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demonicbaby666 · 11 months

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Ignorance is Bliss

One Shot | Once Upon a Time Masterlist | Masterlists

Fandom: Once Upon a Time

Pairing: Regina Mills x Gn!Reader

Genre: Angst no comfort

Words: 1.3k+

Summary: You remember the wee little lass from season 1 who gets his heart crushed? Yes, Graham. He doesn’t actually exist in this, but you do... After a brief kiss with Emma it seems the truth has come to light and now you have to make a decision as to whether you want to confront it, or run away from it.

A/n: Don't worry, I hate myself for this one too </3

In the crescent moon’s light, faces seem distorted, shrouded in sullen tones. Dark figures cast their jaded shadows upon concrete roads and littered sidewalks as they stalked toward their destinations. Houses, apartments, or perhaps even a small diner treasured amongst the townsfolk. For you, your destination remained hidden, a secret, feet carrying you through the dimly lit streets to a familiar patch of land.

The wind whispered the lost tales of those who had their names etched on stone. Some old, some young, and some unable to talk over the endless possibilities they’d never been acquainted with, taken straight from the world before they were able to see the light, and dark, held within it.

Stood in the distance was the mausoleum. Ivy crept along its sidewalls, the red door just bright enough to stand out in the dark and guide you in the direction you needed to go.

Going off your rough estimations you had around ten minutes to find what you needed before Regina would discover you. Thankfully, without the use of magic, she’d have to drive over to the vault, giving you enough time to try and locate either a memory potion or the ingredients needed for one, though the latter required the fine skills of your long-term memory, which you were still trying to grasp.

The vault was fairly organised, it was Regina after all, making it somewhat easy to locate the collection of neatly labeled potions. There had to be at least ten boxes, which meant dilly-dallying wasn’t an option. Immediately you sorted through the boxes, willing your eyes to read faster than they’d ever done so before.

Six boxes down and five minutes in, door hinges creaked and bounced off the walls until they traveled down to the vault. She was early. There was only one exit, and that was the one Regina was coming through, which made the possibility of escaping this upcoming encounter impossible.

All that was left to do was watch as Regina slowly became visible from the stairs of the crypt. Feet, legs, torso, then there she was. Her sculpted eyebrows knit together, curiosity becoming clearer and clearer with each step toward you, “What are you doing here?”

Looking her dead in the eyes, you made sure not to cower away from the truth, or from the powerful aura she exuded in anything and everything she did, “I remember. I remember everything. Us.”

“How?” Behind her stony eyes you caught the flicker of panic, whether it was because she feared the curse over the town had been broken or whether she’d have to face the ramifications of withholding the truth from you, you didn’t know.

“Emma.”

“That doesn’t explain how you remember.” She frustratingly pointed out.

There was undoubtedly some truth to her statement. The single name of her nemesis didn’t exactly provide a detailed outlook on the events that led up to you regaining your memories. Then again, you didn’t want her to know the truth. You also didn’t want to lie. Staying silent it was.

Her nostrils flared, jaw clenched and eyes scorched. With one step forward and her targets set on you, she pushed for more information she deemed rightfully hers, “How?”

It was on command, with the tone she’d used you were right back in the enchanted Forest, heeding any and every one of her wishes, “Emma kissed me.” You blurted out.

“What?” Her eyes widened.

“Don’t make me repeat it.” You sighed, dropping to sit on a closed trunk.

“That means...” Regina whispered, “She’s your…”

“She’s the savior, that’s all it means.” You snapped. Regret set in the second you saw Regina flinch at your harsh tone, despite it being warranted. In truth, you already wanted out of this situation, but answers wouldn’t be found in running away, they’d only be located in the trenches of one woman’s mind. What was fairly annoying was the woman in question tended to keep such answers hidden behind a makeshift wall of lies and barbed wire, “I answered your question, now answer mine. Why did you take them, my memories?”

“Judging by the fact you want them gone again, do I need to answer that?”

Avoiding the question. Not a surprise.

“I never had a choice in the first place. Do you know what it’s like realising your whole life is a fucking lie? Because I do and I can’t say shit to anyone without risking getting thrown into the psych ward. You took them from me, Regina. I should be given the option to keep them or get rid of them. So yes, I want to know what led you to believe you had any right to take what was rightfully mine.”

Quiet. The vault echoed the sounds of your heavy breathing as Regina began to search her mind for answers to questions she never thought she’d have to face. Her facade began to crumble before your very eyes, shoulders slumped, her face softened and her tear-filled eyes helplessly sought out comfort in yours. Humility was fighting to be seen once more, much like it had in the past, in moments where she felt everyone only saw the bad, the evil, in actions that were simply enacted to protect herself.

“I was scared.” Her voice was small, barely a whisper.

“Of what?”

A single tear fell from her eye, working its way down her cheek and salting her plump lips, “That you wouldn’t pick me.”

There, at that moment, she had shown vulnerability, something so raw and rare for a damaged soul prone to heartache and loss. Exposing herself to the tyranny of lies uncovered, to the pain that accompanies the idea that love may be unrequited, and to the reality that she had in fact stolen the essence of what could have been, meant opening herself up to the possibility she had truly lost you.

And she had.

“You took that option away from me when you decided to take my memories.”

If it was possible to hear a heart break, feel the sting of broken fragments shatter beneath your touch, you’d have heard and felt it. A rugged exterior did nothing to lessen the pain befalling every inch of your soul. You’d done it, looking into her tear-stained sullen eyes, you saw, you’d broken her dark heart.

Needing to look anywhere but at Regina, you let your eyes roam around the vault. Glinting in the candlelight was a small bottle, the words on it barely readable, but you saw them well enough to plan your next move.

Standing up, you moved towards the vials you had previously been sifting through, “I have to forget you. I have to forget who I was, and what I did.” you muttered, back now facing Regina.

“Feel everything you need to feel, regret, anger, sadness, everything. But not alone, feel it with me,” Regina reached out, wrapping her fingers around your wrist, “I just got you back. I can’t lose you again.”

As you turned around, you clung tightly to the bottle in your hand. You didn’t stop yourself, nor Regina when her lips found yours. Instead, you let yourself remember, only for mere seconds, what it felt like to have her tongue trace along your bottom lip, how her body felt pressed against your own, what it was to give yourself over wholly and exclusively to one person.

Yet, it still wasn’t enough. It never would be. Not when you’d known a guilt-free life, not when you’d gone days, months, and years living without the weight of your past mistakes heavy on your conscience.

“I was never yours to lose,” you whispered against her lips, delivering the final punch.

The bottle cork dropped to the ground. With one step back you brought the vial to your lips, swallowing its contents whole and watching a familiar face - a person you believed to be the embodiment of home - fade once again into nothing more than an acquaintance.

Ignorance truly is bliss.

Tags: @babygirlscout @7thavenger @five-bi-five-mind @mentally-unstable-gay | click here to be added to my tag list

#regina mills fic #regina mills x reader #regina mills x you #regina mills #Regina Mills angst #regina mills imagine #regina mills imagines #the evil queen #Lana parrilla #evil regals #storybrooke #once upon a time #once upon a time fanfic #ouat #once upon a time imagines #once upon a time imagine #once upon a time x reader #once upon a time fic #ouat imagine

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urfavstargirl1 · 1 year

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I'll be Home for Christmas - an e.m. series

Part 1: Back to the Old House

Summary: Y/N dreads going back home to Hawkins for Christmas. She isn’t prepared to face her family or the ghost of her relationship with ex-bf!Eddie

Cw: angst, pining, yearning, second chance romance, mentions of smoking, cursing, mentions of alcohol, latina!fem!reader (minor cultural references), best friends to lovers, set in 1992, reader celebrates christmas, if st4 didn’t happen

Word count: 6.2k

AO3 | Spotify Playlist

a/n: taking a brief pause on chemistry series to do this mini holiday series. Inspired by the song back to the old house by the smiths (additional chapters inspired by other smiths songs to be mentioned later) here's to an angsty second chance romance christmas story with none other than eddie munson!

Part 2, Part 3

The year is 1992. It’s been years since I’ve been back. I tried ardently to avoid going back to that old house. There’s too many bad memories.

I’ve spent the last few christmases with friends or boyfriends in the city. But this is my first Christmas single and without an excuse to avoid going back home.

Back to that old house where I’m reminded of all that went wrong. All the reasons why I wanted to leave.

There’s nothing for me in Hawkins. Not anymore.

That’s why when I graduated high school I went off to a college on the east coast, moved on to an Ivy League law school, and set roots for my dream life as an attorney in the city.

I would go back to Hawkins during the first few summers and during the holidays, but after a while, it all just became too unbearable.

Every time I’m back, I revert to the fragile insecure girl I used to be. I lose all sense of strength and confidence I’ve gained over the years.

But still, I make my pilgrimage. If not for me then for my family. I know they miss me and I feel a bit guilty for missing out these past few years. My parents are getting older and my younger siblings are growing up. I know I should spend time with them before it’s too late. Learned that one the hard way.

It’ll be our first Christmas since my grandfather passed away earlier this year. I know he would have wanted us to make the season bright. So I swallow my pride and go back to the old house.

I drive through those long winding roads with trees that have known my name for years. I attempt to drown out my thoughts by playing the various mixtapes I’ve been making since college, curating a taste in music much richer and vibrant than anything Hawkins me could have ever dreamed of.

At the very least, I think younger me would like the person we’ve become. I think she would be excited to see what our life looks like now. From the things we’ve accomplished to the clothes we wear, she would love it all.

Most of all, I think she would be proud of the courage we acquired over the years. She would love to know we’re no longer in the business of pleasing everyone but ourselves.

But when I drive through Cornwallis or Cherry Street, it all sort of fades away and suddenly I’m seventeen again.

And when I pass all those red brick houses decorated in tinkling lights and the kids riding around on their bicycles, it gives me reprieve, if only for a moment, before I pull into the paved driveway, knowing once I open that front door, I will be back in the old house.

Everything still looks the same, and oddly enough, it still smells the same. It’s just as loud as it always is.

My parents, siblings, and extended family are all milling about. Some are sharing stories, others are watching the football game that the tv is perpetually tuned in to, and many are crowding the kitchen cooking or eating.

I think I can handle it all. For a moment, I convince myself that I can handle being back in this old house, if not for me then for my family.

But then my mother passes me a slip of paper with a phone number and the name Eddie Munson written on it. She tells me he called for me earlier that afternoon.

I gulp and nod, telling her I’ll go and settle down in my room. I take my baggage up the stairs and enter the room that hasn’t changed since 1984. I place my bags and things by the foot of the bed and sit down on the edge of it. I unfurl the paper and look at the black ink letters.

Eddie Munson, now that is a name I haven’t heard in years. But truth be told, it’s one that’s lingered in the back of my mind the whole time.

It’s a name that used to make me smile and my heart soar, but now it's a name that brings a tear to my eye or a heavy weight of grief placed directly above my heart.

Why did he even call? Should I call him back? What would I even tell him after all this time? Would it even be worth it? And why did he have to call here?

It’s funny, some of the habits we accidentally keep from our youth. Even at age 26, I still feel the need to hide him.

There’s no reason to. The damage was already done years ago. What could my parents possibly do about it now?

But I guess it’s true when they say old habits die hard.

Eddie Munson is the only person in this world who has ever really truly stolen my heart. And after all this time, he never really quite gave it back.

We met when we were fifteen. We instantly became best friends. By the time senior year rolled around, he became my first love. My first everything, well, almost.

Dating Eddie was one of the best and hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

He taught me about music and cars and D&D. He taught me how to have the courage to be myself. Not just the person I become to please my parents. He taught me that it was okay to embrace my dark side.

And I’d like to think I taught him a thing or two as well. I taught him how to make a proper meal for one. Something quick and easy but still nutritious enough for anyone to make. Lord knows he needed it. But I also taught him how to dream. And how to embrace his light side.

We were different in a lot of ways. But we both could be our weird unhinged selves around each other. We understood each other in a way no one else did.

It’s been 8 years and I still don’t think I’ve ever met anybody like him.

That’s the funny thing about small towns. When you’re in them, you feel like everyone is the same. Like we were all born and raised with the same resources and experiences to become the same.

But when you go to the city and you start to meet all these unique people with exciting lives from wildly different backgrounds, you sometimes find that no one there could ever make you feel the way the people you grew up with did.

Sometimes, if I let myself think about it, I wonder: Would my life be better off if I’d never met a person like Eddie again?

I haven’t quite figured out the answer. Perhaps it’s futile to even think about it. To even think about him. But I can’t help myself.

Even after all the time that has passed, there’s moments where I still relive that night. The memory won’t go away no matter how hard I try.

I should have known my parents would have never approved of us. But for years, I thought I could try.

I tried dating in secret. I tried begging and pleading. I tried it all. But in the end, it still broke me.

After all was said and done, the possibility of remaining friends with Eddie, even in secret, lingered in our minds, but then I inevitably left for college while he went on to repeat senior year, not once but twice and things between us were never the same since.

Perhaps we were doomed from the start, but ours felt like a star-crossed love. It’s one I never regretted and one I’ve never forgotten.

And despite it all, now as a single 26 year old woman, with an adult job, complete and total financial independence, still feels the need to hide him from my parents.

Oh, the things you’ll do under your parents roof.

I look back down at the paper and let my thumb run along its worn edges.

I probably shouldn't… Reach out to him that is. I need to be here for my family. I just need to get through this and get out of here.

I keep repeating this mantra to myself as I unpack my things and spend some more time in my room before I will go downstairs and be faced with a barrage of questions like how’s work going or how’s life in the big city or why don’t you ever come and visit more often?

Surprisingly enough, the annoying questions are a nice distraction from the thoughts that would otherwise lead me back to Eddie.

Questions like:

How is he?

What has he been doing all these years?

Does he still live in Hawkins?

What is he like now?

I run through all the scenarios in my head like a computer generating a report of every possible outcome of a singular action.

It’s sort of a guilty pleasure. I shouldn’t enjoy it, but I do. I might not have the ability to find out for myself, but imagining is close enough.

But there’s one thing I wish I was imagining: just how much I miss him. I’m ashamed to admit it, but if I let myself, I miss him so much it hurts.

He was one of the few saving graces I had while living in this old house. And he was my first love. You can never forget someone like that.

Away, in the city, it’s easy to keep those feelings at bay. Over there, I’ve dated for a while. I even had a serious boyfriend for a while, but it’s been almost a year since we broke up.

Who knows? Maybe I’m not actually feeling lonely or missing Eddie. Maybe I’m just caught up in the holiday blues or something.

I just need to get through this and get out of here. By the new year, I’ll be back in the city and back to normal.

“Y/N, can you go to the store? We’re missing a few things,” my mom calls out from the kitchen.

At first I reluctantly agree, hating being ordered around, but then I realize it’ll give me an excuse to get out of this old house with far too many people in it.

I drive the quick 5 minutes to the grocery store and grab items from the list and put them into the cart.

A part of me wonders if I might run into Eddie.

I used to have this game with myself where I would run up points every time I ran into someone I went to high school with while I was visiting Hawkins. It was always at the grocery store or Starcourt Mall where I would rack up the most points.

I almost expect to, but when the cashier rings me up and I pack my bags into the trunk of my car, I feel oddly defeated at having a score of zero.

All throughout the day, I keep wondering to myself, does he still work at the record store? Does he still drive that same shitty old van? Does he still play with his band at The Hideout? Does he still live with Uncle Wayne?

I stopped being in contact with Eddie midway through undergrad. After freshman year, I had changed. Eddie knew it and I knew it too, but we tried not to let it get in the way.

By the summer between sophomore and junior year of college, while Eddie had just graduated with zero plan for after, we knew the distance between us was growing wider. I didn’t think it would be enough to change things between us, but it inevitably proved to be so.

As time grew on, it became harder to see him. We started fighting, which we never used to do. We started resenting each other. And to top it all off, I would see in him the parts of myself that I didn’t like. And then one day, just like this old house, it became unbearable to see him.

But now, something in me is curious. I want to see him and I don’t know why, so it ends up feeling like a bad thing for wanting to see him. I don’t know how wise it would be to open up that can of worms.

But maybe I’ll need to because the thought of him keeps me up way into the night. For a second, I almost expect to hear rocks being thrown against my window and see him outside after having climbed onto the roof, waiting for me to let him in.

But he knew how much anxiety that gave me. I always worried he would hurt himself doing that or even worse, that my parents would catch us. And yet, I still have a strange inexplicable hope that he would do it now, despite everything.

***

In the morning, I wake up early. I hardly slept the whole night and when I woke up, I was tired but physically unable to fall back asleep.

I go downstairs and think about starting a pot of coffee, but no one else is up. The silence in the house is deafening, so I decide to change into some workout clothes and go for a walk to clear my head.

The snow on the ground makes me smile. Despite the remnants of precipitation, the sun is out, coating my face with warmth.

I admire the decorative snowmen, Santa Clauses, reindeer, and presents adorning everyone's lawns.

It almost makes me happy to be back. To have a real Hawkins Christmas again.

To be surrounded by my big family with all the food and drinks of the season. Watching Christmas movies together. Singing loudly and badly to Christmas music.

Eddie always acted annoyed by Christmas music. He claimed to hate how repetitive it was. But secretly, I know he had a soft spot for a few songs. There were a few he said his mom used to like. And by nature, our relationship required him to also be obsessed with Wham!’s rendition of Last Christmas.

Last time I was in Hawkins for Christmas was probably 1988. Once I started law school, I couldn’t afford to go back home.

By then, it was already a few Christmases without Eddie, but now it’ll be Christmas without my grandfather too. We always spent Christmas day at my grandparent’s house. With all my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

What will it be like now?

Being away in the city, it's sort of easy to not think about it. Out of sight out of mind right? But here, you can feel his absence. Christmas feels different without him.

But my parents insist that the rest of our Christmas traditions carry on.

When I get back to the old house, everyone’s awake. My mom is making breakfast and my dad is setting the table while my siblings fight over the tv.

“Did you ever call Eddie back?” My mom asks after I offer to help her set the table.

“What?” I angrily whisper. Why is she saying it so loudly? My dad or siblings could hear!

“Your siblings are making plans to hang out with some of their friends while they’re in town. You should too.”

“Mom, I’m here to spend time with you all. No one else.”

“I know, but it doesn’t mean you can’t take any time for yourself. You deserve to have fun. ”

I have to take a deep breath otherwise I’ll turn into a boiling pot of water threatening to spill.

What?! Where is this coming from? How did, “Boys are just a distraction, we raised you better than this!” turn into, “Please go hang out with the ex-boyfriend we persecuted you for being with as a teenager, but it’s okay because now you deserve to have fun with him”?

My inner teenager wants to scream. How is any of this fair? Why the change in heart?

I take another deep breath in and find the right words to say. I remind myself that I’m supposed to be here for my family and that now is not the time to be starting a fight.

But something about being in this old house brings it all out of me. The anger and resentment that goes away anytime I’m away from Hawkins wants to erupt out of me anytime I am here. It’s almost physically painful how much the anger courses through me.

“Don’t worry about it, mom. I’m here for family, that’s all.”

I quietly eat breakfast with my family as they recount some of the stories told by my aunts and uncles yesterday. After breakfast we all get ready and head over to my grandma’s house. We have some more family coming into town before Christmas Eve tomorrow and promised we would help her clean and decorate.

As we pile into the ancient station wagon and drive to my grandmother’s house, I feel like I’m in a time machine, being transported to a world that hasn’t moved on since 1984.

That’s another thing about going back to your hometown. In the city, things are constantly changing and evolving, moving toward the future. But in a place like Hawkins, you’re simply stuck in the past.

We pull up the driveway to my grandma’s house. I recognize the car belonging to my aunt and uncle parked in front. I can already hear my cousins yelling and dishes clanging.

We disperse out of the car and walk toward the front door. We’re greeted by family and enter the warm home.

Someone’s already started cooking because it smells delicious. Have they already started making the tamales? Maybe the bunuelos too. My mouth waters at the thought.

There’s boxes of decorations scattered throughout the living room and kitchen. There’s small children running about and voices chatting all around.

We greet and hug every person under the roof before my parents start assigning duties to everyone.

I’m assigned outdoor cleanup and decorations with my brother and my cousin Alex.

Alex is only two years older than me and the closest cousin in age to me, but his parents lived a few towns away from Hawkins growing up, so we never really spent much time together. They moved back to Hawkins a few years ago though, but I’ve been gone for the same amount of time, so he feels more like a long lost cousin in a way.

Regardless, I’m relieved to be outside. Despite the cold. I don’t have to deal with my aunt, mom, and sister on kitchen duty. I might even be able to sneak a cigarette too. The question is could I get away with it?

My parents would be ashamed of my bad habit. They constantly chastise my uncle for doing it. But God, do I need a good shame cigarette to take the edge off right now. The smell would give me away instantly and I’m not ready for that barrage of questions and concerns. But I’ll find a way later.

My brother and I head outside first. As we wait for Alex to finish something up inside, he instantly bombards me with questions about Eddie.

Why does mom have to be such a blabbermouth? I mean, if anything, I would rather my younger siblings know than my mom, but not all of them.

Oh god, does my dad know too? Does he want me to look into the matter further like mom? Or is he mad at Eddie like he was back then?

Agh, this is so stupid. I’m too old to be worrying like this!

And yet, I can’t stop. Partially, because my brother continues his poking and prodding and asking if I called him back.

The only reason I feel obligated to satisfy his curiosity is because he and my sister know a decent amount of our relationship. After all, they are the ones that helped me hide it for as long as I did.

And they even liked Eddie. Not at first, but he really grew on them by the end. I figured if Eddie could never meet my parents, he could at least meet my siblings.

At a certain point, my brother and sister, who I guess also now knows, urge me to call Eddie and argue they won’t quit nagging till I do.

“I can’t. And besides we’re supposed to be here for Grandma and for Mom and Dad.”

“You’ve been there for them enough. And besides, being all grumpy and forlorn about Eddie isn’t exactly making you the most fun person to be around.”

I cringe internally. Is it that obvious?

“Just give him a call. I think grandma has a phone in her room.”

I eye him curiously. If I can’t rely on anyone I can at least rely on my siblings. But still, is this even a good idea?

“No, I’m not going to call. I don’t even know why he called in the first place.”

“Y/N that’s exactly why you should call him back. See what he has to say.”

“What if I don’t want to know?”

“Well, you’ll never know if you don’t call him.”

Now I know my siblings are truly growing up because my annoying baby brother has never had anything insightful to say like that before.

Surprisingly enough, his words ring in my head for a while.

If I did decide to call Eddie, I couldn’t do it here. I’d be way too anxious for someone to walk in on me or press an ear to the door eavesdropping. Our family is notorious for nosiness. Nothing is ever a secret.

The thought weighs on me for a while longer. If I called Eddie, what would I even say? What would he say? Maybe just hearing his voice would be enough?

I stare at the trees in my grandma’s front yard. Many are losing their leaves and those with any leaves on them have become a faded yellow brown. I take a step onto the lawn and hear the fallen brown leaves crunching under my feet.

“Sorry for the wait, our dad’s kept arguing about whether or not to put up Frosty,” Alex says as he walks from the opened garage door with the 7 ft tall snowman figurine.

“He’s an icon! You have to put up Frosty, how is that even an argument,” I say playfully.

“That’s what I’m saying,” Alex agrees.

“Alex, please convince my sister that she should call her ex-boyfriend back.”

Alex quirks an eyebrow at my brother as my eyes bug out of my head and I smack him on the arm.

“Shut the fuck up!” I hiss and he laughs.

“Don’t worry about it Alex, he’s just joking.”

“I don’t think he was,” Alex teases.

I sigh in exasperation and run a palm along my face.

“Forget about it. Let’s just put up this stupid snowman,” I grumble and walk toward the figurine.

“Ah, ah, ah,” my brother shakes his head and steps in. “Let the men carry it.”

I roll my eyes at the comment. My brother knows I’m perfectly capable of helping, but I guess I’ll let misogyny work in my favor today and avoid having to lift a finger.

But mainly, I let it slide because I know he doesn’t say it in a demeaning way. Alex is one of our few male cousins and growing up in a house full of sisters, I know he’s started to see Alex like the brother he never had.

We move on to rake the leaves and set up some other decorations, but at a certain point when it’s just me and Alex, he presses me on the subject.

“So what’s this about calling your ex?” Alex says in amusement

“It’s nothing,” I shrug. Not only do I not want my parents or siblings to worry about this, I don’t want anyone else to even know about this.

“It’s not just nothing, Y/N’s been all moody and depressed because of him,” my brother barges in from the garage.

“I am not moody and depressed.”

“Tell that to the Black Sabbath you were playing in your room last night. I could hear it all the way down the hall. You only ever play that stuff when you’re sad.”

I glare daggers at my brother as Alex laughs in front of us.

“So what’s got you all worked up Y/N,” Alex asks in a jovial tone.

“It’s honestly nothing. Everyone’s just overreacting.”

“Y/N, Eddie called the house phone. That’s major”

“Shh, someone could hear you.”

“Like Eddie,” my brother goofily teases.

“No, like mom and dad or grandma or anyone else in that house.”

“Y/N you already know it’s loud as hell in there. They’re not gonna hear shit outside,” Alex says jovially.

I reluctantly shrug.

“And besides, Eddie’s dying to hear from you. He won’t shut up about it,” Alex offhandedly comments

I drop what’s in my hand and glare at him. “What?”

Alex shrugs, “What?”

“What did you just say,” I ask, squinting my eyes at him.

“Eddie won’t shut–”

I shake my head. “No, I know. I meant, you know Eddie? How? I mean I know this town is small and all–”

“Y/N Hawkins is small but it's not that small. You know that. And yeah I know Eddie. We work together.”

“Eddie… You work… with Eddie?”

“Yeah at the garage. He started around the same time I did.”

I knew Alex started working at one of the mechanic shops in town when they moved to Hawkins but genuinely didn’t think much of it.

“No fucking way,” I whisper.

I start blinking and zoning out, imagining Eddie working as a mechanic.

Eddie’s a mechanic? How does he like it? Does he wear those blue coveralls? Does he ever get grease on his forehead? Does he–

“Y/N!” someone calls out my name and I look up.

“Earth to Y/N,” Alex amusedly says and waves a hand in front of my face.

“I can’t believe you work with my–”

Ex-boyfriend? Ex-best friend? Ex-love of my life?

“Believe me, I was surprised to find out too. I love that kid. I almost thought I was hallucinating when I learned that you, the one who brought textbooks to Thanksgiving or always wanted to see the new Star Wars movie, could pull a guy like him. Or that a metal ass guy like him could pull a dorky chick like you. But anyways, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out between the two of you. He talks about you sometimes, and I can tell you meant a lot to him.”

I’m floored. I don’t even know what to say. Somehow I’ve just received an ego boost and depressing information all in one go.

“Um thanks. I just,” I turn over my shoulder and make sure it’s just us, “Please don’t bring it up in front of my parents.”

“Your parents? Why would they care?”

“Because when mom and dad found out they were dating, they practically ran Eddie out of town.” My brother answers for me.

I run a hand over my face.

“Damn girl, sneaking off with the bad boy huh? I never would have guessed.”

I laugh at the ridiculousness of his statement. Before I can even respond, my mom jumps out of the front door with a piece of paper in her hands. “Kids, I need you to go to the store and pick up a few things. We’re already running out of ingredients. Alex, your dad said to take his car.”

My brother and Alex look at each other deviously. “No worries, we’ll be right back.”

Alex grabs the paper and keys my mom hands him and he smirks right past me.

“What’s going on?” I ask as I follow him and my brother to the car. My brother’s making a beeline to the passenger seat but I beat him to the punch.

“Oldest siblings sit in the front,” I declare. He flips me off but I ignore it.

Alex turns on the ignition and pulls out of the neighborhood.

“They have a payphone at the grocery store right?” Alex asks as we’re already in motion, only a few minutes away.

“Why yes Alex I think they do,” my brother theatrically responds.

“And lookie here, a whole sleeve of quarters in the center console, just for you Y/N,” Alex sarcastically says.

“Knock it off,” I swat at his arm. “And focus on the road.”

“No need to worry cousin. It’s not like we get any of that big city traffic in our tiny cow town of Hawkins.”

I roll my eyes. The few times I have seen Alex at family gatherings, he always teases me for looking down on Hawkins, but if he ever made it out of here, he would totally understand.

“I’m not doing it,” I say confidently as Alex finds a spot in the parking lot.

“You so are,” Alex and my brother say in unison.

“And what if I don’t,” I cross my arms and huff as he puts the gear in park.

“Y/N we’re calling him.”

“I don’t even have his number,” I lie. It’s a different number than the one he had at Wayne’s though. I guess 552-6739 is just Wayne’s number now.

“Yes you do, mom gave it to you.”

“I lost it.”

“Doesn’t matter, I have it memorized,” Alex says as he unbuckles his seat belt and opens the car door.

My brother and I follow suit. We join him as he walks briskly toward the store entrance. I try to focus on the person jingling a bell in a Santa suit by the entrance. Or the smell of fresh balsam Christmas trees and cinnamon scented pine cones by the main doors to distract from the anxiety building up in my stomach.

“But we’re here to pick up the ingredients our moms need to–”

Alex stops in his tracks and turns toward me. “Y/N, stop making excuses. Obviously we’re gonna get the things they need. But we also have time to make a quick phone call. If you don’t do this now, when will you?”

I jerk my head back in shock. I’ve never seen this side of Alex. And I hate to admit it, but he’s right.

If, for some reason, I actually did go forth with the idea of calling Eddie, I would probably try to do it in a private place away from my family. And wait till the dead of night when everyone’s asleep. But by that point, would I even have the gall to go through with it?

Right now is probably the only time I'll actually be able to call him the way I want to. TThe opportunity has presented itself, but will I be brave enough to take it?

“Alex, I-I don’t know if I can do this.”

Alex marches up to the payphone by the store’s entrance and looks at me. “Look, I only say this because I know you and I know Eddie. You’re both good people and you’re both obviously still stuck on this. I’m not saying a single phone call will solve all your problems but it’s not gonna kill you either.”

“What if it does?” I nervously and jokingly ask.

“Maybe you should’ve tried being an actor instead of a lawyer. Living in the city long enough has made you so dramatic.”

“Fuck off,” I sneer. I look at the phone booth before me and gulp.

“Just see what he has to say. Then you can decide whether or not it’s worth a second chance.”

I nod. A second chance at what exactly? I don’t know. But I guess I’m about to find out. I pull the small folded up piece of paper out of my pocket. I unravel it to see Eddie’s name and phone number. I can feel Alex and my brother smiling at each other.

“Shut up,” I grumble.

“Didn’t even say anything,” Alex replies. I can hear him stifling a laugh in his voice.

I take a deep breath and let my fingers hover over the keypad. It’s just a phone call. It’s not an end all be all anything. Just one simple–

“Just dial the damn number,” my brother and Alex yell in unison.

I shudder and nervously laugh. I slowly press my fingers to the keypad and dial. I breathe in deeply.

The phone rings for a few seconds, making my heart race faster and faster till I hear a sleepy voice say, “Hello?”

I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

“E-Eddie.” I choke. “I-It’s me.”

And then he says my name. My heart melts instantly. It’s been years since I’ve heard a sound so sweet. Shamefully enough, I can feel a tear forming in my eye.

“Yeah.”

“Hey sweetheart, how are you?”

How am I? Edward Munson, why the hell did you call me after all these years?

“I-I’m good,” I nervously look to Alex before facing the payphone again. “I’m in town a-and, my mom told me you called?”

“Oh yeah. Even after all these years, I nearly shit my pants when I heard her voice.”

I laugh because I can only imagine. Eddie’s not afraid of anyone, but after what went down when my parents caught us, I guess I wasn’t the only one who got spooked for a lifetime.

“But uh, your cousin told me you were gonna be home for the holidays.”

“So I’ve heard. Alex here didn’t even have the heart to tell me he knew you. Only in Hawkins though, I guess. I’m sorry you have to work with your ex’s cousin.”

“Don’t be. Alex is a cool dude who’s like the big brother I never had. It just so happens he’s related to the girl who stole my heart way back when.”

I muster half a chuckle. He talks just like he used to, but there’s a newfound maturity in his words I’m surprised to find.

I also smile at the fact that my cousin has been that kind of person for Eddie. Initially, it weirded me out that they were friends, but I know Eddie always wished he’d had an older brother. He wanted it so bad he became that for the younger boys at Hawkins High. I’m glad he has Alex in his life.

“I know you don’t come to town that often and I wanted to see you.”

“What? See me?”

“Yeah, a couple of us are gonna go out tonight. There’s a big Christmas thing going on at the Hideout–”

“The Hideout?! God, I haven’t heard that name in years.”

Eddie chuckles. “Alright hot shot.”

“Are you still playing?”

He pauses for a moment, before he says with confidence dripping in his voice, “Come see for yourself.”

I find myself smiling at the ground, like an idiot. It’s like no time has passed between us at all. Like none of those bad things ever happened. But they did. Things are supposed to be weird between us. Why is it so easy to talk to him on the phone like this? Like it was just yesterday that he cycled by and began all my dreams.

“Um,” I bite my lip, “I don’t know. My family’s been really busy prepping for the holidays. Lots to decorate and cook and all that stuff. You know?”

“Oh,” He clears his throat, “Yeah, totally. But, um, if you change your mind, it’s tonight at 9:00. Alex said he was coming so maybe you could join him.”

I rapidly turn around to glare at Alex but he and my brother are nowhere to be seen.

“What the fuck,” I mutter.

“What?” Eddie asks.

“Oh, nothing. Um, you were saying?”

“Oh, um, yeah just that we’ll be at the Hideout at 9:00 tonight. They have this whole ugly Christmas sweater contest thing going on and themed drinks. They really go the whole nine yards around the holidays.”

“Oh, that’s um, kinda cool. A bit surprising for the alleged shithole you used to call it.”

“It’s gotten better over the years,” Eddie replies nonchalantly, but I can hear the subtle nervousness in his voice.

“I see,” I respond. I don’t mean to sound so cold, but he’s really putting me on the spot here.

“Yeah, some of my friends’ll be there too. One is in town from New York, just like you.”

“Oh,” I say.

“It’ll be fun. I, uh, I really hope you can come.”

“I, um, I’ll see.” Is all I can manage to say.

“Sure thing. I, uh, I guess I’ll let you go now.”

“Oh,” I say, rather dejectedly. “Um, okay.”

“Goodbye Y/N,” he says.

“Bye,” I whisper as I slowly go to hang up the phone.

I’m stuck inside my head for a moment, replaying what just happened. But when realization hits me that Alex, my cousin, is the key to my way back in with Eddie, I eagerly zip through the store trying to find him.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson headcanon #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst #stranger things fanfic #stranger things s4 #stranger things season 4 #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfiction #urfavstargirl1

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antisocialbunnysims · 2 years

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the Joubert family in season 2 of my youtube series lives in this big imposing mansion that I thought someone else might appreciate for halloween, so here it is for download! I based the whole exterior off of a real house that I found on google images called the Castle House!

I'm so happy with how it turned out..the roofs were so hard...uh don't look too closely at them or it all starts to look a little wonky lmao. You can see more pics of this amazing irl house at this link.

More info, floorplan and download under the cut!!

Here's the floorplan and a daytime shot of the front/backyard. The version of the house in my lot bin was apparently just a shell, so I quickly from memory tried to put walls where they are in my series house. There is a little secret attic room on the top floor that is perfect for a Jane Eyre type situation...or just a nice cozy attic room!

Build custom content is included so install with clean installer. Unless you rebuild stuff, you will need a ladder to access the top room (included)! I used a lot of maxis build content (for me), but I have basically every cluedo build default so you will want to download those if you want it to look identical!

Build content:

@shastakiss cluedo recolors of Shakeshafts' Lakeside Build set

Numenor recolorable modular stairs

Marvine's ladder with custom animations

@kayleigh-83 modern shingles in anna's colors

veranka 3t2 old mill ivy

DOWNLOAD ! no sims have ever lived on this lot, + lot cleaned with Chris Hatch's lot cleaner

#ts2 download #ts2 lots #ts2 build #sims 2 lot #sims 2 cc #simblereen #my lots

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fycarmensandiego · 1 year

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“The only Carmen you’ll catch is this one. Merry Christmas!”

It's the Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? HD upscale bundle #1! (Does "The Stolen Smile" on its own constitute a bundle? I don't think it does. So this is #1.)

Originally the plan was to have the whole series, or at least season 1, done to release for Christmas. However, it quickly became apparent that wasn't going to work for various reasons (mainly because I unexpectedly worked from home for two weeks, so I wasn't at my work where I could use the computers to do the upscaling).

This bundle includes:

A Higher Calling, simply because it's episode 2 so I had it ready to go as my next episode after "The Stolen Smile"

Split Up, because it's my favorite episode

Just Like Old Times, because it's the Christmas episode, but it's also one of my favorites thanks to its high quota of funny lines ("The name's Bond - James Bond - and I have a license to throw snowballs!")

And in the spirit of Mill Creek throwing episodes of other random shows on their Carmen DVDs, but without the drawback of those "bonus features" crowding out the actual Carmen episodes and thus degrading the video quality (in case shoveling 11 episodes onto a single disc wasn't bad enough), the Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century episode The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. Yes, it's another Dic Christmas classic, featuring some cringeworthy lines about the commercialization of the holiday and an "everybody laughs" ending, but also a hilariously chaotic robotic toy and, of course, the iconic Beth Lestrade. She's like Ivy with bad hair.

All of these episodes are live on YouTube now, as linked above, and available for download from Google Drive. (With the next set I release - I don't know when, though certainly no sooner than the end of January - I'll probably have to switch to the Internet Archive due to Google's space limitations. But for now, enjoy downloads that don't move at the speed of a walking stick.)

No subs, sorry. Maybe in future releases, though. "Split Up" has an audio glitch at the end of the theme song on YouTube, but not in the download. (I noticed it after uploading it to YouTube, and that was already my second upload attempt, so I wasn't going to go for a third.) The three Carmen episodes have remastered audio; "The Blue Carbuncle" has two audio tracks: remastered and original, because the theme song got a bit distorted in the remastering process.

#carmen sandiego #where on earth is carmen sandiego #woeics #sherlock holmes in the 22nd century #woeics hd

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askstorybrookehq · 9 months

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CONGRATULATIONS, Kailey! You have been accepted into the group as Regina Mills. Please make sure to follow our checklist, and let us know if you have any questions!

OOC Information

Your Name/Alias: Kailey/ Kails

Your Age: 27

Timezone: EDT

Rate Your Activity: I would say like a 6ish

RPing experience: Oh gosh like 14 years

IC Information

Desired Character: Regina Mills

Second Character: Ivy Belfrey (I know she isn’t there till season 7)

Writing Sample:

Why did you challenge Emma when she arrived in town?

Are you talking about the woman who wants to take my child away from me?

Ms. Swan is no more than a convict who is incapable of being a mother. Her coming here is nothing more than a sick joke.

I am Henry’s mother and I need to protect him, even if he doesn’t agree with me.

I will do what I must to get her to leave.

Do you believe in happy endings? If so, what is yours?

What kind of happy ending do you think I deserve? Does the name Evil Queen ring a bell? Even when this entire town doesn’t remember anything, they still treat me like a monster. They think I should rot, perish in some dungeon. If they can get a happy ending, why can’t I?

If I had a choice in the matter, my happy ending would be to live with my son, away from all these people. We would have a happy life, one where he would be safe. Is that too much to ask for?

Do you miss having magic while you’re in Storybrooke?

Having magic would make things much easier here. But bringing magic in would allow more than just me to have it. I’m not sure if I want certain people here to have access to it.

Look at the things I did back in the Enchanted Forest, imagine what they would do to me here now that we’re trapped inside the town line. I’m the biggest target here, and once they realize that, I’m done for.

Do you consider yourself a good mother?

I am a good mother, who would do anything to protect her son. Henry is the most important person in the world to me, and as his mother, I need to make sure he is okay.

At least I love and care for my son. You show me someone who loves their child more, I can assure you, you won’t find anyone close. The lengths I’ve gone to make sure he is safe surpass the qualifications of a good mother.

Additional Information

What drew you to this group? What makes you want to join an ask based RPG?: l used to be a part of the old group a few years ago. I saw the account and decided to try it again! I’ve missed it

Anything else?: Thank you for being so kind and letting me apply. I appreciate it!

#ouat rp #ouat rpg #ouat indie rp #regina mills #accepted #submission

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moonwoodmongrels · 11 months

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0.02 The Collective

Just outside of town sits a dilapidated farmhouse stilted over a murky pond. What remains of the house and converted barn is home to members of The Collective. The yards are bountiful with produce that cycles through the seasons, growing and dying and growing again. Chickens roam freely, devouring their share of garden pests and lying eggs. Bees pollinate the plants and make their honey.

The maintenance of the gardens falls mostly on The Collective leader's son, Jacob, a boy on his way to becoming a man and Lily, an elder who once ran on her own.

Kristopher, the leader of The Collective has been in The Mill for a long time. He has been here since before the factories were built, brick by brick. He watched as industry came and went from this place.

Inside of him is the gnawing tug of loss, mirrored in the dusty panes of broken glass left in the windows of the failed experiment. He grasps at the last whisps of community with strangling hands like ivy.

Back in town looms one of the main buildings of the old mill. Once used as a storage and shipping warehouse, a library has taken over the space. Though technically the library is a neutral zone for anyone to enjoy, this refuge of knowledge mostly draws in members of The Collective.

One such member, and the brains behind the library itself, Wolfgang has sourced or written every book that lines the makeshift shelves himself. Once a proud member of The Collective and friend of Kristopher, Wolf has begun to have his doubts. Nagging questions plague him.

What has he done?

This isn't right.

How could he do this, how could anyone?

#moonwood mongrels #mm x abg #sims 4 story #the sims #ts4 #ts4 werewolves #prologue #moonwood mill #mmfullstory #mmprologue

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wyrmfedgrave · 2 months

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Pics:

1 & 2. Lovecraft, out getting some air.

3. Quinsnicket Park - or, as it's known today, the Lincoln Woods.

4. The Seekonk River today.

5. Hearthside Museum, celebrating some spooky holiday - it seems.

6. Okay, Howard. Now you've gone too far! Or, knowing you, this is just your 1st step... Beyond.

1913: Quinsnicket Park.

Intro: As a boy, HPL lived in the 'swanky' part of Providence.

This area was so new, that it was just a few blocks away from nearby farms & woods.

Which included a densely wooded bank alongside the Seekonk River.

But, even as a youth, Lovecraft recognized the beauty of the park - with its rugged, rocky features & the fine Olney Pond¹.

A Steven Smith² had planted many trees & put in goldfish ponds thruout the greenery.

It quickly became a favorite spot of Howard's. Being a tranquil place where he could enjoy nature & even write at.

HPL was actually a good hiker. In warm weather, he showed a good appreciation of landscapes, the quality of light & seasonal changes.

Quinsnicket is a Narragansett word meaning, "Place of the Big Rocks" or "Rock House."

It also has a Pawtucket version, that's spelled quinsniket & means, "hill."

Quotes: From Letters -

A. 1919, Lovecraft wrote to Reinhardt Kleiner saying "I celebrated Columbus Day³ (with a) solitary ramble thru (the) Park. I had the... companion(ship of) a pocket telescope &... Thomson's "Seasons⁴."

The letter continues with a touch of racism, "It was delightful (2) leave behind the alienated suburbs, where reign the Hebrew, Italian & French- Canadian (- all in) squalor⁵."

B. 1929, Howard wrote to August Derleth saying "On my right (lie) the picturesque ivied ruins of an ancient mill⁶, which I knew in (my) youth."

C. 1933, HPL wrote to Clark Ashton Smith saying "I am north of... town, in the... region which I have haunted all my life & whose beauty can't... be captured (by) words."

"I could kick myself... for my inability to draw & paint."

"The temperature is falling⁷ & I can't 'steer' my finger(s) when it's... under 70°..."

D. 1934, Lovecraft wrote to F.L. Bald- win saying "I get out to the country as often as I can... I take my work or reading (material) to the wooded riverbank... One (of my) favorite rustic spots."

E. 1935, Howard wrote to Robert Barlow saying, "This section of the woods (are) primeval. (Both) Indians &... colonists (stood under) these giant firs⁸."

Notes:

1. The pond is more man made rather than natural. The Olneys damned the Thread Mill Brook to create a water- fall. It was high enough to run a... Yes, you guessed it - a thread mill.

2. Sadly, I've found no other mention of Steven Smith nor why he beautified this particular park.

3. Sigh...

HPL suddenly has no problem with Columbus.

Yet, at 1st, Lovecraft couldn't stand the idea of Italians asking to change a street name to honor Columbus.

4. James Thomson was England's 1st & most popular nature poet.

It was James who also wrote "Rule, Britannica," an important musical anthem for the British Army & Navy!

"The Seasons", like Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass", was revised & added to until it reached epic length.

James died 2 years after finishing this cycle of poems.

Yet, "Seasons" was reprinted 50 times by the year 1800. And, the book was read well into the Romantic Era (1800 to 1850).

5. Once again, HPL shouts out his more tame message of hate. Nothing really new here.

6. Could this be the waterwheel that Howard lauded over the coal powered industrial mills?

7. Another mention of Lovecraft's low temperature 'allergy.' The opposite of Mister Freeze, who can't withstand any heat...

8. These are most likely Douglass firs, which grow up long & slender - with short crowns.

In old growth forests, these firs reach some 250 feet tall! But, the tallest Douglass firs is a record 330 feet!!

And, the oldest fir lived for some 1,400 years!

#hpl bio #hpl output #history #poetry #Quinsnicket Park #R.I.

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tvickiesims · 2 years

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Oh what’s coming 🤭

#wip #seasonal old mill ivy

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be-bi-do-crime · 3 years

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hi okay i absolutely l i v e d for what ivy and zack think of jules so now i have to ask.... what do player and shadowsan think of her and vice versa?

finally in a decent emotionally stable mood to answer this! thanks for enjoying the hcs anon :D here are what i think player and shadowsan think of jules:

player:

like everyone else, he’s skeptical at first, matching zack and ivy’s opinions on her.

he’s won over quickly, though, because carmen trusts her and he trusts carmen. his best friend’s favourite acme agent becomes his, you know?

stockholm leaves him torn and upset, unsure of what to think. he keeps carmen company while she’s resting in the hospital. zack and ivy have stormed off at this point, so he starts to talk, careful not to speak too loudly and further distress her.

“red,” he says quietly. “while i don’t completely agree with the ‘julia is evil’ thing, maybe it’s best if you guys don’t talk for a few weeks?”

carmen scoffs. “player, i’m an adult. i don’t need to be coddled- if i want to talk to her i will, and if i don’t then i won’t.”

he sighs over her earpiece, closing his eyes. the sounds of carmen’s footsteps pounding on the bell tower steps, the whoosh of her glider, and her icon dropping off the grid flash in his mind. player exhales shakily. “i just want you to be safe, red. you’re my best friend.”

sometimes she forgets what it’s like for player, being on the other side and not being able to see what’s going on. she’d placed this burden on him ever since she became carmen sandiego.

“alright,” she agrees. “a few weeks. but we do need to talk about this, you know. communication and all that.”

player answers her, relieved. “that works. i’ll set something up with julia for next month.”

the meeting comes sooner than expected, however. they run into each other on a small caper that carmen thought was so small ACME wouldn’t even know about- it was a local museum robbery, nothing much- and yet julia is there, and player tells her as such from his monitoring on the security cameras.

“julia’s-”

“here, player? yeah, i can see her and another agent milling by the entrance. we don’t have time to chat right now, i’ll catch her later.”

at this point, player’s heard enough of carmen’s talking to herself about how much she misses jules, thinking her comms are switched off, and he’s almost forgotten what julia had done to deserve their silence. so while he’s not over it, he knows that this isn’t helping anyone and wants them to make up so carmen can stop yearning.

“i know this goes against everything i said in the hospital but maybe you should talk to her, red.”

“hmm?” carmen says, focusing on getting the display glass open to retrieve the artifact. “did you say something?”

“carmen,” player groans, knowing carmen did catch what he said. “you should talk to julia.”

“what happened to a few weeks?” carmen prompts mockingly, shutting the display now and stuffing the artifact in her bag. player crosses his arms.

“changed my mind. your yearning got too obnoxious, so i’m lifting the ban.”

carmen laughs a little too loudly, and both agents turn to look for the sound. shit, she mutters, and leaps out the window where she came from. julia glimpses the tail of her red coat and freezes.

when the other agent turns back to the spot they’re guarding, julia makes up an excuse and walks to the window, looking around frantically for carmen.

a hook shoots through the window, barely missing her face, and attaches itself to her suit. carmen wraps the rope around her waist and tugs her upward before she can blink, and then they’re on the roof, the window now closed.

“hey, jules,” carmen smiles. “nice of you to drop in.”

“carmen?”

anyway, player sticks around for the tear-inducing conversation and the gay yearning. he probably should’ve picked a better time to lift his communication ban- like when they’re not in the middle of a caper- but he lets it slide because this is the happiest he’s heard carmen in weeks.

and of course, fast forward and player and julia are history besties.

so when they call to discuss the next mission at the next country they kind of just... keep going?? like, player and carmen would usually go surface level knowledge and then that would be it, she’d be off on her flight

but jules doesn’t hang up that soon, and instead the two of them keep trading knowledge and gushing over the tourist attractions and hidden gems animatedly over the computer screen while carm is sitting on the other side of the plane just watching them fondly

occasionally she jumps in but most of the time she just lets them keep talking

julia does help player with studying for his history exams and carmen often has to yell at them to go to bed because it’s 2 AM and the walls at san diego HQ are thin enough to hear ancient greek facts through them-

player gets 100, of course he does

when player and julia finally meet face to face a year or so after season 4- it’s customary for the best friend to meet the girlfriend after all- their hug is really sweet and player’s all like “i might be short but you better not hurt carmen or else-”

player and julia can hold conversations that last hours. they fact trade and infodump on each other whenever they learn something new or have something to share and carmen just looks at them like “those are my dorks”

anyway. player and julia are one of the best friendships in the show i’ve decided

shadowsan:

very protective of carmen. he’s the last one to come around with liking julia, i think.

i don’t have much to say, really, except like everyone else he knows that carmen likes julia a little too much to be platonic.

shadowsan would ask player to contact julia and have a short conversation with her after stockholm. neither of them ever speak of it, sworn to secrecy.

(bottom line is if you put carmen in this position again you will never be contacting her again)

he’s intrigued when he overhears one of player’s study sessions or mission briefings with julia. he chimes in with a fact or two about japan, and while she seems surprised that he’s acknowledging her, she’s more than happy to indulge in pleasant conversation about common misconceptions about japanese myths and legends.

he’s not surprised when carmen and julia start dating.

JULIA ASKS HIM FOR HIS BLESSING TO MARRY CARMEN

he says yes and pretends he’s not tearing up about it but he is, that old sap.

AT THE WEDDING HE WALKS JULIA DOWN THE AISLE (bc i have the hc that julia’s parents have passed i’m SORRY)

(carmen is walked down by her mother. fuck “normal” wedding traditions their relationship has never been normal and they like it that way)

okay i’m stopping there. why can i never write a normal non-angsty post it’s unhealthy-

#asking carmen #this got way too long PLEASEEEE #never ask me about player and julia hcs i will literally hand you an essay #death tw #my writing

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chlobenet · 3 years

Note

can i get some more spoilers for asp season 5? ;)

Ooooh ofc! So I’ll start with just a little background, so you can understand how she got to be where she is in S5 after the time jump... it’s all under the cut!

After graduation, Aspen goes to Yale where she studies law. Her parents are both so proud of her, because not only is she the first in the family to attend college...she’s going to an ivy league! amazing! Unfortunately for Aspen, Betty Cooper also attends Yale so try as she might, Asp isn’t able to escape her blonde nemesis. They have a few classes together where they end up reluctantly pairing up for projects, as much as they both despise each other they know and appreciate that the other is good at what she does - so whenever they do team up they actually get amazing grades. They don’t have any interaction socially though, they pretend they don’t know each other outside of the classroom and both have their own social circles. Aspen and Sweetpea stay together for a good few years after high school, he visits her at Yale whenever he can (there is some drama where the other students at Yale see this tatooed trucker turn up in his plaid shirt and think he’s no good for Asp but she stands up for him). Eventually they break up and it is sad and they both still love each other but their social schedules, school, work, distance just takes too much of a toll on the relationship and they decide it’s better for them to call it quits. They both always have the idea that when the time is right, they’ll find their way back to one another - so watch this space.

After college, Aspen moves to New York where she interns for a few years at the District Attorney’s office before passing the bar and becoming a defense lawyer in her own right. She leave’s the DA’s office and starts working for a pretty high profile law firm where she is moved up the ranks quite quickly. As she’s living in New York, Aspen rekindles a friendship with Veronica Lodge who is missing Riverdale and her old life. The girls actually become quite close and see each other regularly, going for drinks, shopping, just generally hanging out you know. It’s Ronnie who finally persuades Asp to come back to Riverdale.

So back in Riverdale, Aspen has admittedly not been in touch as often as she would have liked, or as much as she should have been so she’s not that up to date on the comings and goings of the town. She doesn’t know about Hiram’s agenda or what he’s doing, and it’s only when she gets a tearful call from her mother to tell her that her dad has been arrested for something that Lettie is adamant he didn’t do that Aspen starts to realise something isn’t right. It’s at this point that Veronica turns up at Aspen’s office and tells her she thinks her father might be behind John Mills’ arrest and that Aspen needs to get back to their home town to defend her father in court because she’s the only lawyer that knows enough about Hiram’s tricks to be able to convince a jury to declare her father innocent.

When she gets back to Riverdale the first thing Asp does is go to see her father in jail and get as much information as she possibly can to help defend him. The second thing she does is visit Sweetpea, they have an...emotional reunion. Asp doesn’t quite know how she feels about Toni as Serpent Queen, and she’s not particularly pleased that she’s renamed Le Bonne Nuit the Whyte Wyrm because that was Aspen’s home, it was her plan all along to return the Whyte Wyrm to the Mills family...so that’s a bit of a kick in the teeth and Asponi definitely have some conflict.

.... wow that was a lot, but if anyone is still here or interested I’m happy to answer any more Qs about S5 Asp!!

#aspen asks #perfectlystiles #asks #shout out to alex for the gif #her ainsley whitly gif pack is a new fav of mine #boyiega

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zrtranscripts · 3 years

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Season 9, Mission 4: Out of the Past

Heist

[birds twitter]

AMELIA SPENS: Okay team, let's go over this one more time. General Bakari has sent Abel a distress call from a remote Tunisian base, Red Scorpion, which is probably home to red fungus and definitely home to one Ernest Van Ark.

PETER LYNNE: Oh, despite the fact that you, you know, um, what was it? Oh yes, blew him up with a rocket launcher, Five! That's... [laughs] It's typical! My luck. We get Janine back safe, and oh, who pops up but the devil himself?

AMELIA SPENS: Bakari wants a team to sneak something out of Red Scorpion. Our hope is that it's a red fungus countermeasure. To get there, our team needs to infiltrate New Agadir, a city in the middle of the desert, while posing as Death's Hand, a mercenary group whose greatest hits include assassinating a blue chip CEO using a neurotoxin-tipped knitting needle and overthrowing at least three heads of state.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: This is all so exciting! Proper Mission Impossible stuff!

AMELIA SPENS: Peter, remind me why you brought the new person along. It's Frances, isn't it? From the Hebrides?

FRANCES DEMPSEY: I wanted to try a run. Janine said I could come because it's a low-danger assignment, and because I promised to stop asking to be on the Tunisia team if she let me. I overheard Sam talking about the mission.

AMELIA SPENS: Marvellous. Janine should add “make Sam keep a secret” to her bucket list. [sighs] At least you're not pestering me to let you go. I've already had to veto Jody's involvement. I need her here working with me to train runners on McShell tower protocol.

PETER LYNNE: [laughs] I bet she was thrilled about that.

AMELIA SPENS: Anyway, our problem is getting a team to Tunisia. The information in Bakari's transmission enabled us to contact the Maghreb Protectorate, a government which operates in what used to be parts of Tunisia, Libya, and Algeria.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Another government, that's incredible!

AMELIA SPENS: Yes, well, they're no use to us yet. They have no jurisdiction over New Agadir, and besides, our governments do not yet trust each other enough for them to provide assistance. Our team can't risk crossing Europe - too many unknowns - and our few ships are all either exploring or acting as repeater stations for overseas agents - too far out to be useful.

All we have left are small coastal merchants. I've found one scow captain willing to take people to Tunisia, but he's cautious. He wants the latest nautical charts. Pre-apocalypse, obviously. Not a lot of hydrographic surveys since Z-Day. You're approaching the London home of Horatio Brewer, famous British investor. Should have what we want.

PETER LYNNE: Are we sure about that, Amelia?

AMELIA SPENS: Fairly. Mr. Brewer was a keen yachtsman. Old Ministry intel says he planned to escape Z-Day by sailing to a second home on the Tunisian coast. Had all the prep work done, then his neighborhood turned gray. We think zoms got him, but he was keeping his preparation safe in a basement vault.

PETER LYNNE: Great. So basically, we're looting a dead man's travel plans. Lovely. Um, see that street across the park, Five? That'll be his, so better hurry while it's still light out. Come on, everybody. Run!

[birds twitter]

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Wow, this is a classy street. Look at the mansions. That one's got ivory cherubs carved over the gates.

PETER LYNNE: Neighborhood's in pretty awful condition, though. You've got overgrown gardens, smashed windows. No sign of V-types though, thank God. Dearg made me a prototype one-man burn cube, Five, sewn right into my chest. Anti-P-type measure. Got the trigger, but not massively eager to try it.

AMELIA SPENS: Maybe not, but it's the only reason I'm letting you near Tunisia.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: So Amelia, who exactly are these Death’s Hands people? Will they be tough to impersonate?

PETER LYNNE: Frances...

AMELIA SPENS: Oh, they're a nasty bunch. Former special ops, freelance since Z-Day. Bakari says they've been traveling the world as hired guns. Their rep gets them a lot of private security gigs. He's given us contact details for the real team, so we can lure them out of our operation’s way.

PETER LYNNE: Frankly, I don't think we should be trusting Bakari. This whole thing is probably a trap, which is why, Frances, Janine said that you can't – [zombies moan] Oh, God damn it!

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Uh, isn't that the place we want? Big Georgian house covered in ivy?

PETER LYNNE: Well, Amelia, there's a horde of zoms milling outside Brewer's house, so we can't make it to the entrance.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Well, we could gain entry by the house next door. Look at the big white mansion. Its roof's half collapsed, sloping into the road. We could clamber across it, jump to Brewer's roof, and get in through his attic window.

AMELIA SPENS: You know Peter, I'm warming to the new blood. Quickly then, off you go. I've got the scow captain waiting on tenterhooks. I need this deal closed ASAP. Run!

PETER LYNNE: Amelia, we um, we got in through the attic window, followed a ladder leading deeper into the house. Now we've found a sort of private antique collection? So we're in a carpeted hall full of artifacts in glass cases.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: They've got plaques. That's a Roman bust, Celtic coins, an Egyptian amulet. That's a Carthaginian pot from Tunisia. Shouldn't these be in a museum?

AMELIA SPENS: Ah, well, Mr. Brewer was a rather avid black market trader, made a fortune trafficking plundered historical artifacts. Actually, it might make a good impression if our little expedition returns some stolen goods. Grab the Carthaginian pot, Peter.

PETER LYNNE: Oh, burglary with Amelia, just like old times. So let's see. It's a classic. We've got the pot on the pedestal, so if I just lift its case - [alarm blares] Ah. I honestly didn't think the alarm battery would have lasted this long. Um, Five, grab that pot, would you?

[zombies moan]

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Uh, guys, apparently there are zoms in the house too, coming up the stairs behind Five. Six big ones in dark suits.

PETER LYNNE: Oh, that'll be Brewer's former home security. Alarm's got their attention. Hello! Still on the job, eh, boys?

AMELIA SPENS: Wish I could find staff that dedicated. No need to waste rounds, blueprint says there's a master bedroom down the corridor on your left. Brewer always left a spare key in the lock for his mistress. If you can lure the zombies in, you can trap them there. Run!

FRANCES DEMSPEY: Keep going, Five, there's the door past the amphora vases. God, how big is this house?

AMELIA SPENS: It was originally five smaller houses that were joined together behind a Georgian facade. Brewer felt he needed the space.

[door creaks open, floor creaks]

PETER LYNNE: Amelia, we're in the bedroom. There's a – ooh, four-poster bed, lovely. Uh, photos of Brewer and his family. Nice mustache. It's very Howard Hughesian. Um, Frances, you okay?

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Zombies! I forgot how scary they are up close. Didn't have them on Dearg. I'm actually shaking.

PETER LYNNE: Oh, uh, oh yeah, of course. No no no, um, it's okay, Frances. See, so the key was in the door and um, here's what we're gonna do. We're all going to get behind the bed. This room's really big, so when the zoms come at us, we'll then be able to circle around and lock them all in.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: The house isn't in the best structural condition. There are big cracks in the walls, and that creaking probably means the floor is compromised. If any more bodies start stomping in here -

[zombies growl]

PETER LYNNE: See, there are the zoms and they're... coming straight over the bed, so run for the - ! No, no, no! [shouts]

[floor collapses, glass shatters, PETER and FRANCES cough]

AMELIA SPENS: Peter, Five? What happened?

FRANCES DEMSPEY: The floor gave way under the bed! [coughs] The zoms were too much weight. It just smashed down through the house, took the zoms with it.

[house creaks]

PETER LYNNE: This house is definitely unstable. Yep, uh, sounds like the whole place is coming down.

AMELIA SPENS: If you follow the corridor outside the bedroom, you'll find stairs. Take them down to the basement. It's a reinforced garage, should remain intact if the house collapses. Plus, it's where that vault is. Hurry up, you don't have long to grab those charts, and they're absolutely vital.

PETER LYNNE: Oh, also um, there's a horde of zombies chasing us. Come on, run!

[zombies moan, house creaks]

PETER LYNNE: Yep, there's the stairs, Five. Straight down, down you go.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: The chandeliers overhead are really shaking. Five, look out!

[chandelier falls, glass shatters]

PETER LYNNE: [laughs] That was close! Chandelier smashed right through the stairs. Could have done without the glass shards in my face, to be perfectly honest. Um, edge around the hole it's left in the stairs. [house creaks, zombies moan] Oh, fantastic. Amelia, we just passed the ground floor and I can hear more zombies barging into the house. So that'll be the horde from outside, attracted to all the noise.

AMELIA SPENS: Just keep following the stairs down. There are exits in the basement, but you have to reach the vault first. Run!

PETER LYNNE: Yep, yep, yep. Five, close the door, close the door! [door slams shut] Oh, good. Amelia, we've made it. We're in the basement garage, and the stairwell’s collapsed behind us. Ooh, this is a huge concrete car park. There's tons of fancy cars. There's Bentleys, BMWs... a Model T? All right, just, could you give me a minute, Five? I've just got to pick some chandelier out of my face and eyes.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: That's amazing. Your wounds, the way they're healing. Enhanced cell regeneration? The scientists on Dearg talked about it. [gasps] This is what Van Ark did to you!

PETER LYNNE: Yes, it is. Not really looking forward to meeting him again. Rather pull my kidneys out, honestly. But Janine is not leaving me behind this time. I just got her back and I won't lose her again.

FRANCES DEMSPEY: Dearg was his, you know. I was trapped there for ages. If you're going to a Van Ark lab, I can help. And honestly, I can't stay in Abel. It's funny, when we got security fixed at Dearg, first place I wanted to see was where Alice lived. But being there... a lot of older runners, they look at me, they see her. It's hard.

That's why I really came today. I needed to get out. And I guess I started to feel... if I was going to be her ghost, I might as well run, like she did. I don't want to be a ghost, Peter, and I don't want to go back to Dearg. I want to see the world, find out where I fit in.

AMELIA SPENS: People, you should get moving. That wasn't the only staircase leading to the basement.

PETER LYNNE: Over there, Five, look. It's built into the concrete wall, huge round metal door. That looks like a vault to me. Come on, run!

PETER LYNNE: Amelia, we're at the vault door. Here's the C-4. Do the honors, Five. [explosion] [coughs] Okay. Okay, right. Uh, vault is a big gray room with shelves, lots of shelves. Uh, model yachts, dusty piles of... ooh, gold. Five, Frances, look for those charts.

[paper rustles]

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Hey look, found a massive file on a shelf titled Inventory. It's an index of Brewer’s deals and trade contacts. There's a whole chapter on Tunisia.

PETER LYNNE: [laughs] Gotcha! There's tons of nautical charts on this desk under the sextant. [dragging footsteps] Uh, what was that sound? Five, could you go and check behind the shelf of canned food? [zombie groans] Oh, good. Hello! Amelia, we've found Brewer. Looks like he locked himself in here after he'd been bitten, entombed with his wealth like a rubbish pharaoh.

[laughs] Oh good, we've also got a zombie wife and two zombie children in the shadows. Welcome, everyone. He's taken his whole family down with him. [more zombies growl] And that is going to be the rest of the zombies in the garage. So Five, Frances, we're gonna move towards the door. Need an exit now, Amelia.

AMELIA SPENS: There's a ramp on the west end of the car park, leads up to the surface. The shutters open from inside. Hurry, get the charts to safety, run!

PETER LYNNE: Okay Five, Frances, I think we've lost the zoms. Street looks clear behind us.

AMELIA SPENS: Well, I'd call that a success. Five even kept the Carthaginian pot. Now we've got the charts, I can have people heading to Tunisia in days.

PETER LYNNE: Janine's finalized the team. It's her, me, Five, Sam, Maxine, and uh, computer expert. Look, I-I am sorry Frances, uh, but honestly, you are safer here. We're going a long way from home, and trust me, Van Ark isn't to be taken lightly.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Wait a second, look at this. The folder I took, it's full of photos, Brewer logging artifacts he traded. Look at this Roman mosaic from Tunisia, the symbol in the corner.

PETER LYNNE: That is the endless circle from Mor Island.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: That's not all. Brewer's notes say he sold the mosaic to a military base code-named Red Scorpion in Tunisia before Z-Day. He says the commander of the Red Scorpion base scared him, told him not to record any names. Whatever that place is, it's definitely connected to the fungus, and they've known about it since way before we have.

#zombies run #zrs9 #s9m4 #zr transcript #zrs9 spoilers

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themattress · 3 years

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OUAT AND ME: SEASON 7

Story - The final season's story is the Hyperion Heights Saga, a reboot of the series where another Dark Curse has wiped the memories of characters both old and new, placing them in Hyperion Heights, which is a bustling neighborhood in Seattle as opposed to a peaceful town in Maine. This time, it's the adult Henry Mills who is called upon by his young daughter Lucy to come and be the Savior, doing battle against the corrupt businesswoman Victoria Belfrey, who in actuality is an alternate realm's version of Cinderella's stepmother, Lady Tremaine, while Jacinda, the corresponding version of Cinderella, is Henry's wife and Lucy's mother.

Also, Regina is now a bartender named Roni, Rumple is now a detective named Weaver, and Hook is his partner, a police officer named Rogers. Except that it's not really the Hook we know and love, but the Hook from the Wish Realm who has been de-aged. And he has a teenage daughter named Tilly, actually an alternate version of Alice from Wonderland, because he was raped by that realm's Mother Gothel who disguised herself as Rapunzel. And Gothel is the real mastermind behind the current Dark Curse, which was cast by Lady Tremaine's daughter Drizella, presently known as Ivy Belfrey, while Lady Tremaine is actually the real Rapunzel who wishes to resurrect her favored daughter Anastasia. Gothel also isn't working alone, as she is part of the dangerous Coven of Eight, a group of witches. Their presence also draws in characters like Baron Samdi aka Dr. Facilier, a voodoo witch doctor who shares a history with Cinderella's friend Tiana, currently named Sabine, and Jack, currently going by Nick but whose real name is Hansel, who is a serial killer of those he deems witches. Speaking of witches, Zelena enters the picture eventually as Kelly West, whose daughter Robin / Margot is all grown up and is Alice / Tilly's girlfriend. Alice / Tilly also shares a bond with Rumple / Weaver, who is grieving the loss of Belle and wanting to cleanse his soul of the Darkness so that he can join her in the afterlife, but the only way to do that is to find an entity known as the Guardian who will take on the Darkness in his place, a quest which is complicated by Facilier who wants to become the new Dark One. Things come to a climactic point when Gothel's devastating true intentions are revealed, rooted in her true backstory and identity of Mother Nature, and it's revealed that her Dark Curse actually took everyone back in time and that it's actually not too long after Season 6 ended, with teenage Henry still in Storybrooke while his future self is presently in Hyperion Heights! Alice / Tilly defeats her evil mother and the curse is broken, but then Wish Realm Rumple pops up...

....I'm sorry, did I say that the Savior's Fate Saga was overly convoluted and cluttered with too many subplots and characters? The Hyperion Heights Saga makes it look totally reasonable! Also, say what you will about "The Final Battle" (and there's a lot of negative things to say), but it at least was a conclusion that predominantly featured the main characters we've come to know, love, and fall out of love with. This story is full of entirely new characters, old character that don't feel like their old selves like Regina, Rumple and Henry, or characters that are both old and new at the same time like Wish Hook. And not only do precious few of the new characters work right off the bat in the way the old ones did in their prime, but even the ones who might have get screwed over by Adam and Eddy's ADHD storytelling taken to a whole new level. This story is so dumbfounding that it's often unwatchable, which is the exact opposite quality that the show had back in Season 1.

And that makes it so much worse that THIS is the final season. THIS is the final arc. Adam and Eddy, along with the ABC network, took a needless gamble on a reboot, and it blew up in their faces spectacularly. The OUAT viewership had already gradually shrunk down to a loyal fanbase of 3 million in Seasons 5 and 6, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back, causing even those fans to flee in droves to the point where the show was struggling to even hold on to 2 million of them. The show was cancelled, and it ended on a whimper, not a bang.

Oh, and by that, I mean the show in general, on a metatextual level. This arc itself and the show's story certainly didn't end on a whimper, but what it DID end on....well, I'll hold off on that as long as I can, but let's just say that it's enough to make most people wish that it did.

Characters - Let's just get this over with...

* Henry Mills, who I will hereby be referring to as Adult Henry, is allegedly the main character of this story arc. I say allegedly because the story arc ends up being far more interested in just about everyone but him. His ultimate role in breaking the curse makes him feel far more like an accessory than a Savior, and even in the season / series finale he takes a backseat to other characters that include his own teenage, Wish Realm counterpart! He is also so boring, to the point where he doesn't even resemble the kid we knew in any degree. Jared Gilmore also proves to have been a better fit for Henry than this actor, Andrew J. West, who is way too aware that he's in a fantasy show and delivers his lines with far too much of a smug, tongue-in-cheek, winking-at-the-audience kind of quality, a far cry from Gilmore's sincerity.

* The only characters who might be even less interesting than Adult Henry are his wife, Jacinda / Cinderella, and his daughter Lucy. The actresses are bad and the writing for the characters is even worse, with this new Cinderella lacking none of the original's charm and emotional strength in favor of being a shallow "Strong Female Character(TM)”, and having less chemistry or a believable reason to fall in love with Adult Henry than Violet had with teenage Henry! Lucy, meanwhile, is just a gender-flipped version of child Henry from Season 1, except even less tolerable since child Henry at least had a dynamic relationship with Emma, and the sense that adoptive mother Regina did care for him whereas stepgranny-with-custody Victoria clearly couldn't care less about Lucy. Tellingly, these two characters were such misfires that they were barely featured in the season / series finale. ABC had clearly gotten the feedback from what few viewers were still watching and reacted accordingly.

* Roni / Regina initially is set up as a bartender who is leading the neighborhood resistance against Victoria's plans for gentrification. It doesn't take long for her to remember her true identity, though, and then in flashbacks and the present day we see her go through the same bullshit that's expected of Regina: having troubled relationships with other female magic-users, fighting off temptation to do things the evil way, and obsessing over her son. Things end up getting weird, though, when she inexplicably engages in a sexual relationship with Baron Samdi, and in the climax and finale, she....aaaaaugh, sorry, I'll get to it eventually!

* Weaver / Rumpelstiltskin is a study in ideas and executions not lining up. The idea behind him is solid: following a happy realm-hopping with Belle and Gideon, Rumple is heart-broken after Belle dies. Wanting to join her in death but knowing he won't as long as he's the Dark One, he sets out to find the Guardian who will accept the Darkness being passed on to them, bonding with Alice and her father Wish Hook over the course of his quest. Meanwhile, in the cursed Hyperion Heights, he's a detective who walks a fine line of legality, kept in check by his highly moral partner Officer Rogers and possessing an odd friendship with a street urchin named Tilly who serves as his informant. Robert Carlyle plays Weaver with conviction and there is legitimately good chemistry between him, Colin O'Donoghue and Rose Reynolds.

But in execution, a lot of this falls flat. First off, it's insulting to just forget Rumple's 1 & 1/2 season-long stint as the Darkest Dark One ever happened, which is basically what the show does: writing Rumple as a caring husband and father to the point where he may as well have stayed a hero back in Season 5. Secondly, the Beauty and the Beast aspect that was just one part of Rumple's original multi-faceted character has completely taken over, and I just don't buy that the Rumple of the past would desire to give up his power and die just to reunite with Belle in the afterlife. It's blatant Rumbelle pandering, which is even worse after how unhealthy and abusive that pairing became. It also kind of exposes that both in-universe and out of it, Rumple would have been better off dying in "The Final Battle", and that Carlyle made a huge, Rumple-esque mistake in renegotiating his contract under the justification of doing it for his family. Thirdly, it's just tepid to watch Rumple running around, trying to find the Guardian, and mope about "making his way back to Belle", unwilling to do too many dark things because it risks darkening his soul further...but if he passes all the Darkness on to the Guardian in the end, then wouldn't that mean it doesn't matter if he darkens his soul further beforehand? Finally, Weaver remembers that he's Rumple in just the 4TH EPISODE, and so his cop act isn't nearly as entertaining as it started out as because now it's just that: an act.

He ends up having a fairly good self-sacrificial send-off against his dark self in the finale, made acceptable because the relationships he built with Rogers / Wish Hook and Tilly / Alice are believable, but like I said before, it doesn't make up for dragging him out as a character so long past its natural expiration date back at the end of Season 5. Rest in peace, Rumple. You started out so perfectly and deserved so much better than the derailment you received.

* Rogers / Wish Hook is here out of necessity rather than because it was Adam and Eddy's first choice. You see, they were courting four actors for Season 7: Robert Carlyle, Lana Parilla, Colin O'Donoghue, and Jennifer Morrison. The clear plan was for Rogers to be Hook and for Tilly / Alice to be his and Emma's child. But because Morrison did the right thing in not signing on, and Hook being separated from Emma would make no sense and not go over well with viewers, and so they changed it so that Rogers is actually the old, fat, drunken Hook of the Wish Realm, magically de-aged. His new backstory ends up making what was played as a crass, unfunny joke in Season 6 retroactively sad, as being separated from his daughter by Gothel through a curse placed upon his heart drove him into an alcoholic depression.

This works so much better for the character, his dynamic with Rumple, and Rumple's ultimate sacrifice (the thought of the original Hook having to befriend Rumple and be in his eternal debt makes my stomach turn). It also reflects very well on Killian Jones in general that BOTH versions of him, regardless if one of them never met Emma, ended up putting revenge behind them and becoming fathers and heroic police officers, as opposed to the Wish Realm's Regina and Rumple who remained unrepentant when things didn't go their way. Colin O'Donoghue plays Wish Hook as brilliantly as he does original Hook, managing to make him feel familiar yet unique, and selling the Hell out of his relationship with his daughter.

* Sabine / Tiana of The Princess and the Frog fame is also a regular character now. As Sabine, she's fine and lives up to her source material in being the owner of a food truck, struggling to make ends meet and valuing hard work. But as Tiana, she is a complete butchery. Tiana was NOT a Princess by birth! Making her one and making her arc another tired "learning how to be a good ruler" one is completely missing the character's appeal. And because Sabine ends up remembering her past life, it undermines her own arc when she's used to conclude that rulership arc too, making a speech about belief that's only marginally better than Henry's infamous New York fountain one. In short, she's this season's requisite screwed over regular, and while there have been worse, there have been better too.

* Victoria Belfrey / Lady Tremaine was never a particularly interesting villainess, being stuck in the shadow of both Regina from Season 1 and the far superior version of Lady Tremaine that we just had in Season 6. She only got less effective when we find out that she's not even behind this Dark Curse; her daughter is. And then there's the final, greatest mistake made with the character: they revealed that she is, in fact, her realm's version of Rapunzel. Yes, they turned Rapunzel into the same character as Lady fucking Tremaine! Maybe that sounded like a good idea to them at the time, but it's just stupid beyond belief and comes off as a forced way of tying her in with Gothel more strongly and giving her a sympathetic backstory. Sorry, it didn't work. I felt absolutely nothing for her when she died in the midseason finale, except for relief that she's finally gone. On a show that used to give us such great villains and such great character writing, Rapunzel Tremaine failed as both.

* Ivy Belfrey / Drizella, who in Hyperion Heights is her mother's personal secretary, had the potential to be a different kind of villain that we'd ever really had on the show before: a punch-clock villain who did bad things because it was her job and she wanted to please her mother but otherwise was not a malicious person and was capable of cordial interaction with the heroes. Adelaide Kade sold it perfectly in her performance and I was all set and ready to like this character. But then the show ruins it by revealing that not only does she actually retain her memories from her realm, she's actually the one who cast the Dark Curse and is competing with her mother for the status of Big Bad. All of those cordial interactions with the heroes were fake, it was all manipulation on her part. Aaaaand there went my interest in the character. Adam and Eddy have never learned that twists aren't always good, and sometimes things are far more effective and compelling when they are left exactly as they seem to be. By the time we got to Ivy's "work at redemption, then backslide severely, then be redeemed at the last minute anyway" send-off, I didn't even care. She was such a wasted character.

* Eloise Gardener / Mother Gothel is the true Big Bad of the Hyperion Heights Saga, introduced in episode 3 and making it increasingly obvious that she is the one manipulating events and other villains such as Victoria and Ivy. I will give Gothel this: she is far more repulsive and intimidating than the Black Fairy was in the previous season, and her death at the hands of her own offspring is much more epic as opposed to Fiona's anticlimactic end.

But sometimes there is such thing as being too good at what you do, and Gothel is too good at her brand of villainy to be enjoyable. Keeping Rapunzel locked in a tower isn't enough for this version of the character, now she has to disguise as Rapunzel and rape Wish Hook, then giving birth to their daughter Alice and keeping her locked in the tower. And when her father tries to rescue her, she magically poisons his heart so that he'll die in close proximity to Alice. How callous and casual she is in her manipulations and hurting of people makes her more loathsome than any prior villain, and not in the fun Love To Hate way either. She also ends up having a pathetic last-minute backstory about being a tree nymph who caused the Land Without Magic to lose its magic in the first place after starring in a variation of Stephen King's Carrie that left her people genocided and her vengeful retaliation turned her into...Mother Nature. Yes, Mother Gothel is Mother Nature. What is up the show's combining of characters, something that used to be clever, having turned into something so fucking ridiculous!?

* Kelly West / Zelena enters the story arc at the halfway point. While Rebecca Mader is always a joy to see, this is Zelena's weakest showing in the series by far. She only has two things going on here: mother/daughter angst between her and Robin, and a truly bizarre plotline where she somehow stumbled upon an alternate Hansel, Gretel and their father and did wrong by them, which fuels Hansel's feelings of vengeance in the present day. These kinds of "past sins of a redeemed villain" plotlines were long worn out when they were done in Season 6, and they're especially unbearable now. Also, when you realize that it's only the mainstay villain actors (Parilla, Carlyle, O'Donoghue and Mader) who received significant roles in this final season, you get an uncomfortable picture of where Adam and Eddy's priorities have always lay and get the sense that this season is them completely unchained.

* Baron Samdi / Dr. Facilier is essentially the next Jafar, a good villain played by a good actor (Daniel Francis is practically a British version of Keith David) who is wasted and amounts to nothing in the grand scheme of things. But whereas Jafar suffered from having too little screentime, Facilier suffers from having too much. He's generally fine as Facilier in the flashbacks, but as Baron Samdi in the present day, he gets brought in as a major character in the second half of the arc despite the arc being far too overloaded as it is. He then goes out to be responsible for several of the dumbest plot turns: Ivy's egregious backtracking on her redemption as she tries to kill her sister, Roni getting into a sexual relationship with him, the Candy Killer...all as part of his aim to obtain the Dark One Dagger and become the new Dark One, which never even comes close to happening because, out of nowhere, he is stabbed in the back by Wish Rumple before the two-part finale. I suspect if the show had been renewed for a Season 8, Facilier was meant to be Rumple's replacement since part of Carlyle's contract renegotiation said that he would absolutely be gone after this season. But because that obviously didn't happen, the character just becomes another overcomplication to this arc.

* Because she doesn't remember being Adult Henry's wife, Jacinda gets a new boyfriend in Hyperion Heights named Nick Branson, who is actually Adult Henry's old friend Jack, a version of the lead from Jack and the Beanstalk in a certain realm. That could have worked if they left it at that, but of course Adam and Eddy overcomplicate things: it turns out he isn't really Jack, but actually a version of Hansel from Hansel and Gretel, who became a witch hunter and killer due to a negative (and horribly written) experience he had with Zelena as a teenager. When his memories are restored by Baron Samdi in the present day, Nick becomes the Candy Killer, a serial killer of all whom he suspects of being witches, and he always leaves candy behind at the scene of the crime. He ends up going after Zelena, is defeated and arrested, and then killed by Samdi for failing to accomplish what he was supposed to. His story might just be the stupidest plotline in this entire arc, which is saying something.

* Last but not least are the new characters that don't just actually work, but work beautifully: Tilly / Alice, the daughter of Wish Hook and Gothel through deceptive rape, and Margot / Robin, the daughter of the late Robin Hood and Zelena through deceptive rape. These two are both highly insecure girls who try their best to mask their troubles: Tilly / Alice with whimsical humor and Margot / Robin with combative bravado. But they learn to overcome their issues after meeting each other and becoming friends...and then going beyond that by becoming lovers. Yes, these two are the show's second attempt at a lesbian couple following the disaster that was Ruby and Dorothy, and through some surprisingly good writing, even better acting, and off-the-charts adorable chemistry, it succeeds. Whenever Tilly / Alice and Margot / Robin are sharing the screen together, it feels like a much different, much better show. They are hands down the best part of Season 7; nothing else even comes close.

* Notable side characters include Anastasia, Victoria's younger daughter and Ivy's younger sister who died in the past but gets resurrected in the present; Eudora, who is Sabine / Tiana's mother; Drew / Naveen, who is Sabine / Tiana's love interest; Remy, a local caterer in Hyperion Heights; Captain Ahab, a rival of Wish Hook's who he competes with over ownership of Maui's fish hook, and the Coven of Eight witches that serve under Gothel.

Most of the old cast who are no longer regulars make return appearances in cameo roles, primarily in the finale, but we also get teenage Henry in the 1st and 20th episodes, Emma in the 2nd episode, and Belle in the 4th episode where she passes away. We are also reintroduced to the Wish Realm's versions of Rumple, who serves as the arc and show's Final Boss, and Henry, who uses his Author powers to help Rumple in exchange for exacting revenge on Regina for leaving him orphaned. We also get to see the Wish Realm's versions of Regina, Peter Pan, Cruella De Vil, Ariel, the Blue Fairy and the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Atmosphere - Like Season 6, there is no particular atmosphere to be felt from this show anymore, only a roller coaster of madness. This time it even extends to the finale! At least "The Final Battle" had a distinct atmosphere, even if it wasn't a particularly good one! Hyperion Heights as a setting has a lot to do with this - you would think finally moving on from Storybrooke would be good due to how ruined it had been as a setting at this point, but Hyperion Heights is somehow even more boring! It's supposed to be a neighborhood of a huge city, a city full of normal people in a Land Without Magic, but when it's always just the fairy tale characters running into each other and magical events constantly happening at a far more significant rate than they did in Season 1's Storybrooke, it doesn't feel that way at all.

Episode Quality - I can count the number of easily watchable episodes on two hands. The two-part premiere, "Hyperion Heights" and "A Pirate's Life", the entirety of "The Girl in the Tower" and "The Guardian", select parts of "Breadcrumbs", "Chosen", "Flower Child" and "Is This Henry Mills?", and the majority of the two-part finale prior to its very last act. None of the episodes are close to perfect, but there are decent elements that I appreciate in them.

Everything else, including other parts of some of the episodes listed above, is garbage.

If Season 6's frequent problem was that episodes were bad due to poor plotting, derailed characterization, and a sense of misery being conveyed, this season's frequent problem is that the episodes just HURT to take in and think about. For a show that has increasingly used magic as an excuse for its writing to be as nonsensical as possible, this is the only season where that nonsensical writing became too much for me and many other viewers to bear. Relying so heavily on the Wish Realm in addition to these alternate version realms, plus later adding time travel to the equation, makes the Hyperion Heights Saga nigh-impossible to follow, and with the villains and objectives and stakes constantly changing on a whim, it's practically impossible to get emotionally invested in anyone or anything. The connections between Rumple / Weaver, Wish Hook / Rogers, Alice / Tilly and Robin / Margot are the exception, but ultimately they're just a small part of one large and obnoxiously cluttered canvas. Seasons 2 and 6 combined can't match how incoherent this seasonal story arc is.

And now..........SIGH.......let's talk about that finale and that ending, shall we?

"Homecoming" / "Leaving Storybrooke" initially seems like it's going to be a lot better than Season 5 and Season 6's finales, bringing back the silly but exciting fantasy adventure w/ lots of familiar faces vibe of the Season 3 and Season 4 finales back. It even feels like the kind of thing that should have happened back in Season 5: a two-part series finale that is loosely connected but mostly divorced from the preceding story arc that just wrapped up. But then, toward the end of the first part, we get the revelation of Wish Henry as Wish Rumple's accomplice, and it's all downhill from there. Don't get me wrong, Jared Gilmore is amazing in the role, truly chilling in a way that, when combined with his performance as Pan in Henry's body in Season 3, suggests playing villains is where this young actor's future lies. But his motivation being to seek vengeance on Regina for wronging him makes the outcome of this conflict all too clear if you've been paying attention to this show and its treatment of Regina and her victims, and it instantaneously deflates any excitement you may have been feeling.

The second part only gets worse and worse. Snow and Charming show up just because it's the final episode and proceed to barely do anything, while Adult Henry does even less despite this being the end of what was initially billed as his story. And then Regina faces Wish Henry, and I have to note that the Regina/Henry mother-son relationship already reached extremely uncomfortable levels in the climactic "Is This Henry Mills?" where in Storybrooke she was obsessed with keeping teenage Henry from leaving town while in Hyperion Heights she was given True Love's Kiss by Adult Henry (who looks near the same age as her and did it in more of a romantic way than a familial one) which broke the curse...after attempts at True Love's Kiss on Jacinda and Lucy did not work! I'm sorry, IS this Henry Mills? Or is it Norman Bates!? Anyway, Regina allows herself to be killed by Wish Henry and as a result...he doesn't kill her, instead breaking down crying and calling her "Mom". HUH!? Regina is not remotely Wish Henry's mother! He has no history with her other than her being the one who murdered his grandparents and stole his actual mother, Emma, away! But just because he's a version of Henry, he's obligated to fold and become Regina's good little boy!? Come ON!

Both versions of Rumple die in a very well-done scene ("No more Rumple...?"), but as sweet as it is that our Rumple did it for Wish Hook, the closest thing to a friend he's ever had, I still would have much preferred him to do it for Gideon in "The Final Battle", with Dark Rumple in place of Wish Rumple. Following a long, awkward, tearful soliloquy over his dead body by Regina, we see Rumple reunite with Belle...in Purgatory. Yeah, I'd have preferred to not see if he and Belle reunited at all since it would make his sacrifice more powerful and his words of "You don't do the right thing for a reward, you do it because it's right" more meaningful, at least the usage of a black soundstage with dried ice-induced fog plus the effect of Belle beaming down in a flash of light gives the solid impression that Rumple couldn't make it to Heaven and Belle is just coming to join him in Purgatory, against Adam and Eddy's explicit desires (Eddy was hilariously frantic and displeased when he learned that many viewers took away "Rumple went to Purgatory" from this scene rather than "Rumple went to Heaven".)

AND THEN. For no fucking reason at all, Regina suddenly gets the idea to cast the Dark Curse again, but this time through being given a small piece from the hearts of her loved ones rather than taking the whole heart of the one she loves most. Somehow, this results in all of the realms being merged together in what has got to be a chaotic dystopian nightmare given how different they all are and the fact that nobody in those realms ever gave their consent for their homes to be uprooted. And yet the show treats this as a good thing! All of the confusing at best, horrific at worst implications just flew past Adam and Eddy's heads!

After a passing line about Lily finding her father, Zorro (really!?), Regina is guided to her castle where everyone is gathered. Snow and Charming tell her that she's been "elected" the high queen of all the realms. They give her a coronation, with Emma, Hook and her baby entering late in a forced callback to how Regina entered the show (hey, remember when Emma used to be the main fucking character?), and then Regina is dubbed "the Good Queen", everyone (with Snow and Charming leading the way) bowing down to her, and she proceeds to end the show on a big hope speech played over clips from the show, concluding with "I thought my story came to an end a long time ago, and then new people came into my life...people who gave me a second chance. I can't wait to see what's store for me next." Then a pause before adding "Well, for everyone." And she lived happily ever after. The End.

When I first saw this, I couldn't believe what I was watching. Even now, it still doesn't quite feel real to me. To think that Adam and Eddy would go this far with their abominable worship of Regina, that they would saddle their show with the most preposterous, nonsensical, insulting, bad fanfic-grade Mary Sue resolutions imaginable...I can hardly find the words to describe my feelings on the matter. It is a slap in the face to anyone who bought into the initial premise of the show being Emma's fairy tale, that the ending would center around her and how she's no longer alone and has a large family who loves her, and that regardless of whether she's redeemed or not Regina would face some measure of justice for how badly she affected everyone's lives, especially Snow, Charming and Emma's, who are now giving up the thrones that are rightfully theirs to a freaking usurper, oppressor, and war criminal!

It's also a slap in the face to Regina's original character, where a point was made that being queen and having power and privileges over everyone else wouldn't be her happy ending and that it was something that Cora forced upon her. Remember this particular exchange?

Cora: We’ve been through this. In two days, you’ll be married – you’ll be Queen. After that, you’re free to go – whenever you’re with him.

Regina: Momma, I don’t want to marry the King! I don’t want this life!

Cora: You’re just frightened of having all that power.

Regina: I don’t want power! I want to be free!

Cora: Power is freedom. Don’t worry. I’m here to show you.

And in the end, Cora was right! Regina's happy ending, her greatest freedom, is having all of the power in all of the realms. To not just be a Queen, but THE Queen, a supreme ruler.

How is this shit hopeful to anyone but power-hungry oppressors and abusers? The message it sends is that you can do the worst things imaginable, but still end up with "a second chance" (which is actually not a second chance, but just the latest of many chances you gleefully threw away) and end up with everything you could possibly want in the end, with all of your former victims literally bowing down to you and your greatness? It's the final proof that Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis have no sense of human shame or decency whatsoever. Being poor storytellers isn't the worst of their problems - being downright bad people is.

Overall - Nobody wanted this season, nobody asked for it, and it never should have been greenlit. It is an unhappy ending to a once-magical fairy tale, and it just breaks my heart.

But tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Can my heart possibly be mended? Stay tuned...

#Once Upon a Time #ABC #OUAT and Me #Opinion #Analysis

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askdrizella · 3 years

Text

celebrity au

February 20th to February 27th. URL change for this AU since name is changed.

Ivy Coraline Wells

twenty-eight years old

actress

single

important connections; mother to Olivia Kensley Wells. half sister to Regina Mills and Snow Wells. best friend to Briar Blackwell. baby mama to Booker Kensley.

things will be tagged * celebrity au ;

Ivy Coraline Wells was born to Leopold and Cora Wells entirely fucked up marriage. A power play had been a part of life since she entered the world with a resting bitch face. Mother wanted to run everyone’s lives, father let it happen as it kept the family name pristine with the gossip mongers. Never did Ivy have a say in what she wanted or wished for. Lessons were pre planned, friends were hand picked, clothes always laid out, hair remained the same, smile fake. From a very young age, Ivy was placed in front of the camera due to her photogenic nature bringing in notoriety in a field her family had yet to break into. It was a charmed life to everyone on the outside, but hell on the in.

When teenage years came about, Ivy was finally allowed to attend a private educational establishment to get a shoe in at an ivy league school and that’s when everything began. Everything she had been sheltered from hit full force bringing the teenager all kinds of new experiences. It was in those years the previous held tongue began to lash out. Consequences were always harsh and long but Ivy didn’t care. As long as she was heard! It was also during those years a love for art was discovered, not that she would share that with her family.

Despite the want to veer far from her parents careers, Ivy quickly learned how good she was in front of the camera. A few small roles were taken before landing a leading role in a period piece called Reign. The show lasted several seasons before coming to an end. During filming, Ivy fell in love with the jewelry on set leading to a collection of her own being created. Leopold and Cora approved the moment jewelry began adorning necks of A listers in films, and sometimes on red carpets. It almost soured the experience, but Ivy refused to allow it! Acting is her true passion and jewelry is an escape.

In 2020, a moment of weakness with a pretty face at a party led to a life changing moment. A bit of flirting, a lot of alcohol, and two pink lines later the woman found herself pregnant. Ivy was almost amused knowing mother and father definitely wouldn’t approve of an out of wedlock child. The pregnancy was kept secret until it was impossible to hide any longer. After searching to find the mans phone number, Ivy broke the news to Booker about parenthood. Now, they co-parent a beautiful daughter; Olivia Kensley Wells.

#* celebrity au ;

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drawingsanddrabbles · 5 years

Text

Two Bros, Sitting in the Candlelight

Happy timkon week! So today was free day and I can’t make desicions to save my life, so I had @timdrakeothy help me pick prompts. So today’s prompts were picked from the extra prompts on @timkonweek2019‘s page: Wingfic and Romantic Dinner

ao3

betaed by @breadmould/Tanya on discord (sorry if you have a tumblr and I didn’t link it it wasn’t in your discord description)

~~~

To say Tim was uncomfortable would be an understatement. However, it was really unfortunate that he was, because Jordan was a really nice girl. She was pretty and sweet and funny.

But Tim was moulting, and he couldn't stand the itch anymore.

"'Scuse me, Jordan. I'll be right back, just need to powder my nose." He said and hurried to the bathroom.

Tim made it to the bathroom but unfortunately wasn't able to lock the door. People, there were people everywhere. People who were rich and therefore, knew who he was and God that itching on his back hurt, he wanted to just rub his back up and down on one of the fancily textured walls until his old feathers came out. But he couldn't. He had Tim Drake's reputation to consider.

He'd planned this date with Jordan before he'd been in a battle with Klarion where the asshole had cursed him to grow wings. He'd already cancelled on Jordan more than once due to hero things, so he hadn't cancelled this date. He'd figured that the wings wouldn't be seen and it was a first date anyway, no way Tim's shirt would be coming off. Also, if he'd cancelled Jordan might have thought that Tim wasn't interested, and that wasn't even remotely true.

It was hard enough to find someone to date who actually seemed to like him, much less someone who could distract the media. And ever since Tam and Steph had started dating Tim hadn't had anyone for the rumor mill to latch onto. Jordan didn't mind any of that.

Pretty, funny, smart, and she wasn't scared of the media. Really, what else could a guy want? Well, besides a superhero, but frankly those were hard to find.

So Jordan didn't know about his latest magic mishap, which was all good and well and wouldn't have been a problem had Tim not fought Klarion during moulting season.

At least it wasn't mating season. That would have been a nightmare.

Tim dashed into a stall and unbuttoned his shirt as quickly as he could, trying to reach down to his wings, which flexed when his back muscles did.

No, no, no… come on…. He couldn't reach.

He couldn't rub his back against the stall, there were people here. He couldn't find anything to help him reach, and last time he had scratched his back with a batarang it had… ended badly.

He pulled out his phone. Dick was in Bludhaven and wouldn't be able to get to Metropolis in time, Cass, Bruce, and Damian weren’t even in the country. Duke couldn't get here from Gotham either.

Steph and Tam, however, were both in Metropolis with Tim on the W/E business he was, but might have been busy doing…. what they do together.

Steph, help

Im moulting

Steph

Steph this isnt funny

Steph answer please

Steph clearly still hadn't seen his text. He waited a full minute.

Time for the cavalry. Bart had taken a trip to the future with Wally, which meant: Conner. Tim just hoped that Conner wasn't busy.

Conner help

The response was almost instant. What's up dude?

Im moulting

You're… what?

Dude i just need ur help

Tim's phone started ringing and Tim cut the call.

Im on a date and i need a way out, one that doesnt make me look like a jerk. Eduardos, Peach and Devon

Now please

The itching was becoming unbearable. He'd make it up to Jordan, he would.

He heard a boom and someone outside his stall said: "Must be Superman, I hope everything's alright."

Where are you?

Bathroom.

Come out, ive got an excuse

Eduardo's was a high class establishment. Mainly for business deals, rich people, and romantic dinners. Candles lit the tables, flowers decorated as centerpieces. It was one of those restaurants where any talking was done in hushed voices simply because no one wanted to break the illusion.

Jordan looked beautiful. Tim felt even more guilty as he sat back down. "So," Tim said when he returned, "you were saying about your major?"

"Right!" Jordan hummed. She opened her mouth to continue her story about how she chose Metropolis University for her biotech degree when Ivy was a more prestigious school when there was a commotion outside the restaurant.

"What on earth…?" Jordan asked as Tim turned his head to the entrance as he saw Kon push his way through the waiters and ushers shouting Tim's name.

"Mr Drake-Wayne! Mr. Drake-Wayne, Simmons will be so glad I found you! I know you said you didn't want to be disturbed-" Conner ran up to him, fake-panting. He'd decided to dress up for the occasion it seemed, a loose tie over a button down shirt and slacks that he no doubt stole from Clark's closet. His large glasses were askew on his face. Tim raised a hand to stop the security that was called to escort Kon out. "There's been an issue, you know, with the-" He shot a suspicious look at Jordan and lowered his voice, "-project. I know you want to finish your date but this is… you know."

Tim held in a laugh at how Kon's eyes were sparkling. He was clearly enjoying this too much. "Of course, I'll come right away. Jordan, I sincerely apologize but-"

"No, it's alright Tim. We'll reschedule, I understand."

Tim patting himself for a pen and Kon produced one from somewhere along with a sticky note. "Order whatever you want, I'll pay-"

"Um, Mr. Wayne sir, we don't take… IOUs…" the Matre ‘D said but Tim shoved it into his hand. "My phone number is on there too, I'll pay for whatever her bill is. Excuse me-"

"Sir-!" The Matre ‘D tried to say but Tim was already rushing out of the restaurant with Kon, apologizing to Jordan as he did.

As soon as they made it out of Eduardo's, Kon was giggling. They turned the corner into an alley and Tim slipped off his jacket. "Thank you." He laid his back against the brick and began scratching it against there, not caring what dirt that got on his stupid expensive shirt, sighing as he felt the old feathers begin to losen. He shot an accusing glance at Kon who was grinning stupidly. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Kon was clearly amused. "Moulting, huh?"

"Apparently." Tim grit out as he tried to rub his back a little harder, trying to knock loose some of the feathers. One was sticking him painfully just on the underside of his wings.

"Here," Kon immediately pulled Tim into his arms and took off. Tim didn't hear the boom when they reached high enough in the air but he was sure there was one.

Tim yelped as Kon's TTK pressed against his wings uncomfortably, but within less than a minute they were in Lois and Clark's apartment.

Tim wanted to ask Kon how living with them and Jon was going but he was more distracted by his wings. As soon as Tim touched ground, he ripped off his shirt, buttons flying. Tim looked around for some type of back scratcher or something when he felt Kon's TTK begin ruffling through his feathers, scratching like nails on his skin but soft through the pinfeathers.

Jon's mouth dropped open. "Tim has wings!" He shouted, jumping up from the couch as Tim sagged slightly under the TTK. That felt good.

"Mm, a little to the right-yeah right there." He hummed, going a little weak at the knees because of the relief.

Tim stretched his wings, shaking them slightly and old feathers fell to the floor. Jon gasped as he bent down to pick them up.

"Wow! What happened?" He asked.

"Thanks for now, Kon." Tim said, pushing himself out of Conner's grasp.

"Tim's cursed for-" he turned to Tim, "how long?"

"A month." Tim grumbled.

"To have wings. But why are you… shedding?"

"Moulting. Birds do it to grow in new feathers and get rid of old ones." Tim corrected. "And according to the ornithologist I went to-"

"Bird scientist." Kon whispered to Jon who nodded sagely.

"-this month is moulting time for North American robins."

"Don't robins have red feathers though?" Jon asked, twirling one of Tim's between his fingers.

"Adults and only during mating season. Most of the rest of the year they're spotted." Tim said. "God, I'm starving, you guys have anything to eat?"

"We were just about to order pizza when you texted." Kon said, closing the window behind him. Tim folded his shirt in his hands and bent down to pick up the rest of his feathers from the floor. "Lois and Clark are in Hub this weekend."

"Can you fly?" Jon asked, skipping behind Tim as he went to go sit on the couch. "Do you have any other bird characteristics? If I pull out one of your feathers does it hurt like when you pull out a nose hair or when you break a bone? Not that I would know because I've never broken a bone but Damian says it hurts so-"

"Hey Squirt! What do you want on your pizza? Tim's treat!"

Tim raised an eyebrow at Kon, who sat in the kitchen, leaning against a countertop. The phone against his ear. "Pepperoni and barbeque chicken!" Jon chirped beside Tim.

"My treat?"

"Well, I did just save you in a rather spectacular display of acting, if I do say so myself. I say I deserve payment for my performance. Be lucky I only demand pizza."

"And ice cream!" Jon added.

"And ice cream."

Tim rolled his eyes and dug out his wallet. "Fine. But we get Hawaiian."

Kon glared at him and was probably about to say something about it when the pizza place picked up. "-Yes hello, I'd like to order two large pizzas…One double cheese with mushrooms and the other pepperoni and barbeque chicken." Tim walked over to give Kon his credit card. "Yes, I'm sure I don't want anything else-" Tim punched his arm and Kon laughed, floating out of his reach. "Yes, I've got the credit card right here- Ow! Fine. Three large pizzas, make the third Hawaiian, you freak." The last bit was directed at Tim who made a rude gesture at him and Kon laughed again.

~~~

Jon fell asleep around ten, ice cream sundae half eaten. He snored, face lying on Kon's thigh. Kon's fingers scratched through Tim's feathers as they watched Wendy. Kon had been slowly introducing it to Jon, well the more PG13 aspects, and Jon was just as obsessed as his older brother.

"Right there." Tim said, and Kon's TTK dug into his wings, pulling out the old feather. Kon put it in the small pile accumulating on the table. "Jeez, how much can you shed?"

"Moult." Tim corrected. "And apparently moulting season is about five weeks for robins. I'll have a little bit every day or so."

"I guess that means no more dates with… what's her name?"

"Jordan." Tim mumbled relaxing as the TTK spread out over his shoulders, massaging them some. "Yeah, I guess not. It's really unfortunate. I really liked this one."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, and Eduardo's is like, a three week wait. Even for Waynes." Tim said as he ripped off the crust of his pizza. Kon took it from him and munched on it as Tim ate the rest of it.

"Aw, are you sad because you didn't get a candlelit dinner?" Kon teased.

Tim rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, it's not like I get to relax like that often."

"Ew!" Kon jumped and glanced down at Jon who was drooling onto his pants. Kon poked him hard. "Okay, Jonno. Time for bed."

"No…" Jon whined as his eyes blinked open. "I'm awake! I'm awake!."

"Nope. Come on, I already let you stay up an hour later than Lois does. Brush your teeth and get under the covers. I'm gonna come check in a moment."

Jon whined about it but he sulked off to the bathroom anyway. Kon paused the TV and began cleaning up.

"Hey you want to stay the night? Lois and Clark won't mind." Kon asked as he shoved the empty pizza boxes in the garbage.

"Yeah, I think so," Tim said, toying with his phone.

"What were you even going to do with Jody-?"

"Jordan."

"-Like, you've got wings, dude."

"I wasn't planning on taking off my shirt, dude." Tim said, placing lids back on their containers of half melted ice cream. "It was the first date."

Kon snorted. "Sure you weren't."

Tim rolled his eyes. "Is a nice dinner and a goodnight kiss not enough for you?"

"Sure, but only if I get a walk in the park with it."

Tim stood and walked into the kitchen, tubs of ice cream in each hand. He put them in the freezer. "You're such an ass."

"And you're such a romantic."

"So?" Tim asked. He leaned against the fridge as he watched Kon wrap the stray pieces of pizza in tin foil and put them away for leftovers. "What's wrong with that? I never get anything nice and fairy-tale-like in my real life."

"Being cursed with magic wings isn't fairy-tale-like enough for you?"

Tim rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant. Sometimes it’s just nice to be pampered, you know?"

Kon made a face that Tim couldn't read and shook his head. "I'm going to check on Jon. You can borrow my pajamas. You know where they are. Feel free to shower and stuff if you want."

Tim decided to take a shower. The day had been long, and his feathers felt a little grimy. After a thorough shower and a dry towel (a clump of pin-feathers stuck to the towel as he dried his back, but that seemed to be all of the moulting he had left for the day), he borrowed a pair of Kon’s pajama pants, deciding not to wear a shirt because of the wings and headed back out into the living room.

Kon had a stupid smile on his face. Tim frowned. “What...?” He asked suspiciously.

“I have a surprise for you.”

Tim raised an eyebrow. Kon held out a hand. Tim laughed at him but took it, and Kon flew back out the window and up to the roof. And yeah, the cheesiness made Tim laugh but nothing could have possibly prepared him for what he saw on the roof.

Small electric tea-lights speckled the roof, surrounding a blanket on which soder-floats in wine glasses had been settled.

“What…?” Tim was giggling uncontrollably now. “What is this?”

“Well, you said that you missed having candlelit dinners and relaxing and stuff. I figured, well we already ate dinner but there’s always room for ice cream. And we didn’t have any candles but Clark and Lois had-”

“Oh, Conner you’re such a dork.” Tim laughed, clutching his belly.

Kon grinned at him. “So you like it?”

Tim fell onto the blanket. He looked up at the sky and then rolled over, careful not to upset his drink. “Conner, this is the nicest but dorkiest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

Kon sat next to him, petting his pinfeathers gently. Tim raised an eyebrow at him. “They’re so soft.” Kon said defensively.

Tim snorted. “I think I’m done shedding-”

“Moulting.” Kon corrected with an easy smile.

“-yes, for today. Thank you for everything you did for me tonight.”

“Of course.” Kon said softly. “It’s what bros do. Plus it was fun.”

“Yeah, I guess it was, in a way.” Tim shrugged, sitting up. He and Kon were so close. The electric candlelight flickered shadows across Kon’s face. And maybe it was how late it was, or that Tim was missing out on his date with Jordan, but he bent over and pressed his lips to Kon’s.

And Kon didn’t kiss back. Tim pulled away, startled and flushed. He’d thought-Had he read Kon wrong? Had-?

“Candlelit dinner and a goodnight kiss, huh?” Conner breathed.

Tim blinked.

“Your version of a first date sucks.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because I'd much rather another kiss than a walk in the park,” Kon pulled Tim closer, “but your shirt’s already off, so really, who's version does that make this?” Kon waggled his eyebrows.

Tim rolled his eyes and pushed Kon away, pelting an electric candle at him. He held in a laugh as he said back: “You’re such an ass,” and in return, Kon kissed him again.

#diana writes #diana writes timkon #timkonweek #timkon #timkon week #timkon week 2019 #timkon week: day 4 #two bros sitting in the candlelight

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