on it wrong it makes a weird clicking noise followed by some pain, but you choose to pretend that it’s normal.

The boys laugh and Lucas points at your brother. “Oh, that’s just Dustin. He farted.”

He begins making fart noises with his mouth and you and Dustin share a look. “Very mature, Lucas.”

The boy continues to sing and make fart noises and you can’t believe that this is your life. You’re standing in a smelly basement while picking up your stubborn brother all while simultaneously enjoying the fact that you get to call this your life.

Jonathan calls over to Will to grab his things, so you follow suit and gently berate Lucas. “Alright, that’s enough. I gotta get Dustin home.”

“What, I thought I got to stay–”

“Jonathan is our ride and I made cookies, so let’s go.”

The moment the word “cookies” leaves your mouth, Dustin hops up and collects his things without any further argument.

Once he’s ready, he and Lucas play wrestle as they say goodbye. While they’re distracted, you walk over to Mike and discreetly hand him a container full of double fudge brownies. You’d specifically made them for him, knowing they were his favorite, because you noticed how hard it’s been for him to adjust to El being gone. He really cared about her, anyone could see that.

Mike’s eyes widen and he throws his arms around you. “Thanks, Y/N.”

You pat his back. “Anytime, Wheeler.”

Dustin breaks away from Lucas and runs up the stairs, so you take that as your cue to leave.

Upstairs, Jonathan and Will are talking to Mrs. Wheeler. When they see you enter, the woman turns to you and asks if you’ll be bringing over your usual round of holiday treats. “Of course, I’ll get started on them tomorrow. You guys still like the sugarbread cookies?”

“If you make them, I think I’ll die of happiness.” Mrs. Wheeler informs you, and you laugh and tell her that you’ll have them ready as soon as possible.

You bid her goodbye, Dustin now by your side, and you follow Jonathan and Will to the front door. Right before you open the door, Nancy calls Jonathan’s name from the top of the stairs.

“Hey, Jonathan, wait up!”

You, Dustin, and Will stand awkwardly in the back while Nancy hands Jonathan a wrapped gift and wishes him a merry Christmas. They share an awkward exchange since Jonathan hadn’t gotten her anything, but Nancy assures him that it’s fine. The interaction is painful to watch as Nancy doesn’t spare you a single glance. Dustin and Will look at you uncertainly when she kisses Jonathan’s cheek, but you ignore them and pretend to be interested in a Christmas decoration on the table.

This will never get any easier.

“You ready?” Jonathan turns back to you guys, a blush on his face, and all you can do is silently nod.

In the car you sit in the back with Dustin, who squeezes your arm in reassurance. He’s come to understand your complex feelings for Jonathan and has pieced together Nancy’s involvement. While he’s never outright consoled you, he’s shown his support in other small and wonderful ways.

“Thanks,” you whisper, and Dustin smiles.

“We all buckled up?” Jonathan asks as he starts up the car.

“Yes, captain.” You mock salute.

Will giggles at you before he sees the gift and looks up at Jonathan. “Can I open it?”

“Yeah, sure.”

You and Dustin lean forward so you can see what’s in the box. When Will unwraps a beautiful, and no doubt expensive, camera, you gasp. The bitterness and hurt from moments ago vanishes. This gift is from Steve, you know it is, and something warm settles deep within your bones.

You think about last month, how you’d told him not everyone can just afford a camera.

Seems like Steve listened.

Maybe he isn’t so bad after all.

–

A week later you knock on the Byers’ door, a giant container of your annual holiday cookies in your arms.

“Bug!” Jonathan answers the door with an excited smile on his face. His new camera is in his hands and before you can even process what’s happening, he’s already taken a photo of you with your crooked earmuffs and oversized box of cookies.

He’s been using the camera ever since he got it. There’s now multiple pictures of you, always unaware or caught off guard, now hanging in the kitchen. It makes you blush to think about.

“You didn’t even give me a chance to smile.” You complain, shoving your way inside. It’s snowing and you’re freezing.

Joyce grabs the container to help you as soon as she sees you. “Here, honey. I’ve got it.”

You thank her and walk over to Will, who is drawing at the kitchen table. “Hey little bee. Whatcha drawing?”

“Hi, Y/N.” He slides over his picture and you’re shown a quick sketch of you and the party, this time fighting what appears to be a misshapen dog. “It’s a Dire Wolf, we’re fighting it in our latest campaign.”

“Ah, I see. Looks fluffy, though. Can’t possibly be a dangerous creature.”

Will rolls his eyes at you. “This is why you don’t play with us.”

“Careful, you’re sassing the girl who has just bravely ridden her bike through the snow to deliver her famous Christmas cookies.”

Will is out of his seat in an instant, running over to his mom, who has just placed the container on the counter. “Did you make the oatmeal raisin cookies?”

“Duh,” you snort.

“And the chocolate chip?”

“I sure did.” You stand next to him and point at a new cookie you’re trying out this year. “This batch is a caramel banana one. Steve seemed to like it and I think it’s pretty good, so I hope you do too.”

Jonathan swoops over and kisses your head. “Of course we’ll like it, bug.”

“He’s right, you know. We always love whatever you make us, honey.” Joyce informs you, her mouth now full of cookies.

“I’d hope so, this is like my fifth year making these for you guys. It’d be awkward if you hated my baking.” You say, now securing your earmuffs back on your head. “Anyways, I should get going. It’s Christmas, my mom won’t want me out too long.”

Joyce looks out the window and frowns. “Did you really bike here in this weather?”

“It wasn’t too bad, I’ll be fine–”

“No. Jonathan, grab your keys and drive Y/N home.” She stares you down, daring you to argue with her, but you don’t. You know better than to argue with Joyce Byers.

Once Jonathan has his keys, you say goodbye to everyone and wish them a merry Christmas. Jonathan throws your bike in his trunk and soon you’re off on the road. The drive is quiet but cozy. The snowflakes fall in a pretty spiral and there’s a soft song playing on the radio.

Sometimes, if you close your eyes, you can pretend that the events from last month never happened. Will never disappeared. You never discovered that you love Jonathan. Nancy Wheeler never became friends with Jonathan, possibly something more had there been more time. When you close your eyes and sit still, you can imagine that your brother never has nightmares that wake him up screaming. That your heart doesn’t hurt when you make your best friend laugh.

For a moment, you can forget.

“Can we always stay like this?” You ask Jonathan softly, almost as if you’ll disturb the peace that winter has brought with its quiet snow.

“Like what?”

You’re not sure how to express what you’re feeling. “This, us. Together.”

“Of course we’ll always stay like this.” He grabs your hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss it. He says this like it’s a fact, the most obvious thing in the world.

“Pinky promise me.” You hold your pinky up. You know it’s silly, but you need him to hear you, to understand what you’re saying.

Jonathan looks over at you. “Y/N–”

“Please, promise me, bee.”

He’s silent for a moment, seeming to understand the weight of everything between, around, and within the two of you. Then, he extends his pinky finger and wraps it around yours. “I promise, bug.”

And you believe him.

[END OF SEASON 1]

⌑ series masterlist

⌑ if you'd like to be added/removed from my taglist, please just left me know !

taglist: @siriuslysmoking @sheisjoeschateau @myeclispedsun @innercreationflower @juhdoche @frostandflamesfanfic @goosy-goose @quinnsadilla @munsons-queen @stefansring

#steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #stranger things #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things rewrite #slowburn #angst #wdtai #m's writing #im so tired n happy and full of love for u all #cannot believe its done :')#pls pls pls enjoy <333

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ellarain · 29 days

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I'm just now realizing just how underrated ever after high is (I always knew but it's hitting me now harder than ever). Like there are many people part of it but not a lot. I keep watching edits and I cry because I miss when there were still episodes being made. Like where did it all go? What happened? It had so much potential and it all got swept away. It's so sad. I know it's just a kids show but it's so much more to me and to many, if not all of us. There's going to be a day where there are no more fans. We're going to get old and there won't be anyone to take over. We can get people interested but there'll come a day when there won't be any og fans or people that were alive when it was made. It'll lose it's a spark and die out completely. There won't be anything left. No one will have even heard of ever after high. All this will be gone. No matter how hard we try. It doesn't mean we shouldn't try at all. We should try and continue keeping the show alive. But one day all we know will be lost.

It's sad to think about and to be honest, I don't ever want to. But one day when we're 80 years old, we'll look back and smile. Enjoy the moments we have now because one day it'll be lost, forever after.

Just writing this got me on the verge of tears. And I'm probably going to start to cry any minute now.

Also sorry if this kinda got you guys down. We shouldn't stop trying. I love ever after high and I'm never going to stop. Neither should you.

#eah #ever after high

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tmntkiseki · 4 months

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So this is one thought that has rotated in my brain ever since I watched through the entire 2003 series for the first time, but as much as I love Donatello and consider him my favorite turtle, there is one not-so-tiny thing that bugs me and that's the fact that he does probably go through the least character development of the four turtles despite going through some genuinely terrible shit.

When I think of some of the stuff Donatello goes through during the series, the stuff that makes me think "Good lord, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO MY BOY," the three incidents that stick out the most are the Triceraton Mind Probe from the Space Invaders arc, the entirety of Same As It Never Was, and the Outbreak Saga/Good Genes Arc. The Triceraton Mind Probe scene is one that is physically painful to watch. Don is writhing and screaming the whole time as the probe rapidly picks through his memories trying to find information on Professor Honeycutt's whereabouts, and it's clear that at one point he becomes so scared that he begs for help from his father. Fortunately, his spiritual connection with Splinter allows him overpower the device and short circuit it, but if he hadn't had such a strong bond with him, who knows what would have happened.

Same As It Never Was... what needs to be said at this point? Donatello gets transported to a bad future where the Shredder rules the world, Splinter and Casey are dead, and the turtles have disbanded after their version of Don disappeared 30 years prior. Donatello watches all three of his brothers die protecting him, and at the end of the episode laments the fate of his poor brothers and just how nightmarish the world is before he's warped away. And that's just the tl;dr version.

Good Genes arc, though, oh my god. I feel a major reason why this arc is so good is because it plays on an idea presented on Same As It Never Was--that is, Donatello, with his level head and ability to come up with ingenious solutions to problems the turtles encounter, is what's keeping the team together. As a result of the Outbreak virus, Donatello undergoes a secondary mutation that turns him into a violent, aggressive monster and it's stated because of reactions with the Utrom mutagen already in his blood, his body is breaking down; if he's not cured, he will die. The knowledge that Donatello may perish if nothing is done is bad enough, but even just not having their brother there mentally is enough to mess up the entire team dynamic. In their desperation to save him, they go so far as to make a deal with Bishop, who Leonardo openly compares to the Devil himself, and their actions ultimately lead to the events of the Ninja Tribunal arc the following season. It was the single most dire situation the turtles were in since Exodus, and it wasn't even an entire galaxy at stake; just their beloved brother.

But despite all that, Donatello doesn't actually change much as a result of these events. That's because, more often than not, the stuff that happens to him is more used to fuel his brothers emotional reactions and development than his own. Good Genes is probably the best example of this because even though Donatello is the one physically suffering during the arc, it's Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo who get all the interesting emotional reactions to their present situation; Leonardo finds himself almost completely lost on what to do without Don, and Raphael and Michelangelo, who are absolutely devastated over Don's transformation, spend much of the arc eerily quiet when compared to their usual selves. The only thing we get in terms of Don is the fact that he doesn't remember what happened while he was "sick," and is thus frustrated by how much his brothers end up coddling him in the wake of the incident (which unfortunately isn't all that important since we're about to enter the Ninja Tribunal arc.)

It really is unfortunate that Donatello doesn't go through much development because I otherwise love everything about him. Besides his intelligence, techno savvy, and ability to quickly pick up skills that might be useful to the team (I'm also very biased towards his Bō not due to its strength as a weapon, but it's amount of utility both in and outside combat), I'm absolutely floored by just how nice and gentle he is. He's still got plenty of sass hidden in his shell and can be quite snippy when he's annoyed, but he shows a lot of emotional sensitivity and is very empathetic; this is especially shown in his sibling dynamics with Raphael and Michelangelo, whose relationships tend to be the most...tumultuous? Of the turtles. I don't have a better word for it.

As an aside, I genuinely feel like The King doesn't get enough credit where it's due because yeah, it's a touching tribute to the late Jack Kirby, but it's important as a Donatello-focused episode because it's not focused on his status as the genius inventor of the turtles; instead, we look at his nature as a kind, friendly individual who is very sentimental and doesn't take loss very well. He quickly strikes up a friendship with Kirby, who is one of the few humans not to reject Donatello just because he's a 5'2" mutant turtle, and they end up having a fun adventure in the alternate dimension where all of Kirby's drawings end up disappearing to. Unfortunately, Donatello is unable to pull Kirby back through the portal in time as it's closing; the alternate ending, which is closer to original Mirage issue the episode is based on, really hammered in just how deeply this affected Don, since he absolutely refuses to talk to Raphael and walks off to be by himself, gazing solemnly at the drawing Kirby was able to send through the portal. "Life at best is bittersweet. Take care of yourself."

God damn it, my poor son.

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2k3 #tmnt donatello #Dumb rambles I type when I'm falling asleep at my keyboard #It's not even that late it's like 6:25 PM

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siren-nate · 1 month

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I know it wasn’t the point of your recent Chosen post, but I’m curious what you identified as signs of power-creep 👀

I should clarify, when I said "signs" of power creep, I really mean like, the barest hints that are making me nervous. Episode V does a great job of juxtaposing the earth-shaking attacks of Chosen and Dark to give them a sense of scale, by showing how Second and the Color Gang are constantly blown away by the things these two demigods can do (and on that note, Chosen fans have it REALLY good compared to Color Gang fans when it comes to having your favorite characters meaningfully contribute to fights in the main series. It's like Piccolo fans vs. Yamcha fans). But there's still a few parts that irk me.

Chosen is constantly landing laser eyes on Dark throughout their fight, and Dark is always surviving because he blocks with his arms. Then he puts on the wristbands, and his first big demonstration of how much more powerful they make him is... tanking Chosen's laser eyes with his arms. I get that the difference is "being forced to defend himself" vs. "gliding down the attack to interrupt it with one of his own", but it still just felt weird. Part of it was probably the stylistic choice to change the laser eyes from causing massive explosions in 2 and 3 to actually just cutting and burning things in 5 and 6, which I think IS a good change that makes the laser eyes more distinct from his pyrokinesis, but it also means that they just don't feel like they have much meaningful impact anymore. The last time they did was when he sheared off one of ViraBot's limbs with them.

That's kind of the main thing - a lack of impact with a lot of Chosen's attacks. The Mercs are implied to either be tanky enough to survive his attacks or (in the case of Pivot) have some defensive options, but there's that one moment in particular where Chosen gets fired up and launches all three of the other Mercs off of him with a burst of fire... and that doesn't seem to hurt them at all. If you don't give these superpowers the impact they need on a regular basis to establish how destructive they are, it starts to feel like they're pointless; like he'd basically be doing the exact same thing by just punching and kicking with his super strength.

I saw someone claim that Chosen lost the fight against the Mercs because he's going through a moral crisis and wasn't trying to kill them, and I have to wonder if that person watched the same episode I did - if Chosen wasn't trying to kill the Mercs before he started fleeing, why the hell would he go and grab Second Coming explicitly because he remembers how ungodly powerful she was with her powers awakened? It feels like a poor excuse for Chosen just feeling too underpowered lately.

Sidenote: The Box is not an example of this. The Box is genius, displaying that Victim is so underpowered compared to Alan's other creations that he needs to be buffed ten times over and have his opponent reduced to about 1/10th of their own strength, and Chosen still gets the upper hand a few times because he's A) just that strong and B) far more experienced fighting people his own level than Victim is. Seeing how his pyrokinesis completely renders his clones helpless and incinerates them within seconds did a lot of good work towards re-establishing how dangerous Chosen is, not to mention how his ice-defense trick demonstrates how he's not the dumb brute a lot of the fandom thinks he is.

TL;DR: It's somewhat a symptom of Chosen losing so many fights, which really isn't even that valid of a criticism when we're only two parts in to the sixth installment. What bothers me the most is that he keeps fighting people who can seemingly just shrug off his powers, which makes his powers feel pointless.

#Alan Becker #Animator vs. Animation #The Chosen One #AvA TCO #You asked me about something we both knew wasn't even the main point of my post #I replied with (counts) six paragraphs #I'm so sorry

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room-surprise · 5 months

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Delicious in Dungeon Anime Season 1, Episode 2 Review

Spoilers for season 1, episode 2 below the cut! There may also be mild manga spoilers so proceed with caution.

This episode was great! I think it was a big improvement on the first. Honestly no real complaints... I do kind of wish both Marcille and Chilchuck could have had stand-alone episodes dedicated to their character development, to allow for a deeper focus, but I understand why they didn't do it, and the pacing was still excellent. I do still sometimes feel like the show is in fast-forward at times, because with 3 meals in one episode, it feels like the characters finish eating, and we jump cut to them saying that they're hungry again, without anything to help really impress upon viewers that time has passed. Makes it feel a bit like we're reading a collection of short 4-panel gag comics instead of a continuing story… which, early Dungeon Meshi DOES have that as part of it's format, but it changes with time, as we get into longer individual stories.

During the Basilisk/Doni and FIonil section, I really do miss some of the dry humor from the manga. ("Hurry, he's getting cold!" "Move him closer to the fire!") The hilarity of slowly preparing a meal while someone is dying of poison has unfortunately been lost, which makes Doni and Fionil much less memorable characters…. But it benefits the other 2 stories in the ep to have more time so I think it was the right choice to make. It also gives people something to go back and read the manga for, since it's a little different! If you're reading this and you're an anime only, consider reading the manga while you watch the anime! I promise it's worth it. I'm excited about next week because I think they'll devote the entire episode to Laios and the living armors, which is me and my spouse's favorite early DM storyline, and the part where we both said "Oh, I LOVE this manga..." and got really invested. It's 2 chapters in the manga so it could be an entire episode…. which also would make sense, if that's why they needed to crunch 3 chapters into episode 2. Just like the first episode, animation was fantastic, and as usual the weakest points are when characters are just walking or talking and not doing much. Everything more dynamic is just bouncy and adorable and full of life. Very rarely is anything animated in a dull or flat way. They're doing their best to use "move a drawing around" or "zoom on a drawing" for comic effect and I think it's working well so far. There's some great animal animation in this episode, the bat flying around and the basilisk chasing Marcille in particular. Translation was better this time around, no dumb modern or game references in the dub ("newbs" "as if" etc.) … But there are differences between the subtitles and the dub script that change how easy it is to understand what's happening. When Senshi tells Chilchuck to cut up the giant bat, the subtitles make it hard to understand what he's telling him to do, and the dub makes it a lot clearer. In the subs when Senshi calls Chilchuck a half-foot child, the subtitles say "I'm not a child" and the dub says "I hate it when people call me 'kid'"… The latter is more interesting for keeping the mystery going for things that happen later in the story. If the show continues like this, I think the English dub may be the more satisfying way to watch it (even though the Japanese performances are great), mostly because the subs are very literal and sometimes miss things that the English dub somehow manages to include. And for some reason Netflix isn't including translation of Japanese signs on-screen during the subtitles, but they DO provide them when you watch the English dub. A lot of Dungeon Meshi's humor is sometimes in those background signs so completely missing out on them sucks. Anyway those are my thoughts for this episode! See you next week Meshiheads.

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #dunmeshi #my stuff #chilchuck #chilchuck tims #marcille donato #marcille #dungeon meshi spoilers #spoilers #anime #anime review #review

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zoe-oneesama · 2 years

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Congratulations on finishing Reverser!! Super excited to see Marc’s full header outfit when that episode comes out! Next on the docket is Party Crasher, right? Whenever you have the time after your fresh rewatch of the episode, what are your thoughts and opinions on Wayhem, his akuma, and Party Crasher’s plot?

Ughhh, I watched it once quickly because this was definitely a Temporary Hero episode (I watched all the episodes I knew for sure would have a temp hero in since I needed to figure out what power would be needed) and it was hard to watch. I just kept getting mad with the civilian plot:

Wayhem is...fine? In THIS episode. It's kind of easy to completely separate him from "Gorizilla" so he's fine in this episode alone (I can't personally get over how obsessive he was in "Gorizilla" but at least he apologized for it? I guess?? Well Adrien seems cool with it at least.)

This is one of the only episodes where the "misunderstanding" that creates the akuma actually feels like a genuine misunderstanding and miscommunication rather than one person jumping to crazy conclusions and then getting mad when they're incorrect (*cough* "Lady Wifi" *cough* "Reverser" *cough*)

His akuma design is fun and camp so I actually like it, but I'm very confused by his powers since he seems to have...many? Like, okay, he can "predict" his opponents movements and envisions it like a dance floor... AND he absorbs people and things into his disco hands by touching them... buuut he can ALSO zap you from a distance... but then he ALSO makes a helicopter?? Also he can apparently heal himself after King Monkey busts everyone out of his disco prison...

I was with you for those first three things but you lost me at HELICOPTER.

And then there's...the plot.

I had to watch this episode in halves because I was getting to mad. At Nino. It's just so weird that this show had one of it's main characters make a universally disliked decision: Breaking a Promise. Isn't that, like, Kid's Show 101, to teach you that you're supposed to keep your word? So why'd they make Nino not only go back on his promise to help Mylene and the girls, but rope other people into it too?? And then for Tikki to be shocked and horrified that Marinette lied and frame that as being wrong when Nino and the boys did the exact same thing! So it's only a big deal when Marinette does it, got it. And I HATE that the conclusion was "well it could've gone smoother but iT wAs fOr AdRiEn sO iT'S cOoL!"

Neither of you, none of you, should've broken your promise. THAT should've been the conclusion. All of them should've spent the end of the episode apologizing to the tree planting group and getting to work.

It's just a weird episode for so many reasons. For one, the girls either somehow didn't catch on to the obvious that aLL the boys were playing hooky on them or they just didn't care, except for Marinette. So even though we're supposed to think it's wrong of Marinette to dip out to prove the boys are lying, it doesn't seem to matter cuz clearly the girls aren't bothered! Breaking promises? Going back on your word? Leaving your friends hanging? Apparently it's not THAT big a deal, so who CARES if the boys or Marinette flake on purpose?

For another thing, I get that we have a limit on teenage boy models to fill this house party with, but I don't think the solution was EVERY GROWN ADULT MAN IN PARIS to crash a MIDDLE SCHOOLER'S HOUSE PARTY!

Roger comes for a "noise complaint" and stays for the foosball?

Astruc and Vincent/Guiseppe/Photographer dude come for a casting call for Adrien at his house? (Look, if the director and his casting photographer are coming to your house, skip the formalities, you already have the gig, let's be real, and also they came over when Adrien's guardians are out of the house, that's creepy).

And then Jagged Stone jumps through his window from his helicopter because he heard the music they were using???

None of these don't feel weird and kinda creepy, like you WEREN'T INVITED, say your piece and GET OUT! Or better yet DON'T COME! No, Nino, stop thinking this is cool, this is FREAKING WEIRD, stop teaching Adrien weird shit!

Put that into perspective for sec: Nino thinks Adrien would have a better time at a Dude's Only House Party (boring) with Randos then just letting his Girl Friends join them.

If they wanted this Boys vs Girls thing, they should've gone full in. Have the girls see through the excuses and let them be pissed. Let them want to confront the boys, but oh? Nino told the Bodyguard to specifically not let them in? What's that, music? Are they...they're having a PARTY?! They're having a PARTY instead of helping them PLANT TREES like they PROMISED AND they're DELIBERATELY EXCLUDING THE GIRLS FROM SAID PARTY?!

Oh this means War.

So make the shenangians about the girls trying and failing (or succeeding?) into getting into the party in increasingly ridiculous ways or something. Like, oh, THEY could call the police on the noise complaint and then get dumbstruck when Roger joins the party. Or have them notice that Adrien's fencing instructor and the Director are getting in so they think the party will be stopped by Adren's obligations and then getting ticked when that doesn't slow them down.

Dress up as Pizza Guys, Delivery Men, Classmates, ANYTHING to get in! Have them notice Wayhem and try to drag him in but because they've tried so many times THAT'S why the bodyguard doesn't let him in - because he's with the girls.

Just... you wanted this dumb Boys Club vs Girls thing, so commit you cowards, give me a WAR! I don't care for those kinds of dumb gender war episodes but at least don't half ass it if you're gonna do it!

As for the Boy Heroes Team thing, it feels wrong to give them a hero episode of their own when THEY are the bad guys in the Civilian Plot and to not have an equivalent Girl Heroes Team episode (instead they get a Girl AKUMAS episode, twice!). The idea is cool and I would've liked to see more squad episodes that weren't framed as "I-need-five-heroes-to-do-what-just-Chat-Noir-can-do" and were actually about teamwork, but our options are the Heroes Day Season 2 finale where they fell apart, or "Party Crasher".

Sigh.

At the end of day, the boys just look like jerks for ditching the girls, but the girls don't even care, so there's not even enough drive for Marinette to involve herself, and then the Marinette Sneaking In shenanigans aren't even fun, the randos showing up aren't fun (except Mr. Banana, he can stay), I guess Marinette and Nino (and the boys) punishment is cleaning up Adrien's room...? Like, good for Adrien that he doesn't get any backlash from his dad because it'd be wildly unfair for him to be the person who gets punished in this scenario, but nobody learned any lessons. It's just...

What was the point of all this?

At least I didn't have any complaints about Adrien for the most part.

#I probably won't use those ideas for SL because I honestly have too many different ways I could change the episode #it's actually hard for me to nail one direction down #ml salt #nino salt #writing salt #party crasher salt #marinette salt #an essay by zoe

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mylittleredgirl · 5 months

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Hi! I'm so excited you're finally watching MASH! I hope you enjoy it and I selfishly hope you grow to like Margaret who starts off as not great and then becomes great and my fav.

i am having a great time!! i started at the beginning of season one and just finished season two. some of the discs in the complete series set i got as a gift last year don't play right or cut out mid-episode, which is driving me a little nuts, but i guess i'm having the classic syndicated tv experience of randomly missing stuff and always having some episode i've never seen floating out there forever.

my long form thoughts so far for those interested:

it's such a great collection of characters for comedy, because they are all pathetic and terrible in their own unique way, but are so charming and funny and easy to watch while they commit their little crimes against common sense.

i really like the mix of episodes -- the We're Having A Caper episodes and then the ones where it's like we're just kind of living here and things happen in some kind of order, but the things aren't necessarily related, which feels very appropriate for the setting.

i'm watching without the laugh track, which highlights one of my favorite things, which is that the main and background characters laugh out loud at what's happening. it gives the show such a lived-in and messy feeling. i just came off of watching the good place 5 times in a row, where the dialogue and plot are especially tightly packed, so this feels especially like it has a lot of just hanging out.

i keep thinking about how i'm watching this show fifty years later, not knowing what is the 70s lampooning itself, what is the 70s lampooning the 50s, and what is actually being played straight but i assume is a joke because of my perspective. some scenes are hard to watch on purpose and some are hard to watch by accident.

i wish i were watching it with my dad so he could keep pausing it to explain things to me, even if they don't need explaining, because i think that would add to the experience.

character feelings after two seasons:

hawkeye: alan alda being so charming and having such great timing really makes this an easy get. of course i'm going to love him equally in both success and failure (mostly failure).

trapper: my bestie!!! there's something about his face that makes me feel like i know him personally. i just love his physical acting choices. it's always funny. my fave i think.

margaret: i definitely enjoy her!!! how can you not?? they introduce her as being both highly capable and The Sexiest American Woman In Korea, who either can have or has had every high ranking officer in the army, and then she's soooo horny for the most pathetic man alive that she can't function.

frank: the narrative requires him to suck sooooo much every minute of every episode, because everyone else also sucks, so he really needs to put his back into it. he's gotta be there and he does it well, idk what more to say.

henry: he fascinated me in season one because i was like... clearly he's supposed to be A Caricature, but i couldn't figure out which one, and then he turned out to be A Character instead. i love his complexity and his serious moments, but i don't tend to find drunk acting that funny, so a lot of his shtick is lost on me. i wonder if he's the only character (and maybe klinger?) where the laugh track would actually serve him.

radar: as a former assistant yeah bro i get it, you keep on keeping on.

father mulcahey: the only one who is not terrible at all so far even once. Protect Him. i am so happy every time he comes on screen.

klinger: i'm still warming up to him as a character since he's mostly a sight gag still.

the parade of nurses: i have decided to take it at face value that 1) they are all here at war because they're super horny, 2) they are playing hard to get for fun, and 3) the pill was somehow invented before 1950, and under those conditions GET IT GIRLSSSSS.

my largest outstanding question: were they all actually functioning people before the war? i assume war did this to them but it's also possible they were like this before and their wives are all like THANK GOD they're overseas cheating on me because imagine how much worse it would be if they were like this but in my house.

on to season three!!!

#it's about time i watched m*a*s*h #(and i finally am!)#chatter post #Anonymous #mashblogging

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br1ghtestlight · 5 months

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getting war flashbacks to the bobs burgers fanfic where louise is doing math homework in the restaurant when nobody else is around and then bob has a heart attack </3 that shit was TRAUMATIZING

love linda shouting four whenever there's a math problem or anything related to numbers. best recurring joke. FOUR!!!!

you can do it gene :D also im so bad at math I 100% would not be able to help either. dumbass rep family

bob trying to help gene with his homework is cute. even if he is Not very good at it. he wants to be an involved dad :(

gene im not gonna lie that math question has gotta be fucking with you. rhat is not a real question. i could NEVER do that not if i was given 100 hours that shit is fake

see this is where when I was in math class i would just write a random number and move on bcuz im never gonna figure it out anyway im not gonna waste time. so that's my advice gene. just Give Up

he says "maybe your mom or tina could get you started" because they're older but I genuinely think louise has a better chance of helping bcuz she is so smart. if she'd WANT to help is another question entirely

because I'm stuck in a safe 😐

AND THEN HE BLINDFOLDED ME ON THE WAY HERE??? HE BLINDFOLDED YOU??????

teddy I think his guy is gonna murder you im gonna be so real right now

unfortunately im kinda following teddy's logic now like. it isnt like fischoeder isn't doing this type of shit everyday just for fun. rich guys are just like that BUT getting their money is nice

"gene was doing homework?? that's new"

WE'RE NOT ALL ECONOMICALLY COMFORTABLE LIKE YOU ARE

"Why did you tell me the whole long story about the sandwich in the drawer if you're running out of battery LOCKED IN A SAFE??" "Context!!!!"

also bob and teddy have such great comedic chemistry lmao they bounce off each other so naturally

louise isn't lying she Does have a certain set of skills 😭 if anyone could find him it WOULD be her the lockpicking genius nine year old supervillain

miss you. see you soon. gotta go!!

has he gotten a new cellphone since that MIDDLE OF THE DAY AND YOUR PHONE IS AT 23% argument or is it that same shitty 2008 blackberry phone that dies almost immediately lmfao

bob is a real one for doing this bullshit for teddy he did NOT have to. they're ride or die fr

I'm not entirely unconvinced that gerald isnt a serial killer but thats okay <3 men can have hobbies

also I'm choosing to believe this gerald is the same one from the taxes/weed cookie episode even though it ABSOLUTELY is not bcuz i think that would be funny. by day he's a regular tax agent by night he is a creepy rich kidnapper who pulls mind games on all his handymen

OH I FORGOT THE SUBPLOT FOR THIS EPISODE IS ABOUT SPORTS PEOPLE why did they do the whole thing with gene's homework then.... are they connected. what is the gameplan

WE PICK A NEW LOVER FOR MOM

i love how bob is apparently the only thing keeping his family from going completely off the fucking rails like. he's the only thing standing between his family and their restaurant burning down with everyone inside fr

your dad never loved that dream :/ because he's a hater :/ AND SO JEALOUS :/

you're not gonna break the world record. another hater. STOP THAT

I might be having a panic attack 💔 I CANT TELL BECAUSE IVE NEVER HAD ONE BEFORE OR IM ALWAYS HAVING ONE soo real teddy

WE LOST HIM 😭😭💔

aww I love them all wearing their lil aprons <3 (crappy photo of my tablet bcuz the app im using to watch this episode doesn't allow screenshots)

SAY SOMETHING SMART LIKE UHH HOW WOULD YOU FLIP A GIANT BURGER. OH GOD THEY DIDNT MAKE THE GIANT BURGER DID THEY. WHO WOULD EVEN AGREE TO EAT THAT. AN OVER FOURTY CO-ED BASKETBALL TEAM. REALLY 😯

sorry this episode has so many good ooc quotes FJDMDJSKSKKM

gene STOP calling him father

bob is being like a whole ass detective meanwhile linda and the kids are currently making The Worst Decisions Ever

h jon benjiman is doing such a good job voicing bob in this episode idk it has so much personality and sounds natural. or it's always like this and im just now appreciating it but either way A+ work

cute bob and teddy moment ❤️❤️

(ignore the awful camera quality. nothing I can do there) also love the fact that teddy can easily lift up and manhandle bob. Good to know

there's so much going on w/ this gerald guy I dont even know WHERE to begin. what a guy. wow

this is so cute and sweet im so happy!!! YOU DOUBLE FAKE WALLED HIM :D YOU SMART SMARTIE. YOURE A GENIUS BOB

"I knew I asked the right person to come help me. Yeah. Mort wouldn't answer."

"What? You called Mort first?"

"No..."

HE ASKED MORT???? LMFAO big win for tedmort shippers. I fucking guess

MORT NEVER DOUBLE FAKE WALLED ANYONE why is bob like genuinely jealous of mort and teddy right now 😭 chill out man you've got a wife at home

"let's just say it's twelve" FINALLY bob follows my very smart advice when it comes to math homework smh

ALSO THIS IS TECHNICALLY THE FIRST TIME WE'VE SEEN THEM EATING BOBS BURGERS FOR DINNER OR IN GENERAL!!! I mean it's a giant hamburger loaf but it technically was served at bob's burgers so it counts

GIANT FRENCH FRIES

aww this episode was so fun and cute!! I love the more adventure-y type episodes where they explore a new location so this episode was great and very stressful lmao. also very funny. I love bob and teddy's dynamic/back and forth throughout the episode and the weird mort mention at the end felt like they were soft launching his and teddy's relationship even though I KNOW they aren't actually. mort could replace kathleen if we believe. very solid 8/10 episode :)

#txt #bob's burgers #episode review #bb spoilers

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imminent-danger-came · 8 months

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do you find mk's arc in s3 a tad repetitive? i saw this point brought up in a video essay on his series long arc

Naw man.

Progress isn't linear. MK more often than not makes progress in an area and then promptly regresses afterwards (like in ROTSQ MK learned that he was separate from SWK, and that he had to find "his own way to win", which he then completely abandons in the back half of s2. After Minor Scale it's all about becoming as powerful as Monkey King as quick as he can). I like to joke MK is "2 steps forward 4 steps back" the character. He'll say "We're stronger together" in 2x10, but by the time 4x08 rolls around he's wondering if he'll just end up hurting the people he cares about (and then he'll fail to apply this logic to why Wukong would choose to take similar actions, say during s2 or at the end of s3, being delightfully hypocritical).

Then there's where MK actually is development wise at the end of s2 vs s3. By the end of s2 he's lost all of his abilities and given LBD everything she needs to destroy the world, with the only good thing happening being Monkey King's return. Of course he's worried about facing the Lady Bone Demon like he is in s2—in fact, the threat got much worse. Not only is LBD more powerful, but both him and Monkey King are powerless. Their only hope is in an uncontrollable weapon they have to reforge.

In s1 MK is just trying to master his new role as the Monkey Kid (even then wanting to protect his friends and the city, thank you 1x01). In ROTSQ he believes he'll never be as good as Wukong, carrying this belief into s2. As the stakes keep growing, MK feels more and more pressure to live up to the legacy of Monkey King, and in that desperation becomes the perfect pawn in LBD's plans. He assumes he was the wrong choice, the wrong successor, and that Wukong knows that too. After he realizes Wukong left for him in s2, in s3 he then jumps to Wukong ditching him over being a "mere mortal" again. But, MK wants to help. He wants to save his friends. By the end of s3, we've still yet to acknowledge the core issue MK's had since the AHIB special: his self-confidence. His identity and his esteem. MK's never been happy with himself (except for that one time in ROTSQ):

But, after ROTSQ came Wukong leaving in 2x01, LBD's manipulation in 2x05, Macaque's manipulation in 2x07, his ultimate failure in 2x10, being powerless in 3x01, Wukong's lies throughout s3, Wukong and Mei both leaving at the end of 3x10, and then the "to pain scene" in 3x14.

And then in s4 we hammer the nail in the coffin further with 4x07 and 4x08 living up to LBD's words: doing what you think is right leads to pain.

I think the end of TEW will be another ROTSQ situation, where currently MK is okay leaving the world a little bit better than he found it, but it's a philosophy on a shaky foundation. All it'll take is one push to all come crumbling down (and we have SO many things at this point that could be that push—MK's origins/true identity, SWK and Macaque's true falling out, another world ending calamity [no 'ol half marathons here]). Because, at the end of the day, MK may leave the world better than he found it, but he still needs to be okay making mistakes and being MK. He needs to be okay with hurting the people he cares about, because that's what happens as a part of life. He's still so hung up on keeping everything the same. He wants a world where both him and his friends never have to struggle, which will just never happen.

Like, it's ridiculous to me how high of a note the s4 special ended on for everyone in the gang. It's like being on the final episode of a season and seeing that everything's resolved and great, but knowing there's 20 minutes left before the end. You just know it's all going to come crashing down. It's going to get worse before it gets better.

And you know what! I'll say this: being mentally ill is repetitive. And that's what MK is. He has anxiety. He has depression. I mean this seriously and sincerely. MK's running around in circles in his own mind trying to run away from himself (doing so quite literally in 4x07). But he can't man. None of us can.

#people on youtube just say anything #oh how quickly we forget reflection motif!#Never forget! Never forget reflection motif!#was this even a slightly effective rebuttal against that video essay lol #Like yeah I guess maybe MK's arc could be considered repetitive. But he also just regressed. I thought we all liked that about him #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk MK #lmk analysis #lmk theme: identity #lmk reflection motif #asks

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dragontamerno3 · 30 days

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DS9 E2E18 - Profit and Loss

Star Trek is really good at both telling us who the bad guys are in a very black and white fashion but they're also very good at then taking that and throwing it into a blender to make things all sorts of shades of gray. I find myself feeling the shades of gray with the Cardassians. I rather loathe them, in the way that we're supposed to. They're literal space yahtzees, the show has stated that they've created war crimes similar to those of the Holocaust. It's valid to hate them. That said, they keep dropping stray Cardassians into the mix that aren't like the others. Quark's lost love being one of them.

Everytime a Cardassian comes aboard I'm waiting for the ultimate betrayal and while a betrayal did happen, I'm honestly glad it came from the clearly marked oppressor.

I appreciate how even the Cardassians would have freedom fighters that were around to try to help save Cardassia from fash rule. I was a little weirder out that she kept calling them her students, but only because it made it feel more cult like but that was just a side note my brain kept thinking throwing at me when she did lol

Quark's storyline in this was interesting. I'm not generally a fan of sudden romance stories but the idea that a Ferengi would give up everything for a woman is incredibly out of character (as a whole) it was fascinating to watch him go from "SHE gets free things, you have to pay" to "You're with her, you get free drinks but only drinks" to "I'll give you this VERY important device for free if you get her to stay" to "Take me with you, I'll abandon everything for you."

To be clear, I don't think that last part would have lasted, even if he stayed devoted and loyal, he'd still start to scheme or try to make a profit somewhere. The man doesn't even take his first breath in the morning before he starts to consider the money he can make, he's not giving it up completely. But even the idea of it was interesting.

And then he got Odo to release them? And Odo did? Shocking but awesome all the same.

Having an episode with Garak and no Bashir should be a crime but having a very flamboyant Garak in the episode at all is a win that I'll take.

I wasn't sure the angle they were trying to pull with him because, from my read on the character so far he was against the Cardassian regime or at least had grown to have a bad taste for it so when he "outed" them for being there I was super confused.

Even when he showed up at the end to kill them I was kinda surprised that he would do that. But when he ended up killing the actual villain of this specific episode instead it made me wonder if he was playing some kind of 4D chess. Still don't know where he stands (and I'm okay with it) or what his intentions were but I appreciate the outcome. Chaos Garak for the win.

A show note, not exactly an episode note (though it did happen here): I love how they use his tailor shop and analogies to describe things/situations/warn folks. This is the second time he's done this and its a fun narrative feature that I dig.

7/10 - the plot itself was all over the place and I have more questions than answers but this was a fun ride. Saved from a 6.5 because Garak, though.

#star trek #star trek ds9 #ds9 #watchalong #star trek deep space nine #ds9 quark #elim garak #profit and loss

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oneatlatime · 8 months

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The Chase

Saving the commentary for next time. I haven't actually listened to any of the commentary tracks. Are they worth it?

Disney princess Aang.

There is no way the Air Nomads didn't have some sort of textile-based industry with that much shedding going on.

Sorry Katara, but Toph is much more Goblin than girl.

In a completely unsurprising move, the 12 year old formerly caged only child high on her first taste of freedom takes it too far.

The beat up Sokka quota is fulfilled! 3 minutes and ten seconds in might be a new record.

This is the kind of miscommunication I can get behind. Katara thinks they've had this whole fight complete with big issues, a falling out and a need to apologise. Toph has no idea that there are any issues.

Comfy.

What kind of cows are they expecting to meet to necessitate that!?!

How exactly is Toph supposed to help unload anyway? Unloading = throwing things down from a place she can't see. The last time anyone threw something to her from Appa she got beaned in the head. I get that she could help set up tents maybe, but unless Appa's saddle is made of stone she can't see it or anyone on it.

I get that they're all tired, but I'm with Toph on this one.

Sokka! Truly a man of wisdom. Sometimes all you should do is sit back and watch the fireworks.

Did Katara just insult Toph for being blind? Not cool.

Why would a tent made of stone have seams?

I love how when Sokka sticks his head under the covers his voice gets muffled.

Pushing Appa this hard has got to be borderline abusive. And how it keeps finding you? Maybe the trail of breadcrumbs maguffin you spent the first scene of the episode setting up? These poor kids are dumb when they're tired.

Zuko's so angry that his anger wins out as a descriptor over the whole 'half his face is missing' thing. That's impressive.

"Fun and Perky!" Honestly, no comment. Trying to put "FuN and PeRkY" in the same sentence as Sokka broke my brain.

"There's no way they could have possibly followed us" except for the giant carved pathway up to where you are?

These three. Hmm. Did not miss them.

Wow those ride on lizards sound annoying!

Since when can lightning demolish walls?

Pretty.

Siblings!

"We've been up all night with no sleep." LIES. FILTHY LIES.

That's sleep.

You have GOT to be kidding me.

I had not thought about the dangers of ten tonne sleep deprived flying animals.

Katara's really in full bitch mode this episode huh?

Sokka is the only person with sense this episode. Also love the toilet brush trees.

"We're all just trying to get used to each other." Actually, the only person who had a problem with Toph was Katara.

Sokka speaks truth and has his priorities in order. What else can I say? This guy rocks.

This guy can't catch a break.

I hope Appa was napping during that bath.

I take it back. They're not toilet brushes. They're moustaches.

And that's all you're getting for today folks because I just lost power!

edit: part 2 + wrap up is posted.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #the chase

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infinitelyprecious · 5 months

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Best QL of 2023: Favorite lines

I saw @abstractelysium and @wen-kexing-apologist post their favorite lines of 2023 ql here and here and I wanted to join in on the fun. So this is my collection of 2023 ql lines and dialogues that got stuck in my head and either had me squealing or hit me like a truck.

In no particular order, except the heavier ones are first and the lighter ones last:

1. "Do you think we'll be okay?" "All we can do is try. Are you scared?" "A little bit." "Even if it's scary, we have to try it to find out. Let's try it together, even if we're afraid."

Jihyun & Jaewon - The Eighth Sense episode 10

Gif by @hanjiwoos

The ending scene of this show was perfect to me. Them two freshly reunited and in the process of starting over. I loved that we didn't get an ending that said, they're together and everything is perfect now, but instead one that captured reality. Yes they are together now and happy, but they still have a lot of healing to do and things might still not work out. But right now they have each other and they're both willing to try.

2. "Throughout the course of my life I have learned that the current of time always runs forward without any retreat. With the matter of time, I might already be your past, but for me, you are my future."

Yai - I Feel You Linger In The Air episode 12

Somehow I was still holding it together during these lines. I lost it 2 seconds later. My oh my. When outside circumstances keep people apart, especially when they love each other the way these two do. Knowing that you'll never get back the time you spend together, you will never see each other again. Other incarnations of them do but that's beside the point. Something something how life is finite and once you loose something or someone you can never go back in time and relive what is no longer. Instead you have to deal and try to make peace with your new reality, all while having a gaping hole in your chest. Sorry

3. "Why is it so tiring to like someone? What did I do wrong?"

Han Baram - Sing My Crush episode 5

The way I have wanted to hug this man throughout the show. He had one thing after the other to deal with but kept it all in. And then this scene happened where all the frustrations erupt and dissolve. Finally he is opening up and letting things out. Hearing him say those lines broke me.

Okay the tear inducing ones are out of the way, time for some lightheartedness.

4. "Did you get into your room?"

Phat - La Pluie episode 4

Boy, the way I almost threw my phone. I did not see this one coming and I was as surprised and delighted as Tai was. This was probably the best way for the show to reveal that Phat knows. Everytime I watch this scene, I sit there in anticipation for this one line.

5. "If you want to know me, have fun trying."

Nail - For Him episode 1

I've been trying to figure out why this line got stuck in my head, but honestly. I just love a bad bitch who puts down a challenge. Not for me to complete but for me to see someone else work for it. Accompanied by that music and the bisexual lighting, A+.

#the eighth sense #ifylita #for him #sing my crush #la pluie #favorite ql lines 2023 #best ql 2023 #precious talks

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spiralcass · 6 months

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NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 3, EPISODE 5

We open in the Egyptian desert in the middle of the night, holding on the barren sand and night sky.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blows the sand in every which direction as someone flies over it.

That someone is revealed to be a light-skinned Sofia in a hospital gown, scared out of her mind.

Chasing after her, with a smug look and engulfed in his aura, is Exodus. Fast as Sofia is, the Omega is faster and gets in front of her.

EXODUS: "Quit this foolishness at once, Wind Dancer. Lord Apocalypse has graciously returned to you your lost weapon. Submit. And serve."

SOFIA, sneering back: "I learned about Apocalypse in school. Not a very nice man."

Sofia blows a sandstorm at Exodus, and while it's one he can easily deflect with his telekinesis…

SOFIA: "A sandstorm is a terrible disaster…and not the only kind I can create."

Exodus screams as, well preoccupied with the sandstorm, a tornado forms around him. He screams as it carries him away.

Sofia doesn't stick around for him to get out, and flies off.

SOFIA, panting: "Okay…now…where am I?"

In the headmasters' office, Hellion has been sat down in front of Scott and Emma, appearing not to care about what he's being told.

SCOTT, irritated: "Julian, are you listening?"

Julian, in a grouchy mood, tells him that yeah, yeah he's listening. So his grades have fallen a bit. So what?

EMMA: "Your grades, my little Hellion, have fallen below Noriko's."

SCOTT: "You agreed to the same deal Laura and Surge did. If you want to stay on the team, you have to maintain a C-average."

JULIAN: "I can't believe we're even talking about this right now. I helped save the world last month, and now you want to bench me because I'm failing algebra?! And Laura? Laura's not here anymore! I should be out there looking for her!"

EMMA: "You mean like you've been looking for Sofia?"

Julian slumps over. Emma commends him for his dedication to his friends, but he needs to focus on himself. Whether he accepts it or not, his grades, and being a normal student, are important. He can't keep flying off instead of studying.

JULIAN: "So I should just give up on them? I'm not giving up on Sofia. She isn't dead!"

"I certainly hope so."

Julian, Emma and Scott are all shocked as they see who's standing in the doorway: a perfectly normal looking Sofia.

SOFIA: "That would make me standing here pretty weird."

Emma and Scott turn to each other in confusion, knowing what Quentin said about her, but still unsure how he knew about any of this. Julian's face meanwhile lights up like he's seeing an angel.

JULIAN: "Beautiful?"

SOFIA, smiling back at him: "Hello, Julian."

Julian speeds across the room and hugs her, holding her right. She gently hugs him back.

JULIAN, eyes shut: "I never gave up hope. I heard you were dead, but I knew you'd be back." Scott and Emma are even more surprised. "I promise, I'm never letting you go again, and I will find a way to get your powers back."

Emma, amused: "Umm…Julian."

Julian opens his eyes and sees he and Sofia are hovering above the floor, not through telekinesis, but through wind.

Julian laughs with happiness as Sofia sets them down. How is this possible?

SOFIA: "I don't know. The last few months are all a blur." She turns to Scott and Emma, her face becoming more serious. "But I think it has something to do with Apocalypse."

Scott, Emma, and Julian all grimace at that name.

We cut to a Jewish deli, where Magneto is not in costume, but still completely overdressed in a three-piece suit. Erik impatiently checks his watch and eats some bread as he waits in a booth for the rest of his party to arrive.

A waiter comes up to him and asks him if he’s ready to order. Erik politely tells him that he’s actually waiting on his children. It is at this exact moment that Pietro speeds in, putting an arm around that shocked and terrified waiter.

PIETRO: “That group tragically includes me. Moscato, please.”

The terrified waiter runs off.

PIETRO, sitting down: “I don’t care if he’s afraid, but I hope he still gets me that drink. Hello, Father.”

Erik sighs.

ERIK: “Pietro. I trust you’ve been well.”

PIETRO: “As well as one can when they had their own prosperous country and now spend their days putting up with the Avengers.” His tone becomes more mocking. “You and your “X-Men” took Cannonball so they needed a new fast guy.”

ERIK, a little amused: “The X-Men carry Genosha’s torch. We had our own country and, one day, we may again. But for right now, continuing the fight and enjoying life’s small pleasures is all we can do.”

PIETRO: “Easy for you to say when you weren’t the one who had to pick up the pieces.”

“Pietro, be nice.”

A mystical portal opens up and out steps, the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff, making her first proper appearance.

WANDA, kissing Erik on the cheek: “We can at least try to act like a family, can’t we?”

Pietro rolls his eyes as Magneto’s lovingly smiles in response to Wanda’s arrival. Erik tells Wanda that she looks well, with Wanda sitting down and saying she’s actually pretty tired. Some outer gods were just trying to break into the multiverse and she had to stick the trashcan lid back on them.

WANDA: “I love Betsy, but I wish she was capable of aiding me with these types of threats, and not just those from within the multiverse.”

PIETRO: “Yes, maybe then you’d be able to use that god-like power of yours to actually help us for a change.”

WANDA: “You’re not dropping the attitude, are you?”

PIETRO: “I see no reason to.”

“Maybe so we can actually enjoy yourselves.”

Dramatic music plays as a normal looking Lorna approaches the table.

LORNA: “Sorry I’m late.”

We cut to the snowy Canadian wilderness. Laura has isolated herself here, and she can handle the harsh elements, but she’s hungry. Sniffing around, she finds what she’s looking for. She dashes into the trees, staying above ground to go unnoticed, until she finds a bear. She’s going to jump down at it with the element of surprise and make it a clean kill, but the brand she’s on snaps under her weight.

Laura falls to the ground, and the very angry-looking bear notices her.

LAURA: “Uh…hi?”

The bear jumps at her, prompting Laura to wrestle with the beast.

LAURA: “Sorry. Tried to make this painless.”

The bear manages to bite off a chunk of her before she gouges its eyes out, sticking her claws through its eyesockets and brain.

Laura falls back, rubbing her half-bitten off shoulder.

LAURA: “Never eaten bear before. Hope you’re tasty.”

Laura picks up the bear’s corpse overhead, and as she turns around, sees a normal looking Japanese man, who the audience recognizes as Death, standing there, all bundled up in hiking gear, with a shocked look on his face.

LAURA: “Um. I. Um…”

DEATH: “You down to share that? I’ve got wood, but I’m so lost.”

Laura casts her eyes up at her lunch, then back down at the stranger.

LAURA: “Make the fire quick.”

DEATH, unpacking his bag: “Thank you SO much. My name’s Ken by the way. Yours?”

LAURA, dropping the bear next to where the fire is being started: “X-23.”

DEATH: “No way. Really? Huh. I’d hate to have your parents.”

Laura grimaces, as Death mugs for the camera.

Back in the school’s common area, Cessily and Roxy squeal at the surprise the gang has been assembled for, running up to and hugging Sofia. They can’t believe this!

SOFIA, hugging them back: “Believe it. I am back.” She shows off her returned powers with a light breeze through Cessily’s hair. “And I am here to stay.”

Cessily and Roxy groan in pain as they pull back. Sofia asks if they’re alright and they hesitantly confirm, yes, they’re still just recovering from something that happened recently.

Sofia smiles and promises now that she’s back, she won’t let anyone hurt them again.

BRIAN, coming over to high-five his returned friend: “That mean you’re back on the X-Men too?”

SOFIA, casually high-fiving Brian hard enough to hurt his wrist: “I hope so.”

As Sofia hugs Sooraya, Soo mentioning that she prayed for this, she turns her attention to the newcomers: the Cuckoos and Quentin. Sofia is happy for the Cuckoos making nice with everyone, as she knows that couldn’t have been easy for them. The Cuckoos are happy to see her too, though Celeste does question if the rule about Sofia not being allowed to win queen at this year’s dance is still in place, hoping to win herself.

As for Quentin…

SOFIA: “I can’t say I ever expected to see you in the group, or dressed like that, but I hope we can be friends.”

QUENTIN, leaning intentionally dramatically against a piano: “Am I the only one here without short-term memory loss? You’re all cheering on and hugging a girl who spent two months spreading anti-Mutant propaganda. With her following, do you think that didn’t get *anyone* hurt?”

The mood sours at that, everyone having, indeed, momentarily forgotten about that.

SOFIA, distraught: “I…there is no excuse for that. For any of what I put out there. I was alone and in a dark place, but that didn't warrant such an awful response. I'm so sorry. I hope you can all forgive me.”

To her relief, none of her friends are mad. Cessily knows Sofia would never really want to hurt anyone, Sooraya is a general believer in forgiveness, Roxy snarks that everyone here is seemingly bound to do something extremely shitty eventually, the Cuckoos have no room to judge, and Brian is just weirdly quiet. Quentin rolls her eyes.

Sofia thanks them all. She won't let them down again.

SOFIA: “Now, where are Nori and Laura?”

Cess, scratching the back of her head, somberly tells Sofia that Laura is gone; ran off just like her. And Nori…um…

Quentin cackles.

We cut to Noriko and Julian panicking in a broom closet.

NORI: “I am so happy she's back and alive and that that War bitch was full of shit, but we are SO screwed!”

JULIAN: “Already talked to Ms. Frost. She told everyone not to say anything so we could come up with something ourselves.”

NORIKO: “What are we supposed to do? We just started dating for real, and I don't wanna quit again, but also I'd rather kill you with my bare hands than hurt her.”

JULIAN: “Same! We haven't even done it yet.”

Julian freezes. Noriko is confused why. Julian explains he was kinda expecting her to slap him or taze him again.

NORIKO: “Eww, no. I'm your girlfriend, not your fuckbuddy; I'm not gonna hit you anymore.”

JULIAN: “I…okay. So what do we do?” BEAT. “Would you be down for me dating you both?”

NORIKO: “Do you WANT me to go back to hitting?”

There's a banging on the door to the closet, freaking the two out. But, on the other side, it's just Redneck.

REDNECK: “Hey! Some of us need brooms around here. Can you open up?”

HELLION AND SURGE: “No!”

Redneck sighs as he walks off.

Redneck: “Freaking X-Men thinking the world revolves around them.”

Julian and Noriko shrug their shoulders, still in complete uncertainty.

Back at the deli, Erik puts in orders for the full table, ordering a laundry list of food for himself, Pietro, and Wanda, and finishing off with “and a house salad for my youngest.”

LORNA, as the waiter walks away: “Thank you, Father.”

ERIK, pleased with himself: “I remembered all your favorites.”

PIETRO, mockingly: “You see that? What’s 35 years of neglect and manipulation and attempting to mold us into supervillains next to remembering our preferred brunch orders?”

ERIK: “I am trying here.”

PIETRO: “You could have tried harder when we needed you most. Or did a space birdie render the mighty Magneto completely helpless?”

The tension between the two men is palpable, and Wanda elects to simply sidestep it for the time being by putting on a big smile and asking how Lorna has been.

WANDA: “I haven’t seen you since the memorial.”

LORNA: “I’m surviving. The same as any of us. I went to see Alex–” Her father and siblings all groan in disgust. “I know. I know. The Goblin Queen was equally unhappy about this. She told me to warn you she was coming for you soon, sister.”

WANDA: “Charming.”

LORNA: “Since then, I’ve just been back in school. A PhD program may not be as glamorous as being a princess was, but looking at and thinking about rocks all day is a better way to avoid thinking about what we lost and those we failed than the alternatives.”

Wanda tells Lorna she’s glad she’s looking after herself like that; she’s sure she’ll be a great doctor when she’s done. Erik agrees, and is proud of her for continuing to pursue greater heights, in spite of the hardships she faced.

ERIK, toward Pietro: “Unlike some people.”

Pietro sneers back.

Lorna thinks that that’s what they should all be doing. Reaching for new horizons and taking care of themselves. With that in mind…

LORNA: “I am feeling refreshed, Father is home and has regained his bearings, and Wanda is more powerful than ever.” She smirks evily. “I believe it’s time for the House of M to rise again.”

The others look at her with concern, as a purple gleam passes over her eyes.

Out in the wilderness, Laura and “Ken” sit around the campfire cooking the bear Laura killed. Laura is staring into the fire, angsting, and idly wondering if she’d even feel it if she stuck her hand in the flames, while Ken is being obnoxiously upbeat, bouncing on the log he’s sitting on and whistling show tunes.

This goes on for a little bit, until Ken notes that the meat looks like it’s almost done. And it smells delicious!

KEN: “So what are you doing out here, X-23? I’m guessing this is a Mutant thing? No offense, but you clearly are one.”

LAURA: “Don’t wanna talk.”

KEN, as Laura reaches for the meat: “Come on…”

KEN, the camera focused on his lips: “...I insist.”

Laura’s headaches. As she prepares the meat, she tells Ken everything, giving her whole backstory, and explaining why she came out here to be alone.

LAURA: “Huh. Felt good saying that.”

KEN: “It’s a Hell of a story! I hope it has a happy ending.”

The two dig into their meal. Both hum over how good it is. It’s gamey, but they both like that.

LAURA: “What about you?”

KEN: “Ah! A good question. I’m actually out here looking for something. My lady wants it, so my lady will have it.”

Laura isn’t sure what he could be looking out here; she specifically chose the middle of nowhere. Ken says that’s true, but rare treasures can be found anywhere.

LAURA: “Must love her a lot to be willing to deal with the cold.”

KEN: “I’m not sure love is the right word. But I’d do anything she asked of me.”

Laura actually cracks a smile as she snorts.

LAURA: “You sound like a friend of mine. Guy named Hellion.”

KEN: “Really? I wonder if our ladies also have anything in common.”

The two eat in silence for a few moments.

Death smirks evily as he hangs his head.

DEATH: “X-23, could you please stand up, turn around and pace five steps forward?”

Laura’s head spins as she complies without argument.

LAURA: “Who…who are you?”

DEATH, stripping: “I told you my name is Ken. It’s actually short for an old, annoying nickname. Sorry about that. I couldn’t be sure if your father had ever told you my birth name.”

As the music swells, Laura is jumped from behind and tackled to the ground.

DEATH, with Laura pinned, only wearing shorts, and with tattoos all over him: “And I couldn’t just tell you my real name is Death.”

Laura sneers as Death grins.

In the Mission Room, Dani welcomes Sofia home with a big hug, Kitty pats Sofia on the head, telling her it wasn’t the same without her. Sofia’s happy to see them both as well; she’s sure she’ll need their help getting the hang of her powers again.

Scott and Emma are also present, as are the Cuckoos. The headmasters explain those powers are something they’re concerned about. They need to know everything Sofia knows about how she got them, and about Apocalypse.

EMMA: “For instance, were you aware that Apocalypse nearly succeeded in wiping out humanity last month?”

CYCLOPS: “Or that his Horsemen murdered Archangel, depowered Storm, and massacred the Morlocks?”

SOFIA: “No! Of course not! You stopped him, right?”

KITTY: “We did, but his Horsemen are still out there. We don’t even know who three of them are. Only one we do know is–”

SOFIA, haunted: “Exodus.” Everyone nervously stares at her. “I don’t have any memories of the last six months. The last thing I remember is waking up in some creepy lair, and him telling me my powers had been restored so that I could serve Apocalypse. I managed to escape and came here as fast as I could but…he’s a telepath, isn’t he? Could he have stolen my memories?”

Emma confirms that’s a possibility and that that’s also why she’s called her girls here. She wants their assistance in traveling inside her mind; anything she knows, they’ll know.

The Cuckoos giggle to themselves with curiosity over finding out Sofia’s deepest, darkest secrets, while Dani stands her ground and tells Emma…

DANI: “Hell no! A scan is one thing, but you’re not playing inside her head!”

SCOTT: “I’m not a fan either, but what choice do we have? Leaving aside that there must be a reason Exodus wiped her memory, possibly pertaining to the identities of the other horsemen, well…”

SOFIA, hanging her head: “...I showed up suddenly after 8 months of no contact with my powers restored, after having turned against Mutantkind and in possession of knowledge of our enemies.”

EMMA: “Yes. That. And I’m afraid the story you’ve told us doesn’t quite work for me. You are remarkably talented, but you claim to have escaped Exodus. I find that difficult to swallow.”

Sofia nods and tells Dani it’s fine. She consents to Emma and the Cuckoos going in her mind; she just hopes they don’t judge her for some of the terrible thoughts she had immediately after losing her powers.

Emma assures her she understands being in a dark place, and thanks her for her cooperation.

Just as Emma and the Cuckoos are about to start, Surge races in.

NORIKO: “Hey, Princess!”

SOFIA, face lighting up: “Noriko!”

The besties hug and reunite, Nori calling her a pain in the ass for making her worried and look all around the world for her, with Sofia shooting back that all that traveling at least gave her chances to find a boyfriend.

SOFIA: “Wait, are you dating anyone? I haven’t been online since I woke up.” She looks mortified. “I haven’t been unplugged this long since I came to America.”

Before Nori is forced to answer that question, Scott offers an “Ech hem”, and reminds them that they’re in the middle of something. With Kitty pulling Nori away for a moment, Sofia braces herself for her mind-guests.

At the deli, a concerned Erik asks Lorna what she’s talking about. Lorna explains that they’ve all been taking care of themselves, and that’s a good thing, but their family is meant for more.

LORNA: “At this moment, the only thing we need to do to ensure Mutantkind’s future, not just its survival, but its ability to thrive, is to ally ourselves with the Horsemen of Apocalypse.”

Wanda shows concern for her sister, while Pietro sneers.

ERIK, sitting up straight to evoke confidence: “I know times have been hard, but I also know that their ends are not something you’d ever desire.”

LORNA: “You don’t know what their “ends” are. You defeated Apocalypse, and with what he tried to do, I’m glad you did, but they’re under new leadership now. Lady Akabba’s goals are entirely different.”

PIETRO: “And how would you know that?”

WANDA: “Have you been speaking with them?”

LORNA: “Yes…but I’ve done more than just talk .” Lorna’s skin turns blue, shocking her family. “I’ve already taken the step forward and joined them.”

Lorna asks them all to please not freak out and just listen. They actually all feel comfortable doing that, easing up and resuming eating their bread and coleslaw, assured in the knowledge that any one of them could take Lorna down, should the need arise.

Right now, without Father, the X-Men are weak. They only number six outside the ones with training wheels on. No Jean, no Storm. Their biggest gun is the second dumbest man she’s ever dated.

WANDA, crunching a picking in her teeth: “Haven’t you only ever dated the two?” She frowns. “Eww. Sour.”

LORNA: “That’s not the point.”

PIETRO, buttering bread: “You hear Bobby’s gay now?”

LORNA: “He sent me the virtual card. It was very cute. The point is that no man, mutant, or machine on Earth could stand against the seven of us. There would be conquest, it would be bloody, but needless suffering is not what we seek; only salvation. It would be like what you once sought after, Father, but with the strength needed to nip all opposition in the bud. If you cannot see the difference between that and Apocalypse’s desires, then I cannot help you.”

The other three members of the family think about this carefully, Wanda and Pietro still chewing on their food as they do so. Eventually, Magneto speaks.

ERIK: “It is different, yes. But I have already chosen where I stand. And I will move no further. I believe in the X-Men. I believe that we can make my old friend’s dream come true.”

With Pietro and Wanda still uncertain, Lorna groans as she sits back in her seat.

LORNA: “That sucks. Without him, even if you two did join us, I couldn’t count on you not backing out. Ugh.”

Wanda is about to open her mouth, but before she can say anything, Lorna perks up, grinning manically, and takes her hands.

LORNA: “Actually, we did have one more idea. One even quicker and more painless than Apocalypse’s, with none of the drawbacks. And all we need for it to work, Wanda…is you.”

Wanda’s face morphs from concerned to battle-ready as Lorna grins manically into her eyes.

In the school’s foyer, the gang, minus Quentin, is being let outside by Sofia. She’s relieved that Ms. Frost and the Cuckoos didn’t find one weird thing in her head, just the same blankness she has, and she wants to celebrate returning to the school and the return of her powers, with a return to the Grindstone - her treat.

Everyone cheers. Julian squirms uncomfortably and forces a smile as Sofia gently takes his hand.

Sofia giggles, before belting out a ghastly shriek. She grips her head and bends over. Through a static filter, Sofia sees herself being gutted like a trout by Apocalypse, blasted into the desert sand by Exodus and Polaris, and screaming at the top of her lungs, bleeding from cracks all over her body as she sits inside Celestial tech.

Sofia returns to reality, catching her breath, and Julian has caught her in his arms. Everyone wants to know if she’s okay.

SOFIA: “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” Sofia turns around and squints at the Cuckoos. “You girls didn’t bump into or break anything in my mind, right?”

The other four Cuckoos all turn their glares toward Mindee.

MINDEE: “Oh this is SO typical.”

Noriko hooks Sofia’s arm around her own and leads her further down the path, and away from Julian. They can talk to Ms. Frost about that later. Right now, they have so much to tell her!

Sofia perks back up. Julian takes a deep breath. Over with the Cuckoos…

MINDEE, telepathically: “I really didn’t do anything wrong. I swear.”

SOPHIE: “I believe you. Stay quiet and observe.”

In the wilderness, Death laughs as he squeezes Laura’s wrists cracking them, keeping her pinned on the ground.

DEATH, skin turning blue: “I have waited so long for this…Sister.”

Laura throws Death off of her, growling, leaps up to her feet and draws her claws.

LAURA: “Horseman. What do you mean, “sister?”

DEATH: “Ask Father.” Death draws his own, much larger claws. “Tell him Akihiro says hi.”

Akihiro dashes at Laura, fast enough to catch her by surprise. The two fight, with Laura clearly at a disadvantage, as she's immediately forced to give it all she got, while Akihiro looks like he's barely even trying. Akihiro soon manages to deliver a fierce kick to Laura’s face, knocking her away.

Aki laughs. Is that all she's got? No wonder War defeated her so easily.

Laura picks herself back up, snapping her chin back into place.

LAURA: “Tell me.”

AKI: “About what? Who I am? Who she is?”

LAURA: “No. I don't care. Tell me if she lied to me. Did she really kill Sofia Mantega?”

Akihiro laughs. Laura clenches her fists.

AKIHIRO: “No. No, she was just manipulating you. It's what she's best at, bless her tiny, black heart. That little bitch just escaped us, actually.” Laura’s eyes widen and her heart pounds. “But Famine is working to correct that.” Aki notices the change in Laura’s face. “You wish to see her? She's back at your school. All you have to do to see your friend again is get through me.”

Laura doesn't even let him finish that sentence as she rushes in to take Death down.

The gang arrives at The Grindstone and is welcomed in by Luna, who offers an extra welcome to Sofia, happy to see her again.

CESSILY, whispering teasingly in Julian’s ear: “You two ever tell her you almost chose to let her die?”

SOFIA, whispering: “You did WHAT?”

Julian nervously laughs, as Noriko says they’ll tell her the full story, but the important thing is they *didn’t* do that in the end.

As the gang sits down in their booth, Julian is about to sit down next to Sofia, but Noriko gets in between them first. He glares at her, getting a little annoyed by this.

Sofia’s missed this place but for more reasons than just nostalgia. She was working as a waitress while she was gone, and the people were great, but the diner wasn’t nearly as nice as this place.

NORIKO, ready to laugh: “YOU were a waitress?”

BRIAN: “What, did being a racist grifter not pay?”

Everyone laughs and Sofia smiles and nods along; she deserves that.

SOFIA: “Enough about that embarrassing chapter of my life. What have you all been doing?” She smiles at Julian and Noriko. “I already know about you two.”

The two nearly have conniptions as they stutter over their rapid words before Sofia elaborates that she’s so proud of both of them for becoming X-Men.

NORIKO, still mildly panicking “Ah! Yeah!”

JULIAN, the same: “You knew it was only a matter of time.”

Sofia’s glad they were able to fill in for her. Cyclops and Ms. Frost still need to speak with Magneto, but they said since things are looking alright in her mind, she should be able to fight alongside them as an X-Man.

SOFIA: “Do we LIKE Magneto?”

Everyone groans, “Ehhhh” with one exception.

BRIAN: “He’s been doing this longer than anyone. Knows what he’s talking about.”

Sofia turns to Brian and asks about him.

BRIAN: “Nothing new with me. Same old, same old.”

SOORAYA: “He has a crush on Quentin.”

EVERYONE ELSE: “Ooooh.”

BRIAN, embarrassed: “Soo, why?”

Sooraya shrugs.

Julian tells Brian he’s too good for that geek, and he should be trying to steal Dallas or Victor, with the Cuckoos jumping in to point out that Quentin is hardly a geek anymore.

SOPHIE: “HIs transformation has been…most impressive.”

Brian shoots a stink-eye at Sophie, wondering if she may actually reciprocate Quentin’s feelings now.

Sofia moves on to the other girls. Bling! Immediately jumps to hyping up Mercury. Yeah, they got kidnapped and tortured, and her parents are paying for a very good therapist for them both, and what happened to Laura was even more awful, BUT Mercury totally managed to beat Laura and it was awesome. Cessily blushes, trying to be modest, and point out it wasn’t really “Laura” she fought, and Roxy figured out what she needed to do, but no one accepts that and Sofia tells her she isn’t even surprised.

Luna brings water over to everyone, and asks if they know what they want. The Cuckoos elect to save time by reading everyone’s minds and beaming their orders into her head.

PHOEBE: “And make it snappy.”

Luna is frazzled by the info dumb and attitude.

LUNA: “Do…NOT do that again.”

Luna walks off, still shaken. The Cuckoos giggle. They stop as everyone else glares at them.

SOPHIE: “She is literally dating a telepath. She shouldn’t have a problem!”

Noriko tells the Cuckoos that she thinks they need to have another talk about boundaries, while Sofia whispers flirtatiously over the wind, asking Julian if she can talk to him alone, outside.

Julian looks at Noriko nervously, before turning to Sofia, who’s smiling seductively at him. He can’t help but grin back and fly off with her, Sofia telling everyone they’ll be back in just a minute.

Suddenly, no one cares about what the Cuckoos were doing, and all eyes are on Noriko. Cessily and Roxy are worried about her, while the Cuckoos are enjoying the show.

SOORAYA: “She wants her boyfriend back.”

NORI: “I got that, Soo!”

Sooraya shrugs again.

Behind the coffee shop, Julian nervously asks what Sofia wants to talk about. Sofia doesn't actually let him finish asking, however, as she blows them both against the brick wall, and makes out with him.

Sofia pulls back, both of them grinning.

SOFIA: “I am sorry. I should have asked but…I figured it was best if we just skipped the “will we/won't” dance again. I'm a little sick of it.”

JULIAN, laughing: “Yeah. Same.”

Sofia slides her hands down Julian’s chest, as he tries to say there's something he needs to tell her, but he's too enraptured by her to spit it out. Sofia takes his hands.

SOFIA: “Fly with me?”

JULIAN, knowing what he SHOULD be saying: “Always.”

Carried by their respective methods of flight, the two soar into the sky. With Sofia taking the lead, the two use their abilities to make their flight into a zero-gravity dance, twirling and flying around one another. Eventually, Sofia winds up back in Julian’s arms.

JULIAN, Sofia’s head against his chest: “What Cess said before was true. Nori and I really did almost help end humanity.”

SOFIA, concerned: “You were killing people?”

JULIAN: “No. Apocalypse had this plague we needed to stop, and we thought it might not be a bad idea to let him use it. Just because we were so tired of humans…baselines and their crap. Ms. Pryde talked sense into us, but we almost messed up big time.” Julian pulls back and holds Sofia’s hands. “I could never hold what you did against you. Our lives are messed up, and we can't blame ourselves for every bad thought.”

Sofia wells up with joy, holding his metal hands tight.

SOFIA: “I don't think I ever got to say how much I liked these.” She grins. “So…we’re together? Finally?”

JULIAN: “Y-yeah! Of course we–!”

Julian is cut off as he's hit by a pink telekinetic blast and sent crashing toward the ground.

SOFIA: “Julian!”

Sofia isn't able to go save him, as her throat is gripped by a large hand.

EXODUS: “You shouldn't have run, Wind Dancer.” He laughs at her terror. “It's time for us to return home. Do not worry about your friends. They're being tended to.”

In a van outside the Grindhouse, we see a woman who comic fans will recognize as Trinary. Inside the coffee shop, the kids’ phones short circuit and the Cuckoos’ minds ache as the front door bursts open.

Firefist, Random, and Avalanche stomp in, led by a face only briefly seen before: Frenzy.

Luna, her staff, and all of the human customers start panicking, Sooraya checks on the Cuckoos to ask what's going on, and, without hesitation, Surge leaps to her feet, ready to fight.

Frenzy looks around at the Mutant kids and all the human employees and patrons.

FRENZY: “Kill em all.”

Back at the deli, Wanda hesitantly asks what Lorna’s idea involving her is. Pietro slaps Lorna’s hands off of Wanda.

LORNA, rubbing her hands: “Professor Xavier put you on his “Omega List” because he doesn’t understand you. Your hex blasts are impressive, but your true strength? That’s all the chaos force, all magic. You beat back elder gods before brunch and reshape worlds around you with a flick of a wrist. I do not understand anything about the ancient technology that Apocalypse had access to, but I know that Lady Akkaba does, and I know just how powerful it is. If you were to be enhanced by it like us, you could transform the entire world; you could make the world what it should be.”

ERIK, not about to put up with this: “A world dominated by the strong?”

LORNA: “A world dominated by Mutants. No killing whatsoever. Just a paradigm shift to put us on top, and humans at our feet where they belong.”

ERIK: “Enough! Not one more word of this. I am sorry that I was not present to help you through your grief, but succumbing to hate and rage is not the answer. You will tell us at once where the Horsemen are based so that we stomp them out and return you to your normal self. Am I clear?”

Lorna mockingly curls her lips at Erik before turning to Wanda.

LORNA: “Does he speak for you? You aren’t his clone or his puppet.”

WANDA, squinting her eyes: “No. I’m not. I was a hero long before he was.”

Wanda quick draws and catches Polaris by surprise, hitting her with a hex blast. WIth an additional wave of her arm, Lorna doesn’t fly into other customers, but through a portal.

Polaris lands on a stone island surrounded by pulsing red energy. Scarlet Witch, Magneto, and Quicksilver emerge from another portal.

WANDA: “And I know my sister.”

Lorna, on her knees, looks up at her family, shocked that they’d attack her….before at long last dropping the bit. Lorna cackles manically in a voice not her own, as her eyes turn purple.

“POLARIS”: “You know I had a feeling I was slipping, but a girl can only keep up a performance that boring for so long.” She cackles again as she stands up. “My master calls me Pestillence. But you may call me Malice.”

In the wilderness, Laura fights her hardest against Akihiro, but there isn’t even the appearance of this being any kind of fair fight, as Death just wails on her, kicking her around and slashing her up.

AKIHIRO: “My turn to ask you a question: aren’t you supposed to be the ultimate killing machine? I know what happened at the Facility, I know what happened with you and your friends, but if you’re going to be emotionally weak and give in to what Kimura said about you, then you should at least have the physical strength to back it up. Otherwise, what good are you?” He shrugs. “Just something to think about from your big brother.”

LAURA, shaking with rage, her priorities once again not where Aki would expect: “You were with Kimura. You helped her torture Mercury and Bling!”

AKI, finding her attitude curious: “Yes, I did. It was unsightly, not nearly as fun to watch as you squirming, but they’ll thank me for it one day.” He laughs. “I’m sorry, I was just expecting some more personal heat here, but all your fire is just about those friends of yours.” Laura stands firm, not saying anything. Aki laughs and quietly whispers. “I see why she likes you.” Akihiro picks his head up. “Alright! Let’s just finish this then!”

Akihiro retracts his claws and starts coughing. It’s a disturbing sight, and one Laura is confused by, but Death coughs up his sword, pulling it out of his mouth.

AKIHIRO: “Behold my sword…Muramasa.”

Laura, staring down this clearly strange blade, and knowing she has to do something different, thinks about the friends she’s worried about. About Sofia and Cessily and Roxy. And she thinks back to them all dancing without a care.

Laura retracts her claws, and takes a stance that makes it look more like she’s ready to dance than fight. Aki licks his lips.

In the sky above NYC, Exodus strangles Sofia.

EXODUS: “I know I shouldn't be saying this, but you truly have no idea how much I'm going to enjoy this.”

Sofia gasps, asking him what he's talking about. Exodus responds by telepathically assaulting her. Sofia screams.

Through a static filter, she has more visions. This time, she sees herself sword dueling with Apocalypse, killing someone, unseen, with a knife, with blood splattering all over her, and herself, in her War armor but her face exposed, sitting on Apocalypse’s lap on his throne, with a sultry smirk on her face and her arms stretched out with her hands behind Apocalypse’s neck.

In reality, Exodus lets go of Sofia and ceases her assault. Sofia’s eyes are wide in terror.

SOFIA: “What…what was that? I don't understand.”

EXODUS: “How could you? You aren't even real.”

Exodus reaches out to her again, with Sofia slowly backing away in fear. Before Exodus can grab her again, Hellion, screaming and surrounded in his aura, body checks Exodus to knock him away.

Sofia is relieved to see him okay, but notices that his right arm has been completely mangled.

JULIAN: “It's fine. I don't care what fancy title he gives himself. If I've got you, I only need one arm to beat this creep.”

Exodus laughs. This just got even better.

In the coffee shop, Surge stares down Frenzy and her men, standing between them and everyone else.

Surge lights herself up, and tells the crowd not to worry; she’s an X-Man. They may continue talking crap about her and her friends behind their backs once she’s saved them.

Random laughs. He's so been looking forward to getting another shot at her.

SURGE: “You really think it'll go any different? Aren't you guys supposed to be in SHIELD cells?”

FRENZY: “They were. As was I. Lord Apocalypse liberated us.”

Surge is annoyed. Summers and Frost never tell her anything.

Frenzy tells Surge that Lady Akkaba has ordered them to kill her and her friends. Surge, however, is distracted by the flashing green and pink lights shining through the window.

Checking her dead phone, seeing Luna and everyone else scared, and the Cuckoos heads being messed with, she's at least able to smile as Dust, Tag, Mercury, and Bling! come to her side.

ROXY: “No way we’re letting you fight all these goons alone.”

AVALANCHE: “Enough talking!”

Avalanche starts lightly shaking the ground, building up to a full quale. Surge smirks, before turning her head to Tag.

SURGE: “Brian!”

Brian tags himself and disrupts the tremors, as Frenzy and her men are telepathically compelled to runaway from the Grindstone.

The crowd is a mix of cheers, and people telling them to scram next.

Nori elects to ignore that, and tells Roxy that, actually, they're the ones fighting them alone.

The non-X-Men are confused, but Surge points out that Exodus is here, and fighting Hellion and Wind Dancer. This monster beat Storm and Iceman, and they've cut off their ways of contacting the team. She has to go help them herself.

She super speeds over to the Cuckoos and electrocutes them, getting them out of their funk while also making their hair stand up.

SURGE: “And I need you all to come with me so we don't all die the second he decides to stop playing around and break our minds.”

SOPHIE, groaning: “Thank you, Surge. Yes, we will help.”

PHOEBE: “Thank you for clearing our heads. We should try actual shock therapy.”

ESME: “I still feel gross.”

MINDEE: “Wait, oh god…”

CELESTE: “Our hair!

Nori rolls her eyes at them.

SURGE: “Dust!” Sooraya is caught off guard. “I'm counting on you here. I know you can't like getting orders from your favorite idiot, but you've been holding back as long as I've known you. Time to show out.”

Sooraya’s eyes are afraid in the face of this responsibility, but they quickly fill with confidence.

DUST: “I won't fail.”

Surge continues to smirk, as she and the Cuckoos hold hands.

SURGE: “Don't any of you assholes die in me!”

Surge and the Cuckoos disappear in the blur. Dust nods with confidence at her three remaining teammates.

In Wanda’s pocket dimension, Magneto demands to know who “Malice” is and what she’s done with his daughter.

MALICE: “I’m sure she’d be thrilled to know that you care. It’s a few months late, but that’s actually pretty good time for you.” Wanda, getting pissed, engulfs Malice is red energy that pains her. “And, as for what I’ve done with her, isn’t it clear? She didn’t want to live in her head anymore, so she graciously gave it to me.”

Malice cackles. Wanda increases the amount of pain she’s putting Malice through, demanding that whoever, or whatever, she is, she leaves Polaris’ body immediately.

WANDA: “However you came to be in control of her body, I will not allow you to use her in the name of her atrocities. It is true that, with external aid, I could rewrite the laws of reality. But even if I wished to, the risk is too great for anyone to try.”

Malice just mocks her by repeating the last thing Wanda said in a squeaky voice. She’s no fool. Lorna’s family isn’t going to do anything to actually hurt her.

MALICE: “Truth be told, I wasn’t a fan of Apocalypse and I’m even less a fan of his successor, but I will get what I deserve.”

A stern Magneto asks Wanda if she has enough of an understanding of what’s happened to separate Lorna from Malice. Pietro jumps in to add to ask if she can do it safely. They don’t know if Malice can jump bodies casually, and they cannot risk her taking Wanda.

Erik asks Wanda what she thinks, and isn’t sure. She can definitely feel that there are two minds, two souls in Lorna’s body, but they’re so entangled, and she isn’t a telepath. She wants to bring Betsy in to help, but Malice tells her not to do that. Truth is, she’s a Mutant. One without a body to call her own. And one who can fry the brains of any body she inhabits with a thought, at no harm to herself.

She goes on to mock Magneto specifically as the two men grow more and more frustrated. Why does he even care so much? Did failing to save Genosha make him decide to finally start giving a damn about his family?

ERIK: “I have always cared! My children ruled Genosha alongside me!”

MALICE: “Yes! The polished prince and princess perfect for your image. Tell me, how many times did you speak outside of work? How much time did you spend with them? Wanda, Pietro? Don’t bother actually answering. I already know the answer. And it’s embarrassing.”

Wanda’s face falls and Pietro sneers at Magneto.

Erik shoots back that his children are all adults. They all had their responsibilities.

PIETRO: “And what about when we were all children, hmm? What responsibilities did we have then?”

MALICE: “Yes! Exactly! Thank you, Quicksilver. The one person to stand by Lorna!” She pauses for effect. “Except for when she was alone and grieving and needed you most. She was used to being abandoned by her father and sister, but you? What even were you even doing?” Pietro vibrates furiously. “With family like you, it’s no wonder she was on the verge of drinking herself to death. With family like you, it’s no mystery why she so willingly gave herself over to me. It may have also helped that I told her it would be painless. Oh, such a nasty lie.”

Magneto and Quicksilver both snap and attack her, knocking her out of Wanda’s grip. This was just what Malice wanted as now that she’s free, and the family is all out of step, she’s able to unveil the power of Pestillence. A red eye grows on the palm of her hand and she shoots an arrow out of it. One that hits Wanda dead on.

MAGNETO AND QUICKSILVER: “No!”

Wanda falls, her skin turning gray, as her pocket dimension disappears around them, leaving them back in the middle of the deli. Malice immediately uses Polaris’ powers to devastate the restaurant and hit the distracted Erik and Pietro in the heads with tables, before blasting a hole in the ceiling.

MALICE: “Please try taking better care of that daughter than you did of this one. We’ll still be needing her.”

Malice flies off, as a scared Erik and Pietro huddle over Wanda’s sickly body.

Out in the wilderness, Akihiro and Laura pace around each other. Aki asks if she really doesn’t care at all about who he is, what his story is, and how they’re connected.

LAURA: “You’re a Horseman. I’m an X-Man. That’s all that matters.”

AKIHIRO: “An X-Man? I thought you were X-23?”

LAURA: “Maybe I am. But acceptance can wait till my friends are safe.”

Akihiro laughs, before roaring as she charges at Laura once more. Laura, flashing back to Sofia and Cessily dancing in combat, closes her eyes and mimics their movements to dodge the Muramasa blade.

Laura cracks half a smile as she continues to dance, thinking back to good memories with her friends and positive moments she’s had as a hero.

Waiting for and finding the perfect moment to strike, Laura sees an opening, pops her claws back out and aims for Akihiro’s face…

…only to be bisected as the waist, cut in half as easily as a chunk of butter by the Muramasa blade.

Laura, just a head, a torso, and arms, gasps for air as Akihiro stands over her.

AKIHIRO: “If it were up to me, I’d finish the job. But I’ll just have to save that for dear old dad.”

Aki, not caring at all about anything left at the campfire, begins walking off.

AKI: “Go back to school, Laura. You little teketeke. We’ll save you all, soon enough.”

Laura, still refusing to lose, tries crawling after Death, but she doesn’t get far. She pounds the snow with her fists.

In the sky above New York, Hellion, already cut, bruised, filthy, and bleeding all-over fires off a massive, one-handed tk blast at Exodus, but it fails to do anything against his TK shielding. Exodus tells him to give it up. There isn’t a single thing this boy can do with his powers that can touch him. Now, maybe with a few more decades under his belt and some tutelage from a true telekinetic…

EXODUS, looking at the also badly beaten Sofia: “You can bring him if you wish. He may join the rest of our servants.”

SOFIA: “I am not going with you!” Wind Dancer raises an arm, bypassing Exodus’ shield by popping the air inside his ears. “I make my own decisions! No one will ever control me again!”

Exodus bends over, writing in pain. Before the thick-headed Hellion can question if that move seems at all familiar, someone even more thick-headed shows up, as Surge kicks the distracted Exodus in the face. It doesn’t do much much piss him off though.

SURGE, propelling herself in the air with electricity: “One of you steady me?”

Wind Dancer nods, but it’s Hellion who uses his TK to keep her airborne.

Noriko tells them how, unless the other X-Men spot them, they’re on their own. No problem for them. Julian asks about the others in the gang, with Noriko telling him the Horsemen have pals. Including jerks they’ve already beaten like Random.

HELLION: “You wanted to put me on that same level as that chump? You are so dead.”

Exodus, recomposed, scoffs. He doesn’t have time for bronze medals. He attempts to telepathically assault Noriko, but she’s covered as, on a nearby rooftop, the Cuckoos are once again providing telepathic shielding for their friends. It clearly isn’t easy for them though.

SOPHIE: “Why is it…”

CELESTE: “Every time we fight with you…”

ESME: “It’s against one of the half dozen telepaths on Earth…”

PHOEBE: “Actually stronger than us!”

MINDEE: “So annoying!” BEAT. “Our hair is looking better at least, right?”

Exodus sneers, as Surge, Hellion, and Wind Dancer exchange smirks, the old big 3 ready to put down the first horseman.

On the streets below, the other kids battle Lady Akabba’s minions.

First, Bling! Vs Avalanche. Roxy is firing off diamond shards at him, but none of them can hit him because of the seismic energy he’s applying around them, sending them off track. Bling! questions if this guy wasn’t one of Magneto’s lackeys. Shouldn’t he be working with the X-Men now? Dominikos proclaims that he serves only the Mutant cause.

AVALANCHE: “And, also, Mystique told me to join up.”

Next, Mercury vs Random. The two shapeshifts cycle their arms through various forms, including swords, hammers, and guns (the latter of which Cessily has never tried before, but finds she can pull off just like Random), as they clash. A pissed Random tells her he may have lost to the baby X-Men, but he’s not about to lose to just any random baby Mutant.

MERCURY, unafraid: “Heh. Is that all you think I am?”

Tag vs Firefist!

This being Brian’s first time in a real fight, he is nervous and shaky. However, that isn’t enough to hold him back, as all the time he’s spent on hand-to-hand combat training has paid off, as he’s able to dodge and perform impressive flips around Firefist’s attacks.

FIREFIST: “That trick before. Making us run. Was that all you’ve got?”

TAG, continuing to dodge: “So what if it was?”

Firefist looks at the other battles going on, particularly up at the sky battle. He laughs.

FIREFIST: “You really need to jump ship.”

TAG: “Say what?”

FIREFIST: “In Lady Akabba’s world, all Mutants besides herself and her horsemen will be equal above humanity. The X-Men somehow win and you’re still with them? A loser like you will be dropped just as quickly as I was.”

Brian falls over as he screws up a flip and burns himself.

TAG: “You…you were an X-Man?”

Finally, Dust vs Frenzy.

Dust attempts to push Frenzy back with sandblasts from her hands, but Frenzy is strong enough to run right through them. She attempts to knock Sooraya’s head off, only to learn that Soo can’t be killed like that, as her head just disintegrates into sand on impact. While Frenzy is off-guard, the rest of Soo’s body turns to sand, as it circles Frenzy and solidifies around her, entombing her, as Dust forms a new body for herself.

DUST: “Who are you? Why do you seek to hurt so many people?”

FRENZY: “My friends call me Frenzy. And honestly? You’re the last person I’d think I’d need to tell that.”

Back in the sky, all protected by Hellion’s personal forefields, he, Surge, and Wind Dancer power up their auras and face Exodus. Nori tries to rush in and take him hand to hand, but even with both her own power and the boost from Julian, punching Exodus a hundred times in a second isn’t enough to break through his forcefield before he tosses her aside.

Hellion and Wind Dancer attempt a team attack, Julian firing off a concentrated beam and Sofia giving it a spin with her winds to give it extra speed and power. It nearly catches Exodus off-guard, but he enhances his shielding at the last second. He is caught by surprise, however, by Surge, who hits him from behind with a full-power blast. It doesn’t do much but singe him a little and mess up his coiffed hair, but it’s still the most damage anyone’s done yet. The assault isn’t done yet, as the Cuckoos take this moment of weakness on Exodus to strike back at him psychically.

The Cuckoos giggle.

SOPHIE: “When your hair is as bad as his…”

PHOEBE: “A bad hair day is even worse.”

ESME: “Take that, @#$%^&!” The others all glare at her. “Oh, don’t get all sensitive on me just cause we’re playing hero.”

Exodus has had just about enough of this. As the three X-Men regroup to hit him all together, Exodus roars, shutting down and knocking out the Cuckoos telepathically, and lighting up the entire sky in pink energy to blast the three X-Men away, with no hope of dodging, The last thing we see as the three kids scream, before we cut away, is each of the girls taking hold of one of Julian’s hands.

Back on the ground, Bling! knows she needs to change tactics, so she stops firing projectiles and races toward Avalanche. He tells her that’s a bad idea as he shifts his tectonic waves toward the ground. But as everything shakes..

BLING!: “Baby, switch with me!”

Random tries to smash Cessily with an anvil-arm, but she shields herself while also putting on a perky smile.

MERCURY: “Sorry, gonna have to leave kicking your butt to my girl.”

Bling! Is tripped over by Avalanche’s tremors, but falls right onto Mercury who’s melted herself down and stretched herself as a path across the street. Before she’s shaken away by the tremors, she delivers a surprise punch from the goop to Avalanche’s balls, as she rolls herself back up like a fruit roll-up, Roxy inside. Random shouts at Mercury to re-form and fight him, only for Bling! to pop out of Mercury, coated in armor made of her, uppercutting him as Mercury does the same to Avalanche, knocking out both villains.

Cessily starts to re-form over by Bling!, with Roxy unable to wait to kiss her before she’s done.

Firefist picks Tag up. He tells him that used to be part of a team called the X-Terminators. Trained by Cyclops, just like him.

FIREFIST: “There were five of us. Me, Skids, Wiz-Kid, Boom Boom, and Rictor. Those two last they might have actually told you about. They got to be real X-Men.” Firefist tosses Brian back on the ground. “But they never told you about me! And I bet they never told you about the ones they let die.” He lights his hands aflame, ready to kill Brian. “If you survive, but still won’t join us, then at least remember: you cannot trust them.”

Brian is left wide-eyed and frozen as Firefist moves in for the kill. However, while Tag braces for death, he’s saved at the last second by Dust, who still has a struggling Frenzy trapped, and puts out Firefist’s flames, and knocks him out, with a single blast.

BRIAN, his life having just flashed before his eyes: “Thanks, Dust.”

SOO: “Do not mention it.”

Dust turns back to Frenzy and tells her that she of course understands the evils of humanity. As well as the evils of Mutants. It is merely her job to keep people safe. And it is the job of someone far, far more powerful to pass final judgment and punishment.

Frenzy thinks Dust is full of it. Lady Akabba told her her story. Their first kills were the same. Defending themselves from evil men, and losing control. Only she didn’t have Cyclops and Wolverine to come to her rescue. She was left all alone, with nothing but her strength .

FRENZY: “You may think being a “hero” is enough, but a time’s gonna come when you learn how the real world works. And when you do? We’ll be waiting.”

Dust takes a moment to respond, before telling Frenzy she pities her. That sets Frenzy off, who busts free from Dust’s prison and tries to hit her again, but Dust just travels down her throat momentarily to knock her out via suffocation.

Soo says a quick prayer in Arabic for her.

On a high floor of an office building, civilians stand around, worried about the three teenagers who just crashed through their window - and by whatever put them through it.

Hellion’s force fields around the three flicker away. He and Surge are conscious, but just barely, the two firmly holding onto each other’s hands. Wind Dancer, meanwhile, finds the strength to stand. Exodus floats outside the shattered window, prompting all of the office workers to run away.

EXODUS: “Your last chance, Wind Dancer. Come with me, and I will spare them.”

Sofia takes a fighting stance with clenched fists. Exodus smirks, pleased by this final resistance. Exodus charges up another attack, ready to finish them, but as he fires it off, Sofia gets one last hazy vision through static. This time, she sees herself sparring with Apocalypse and Akihiro, dancing around attacks fired off by Exodus and Malice, and killing Archangel.

Sofia, her body moving ahead of her mind, steps forward into Exodus’ attack and blows it apart with her winds, splitting it down the middle and shooting the two half-blasts through the side walls. In one swift motion, she keeps racing toward Exodus after deflecting his attack and leaps at him to fight hand-to-hand.

Wind Dancer and Exodus fight evenly, with Sofia’s punches actually hurting Bennett. Exodus questions how that’s possible, when he still has a forcefield around himself.

SOFIA: “I…don’t know.”

Exodus backhands her, knocking her down.

EXODUS: “That was a rhetorical question, little girl.”

With a telepathic wave, he finally knocks out Julian and Noriko, before stomping on Sofia. She struggles, and tries to blow him away, but she can’t.

SOFIA: “What did you mean before?! When you said I’m not real.”

EXODUS, grinning, turning to make sure no one else has shown up, before looking back down: “A Mutant is their immortal soul, not their body. I know the face of your true soul. It is one I loathe. You? You’re nothing but a husk. A tool.”

Sofia is shaken to her core, trembling and unable to move, as Exodus picks his leg back, charging it and ready to go in for the kill…but then he doesn’t.

Exodus laughs.

EXODUS: “I will see you again soon…my lady.”

Exodus laughs maniacally as he flies away. Sofia curls up into a ball on the floor, crying and having a panic attack.

SOFIA: “I’m real.” She sees herself kneeling before Apocalypse, his hand on her head. “I’m real.”

Back at the school, Magneto and Quicksilver stand in a spare bedroom, Wanda still looking sickly and laid out in bed.

Magneto solemnly reports that the good news is that, according to Danger, Wanda is in no danger of dying. However, she also has no records of any sickness like this, so that could change with time, and, worse, she has no idea how to cure her, or even wake her up.

QUICKSILVER: “This is your fault!”

Pietro shoves his father. Erik tells him now is not the time for blame, and, if it were, that would fall on Malice, Apocalypse, and the External’s heir. Pietro disagrees.

PIETRO: “Everything Pestillence said was true. You have never been there for us when we needed you, but you’ve always expected us to drop everything, everyone, when our presence was convenient. Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Genosha, it’s always the same story. If you’d ever actually tried being a father, Lorna wouldn’t have fallen to the point of giving over her body, and you wouldn’t have been attempting today’s pathetic attempt at normalcy.”

Erik keeps his head held high. Pietro is right. But he won’t insult him with an apology. No words can make up for how he’s failed them all. Pietro snorts, approaching Wanda and gently brushing her hair out of her face. They know the Horsemen’s new plan needs her, and while this school has a tendency of getting blown up, it’s still the most fortified location to protect her.

PIETRO: “I know it will be hard for you, but try not to fail her again.”

Pietro starts walking away. Magneto tells him he should stay here and help protect her, but Pietro says he can’t do that.

BEAT

As Pietro puts his hand on the doorknob, Magneto asks something.

MAGNETO: “It’s her, isn’t it?” Quicksilver cringes. “The reason your time was divided. The reason you weren’t able to be there for her. It was her.”

PIETRO, taking a deep breath: “My loyalties don’t just belong to Mutantkind. Or this family. They can’t.”

Pietro speeds off. Magneto falls to his knees, taking Wanda’s limp hand.

MAGNETO: “I’m sorry.”

In the headmasters’ office, Cyclops and Emma congratulate Dust, Mercury, Bling!, and Tag. They’re sorry they weren’t there to help, Emma believes Exodus was blocking their perception of the attack, but they’re nontheless proud of the training squad for stepping up. Mercury and Bling! have both shown immense progress in their recent battles, Tag failed to win his own fight, but was still able to get his feet wet, and, in both attitude and power, Dust is clearly almost ready to join the X-Men.

DUST, muttering to herself in annoyance: “Almost?”

EMMA: “A shame Quentin couldn’t join you, but his presence was required elsewhere.”

Brian gulps.

DUST, still mumbling to herself: “Do you think I’m less impressive because I don’t scream my head off?”

Cessily asks if the others are doing okay. Scott confirms that, thankfully, they all survived Exodus’ attack. Hopefully once they’re up and about, they’ll be able to get an answer as to how - preferably from Sofia.

In the medical bay, Sofia lays awake in bed, haunted eyes on the ceiling. She’s at least able to smile with relief as Hellion and Surge wake up, although the Cuckoos are all still down.

SOFIA: “You’re awake!”

SURGE, rubbing her eye: “And more importantly, alive.” BEAT. “How are we still alive?”

Sofia tells them it wasn’t easy, but just like before, she was able to fend Exodus off. Apocalypse must have given her more power than ever. Not that she’d ever want to thank him, but it came in handy.

Julian laughs. That’s his girl!

Julian and Sofia make googly eyes at each other. And Noriko’s had just about enough of this.

NORIKO: “Julian and I are dating!”

Sofia’s face falls as Julian cringes.

SOFIA: “what.”

Nori tells her she’s sorry, she’s sorry to Julian too, but she needed to know. Sofia softly asks Julian if this is true. All he can say is a pained, “Yeah.”

As a breeze carries through the room, Nori tries to tell her that they never wanted to hurt her, and they both spent so much time looking for her while she was gone, but they didn’t know if they’d ever see her again. The two of them got closer, and they couldn’t wait forever.

Sofia feels like an idiot. This is why the two weren’t fighting all day like normal.

She goes quiet. Julian asks her if she’s okay.

SOFIA: “I thought you were my best friend. I thought you loved me.”

NORI/JULIAN: “I am!/I do!”

SOFIA: “Then break up! Break up, and let things return to normal.”

It kills them, but Surge and Hellion can’t just do that. Sofia doesn’t like that.

SOFIA, blowing equipment over with the wind: “You backstabbing traitors! Is there anything else you haven’t told me?!”

Right on unfortunate cue, Danger enters, pleased to see three of the children awake. Julian and Noriko both cringe as they realize they neglected to tell Sofia about her, as well. Sofia, terrified, asks what “that monster” is doing here. Danger says it’s a long story, but she works for the school now, Cyclops having resolved things between them peacefully, helping the children like she always has. She’s so sorry about what happened to Sofia, and hopes she can–

Danger doesn’t get to finish that though. Sofia’s winds intensify and blow everyone and everything away.

SOFIA: “Traitors! All of you!”

Sofia flies off, not listening at all as the others tell her to wait. She flies through the halls, blowing everyone she flies past against the walls, until she makes it outside. She flies above the school and curls up into a ball.

SOFIA: “Julian doesn’t care. Noriko doesn’t care. Laura is gone. The X-Men trust the monster who broke me more than me.” Her eyes appear cold and empty. “I hope I’m not real. I have nothing.”

Sofia’s eyes jolt open wide as memories flood her mind.

Some time ago in Lady Akabba’s throneroom, Sofia, on her throne, speaks to Exodus, Malice, and Akihiro. Since meeting Selene, she has been thinking. She was right. The X-Men defy the principles that govern the world; no matter how many times the X-Men face opponents who should have them completely outmatched, such as Lord Apocalypse, they always win. They cannot defeat them by being stronger than them. To defeat them, they must break the X-Men apart.

SOFIA: “Selene asked me what made me special. And the answer…is me.”

Sofia Mantega, the weak girl known as Wind Dancer, was beloved and trusted by everyone at her old school, teachers and students alike. Everyone’s favorite X-Man and dance queen. She will return to her old home, and with that love and trust, she will destroy the X-Men from within. And while she’s at it, she will continue to make her old friends stronger by making them suffer, just as she’s already done for Wolverine, Mercury, and Bling!. Speaking of, she will need Death to bring her back to the school. Akihiro bows, telling her to consider it done, and complimenting her plan of attack.

Exodus, meanwhile, is all too happy to point out the glaring flaw of this plan. That school is crawling with telepaths, including one even more powerful than himself. Her psychic defenses stand no chance against Frost, and her true identity will be revealed immediately.

LADY AKABBA: “No it won’t. Because you’re going to remove all of my memories from the past six months. And you will only return them when little Sofia realizes how lucky she’d be to be anyone else.”

Various, blurry images from the past six months flash, until we return to the present.

“Sofia?”

Sofia pulls her hands off her face…but it’s not Sofia. Lady Akabba is back. With a sinister smirk on her, Sofia uncurls and cracks her neck. Looking down at the pathway to the school, she sees a stunned Laura.

Sofia puts her best “Sofia” smile, and cheers at the sight of her old friend. She swoops down and hugs her; she’d heard she’d left!

LAURA: “I…did. But I heard you were back, so I called Magik.”

SOFIA, pulling back: “You came back just for me? Why did you even leave?”

LAURA: “It's a long story. I just needed to see that you were okay. That you were better.”

SOFIA, grinning like the sun and taking Laura’s hands: “Oh Laura, I'm better than ever.”

Sofia leans in and kisses Laura, completely shocking her as her eyes widen…but she isn't about to complain about what she's dreamed of for 2 years.

Sofia pulls back, as the two pant with pleasure. All the anxiousness and pain has been wiped off Laura’s face.

LAURA: “I don't understand. You don't like girls.”

SOFIA: “And for a time, I was powerless. Things change. And the longer I thought about the horrible things I said to you the last time we were together, the worse I'l felt - and the more I've wanted to do that..”

Sofia giggles while Laura remains shell shocked, going in for another kiss…just in time for Julian and Noriko to arrive on the scene, the two having chased after Sofia. Julian’s heart breaks seeing this, Nori can tell that it has from the look on his face - and that pisses her off.

The episode comes to an end as Sofia pulls back and grins evily.

#New X-Men: The Animated Series #New X-Men #Academy X #scott summers #emma frost #magneto #kitty pryde #roberto da costa #laura kinney #bobby drake #illyana rasputin #julian keller #noriko ashida #sooraya qadir #cessily kincaid #brian cruz #roxanne washington #the stepford cuckoos #quentin quire

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