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fortheloveofwonderland · 1 year

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The Kids Aren't Alright | Chapter 1

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A/N - welcome to this new world of nonsense I've been working on. Imagine Scooby Doo but slutty and here we are. Only tagged my OG taglist but let me know if you want to be tagged in future parts. Title and lyrics from a song by The Offspring.

Chapter Summary - Welcome to the Break Away Unity Summer Camp and meet the ragtag team of counsellors responsible for keeping the place together, and failing miserably.

Pairing - Spencer Reid x BAU Team / Later Chapters include Moreid, Temily and Ralvez.

Category - mystery | coming of age | fluff | angst | smut

Content Warnings - mentions of sexual activity, mentions of sexual identity, slutty Spencer, sad Luke, smoking.

Word Count - 4.6k

Chapter 1 - The Kids Aren't Alright

When we were young, the future was so bright,

The old neighborhood was so alive,

And every kid on the whole damn street,

Was gonna make it big and not be beat.

“When was the last time you saw Riley Jenkins?”

The question was posed to each of them in turn, one on one so they couldn’t corroborate their stories with one another, so they couldn’t confer and cover any tracks that may have been left behind. It was a tactic used by law enforcement to get the unadulterated version of events following a crime. They had to ensure they got the full truth of what had happened without outside bias. Each of them had been sequestered to their cabins, alone, whilst one by one they were dragged in the office to recount their side of the events that had led to this particular occurance.

One at a time they were all subjected to the same line of questioning from the stern woman who paid their wages, the power of the situation clearly going to her head. Erin Strauss took to the role of detective like it was made for her, and as though she wasn’t merely the manager of a summer camp that had seen better days. She’d stepped away from her post for no more than twenty four hours, leaving the most senior of her staff in charge, and a child had gone missing. This could be a media nightmare if she couldn’t ascertain exactly what happened in her absence that led to the disappearance of seventeen year old Riley Jenkins.

The once prestigious Break Away Camps had been the summer destination for the teens of Virginia. Back when Strauss had been just a counsellor the camp had been split into two, one for boys and one for girls. Several years ago now the camps had been brought out and merged into one: The Break Away Unity Camp, affectionately nicknamed the BAU. Strauss had been promoted and in all honesty it had been all downhill from there.

The money stopped flowing as much and they’d had to cut back on activities, their former staff now replaced by a mismatched group of wayward teens and twenty somethings. They had fewer campers with each passing year and Strauss knew it was only a matter of time before the BAU was sold on again, only this time it would probably be bulldozed in lieu of building luxury lakefront vacation homes.

If someone was to pose the same question to Erin Strauss as she was to her staff - when was the last time you saw Riley Jenkins? - she wouldn’t have an answer for you. If truth be told Strauss did not know the names and faces of the kids that descended on her camp every year. They came for two weeks, swarmed the camp and left before another group of kids arrived for their stay. This repeated all summer, how was she supposed to keep up? She spent her time in her office, rarely seen out and about and yesterday when the boy had gone missing she wasn’t even on site. She thought she could trust Hotch to keep an eye on the place for one day. She should have known better than to leave a twenty six year old expectant father in charge when he’d had bigger things on his mind. It was Hotch’s final summer working at the BAU Camp, trying to make some last minute cash before his son was born.

Strauss knew once the cops got involved and she had to explain that she’d left the camp in the hands of Hotch and the rest of the motley crew, she would be liable regardless of what happened to Riley. So she needed to get to the bottom of this before cops needed to intervene. She was not going down with the sinking ship that was the Break Away Unity Camp.

So she was going to grill her camp counsellors until she found out the truth of what happened to Riley Jenkins and if she was lucky they would find the boy before the cops needed to be involved. If she was unlucky she might have to cover up a crime. But she'd cross that bridge if she came to it.

One by one she hauled them into her office, stared them down and asked them the simple question: when was the last time you saw Riley Jenkins? And what she unearthed would be more than just a can of worms.

***

Twenty Four Hours Prior

“What do you know, kid?”

Spencer Reid pushed his messy hair back from his eyes and looked up from his chemistry textbook to see the ageing face of the Break Away Unity Camp’s resident chef staring down on him inquisitively. The older man slid a cardboard cup in front of him, his usual black coffee with three sugars no doubt, as if by way of bribing him for the inside scoop. The older man was a gossip hound, probably the only way he got through the day at his menial job. Spencer felt bad for him, it must be a boring existence to be surrounded by teens all the time.

“I can only assume you aren’t referring to my learnings on electrodes and potentiometry?” Spencer closed his book and kicked the chair opposite him so it slid out, welcoming the old man to take a seat.

There was a beat in which the man glared at him as though he were speaking an entirely foreign language before he shook it off like always when Spencer started talking chemistry.

“You assume correctly.” He sat down with a slight roll of his eyes. “I mean, what do you know about old Strauss? I heard she’s left for the day and left Hotchner in charge?”

“I find it ironic that you’re referring to her as old,” Spencer scoffed as he picked up the bribery coffee and took a sip. “But how could you have possibly heard that so fast?”

“I have my sources.” David Rossi wiggled his grey eyebrows at the young boy with a smirk.

It was barely six am and Strauss had left not a half an hour ago. The only people up at such an hour were Rossi who should be prepping for the breakfast rush, Spencer who ran on as little as a few hours sleep each night and Hotch who was probably trying to wrangle the other counsellors out of bed.

Spencer spent most of his mornings in the cafeteria with Rossi, usually with the older man trying to prize gossip out of him. Spencer being the quiet bookworm he was often heard things around the camp he shouldn’t have been privy to. They say the walls have ears, so do wall flowers. Although his shy and nerdy facade was mostly for show, not everyone was aware of this fact.

More often than not the young genius was awake by five, showered and dressed by quarter past and sitting in the canteen pouring over a textbook over a cup of coffee by half past. In the fall he was starting on his second PhD in chemistry and he'd no doubt have finished the course reading by the time his classes started. He’d been granted a scholarship but his summer job at the BAU Camp was a way to make money for school supplies. It was his first year working at the camp but he’d been coming as a camper since he was fifteen years old, right up until last year when he’d hit the cut off age of eighteen. Now at nineteen he was the youngest camp counsellor, but certainly the most reliable of them.

Spencer sipped coffee and checked his watch before pushing his chair back.

“Maybe you should spend less time hunting out gossip and more time cooking. You’ve got a half hour until the breakfast rush starts.”

As he got to his feet, grabbing up his book and coffee he noticed the panic wash over Rossi’s face while he hurried to his feet.

“Good advice kid!” Rossi was already scurrying across the hall towards the kitchen. “I’ll save you some waffles.”

“Thanks, Dave.” Spencer smiled to himself as he took a leisurely stroll outside into the blistering summer heat, cradling his book to his chest and sipping the remains of coffee.

Break Away Unity Camp was Spencer’s happy place, it always had been. It was two weeks of the year he could get away from all the expectations that came from being a child prodigy and an excuse to palm his sick mother off on his aunt for a short period of time. At BAU camp he could just be a normal teenager and Spencer relished that. Last year when he’d turned eighteen he’d had his mother committed to a facility so now he was free to spend the entire summer months working at the one place in the world he’d always felt safe.

The camp held great memories for Spencer. It was here at the camp, behind the sports building where he’d had his first kiss at sixteen years old with Alicia Martin. The following year he experienced his first blow job from his cabin-mate, Alicia’s brother Daniel. It was a week later in the same cabin that Spencer lost his virginity, not to Daniel, but to another teen named Joseph DiMarco. Last year he had his first sexual encounter with a girl, Alicia’s best friend Margot.

He’d spent so much time being the youngest of his peers and so he’d never had a chance to explore his sexuality. Camp allowed him to be around kids his own age and had led to an awakening of sorts for the young genius. Spencer came to the realisation that he didn’t care much about who he was having sex with, just as long as he was having sex with someone. His geekiness worked in his favour as no one suspected it from the sweet, innocent little genius.

That thought made him smile to himself as he headed past the campers cabins, further down the hill towards the counsellors cabins. Thankfully counsellors weren’t required to share housing, although it might have helped Spencer get laid if he had a roommate. But it wouldn’t deter him. The camp had only been open for summer for a few weeks and he had his sights set on a few of his fellow counsellors.

His own cabin was situated on the end of the boys row, his next door neighbour was the painfully attractive Derek Morgan, who despite his outward attempts at hitting on every woman on the staff, the way he looked at Spencer was not lost on the younger boy. Morgan might like to think himself as straight, but Spencer had a feeling he could be swayed.

As he padded up the slightly creaky wooden steps towards his cabin, the door to the cabin next door groaned as it was thrown open and heavy boots stepped out onto the porch.

“Morning, pretty boy.” Derek Morgan called across to his neighbour as he was slotting the key in the old lock.

“Good morning, Morgan.” Spencer replied, looking up at him through his wild hair.

He tried to hide the smirk from his lips as he noticed Morgan try to subtly eye him up and down in the way no straight man would. It made his stomach jumble into knots the way Morgan looked at him but he tried to brush it off.

“Coming to help corral the breakfast madness?” Morgan flexed his strong biceps as he stretched, the tight fabric of his burgundy camp-issued polo shirt hugging the muscles tightly.

Spencer was sure he did it on purpose.

“I’ll be right there. Just got to change.” Try not to imagine it, Spencer chuckled internally as Morgan swallowed thickly.

“Uh…right sure. See you soon.” Morgan quickly averted his gaze and started down the steps away from his cabin.

Once alone again, Spencer’s lips tugged up into a large smile as he unlocked the cabin door and slipped inside. The tension between him and Morgan was palpable and there was only one thing that would fix that.

Spencer shuddered at the mere thought as he quickly changed into his uniform and willed himself not to get too excited. The flimsy camp-issued shorts would not hide that kind of secret.

***

He pursed his lips and exhaled the smoke slowly, tilting his head back and watching as it descended into the air and dissipated. It felt almost poetic, the way in which he sometimes wished to be like that trail of smoke and be able to vanish so easily. He took another long pull on the cigarette, trying to shake himself out of the self-pity spiral he so often found himself in, and leant his head back against the wooden boards of the side of the boat shack.

His bare legs dangled over the side of the dock, the cool water from the lake lapping around his calves as those stupid shorts continued to ride higher up his thighs. He ignored them and focused his vision out across the water to the other side of the lake and the trees beyond and only briefly thought about hopping in a canoe and disappearing into the lush greenery forever.

It’s not to say that he was depressed, not clinically anyway. Luke Alvez just found sometimes that he’d quite like to be anyone else in the world other than Luke Alvez. There was no particular reason for the feeling the way he did, no catalyst to the onslaught of intrusive thoughts. Luke figured he was just born this way. He thought he’d grow out of it as he edged out of his teen angst, but now at twenty one he felt more lost and miserable than ever.

Working at this damn summer camp didn’t help matters either. The rest of the staff were all so pally, they’d mostly all worked together here for several summers and Luke felt a little like the newbie, the outsider. Admittedly they did try to involve him but Luke kept everyone at arm's length. There was only one person he mildly tolerated and that was more because she’d taken it upon herself to befriend him and not the other way around. So he wasn’t at all surprised when he heard footsteps heading up the dock behind him and he knew without looking it would be her.

“Can I bum one of those?” She spoke as she sat next to him, uninvited, crossing her legs beneath her on the deck.

Luke took another drag of his own cigarette before holding out the pack for her. He watched her light it before she smiled at him and took a long pull.

“Shouldn’t you be at breakfast?” He stubbed his cigarette butt out and deposited it with the others next to his boots.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Emily Prentiss smiled around the cigarette cushioned between her lips.

“Touché.” The slightest hint of a smile graced Luke’s features, the most anyone ever got of one anyway.

Luke lit another cigarette and they sat by the dock smoking in companionable silence. It was one of the reasons Luke tolerated Emily more than most, she didn’t force conversation from him, she was just as happy as he was with the quiet. And sometimes even a loner like Luke Alvez liked a little company.

In another life he and Emily may have made a good couple. In another life where he was straight and she was too. Not that they’d ever talked about their sexualities, they’d never talked about much at all, but he knew Emily liked women the same way she knew he liked men. It was an unspoken thing, especially for Luke who had never said out loud to anyone that he was gay. He could barely say it in his own head. But Emily knew somehow and Luke felt accepted without having to even say it. He appreciated that. He hoped one day if he ever had the courage to come out that other people would accept him too. He just had to learn to accept it about himself first.

The two of them waited out the breakfast madness together in the quiet reviere of the lakefront. Moments like this offered Luke some semblance of peace. If only it would last.

***

“Animals. Freaking animals, the lot of them.” Tara Lewis grumbled as she leant back against the wall and surveyed the chaos erupting around her in the canteen.

Kids aged between thirteen and eighteen scrambled for seats and shovelled food into their mouths like it was their last meal. If Tara had her way, it would be for some of the little shit heads.

“I swear there is no way my kid is going to grow up acting like this.” Next to her, Matt Simmons groaned in reply whilst folding his large arms over his chest.

Matt was only twenty four but he and his high school sweetheart Kristy already had a one year old son. Tara never thought it was appropriate to ask if he was planned, but she got the impression he was not. But Matt did have a sort of cool dad vibe about him, Tara felt comfortable around him because of it.

She let her eyes trail off of the destruction currently taking place in the canteen, across to the other side of the room where two other counsellors were watching each other instead of the kids. Half of their staff hadn’t shown up for breakfast this morning, they should all probably be doing more than just standing around. But it wasn’t Tara’s job to enforce that.

“What’s the deal with those two?” Matt was now looking where Tara’s gaze had landed at the two boys who couldn’t take their eyes off of each other and shared the occasional fleeting touch.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Tara chuckled at the boys.

“Uh, not to me?” Matt turned to her with a frown and Tara shook her head at his oblivious nature.

“Oh come on Simmons.” She playfully patted his broad shoulder. “If it were a girl and guy you’d have no trouble reading between the lines.”

Matt’s frown deepened as he turned away from Tara and focused back on the two boys across the room with an intense gaze. Tara could practically see the cogs turning in his head and when he turned back to her, his frown was replaced by a look of shock.

“Morgan and Reid? No way.”

“Morgan has been giving him the eye since the day Spencer turned eighteen. And now Spencer works here…” Tara trailed off with a shrug. “I get the impression boy wonder isn’t as innocent as he likes to make out. And Morgan is practically putty in his hands.”

“But…Morgan’s straight?”

That statement alone was enough to cause Tara to burst into laughter which only added to Matt’s confusion. Poor, sweet, naive Matt. She rode out her laughter before giving Matt’s shoulder a tight squeeze.

“So was I until I met the right woman.” She winked at him before turning on her heels and leaving him to stew on her words.

She didn’t necessarily have a destination in mind, she simply walked off for dramatic effect. Before she had to make a decision of where to go, Aaron Hotchner stormed into the canteen, his signature frown on his face and almost ran Tara down.

“Whoa Hotch, where’s the fire?” She held her hands out to stop him barging into her.

He barely even noticed her, looking over her head and glancing around the hall.

“What the hell is going on here? It’s like walking into a zoo.”

Tara could not imagine the uptight senior counsellor had ever stepped foot in a zoo, but thought better of saying that.

“They are a little rowdy this morning.”

“Why has no one done anything about it? And where’s everyone else? Alvez? Prentiss? Jareau? Garcia?” He looked at Tara now with a glare that could quite possibly kill. Like all of this was her fault.

“I mean I can have a pretty good guess at where Alvez is, where Alvez always is. But I don’t know about the others.” She offered him a shrug.

“This is unacceptable. Strauss is away for the day and she left me in charge and the kids are running riot! Come on Lewis, you guys need to do better than this.” Hotch spat but didn’t give Tara a chance to respond before he was storming past her.

She pulled a face, sidling back over to Matt.

“Apparently Strauss is out and he’s been left in charge and clearly the power has gone to his head already.” She rolled her eyes.

“Well then, I guess it’s his job to sort these kids out then.” Matt had to raise his voice to be heard over the growing crescendo of teenage yelling.

He glanced back over at Morgan and Reid who seemed oblivious to Hotch’s entrance and the mayhem ensuing around them. If Matt didn’t know any better he could have sworn Reid was giving Morgan come to bed eyes. It was almost sweet in a way, Morgan was always so confident around women but talking to Spencer he looked almost bashful. Tara was right, Morgan most certainly had a crush on the messy haired teen and if the rumours were to be believed about the quiet genius, he was getting laid more than anyone.

Suddenly he was startled out of his stare by a loud crashing sound, followed swiftly by…was that drumming?

“Alright you bunch of hoodlums, that’s enough!” A voice yelled and Matt turned to face it as did everyone else in the room.

Rossi had barged into the hall, violently smacking a metal pot with a wooden spoon while he yelled at the boisterous room full of young teens.

“Sit down, finish your breakfasts and be QUIET!” He bellowed, sheepish looks being sent his way from all over the room.

Morgan and Reid practically sprung apart and Matt noticed the way Morgan chewed his lip in embarrassment even though Rossi’s orders had not been directed at him.

Rossi stopped hitting the pot and silence descended on the canteen aside from the sound of soft shuffling from kids taking their seats and cutlery scraping on plates. No one messed with David Rossi, it’s probably why they’d kept him around so long.

Matt was impressed by the way in which he’d commanded the room and how all the kids were now on their best behaviour. He looked over at Tara who was smiling in amusement and then at Hotch who had a bewildered look on his face.

“You’re welcome.” Rossi smirked, patting Hotch on the shoulder before retreating back into the kitchen.

Hotch scratched the back of his head before shaking it off and turning his attention to Tara and Matt.

“Ok, that’s one problem solved. Now where is the rest of my staff?”

***

Penelope Garcia swung her legs back and forth as they dangled over the edge of the bench she sat atop of, toying with a small plush unicorn in her pink painted fingers. She’d been babbling on for several long minutes about her cat Sergio at home who she missed dearly and it didn’t even occur to her that her company wasn’t listening. She was so engrossed with talk of her beloved feline she didn’t notice the other girl hadn’t said so much as a word in the last five minutes. And when she finally did speak, it was obvious she had been entirely elsewhere.

“What do you think they’re talking about down there?” Jennifer Jareau chewed on her lip as she spoke, like she didn’t really want the answer to her own question.

Penelope frowned a little and followed her friend's gaze down the hill towards the lake's edge where she could see two people sitting side by side by the water. They had their backs to Penelope and JJ but it was clear who she was looking at. One wore an old leather jacket over his camp uniform despite the heat and puffs of smoke billowed around him every few seconds. The other's long dark hair shone in the sunlight.

Ignoring the mild annoyance she felt at JJ not listening to her, she gave the unicorn’s wool mane a soft pull before shrugging.

“Newbie barely talks at all, so I’d guess nothing much. Hopefully Em is telling him how utterly stupid he looks in that old jacket in this weather.”

“I didn’t know they were friends.” JJ huffed a little as she spoke.

“Oh em gee, Jayje!” Penelope suddenly grabbed her arm and started shaking her. “Please don’t tell me you have a crush on that moody new kid!”

“What? No way!” JJ grimaced, shaking the bubbly blonde off of her arm.

“Why do you care so much that he and Em are friends then? Huh? Huh?” Penelope teased, poking JJ’s cheek with the snout of her unicorn.

JJ pushed the plushie away with a frown, looking back down at the lake slightly wistfully. She almost wished it was Alvez she had a crush on. Life would be so much easier that way. But she wasn’t ready to tell Penelope the truth. So she sighed and turned back to her friend.

“Fine, I guess I do sort of have a crush on him.” She lied.

Penelope gasped and clapped her hands together, dropping the little unicorn in her lap as she did so.

“JJ! Oh my gosh that’s so cute!” She squealed a little. “Personally not sure what you see in mister tall, dark and blandsome, but each to their own. See I prefer some chocolate thunder.”

“Yeah. Right. Each to their own.” JJ mumbled as she turned back to stare at the back of the head with the long raven hair.

***

“You know we’re being watched, right?” Luke stubbed yet another cigarette out on the dock as he pulled his legs out of the water.

Emily chuckled lightly as she looked over at him.

“I can only assume by blondie?”

“Uh…if by blondie you mean JJ, then yes.” Luke shook the water off his feet and legs before pulling his socks on, ignoring the fact his skin was still wet.

“She does that a lot. Follows me around like a lost puppy.” Emily shrugged, pushing herself to her feet.

“Not your type?” It was strange of Luke to ask a personal question but Emily made him feel at ease. If he was to get to know anyone, he’d quite like it to be her.

Emily didn’t reply while Luke laced up his boots and stood up. When they were face to face again she had a twinkle in her eyes.

“I’m kinda already sort of seeing someone. But it’s a secret so pretend I didn’t say anything.”

“Who would I even tell?” Luke scoffed. “Are you happy?”

Emily sucked in a breath before a smile bloomed across her face.

“I am, yeah.”

Luke offered her a half-smile as he started towards the bank up to the main camp, Emily following behind him.

“I hope to find out what that’s like one day.” He replied.

Just then a certain messy haired genius came into view as he barrelled out of the cafeteria at the top of the hill. Emily didn’t miss the smile that tugged at Luke’s lips as he watched the young boy careen down the path in the direction of the counsellors cabins.

Maybe happiness was closer in reach than Luke thought.

Taglist -

@andiebeaword @dreatine @measure-in-pain @takeyourleap-of-faith @thebloomingeagle @dirtytissuebox @smurphyse @ssa-uglywhore27 @reidselle @reidsbookclub

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #luke alvez #derek morgan #moreid #ralvez #emily prentiss #tara lewis #temily #jennifer jareau #penelope garcia #david rossi #aaron hotchner #summer camp #summer camp au

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ninjastormhawkkat · 3 years

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Alliance Swap Au: Other Characters

In my first post for this au, I mentioned which ally of Wordgirl is swapped. Some of this involves a swap of powers. It will also involve a swap of personality. Here is the outline for each characters.

Victoria and Violet:

I noticed that Victoria does have some good qualities despite her overall villainous character. (That is definitely her parents fault.) One thing I noted is that Victoria does have somewhat of a dependable character and she is smart enough to realize her situation and mistakes (when her ego is not in the way). In one episode (I forgot the name) Victoria was willing to work together with Wordgirl to get Wordgirl’s powers back from Victor. Even though Victoria’s main motivation was to not be out-bested by her brother, she did prove dependable in helping Wordgirl out. In this au, I increased Victoria’s better qualities. She is a loyal and dependable best friend to Becky. She still acts brash and is somewhat brutally honest, but she will acknowledge her flaws and sincerely apologize when called out for her bad behavior. She is sassy and will throw hands to protect her friends, even when she doesn’t have to. (Tobey and Becky often have to pull her back to keep Victoria from getting hurt or worse.) In this au, Victoria has a single ponytail, regular hair ribbons that are blue in color. She wears a light blue shirt with a grey jacket. Her skirt, shoes, and socks are the same as in canon. Victoria likes Pretty Princess (not to an extant as Becky). In this au her parents are corporate people. (Idk the jobs) They are better than their canon selves, but are a little distant due to how busy their jobs are. They do love their children and want the best for them (not pushing them to be the best always) they just don’t have the time to spend with them as they want to. Victoria’s parents do let Victor and Victoria stay with friends or a good babysitter when they are extremely busy. The Best’s home is not as extravagant as in canon and the rest of the family are dressed more normally and comfortably. (They are still an upper-class family, but look like a normal family to everyone else.) Instead of Art, Becky and Victoria take music class together. (Becky is still terrible.) Victoria does not have her powers. Victoria is sensible in this au, but does try to become a superhero because it looks awesome. “Violet Superhero” happens a little differently, but Victoria does not take the mantle anymore because she realizes she is not cut out for heroics and leave it to the professionals. She and Tobey are still fans of Wordgirl, neither are easily fooled as the rest of the city. (Victoria’s hero outfit is same as canon.) Victoria is basically sassy mostly and does have General Smoochington, but treats him like a loving pet in this au and is definitely a lot more caring toward him.

For Violet, I decided to twist her good qualities and make them corrupt. This was based on the villain from Wander over Yonder, Dr. Screwball, and how he wanted to make everyone laugh, whether they wanted to or not. Violet in this au wants to live in a world where everything is all sunshine and rainbows and everyone is happy all the time. She thinks that everybody is a winner and it is not fair when someone gets a trophy when another person doesn’t. Violet was raised in an environment by her mother where everything and everybody needs to live in peace and harmony and those who don’t need to be shown the error of their ways. Ex. In the introduction episode for Victoria Best, Violet gets upset when Victoria earns a lot of trophies (not every trophy like in canon). So she takes them to “teach her a lesson” about humility. (In this au, Victoria earned her trophies because of her hard work.) Violet also gets upset when she sees how Wordgirl treats the villains even though she is just doing her job and treats them the same as canon. Violet does get mistaken for Wordgirl and does try to take up the role of Wordgirl just to prove that Wordgirl is doing a terrible job and she should become a hero to be more sympathetic to everyone. (Her hero outfit is “The Framer”). Her powers are similar to Victoria’s. She has pink eyes when she uses them to move and levitate stuff. Violet paints and shows everyone her painting which puts them in a hypnotic trance which keeps them in a peaceful state until the control wears off. (If anyone has watched the Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated episode “When Walks Aphrodite” it is similar to that.)

Tobey and Scoops:

I sorta did the same thing as I did for Violet and Victoria in this au. There are no interest or ability swaps for these two.

Tobey in this au is just an avid, albeit a little too energetic, inventor. Tobey is head of the media/technical club and is in charge of the media stuff used in school such as electronics used for classrooms and organizing technical special effects for school events. Tobey still dresses the same, but acts like a lovable nerd. Both he and Becky have crushes on each other, but the boy is oblivious as heck that Becky has a crush on him. Becky is not as lovey-dovey as she is in canon with Scoops when expressing herself towards Tobey in this au. Tobey has no idea that Becky is Wordgirl until the “Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers” episode. Tobey still invents robots for fun on the side.

For Scoops, you remember how I made his character in my Morally Gray Wordgirl au? Well he is a lot worse in this au. He is still a reporter and a part of the Daily Rag (not head reporter). In this au, Scoops will do anything to get a Scoop, even sometimes aiding villains or helping to cause incidents to just get a great story. (Since Tobey is not a villain in this au, I have Dr. Ape Brains taking over most of Tobey’s canon roles with some shifts to other villains.) He is obsessed with finding out Wordgirl’s identity and causes an incident where he messes with Tobey’s Robots which cause them to go on a rampage at Becky’s home and a few other instances. Scoops does not mean to get people hurt, but he is too focused on “getting the BIG scoop” to notice. He does get punished by his parents. Canon outfit.

Eileen and Rex:

Now I chose to swap these two because they are both similar in personality. The both have childlike curiosity and are equally energetic. They both tend to ignore what others tell them and seem to think they know what they are doing.

In this au, Eileen is a alien superhero from the planet Gigantian. She can control her size changes and is super strong. She can’t fly but has incredible stamina and dexterity that allows her to leap high in the air. She still has the baby talk (kids on Gigantian talk like a baby until their 13.) This annoys the heck out of Becky. Steven now has to deal with two energetic superheroes. (Sarcastically) Lucky him. Her hero name is Giantess. Her hero outfit is a pink mask. She has a suit style similar to Kid Math’s, but the main colors are pink with purple gloves, boots, and a cape. Her insignia is a mini green person in a strongman stance with black radio wave lines surrounding the person which symbolizes Eileen’s growth and shrinking abilities. Her secret identity outfit is the same as in canon. Her hairstyle as a superhero is in a ponytail while her secret identity has her canon hair and bow.

Rex is a kid villain known has Math Whiz. He treats everything as a research study. Rex does believe every day is his birthday which entitles him to do anything he wants all in the name of research. In the introductory episode for Eileen (changed for this au) Rex takes Squeaky for a lab rat and obliviously ignores Squeaky biting him all the time for release. When he doesn’t get what he wants he uses his powers. Rex is able to project holographic math monsters of various sizes that either protect him, steal for him, or attack anyone that bothers him (on command). These monsters may be holographic but can hurt someone physically. They look like math numbers and equations, have sharp teeth, cartoon eyes and arms, and are mainly white in color with a blue hue that surrounds them. Luckily, the amount of math monsters Rex is able to generate depend on his level of entitlement. If he is greedy for one thing or if it is for small reasons, he can usually generate one monster. Even if he is able to generate multiple math monsters at once, it takes a lot of energy out of him so he can only do it a few times.

Rose Franklin and Chazz:

Recently, I decided to do a character change swap for Rose Franklin. I originally picked Katy because she was friendly and apologetic with Toby like Rose was with Scoops. Writing this post, I began to think about how Chazz was in the episode where he was being a bad influence for TJ. Since I have Scoops being a villain in this au, why not do the same for Rose. In this au, Rose acts like a cool girl/bad influence which impresses TJ and he develops a silly crush on her (which then ends when Wordgirl gets him back to his senses). She has an outfit and attitude similar to Chazz’s, but adjusted for a girl. Rose in this au is called Roe.

Chazz in this au is a laid back, but intelligent kid who uses focuses on environmental science. The “News Girl” episode is retitled “Science Boys” for this au. In this au, Chazz accidentally insults Tobey by saying building robots isn’t really a helpful science as it would make people too dependent on robots. (Tobey is immediately upset and ready to throw hands because NO ONE insults his robots. Becky holds him back before Tobey does something stupid). Chazz in this au is called Chad Hudson. He moved to Fair City with his mom who is the new Forewoman (idk what a female foreman is supposed to be called?) for the Power Plant. Wordgirl and Mouse Ace stop the energy monster from destroying the plant and giving Chazz’s mom more work. In this au, Becky takes Chad to natural places along with technical places to get him more comfortable with the city and to ease the issues between him and Tobey. (Tobey does make friends with him in the end.) Tobey during this tour gets upset when Chad creates environment experiments that are beneficial for the civilians and villains. Ex. he creates an organic, environmentally friendly, gel that is great for Chuck’s bread skin and helps the grocery store manager to grow more head hair which he talks to Chad about profiting in his store. Chad figures out Becky’s identity the same way Rose does because this guy is smart. He plans Becky’s exposure as a major science project because her identity and life is a great scientific study. Steven is doing work stuff when Becky calls him to help her fight the bad guys so Steven is not on the tour with them. Steven finds out about how Chad discovered her identity after Becky tells him. Steven, after Tobey, confronts Chad (Tobey’s talk is similar as Scoop’s talk to Rose) and he basically explains the importance of keeping Wordgirl’s identity secret (acting as an adult) and also sort of threatens Chad (Two Brains’ canon character is showing). Luckily Chad, at this point, had already decided to not reveal Wordgirl’s secret and do something else for his project.He is from now on scared of Becky’s dad. It also takes a while for Steven to fully trust him.

Everyone else is pretty much the same for this au. Steven and Becky are neighbors to the Botsfords, TJ is still a fan of Wordgirl with Johnson as his sidekick (I decided to not bother swapping them for the au), and Miss Powers is still an evil alien (I couldn’t find anyone for her or Colonel Gigglecheeks). I don’t have any ship ideas for Victoria or the rest of the characters in this au. Except for Tobecky.

(Another thing I forgot to mention in my first post about Squeaky is that the mouse sometimes travels with Becky in her pocket. So he does come with her to school sometimes. He usually sticks with Steven in the lab. Squeaky is kidnapped as was Bob in the “Birthday Girl” episode and is put in a girly dress which he despises with every fiber in his being. He also escapes the “Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers” mind control and helps Becky because his body was too small for the button to stick on well.)

So that is my Alliance Swap au for Wordgirl

#wordgirl au #alliance swap au #wordgirl #violet #scoops #becky #Steven Boxleitner #kid math #eileen #victoria best #tobey mcallister #rose franklin #chazz #power and personality swap

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diamonddrive91 · 3 years

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Just wanted to share some more Aslan tidbits because I’ve literally just spent the day re-reading posts from @kalorphic. Why does it always get so long though?!

Complete sucker for bad spy movies. Has totally locked himself in his room and spent entire weekends just marathoning his bookcase of them. And yes, he has a bookcase full of bad spy movies.

from age 13 to age 19, he grew out his hair so his neighbor, who was six when he was thirteen, could live vicariously through him. Basically, her mom wouldn’t let her grow hers out so he grew his out so she could do all the hair styling she wanted to it. He also learned how to do various hairstyles (braids, twists, etc.) so he could teach her. She likes to tell him he’s the reason she wants to become a hair stylist. And show all the pictures she took when he wasn’t paying attention that show all the different styles she did to his hair when they were younger. He likes to declare his intent to burn those pictures but would never do it because he knows they’re important to her.

While he’ll never admit it, with someone he trusts he sort of low-key adores being manhandled. Most of the time. He’ll still become a cranky nightmare if they manhandle him when he’s already functioning on far too little sleep and in the midst of working on something.

Prone to insomnia when he gets too in his head about something. When that happens, he requires someone else’s help to both distract and exhaust him so he can get to sleep again. Not that he’ll admit that’s what he needs.

EXCELLENT climber. Especially when he needs to get up high to hide

once spent four hours hiding from his brother in an air vent following an argument when they were kids. His family still has no idea how he managed to get in the vent in the first place

as a child, was positively TINY. People always mistook him for two-three years younger than his actual age.

when he had to get his first set of glasses, he purposely chose the roundest frames he could find because he wanted the ‘Harry Potter ones’. Used to want to be Harry Potter when he was younger, until his brother pointed out that would mean his family would be either dead or ‘jerkwads’. Aslan cried for three hours

Extremely sensitive as a child. it wasn’t until he ended up spending a summer with some truly atrocious cousins when he was nine that he became a snarky little nightmare. He refuses to discuss that summer with anyone. He also refuses to spend any time with those cousins, to the point he has literally gone out of his way to schedule vacations on the other side of the world when family reunions occur. Or sequestering himself at work (is not above locking himself in a break room or two to get out of having to acknowledge his cousins’ existence. So what if it could mean disciplinary action at work? It would be worth it.....if it ever happened. Hasn’t so far)

he doesn’t really listen to music all that often so when he does, if someone interrupts him in any way before he’s been able to enjoy a song in piece, he becomes extremely cranky and irritable.Seriously, it’s easier to just keep your trap shut for one song than to have to deal with him when he’s been interrupted before he gets one song in peace

though he hasn’t done it in quite some time, he does enjoy baking on occasion. But because he’s not overly into sweets, he’s always tended to give away what he bakes. Usually his brother and old neighbor are the recipients of this, when he’s not having a snit with his brother. His old neighbor always gets what he bakes. But he hasn’t done any baking really since he got his current job.(If he ever does start it up again, you best believe the ROs will wind up with some random goody at their more frequent locations, with no explanations as to who put it there)

When he DOES bake, there had better be some Scooby-Doo available. Legitimately, he will adamantly refuse to bake without Scooby-Doo on. He’s got a collection of Scooby movies exactly for that reason, which is kept near the bookcase of his spy movies.

Once told his brother he couldn’t understand the point of getting an oversized teddy bear. What if it fell on you when you were moving it? And look how much room it takes up! His brother proceeded to make a point of giving Aslan oversized teddy bears at any possible occasion. It took a while before Aslan managed to get rid of most of them but there’s still one in his old room at his parents’ that he tends to fall asleep on when he goes for a visit.It’s comfy and doesn’t judge him -insert pointed look at his brother-

is the sort of guy who would take a fruit tart over a birthday cake any day

tends to get cold very easy. His bed is a mess of blankets that he burrows into every night because WARMTH. Also, will happily cuddle up to any trusted person in his life when he does let his guard down because, again, WARMTH. Also, he finds hearing their heartbeats to be incredibly soothing. But he fully maintains that it’s only for warmth related reasons

#Aslan #novaturient-if #some of these are literally things that i do/are true of me #total sucker for his old neighbor #literally was like 'live vicariously through my hair i ain't doing anything with it'#kinda wanna do one based on him as a kiddo #would that be something anyone would read?#eh #might just do it 'cause i feel like it #he'd totally make Noah cookies with little messages #'really? that's your villainous plan? do better'#your snake's cute #stuff like that #also no he is not gonna be looking at Noah in that way #wonder if anyone can guess who he is looking at that way

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palimpsessed · 3 years

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Writerly Ephemera

I was tagged by @amywaterwings @mostlymaudlin @tea-brigade @effing-numpties @captain-aralias @bloodiedpixie . This is so cool, so thanks for sharing yours! ❤️

Per Amy: We add little bits of ourselves to our writing, scattering memories and places and phrases and things into our stories. The game is to find five examples of this, of YOU, in your writing and show everyone.

I don’t really feel like I put much of my own experiences into my fic, probably because I don’t feel like I have a lot of experiences to pull from. (That’s not me being self-deprecating; that’s me never going anywhere or doing anything.) So, let’s see what we come up with!

Going to tag here. I feel like I’ve gotten to this late so I’m not sure who has been tagged. Anyway. No pressure, loves. Just saying hi. 🥰 @theflyingpeach @bazzybelle @otherworldsivelivedin @unseelieseelie @wetheformidables @caitybug @nightimedreamersworld @foolofabookwyrm @stillmadaboutpetra

1. I have put the most of myself into A Man of Letters. I have my degree in English Lit and when I was in college, I was at the height of my Jane Austen obsession. So I sort of built my degree around the development of the English novel. My senior thesis was on a book called Evelina by Frances Burney, who was one of Austen’s greatest literary influences. Evelina is an epistolary novel—told entirely in letters. I love the epistolary form, for the same reason I love dialogue and texting fics. It’s such a fun narrative technique and can reveal so much about individual characters. It’s actually a bit like the way Rainbow Rowell uses multi POV in her books. Anyway, my love of the epistle was on full display in this fic, which is ofc told in letters. —Do I share a passage? That’s like...the whole fic 😅 So, idk. Here’s Simon being a disaster as he meditates on letter writing:

Dear Penny,

As I start this letter, I already know I'm not going to post it. I know I won't be able to bring myself to do it, because of what I have to say to you. I do feel bad. It's not that I don't want to tell you. And you know I'm so much better at writing things down than saying them out loud. It's only that I feel like this would all sound better coming from me in person. I just don't think I'll be able to make you understand in a letter. I'm still trying to understand myself. And writing all of this down helps me with that. Even if I'm only pretending to write to you, it makes me feel better, to think of you on the other end. I promise I really will tell you everything as soon as we're together again.

2. Also for A Man of Letters, my fascination with Regency fashions, in particular the dandy, was a major factor. I did an art book about this, comparing how fashion has changed over time, especially in regard to gender. (I also did an art book based on Evelina, since I’m on the subject. I minored in book art. 😁) I always fancied the look of a Regency dandy, so that was my gift to Baz.

Whoever has been working their magic on Salisbury should in fact be the person to whom I offer my eternal devotion. Alas, I am left to flounder under the burden of lusting after a man who is incapable of dressing himself.

The utter and unmitigated shame.

Salisbury wore a forest green wool frock coat that set off the golden highlights in his brown locks. This was accented with a green and aubergine striped silk waistcoat that was trimmed in white piping and felt much too daring a pattern for the man. (I don't care if he was a soldier; it takes a hardier man than him by half to choose a stripe like that.) His charcoal trousers were enticingly snug, but not so much to prove lethal. His cravat and points left much to be desired, though that likely reflected poorly on his ability to keep himself in order, rather than the ability of his valet. (Good God, maybe the man doesn't even have a valet!)

3. When it came to my countdown fic, To the Manor Borne, I had Shep make a reference to Cluedo, because Pitch Manor would be perfect for a real life game. Behind that, is the fact that my family played a lot of Clue and I watched the movie a whole bunch growing up, to the point where my sister and I used to quote it to each other. This was a way to pay homage to that. He also talks about playing the game Murder in the Dark, which was one I played at Halloween as a kid. One of my cousins was dressed as a ghoul with glow in the dark face paint and we were in my grandma’s creepy upstairs. Perfect vibes.

I’ve seen the kitchen and the dining room and the library and the study and the parlor. Walking through this house is like playing Clue. (They call it Cluedo on this side of the pond, because they like to be difficult.) (That was a whole thing. Do not get me started.)

I keep thinking Colonel Mustard’s going to pop up out of nowhere and brain me with a lead pipe.

And:

What kind of games do you play with magickal friends who don't have magic? Twister? Not with the wings and tail. Cards? Baz and Penny would cheat. Or accuse everyone else of cheating if they didn't win. Murder in the dark? With these people, in this house, I knew it would turn literal fast, and also it was like ten in the morning. Hide and seek? Simon and I would hide and everyone else would ditch. Snowball fight? World War III.

4. I’ve referenced Mozart in my fics a couple of times because when I was first getting into classical music, I was listening to a lot of Mozart. My sister had a CD of some of his early symphonies, and my local classical station does “Mozart in the Mornings” which happened to fit in the exact time slot between two morning classes I had my first year in college. I’d go sit in my car with a cup of tea, and just vibe with Mozart as my soundtrack. I’ve name dropped him in both A Man of Letters and To the Manor Borne. Also, Mozart wrote 12 variations on the melody shared by Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, which is a lovely tie in. (I also had the gang sing/cast The Holly and the Ivy, which is one of my favorite Christmas carols, and by strange coincidence was playing on the radio at the same time I wrote that scene. 🥰)

"It's a songbook," I tell him, like he can't figure that out for himself. "Did you know that Mozart wrote twelve different versions of the same song?"

He's laughing. "Mozart did not write Twinkle, twinkle, little star, Simon."

"You know what I mean."

"He composed twelve variations for solo piano on the French folk melody Ah! Vous dirai-je, maman."

"Sure. Anyway, this is for the violin. For you to play."

He's still laughing, and I'm trying to figure out what's so funny, but then he kisses me again, on the lips this time, so I figure maybe I'm still doing okay.

Only one more to go! What will it be? 👀

5. Therapy! Eheheh...😅 Look, it’s no secret the gang needs it. And tbh, so do I. Haven’t actually managed to get myself to go yet, and I think that’s where a lot of my “send them to therapy” happy endings come from. I did it in Use Your Words and To the Manor Borne. I started Chamber by Chamber with SnowBaz already in therapy, and then structured the whole thing around therapy that they give to each other and to themselves. It didn’t really fit in A Man of Letters, but if it had, I absolutely would have done it. I’ve only shared from two fics so far, and since it could kind of spoil the ending to Use Your Words (tho saying this may be spoiler anyway...), here are two snippets from It’s a Kind of Magic, Part I of Chamber by Chamber.

I've been working on articulating my needs. We both have. Ordinarily, I'd be afraid of pushing him away by making demands when he's on the verge of a spiral, but my therapist insists that I can't go on treating Simon with kid gloves. If I never ask him for anything, he'll think he doesn't have anything to give.

And

When I told that to my therapist, she said that I needed to talk it out of me and she'd help me find ways to work through it all. She said I needed to talk it out with Baz, too, so that he'd know how to help me when things got bad again—that was something else she said, that things would get bad again, and that I'd need to be prepared for that. That I couldn't expect things to be easy, and just go away.

6. BONUS! I think the biggest way I include bits of myself is in the AUs I’ve chosen to write. I have three I’m planning that say a lot about me, so I’m going to talk a bit about them here. There is ofc my Scooby Doo AU, inspired in large part by the fact that I watched it all the time growing up and also, my sister continues to be obsessed with it. When we were young, my parents were doing a lot of work on their house and we’d take family trips to the hardware store. My sister and I hated it, so we’d wait in the car with my mom and she would entertain us with “Scooby Doo stories”. Other AUs I’m planning? Troop Beverly Hills—please tell me someone else out there loved this movie the way I did when I was 5. It was very influential to baby me and I remember wishing for nothing more than being able to dress like Shelley Long. So, I’m going to let Baz do it, because I think he deserves it. 🥰 Lastly, tho it will probably be the first I write, is my Cupid and Psyche AU, from when I was heavy into mythology and religion. Since these are all forthcoming projects, I don’t really have a snippet. Instead, here’s Baz comparing Simon to Eros, which is what started my brain on that particular AU.

I am lost. I barely know anything about Salisbury, but I can't help being drawn in. At one time, I could have comforted myself that I was only so smitten with him because he looks like he was sculpted by Praxiteles. That excuse grows weaker with every encounter. He's the furthest thing from a lifeless tribute to beauty in marble as one can be. There is something deep and dark and feral inside of him and I want to claw it out. I want to see it, to let it free. To taste his wildness and his pain.

#tag game #writerly ephemera

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suituuup · 3 years

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The Bachelorette

For a fic x art trade with @thehorriblyslowmurderer. Thank you, I hope you like it :D

rated: T

Word count: 2,5k

ao3 link

“Holy shit, it’s freezing!” Beca hisses as she steps out of the car, making a dash in the snow for the front door of the cabin the Bellas will be staying at for the next three nights.

She punches in the code given by the owner via email and pushes the door open just as Chloe makes it to the top of the steps, following her fiancée inside.

“Oh wow,” she breathes, taking in the huge space that’s a perfect mix of authentic and modern, with a jaw-dropping view of the range of mountains in the distance through the large bay window in the living room.

The perks of having a famous girlfriend; they didn’t have to pay for anything, Beca having made a deal with the owners to promote the place on her Instagram while they stayed there for their bachelorette weekend.

A fire is already crackling in the wood-burner and a welcome basket with goodies sits on the kitchen island. Chloe walks over, plucking the note.

“Dear Beca and Chloe. We hope you and your friends have the best time at our cabin,” she reads outloud before taking a look at what’s inside: a couple bottles of wine, cheese, chocolate and fruits. “That’s so sweet of them.”

Beca hums, sliding her arms around Chloe’s waist from behind and hooking her chin over her shoulder. She nips at Chloe’s earlobe. “How much time do you think we have until the others get here?”

“We’re here, pitches!” Amy’s voice interrupts Chloe’s lusty thoughts before she can reply.

She giggles at Beca’s groan, patting her forearm and stepping out of her embrace to greet their friends. Everyone’s been so busy this year, their last reunion dating back to last New Years Eve. “Hey guys!”

“We brought booze!” Stacie exclaims, holding up two bottles of tequila. “I’ve got like, a bunch more in the trunk.”

“Let’s pimp this place up, ladies,” Aubrey instructs, carrying a box containing what looks like rainbow themed-decorations.

“Oh jeez,” Beca mutters as once everyone greeted everyone, the Bellas move about the place to prep dinner and whatever else they have planned for herself and Chloe. “Should we be scared?” She mumbles to her fiancée.

“Trust me, you haven’t seen anything yet,” Stacie says as she walks past them, winking.

Yeah. They should definitely be scared.

The first night turns out to be pretty low key, Jessica, Ashley and Aubrey whipping up an amazing dinner for all of them. They drink wine and play a drunken game of Twister and Cards Against Humanity, turning in rather early as they plan on hitting the slopes the morning after.

“Today was so much fun,” Chloe gushes as she swipes through her photos once they’ve made it back to the cabin after their day spent skiing. “I even caught your fall on film.”

Beca grumbles, trying to get her cold fingers to work down her jacket zipper. “You better not post that on social media, Beale.”

“How’s your ass?” Chloe smirks, locking her phone and tossing it on the bed.

“Bruised.”

“Poor baby,” Chloe sighs, pushing to her feet and sliding up behind Beca. She peppers her jaw with soft kisses and nuzzles her cheek. “Come shower with me?”

Beca seems to fight off a shiver, not one triggered by the cold. “Be there in a sec.”

Walking into their fancy ensuite bathroom, Chloe turns on the spray in the Italian shower and strips the remaining layers on her body before stepping under the hot water. Slender arms loop around her waist less than a minute later, Beca’s warm body pressing against hers.

“You think you can be quiet?” Is murmured against her ear as one of Beca’s hands slides downwards.

Chloe bites back a moan, turning around in Beca’s arms and stepping back until her back hits the stone wall behind her. She watches with darkened eyes as Beca lowers herself to the tile floor and hooks one leg over her shoulder, Chloe’s eyes sliding shut at that first lick.

When they eventually come out of the shower a while later dressed in matching robes, they find Bride-to-be shirts folded on their bed, along with a sticker stuck to one of them.

quit boning and meet us downstairs! the party’s awaitin’

The back of the shirt sports selfie of them that they must have taken from Chloe’s instagram.

“This is so cheesy,” Beca grumbles as she shrugs it on, but Chloe knows she secretly loves it.

“There they are!” Stacie shouts when they make it downstairs fifteen minutes later.

Music is pumping through Beca’s expensive wireless speaker and the coffee table is covered in various liquor bottles, snacks and a handful of pizza boxes.

“Have a seat, ladies,” Amy motions to the two chairs facing the couch with a flourish of her hand, bowing her head.

Chloe and Beca sit down, and Jessica and Ashely set a rainbow tiara on their heads and sling a bride-to-be sash across their chests.

“We had each of you fill out a bachelorette quiz a week ago, and you’ll have to guess the other’s answers. If you get it wrong, you have to take a shot,” Aubrey explains, motioning towards the row of shots set on the coffee table.

“And if we get it right?” Chloe questions, cocking an eyebrow.

She’s gonna crush this game.

“You get to pick a present out of the gift bag.” She nods to the large tote bag sat between their chairs. “Any questions?”

Both shake their heads as Aubrey plops down on the couch between Emily and CR. “Chloe, what is Beca’s favorite feature about you?”

“That’s easy,” Chloe beams, glancing at her fiancée with heart-eyes. “My eyes.”

Beca rolls hers as Chloe leans in to kiss her cheek before reaching into the bag. She wraps her hand around a bottle and pulls it out, reading its label. “Ooooh, coconut massage oil.”

“Boring. Alright, next question,” Stacey says, plucking the sheet from Aubrey’s hands and ignoring Aubrey’s objection. “What could Chloe eat every day?”

Beca smirks, and without a beat of hesitation, replies, “Me.”

Emily flushes hard, Stacie smirks devilishly, while Aubrey makes a face. The rest of the girls hoot and whistle, and the tips of Beca’s ears redden.

“I knew you’d put something dirty on a bachelorette quizz,” Beca murmurs into Chloe’s ear a beat later as she leans across the short distance between them. “Otherwise I would have said pizza.”

Chloe grins, leaning in to peck her lips. “Correct.”

Beca fishes a gift out of the bag and unfolds the clothing item. Her cheeks turn a shade darker. “Wow, that’s… I have no words.”

The pair of hot pink panties read: You may now bang the bride.

“I love them!” Chloe says, snatching them from her fiancée’s hand. “I’ll keep ‘em.”

“Chloe, what was Beca’s first impression of you?”

“She thought that I was crazy,” Chloe replies. She shrugs, smiling sheepishly. “I did break into her shower.”

“The word we were looking for was intense,” Stacie corrects with a tut. “Take a shot.”

“Oh come on, she’s just being polite because I’m her fiancée!” Chloe argues with a laugh.

“Take a shot, ginger!” Amy shouts.

With a grumble, Chloe plucks the shot glass in front of her off the table and knocks it back, grimacing at the burn as it slides down her throat.

Jessica is the one to ask the next question. “Beca, what was Chloe’s first car?”

“Seriously!?” Beca asks. “How am I supposed to know that?”

“You do!” Chloe points out, a shit-eating grin spreading across her features.

“Really?” Beca mumbles and reaches out to take her first shot.

“My old Jeep! We had sex in it,” Chloe blurts out, giggled as Beca chokes a little on the liquid. “And broke the front seat.”

“TMI,” Aubrey winces, her nose scrunching up before she takes a sip from her red solo cup.

“Chloe, what job did Beca want to do as a kid?” Emily asks.

Chloe’s eyes light up. “Oooh, she wanted to be a detective!”

Beca chuckles. “I was obsessed with Scooby-Doo as a kid.”

“Aw, you found your real life Daphne!” Ashley gushes while Beca rolls her eyes.

She bends to pick something from the bag, pulling out a pair of padded handcuffs.

“Oh, nice! Ours isn’t padded,” Chloe comments, as she takes them from her fiancée. She leans in to whisper something into Beca’s ear. “I know you like it when it hurts, but I don’t like seeing you all bruised up.”

“Beca, your submissive is showing,” Stacie states when Beca blushes from Chloe’s comment, plucking the sheet from Emily’s hold.

“Beca, what’s Chloe’s biggest accomplishment?”

“Easy. She has two: winning the Worlds and getting into vet school.”

“Nice, babe,” Chloe praises, holding her hand up for a high-five.

By the time they’re finished with the questions, Chloe is definitely buzzed (she had like three shots out of fifteen questions, which isn’t too bad in her opinion), and they’ve added a few gifts to their pile, a variety of sweet and kinky: matching Mrs and Mrs mugs, a bottle of lube, two sets of gorgeous satin pajamas, a spa treatment for two at Chloe’s favorite establishment in NYC, and a strapless strap-on (the best in the market, according to Stacie).

“Now we believe Beca has something planned for Chloe,” Aubrey says as she stands, taking Beca’s phone from Beca’s hand.

Chloe’s head whips to the left towards Beca, an eyebrow raised in surprise. “You do?”

“Mhm,” Beca hums while four of the girls move the coffee table to make space. She brushes a too short kiss to Chloe’s lips, pulling away before Chloe’s ready to end it, and casts her a wink as she steps backwards. “Go sit in that armchair.”

The opening notes of Beyoncé’s Dance For You drift through the speakers, Chloe’s jaw dropping when she realizes Beca is about to dance for her in front of their friends.

“Oh my gosh,” Chloe breathes out with a laugh, her body temperature cranking up a notch as she gets comfortable.

Beca’s hips start to swivel to the beat of the song, hands leaving her hips to slowly hike up her sides. Her fingers tangle into her brunette hair as she twists to stand sideways and slowly shimmies lower. One hand leaving her hair, Beca traces her bottom lip with her pointer finger and bites down onto the tip before she straightens, arching her back so her ass sticks out as she rises from her crouched position. She adds a hair flip to the mix before slowly strutting towards Chloe, perfectly on cue with the beat, all the while keeping her gaze locked with Chloe’s.

“Work it, girl!” Stacie shouts as Beca stands in front of Chloe, bending down so that they share the same breath.

A chill runs down Chloe’s spine as she resists closing the distance between them, knowing from the wickedness flashing in Beca’s eyes that she’s bound to pull away before their lips can touch.

Beca spins around, her hips matching the chorus as she bends at the knees with her legs spread and grinds it low for a few beats. Her perfect ass brushes against Chloe’s body on her way back up, and it takes everything in Chloe not to grab and squeeze it.

The volume rises around them as the girls cheer and hoot, but Chloe can only focus on Beca and how sexy she is as she turns back to face her, hands running through her own hair then drifting down the curve of her neck, over her breasts and stomach.

“It’s called a lap dance for a reason, shortstack,” Amy calls out as the song flawlessly transitions to Drunk In Love, the perfect arrangement no doubt one of Beca’s works.

Chloe’s mouth dries up as Beca sets both hands on Chloe’s knees and spreads them apart.

“No touching,” Beca husks lowly, nipping at the shell of her ear and eliciting a quiet moan from Chloe. She turns around and her hips start to move in a slow, sensual dance; swerving, popping, grinding and occasionally rubbing against Chloe’s crotch.

Spinning back around, she braces a hand by Chloe’s head and sets her right knee in the space between Chloe’s left thigh and the arm of the chair, rolling her body towards Chloe once. She straddles her lap next, her lips parted to accommodate her heavier breathing as she stares down at Chloe.

Chloe’s fingers dig into the leather of the arm rest to keep her hands from touching Beca as her hips gyrate in lazy circles in her lap. When the song comes to an end, Beca cups her cheek, pulling her into a deep, languid kiss which Chloe eagerly returns, finally giving in to the burning desire and palming her ass, giving both cheeks a firm squeeze.

“Alright, alright! We get the message,” Aubrey’s voice cuts through their lustful lip lock.

“That was so freaking hot,” Chloe breathes across Beca’s lips, nipping at the bottom one before backing away. “I need the rest of that performance later.”

Beca wets her lips, smirking. “Deal.”

Games less centered around the brides-to-be follow as they pass around a joint of weed and eat pizza while sprawled out on the various couches in the living room.

It’s past three am by the time they head upstairs, and Chloe can tell by the expression on Beca’s face that she’s high. Chloe only took one hit and feels fine, if not still a little drunk from the shots she downed at the start of the party.

“You okay?” She asks, catching Beca staring at her with a look as she pulls her sleeping shirt over her head.

Beca nods. “I’m just… we’ll be married in less than a month.” She seems to ponder on her words for a few seconds. “Married. That’s like… big.”

Chloe raises an eyebrow and steps closer, lowering herself on Beca’s lap as she sits at the foot of the bed. “Are you freaking out?”

“Weirdly, no,” Beca replies as her arms loop around Chloe’s waist. “I actually can’t wait. For our wedding, our honeymoon, our kids…”

“Our kids, huh?” Chloe questions in amusement. She twirls a brunette lock around her pointer finger. “How many kids are we talking?”

“Mmm, at least two. I didn’t like being an only child and you loved growing up with siblings so I want that for our children, too.”

Chloe’s smile is so big, it almost hurts. “Sounds like a good plan.” She brushes a kiss to the apple of Beca’s cheek. “You know what else sounds like a good plan? You giving me the rest of that performance. Preferably with less clothes on.”

Beca’s eyes darken at that, her lips curving into a smirk. “Yes, ma’am.”

#bechloe #bechloe fic

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northcarolinanative · 4 years

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𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 / 𝙲𝚑 𝟷𝟷

Chapter 11: Surprise

A/N: I know it’s been a hot minute since I posted a chapter. My bad. I also am trying to figure out my take on the season’s loose ends, which is hard because I have a lot of ideas, but have no idea how to execute them haha. Thank you all for the large amount of support, it means the world <3. As always Requests/ asks/ and DMs are open:)

Description: John B’s Sister comes home from staying with their mom, only to find out that her brother is missing and her dad was murdered. JJ may have just lost his best friend. Her and JJ have to figure out what to do and how to pick up the pieces.

Need to catch up? Full Collision Masterlist // (I just made it so please let me know if there are Issues:))

Pope quickly hurried JJ outside and down to the dock to cool off. I heard a small part of their conversation as they left. Pope told JJ that Rafe couldn't “Rot in a jail cell if he was dead.” That’s what I wanted. Rafe looked bad, and it served him right. He was a terrible person. He ran off my brother, and even his own sister to get away with his crimes.

“So you were going to the Country Club to look for a job?” Kie questioned. She began to pack up the first aid kit. Still standing beside me, but she didn’t look up in my direction.

“Yea” I swallowed, “Umm, I mean I’m gonna need money to keep things running over at the Chateau. I’d rather be here than back on the mainland. Mom has trips planned all summer, so it’s either on my own there or on my own here.” I finished with a sarcastic laugh.

I saw Kie’s expression soften. She walked around the desk that I was still sitting on. When she opened the drawer it screeched so loud that I felt my eyebrows scrunch together. “Sorry,” Kie said. She walked over and leaned against the wall in front of me facing the desk. “One of the Waitresses, Vannessa, quit this morning, so there’s an opening.” She paused and looked at me for a reaction. “And If you can handle those jerks at the Country Club summer after summer I’m pretty sure you can handle a few tourons.” She joked, causing both of us to laugh. “I know it doesn’t begin to make up for what I said the other day at the Chateau, but I am really sorry.”

I smiled in her direction, opening my arms. She made the short stride to the desk and we wrapped each other in our arms. We pulled away shortly after. “So what do you say? Wanna work at the infamous Wreck?” She smiled and winked in my direction.

“Yes, I’d love to.” I smiled. I knew her father wasn’t too fond of her friends, so I was hoping that he would be just as on board with this as Kie was.

“Okay, so I hate to do this to you but you’ll have to start pretty soon, the business has picked up since the ferry started running again. Follow me.” She said, leading us into a back room. “Here are two shirts, if you need more just let me know, and an apron and a book, you can leave those in the back room if you need to though.” We walked out into the dining room where Pope and JJ were standing by the door. “Got it?” Kie said with a smile.

“I think so,” I said looking at JJ who was poking at Pope, annoying him. I was glad Pope was able to calm JJ down from his short temper. I saw Kie look between JJ, who was now smiling like an idiot at me, and me, but she didn’t say anything. “So you’ll call when I get my first shift?” I questioned.

“Yes ma’am.” She faked a professional tone, causing both of us to laugh. “Should be in the next few days.”

“Alright. I’m gonna head home, today has been long enough, and its barley even the afternoon” I said rolling my eyes. “I just wanna relax now.” I gave Kie a sheepish smile and waved, walking over to the boys.

Pope seemed to get the memo as he waved to me. “Hope that cheek gets better, fighter.” He laughed before going to join Kie.

“JJ make sure she ices that” Kie yelled to the two if you. JJ just held up two fingers and jokingly saluted her as we walked out the door.

The short walk through the parking lot to my car was silent. Heavy, like everything, seemed to be these days. I tried to put my key in the door, but it was proving difficult. I had not realized how bad I was shaking until now. JJ noticed my hesitation before walking over to my side. I held my hand out in front of me, extending my fingers to see just how bad my hands were shaking. JJ reached up and grabbed my shaking hand in his. I looked up at him, scrunching my eyebrows together.

“Why don’t you let me drive? You’re still quite shaken up Y/N.” I just nodded and placed the keys in his open hand. A smile formed on his face as he handed me the white paper bag in his hand.

“What is this?” I asked. I didn’t see him holding it earlier.

“I may have snuck some food when Mr.C wasn’t looking.” He smiled, sending me a wink before nodding at the car. I walked around to the side and got in. I sat the warm food on my lap. The engine sputtered as it finally turned over and started up. JJ and I both laughed a little, relieved that it started.

Soft Reggae music filled the car, playing off the local radio station. The windows were rolled down, letting the salty air blow through the air. I looked over at JJ and the sun was hitting his face in a way that, not to be dramatic, looked angelic. At this moment things felt almost normal. It felt as if Rafe and Ward Cameron didn’t exist like John B would be waiting for us at the Chateau like Dad would be there with him. JJ pulled me from my quickly spiraling daydream, “I got you chicken tenders because I know you have the taste of a five year old.” He laughed.

“I prefer the term ‘sophisticated palette,’” I spoke in a fake posh accent, instantly regretting it. “I’m never doing that again,” I said as we both laughed. JJ and I crossed the bridge taking us back over to the cut. “Kie gave me a job at The Wreck,” I said.

JJ looked my way quickly before turning his eyes back toward the road. “So y’all made up or?” JJ trailed off. His limited knowledge of girls and their arguments showing.

I laughed softly before continuing. “Yes,” I paused. “Don’t get me wrong I am still upset that she wasn’t supportive from the beginning, but she did apologize.”

“I’m glad she did. Honestly, you bring out a soft side in her. I think I can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve heard of Kie apologize to anyone” JJ laughed.

“Did you tell Pope about last night?” I asked.

“Oh, I didn’t think that they would take it well.” He said a hand reaching up to scratch the back of his neck.

“Okay good. I was talking with Pope about how he was feeling, and I just don't want to give them a false sense of hope, ya know?” I looked out the window at the trees that lined the road.

“Give them a false sense of hope?” JJ questioned, but quickly laughed. “Right, you were talking about the map and John B.” His face turned bright red.

“Yes JJ,” I said smiling, realizing that he thought I was talking about the new dynamic forming between the two of us. . “I hope that you aren't running around kissing and telling JJ,” I said playfully pushing his shoulder.

“Oh don’t you worry princess. Your secret’s safe with me.” He said, causing us both to laugh again. His hand reached over to grab mine, which had managed to stop shaking significantly and giving it a reassuring squeeze. JJ had managed to help relax my mind by being his usual joking self. The rest of the short ride back to the Chateau returned to the soft music playing from the radio. JJ’s hand at some point had left mine and was now resting on my leg just above my knee, not that I was complaining.

When we arrived at the house JJ helped me carry in the food as we sat on the couch on the back porch, overlooking the water, while we ate. On the table in front of us sat our meals and the map from the night before. JJ and I were looking over it just to see if we could find any other potentials as promising as the cargo ship. We didn’t.

JJ finished his meal by pushing the last fry into his already full mouth. He chewed while tapping the line repeatedly. “This ship” He paused to swallow, “is it.”

I followed the line down the ship onto the edge of the page where it stopped, just as it moved across to the South Carolina Border. I grabbed the ship log. “It says here that the ship was making one stop in Nassau.” I looked over at JJ, who had leaned back, kicking his feet up onto the table. “So what’s next?” I questioned, leaning back into the worn couch.

“Me?” JJ pointed to his face, a shocked look on his face. “This is all on you Nancy Drew, I’m like scooby doo, here for comedic relief and treats.” His voice coated with sarcasm as he sent a wink in my direction.

“Well Scooby, you need to do something to earn your treats, don’t you? You don’t get rewarded for sitting there and being pretty.” I rolled my eyes.

JJ shifted closer to me on the couch. “So you think I’m pretty?” He laughed.

My face turned bright red. “Maybe? Don’t push it.”

“You look tired,” JJ said softly. He laid into me, resting against my chest, looking up at my face.

“Wow, I call you pretty and you call me tired. I don’t know if this is going to work buddy.” I let out a sarcastic laugh.

“You know what I mean Y/N.” He reached up with his hand, running the back of his fingers across the bruise and cut on my face, his eyes intense on the mark. He then moved to trace the now darkened bruise on my neck. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as he did. His eyes moved quickly to meet mine. We seemed locked in that position, looking into each other’s eyes. I felt like I was searching for something. I was always seeming to be searching for something. I saw his eye flick down to my mouth, where I subconsciously, licked my lips.

JJ took that as a cue to move forward. He pressed his lips against mine. The kiss was gentle at first, but quickly became more heated. He moved from his position. He used his legs to crawl on top of me, situating himself between my legs. One of his arms holding himself up, the other found its way to my waist. The intimacy of the moment only making things hotter. The kiss was becoming sloppier, as my hands found my way into JJ’s hair, messing it up. JJ’s mouth started to move. He started my chin and up my jaw towards my ear, opposite of the bruises. His other hand came up to cradle my face. His fingers hit right at the cut on my cheek. I pulled away with a faint ‘ouch’.

That was enough of JJ to stop completely and pull away. He moved to sit up, pulling me with him. “That was”

“Hot.” I finished for him, with a smile. I could feel that my face was hot and probably the color of a tomato.

He smiled at me, biting his now red and swollen lips. “You know, I’m really liking getting used to this.” He chuckled pointing between the two of us. “I’ll be right back.” He stated, before standing up and walking back into the chateau. I looked out over the water. The wind was a bit heavier today, causing the sound to be rougher than usual. The small waves were lapping against the shore, mixed with the soft rustle of the leaves, making a rather calming noise. I laid back down, feeling a wave of exhaustion run over me. I closed my eyes and let the feeling of relaxation take over.

I heard the porch door swing open, signaling that JJ had returned, but I kept my eyes closed. My eyes shot open, causing me to sit up when something cold landed on my face. I reach to grab it, finding JJ smiling and holding a bag of frozen peas. I gave him a questioning look.

“What Kie said that you need to ice your face?” He said, shrugging. JJ crawled back to my side. His head resting on my chest once again. He put the peas over my injured eye. “I also didn’t want to bother you too much. You should sleep” He said with a faint smile.

I nodded, letting my eyes close, one hand holding the peas to my eyes, the other mindlessly in JJ’s hair. I focused back on the sound of the waves, and the rustling leaves, or the way that JJ had pulled his arm around me bringing me closer, or the way that his hand was drawing small patterns on my back through my shirt. I felt myself beginning to drift off into sleep.

I was woken up to a loud banging noise. I jumped but felt JJ’s weight still on top of me. “JJ, Wha–.” My words quickly interrupted as JJ quickly put his hand over my mouth. I saw his eyes wide as he sunk further into the couch.

“We need to get out of here,” He said, in a voice so soft it was barely a whisper. “Follow me.” He slid off the couch, grabbing the keys off the table, staying low. He grabbed my hand, pulling me with him. I followed his actions.

A loud booming voice made me jump once again. “Surprise Maybank.” I heard a crash of something breaking inside. ”Payback time you little Bitch.”

I looked at JJ, with wide eyes and he cursed, trying to pull us off the porch. I heard doors opening and closing doors loudly in the house while banging on the wall. JJ was slowly pushing open the screen door so that it wouldn’t screech. He held it so it wouldn’t slam as we continued down the steps.

The loud male voice boomed again. “Went to see your old man Maybank.” I looked at JJ as his head snapped up to look at the house. JJ pushed me up against the house as the male figure exited through the back porch door. I looked at JJ, I could feel how wide my eyes were, but what scared me the most was the fear in JJ’s eyes. “Said you hadn’t been around in a few days. Thought you’d be here, I’d hate to go rough up your girl Kiara, or your boy Pope who tried to choke out Country Club.” I saw the man standing on the steps of the porch. I shot JJ a questioning glance at what the man had just said. He was short, but fairly muscular. He wore a bandana covering his lower half of his face, black curly hair falling around it. In his hand was a short barrel shotgun, one he obviously wasn’t afraid to use. JJ quickly pulled us around the corner of the house before the man could see us.

“JJ what the hell is going on?” I whisper. JJ just holds up a hand to silence me. He’s still standing in front of me, my back to the outside wall of the house. He moved to look over around the corner. I heard the door to the house shut again and I was being pulled toward the trees surrounding the house. I looked to the driveway catching a glimpse of the blue charger parked there before I was pulled by my hand to the woods by JJ.

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the-scooby-gang · 4 years

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Finally watched the Scoob!movie

Here we are in the future! As you guys know I was REALLY EXCITED to see the new movie. Well, here we are, so I will share my thoughts.

This one is a long one, so buck up!

Let’s break the movie down and see its high and low points, shall we?

One thing that I noticed right out of bat is that the movie is following the typical Hanna-Barbera crossover logic: “Hey audience, you already know these characters and their dynamics, so we will not really focus on them (unless is a plot point on the narrative) and focus more on the adventure”

Which worked for me. But I also know that I’m a 20 years old woman that was a child when Wacky Races, Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines, Scooby-Doo and Captain Caveman was on every day at morning before I went to school.

What I mean is, I already know these characters, so watching the movie was just like watching the crossover episodes. It was fun, not because of the plot, but because the characters that I grew loving were sharing a screen.

But now I think of a new audience that may have NO IDEA who these other characters are and are kinda mislead by the title of the movie because, and lets be honest here, the movie should have being called something like:

Scooby gang and the Falcon Team!

or more precisely

Scooby, Shaggy and the Falcon Team!

That’s the first low point: The opening minutes leads you to believe that, even if Shaggy and Scooby have most of the screen time, after all the plot of the movie is clearly about their bond as best friends, you expect that the whole Scooby Gang are going to have equal screen time. But that is not the case.

They have nice moments of course! One of the first high points is that the gang is really wholesome when they are together! They are good friends that care about each other! What breaks them apart is not some forced antagonism between them, but an outside force (MOTHERFUCKING SIMON COWELL) and, by the way things went, if the plot had not kicked in on the bowling alley, the gang would unite again, hug, call Simon Cowell an idiot, reassure Shaggy and Scooby that they are valid and find a new person to sponsor the expansion of Mystery INC.

In fact, now that I think about it, the plot could have gone WAAAAAAY different, but that is a talk for another post.

High point one and a half: The movie was funny and cute. Self aware jokes, Muttley and Dick antics, Dick’s disguises, the F-Bomb, Shaggy is a Potterhead, Scooby was animated with “This dog deserves hugs” mentality and I approve.

High point number two: Dick Dastardly. His entire personality, his disguises , his motivation. God his motivation. I too would open the gates of hell to get my dog back (and also some treasure, this is Dastardly we are talking about)

In fact his interactions with Muttley are high point number three. THEY ARE SUCK ASSHOLES BUT THEY CLEARLY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH I LOVE THAT!

But that also opens the gates for Low point number two: Where Dick arc is finished in a satisfactory way (being an asshole that cares for one (1) asshole dog) , Brian’s a.k.a Blue Falcon doesn’t.

You see, in the movie Shaggy clearly sees that Brian acts the way he does because he is NOT Blue Falcon. He is his son. He has the weight of a legacy on his shoulders and he is not coping well with that. This is highlighted by how Dynomutt sees him and his childish ways. (in fact, Dynomutt just being done with Brian shit 95% of the movie is high point number four) And you think “They are going to make a scene were he and Dynomutt are more open with each other. Where Brian says how scared he is and how the pressure of the legacy is maybe too much for him and that he is no hero, and them Dynomutt is going to reassure him that, No. You are a hero. I’m sorry for expecting you to be like your father, instead of doing to you what did for him: guiding you” and we got that! .....Really rushed in the middle of the final action scene with no emotional punch at all as a side effect from the “we expect you to know who these people are” crossover logic. Because I never watched Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon

I don’t how their dynamic was supposed to go. Even more by being the original Dynomutt with a new Falcon. I have no bases of how things used to be to feel anything. Especially because I don't know how the OG blue falcon acted in comparison to his son to see were he was falling short. I don't know how Dynomutt acted with the OG Falcon to see were he was setting the bar for Brian. Without that information, even if Dynomutt being done is entertaining and fun, it leaves the emotional impacts hollow.

Low point number three is also to blame here: the movie fells INCREDIBLY RUSHED. And I think I know the reason. Hanna-Barbera is no stranger to crossovers, but they never did more them one property + another before, three properties at most. It was always Scooby Doo and The Wacky Race or Scooby Doo and Captain Caveman or Scooby Doo and The Blue Falcon but never Scooby Doo and All of them together.

Even in the episode of Mystery incorporated “Mystery Solvers Club State Finals” were ALL THE HANNA-BARBERA MYSTERY SOLVER TEAMS WERE TOGETHER UNDER ONE ROOF , they made the mystery about the disappearing of all the mystery solvers except the mascots, which left the cast of characters of the episode more manageable them having all the gangs fighting for screen time, and even them some of the mascots have more dialog and character beats them others.

With so many characters, they had to pic which ones got a full arc or important plot beats, which left all the other character lacking as a side effect.

That brings us to low point number four: THE MYSTERY IS WEAK. It’s weak even for Scooby Doo levels and that is saying something. I saw episodes of Be Cool (that is a really good incarnation character design aside, you should check it out) that had a more well rounded mystery them this. The focus of the movie was divided in so many places that the mystery had no room to breath (Dick, Shaggy and Scooby, Shaggy and Scooby and the Falcon team, Dee Dee and Dynomutt backs aching by having to carry the plot forward, Shaggy and Brian have a heart to heart moments, Captain Caveman fight scene, and finally the mystery gang and the, you know, mystery)

The mystery is about “why the fuck Dick wants Scoob so bad” and the answer is “Because Scooby is descended from Peritas, Alexanders the Great Dog, and he needs him to open the gate to the underworld that Alex and Perry created to protect their treasure, plus save Mutley that is stuck there”

That could have being such a strong mystery!!! They would think that he only has greed in mind by opening the gates, not giving a flying fuck about the giant Cerberus that is going to eat Athens while he fills his pockets, only to discover that, yes there was greed in his actions but there was also a man looking for his best friend stuck on the other side, with would have made such a strong emotional parallel to Shaggy and Scooby final challenge. Missed opportunity.

Back to the high points to balance thing out, the high point number five: Fred is a himbo that loves his friends and his van. The moment were they hear that Shaggy and Scooby are in danger and he immediately turns the van around nearly launching Velma and Daphne though the window was really good, plus the “Leave Shaggy Alone” and the fact that when the Fake!Fred appears (Dastardly in one of his ultra-realistic disguises) in the island and Shaggy calls his name and they hug in the most wholesome way, the fact that Shaggy doest think that the wholesomeness is out of character implies that the Real Freddie is just as sweet.

High point number six: Daphne gains first an Allie and then an entire robot army for her friends though the power of compassion. This is a nice take on Daphne. They say that Fred is the Brawn, Velma is the Brain and Daphne is the People person, which I take is the fact that she can make fast friends and easy contacts to solve the mysteries + think about why someone would do something, like, Velma sees the logic behind the mystery while Daphne sees the emotion that lead to the mystery in the first place.

Which, unfortunately leads to low point number five: even if I can make all that character analyses from one phrase and this specific moment and its outcome, thanks to Low point number three and four a.e. Lack of character focus and lack of mystery I can't truly see if I’m right or not about Velma's logic and Daphne’s emotional knowledge... BECAUSE I CAN BARELY REMEMBER VELMA AT ALL. Velma is the one that suffered the most by the lack of mystery because there is where she thrives. The moments were Velma piece the clues together is so overshadowed by everything that is going down that you barely notices it. Same thing for Dee Dee. She and Dynomutt are, thanks to the way the plot was build, the only ones that are actually making moves to compel the plot forward, but outside of being the one flying the ship and trying to find were the skulls macguffings are, I can barely remember her besides a moment were she and Dyno are baffled about Brian thinking that Anonymous was an actual name.

Dee Dee is from Captain Caveman, she was the brains of the group, which we kinda see, but she is apparently in a point in time where she and Cavey don't even know each other. I think if they had removed the Caveman fight scene and instead added dialog of her talking about how she and her friends discovered a caveman on ice and they are planing on defrosting him, you know, THE PLOT OF THE ORIGINAL CAPTAIN CAVEMAN AND THE TEEN ANGELS would have being better. Or maybe just say that she is just here because she promised the OG Blue Falcon that she would help train his son to replace him and when her work is done she is going back to her team. You know, actually stabilising a more connected world without inflating your cast and making things difficult for yourself and the script writers.

Low point number five and a half : Captain Caveman is completely superfluous. He was a funny beat, but outside of that, the time that they expended getting to his island, finding him, fighting him and losing the skull macguffing anyway could have being expended on character moments either between the falcon team, or better yet, the Mystery gang. Or put more time on the mystery itself.

Now to high point number seven and the most important of them all, after all it is the plot were the entire movie is set upon: When Shaggy is speaking with Brian about how the pressure of his father shadow over him is beyond overwhelming, Shaggy is so insightful in that scene that it heavily implies that he feels in part in a similar way in the gang and that is one of the reasons he felt offended when Simon Cowell, and later on Dick Dastardly, say that he is virtually insignificant to the group and them gets jealous of Scoob when he starts to spend more time with the Falcon Team.

Is one thing to be the scary cat with your best friend, is another thing entirely to be the scary cat alone. AND I LOVE THAT

Shaggy and Scooby bond has being highlighted from the opening scene (high point number eight) and Shaggy’s felling of loneliness. That before Scooby came into his life, he had no one. And even after the gang was united, Scooby remains his first and best friend. The slight idea of losing his friend to something that he can never compare (What is a Shaggy in face of a Blue Falcon Team membership) makes him lash out. We joke about Scooby being Shaggy service dog, but for all effects, Scooby is his emotional support, his light on the end of the tunnel that was his loneliness. The gang are his friends, but they are really different from him. Meanwhile he and Scoob are almost always in the same wave lane. And them suddenly Scoob appears to be changing. Moving away.

The entire movie is Shaggy dealing with the idea of losing Scooby. Of losing his first friend and scared cat companion. What he ultimately learns is that the power of his friendship with Scoob is way too strong to let simple thing as “going away” or “changing” diminished what they created through the years. That’s why he says he has changed in the final. That he has grow. Because he has come to realise that even if Scoob changes and becomes more brave or something, he has nothing to fear. Because being friends is to know that, even miles apart, dimensions apart, your friendship lives on.

By acknowledging that Scoob can change, or even leave but never truly abandon him, Shaggy himself grows.

That’s why he chooses to be the one stuck on the other side.

Because he knows that he is not alone, not really.

So the final count is: HIGH points = 7,5 LOW points = 5,5

I liked the film. I was giggling like an idiot the entire time. My inner child was happy, even if my adult brain was not as pleased in many moments after further thought. However both my child heart and my adult brain agree that the movie is far from perfect. Many interesting ideas but poor execution of many of them. With is fine. We all know that the Scooby movies have already peaked *cough* Legend of the Phantosaur *cough*

This was a long ass review of the Scoob! Movie.

#Scoob!#Scoob review #Gih Writes #Scooby Gang #scooby doo #Shaggy Rogers #Velma Dinkley #daphne blake #Fred Jones #dick dastardly #muttley #dee dee sykes #captain caveman #blue falcon #dynomutt #i will later on make a WHAT IF about the Scoob plot #what I would have changed on the movie trajectory and what I wold have explored more #long post

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air-in-words · 4 years

Text

The Phantom of the Opera: Sorting Hat Chats System

I have returned! This time, I'm talking about one of my longest running obsessions: The Phantom of the Opera musical. Keep in mind, this will only be in reference to the way the characters are presented in the musical, so the housing may be different in different media.

Also, if you have any questions about the system, I'd direct you to my last post about Scooby-Doo, or to @sortinghatchats (the originators of the system) and @wisteria-lodge (my personal favorite fan sorter.)

First off, as discussed elsewhere, stories themselves can have houses as well! Since this musical is my absolute favorite and I have dissected it on more than one occasion, I feel I can speak on the houses this story comments on. At it's core, Phantom is a story that sets the Gryffindor Primary way of life against the Slytherin way, and forces the heroine to acknowledge what kind of person she is. Is she a fighter or a lover?

In this story, Gryffindor Primary says that your ideals are most important. What is right and what is good should win out in the end. Those who are wrong should be punished and evil and good truly exist in this world. There are angels and there are demons, and only the angels have earned their right to love.

Meanwhile, the Slytherin Primary says love is the final word. It argues that you love who you love, and all is fair in love and war. And that doesn't just mean romantic love. Creative love, familial love, friendly love, love of one's career.... all of these are beyond "good" and "evil," "right" and "wrong." Love is not created by seeing the goodness of a person, and can exist despite the existence of evil there, and that is okay.

The moral of this story, in my opinion, falls in the Slytherin camp. And that is because two of three main characters are Slytherin Primaries, and it is through their love, of art, of creation, and of each other (romantically or not) that the main conflict is resolved.

I'll only be sorting the three main characters, as they're really all I need to illustrate this point. Here we go!

The Phantom: Slytherclaw (Exploded Slytherin Primary, Ravenclaw Secondary)

The Phantom is an ultimate example of the "Jack of All Trades" Ravenclaw Secondary. He is a scholar, musician, composer, singer, architect, inventor... the list goes on. He is a collector of tools, and these tools he uses to compensate for his deformity. He has made himself overly competent to feel better and as though he might deserve a place at humanity's table. He uses careful planning and control over an environment he claims is his to give the impression of being a ghost. That brings us to his Exploded Slytherin Primary, or rather, his initially Petrified Slytherin Primary. Being a ghost is the dream of any Petrified Slytherin. To become a literal non-entity, unable to be hurt, unable to love, unable to care for anyone other than themselves. He was very unfortunate to be born with a Slytherin Primary housing, as the rejection of those he loved lead him to his petrifying. He wanted no one in his circle but himself and sought to other himself purposefully, removing himself from society. Until, he met Christine. Her love of music and creation, a love he had used to replace his need for chosen people, helped him to connect, and he slowly began to un-petrify. This could have been a healthy thing for him, a way for him to return to life, but no. He was so certain he'd never need anyone else, never want anyone else, never find anyone else that he clung desperately to her, became obsessed, and we watch his explosion throughout the musical. In one fell swoop, he went from entirely petrified to an explosion of pent-up love and devotion aimed only at her, all his love for the chosen people before him aimed only at her. And, with his newly ignited love, he tries to convince Christine to be only with him, care only for him, which as an Exploded Slytherin Primary, feels like the only way to properly love someone, the only right way to live, and murder and extortion are perfectly respectable ways to attempt to hang onto that love. So, he asks her to give in to the "music of the night." Her love of music, creation, and her devotion to him as her Angel of Music. But, there is another man in her life, telling her there's a higher calling, a higher judge of character than love.

Raoul de Chagny: True Gryffindor (Gryffindor Primary, Gryffindor Secondary)

I know Raoul has a reputation of being a soft-hearted guy, but this guy is most definitely a Gryffindor Secondary. After not seeing Christine for years, he has no problem coming into her dressing room uninvited and inviting her to dinner, and expects no pushback from her. He is quick to judgement, confronting the managers about sending him a note that he has little proof they sent. He makes himself as a barrier against evil, as he swears with confidence that he will protect Christine from a man who has already killed once. He is filled with fiery passion for doing what is right above all else and will barrel over any evil-doer who stands in his way, an old school Knight in Shining Armor. But, his Gryffindor Primary ultimately leads him into conflict with the woman he loves. After having seen this monster attack innocent people, he is sure that Christine would want to run away with him and condemn the Phantom for all time, but he is utterly confused by her reaction. Not only is she not running away, she's actively refusing to help capture him and pushing against him! Why?? Raoul's extreme Gryffindor-ness leads him down into the lair to save her when she is taken, to be immediately rendered useless by both the punjab lasso and the plot. His righteous nature is not wrong, and in many other stories, he would be the hero of the day. But, this is a Slytherin story, and so love is the only solution.

Christine Daaé: Slytherpuff (Slytherin Primary, Hufflepuff Secondary)

We spend a lot of the musical inside Christine's head, more than we spend watching her physically act in reality, but we can still figure out her secondary. Her Hufflepuff Secondary comes out in her devotion to her craft. She is a hard worker and takes her art very seriously. But, Christine can also be a doormat, allowing people like Carlotta to walk all over her for far too long out of fear of rocking the boat. She is regarded as a quiet and kind woman who works diligently at her craft, so Puff Secondary felt right. Now, for her most defining trait in the musical, her (almost unhealthy) Slytherin Primary. Christine has never quite petrified, but she has come very close. Her father was, and, for a while into the musical, still is, her entire world. He was her only companion in life for a very long time, and all of her creative energy came from her love for him. Then, she met Raoul as a child. The young and charming True Gryffindor was easily able to slip past her shyness with his Gryff Secondary panache, and she had found another chosen person to bring into her life. Even after they were separated, she never forgot him and continued to love and appreciate him. Then, her father died. She nearly petrified, wanted to push most people away, especially with Raoul nowhere to be found, but the Angel of Music her father promised her came to her. The Angel replaced her father in her circle of chosen people and became the most important person in her life. She would sing for him out of devotion and love, just like her father was a muse to her. But, Raoul's sudden return into her life creates the conflict. Things have changed, Raoul. She has someone she feels a loyalty to that she cannot break. Even as her Angel is proven to be a deformed man, even after he has murdered, even then, she cannot bring herself to despise him and shun him. When you're in with a Slytherin, you're in hard. It is only when the Phantom tries to take advantage of her grief at her father's grave, only after she fully confronts that her father is never coming back, that she can bring herself to fully side against him with Raoul. The Phantom should know how much her father means to her. He should understand. A Slytherin using another Slytherin's person against them is the ultimate betrayal. The next betrayal came when he threatened to take away Raoul, her last chosen person beyond the Phatom himself, trying to force her to become like him and live in the darkness alone. Instead, it is through Christine's Slytherin-like act of love towards Phantom, even beyond his horrible acts, that ends his tirade.

Let me know what you think of my analysis! [And, if anyone in the Phandom sees this: yes, I love Raoul. No, I don't like LND. I'm technically a fan of both E/C and R/C, but I believe R/C is ultimately canon and better aligns with the moral of the original story. Meghan Picerno is my current favorite Christine (love me an operatice Christine,) Jordan Donica is the best Raoul to ever grace the stage and deserves a spin at the Phantom, and Earl Carpenter has my favorite acting interpretation of the Phantom even if his singing was only okay.]

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multisuperfandom · 4 years

Text

I Don’t Know

Part 3 of the True Omega series

Pairing: Scott McCall x reader

Summary: You’ve known him almost your entire life. You were close enough to call acquaintances, but not nearly close enough to be called friends. Then again, you weren’t close enough with anyone to call them friends. You were an omega. The absolute definition of an omega. Being born out of an affair, your mother, one of the greatest alphas ever seen, Talia Hale, rejected you. Your father, her former emissary, and almost all of your half siblings hated you for it. You ran away from Beacon Hills when you were 13, after the abuse you had gotten from your father became too much. But the news of an alpha in your home town has lured you back. An alpha comes with a pack, and now the boy you were never close enough with, is a freshly bitten beta. Now you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Between helping the boy you always wanted to be friends with, and finally having a pack. What will you do?

Warnings:Angst, language, unrequited feelings, sad reader, misunderstandings, Scott being a dumb ass, sad scott, scott’s pov

Word Count: 1k

Tags: @nostalthicc

A/N: This series is going to be posted every Tuesday.

The True Omega Masterlist

~~~~~~

“Three,” While Stiles let’s go of Scott’s arm and scrambles away, you run into Scott, letting your body press his against the wall. With both your hands on his wrist, he has nowhere to go.

“What are you doing?! He’s going to rip you to shreds!” Stiles yells behind you. He doesn’t see that Scott isn’t struggling as much as he was when Stiles was holding him.

Shaking your head, you say, “He won’t hurt me.”

You stare into his golden eyes. He won’t hurt you. In the entire time that you have been teaching Scott, he never made a move that would suggest that he would harm you, but he’s tried to rip off Stiles head countless times. He won’t hurt you.

Scott's breath becomes shallow and not as heavy as before. “Are you thinking about your anchor?” You mumble, tilting your head like a confused dog. Nodding his head, you release his wrist and take a step back from him.

“I told you he wouldn’t hurt me,” you snicker at Stiles, whose mouth is so wide it looks like he’s trying to eat a sandwich from Scooby-Doo.

“How did you know that would work?”

“When a male wolf and a female wolf wrestle, the male wolf will let the female win so that she will like him.” Your eyes follow Scott to his locker, making sure he is ok. “I’ve seen it a couple of times in werewolves. I don’t know if it’s because the boy likes the girl, or if the boy doesn’t want to hurt his friend.”

“Either way, thank you, Maison,” Scott mummers from the other side of the locker room, it’s faint but you are pretty sure that you are the only one that heard him.

“Y/N,” you say, silencing the two boys. “My real name is Y/N L/N, and there’s a lot about me that you don’t know.”

Once Scott comes back to you and Stiles, you tell them everything. Everything about your family, your mother’s affair with her emissary, the reason Deaton was her emissary before she died, everything that you hadn’t told them before.

And they listen silently as tears stream down your face. But it was time that someone knew who you were. It was time that you were Y/N again. It was time for you to stop lying.

~~~~

Two months later

“You did what?!” You shout, pacing around Scott’s room as he tells you about what happened in the school. “You brought the alpha to the school? With the youngest member of the most famous hunting family inside? And you almost got my brother killed?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” He nods nervously, watching you pace the floor of his room.

“What the hell, Scott?” Your hands move around frantically as you try to express how angry you are. “What about the plan? What about trying to get this alpha to accept both of us in his pack? What about us being together?”

“Y/N-”

“Because if you keep pulling shit like this, then he won’t want either of us!” you scold him.

“Y/N, we can’t be in his pack.” This made you stop pacing. You stare at Scott, trying to crawl inside his mind and understand his words.

“He wants me to kill my old pack,” He whispers, hating how you retract every time he steps toward you. “Stiles, Allison, Lydia, Jackson.....you.”

With your back against the wall, Scott cages you in. “I won’t hurt you,” he whimpers, holding the side of your face. Over the past few months, you and Scott have gotten really close. Moments like this weren’t uncommon. He tries to make you see that he cares about you and won’t hurt you. Most of the time, the two of you end up just like this, so close that it physically hurts when he’s gone. And that’s exactly why you hate moments like these. They always hurt the most.

“I know,” you whisper when his thumb traces your lower lip. The other hand finds its way to your waist. His body is pressed so tightly against yours that if you were to be any closer, you would have to become the same person.

He leans his head closer to yours, dipping his head down until his lips touched yours. In a couple of seconds, your shock wears off and you kiss him back. You keep kissing until you both run out of air.

“Wow,” he pants, taking a step back.

“You kissed me,” you whisper, touching your lips.

“yeah,” He says running his hand over the back of his neck, nervously.

“Why did you kiss me?” You instantly regret asking. Nothing good can come out of asking.

“I-I don’t know,” he winces. hurt, you nod. Keeping your head down, you walk toward the door so he can’t see that you’re upset.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.” You know it's a low blow but the sad look on his face makes you feel better.

~~~

“He kissed me.”

“What?!” Stiles exclaims, jumping off of his bed to pace around his room.

After leaving Scott’s house, Heartbroken and sad, you somehow ended up at Stiles, who over the past two months has become your confidant. You told everything to the spastic boy.

“He kissed you?”

“Yes.”

“And what did you say?”

“‘Why did you kiss me?’“You lay your head in your hands. You’ve liked Scott for as long as you can remember, and hearing that he kissed you ‘just cause’ hurts more than anything.

“And what did he say?”

“’I don’t know’”

“What? You gotta know what he said!”

“No, Stiles, he said ‘I don’t know’.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’.” Stiles sits down next to you on his bed. Pulling you into his chest, he lets you cry without saying a word. You ended up falling asleep in your best friend’s arms.

Whatever that kiss meant or didn’t mean, Scott McCall sure knows how to break your heart.

~~~~~ "Y/N, please," Scott catches up to you in the hall the next day. You try to shove your things into your locker before you have to talk to Scott.

"Scott, whatever that kiss was, let's just forget about it." You zip up your bag and turn to leave.

"Please, I don't want to lose you." You stop in the middle of the hall. Maybe that's why boy werewolves let girl werewolves win, they depend on them so much that don't want to hurt them and end up losing them. Except, this time Scott didn't let you win at wrestling. He kissed you and then regretted it. He promises that he won't hurt you, then he turns around and breaks your heart. But even a broken heart can still love.

"You won't lose me," You turn to look at him. He looks terrible. His hair is messy and wild like he's been pulling it. His clothes look like a ratted mess like he forgot that he was popular and should care about his clothes, or how he should look. But what's worst is the devastating look on his face. He really is scared to lose you. "Look, Scott, the relationship between teacher and student in our world is highly respected, especially by the two of us. The reason you feel this way is because you feel you disrespected me. And to disrespect, your teacher is worst than disrespecting your alpha. You feel guilty because I'm your teacher. Nothing else."

"I feel this way because you're my friend and I hurt you."

"If it helps you, just blame me and my stupid heart." With that, you walk away, leaving Scott in the hall alone.

~~~~~~ Scott's POV

I can't move. I can only watch her walk away from me. Over the past two months, I've been trying to get close to her, to make her trust me, and just as she begins to I hurt her.

Blame me and my stupid heart, what does that mean? Did she like the kiss? Did she think about all last night? Did she play it over and over in her head until she could almost see me in her room? Did she sleep with the jacket I left in her room just because it still had my scent on it as I did with hers?

"what the hell are you doing, McCall?" Jackson asks, seeing me not move for a while. I just lost her. All because I couldn't keep my fucking emotions together. Why would she want me? She's beautiful and smart and caring and strong, and I'm just an idiot who can't seem to do anything right.

I won't hurt you,

I know, I play it in my head again, hoping it would give me the strength to move, but it just breaks my heart more. I hurt her. How could I hurt her?

"Scott, what's wrong?" His voice is muffled but I can tell it's Stiles that's talking to me. With his hands on my shoulder, I quickly realize that I can't catch my breath. I can't breathe. Losing Y/N is going to kill me.

He pulls me into the locker room and shoves my inhaler in my face. Taking a few breaths of it, I can start to breathe again.

"What the hell was that?"

"You had a panic attack," Stiles says, "I used to get them a lot when I was younger."

"I lost her." I bang my head against the wall. I don't deserve her but knowing she's gone hurts more than anything.

"Who, Allison?"

"no, Y/N"

"Scott-"

"I fucking lost her!" I scream before putting my fist through the wall. Stiles jumps but I don't care. I don't care about anything. "I want her, Stiles. I need her!"

I start to cry like a big baby, but I don't care. I didn't know how much I need her or wanted her until she didn't need or want me anymore.

#teen wolf #teen wolf fanfiction #teen wolf fandom #scott mccall #scott mccall x reader #scott mccall fanfiction #stiles stilinski #beacon hills #fanfic #fanfiction

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dacrethehalls · 5 years

Text

Wonder Palace

Billy Hargrove x OC

Summary: Billy gets a summer job as a life guard at a water park in the next town over. He never expects to find a family in the rag tag group of people who work with him. Word Count: 15k+ Warnings: Physical Abuse, Abuse mention, Drug use, language, slight Smut A/N: Off Cannon! Season 3! Billy because baby boy deserves all the love and happiness in the world. This is based on State Champ’s music video for the song Losing Myself. This is my first fic in forever and it has taken me WEEKS to finish it. I’m rusty, so be nice!

Summer in Arbor Pines, Indiana was my absolute favorite time of year. Not only did it mean school was out, it also marked the opening of Reynolds’ Wonder Palace, a seasonal water and mini amusement park on the outskirts of town.

I spent almost every summer since I was 14 working there becoming a somewhat dysfunctional but loving family with the rest of the staff.

My best friends; Geoff, Maggie, Issac and Derrick were among the group of people I worked with along with our pseudo big brother, Tyler Reynolds, or as we called him, Naldo. Who’s family owned the Amusement Park.

Arbor Pines was a smaller town right outside of Hawkins, and Naldo’s Palace, as we all called it was right in the middle of both cities.

I blew my horn at the blue camaro who cut me off at the gas station sticking my middle finger up at the driver as I pulled my jeep into the gas station. I was already running late, but that never stopped me from grabbing the world’s best breakfast burrito from the world’s shittest corner store.

“Is it opening day already Daph?” Francis, the clerk beamed as I sat a cup of coffee and my burrito on the counter. I hummed pulling out a wad of cash from my pocket.

“The best day of the year!” I mused as Francis placed my items in a bag.

“I’m thinking of bringing Sydney and the kids next week. Do you give any friends and family discounts?”

“Of course! I work everyday, I’ll be sure to leave tickets at admissions for you.” I chortled grabbing my things off the counter. I gave a quick wave goodbye as I headed back to my Jeep.

“Daph, have you seen the new life guard?” Maggie asked as I climbed over the pool float rental counter. “His name is Billy, he’s from Hawkins” she continued as I punched my clock in card.

“It’s opening day and you’re already looking at the new meat?” I mused pulling my staff shirt over my head and hoisting myself up on the counter. Maggie’s mouth curved up into a smile, “of course, I’m a planner.”

I let out a snorty laugh swinging my legs a little, kicking the pool floats in front of me, “You think he’s as cute as Robin? I’m really sad that she got a job at Star Court and isn’t here with us.”

I pushed my bottom lip out, dramatically frowning at the thought of not being able to work next to one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen. “Well, he’s blonde and you have a thing for people with light colored hair. He’s a solid ten out of ten.”

I rolled my eyes playfully pushing her.

“... and this is Daphne and Maggie! Ladies, this is Billy Hargrove.” Naldo mused banging on the counter-top to get our attention.

Maggie and I’s head jerked over in the direction the boys were standing. I kicked my legs over to the other side of the counter grinning.

“I’m Daphne.” I chirped offering my hand for Billy to shake.

Maggie wasn’t kidding, the boy was a complete work of art, from his blonde curls that adorned his head to his torso with well defined muscles. My heart instantly fluttered when the two of us made eye contact.

He was beautiful. Until he opened his mouth.

I could tell by the way he deepened his voice, eyeing both Maggie and I with hungry eyes that he was a complete bonehead.

“Daph, you have training duties with Billy today. First rotation will be The Serpent.” Naldo grinned nodding his head towards the giant water slide. “You mind introducing him to the rest of the staff on your way over there?”

I nodded giving a toothy grin. “Of course!”

I hopped off the counter saluting Naldo and Maggie, than looking over at Billy “Let’s go Fabio.” I mused Strolling backwards placing my heart shaped sunglasses on my face.

Billy followed quietly behind me as I introduced him to the rest of the staff.

I knew he wasn’t paying attention to me at all by the occasional “Mmmhm.” and “uh huh.” I got as we made our way to The Serpent. I switched from talking about the park over to mine and my friends latest campaign, to talking about the latest centerfold in playboy, laughing to myself noticing he still wasn’t paying attention to me.

“Daphne!”

I felt arms wrap around me picking me off the ground. “You missed the morning roundup. You know what that means. SUPER SOAK!” Geoff yelled as our friends Issac and Derrick came out of the bathroom spraying me down with their water guns.

“Don’t you losers have anything better to do than hide in the shadows and attack an innocent bystander?”

“Poor Princess Daphne, is in distress with nobody to help her.” Derrick grinned shooting me again. Geoff flipped me over throwing me over his shoulder, carrying me towards my post.

I didn’t even try to protest Geoff carrying me. This was a usual occurrence not only being bullied by my best friends, but also being called Princess Daphne from the video game Dragon’s Lair.

All three boys eyes lit up when the game was released, having more ammo other than Daphne from Scooby Doo to poke fun at my name. Dragon’s Lair give them an inch and they take a mile.

“Well, I wouldn't have been late if an asshole in a blue camaro wouldn't have tailgated me, making me go twenty under the speed limit. I wasn’t going to not stop and Syd’s Gas Station and get a steak and egg burrito.” I chortled.

“You left the neighborhood before any of us and you were still the one that was late.”

I rolled my eyes looking up at the boy behind us. “Billy, these three idiots are Geoff, Issac and Derrick.” I grunted as the other two boys fell back behind Billy, still spraying me with water.

“And if you miss morning roundup, you’ll get sprayed with a water gun.” I huffed as Geoff sat me on my feet on the stairs.

“Our girl Daphne is always late. Don’t be like her!” Issac mused as Billy pushed past us heading up the stairs.

The four of us watched silently before I cleared my throat. “I think Naldo sticking me with him is some form of punishment. I’ve known him for about fifteen minutes,” I gestured my hand up the stairs watching the blonde boy climb up the third flight. “And I already want to fight him.”

The three boys started laughing as the park horns blew indicating the park was now opened.

“Try not to let anyone drown.” I quipped snatching the water gun out of Issac’s hand winking at the boys before heading up to the top of the slide.

Later That Morning

“So you’re from California?” I questioned as I helped a father and his daughter into their tube. “I’ve always wanted to go there, I love the beach.” I added looking over at Billy who wasn’t paying attention to me at all.

I rolled my eyes looking down at the duo in front of me, “You ready kiddo?” I Sang, placing my whistle in my mouth.

She nodded as her father held on to her tightly, “3...2...1..blast off!” I yelled blowing my whistle and stepping aside as the tube started its small plummet to the swirling bowl below.

Billy and I traded places for the next set of people as I continued to make conversation with the boy who was completely uninterested with everything I had to say.

“You’re not very nice” I finally, muttered watching as he pushed a kid in his tube down the slide, I was counting down the moments until our first rotation was over.

“I don’t have to be nice, princess. I’m just here to make money so I can leave this shit stain of a state.” He chided leaning on the railing looking down at me.

“Oh my god, you can talk!” I beamed clapping my hands.

Billy rolled his eyes as he helped another kid into a float pushing him down before he was actually prepared to slide.

“Come on, lighten up Billy. We don’t have to be friends, but I can promise you work will be a lot more bearable if you drop the bad boy facade” I stepped down the little ledge switching place with Billy again, ignoring the kid getting into the tube behind me.

“How about you stop acting like you know me, prin-”

“Call me Princess again and you’ll be the next one to go down this slide” I warned, cutting him as the kids snickered behind us.

“I’d listen to her, dude. I pretended I was drowning so she would give me CPR last year and sh-” I grunted snatching the float from under the boy kicking him down the slide. “I can still taste the peanut butter sandwich he had for lunch.” I complained, as the last of the queue took their place on our slides.

“You’re not very nice” He mocked suppressing a laugh, turning from me so I couldn't see him smile. I felt a warmth grow in my chest, watching the boy in front of me. I contorted my face in disgust at the feeling that smile gave me.

“Believe me, he deserved that.” I grinned watching as Billy relaxed his posture a little. “I have to admit, you may have won me over a little with that one”

“I’m a very likable person.” I chortled as he smirked stepping closer to me. “And you’re really pretty too”

I stepped back feeling the blood rush to my cheeks while looking at Billy like he was a complete nut Job.

“I have watched you flirt with every single girl who has crossed your path today. It’s not going to work on me.” I stammered.

“I like it when I have to work for a girl.” He smiled devilishly making me feel even more flustered.

If it wasn't for us being on the clock and a bunch of children surrounding us, I would have totally let him take me right then and there. But I had enough self control to know how bad of a decision that would have been.

Never get your honey where you get your money. I repeated the words my mother told me on my very first day of working here to myself as I tried my best not to seem completely flustered.

I cleared my throat as Isaac and Geoff approached us.

“You two can go on break now, and then you have lazy river duties.” Issac Hummed looking between Billy and I, giving me a look that I prayed only Derrick noticed.

“Oh thank god!” I praised shoving my rescue float at Isaac. I looked over Billy, smiling at him, pretending that the last five minutes didn’t happen.

“Let’s go, Fabio. We might as well stick together if we have the same duties for the next rotation.”

“Not a chance Princess.” He smirked as one of the many girls who flirted with him this morning shuffled up to us once we made it down the steps. “I have lunch plans already.” He eyed the girl, Victoria, hungrily.

What a pig.

I scrunched my nose, looking up at him. “Have fun with that.” I muttered as he took her hand, pulling her to the direction of the employee entrance.

I turned on my heel making my way back towards the rental booth, where Maggie was still stationed.

“How was first rotation?” Maggie questioned as I climbed over the counter and grabbing my lunch box from the cubby beneath it.

“Billy is a complete bonehead.”

I hoisted myself up on the counter, crossing my legs under one another and putting my lunchbox in my lap.

“He’ll fit in perfectly with the boys then.” She chuckled making me grimace at the thought of Billy being part of our group.

“Mags, he would one hundred percent make fun of us for playing D and D.”

“But I bet you he’s never played Drunk Dungeon and Dragons before.” she grinned.

I chuckled taking a bite out of my ham sandwich.

“Where is Judd Nelson at any way?”

“Eating lunch with Victoria Andrews.” I snorted using finger quotes around Eating Lunch

Maggie’s face contorted up in disgust. “He went off with Hickey Vicky?”

“I asked if he wanted to eat with me but he told me he isn’t here to make friends, so I see it as a lost cause.” I spoke, cringing at how bitter that sounded after I had said it.

Maggie let out an excited gasp, slamming her hands down on the counter on either side of me. “You’re crushing on him aren't you!?” She mused leaning in and taking a bite from my sandwich.

“No! I am not. I called him a bonehead for a reason.” I sputtered, eyes growing wide knowing that Maggie, the girl I had known since I was seven years old could see right through my bullshit.

She smirked at me crossing her arms. “Getting small flutters in my stomach is not a crush Margaret.” I jeered saying her full name.

“It totally is,” she retorted. “And you’re blushing!”

I sat my sandwich on my knees as I touched my cheeks with both hands. “He’s just flirty and was trying to pull a move on me and then he went off with Victoria.”

I avoided Maggie's gaze turning my focus on the rest of my lunch.

I made towards my new station, stopping and saying hello to some of the park’s regular customers. The lazy river was probably the most boring part of the water park.

It consisted mostly of the parents who brought their kids to the park and let them run loose, along with the occasional shithead kids who got joy out of taunting the life guards with water guns.

I started gathering the floats that people had left at the end of the lazy river, putting them back into the bin they belonged in.

“Hey, princess.”

I turned looking over at Billy disapprovingly. “How was lunch?” He questioned as I grabbed another float tossing it into the bin.

“I ate a ham sandwich, an apple and some chocolate pudding. And I sat at the rental booth with Maggie. How was your lunch?”

A smile spread across his face as he placed his whistle in his mouth, “It was great.”

“Just so you know, Hickey-” I closed my eyes suppressing my laugh at the nickname we all dubbed the poor girl when we were all twelve years old. “-I mean Vicky is a little on the loony side...and is probably already planning your wedding.”

Billy grimaced, as he helped me clear the rest of the floats out.

“You couldn’t have warned me?”

“I didn’t warn Issaac when he hooked up with her and he’s one of my best friends.” I mused, struggling to push the ben. Billy bumped his hip into mine moving me as he started pushing it without ease.

“The lazy river is the most boring but easy duty. Beginning of rotation we clear out the tubes from the gathering pool and same with the end. And then we just sit thirty feet apart and hope nobody will drown”

Billy hummed as we walked together to the start of the lazy river.

“So, I was an asshole this morning, and I wanted to apologize for that” Billy uttered. “I just need money and I don’t need any attachments.”

I raised my eyebrow looking over at him. “Flirting with me this morning and hooking up with a girl on lunch break isn't an attachment?” I questioned

Billy nodded his head pushing his lower lip out. “Touche.”

“I’m just saying, if you’re going to have vehicular sex on break, you might as well at least try to be friends with some of the staff. It doesn't even have to be me,”

I brought my whistle up to my mouth blowing into it and looking over at two kids who were running.

“Do you dweebs not know how to read?!” I yelled pointing to the NO RUNNING sign that was posted on almost every pole around the water park.

“Sorry, Miss Daphne!” One of them yelled as both boys slowed their gait.

I turned back looking at Billy with a smile, “Derek, Issac, Maggie, and Geoff are my best friends, so if you’re friends with one of us, your friends with all of us.”

He chuckled to himself quietly. “I figured that much. And what about Tyler?”

“You mean Naldo? He’s like the mom in the group. He’s five years older than all of us. He makes sure we don’t ever get ourselves killed. Or kill each other.”

Billy nodded. “My little sister has a friend like that. I think it’s weird but you know, it’s whatever.”

I shrugged. “He’s probably like a role model to her. My dad is an ass and I’m an only child, so having Naldo to go when I had problems was great.”

Billy nodded in agreement, “Kinda wish I had someone like that.” he muttered. “I mean, as long as you work here, you’ll have Naldo. Everyone needs a Naldo in their life.”

“I mean, I guess you’re right.” He shrugged as we stopped in front of the steps to the lazy river.

“I know I am.” I grinned earning a laugh from Billy.

We unloaded all the floats we gathered, Billy mostly telling me about himself, where he was from and how he was working as much as he could to go back.

Second rotation seemed to drag on after Billy and I went to our separate. I was dreaming of a cold shower after sitting out in the sweltering afternoon heat.

I signed slumping down in my chair kicking my legs over the railing. Discreetly looking over at Billy and laughing at how un interested he was in the conversation that Victoria was trying to have with him.

I turned my attention back to the water watching as a few people floated by me.

Suddenly feeling cold water being poured over my head, I gasped, turning to see who the culprit was seeing two middle school age boys laughing at me.

I jumped off my chair hitting one of them in the back of the head with my rescue float.

“YOU LITTLE SHITS ARE GOING TO WISH YOU HADN'T DONE THAT!” I fumed running after them and tackling them to the ground behind Billy’s lifeguard chair.

I sat on both boys hitting them both in the head with my life raft. “You twerps ever do that again you will be banned for life from this entire park!” I screamed hitting them again.

“Hey, relax.” Billy spoke lifting me off the boys, who were starting to cry as I struggled against Billy’s arms that was locked around my waist.

“That’s right, you cry for your mommy you shit stains!” I yelled kicking my legs at them as Billy carried me away from the two boys. “Uh,” he mumbled quietly as he set me down on my feet.

“Although that was probably the hottest things I have ever seen, but In my experience, trying to bring harm to middle schoolers will only bring harm to yourself.”

“Those two always like to pull shit with me.” I grunted as Naldo ran up to us. “Daphne would you like to tell me why the Erikson boys are crying right now?”

“Yeah, they poured water on me...again I guess hanging them up by their trunks to the light pole last year didn’t teach them anything.” I chided only to have Naldo shake his head angrily at me.

“Daphne, this-”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s my first and last warning.” I rolled my eyes cutting him off before adding “ I’m off lifeguard duties for the season, blah blah blah.” I chided as Naldo shook his head again in disappointment.

“I’m not that mean Daph. But I’m upset, just don’t act out so fast when they mess with you and let me handle it. Promise me you’ll come to me? That’s what the walkie talkies are for.”

I sighed in defeat, “I’m sorry, Naldo. I’ll go apologize to the boys too. And I’ll- uh sanitize the floats and snorkel gear tonight.”

A smile grew across his face, accepting my apology“Toot it and boot it Daph,” Naldo exclaimed holding his hand out. We high fived then bumped our fists together.

“Ok, you two can get back to your posts now.” he spoke, turning on his heal and heading back from where he came from.

“Toot it…..and boot it?” Billy questioned raising an eyebrow.

“He makes everyone do that. So get use to it Hargrove.”

I trudged out the back gate to my car noticing the blue Camaro from this morning parked next to mine, and Billy laying back on top of the hood. “Billy?” I questioned, approaching both vehicles.

He lifted his head looking over at me as I stood beside him.

“What are you still doing here? Everyone is gone.”

“I’m just avoiding going home,” He admitted. “Why?” I questioned throwing my bag in the back of my Jeep then laying next to Billy on top of his car. He grunted in response to me pushing him over a little to make room for myself.

“I just don’t want to go home.”

I could tell by the look on his face that it wasn't a subject I should push. “You want to spend the night at my place?” I offered

Billy looked over at me raising his eyebrows at me, a smirk forming on his lips.

“Uck, You wish, Fabio. I’m just being nice. I have a pullout couch in my room.”

Billy chuckled nervously, “I guess I can take you up on the offer.”

I sat up, sliding off of his car, “Okie dokie then, I’m starving so just follow me home.” I chirped turning around and climbing into my jeep.

“Oh and by the way, You drive like an asshole.”

Billy rolled his eyes as he slid off the hood of his car. “You’re the one that goes twenty under the speed limit.”

“Yeah, well I wouldn't have if you didn’t ride my ass like you were doing.” I chortled as I started my car.

“I’ll see you in a little bit, Fabio.”

It didn't take long for us to arrive at my house, I pulled into my driveway getting out as Billy parked his Camaro behind me

“Your parents will be okay with this?” Billy questioned as we went up the front steps of the house.

“Mom is a nurse over at Hawkins Memorial. She won’t be home until the morning,” I assured stepping into our home. “And besides, she wouldn’t care, she loves all of my friends. Maggie and the boys stay over all the time.”

“What about your dad?” Billy questioned.

“Doesn’t Live here.” I grinned dropping my bag by the door before kicking my shoes off.

“Billy, this Tatoonie my cat. She’s an asshole and will probably either pee on your shoes or sleep on your head tonight.” I giggled as we made our way to my bedroom.

Billy paused backing up looking at a framed photos of me and my mother hung up on the wall.

“Santa Monica Pier.” He whispered looking over at me.

“My mom took me there for my fifth birthday, paid for surfing lessons. We went every year until she left my dad and we couldn't afford it anymore” I frowned looking at the 8 photos of my mom and I standing happily together on the beach.

“You can surf?” Billy questioned looking over at me.

“Yeah, but I’m awful at it, if you were paying attention to what I was saying this morning you would have known that.” I crossed my arms jokingly glaring at him.

“I’ve been saving money so I can go back and visit. It’s been a while and I really miss the ocean.” I added looking back at the pictures and some of the best memories I had with my mother.

“I want to go back also,” Billy spoke softly not taking his eyes off of the center portrait of the Santa Monica Pier.

“Well if you play your cards right, I might let you come with me.” I winked

grabbing Billy’s hand pulling him away from the photos and to my room.

He looked around taking in my room and the various posters and photos that adorned my walls.

“Make yourself at home, I’m going to shower.” I quipped grabbing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from the mound of clean clothes sitting on top of my bed I hadn’t bothered to fold then padding into my bathroom.

I quickly washed the work day off of me, taking the time to shave the areas on my body that needed it, - you know just in case. I stepped out of the shower, pulling a t-shirt over my head and wrapping my hair up in the towel to dry it.

I went back into my room right as Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent filled my room. Billy was sitting in front of my record player, thumbing through my collection of vinyls.

“You have great taste in music.”

I chuckled sitting next to him. “Thank you, there is a record store here in town that has a killer selection.”

He pulled Black Sabbath's Paranoia album out of my collection placing the needle precisely at the beginning of the song Iron Man. I laid back kicking my legs up and resting them on the wall in front of me.

Billy followed my motion laying the opposite way, placing his head next to mine.

“Hey, Princess?”

“Call me that again and you’ll sleep outside with the family of unfriendly gophers that live in my backyard.” I grunted.

He sighed loudly. “Daphne.” He corrected turning his head looking over at me. I hummed in response, closing my eyes, focusing on the music that was humming through the speakers.

“Thanks for letting me stay tonight. Even if we just met.” Billy whispered. I turned my head, smiling at him.

“It’s not a problem. I figured you didn’t want to talk about why you didn’t want to go home so I didn’t press it.”

He didn’t respond, he kept his focus on me. I rolled up on my side propping myself up on my elbow, looking down at him. “But if you ever want to talk, just know I’m here. I’m a good listener.”

Billy looked at me sitting up and pressing his lips to mine I stared wide eyed at him as he placed his hand on the side of my head, his fingers gripping some of my hair. My heart started to flutter after the shock of being kissed wore off.

Billy pulled away looking at me, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” He apologized.

I tried my best to hide the shock of being kissed on my face, feeling my cheeks grow incredibly warm.

“I-I mean y-you could have -a-asked. I would've said y-yes, but that’s b-beside the p-point.” I stammered, rolling back on my back and trying to regain my composure. Normally when I was kissed, I didn't get so flustered. I was able to play it cool, but this kiss was different.

I cleared my throat looking back over at Billy who hadn’t taken his eyes off of me. “Can I kiss you again?” Billy questioned softly, any trace of the bad boy facade completely gone. He reached over gently caressing my cheek.

I could have melted into him right then and there without any hesitation. But playing hard to get would be more fun. I wanted to see how flustered I could make him, just like he had just done to me now and earlier on in the day.

“I’m actually really fucking hungry. Come on, Fabio lets raid the kitchen for some grub” I stood up putting my hand out to help Billy up. He took it with a smile, not even needing my counter weight to help him up.

“...so is that a no on the kissing you thing.” Billy questioned stroking my cheek with his hand.

“Yes, that’s a no.” I chuckled lightly grabbing onto his wrist. “Let’s go, lover boy.”

I lead Billy into the kitchen. “Mom and I made meatloaf last night. We have leftovers from that ooooor,” I hummed looking in the freezer, “We have pizza, pot pies ooooor,” I sang again looking in the small cookie jar on our counter we kept our money in for take out. “We can order Chinese.”

I turned facing Billy who was leaning against the counter. “You’re the guest so you can choose” I mused.

“Pizza is fine”

“Done deal.” I grabbed a cheese pizza from the freezer turning on the oven so it would start to preheat.

Turning back to the fridge I grabbed two beers, tossing one over to Billy, who continued to stare at me silently. “What’s your deal, Billy?” I questioned raising an eyebrow at him.

“Nothing- it’s nothing. I just- it’s-” He sputtered popping the can open. I chuckled stepping around the counter and standing by him.

“Now that we have decided on dinner, I suppose that you can kiss me. If you still want-”

Billy pressed his lips against mine cutting me off mid sentence, softly placing his hand on my cheek. I stepped closer to him, standing between his legs as his hand found its way to the back of my head, fingers knotting in my hair has he deepened the kiss.

I had never been kissed like this before, it almost felt like time came to a complete stop as our lips moved against each other. It wasn’t until the oven’s timer went off alerting us that the pizza was finished cooking that I had noticed it’d been a whole half hour that we stood in my kitchen making out.

I cleared my throat stepping back, “The Pizza is ready.”

Billy let out a small throaty laugh -- trying to hide the fact that he was just as flustered as I was. “I didn’t really peg you as that good of a kisser.” He mused earning an eye roll from me.

“Better than Hickey Vicky?” I joked winking at him as I sauntered over to the oven grabbing oven mitts and pulling the pizza out and sitting it on the stove.

Once it was cooled, I brought the tray over to the counter Billy was at sitting it on the bar and finding a place next to him.

“I would say you’re definitely in the top five.”

I contorted my face in disgust.

“I don’t know if I should take that as an insult or a compliment.”

Billy hummed in response looking over at me, he opened his mouth then promptly shutting it opting to shove a slice of pizza in his mouth than telling me what he was thinking.

We sat in comfortable silence eating our dinner.

“I need to wash my uniforms, if you want to give me yours too I toss them in with my dirty laundry.” I spoke, finally breaking the silence. Billy got up and made his way back to my room emerging with soiled clothes and handing them over to me.

I threw Billy and I’s dirty uniforms in the washer pressing start before walking back out to the kitchen, smiling at him as I watched him clean up the small mess we made from dinner.

“Ok, uniforms are in the wash, Mom will probably put them in the dryer when she gets home, So I’m going to pass out.” I nodded my head towards where my room was.

“Uh, you’re welcome to sleep on the couch out here or in my room. The latter would probably be the best option so my mother doesn't come home from work to a man-child with a mullet asleep in her living room.”

Billy chuckled following me to my room.

“I want to thank you again, Daph, for letting me stay here.”

“Oh, it’s honestly no problem, You’re a bone head, but I enjoy your company.”

Billy plopped down on my couch pulling his shirt off over his head. I grabbed a blanket from the top shelf of my closet, unfolding it and draping it over Billy. He smiled up to me sleepily, “You’re going to steal my heart from me” He muttered as I grabbed a pillow handing it to him.

“I don’t take hearts, I break them.” I joked leaning down and pressing a small kiss on Billy’s cheek then switching off the lights in my room.

Billy let out a soft chuckle, repeating the words I had just spoke to him. I rolled my eyes climbing onto my bed and getting under the covers.

“Goodnight, Princess.”

“Goodnight, Fabio.”

I rested my cheek on my hand watching as all the people in the park passed by the shaved ice stand I was assigned to for my shift.

Most of the customers opted for actual ice cream or frozen lemonades over the shaved ice truck, which didn’t bother me too much, not only was I able to sit in an air conditioned trailer, but my stand was also located close to Billy’s lifeguard post.

We were about a month and a couple weeks into the season. And Billy and I had grown pretty close, especially since he stayed at my house a few times a week.

The boys and Maggie, of course, welcomed him into our group with open arms and he begrudgingly became the Barbarian in our DND party.

The fuzzy feelings I felt in my chest when I was around him and the fact that my mother absolutely adored him didn’t help my situation either.

And that made me feel gross, seeing how he was always flirting with me and all the girls around him. Especially since we spent ninety percent of our lunch breaks making out in the backseat of my Jeep.

It was gross.

He was gross.

“Are you crushing on Billy?”

I rolled my eyes turning my attention to Naldo, who was leaning on the counter behind me, with a huge shit eating grin plastered across his face. “No, Tyler I’m not crushing on Billy!” I growled.

“Then where did that come from?” He questioned poking at the red mark on my neck.

“I got bit by a spider,” I lied.

Naldo pinched the bridge of his nose shaking his head. “I know when you’re lying Daphne Louise.”

I grimaced at the use of my full name. Naldo undoubtedly making a dig at me for calling him Tyler moments before.

“Hypothetically speaking, if I were to be crushing on Billy. And he left Hickeys on my neck even when I have repeatedly asked him over and over not to would you be angry with me?”

Naldo let out a guttural high pitched laugh startling the people who were walking by. I was almost certain Billy had heard him also, I nodded at the startled customers then looking across the way at Billy who lifted his arm up in a what the fuck kind of way. I gave him a shrug before turning back to Naldo.

“What the fuck was that!?” I hissed as Naldo failed to regain his composure.

“I knew it!” He exclaimed, “You’ve been a lot nicer than usual.. And,” He grabbed my leg making me lose my balance falling into the counter. “You’ve been shaving your legs.”

“You’re such a weirdo.” I fumed as he dropped my leg.

“Happiness looks so good on you, Kid.” he chortled

I smiled to myself eyeing Billy has he waved sheepishly at me. I waved back at him. Not turning back to Naldo, who started singing Billy and Daphne sittin’ in a tree.

I finally turned to him, sighing. “Yes, I like him. Will that make you shut up?”

Naldo looked at me, smugly. “Like I said, Happiness looks good on you. But how about you two eat lunch with all of us today instead of eating lunch in your jeep.”

I rolled my eyes at him, “Okay, Naldo.”

I held my fist out to him as he we did our not so secret toot it and boot it hand shake.

“I’m serious, I better see you in the food court!” He chirped as he stepped out of the shaved ice stand. I gave him a small salute before he turned and skipped away.

Our first shift felt like it lasted forever and I was hungry for some actual food instead of the ice I had been grazing on all morning. The person who came to relieve me was late, per usual, so I was late meeting up with him for our daily lunch break.

“There’s a party everyone is going to tonight Billy, are you going?” I overheard as I made my way up to Billy and the girls that had flocked around him.

“Please, and hang around the losers that work here?” Billy quipped once I was standing behind him.

“You work here too, Hargrove, so that makes you a loser by association.” I chimed in, poking him in the back.

Billy rolled his eyes before pushing his sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose and turning back to the girls.

“Have a good lunch break, Jackass.” I quipped grabbing the cigarette from behind his ear and placing it between my lips heading towards the burger post.

I wasn’t even half way there before Billy caught up to me, throwing his arm around my shoulder.

“You know I was just kidding right? About you and the others being losers?” Billy spoke, quickly obviously hiding the anxiety that he actually pissed me off in his voice.

“Sure you were, Fabio” I smirked as we reached the doors to small cafeteria. He dropped his arm that was draped around my shoulder to open the door for me.

“I’m serious Daph.”

I rolled my eyes rising up on my toes pressing my lips to his cheek. “Billy, I’m just fucking with you. Don’t you worry that pretty little face of yours.”

Billy ducked down quickly kissing my nose. I beamed up at him grabbing his hand as we shuffled into the building.

“There’s a party tonight Billy, are you going? You can crash at my place after.” Issac offered leaning back in his chair.

“Please, Issac, Billy is way too cool to be seen at an Arbor Pines party. Apparently we’re all a bunch of losers.” I quipped looking over at Billy hinting at the conversation he had had earlier with some of the girls that crowded around him at the pool during shift change.

Billy's lips twitched up as he dug his fork into his potato salad. It was small and quick and I was almost certain that I was the only one who saw it.

“We weren’t a bunch of losers when we kicked Hawkins High’s basketball team at nationals.” Geoff smirked.

“And you made that Tommy kid cry.” I chortled taking a bite of my hamburger.

This time Billy didn’t suppress his laugh, it bellowed out of him as he threw his head back, eyes watering. “You were the one that made Tommy cry?” Billy asked between laughs trying to catch his breath.

“Jesus, Hargrove, in through your nose and out through your mouth.” I insisted, flinging a french fry at him.

“Tommy H cries all the time.” Billy sputtered causing all of us to start laughing along with him.

I felt the warmth creep across my chest again, watching as Billy was generally getting along with our little group. His asshole behavior and blunt attitude fit in perfectly with the rest of our personalities.

“When we were little, all of us were on a soccer team together, and he cried because he got beat by a team with girls on it.” I sat back rolling my eyes.

“Back to the party, you in Hargrove? We’ll have a few kegs, different kinds of alcohol and some special baked goods. You can’t say no, It’s your girlfriend’s birthday party.” Issac coaxed, winking at Billy.

Without a beat, Billy turned to me, eyebrows raised. “It’s your birthday?” Ignoring the fact that Issac referred to me as his girlfriend.

The look on his face was a mixture of embarrassment and panic, for either forgetting, not remembering my birthday.

“Relax, Billy, It’s tomorrow, and don’t think I ever told you my birthday.” I chuckled watching as his rigid posture became more relaxed.

He bit down on his lip trying to regain his composure.

“If there is a keg, you can count me in.” Billy grinned.

I wiped my mouth shooting my two middle fingers up at Billy. He stood there staring at me in disbelief after I beat his keg stand time by 30 seconds. I smirked at him blowing a kiss as I placed a cigarette in my mouth.

“It’s okay Fabio, You’re still the keg king in Hawkins” I quipped patting him on the chest.

“That was…..sexy.” He blurted as I passed my cigarette to him. He drew it in tilting his head up blowing the smoke in the air before passing it back to me.

“I almost forgot! I got you something!” Billy grabbed my hand pulling me through the crowd and out to his car.

“Billy, you didn’t have to get me anything.” I giggled as he dug through the back seat of his car. “Well you’re my best friend and the fact that I didn't know your birthday is so bad. So here you go!” He shoved a badly wrapped package into my hands smiling down at me.

My heart fluttered at how excited he was, and how he referred to as his best friend. I tore at the paper chuckling as it revealed a half eaten bag of cherry licorice and a small stuffed animal obviously taken from the carnival games at work.

“I will cherish these for the rest of my life.” I beamed pulling Billy into a hug. He wrapped his arms around me picking me off my feet. “Thank you.” I whispered into his shoulder as he placed me back onto the ground.

“It’s no problem, Princess.”

The night continued on with more and more people showing up for the occasion. We danced, and sang and drank the night away as everyone wished me a happy birthday.

Half way through the party I decided to try and start sobering up so I wouldn't be completely hungover on my actual birthday.

I made myself a home on the front law where it was pretty quiet. I laid back watch the stars before Billy plopped down next to me in the grass.

“Has anyone told you that you’re kinda scary?” He coaxed causing me to laugh.

“How high are you right now?” He shrugged laying back looking up at the sky.

“Only, a little,” he grinned sheepishly at me before continuing.

“You’re one of the sweetest people I have ever met. Your love and compassion for people-even the ones you hate is so genuine. You bring light into people’s lives, Daphne. And that scares me.”

I brought my knees up to my chest, hugging my arms around me in an attempt to keep my heart contained in one place as I looked down at the boy.

“Why would that scare you?” I questioned him as he closed his eyes drawing in his cigarette, than offering it to me.

I took it placing it in my mouth.

“The last person that was a light in my life left me alone in the dark.”

I frowned watching as he was fighting whatever thoughts were crossing his mind. “I lose myself in the best possible way when you’re around,” Billy opened his eyes, looking over at me as he sat up. I bit down on my lip, looking at him.

“I’m in love with you.” Billy spoke leaning in and pressing his lips to mine hungrily, our teeth clicking together as he knotted his fingers in my hair.

“Do you want to go inside?” I muttered on Billy’s lips. He opened his eyes slowly looking down at me through his lashes.

I lead Billy through the house and to the empty guest room, Maggie and I would always use when we stayed the night with Issac. I closed the door behind us, turning the lock then looking up at Billy.

He stepped towards me hooking his fingers into my belt loops pulling my body to his connecting our lips together. He backed me into the door as his fingers found their way to the hem of my of my shirt. He broke our kiss momentarily to pull my shirt over my head.

I rose up on my toes, to kiss him better pushing him backwards until he fell on the bed. I stepped out of my flats as Billy all but threw his boots across the room. I unzipped my shorts letting them fall to the floor as I climbed on the bed and on top of Billy connecting our lips once more.

His hands traced up my spine finding the band of my bra. “It unhooks from the front.” I chuckled

after a small grunt came from him.

“Why would you buy a bra that unhooks from the front?” he groaned has his fingers fumbled to get it unclasped.

“Because it was cute and on sale.” And I also got joy out of watching boys work hard to see my bare chest. I gave Billy a hand throwing my bra to the ground as he looked up and admired my topless form.

He grabbed my hips flipping us over so he was hovering over me, connecting our lips together. His hand that wasn't wrapped in my hair slowly brushed down my body, his fingers finding their way inside of me. I let out a small squeal at how cold his touch felt

. “Sorry,” He chuckled as he continued to move his fingers.

“You could have warned me that your hands were cold.” I giggled pulling his face back to mine.

I let out a small breathy moans while Billy kissed down my jaw, slowly making his way between my legs, kissing the inside of my thighs. He pulled my undies all the way off pressing more kisses on the inside of left my thigh before his mouth made its way to my clit.

My fingers instinctively ran through his hair knotting it in my fingers as he continued to hit all the right places with his tongue.

It didn’t take long for the electrifying sensation I hadn’t felt in so long to take over my entire body completely.

“Uh.. Um..B-Billy.” I spoke softly, voice shaky, as the electric sensation slowly left my body. He hummed unbuttoning his pants with one hand while placing small kisses up my body until our lips met once more.

“You have a condom right?” I questioned as he pulled away from me frowning.

“No, but we can still do it.” He muttered looking down at me.

“Uh, no we can’t. No condom, no sex.”

His head dropped on my shoulder, an annoyed grunt coming from him. “Do you have one?” he whispered nuzzling his nose into my neck.

“No,” I lied knowing that I had one hidden away in my wallet, Something my mother had always taught me, to keep one on me as a backup plan for if and when a boy tells me he didn't have one.

Billy sat up crossing his arms glaring down at me. “You’re lying.” I sat up on my elbows frowning, Billy had been around me long enough to pick up on my tiny mannerisms I subconsciously did when I told a lie.

“I have one in my wallet, but I really don’t feel like doing it anymore.” I mumbled reaching out to touch his face. “I love you too,” I cooed, responding to his confession from earlier.

“And I don’t want our first time together to be when we both are cross faded in someone else’s house.”

Billy finally rolled off the bed angrily buttoning his pants reaching down and grabbing his shirt. Not even looking at me.

“Billy, I want to, but I just don’t think its the right time for us to have sex.” I apologized earning a grunt from him as he left the room leaving me alone.

I got up, getting dressed quietly trying not to let the tears that were stinging in my eyes to completely fall.

I took a deep breath and headed back out to the party, where Billy and I didn’t speak for the rest of the night.

“Good morning, my darling birthday Girl!” My mother cheered as I hoisted myself onto the counter next to where she was standing. I smiled at her leaning over dipping my finger into the blueberry muffin batter she was preparing.

“Daphne Louise, that has raw eggs in it!” She scolded as I fished out another blueberry from the mix.

“That never stopped us from eating cookie dough while watching The Facts of Life” I giggled as my mom swatted at my hand.

“How was the party last night?” She questioned scooping spoonfuls of the mix into the muffin tin.

“I think Billy was trying to tell me that he loves me.” I crossed my legs under one another laughing nervously.

My mother’s eyes lit up as she looked over at me. “Annnnnnd?” She sang.

I dipped my fingers in the batter once again grabbing another blueberry, “We almost had sex. But I stopped it and he got mad and wouldn’t talk to me for the rest of the night”

She knew I wasn’t a virgin, I hadn't been since the ninth grade when I lost it to Joseph West in the back of his Cadillac DeVille. It was way less than satisfying. I asked my mother if it was supposed to be - that bad she laughed at me and told me the first time for everyone was pretty bad. My mother and I had a very close relationship, I was able to tell her things whether she approved of them or not, and she would always offer advice to me when I had any kind of problems.

She gave me a confused look, “Why did you change your mind?” She questioned moving the batter from out of my reach quietly giving me a “tsk.” as a popped another batter covered blue berry in my mouth.

“I don’t know, I just- want to make sure he’s in it for the right reasons.” I muttered.

“I like him, mom. I actually more than like him, I love him,” I admitted with a sigh. “And I want to protect my heart if the feelings aren’t mutual. What if he was just telling me the things I want to hear from him just so he can get me in the bed.”

My mother sighed wiping her hands down her apron.

“Honey, that’s just something you will have to decide for yourself. I personally think he really likes you, especially with all the time you two spend together. He never seems to go home. And he stopped sleeping on your couch weeks ago.”

I grinned sheepishly at my mother, knowing that she knew that Billy and I cuddled in my bed the nights that he stayed with me.

Hell, we would even cuddle the nights we both stayed with Maggie or one of the boys.

“Your father called last night. He wants you to come over for dinner to celebrate your birthday.”

My mother informed me changing the subject, Although we were open with each other she still preferred to not hear about my sex life.

I groaned grabbing and licking the last of the batter off of the spatula. “He’s going to be upset that I haven't applied to any schools still. He won’t even humor the idea of me taking time off of school and living,” I frowned. “I don’t even want to go to college.” I continued looking up at my mother.

My father was the complete opposite then my mother, he was harsh and cold where she was loving and accepting. When I was seven years old, my mother finally had enough of his anger and his hatred that she left with me, finding a home in Arbor Pines.

Growing up, there was a lot of stress and expectations put on my shoulders from him, from being forced into dance classes when I had to spend the summer with him, to having to go to after school tutoring when I wasn’t meeting his standards of grades.

I finally humored him when I was in high school taking advanced classes as well as being on the cheerleader squad and that still wasn’t enough. What I didn’t tell my mother was the abuse she endured before she got the courage was now put upon me. He promised that he’d never lay a finger on me but that complete changed the older I got, and the more of a failure he found me to be.

My mother cupped my chin in her hands pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Baby girl, no matter what you do, or where you go, you will accomplish wonderful things. I couldn’t be more proud of the young lady that you have become.”

I smiled softly at her as I wrapped my arms around her body hugging her. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too my sweet girl.”

I spent the rest of my morning eating and cleaning the kitchen with my mother and avoided going to Hawkins until I absolutely had to.

“I’ll probably hang out with Robin after dinner then come home.” I announced prancing out of the hallway to the living room where my mom was sitting. I pressed a kiss on her cheek.

“No parties while I’m gone.” I joked as I headed out the door with a wave.

It took less than an hour to get to Hawkins from my house, it was one of my favorite drives to take, a two lane road with a vast amount of trees, on the days I had to go to Hawkins to spend with my father, I would always take the top off of my car letting the wind and smell of pine surround me as I sped down the road.

One of my biggest dreams was to be able to travel the country, looking for hidden back roads that would twist and turn. Ones that I could zoom down listening to my music as loud as it could go.

I noticed a familiar blue car parked on the side of the road and as much as I didn’t want to stop and check up on the stupid owner with his stupid amazing hair, I did any way because, I’m a nice person that was in love with a asshole.

I pulled up behind Billy honking my car horn at him. He looked up from his flat tire, wiping his forehead, before standing up and stomping towards my jeep.

“Hiya, Princess.” Billy smirked leaning on my window. I rolled my eyes, ignoring the fact that I would never not be called princess by Billy.

“Come on, I’m heading into town. I can drop you off at the mechanic and they can bring a tow out here.” I smiled nodding to my passenger seat.

Billy took my offer, lumbering around to the passenger side climbing into my jeep. I took off once he was settled humming to myself to make up for the silence between us.

I wasn’t sure if he remembered the night before or not, which I was really hoping it was the latter. That he didn’t remember the kiss we shared or me rejecting him after us almost having sex.

I made a right turn onto the main road that took us to Hawkins, pushing my latest mix tape into the radio pressing my foot down heavily on the gas.

“AHHH AH!! WE COME FROM THE PLACE WITH THE ICE AND SNOW,” I yelled turning the volume to Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song.

“FROM THE MIDNIGHT SUN, WHERE THE HOT SPRINGS FLOW,” I looked over at Billy as he clung onto the grab handle above him as we zoomed down the winding roads towards town.

“The Hammer of the Gods!” I smirked returning my attention back to the road swerving my jeep back into my lane.

“Are you sure you’re allowed to drive?” Billy questioned trying but failing to mask his genuine fear in his voice.

I laughed easing up on the gas, “What, never been a passenger to someone who drives like you before?” I smirked eyeing the boy next to me.

He grunted in response as I drummed my thumbs on the steering wheel. “Billy, if I wanted to kill you, vehicular manslaughter wouldn’t be my first choice.”

I could feel his harsh stare boring into me as I brought the jeep to a stop at a light. “I’m serious. I’d poison you and then get Maggie or Issac to help me hide your body.”

Billy rolled his eyes looking away from me. “Remind me to never eat anything you ever give me.”

“You always seem to enjoy the muffins I bring to Naldo’s every morning.” I mused earning another grunt.

“Ok, what gives Hargrove, I understand you being grumpy because you got a flat tire but did Issac piss in your Cheerios this morning?”

Billy muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t quite understand. I reached over to my radio turning the volume completely down.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” I questioned, finally pulling into the parking lot of Hawkins only mechanic.

“If I wanted you to know what I said, Princess, I would have said it louder” Billy grunted opening the door to her car hopping out of it. I sat back in my seat, staring at him.

“Are you seriously angry at me because you didn’t get laid last night?”

Billy let out another grunt slamming my jeep door shut. I felt my cheeks grow red from anger as I watched the boy stride away angrily. I placed my car in park getting out and chasing after him.

“You’re such a prick, you know that. Huh?” I yelled pushing his shoulder.

“Was you telling me that you love me last night just some bullshit ploy to get into my pants?!” I jeered as he turned around staring down at me, straight faced.

“What if it was? Huh? What are you going to do Daphne?”

I squeezed my fists into tight balls digging my nails into my palms. “Nothing. I won’t do anything but be completely disappointed in myself for letting some asshole into my heart. There’s a reason I didn’t want to sleep with you and this is it.”

Billy bit down on his lip before sighing and reaching down for my hand. I stepped back crossing my arms over my chest, waiting for him to respond.

“I’m sorry,” he began stepping towards me, and sign of anger he had slowly leaving as his composure relaxed. “I meant everything I said to you, Daph.”

Billy reached out stroking my cheek, “I’m an asshole..and a bonehead and anything else you want to call me.”

I rolled my eyes lightly grabbing his wrists as his hands found their way to the back of my head.

“I love you” he muttered before closing the space between us and kissing me.

“Who lives here?” Billy asked as I pulled into a driveway of a bright blue house. Billy and I spent most of the afternoon waiting for the Camaro to be repaired. After, I followed Billy to his home where he dropped off his car and got into mine so we could go and eat.

“My father and his wife.” I growled turning to my back seat and digging through the mound of growing cloths, settling on a dress. I pulled my shirt over my head, throwing it in the back seat and replacing it with the dress. Billy just sat there staring at me wide eyed as I traded my doc martens with a pair of white flats.

“My father isn’t a big fan of how I dress,” I explained running my hands down the length of my dress. “He’s honestly not a big fan of anything that I do. Probably won’t like you either.” I muttered leaning over and buttoning two of his buttons.

Billy frowned, “Your mom likes me.”

I chuckled taking my hair down from the messy ponytail it was in. “Yeah well, my dad is an asshole. So we’re not going to stay very long.” I cringed looking at the front door, dreading the monster that was behind it.

We both sauntered inside, Billy following me to my room. “Wow… it’s so…”

“Boring,” I cut him off looking around at the bare walls of my room. “I don’t stay here often, so there's no point in making it homey- especially since my dad will sell my things he doesn't like or want me to have.”

Billy frowned as I shut the door behind us. “Don’t worry we won’t be here for long. Just have to show my face because it’s my birthday.”

I rose on my toes pecking Billy’s slips making him smile.

“Wanna make out?”

I pushed his shoulder playfully as he scooped me up bridal style, pressing his lips to mine.

I could hear the rumble of my father’s car from outside my window. “Uh.. Billy,” I mumbled with a shaky voice as hummed against my neck.

“I need you to get into my closet”

Billy looked down at me confused as I slide from underneath him.

“My dad is home. And you being here is something he won’t like” I dug through my bag grabbing my powder compact, patting down the area where Billy had left a hickey. I groaned at how red the mark had remained.

“Daphne! Are you here?!”

“Baby, he can’t be that bad.” Billy spoke plodding towards me.

I turned to him frowning “Billy, please. Just get in my closet and stay there.” I begged pushing him towards the doors.

I turned around grabbing a book of my bookshelf climbing on my bed and laying down opening it. “DAPHNE!” my father boomed busting into my room.

“Hiya, Daddy!”I beamed smiling up at him.

“You didn’t show up for the first day of work at the post. We had to hire Karen Wheeler’s bimbo daughter.” My father growled.

I closed my tattered copy of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath sitting beside me on the bed

“Daddy, I told you I was working at Wonder Palace for the summer.” I mused only to earn a grunt of disapproval from him.

I stood up giving him a small hug before sheepishly stepping back eyeing my closet to make sure Billy could not be seen.

“Can we please not do this right now? It’s my birthday, I came to eat dinner, not fight about my future.”

My father grabbed my arm pushing me hard against the wall. “I’m so sick of you running up and down the street with all the riff-raff you hang around.” I bit down on my lip, breathing heavily

“You haven’t even given them a chance, dad. They aren’t as bad as you think they are.”

“I told you about these people. Smoking marijuana and drinking at that rundown amusement park isn't a job, It’s about time that you grow up Daphne. You’re 19 years old now. Did you apply to the schools like I asked?”

I looked away seeing Billy looking at me with terror in his eyes from my closet. “No, I didn’t. Mom said that I-“ his hand smacked across my face as he grabbed a hold of my face pinching my cheeks hard.

“I don’t care what your mother has told you. You’re going to go to college. I didn’t raise a failure did I?” I averted my gaze as tears started to well up in my eyes.

“Dad- I just graduated. I want to take time off of-” His grasp tightened around my jaw, forcing me harder into the wall.

“DID I RAISE A FAILURE DAPHNE LOUISE?”

“No sir,”I said through gritted teeth breathing heavily.

“You didn’t raise me at all. Mom did, and she’s proud of me. She’s proud of the person I am and who I may become in the future.” He lifted his hand to hit me once again but Billy caught him by the wrist, staring angrily at my father.

“Don’t you fucking touch her!” He bellowed pushing him away from me. I dropped to the floor finally letting the tears fall from my eyes. Billy stood in front my me guarding me from my father as he stormed back over to the both of us.

“You’re not going to amount to anything. Just like your whore of a mother.”

I stood up balling my hands into fists, “And you’re going to die sad and alone.” I growled as Billy remained in front of me.

“I’m not letting you near her.” He spoke harshly reaching back and placing his hand over mine, squeezing it in an attempt to show me I was safe.

“And who are you?” Dad challenged bowing his chest up to Billy.

“My name is Billy Hargrove, and I’m in love with your daughter. We work together at Wonder Palace.”

My father squeezed his eyes shut in frustration, a huge knot growing in the pit of my stomach. Billy squeezed my hand again as I stepped up to stand by his side rather than behind him.

“Really, Daphne? You bring this trash into my house when you know better not to? You let him do this shit to you?” My father pushed Billy roughly away making him fall into my small vanity grabbing my chin, hard, pushing my face away from him so he could get a better look at the marks Billy had left on my neck.

“You’re disgusting.” He barked squeezing my cheeks as Bill pushed him off of me winding back to punch my father in the face. “Hey,” I spoke softly grabbing on to Billy’s arm.

“Let’s just go.”

Billy looked between my father and I before giving me a small nod. I turned to my dad. “I’m never coming back here again.” I declared as Billy grabbed my hand pulling me out of my room and to the front door, my father not even protesting us leaving.

I grabbed the keys out of the pocket of my dress. Pushing them into the ignition reeving my car to life and pulling out of the driveway.

“Daph, please pull over let me drive.”

I Ignored him, pushing my foot down harder on the gas pedal as we zoomed down the street. “Daphne,” Billy reached over caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. I let out a shaky sigh as I pulled over on the side of the road, resting my head on the steering wheel, finally letting out a sob.

“Daphne,” Billy repeated as he started rubbing my back.

“My father treats me the same way.” Billy whispered. My head shot up looking over at him.

“That’s why you never want to go home, isn't it? It’s where, all of your bruises come from?” I wiped my nose with the back of my hand as Billy slumped back in the seat.

“Yeah. My dad expects a lot from me, and no matter what I do, it’s not good enough.”

“What about your mom?” I questioned.

“She left when I was young, and she didn't take me with her. But if she did, I'm pretty sure I would have ended up just like you.”

“Cute with a bad attitude? Oh wait…” I joked winking at him.

“I’m serious,Daphne.”

“Are you going to be ok?” Billy questioned he as pulled into his driveway.

“I have a friend that works at Star Court, I’m going to go and visit her.” I leaned over pressing a kiss to Billy’s cheek.

“Thank you for today.” I continued as he turned looking at me, placing a small kiss on my nose.

“Anytime Princess.” Billy climbed out of my Jeep and striding over to the passenger side, opening my door for me. I slid out of my seat, Billy placing his hands on either side of my hips.

“Can I come over tonight?” He murmured leaning down and pressing his lips to my neck.

“There’s a slice of ice cream cake with your name on it.” I gasped as I felt his teeth lightly graze my neck.

“Uck, can’t you slobber over your girls somewhere else?”

Billy grunted resting his head on my shoulder as I looked over at the small redhead standing in front of us.

“You’re Max!” I beamed pushing Billy away from me and stepping towards her. Billy made another grunt of disapproval as I stuck my hand out to his little sister.

“I’m Daphne, Billy’s girlfriend.” I chirped as she reluctantly shook my hand.

“Max.”

I looked down noticing the skateboard she held in her hand.

“I have the same one but mine is blue. Me and my friends always hit the skate park in Arbor Pines when we have time. Next time you should tag along, you can spend the night if you want to!”

Max looked between Billy and I lifting an eyebrow. “He wouldn’t be invited if that’s what you’re worried about.” I chuckled as Billy slumped against my Jeep. I turned and looked at him angrily.

“Don’t be rude William.” I smirked earning a laugh from Max as I turned back to her.

“I’m serious, I don’t have any younger siblings. I am always game for a skateboarding session and a sleep over!”

Max gave me a huge smile before trying to shrug off her obvious excitement.

“Sounds like fun,” She looked over from me to Billy, who was still throwing a fit that I was talking to his little sister. “Try not to be a jackass and mess things up. I like her.” She quipped before excusing herself and going inside.

“Daphne, why?” Billy groaned as I turned to face him.

“Because if we’re going to be together, I want to try and have a relationship with your family- the ones that matter any way. Did you see how I instantly won her approval because I acknowledged her existence?”

He huffed crossing his arms.

“Stop being such a grump. Or I’ll make you sleep on the couch tonight.”

Billy sighed in defeat. “Fine. Thank you for caring…..about my little sister.” He spoke through gritted teeth, faking a smile.

I skipped into Scoops Ahoy leaning on the counter as a string of cuss words came from the back room. I hit the bell a few times before a boy with fluffy hair strode out.

“Ahoy there! Are you ready to be a passenger on the SS Butterscotch? Let me help you and your taste buds to set sail! I’m Steve Harrington.” He exclaimed running his fingers in his hair smiling at me.

I lifted an eyebrow at him as Robin opened up the back window to watch the boy fail miserably at flirting with me.

“This is what you left us for, Buckley?” Her eyes lit up as she ran out to the front of the store pulling me into a huge hug.

“What are you doing here Daphne!?”

“I had to come to Hawkins to visit my father for my birthday.” I mumbled with an eye roll.

Robin cringed contorting her face up in disgust. “And how did that go?” She questioned as I leaned back on the wall next to the counter.

“The usual, him being an asshole and hitting me. But my boyfriend came between him and I and my dad kicked us out.”

Robin knew most of what happened at my father’s house, after things got bad and I wasn’t able to go back home to my mother, I would find solace and safety at the Buckley household. Away from my father and whatever he had been drinking that night.

An exasperated sigh came from the boy, Steve standing behind the counter. I turned to him giving a confused look.

“You okay over there?” I questioned making him wince a little.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that- it’s just of course you have a boyfriend, you’re too pretty not to have one.”

I laughed at Steve as he awkwardly averted his gaze from mine. “Thank You. You’re very pretty also.” I complemented.

“I’m Daphne Collins.” I added offering my hand to the boy for him to shake. He gladly shook my hand reintroducing himself as Robin took me to the back room for us to hang out.

We spent the rest of the day catching up and hanging out until it was time for her to help Steve start closing the store.

“I love you, Buckley.” I beamed giving the girl a hug before telling her and steve goodbye.

I wandered to the food court noticing a familiar tall blonde haired boy standing incredibly close to a tiny brunette, smiling down at her as he rubbed his hand against her cheek. I marched up behind him tapping him on the back of his shoulder. He grunted turning around

“I told you to go away Max!” the color in his face completely drained as he looked down at me.

“Billy who is this?” The girl spoke peeking from behind him as he stood there stifled

“Yeah Billy, who am I?” I crossed my arms as he regained his composure.

“She’s just one of the losers I work with. Are you stalking me?”

I didn't even resist punching him in the face, the blow threw him off balance. He turned looking at me holding his cheek in surprised. “You’re an asshole.” I seethed through gritted teeth. I looked at the girl still standing behind him.

“He’s not worth the heartbreak.”

I turned around seeing that most of the food court had their attention on us.

“The Show is over, assholes!” I yelled. Before making my way back to the parking lot and to my car.

Billy pointed his rescue float at me before bringing it to his mouth, using it as a makeshift microphone.

“TOO RA LOO RA TOO RA LOO RA AYE.” Billy sang as he started dancing like a complete dork running into a few people in the process. I stared at him as he started using his float as an air guitar.

“COME ON EILEEN, OH I SWEAR WHAT HE MEANS, AT THIS MOMENT YOU MEAN EVERYTHING!”

I rolled my eyes pushing my sunglasses up my nose as Billy made his way dancing towards me and the skeeball carnival game I was in charge of.

“You know you’re making a complete ass out of yourself in front of the entire park.” I scoffed crossing my arms.

Billy shimmied pointing his rescue float at me once again as he kept singing along to the rest of the song.

“Come on, Princess, you can’t stay mad at me forever.”

“You tell me that you love me, twice might I add, and then you turn around and you flirt with any girl that looks your way. Do I only exist to you when you’re not in Hawkins?” I sneered crossing my arms.

Billy frowned dropping his arms to his sides. “Come on Daph, it’s not like that- It’s just,” He paused, thinking of a way to say what he wanted without pissing me off more.

“You have an image to keep in Hawkins and if you’re seen with the weird stoner chick who likes girls as well as boys people will think less of you.” I blurted leaning back on my stool.

“Life isn’t a popularity contest Billy. If you really loved me than you wouldn’t actually care what people think. And that’s the difference between us, I don’t have to put on this front to get people to like me.” I sneered as Geoff strolled by doing a double take at both Billy and I.

“Everything ok, Daph?” He questioned looking between us.

“Do you mind covering for me? I don’t feel very good.” Geoff nodded eyeing Billy skeptically as I grabbed my things and made my way towards the front office.

The knot in my stomach only growing bigger, the more I thought about the past few days I had shared with Billy.

I stepped into Naldo’s office not even bothering to knock, making my way over to and sitting on the sofa he kept in the tiny room.

“What’s on your mind, Kid?” He questioned, turning his chair around and facing me.

“Have you ever been in love?”

Naldo smiled softly at me, out of our group of friends, him and I were the closest. He genuinely thought of me as his little sister and was probably the closest thing to a loving father figure I had.

“Hargrove, eh?” He stood up, taking a few steps over to the couch sitting next to me.

“I hate myself for feeling this way. I hate it, Naldo. It seems like every time me and him get close, he finds a way to mess things up. Is it me? Am I the issue here?”

I was never the type of girl to question why I got treated badly by who I dated, I would normally end things with the person and move on. But with Billy it was completely different. With Billy, it wasn’t just an infatuation that would only last for the summer. With Billy, I could easily see us together, with a family.

Before him, the only future I saw was me traveling alone finding a beach somewhere to call my home. But now, I wanted the same kind of future but I couldn’t picture it without him. And I hated that.

I hated how I let this complete mess of a boy blow through my entire being like a natural disaster, leaving a permanent imprint in his wake.

“Sometimes, people do really stupid things because they don’t know how to react to the way the person who they love, makes them feel. But Daph, I promise you, by the way Billy just looks at you, He’s in love.”

I frowned looking up from my hands at him, “what do you mean by that?” I questioned.

Naldo gave me a half smile. “When you’re not looking he looks at you like you’re his entire world.”

“Toot it and boot it.” Naldo mused as I pulled him into a hug.

I chuckled rubbing my nose on his shirt. He grimaced looking at the snot and tear stain on his shirt. “I love you, Daph.”

“I love you too, Naldo.”

“Daph, your bonehead is here!” My mom called as I stumbled out of the kitchen seeing Billy standing in the foyer next to her.

“I do not claim ownership to this bonehead you speak of.”

I grunted putting my hands on my hips.

“Can we talk? Please?” He begged, biting down on his lip, a noticeable bruise forming below his eye.

“Please tell me you ran into a wall and Geoff didn’t punch you in the face” I grumbled stepping up to him and taking his face in my hands, examining his eye.

I looked over at my mother who was still standing next to us. Eyeing me with a smile. “Billy will probably stay for dinner, so grab something extra.” I sighed reaching down and grabbing his hand.

Okay, Fabio. Let’s go.” I spoke pulling him to the kitchen as my mom called out her departure to the store. I sat Billy down sauntering over to our refrigerator grabbing a bag of peas wrapping it in a dish towel and handing it to him.

I grabbed his chin examining the dark purple that had formed around his entire left eye.

“I don’t think Geoff, Issac or Derek likes me very much.” He muttered earning a laugh from me.

“They get protective. We all do. All for one and one for all y’know.”

“I’m sorry,” Billy spoke sitting back in his chair as I took my place on one of the bar stools across from him.

“I just, I don’t know how to react to these feelings I have. It’s new and scary, and nobody has made me feel like you do.” He blurted averting his gaze from me.

“You being in love with me is no excuse for being an asshole. You can’t just treat me one way and then the next you laugh at me telling people I’m the weirdo you work with.”

He frowned chewing on the bottom of his lip. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“Billy, you are an asshole. But you’re very lucky that I love you and that Naldo talked me into giving you another chance.”

A smile spread across his face as he stood up. “Really?”

He stepped towards me, sitting the bag of peas on the counter next to me before grabbing my face and pulling it to his. I pulled back shaking my head.

“You’re still in trouble, Fabio. You’re not winning me back that easily.”

He groaned dramatically placing his head on my shoulder.

“You’re an asshole.” I repeated making him look at me. I rubbed my thumb over the bruise that started forming under his eye.

“I’m going to make you wait until the end of summer,” I started as he closed his eyes from my touch.

“No making out on lunch, or cuddling in my bed. You can still spend the night, I’m not going to make you stay with your father. We’re friends. Just Friends. Until I say so.”

Billy looked down at me, tears brimming his eyes. “But you promise, that eventually you and I will have a future?” he questioned making me nod.

“I’m not ready to give you another chance as a boyfriend, Billy. But I do love you. I really really love you, so yes we will eventually have a future.”

Billy rested his head against mine. “For you, Daph, I’m willing to wait.”

The remaining months of summer flew by in a complete blur. Billy spent most nights over at my house or he stayed with one of the boy’s house floating around until he eventually stopped going back home all together.

The two of us fell into a comfortable routine of being together but not officially together. I was still withholding myself from him with only a few slip ups when the sexual tension between us got to be too much.

We’d lay in a mess of blankets and tangled limbs on those days, seemingly not letting each other go as we held onto one another. Eventually, I didn’t even bother protesting him sleeping in my bed with me. My absolute favorite time of the day was right before Billy woke up in the mornings.

He was so completely ...Soft when he was sleeping. And I completely loved it. His unruly blonde curls poking out of the quit we were under. Every morning he’d wake up, cuddling into my side. He’d mumble a good morning and a I love you before falling asleep again.

I was completely head over heels in love with this boy and had him wrapped around my finger. And the best part about it was that he didn’t care what people thought about him anymore. Spending the five summer months with me and my group of friends changed him for the better.

He had a group of guys that befriended him because they wanted to and not because they had something to gain in their social status.

He was loved and then in return learned how to love and let people in again. He finally had a family who accepted him, flaws and all.

I woke up next to Maggie, who was sprawled out on my bed, leaving little room for me to actually be comfortable.

We had an end of summer slumber party with Max and her friend El, both girls passed out on my pull out couch.

Max almost instantly took to me after our first meeting, when she wasn’t with her group of friends she was hanging out with me and Maggie. Sometimes all of her friends would pile into my truck, much to Billy’s dismay as we hauled the load of children to Naldo’s Palace.

The kids would spend the duration of mine and Billy’s shift running around the park, or they’d be picked up by Steve and taken back home.

“When did you get here?” I questioned hugging Billy from behind. He turned his head slightly peeking down at me.

“Right before your mom left for work. She told me that everyone was still asleep so I didn’t go into our room.”

“Our room?”

“Your room.” He chuckled correcting himself.

“It can be our room, if you want it to be. Y’know, stop bouncing between mine and the boy’s houses. Move here permanently?” I offered as he turned from the stove and the breakfast he was attempting to cook to pulling me into his arms.

“Moving in with you? That sounds so official.” He beamed leaning into me pressing a kiss to my lips.

I smiled into the kiss, “Guess that makes us official.”

“Have you seen Billy?” I asked Maggie as I took a look around to see if I could find him.

“I went to the bathroom and then ended up talking to Victoria Andrews for twenty minutes.”

Maggie nodded her head up to the top of The Serpent where I could see my boy. Smoking a cigarette.

“Why is he up there?”

Maggie shrugged, “I don’t know, but he mentioned if I ran into you to tell you to go up there.”

“...Okay?” I muttered reaching down grabbing two beers.

“Thanks Mags.” I beamed as I made my way to The Serpent.

Once I finally made it to the top, I sat next to Billy swinging my legs over the railing watching as the party boomed below.

“Whatcha doing up here?” I questioned handing him the can of beer I had grabbed for him..

“Just thinking.” Billy placed his arm around my shoulder pulling me closer to him, I instinctively leaned into him as he pressed a kiss to my head.

“About what?” I questioned reaching up to his hand that was around my shoulder, and intertwining our fingers.

“What I wanted out of life eight months ago compared to now.”

I gave him a confused look, waiting for him to continue whatever he was thinking about. “Eight months ago, my only plans were to work my ass off and save every penny I made so I could move back to California.Back to my home.”

I felt a tinge of pain pierced through my heart, I had the same plans for myself, but they fell through after we expectancy lost Tyler in a car accident that involved his car being hit by a drunk driver.

All of us were completely devastated at the lost of our pseudo big brother and one of our closest friends.

I just assumed that after Wonder Palace closed for the season that Billy still had plans to leave and go back to California, even when I made it clear I was staying in Arbor Pines.

After Tyler passed, we learned that he had left the entire theme park to the five of us, and of course we almost instantly took the offer to make sure that Naldo’s spirit lived on in his theme park he had loved so much.

“But now?”

He smiled looking away from me, as some of his curls fell into his eyes. Billy took his arm from around me stuffing his hand in the pocket of his jacket pulling out a small velvet box. He opened it exposing a beautiful diamond ring.

“Now, my home is here with you. And I can’t picturing being anywhere else but where I am right now. I love you, Daphne, and I know we both are young but when you know, you know. Will you marry me?”

I could feel a fire spread inside of me. The butterflies that had made a home in my stomach from the moment I had met the boy in front of me trying to burst out of my body.

I looked down at the box Billy held- his hand trembling waiting for me to answer the question he had just asked. I looked up at him giving a soft smile.

“I thought you wanted no attachments working here.” I joked earning an eye roll from him, completely killing the serious mood Billy had tried to set.

“I didn’t plan on having any attachments, until I fell in love with an absolute pain in my ass. Now answer the question before I change my mind.”

“Well at least I a cute pain in the ass.” I fell into a fit of giggles as Billy glared down at me, waiting for me to answer the question he already knew the answer to.

“Of course I’ll marry you, Billy.” I finally replied feeling my cheeks grow warm as a smile spread across his face. Billy slipped the small ring on my finger placing a kiss on my hand before pressing his lips to mine.

“Where did you get this, B? It’s beautiful.” I lifted my hand up looking at my engagement ring, wiggling my fingers out in front of me.

“I used all of my graduation money from my relatives I have never met and all the money I have saved from working here.”

Billy placed his arm back around me, as we fell into the same comfortable position we sat in when we were together. We sat up in the tower of the slide where we shared our first shift together until we decided to go to rejoin the party that was growing below.

“Daph, did you say yes!?” Issac beamed as everyone ran up to us.

“They knew?!” I sputtered turning to look at Billy with wide eyes. “You actually told these idiots you were proposing and trusted them to keep it a secret from me?”

“Of course I told them, Daph. They’re our best friends. I needed their approval.” Billy chuckled pulling me into his side.

“Wait, So you’re staying here?” I questioned making Billy nod.

“I just told you that I spent all of the money I saved for Cali on your ring. And I just proposed to you so why the hell would I go back to Cali when you and our friends live here?” Billy snorted

“I mean, I guess you're right.” I admitted, slightly embarrassed at the stupid question I had just asked.

“I’ve learned that home isn’t just a place, it’s also the people you surround yourself with. Home for me isn’t in Cali anymore. It’s right here with all of you, right here with the absolute love of my life.” Billy spoke, a small smile growing on his face as Maggie and the boys attacked both of us in a group hug.

Billy was completely right, home wasn't just a place, it was the people that you surround yourself with, the ones that when you felt completely alone, they would be there to catch you when you were falling and remind you that you weren’t alone.

And with us, Billy never had to worry about feeling alone again. He had us, and we had him. And all of us had Reynolds’ Wonder Palace.

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mandelene · 4 years

Note

Drabble request: Scooby-Doo AU with Arthur, Francine, Alfred, and Maddie. Arthur is the leader and trap maker. Francine is the danger prone damsel in distress. Maddie is the genius who deciphers the clues. Alfred is a food obsessed coward and serves as bait for Arthur’s traps. Their group is known as Mystery Incorporated. They’re teenagers. They drive around in Alfred’s 1960’s panel van, The Mystery Machine, and solve mysteries and unmasking fake monsters. They’re world famous for that.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t watch Scooby-Doo as a kid. I never took an interest in it. I was a Powerpuff Girls and Pokemon child. So, I had to do some research to write this drabble, which is embarrassing to admit. Please don’t judge me. 🤣 I found a transcript of episode 6, season 1, and based this story off of that because I desperately needed a reference to write this (but as you'll see, I changed a lot lol). Also, writing an entire mystery/ghost-busting story in less than 1000 words was impossible. I’m sorry this is terrible lol.

A Ghostly Encounter

Word Count: 1272

“We should be at the Beilschmidt estate any minute now,” Alfred says, making a sudden sharp right turn that jostles the entire Mystery Machine van. “It sure was nice of Ludwig to invite us up here, and man, I hope there’s food because I’m starving!”

Once Arthur has recovered from momentary whiplash, he scowls. “Can you stop thinking about food?!?”

“Sure. I can think about lots of other things, like all the cool stuff we’ll get to do up there like swimming and tennis and eating and more eating,” Alfred rambles as they’re pulling up to the gothic mansion.

It’s a striking structure — large and foreboding against the dark blue evening sky. Once Alfred brings the van to a stop, they crane their necks up at it for a better look. One of the lights in the west wing on the second story suddenly flickers, and an eerie gust of wind rocks the van. A shadowy figure can be seen lurking in the upstairs hallway.

“Yikes!” Alfred shouts. “Something’s not right with this place. It’s giving me the creeps. And who was that up there?”

Madeline climbs out first and adjusts her glasses. “Guess we’ll just have to find out.”

“Are you sure? We could still turn back. I’m not that hungry anymore,” Alfred mumbles, holding his stomach.

Francine gives him an encouraging pat on the back and says, “Oh, don’t be such a coward.”

Ludwig comes out to greet them in the courtyard. He appears a bit unsettled — the purple bags under his eyes suggest he hasn’t been sleeping well. “It’s good to see you all. Thank you for driving up here. I’m afraid you’ve caught the estate at a bad time though...”

“And why’s that?” Alfred asks, nervously shifting from foot to foot.

“Well, my staff and I have been hearing a lot of strange noises recently.”

Alfred grabs Arthur’s arm and squeezes it for safety. “Strange noises?”

“And to make matters worse, my older brother, Gilbert, is now missing.”

Francine frowns. “Gilbert? We saw someone walking around upstairs near the windows. Could that have been him?”

“It might’ve been. We should go check,” Ludwig suggests, and the gang follows him through the maze of doors and corridors leading to various wings of the estate. Alfred, of course, has to be dragged by Arthur the entire way.

When they reach the door to one of the many guestrooms on the second floor, Gilbert suddenly comes bolting out and screams, "GHOST, GHOST! THERE'S A GHOST IN THE MANSION."

Ludwig captures him by grabbing the back of his shirt and asks, "What are you talking about? What did you see?"

"T-There was a voice, and it was telling me to come closer to it and follow it but I said no, and then I ran!" Gilbert explains breathlessly, trying to get away.

Alfred turns completely white. "Okay, well, thanks for the tour, Ludwig. I appreciate your hospitality, but it looks like something's come up and I've gotta go!"

"Oh, no you don't," Arthur says, pulling him back roughly by his arm. "We're going to investigate and look for clues. You can stand here and be our watchdog."

"W-Watchdog?"

"Francine and Madeline, let's go."

They leave Alfred to stand there, quaking, and march through the door.

Alfred gulps. What if the ghost possesses him or one of the others? What if it follows them home from this mansion? What if it messes with his head and he forgets who he is and stops liking Doritos and bacon? That'd be lame. Life without Doritos and bacon is not worth living.

"AHHHH!"

He jumps. "What was that?!? Are you guys okay?"

"Francine, I told you not to go near that sarcophagus!" he hears Arthur yell.

A sarcophagus? What's that doing in a place like this? The Beilschmidts are kinda strange.

"I'm okay!" Francine shouts back, and Alfred breathes a sigh of relief.

Maybe he's safer out here. If the ghost is going to get anyone, it's probably going to be one of the others, which is unfortunate, but someone has to be the sacrificial lamb.

"I have a plan," Madeline says, but he doesn't hear all of the details because she lowers her voice.

Five minutes of relative silence pass, until Alfred finally hears Arthur say,

"I'll get to work. Alfred, come in here. Madeline and Francine -- you two should wait out in the hall."

Spoke too soon! Why does he have to go in now? That doesn't sound like a smart idea! Arthur's always trying to get him killed, isn't he?

Still, he's the leader, so what he says is what goes. Alfred rubs his growling stomach, takes a deep breath for courage, and enters past the door while Madeline and Francine replace his post.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?" Alfred whines, pouting at Arthur.

"I need your help. You're going to take this flashlight, walk down to the end of that corridor, and anger the ghost so that it comes and follows you this way."

"WHAT? WHY ME?"

"Shh, keep your voice down. You do realize it's probably not a real ghost, right? Someone's playing tricks on us. Just trust me on this."

"Why am I always your bait?"

"Because you're good at it," Arthur says, trying to flatter him so that he'll continue going along with the scheme, and, as expected, his tactic works.

"A-A-All right. I'll do it. For the gang," Alfred whispers, taking the flashlight from Arthur with trembling hands.

Arthur gives him a nod of approval and squeezes his shoulder. "Don't worry, we've got your back. Now go out there and do what you do best -- be a brat."

With that, Arthur disappears behind the other side of the door again, leaving Alfred to fend for himself once more.

Alfred waves the flashlight from side to side and starts walking down the corridor Arthur directed him to. "Heeeey, Ghosty ghost...You out there?"

"Begone, stranger...!" an ominous voice hisses from the darkness.

"Eek...! Well, I'm really hungry, Mr. Ghost dude-sir. And I was wondering if you've got any Doritos."

"Nooooo. No Doritos here. Stupid human!"

"No Doritos? What kind of establishment is this? You call this a mansion? Lamest mansion I've ever seen."

"BEGOOOOONE!"

Alfred blows a raspberry. "Make me!"

There's a clanging sound, and then footsteps begin to draw closer, chasing him up the corridor. Alfred screams and makes a run for it, not daring to look back. As he's nearing the door leading back to where the others are, the sarcophagus from earlier tips over, except it's open. It falls to the ground with a loud bang and traps the ghost.

"Hah! It worked!" Arthur exclaims coming through the door along with Francine, Madeline, Gilbert, and Ludwig. "Good work, Alfred. We got them."

Ludwig and Gilbert lift the sarcophagus, and underneath it, there's no ghost at all. Instead, it's a young boy with black hair and caramel eyes -- one of the children who work in the kitchen.

"You're the one who's been causing trouble these past few days?" Ludwig asks sternly.

The boy sheepishly looks up at them and his shoulders droop. "It was just a joke. I...I thought if you all thought this part of the mansion was haunted, I could come here and play...and no one would come looking for me..."

"I guess that wraps up this ghost story," Madeline says, cleaning her glasses on the hem of her sweater.

Alfred looks at the boy, then at the rest of the gang, and glowers. "So, does this mean we get to have dinner now?"

#hetalia #aph america #aph england #aph nyo!france #aph nyo!canada #scooby-doo

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animeartnerds-blog · 5 years

Text

Introduction Time!

Hello world of Tumblr. Thank you for wondering onto our humble blog. We are just here for a simple reason; that being to post our art, writings, scribbles, thoughts and ideas. These things will center about the current world of pop culture, anime, books, television and movies.

So as we get started let us introduce ourselves!

I'll start us off. I just want to begin with putting the basics:

I go by: Slowbito on most social media's, my official name is Ed or Eddward.

Here's a list of the things I've watched, *for favorites

Animes- Naruto*, Bleach*, Full Metal Alchemist*, Hellsing*, Attack on Titan, Cowboy Bebop*, Samuria Jack, Pokemon*, My Hero Acedamia*, Fairy Tale, Hunter x Hunter*, Avatar the Last Airbender*, Dragon Ball Z, Death Note, Fooley Cooley*, Inuyasha*, Sailor Moon, Black Lagoon, Black Blood Brothers, Trigun, Ghost in the Shell*, Tokyo Ghoul, Sword Art Online, xxxHolic, Wolf’s Rain*

Currently watching: Fairy Tale (restarted from beginning, trying to keep interest) and HxH (that I have almost completed and really putting off because I know it isn't complete T-T) and about to start Demon Slayer and The Rising of the Shield Hero

T.V- Shameless*, Lucifer*, Rick and Morty*, House M.D*, Disenchantment*, The Office*, The Handmaids Tale, The Walking Dead, Bojack Horseman, Big Mouth, Adventure Time*, Stranger Things*, Modern Family, American Horror Story*, The Good Place, Regular Show, The Simpsons, Family Guy*, American Dad, South Park, Bob's Burgers*, The Venture Bros, Drake and Josh*, iCarly, Victorious (though some of these are animated, I put them in this catagory because I don't think they are meant for young children)

Currently watching: Shameless, Bojack Horseman, American Horror Story, The Handmaids Tale, The Good Place

Cartoons: Spongebob*, Lilo and Stitch*,Gravity Falls, Steven Universe*, The Amazing World of Gumball, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Tom and Jerry, Courage the Cowardly Dog*, Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Rugrats*, Dexter's Lab, Teen Titians*, Power Puff Girls, Cow and Chicken, Scooby Doo*, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends*, Chowder, Looney Toons*, Kim Possible*, Lizzie McGuire*, The Proud Family*, Wizards of Waverly Place, Even Steven*, Jake Long, Recess, Brandy and Mister Whiskers, Jessie, Phineas and Ferb

Currently watching: Spongebob, Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, wanting to watch We Bare Bears, Over the Garden Walls

Movies: Spirited Away*, Howl's Moving Castle (Anything Studio Ghibli) Lion King, Robin Hood, The Nightmare Before Christmas*, The Corps Bride* (Anything Tim Burton and Disney), Shrek* (Anything Dreamworks), Harry Potter*, Avengers series and indiviual movies*, Forrest Gump, E.T, The Hobbit* (animated and live action), Shawshank Redemption, Slingblade*, Back to the Future*, Jurassic Park*, The Wizard of Oz, Rocky series, Terminator series, 50 First Dates, Marley and Me, Grown Ups, 300, American Pie, Matrix*, Hellboy series*, Toy Story's (Anything Pixar), Avatar, Men In Black, Joker*, Dark Night/Batman series, Fast and Furious

So basically I've seen a good mix of things. I love animated things, anything that is funny, stupid, or has a good story. I grew up on Disney, Cartoon Network (Adult Swim), and Nickelodeon. I didn't have cable so a lot of what I watched was on the weekends at my nana's or when we would record tapes and brought them home. We owned so many movies, and honestly I'll never grow up so anything meant for kids, I probably have seen or currently watch. If it's even somewhat popular or trendy then I try it out and see if I like it. Even with some of these I watched I didn't like them all (I know, shame on me).

I'll give you the basics of me, as best I can. I am opinionated, but not really into politics. I never really grew out of my childhood, I am easily entertained, meme's are a simple joy of mine, and I love to watch old vines. I was introduced to YouTube by Oni, and she started me off with the best: NigaHiga, = 3 (Ray William Johnson), Anna Akana, and eventually Markiplier, and so on I grew my own likes; VizziePop, Collegehumor, Buzzfeed, Pewdiepie, Boyinaband, Prince E, TheOdd1sout, Jaiden Animation (Oni's find), FailArmy, so on and so forth. I like astrology, and my sign is Tauras. I loves food, cooking and baking is a side hobby, and I'm into all the nerdy stuff like reading, drawing, role play, and gaming.

Alright, now I will leave some links to some profiles of mine below and will leave it all to my partner!

Link for DA: Here Link for Amino profile: Here Link for Youtube: Don’t have one yet... Link for personal Tumblr: Here

~Latest Art Example~

*currently my digital tablet is out so this is what I have to work with*

----------------------------------------------------X^X-------------------------------------------------

Sup, Tumblr. This is my intro post.

I’ll be simplifying myself to the fundamentals:

Firstly, I go by: OniBlueArt on most social media, my name bestowed to me at birth is Oni.

Here's a list of the things I've watched, *for favorites

Animes- Naruto Shippuden*, Blood+, Dragon Ball Z, Assassination Classroom, The Ancient Magus' Bride, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Appleseed, Fruit basket, FairyTail , Attack On Titan, Baccano!, Baki The Grappler, Kamisama Kiss, Black blood brothers, Black Butler, Black lagoon*, Claymore, Devil May Cry, GunGrave, Psycho-Pass, Devil Is a Part-Timer, Wolf’s Rain*, Witchblade, Trinity Blood, Vampire Knight, XXX Holic, Tokyo Ghoul, Berserker, My hero Academia*, Soul Eater, Servamp, Hellsing*, The Sheild Hero*, Vampire Slayer, Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken, Fire Force,* Hunter x Hunter*.

T.V- Lucifer*, House M.D*, The Handmaids Tale, The Walking Dead, Stranger Things*, Modern Family, The Good Place*, Veronica Mars*, Reba*, Grey’s Anatomy, Raising Hope, The resident, New Amsterdam, Fresh off the Boat, Ghost Whisperer, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Doctor, That 70’s Show*, Izombie, Once Upon A Time, Black Mirror, New Girl, The Ranch, Dexter, The 100, 13 Reasons why, SHerlock holmes*, YOU, ZOO.

Cartoons: Rick and Morty* Family Guy*, American Dad, South Park, The Boondocks (P.S I just hate most cartoons/Kid Shows from Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Fight me)

Movies: Spirited Away*, Howl's Moving Castle (Anything Studio Ghibli, Disney, or Tim Burton , Shrek* (Anything Dreamworks), Harry Potter*, Avengers series and individual movies*, Shawshank Redemption, Jurrasic Park*, Terminator series, 50 First Dates, Ace Ventura (anything Adam Sandler or Jim carry) Marley and Me, Grown-Ups, American Pie, Matrix*, Hellboy series*, Toy Story's (Anything Pixar), Avatar, Men In Black, Joker*, Dark Night/Batman series, Fast and Furious

So I share a lot of things with my partner and some things I don’t. Everything in the lists above I generally like.

Now time to get to the basics of what makes me, me.

Here is that list of things: Oxygen 65% Carbon 18% Hydrogen 9.5% Nitrogen 3.2% Calcium 1.5% Phosphorus 1.2% Potassium 0.4 Sulfur 0.2 Sodium 0.2 Chlorine 0.2 Magnesium 0.1 Other >1%

So i hope that helped you get a better understanding of me.

Last but not least my social media handles! I hope you check my teammates as well!

Link for DA: Here

Link for: Amino Survivors Community

Link for: Amino Art Hotel Community

~Latest Art Example~

#animeartnerds #anime #art #intro #dog #furry #sketch #digital #movies #tv #shows #cartoons #sarcasm #ignore my partner #Ed #OniBlueArt #Slowbito

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crusherthedoctor · 5 years

Text

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 13: MEPHILES

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a mini-series of mine, in which I’ll be going into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, we’ll be covering the malevolent spirit of Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, and #1 Shadow cosplayer across the nation: Mephiles the Dark.

The Gist: On Sonic's 15th anniversary, a little game was released. You might have heard of it. People like to bring it up a lot, regardless of the time or reason. It's called Sonic the Hedgehog, ostensibly, but we tend to call it Sonic '06.

It did not live up to expectations.

But what's the story?

Life was suffering for poor Silver the Hedgehog. His world was ravaged by a fire monster, he could never truly defeat said fire monster no matter how hard he tried, and his sole companion was only there because the writers didn't understand how backstories work. Things appeared to be looking up for him though, when he was approached by a mysterious black hedgehog, who offered a permanent solution to the hero's seemingly fruitless quest. Silver looked at this hedgehog with no mouth, slitted eyes, and ominous deep voice, and accepted the offer without hesitation.

"If only they knew..." *wink*

The completely trustworthy hedgehog reasoned that in order to destroy the Flames of Disaster, Iblis, Silver must destroy the one who unleashed it in the first place. The "Iblis Trigger", if you will. Who is this catalyst though, according to this perfectly benevolent hedgehog? None other than Sonic the Hedgehog, the hero of whatever Sonic's world is called this week. No more Sonic, no more Iblis, so says the absolutely well-intentioned hedgehog. Silver accepts all of this without question, because his intelligence ranks somewhere between "potato" and "Madoka Magica protagonist". He's then sent on his way by the definitely good-natured hedgehog through the means of time travel. This is barely questioned as well.

Meanwhile, in the present day, Shadow the Hedgehog is doing his duties as a new member of G.U.N, as they were fortunately able to make amends and can now look back and laugh at the time they killed his friend. His mission is to assist fellow agent Rouge the Bat in the kingdom of Soleanna, and when he catches up to her, she reveals a peculiar discovery: a tool known as the Book Scepter of Darkness.

Even the PS3 lighting couldn't contain its power.

After a brief discussion about the kingdom's history, they made their way through the ruins of the ancient Soleanna castle, where Anti-Furry Activist Dr. Eggman was waiting for them, in the hopes that they would politely give the Book Scepter of Darkness to him. The two comrades tussle with some of the doctor's robots, but the Book Scepter suffers in the midst of the crossfire, and is destroyed completely... releasing a slightly phallic surge of dark energy in the process. Eggman promptly gets the fuck out of there, and the darkness soon takes the form of Shadow himself... and the same hedgehog that would appeal to Silver's wishes. He also knows who Shadow is.

"Fucking hell, this is my design...?"

His name? Mephiles the Dark.

Not Mephisto.

Not Mephistopheles.

Mephiles.

The Dark.

Mephiles the Dark.

Mephiles the Evil.

Mephiles the Hoodlum.

Mephiles the Wrong'un.

Mephiles the Right Prick.

So you know he's a villain who demands to be taken seriously.

Mephiles quickly sends Shadow and Rouge on what he dubs "a one-way ticket to oblivion", which is actually just the same place where Eggman forcibly sent Sonic away to, alongside his buddies Tails and Knuckles. It's Silver's time period, the one plagued by the Flames of Disaster. Shadow contemplates these recent happenings as the colour palette suddenly dies for no reason.

A minor disappointment in an otherwise high-quality gaming experience.

Since the computers in this horribly ruined world still work better than Windows Vista, they use one of them to figure out the nature of their plight, and maybe check out Craigslist while they're at it. They are understandably concerned about the answer, as a madman with time travelling capabilities is no laughing matter. Shadow takes this potential threat very seriously, and he will not be distracted under any circumstance.

When they meet up with Team Sonic, they decide to work together in order to figure out how to get back to their time, because friendship truly is magic. Along the way, Shadow and Rouge discover the dusty form of a sleeping E-123 Omega, and they leave him there. Because friendship truly is magic.

Soonafter, the five of them encounter Iblis, and a tedious battle ensues until Iblis itself gets bored and fucks off. Using the power of two Chaos Emeralds, they induce Chaos Control, which in this game means...

*spins Deus Ex Machina wheel*

...they go back in time. Alright then.

So they do. Except for Shadow, who catches sight of the evil Mephiles the Dark and immediately gives chase. Mephiles has a surprise for him however... another Shadow. An imprisoned Shadow. Mephiles claims that he was used as a scapegoat for what happened with Iblis, which naturally unnerves the Ultimate Lifeform.

RAW EMOTION

Mephiles offers Shadow to join him in his cause for justice, under the belief that humanity hates Shadow, humanity fears Shadow, and humanity will make a martyr out of Shadow the first chance they get. Unfortunately for Mephiles, Black Doom said all this beforehand, and he's dead now, cause Shadow ain't taking this shit anymore. He made a promise to the Professor and Maria, and he intends to keep it. It's time to live up to his family name, and face Full Life Consequences™.

They fought.

Shadow won.

With a little help from a non-dusty, present day Omega, who was sent by Rouge.

Mephiles escaped with his time travel prowess, and Shadow and Omega followed after him. They arrived back in the present, but with no sign of the deadly demon. Meanwhile, said demon was reiterating to Silver that Sonic is totally the Iblis Trigger he's after, absolutely, dead-on. Silver barely questions him once more, and as punishment for his extreme foolishness, Shadow finds him and teaches him a lesson in pain.

"I'm Shadow the Hedgehog. Get shanked. This is who I am."

During battle, they accidentally induce Chaos Control together, which summons another time portal that Shadow somehow already knows in advance where it'll take them. They travel to ten years prior, where they find the then-alive ruler of Soleanna, the Duke, attempting valiantly to harness the energy of the omnipotence known as Solaris. Instead, he gets an explosion in the face, and Solaris divides itself into two different entities. Aggressive flames, and a mass of darkness... Iblis and Mephiles. They were two halves of the same being the whole time.

The two hedgehogs split up to stop the two halves from escaping. Thanks to the Book Scepter of Darkness the dying Duke gave him, Shadow successfully seals the formless Mephiles away, thus explaining how Mephiles knew who Shadow was ten years later. Shadow and Silver eventually return to the present, but not before Silver laughs in the face of Sonic continuity and gives his blue Chaos Emerald to the young Princess Elise, the daughter of the recently Wasted™ Duke.

After reuniting with Rouge, and after obtaining a brand new Book Scepter of Darkness, Shadow and her learn that E-123 Omega is engaging Mephiles, meaning they must head to Wave Ocean (head to Wave Ocean?)... ... ...Shadow and her learn that E-123 Omega is engaging Mephiles, meaning they must head to Wave Ocean immediately. (Sorry about that, I'll fix it in post.)

Omega was indeed engaging Mephiles. Very easily at that. Yet Mephiles took his humiliation in stride and escaped while laughing all the way. Omega confesses to Shadow that he is in fact the one who will go on to imprison him in the future. Rouge reassures her old friend that even if the rest of the world turns against him, she'll always be at his side no matter what. Shadow in turn expresses gratitude for one of the only instances of good writing in this game, and the three of them leave for Dusty Desert, where Mephiles is hiding away like a Scooby Doo baddie.

When they finally confront Mephiles, he tries the exact same tactic that failed to bring Shadow over to his side to bring Shadow over to his side. He did not succeed in bringing Shadow over to his side.

"Ugh, blackcurrant."

They fought again.

Shadow won again.

And with the new and improved Book Scepter of Darkness, he seals the villain away once more... for about five seconds, before the Book Scepter unexpectedly tears itself apart. The fiend has apparently developed an immunity to this old song and dance.

"Now for my next trick, I shall make my credibility disappear!"

He then summons a whole pack of Mephiles's's's's's to do away with Team Dark. But unbeknownst to him, Shadow has a trick of his own up his non-existent sleeve. By removing his inhibitor rings, he could become even more needlessly overpowered for a limited period of time. This was more than enough to send the army of clones flying like skittles.

Alas, the real Mephiles escaped yet again. And this time, he topped himself by fulfilling IGN's dreams and killing Sonic the Hedgehog himself. The older Princess Elise, his latest friend, was grief-stricken.

RAW EMOTION

Unable to keep her emotional turmoil in check, the princess wept, which released the mighty Iblis into the present time. As it turns out, this was Mephiles' real plan all along. He intended for Silver to kill Sonic so that Elise's ensuing tears would unleash the flames, but he finally decided to do the deed himself. Using all seven Chaos Emeralds, which he warped them to where he was like it was nothing, Mephiles rejoined with Iblis once more, and Solaris was officially back in business to corrupt reality as he saw fit. Time distortion? Environmental disasters? Soulja Boy game consoles? It's all the work of Solaris.

But while Solaris was fucking time and space's shit up, Sonic's friends (and Silver) gathered all the Emeralds together, and with some... curious assistance from Elise, they brought the dead hedgehog back to life. In his super form, no less. Shadow and Silver were granted some of Super Sonic's power in order to turn super themselves, and the Hedgehog Master Race obliterated Solaris so bad that he reverted to his original form of a tiny white flame... which was soon blown out by Elise, despite knowing that time would reset itself in the process. The threat of losing her memories with Sonic took a toll on her, but with the hedgehog's own encouragement, she pulled through regardless.

Merry Christmas.

Thus, from the Soleanna Festival onward, everything started over. This time around, the festival could commence in peace, as Eggman wasn't there to menace the princess with his golden udders. For the Flames of Disaster, Iblis, Mephiles, Solaris... they were all literally forgotten by time itself until Generations. Why they were now holding a festival for a god who never existed remains a mystery, but Elise couldn't help but feel that the "wind" was strangely familiar, and pleasantly so.

That same wind enjoyed a good night, possibly aware of what he had to go through to get there.

"That's a lovely full moon. A lovely full, whole, complete, non-fractured moon. Would be a shame if something happened to it."

The Design: Mephiles spends his initial scenes as a shit recolour.

"This is my Chaos Emerald OC, his name's Genocide the Blitzkrieg."

On the other hand, he spends his later scenes as a shit recolour.

He can't believe it either.

Which is a shame, because there is an appeal in the concept of a shadowy being made of crystal. It's just incredibly undermined by how it's mimicing Shadow's form, and for little justified reason at that. Outside of a single quip about him being Shadow's shadow, Mephiles doesn't really do anything to warrant the "Evil Shadow" angle he's apparently going for, which makes his recolour status even more pointless.

(And yes, I know his chest hair kind of looks like Solaris. That doesn't mean his design is suddenly good or clever.)

The Personality: Remember how Black Doom was a complete and utter void of evil for its own sake? Good, beause Mephiles is exactly the same, and it could be argued that he's actually worse than Mr. Ten Packs a Day.

Oh sure, you say. He might have a motive in the form of wanting vengeance for being experimented on. Too bad this is not established in any way whatsoever with what we see of Mephiles in the game proper. When he's not transparently fooling Silver, he spends all his time cackling and taunting. Any time he brings up humanity is when it involves Shadow's expense, not his own. His goal to rejoin with Iblis isn't given any tragic or sympathetic angle, and is purely to serve as his Cause Even More Destruction Card. Even Shadow lampshades his lack of motivation beyond craving destruction, and you can’t say his imprisonment in the Book Scepter of Darkness made him go mad, because even before he got sealed the first time around, he was already threatening Shadow with death.

And make no mistake, not all villains need to be especially sympathetic. Villains who are just cruel or selfish bastards for petty reasons can work just fine. Eggman does it beautifully in this very franchise. But Eggman is also funny, brave, intelligent, and has a clear motive beyond evulz that's backing up his actions, despite that motive's simplicity.

What else is there to Mephiles?

His weird attempts at being cryptic...?

"Is Lara-Su Chronicles legit?"

His lackadaisical Crash Bandicoot impression...?

Cortex Laughs Back

There's just nothing to this guy. And for a character with his backstory, it's all the more noticeable and disappointing. But hey, at least he's a cunning schemer and a powerful opponent, right?

Well, about that...

The Execution: I'm going to get straight to the point. I don't like Mephiles. I really don't like Mephiles. Next to Scourge the Hedgehog and Eggman Nega, Mephiles is one of my absolute least favourite characters in the entire Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, adaptations included.

"But why is that?", I hear you not asking. "Why do you detest him so? Is it his design? Is it his lack of personality? Is it his story?"

Those are all key ingredients, yes. But more than anything else, it's that he's played up to be a cunning mastermind, and is regularly applauded even by '06's detractors for being a cunning mastermind... when in reality, he is one of the absolute dumbest characters in the whole franchise. No, that is not an exaggeration. Silver and Elise in the same game were far from flawless, but Mephiles deserves much more ridicule than either of them. He is completely undeserving of the kudos he frequently receives for his supposed magnificent bastardry, and I'm about to tell you why.

Strap in, folks.

We're about to go through why the evil plan of poor Leslie makes no sense whatsoever.

Well done in advance if you don't fall asleep.

Too late.

1. He could have fused with Iblis at any time he wanted. Despite what many fans claim, NOTHING in the final game so much as implies that Mephiles needed certain requirements to fuse with Iblis. Meaning he could have completed his mission at the beginning of the game, from the moment he met Silver for the first time. Instead, he’d rather monologue to Silver and butcher the English language.

Guess I'll go and done that.

Let’s put that aside for a moment though, and assume that Mephiles needed the Chaos Emeralds to fuse with Iblis. That’s reasonable, except...

2. He could warp all seven Chaos Emeralds to his destination immediately. That’s an incredibly useful ability to have, especially when you're plotting something as major as reuniting with the other half of a god-like entity. He has no reason to not use this ability as soon as possible, aside from him simply forgetting he could do it.

Well, Silver had to have some vital role in his plan, surely...?

3. He had no use whatsoever for Silver. He goes out of his way to rely on Silver to eliminate Sonic, but he could easily kill Sonic himself with no trouble at all. Nothing is preventing him from killing Sonic. He’s not trapped somewhere. He’s not been sapped of his powers. All he’s guaranteeing with Silver is giving himself a potential enemy in the future when the jig is inevitably up, and sure enough, in the rare moment when Silver actually questions him, Mephiles dodges the query in the most suspicious manner, and always gives vague, shifty half-answers.

Fig A: The Twitter defense.

He’s only complicating things even more for himself, and again, for no reason. His only potential motivation for manipulating Silver is because it’s the evil thing to do. And the only reason Silver falls for his ruse is because he was made to be a complete idiot in order to make Mephiles look smarter than he actually is. Not that Silver was alone in that department...

But you think “Well, maybe Mephiles is tricky, but not actually that strong. So he needs Silver to kill Sonic since he can’t do it on his own.” It would explain why he’s a damage sponge in his boss fights, and why he relies on minions and clones to do all the work, right?

Nope.

He eventually kills Sonic himself anyway. Which leads us to...

4. He has no limitations to his powers. You might be inclined to assume he would be weak, yet smart, in contrast to Iblis being strong, yet dumb. Admittedly that would make logical sense, and it would tie in thematically to their motifs of being the consciousness and the raw power of Solaris respectively.

But that’s not how it went. Maybe that was the intention (again, note how he’s something of a sitting duck when you get past his minions), but in cutscenes, he’s as much of a powerhouse as the likes of Shadow. Which reinforces the fact that he wasted his time with Silver, because he could have - and did - kill the Blue Blur with his own hands.

But at least he actually killed Sonic, right? After all, that was the key to unleashing Iblis courtesy of Elise’s tears, yes? Weeeellll...

5. He could have killed Elise instead. Elise’s crying is NOT the only way to release Iblis from within her. As the report that Tails read in Crisis City confirmed, Elise had died in that time period due to being aboard the exploding Egg Carrier, and Iblis’ presence is very prominently felt in that time period’s future. So Mephiles could have killed the princess herself and achieved the same results, without ever needing to bother with Sonic and/or Elise’s emotional connection to him.

Okay then, what about Shadow? Mephiles was pretty serious about swaying the Ultimate Lifeform over to his side... wasn’t he...?

6. He wasted his time with Shadow too. Like Silver, his frequent mind games with Shadow served him absolutely no benefit in relation to his goal to reunite with Iblis. He wasn’t even truly invested in turning Shadow evil to begin with. Whenever Shadow tells him to fuck off back to the Antarctic, Mephiles shrugs it off every time. It’s just a game to him, and it’s a game that prolongs his objective even further. Compare this to Black Doom, who at least was genuinely committed in getting Shadow to join him, and as dumb as it was, at least Shadow was actually a vital part in Doom’s scheme.

"It's just... I wasn't ready before... I wasn't sure if I could commit..."

Despite everything however, he still managed to become Solaris in the end. How did he lose then...?

7. He threw the Chaos Emeralds away, thereby giving Sonic’s friends a chance to nab the Emeralds themselves. Which of course revived Sonic, turned him super, and you know the rest. He could have kept the Emralds to himself, or maybe even destroy them outright. Instead, he was generous enough to hammer the final nail in his coffin.

Also, what did he intend to do afterwards? When all of time and space was destroyed, would that have included himself? Or would he have sat around with his thumb up his arse in a featureless void for all of eternity? Your guess is as good as mine.

And finally, let’s go over a few leftover arguments:

“But Crusher, he still KILLED SONIC!”

You’re right, he did. But how did he kill Sonic?

Not by beating him in a fight.

Not by using genuine brilliance.

No... he killed Sonic by distracting him with a light, and stabbing him from behind.

This is hardly flattering for either character. Sonic gets a laughably undignified death, and Mephiles’ method of execution is extremely unimpressive. And on top of that, the dynamic between the hero and the villain falls flat, because there is no dynamic. Sonic himself doesn’t have any kind of connection or relationship with Mephiles, because up until his death, he saw Mephiles a grand total of once. And even then, he knew nothing about him, not even his name. So the person who killed Sonic the Hedgehog - from Sonic the Hedgehog’s point of view - was literally just “some guy”. (Sonic didn’t even acknowledge his existence. It was Knuckles who did that.)

“But Crusher, he still played the other characters for fools!”

You know who else can do that? Del Boy. :P

Mephiles only looks like a master manipulator because with the sole exception of Shadow, the rest of the cast suffered the same fate as Silver. Instead of Mephiles being genuinely intelligent, everyone else is made insanely stupid to hide the fact that Mephiles himself is stupid. Instead of him achieving his goals because he’s legitimately talented or brilliant, he “achieves his goals” because the plot hands them over to him on a silver platter.

“But Crusher, Eggman makes mistakes too!”

That’s true. Eggman does make mistakes. However, there are two small but significant differences that render this comparison moot:

1. None of Eggman’s blunders are on the same tier as Mephiles’ fuck ups. An Eggman mistake is putting an obvious weakspot on his giant boss mech. A Mephiles mistake is going out of his way to jeopardise his entire plan from start to finish.

2. For all his intelligence, Eggman has always had a comedic, goofy edge to his character, so the occasional questionable decision is expected and par for the course for that particular character. Mephiles does not have that excuse. He was intended by the writers to be suave and slick, meaning he has a lot more to lose when he makes consecutive dumbass decisions.

......

I think I’ve made my point. Mephiles the Dark’s reputation vastly overshadows his actual capabilities. To appreciate what he could have been, or what he was meant to be, is one thing. But I’m looking at Mephiles for what he is, in the final product. And what he is in the final product, is one of the worst villains this franchise has ever had. People can laugh it up about Infinite, or the Deadly Six, but they have nothing on this guy. No amount of Dan Green can save him, and while I don’t like to put all of a character’s fans in the one basket, I do strongly believe that at least a sizable margin of his popularity stems from the fact that he’s a hedgehog. Either that, or the fact that he killed Sonic, despite how underwhelming that kill really was.

I’ve went on long enough about Mephiles. Anything else at this point would just be redundant. Here’s a bunch of old memes I’ve made in the past at Leslie’s expense. Enjoy.

Also, his name is dumb.

Crusher Gives Mephiles a: Thumbs Down!

#Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite?#Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog #Mephiles the Dark #Sonic the Hedgehog 2006

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