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geminimoonbeamx · 2 years

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Reality Bites: Dazed & Confused (1/6)

A/N: First chapter?! Out now?! How? It feels so surreal to finally be sharing this. Ive held this story to my chest for over a year. If you want to(and I highly suggest you do) go give Beans version a read !@allaboardthereadingrailroad, I still cant believe we did this.

Warnings: Cursing. Drug use. Heavy Smut at the end of the chapter. Fingering. Penetration. Pet names. Minors, do not interact.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Plus Sized Reader. Circa Season Three.

Summary: Sam Goody was the perfect job for the summer; inside the shiny new mall, your best friends a co-worker, and free music? What was not to love. That was until Steve Harrington got a job on ground floor at Scoops and flipped your “perfect summer”upside down.

Chapter One: Opening Time Down on Fascination Street

You smoke too much weed.

It’s a sentiment you’ve found yourself reflecting on lots of times. In English class last year when you were so high that you could barely remember the plot of Hamlet. At work, last week at work when a group of beyond annoying freshmen had plowed in; you’d had dozens of records to sort in their wake, and it had all been like a mahjong fever dream.

You'd never been so high that you couldn't function, your adventures in ganja land were all pretty tame- never leaning into psychedelic darkness or any of that other bad trip shit other people talked about.

Until last week.

No. Your brain rejected the memory that desperately tried to peek from behind the curtain of your subconscious.

No. No. You smoke too much weed. You and Bean were stoned.

It was a dog.

A dog that had left a dent the size of a fucking person on your hood. You flinch at the thought. Of both the dog you'd hit, and the damage to your car.

It was a just a stray dog. Or some assholes runaway….

A dog with no fur. Reptilian, and monstrous.

You choke on the memory- or maybe that’s the doobie you’d found under your seat.

When you can string together two breaths; you use the reprieve to reapply lip gloss and wipe your at your eyeliner because priorities. You cant stroll into work looking high, or ugly. Neither were viable options, obviously.

After desperate gulp of the stale sprite that’s been sitting in the cup holder for days, you’re out of the car.

Hopefully the floral-y Chloe that you’d drenched yourself in an hour ago somehow manages to mask the skunk smell that you know tends to cling to the woven fabric of your work Polo.

You pop a piece of gum and slide on a pair of aviators, contingencies.

The parking lot of Star Court is pretty tame- if you consider tame 50 cars deep. Before noon.

Ever since the Mall had opened its doors; they never seemed to close. It had become the place to be, a plethora of never ending activity’s and the residents of Hawkins we’re proverbial deer in the headlights. Or front grills- however you choose to look at it.

You’re just happy you’d scored a spot that wasn't a hike to the mouth of the food court.

Your feet phantom ache just thinking about the evening shift you’d worked a couple days ago.

Parking near the east entrance had it’s perks. The lot was always easier(since everyone wanted to hit JC Pennys and the Theater from the main) on this side.

And if the path happened to take you by a certain Ice Cream parlor, well. That was just an added bonus.

Making a work uniform look good is a feat. One even you don't think you quite clear. Half of your hair is pulled up high, hours of labor keeping it both straight and voluminous, and the sugar pink gloss you don is sparkly in the fluorescent plaza lights.

There’s nothing you can do about the uniform making you look like your body shape is Maytag Double Wide, though.

Your manager is a Nazi who refused to hear any complaints about the heinous sizing of the Polos. It wouldn't really be that expensive to get them tailored.

Ring corporate, call it a company expense.

Whatever, it's temporary. After summer…you'll figure that out come August. You wouldn't be stuck working in a Record shop for the rest of your life. Right?- God maybe you really should stop smoking, or like take a tolerance break because when did you get so paranoid?

Theres one place in the mall that you always get your jollies off; a sugar high and a show is always in store.

Steve Harrington had been Hawkins High’s superstar. There wasn't a sport he didn't play and you’d witnessed him in all of his various Jersey Glory for the four years of public high school-

So seeing him dressed in the fluorescent blue and red striped sailor get up that Scoops Ahoy required of him never failed to fuck your brain.

Aw, how the mighty had fallen. Hard.

You could barely take him seriously on any given day, but when he was wearing a glorified Dollar Mart Halloween costume? Well, if you cracked up every time you looked at him, who could blame you?

He’s standing at the front of the store, surprisingly not surrounded by either girls or his usual group of 8th graders. Both as odd as the other.

His arms are crossed over his chest and he seems to be contemplating something. Are there any thoughts in that pretty head other than what hair gel he should buy next?

When he notices you making your way to the escalator he perks up a bit.

“Good morning, Y/N” He greets with that grin. That charming grin- the panty dropper, so infamously named. You’d never been on the receiving end of it back in school but now he flashes it at you whenever he gets the chance.

You have to say, the sailor hat atop his fluffy head kind of dims its power.

Your traitorous stomach flutters in protests at that statement.

“Mmm, it’s nearly noon but good morning” Being casually uninterested is definitely harder to accomplish then Cosmo makes it out to be. “You seem totally spaced. Did the Junior Varsity squad decide not to come pay you your weekly visit?”

Instead of being offended, as usual, the snark just makes his grin widen. It’s so annoying.

Steve is unshakeable.

Unbotherable.

No matter how bitchy you get, how dismissive and annoyed you appear he just takes it all in stride.

“No, actually that’s scheduled for Wednesday’s, you cheerleaders are always very timely. Guess I gotta thank Coach Ross for those tardy drills”

“For one; Former cheerleader” you interject feeling a little too exposed by his teasing gaze “two; if it isn’t a lack of Pom poms that has you looking like- that. Then what is it?”

“What is what exactly?” He shoots back, the glint in his eyes telling you that he knew exactly what you were talking about.

“You know what, what is” You deadpan, not wanting to play into his game.

“No, please, elaborate”

God. You seriously have to muster every ounce of fucking maturity you have with this guy. It’s always like this when you talk to him. Rapid fire, back and forth. It feels chaotic and borderline childish.

You take a deep breath and force yourself not audibly groan at him.

“Steven, Why do you look like someone ran over your dog” you hope it wasn’t you- the other day. In the woods.

Does Steve even have a dog? Your conversations never last that long.

He chuckles and quirks his mouth, “I’m fine”

One manicured eyebrow raises and you push your sunglasses up into your hairline so that you can really assess him.

He’s kind of a horrible liar.

You’ve learned during the duration of the warm summery months. During the time that both of you had been employed at Starcourt. He was an itch you couldn’t scratch, a pebble in your shoe and some how some way the two of you always ended up bumping into each other.

The universe a pinball machine and you a simple sphere, constantly bumping and clashing into Steve’s presence at every turn. It was jarring. And loud. And you hadn’t quite found the angle or velocity that would keep your path Harrington free.

Eventually you’d get it though.

“Riiiiight. No seriously what happened? Did another kid puke up their Rocky Road- or worse” you mock gasp before going on “did Sally’s run out of Aquanet?”

“You’re a real dick, you know that” Steve shakes his head- not appearing any less amused. His brown eyes interested. Looking at you in a way that they never had before the summer.

It still makes you want to retreat. Head for the fort. Red flags, millions of them, might as well cover him from head to toe.

He shouldn’t look at you like that while calling you a dick.

He should look at you like that at all.

“If you must know- a friend of mine is going away for the summer and it just sucks, okay” He finally admits, the genuine disappointment apparent in his tone.

You open your mouth, to console him. Maybe. Probably.

What comes out instead is a small snort as puzzle pieces interlock in your head.

“Wait, you mean Dustin, huh?”

Dustin, your next door neighbor.

The dorky curly headed thirteen year old boy that seemed to be Steve’s best friend as of late. Steve was at the Henderson’s at least once a week and Dustin and his group of friends were at the Ice Cream shop once a day.

It was kind of cute, in the very weirdest way.

“Yeah, so?” Steve’s trying so hard to be nonchalant and you’re trying so hard not to bust out in laughter. “He’s a cool kid- and he was helping me with college essays, get an early jump on next year is the plan”

His ego can spare the lashing, I mean look at him. You’ll berate him later.

Dustin is a decently cool kid who you knew had gotten teased pretty mercilessly when he was younger for his teeth, or lack there of. You kind of appreciated that Steve was nice to him and didn’t bully him, which for the former jock, was a new theme.

“He’s going to be gone a month. I’m sure you can learn to live without him- and for your essays they’re really not that hard”

“Oh yeah? You breezed through yours, huh?” Steve looks interested, impressed maybe.

Or maybe he’s just bored.

“Yup” you lie. You hadn’t sent one in since before graduation. And even then, procrastination has slammed you sideways. There were no acceptance letters waiting for you.

“Well maybe you could help me with mine? If you had time we could like, meetup. I mean obviously not here. At the mall. Where were both employed-“

How did this guy score the masses of pussy he had, back in high school?

But most importantly, what was he trying to do here? Hanging out, outside of the walls of the mall? What- like a date?

No, your brain supplies. He’d never…

And if he did, it would have to be a part of some kind of joke. King Steve would never be caught asking a fat girl out. Que laughter and thrown tomatoes. Tommy H peeking from behind a puller with a camcorder

“Hard pass” you interject, quick and blunt “But good luck on your essays. See you later, Steve”

And with a very awkward half wave between the two of you, you’re off- the escalator carrying you up and away from the unwanted scenario.

If only you had an escalator for all of your issues.

You’re thinking about that very sentiment later in the day, five hours into your shift and 3/4ths through your sanity.

If you had to clean up after people’s kids one. More. Time. You were going to scream.

“Who brings kids into a record store anyway” You snark, having to put stacks of cassettes back in their proper home “Not to be a bitch, but I really wish forced sterilization was a thing”

Bean chuckles from her place behind the counter. The store had been pretty on and off- a normal Thursday.

“I’m pretty sure you very much do mean to be a bitch”

“I’m pretty sure those motherfuckers should legally not be allowed to have more children” that family of six had destroyed the whole kids aisle.

Another thing you protested. Why should we have to have a kids' aisle? You wanted to collect all the He Man TV Soundtack’s and throw them in the dumpster.

When you’re finished, you meet her behind the counter. It’s technically the two of you guys’ break but we’ll since the store was empty you didn’t see a reason to go navigate the steadily filling mall.

And Bean? Her head was buried in a book, the top of her dark hair visible as her eyes were plastered to the pages. It wasn’t an uncommon sight. Like at all. Bean was a Bonafide Nerd with a capital N and you kind of loved her for it.

What was uncommon though was her particular choice of reading material.

‘The Unidentified and Creatures of the Outer Edge: A Collection of Accounts by Edward J Rupplet’

The title is in bold silver letters. You bite the inside of your lip hard as you gloss over it.

Grabbing Strawberry Banana Orange Julius she had grabbed you on her lunch run, you plop down on the swivel chair behind the counter.

“Doing a little light reading?” You inquire as you stir at the thick smoothie with the straw. Voice strong- void of any of the anxiety you feel about her fascination with the subject.

Or at least you hope it is.

“Did you know that Indiana’s a hub for unidentifiable activity- that in the last fifteen years there’s been a surge in all kind of sightings around the state but especially around Roane County” she chatters a mile a minute.

The way she always does when that brain of hers is working faster then her mouth can.

“No I didn’t know that. Nor did I want to but thanks”

Bean looks up then “You can’t tell me that you still think we hit a dog”

“We did”

“The dent on your hood is the size of TV”

“A Great Dane then”

….”You know the brain does this thing with trauma, like universally, when an event is too traumatic for us to handle the brain process it through-“ Bean starts, slowly, dark eyes meeting yours over the lip of her book.

“The stages of Seven Stages of Grief. Yeah, I know”

“Well did you know that Denial is the first one?”

You give your friend a sharp glare.

“The only thing I’m in denial about is having to fix my fucked up hood. Uncle Elliots making me pay for it all by my self. Its going to be 200 dollars! How bogus is that!”

Bean gives you a look- one that says “I call you out on your bullshit”, without actually calling you out on your bullshit.

And continues to let you play it off.

As a good friend does.

Saturday, Summer 1985

You scan the note held to the fridge with a strawberry magnet.

In the city for the weekend, left money in the office. No take out!

Fix your car, lovey- or else I’ll let Hop write that ticket.

Kisses, Uncle Eliot

Your surgeon of an Uncle is out of town at least once every couple months. Confrences. Conventions- that’s lost to you. He always comes back from Indianapolis cherry as can be- and with gifts so it like, works.

The house is too quiet in his absence. It used to bother you, when you were younger, unacclimated. You don’t mind it anymore, being alone. The silence still sucks. But-

Watching TV at a mind numbing decimal will fix that.

There's a soft chirruping meow as Bowie, your big ragdoll tabby, hops up on the counter beside you.

“It’s me and you, baby. As usual” You kiss his wet little pink nose, and scoop him up, ignoring his indignant squawk as you cradle I’m to your chest, holding him like a newborn you trek down the stairs, ready to turn on something soapy.

It's your own fault that you're doing nothing but rotting away in the house on a perfectly good Saturday night.

Heather had called, inviting you to some afterhours thing they were doing at the pool. She was totally going to get fired if they got caught and her dad was going to rip her a new one- you reminded her of that fact,

But like, all the lifeguards were going. Which meant Billy would be there, so she had to be, too. Duh.

Ugh, you would never get the appeal. Billy Hargrove was so microwaved white trash. Half baked Motley Crue- at least Tommy Lee could actually pull off the mullet. You didn't get the hypefest around him.

“I guess” You try to be supportive, but the level of unimpressed you are is unmaskable.

“You guess? God, what's been up with you lately? This is the last summer before everyone goes off to school! I mean Tracys leaving for ASU in three weeks! This is one of the last times we’ll be able to get the squad together”

She's so excited for the fall, they all are. All of your friends dispersing like confetti around the country for school.

It makes your stomach churn.

Heathers words are sharper than she intended for them to be, and even hours later they are echoing heavily around your head. You can't let them go. Because by the end of the summer Tracy will be in Alabama. And Heather off to Pennsylvania.

Even Bean would be leaving, you comfort yourself with the fact that she’d still technically be in the state but fuck. She’d become something like your best friend since that faithful AP Lit class, and the impending countdown to her departure was ever present. Even if the two of you smoked yourselves silly, as you normally did, it still came up.

Her leaving. You’re staying.

And that damn dog!

Becoming one with the sofa while battling intrusive thoughts is not it.

You need to work through your chores, and honestly, you’d rather deal with shoveling out cat shit then shoveling out the hundreds of dollars that it will take to fix your car.

Both of which Uncle Elliot was expecting to be done by the time he gets home.

You’re shuffling down to the end of the driveway, a heavy trash bag swinging to and through as you bop along down the path. After threatening Bowie, emptily of course, that he was going to live in the garage from here on out, with his stinky ass.

It's hot and sticky; the Indiana summer not loosening its grip anytime soon and the tank top and shorts combo you don does nothing to keep you cool. You love first world amenities, and all you want to do is get back inside before you end up having to take a second shower and or be covered in mosquito bites.

The night is still, like most are in Hawkins. The stars bright and clear, no clouds in sight. The chance of precipitation slim to none, as the weatherman had cheerfully announced on the night time news report.

You try not to be scared, because you're a grown woman. Freshly eighteen, but eighteen nonetheless since the end of May. Grownups aren’t scared to walk down their stupidly long drive way.

Grownups don't get so high that they hallucinate monsters shaped like dogs, and if they do then they're grown up enough to know that it was just a figure of their imagination.

Why did your street have to be so dark? One of the few streetlamps had gone out in February. And still zilch. Shouldn't the city do something about this? Parks & Recs? The Zoning Committee?

You're wondering where exactly your tax dollars go as you lift the lid of the pail, swinging the bag-

It all happens in slow motion, but in the flash of an eye:

There’s a bang from across the street, and well- you’ve been jumpier than usual lately. Unfortunately for you, the curb decides it would like to stomp you. You end up flat on your ass, but not before your kneecap meets rough concrete.

“Mother fucker” You curse loudly, more confused then anything. Your equilibrium thrown off by the sudden fall.

“Oh shit- Y/N, are you okay?” The voice is deep and familiar and oh god. Why you?

What kind of karmic retribution had you been sent on this earth to repay?

And why couldn't the earth open up and swallow you, right now. Right at this very moment?

“Steve?”

Is all you can brilliantly come up with as the jean clad figure comes closer, out of the darkness. He’d dropped- is that a fence panel?- by his car, which was parked in front of the Hendersons.

“Yeah, it’s me. Are you-” His hands are flaying the tiniest bit as he goes to lean down.

“Are you stalking me? What the hell are you doing here?” You cut him off quickly, scooting away a bit, then hissing when your knee stings. Of course youre bleeding, the skinning minimal, but deep enough that crimson rears up.

“Hey, chill out for a second- I’m not stalking you, I was finishing helping Miss Henderson do some cleaning up in her backyard and- you know what, I actually don't need to explain myself to you. What are you doing out here and why did you just use your driveway as a trampoline?” ugh god, why? Driveway as a trampoline? You’ll never recover.

You groan and fight the urge to bury your burning face in your hands. He’s just about the last person you’d ever want to see you literally ass down.

“Y/N? Did you bang your head or something?”

You're examining your bended knee, and no, it’s not bad at all. A little anti-bacterial and you’ll be fine. You need hydrogen peroxide for your soul right now, an ego cleansing, if you will.

“No, just my knee. I’m fine, stop Steve-” You slap his hand away as its extended to you, but he's a persistent little shit and just grabs your forearm instead “I’m fine”

“Cool. You’re fine. Can you not be difficult for like, a nanosecond and let me help you up so we can see if you really hurt yourself or not?”

“I just fell” You insist, because he’s being dramatic and you don't need him to mother hen you. Like ever.

“Yeah, and Robbie Cohen broke his ankle just falling during practice last year. Get up and put some weight on it so we can see if you really hurt yourself or not” he still hasn't let go of your arm and you know he would, if you really pressed the issue.

You should press the issue.

Instead, you sigh and hold your other hand out. Arms held out in a pathetic grabby motion.

The bastard has the nerve to chuckle about it.

You let him pick you up off the ground, and although he’s surprisingly strong, you refuse to allow him to take all of your weight. Absolutely not.

“Do you even know what a nanosecond is?” you insult him once you're standing, feeling defensive as he assesses your bare leg.

“Yeah, like a super second, right?” He’s kidding. Maybe? Before he tells you to step down on your right foot, balancing your weight on both legs. You dont scream out in pain, your knee doesn't buckle. Just like you thought, it's just a scrape. Probably not even deep enough to scar, but there is blood dripping slow down your leg.

“I think you're okay, but you should probably clean it up. I could help, if you need it. I know some gir-people are squeamish when it comes to blood” He catches himself on that girl comment, fumbling through it a bit, but in a weirdly pleasant way.

“My uncles a surgeon” You deadpan.

“Oh yeah, uh, I do remember that. My mom, her gallbladder, surgery you know” He nods, biting the inside of his bottom lip as though thinking pensively “I could still help you…if you wanted me to.”

It was a perfectly good Saturday night that you were wasting…

What it wasn’t supposed to include was Steve Harrington but well?

Universe; pinball machine. You: a tiny sphere at its mercy.

There’s a few sights you never thought you’d see,

Steve Harrington man spread on the round, mustard colored couch in your living room is one of them. It's such an odd sight that your eyes almost can't focus on it.

It’s either that or the glass of wine you're nursing.

There hadn't been much cleaning up to do, for your fucking scrape. But Steve had insisted you sit down at the kitchen table and let him play doctor. Neosporin and all, you’d had to will yourself to sit still as he touched you, finger tips grazing over bare skin.

Its just your knee for fucks sake. Just a knee- you'd repeated like a mantra. Acquaintances touch each others knees all the time. It’s fine. You don't even like Steve. He’s barely even an acquaintance.

You donned a Care Bear Band-Aid for your troubles, and a glass of wine, or two, for your nerves.

You’d been raiding Uncle Elliot’s liquor cabinet for years, and as long as you never finished anything off, he was pretty cool about it. You didn't dare touch the top shelf.

“It’s really 70’s in here, like…a time capsule” Steve observes, his own wine glass mostly empty in his hand. Another refill needed “But not in a bad way”

“Fabulous, right? My uncle still thinks he’s the dancing queen” He sniggers at that, taking another gulp “But he has this weird fear of second stores, so he, uh actually gets new furniture like reupholstered to look older”

“Ah,” Steve confirms “so it runs in the family”

“What runs in the family, asshole?” You turn on the couch, criss-cross applesauce, thick thighs on display because fuck it, there was no point in hiding them from him.

“How particular you are” he makes a broad gesture with his hands. At you. It makes you feel…seen. And you do not like it.

“What do you mean by that?” You glare, eyes focused in on him, his Adam's apple bobs.

“Don't get touchy, I just mean you are really picky. Like hair trigger picky”

“And you know that how? Because were friends?” The laugh you let out is cold, a mimic you’d picked up from Bean “Best friends? Since when? Never.”

“Bullshit, yeah, we aren’t best friends. But were friendly. We had all the same friends in school, we’ve been running in the same circle since we were thirteen”

Now you full on laugh because all of that hair spray he uses has to be affecting his brain. Clogged hair particles must lead to like brainwave malfunction.

“No Steve, we had friends of friends in High School- and any time before that you ran with Tommy H and all those other douche bags. I can assure you, you were not my friend. Like, at all”

You hate talking about it, acknowledging that there was a period of your life, before you’d learned to adapt, where you’d stuck out like a sore thumb. And where Steve and his friends had made you feel that difference. That distance from everyone else.

He’d bullied you, simple as that.

And he knew it.

It’s why at he couldn’t look you in the eye when the subject was brought up, why he palmed the back of his hot neck awkwardly and fisted the stem of the wine glass way too tight.

“Look Y/N, when we were kids. It was all so different and-“

“It’s fine Harrington, just stop” you snort because as much as you love to see him grovel, you can’t bear to hear him apologize. It literally makes you feel like you’re going to be sick, embarrassment makes your mouth water threateningly. “We’re adults now, it’s water under the bridge”

You do not and will not ever accept his pity, or his apologies.

“Yeah, right” he mutters as he takes a swig of his wine- and then looks at it and decides to down it all.

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve been trying to be friends with you all summer. Since I found out you were working at Starcourt, too. It’s nice to have a familiar face around, you know? I don’t- I see the old group, run the rounds. Sometimes. But after I stopped talking to Tommy and we all graduated shit got weird” Steve explains, kind of. In pieces.

He’s the most obvious puzzle.

You don’t say anything because you get it. Shit got weird. That phone call with Heather earlier was weird.

You grab the bottle and top yourself off- Steve let’s you do the same to his glass.

“Shit has indeed gotten weird” you agree, “King Steve, hanging out with little ol’ me. We must be living in an alternate dimension”

He half chokes on his drink. “Stranger things have happened”

“Yeah fucking tell me about it”

“Keep getting me liquored up and you just might get lucky” He. Is. So. Cheesy. Good god.

This can’t be the same Steve that caused a full on riot brawl in the girls locker room.

“How’d you get so much pussy back in school with pick up lines like those?” You’re just on the right side of wine tipsy. The liquor makes you bold, makes you feel sexy and daring.

It also makes you want to kiss, but that part you can ignore.

Steve smiles, obviously entertained “You think I’m trying to pick you up? That’s a little presumptuous of you”

You want to tell him to spell presumptuous.

“Are you telling me you’re not?” You inquire instead.

He could say no. It’s a possibility. Maybe you’ve been reading this whole thing completely wrong. Maybe he’s really just been trying to make amends-

Or maybe he’s been looking down your top for the last half hour. You can’t say you blame him, the low cut coral tank top did make your tits look grade A.

Steve bites his lips a lot, when he’s nervous. When he’s turned on. Bright and cherry red and distracting.

“If I say yes are you gonna be a dick to me about it?”

You giggle, roll your eyes and scoot closer, leaning on your arms, your cleavage artfully on full display. “Probably”

“Then no, I’m not trying to pick you up” Steve protests, weakly. His gaze flicking fast between your face and your chest

Oh. He can not be this easy.

“My mistake” you shrug feigning casual. Well you hope. “I must’ve read the signals wrong”

You both know that was not the case.

The room is charged now, the energy thick and electric. Steve’s eyes haven’t left yours, fawn brown and searching. Like he’s trying to find a crack, some way in.

“You’ve really got this whole hot and cold thing down pat, hmm? On my break the other day you literally slammed your car door in my face-“

“You’re exaggerating”

“And now you’re being kinda slutty for me, Y/L/N” Steve informs you and it should not make your stomach lurch the way it does.

“I am not!” You protest, hating that word. Hating the way he’d said it. Hating the fact that you really, really want to jump his fucking bones.

“You are- it’s okay. I dig it. I know you can’t resist the Steve. Most women can’t” the words coupled with the tone on his voice sends you into a fit of laughter.

You can’t stand him, really. He’s so corny. He’s so annoying.

He is the worst most charming jerk you’ve ever met. The wine just makes it more apparent.

“For one you date girls not women Steve, shut up. And two, you said it yourself, you’re not trying to pick me up so it doesn’t really mat-“

You see it coming from a mile away.

All guys get that look, that really intense, almost scary one.

The one that means one thing.

Steve doesn’t lean in slow, doesn’t lead you into it at a snail's pace. One second he’s watching your lips move and in the next he’s abruptly covering them with his own.

Stealing the words from your mouth and the air from your lungs.

Your world tilts sideways.

It would be a bold face lie, to say you’d never imagined kissing Steve. Everyone in Hawkins has had fantasies about kissing Steve Harrington at least once.

The reality of it felt weightless and far away, down at the bottom of the discarded wine bottle on the coffee table.

He tastes warm, liquor sharp and flesh sweet, as you suck at his bottom lip.

Steve kisses like he’d played sports, confident of himself. Practiced almost, and yeah you bet he has had practice. Tons of it, His hands aren’t as sure as his mouth though, your body new. Uncharted territory. They hesitantly rest on your leg as he leans over you, inching upwards towards your chubby waist.

You bite his lip, hard, harder than you meant to when his hands get a little too close to going under your shirt.

He hisses, pulling away, tongue flicking over his bottom lip “No?”

“You first” you insist,

“Yeah?”

Your chest is pounding, blood rising in your ears and making it hard to think. You still know one thing though, you’re not showing him your body, yet. You’re not going to be vulnerable, first. “Yeah”

He just nods, yanking off his gray t-shirt, before leaning back down and kissing you until you’re dizzy, your fingers threaded in his thick hair, his thin hips snug between your thighs. It's humid between the two of you as your hands wander, cling, grope.

Every breath you take is of Steve and it’s stifling.

You whine, small and shakily as you pull away- the sound turning into a wet gasp as he kisses your face; nose, cheek, soft jaw and lands on your neck. Fingernails, Barbie pink, dig into his shoulder blades, all bare freckled skin when he mouths the tender skin, his teeth at play in a way that could make your eyes cross.

“Steve” you moan, as his mouth goes for your chest, you tugging at his hair not derailing him from completely ruining your tank top, wet with spit as he suckles on your clothed nipples single mindedly.

Can he not feel that you guys are about to lose your balance?

“Steve! Stop for a sec We’re about to fall, jackass” you warn him and he huffs, right into your cleavage before straightening up on his knees, both of you maneuvering for purchase on the couch. The tent in his jeans glaringly apparent.

“Wanna take this to your room?” He offers and really it’s smart. Your bed would be easier…

That also feels a lot more intimate and you can’t remember what you’d left out in your room. What hidden secrets were just chilling, waiting to be found.

“MmMhmm, I want to stay right here” you tell him, your hand tracing down his chest in what you think is a distracting manner. Steve nods, obviously game for whatever you’re willing to give.

“Wait” you still him with that same hand when he begins to lean back down.

He’s so…nice about it. Doesn’t protest when you say wait even though he looks like there’s nothing he wants to do less then stop. He doesn’t make you feel shitty or pressured, at least not in this moment. It’s weird. But you appreciate it.

You reach down to grab the ends of your top and wiggle yourself out of it, Steve helping when he realizes you’re going to have a little trouble getting it off while underneath him.

It’s scary, always, letting someone see you. A nervous, semi manic giggle trapped in your throat as he looks you over in the dim yellowish lighting emitting the standing lamp in the corner. You should’ve turned it off. You should get up and turn it the fuck off-

“Damn” he whispers, even though it’s just you two and an empty house.

The giggle breaks break free, your boobs giving a very gratuitous jiggle that has him making a sound, a throaty one as he buries his head between them.

“You enjoying yourself, Harrington?”

“Very much” he doesn’t pull up to reply.

You know the kinds of girls he’s dated- you don’t look like Cheryl or Laurie, and you sure as shit doesn’t look like Nancy Wheeler- but Steve doesn’t seem to mind. If anything he’s having a fucking hay day right now, his mouth and hands digging into your flesh.

You’re so soft all over, he can’t help but squeeze.

It’s a little blurry after that. From the wine and the hormones both. He pulls your shorts and panties off in one go- there goes his jeans. Flesh on flesh, so much friction it feels like it might start throwing sparks.

You’re shaking, pinned down underneath him with three of his long fingers buried inside of you when you’re able to put words to thought.

“Condom” you demand, voice going high as his hand pistons between your legs, his finger tips curling in a way that has you both arching towards him and shifting away from him because holy fuck that hurts so good.

“I don’t- shit, I think I have one in my car. You don’t have any?” His hand stills and you try to catch your breath, wracking your brain for something right now, which is pretty fucking hard with Steve knuckle deep.

You've got nothing. You hadn’t hooked up with anyone since before graduation.

“I don’t…” you whisper, shaking your head, bottom lip pursed.

His fingers slip from you with a squelch that isn’t as sexy when your moans aren’t an octave higher. And he huffs, exaggeratedly, before pecking you and hopping off the couch.

Its a- sight. Butt naked, dick bobbing. He's such a beanpole, but he’s hand to god hung down to his knee. Biting your cheek you try to determine whether you think that's hot or hilarious. A bit of both.

“You’re lucky you’re so fucking cute” Steve grumbles as he shimmy’s clumsily into his jeans, and only his jeans.

“You’re lucky I’m so cute!” You holler after him as he all but jogs up the stairs and out the front door, a man on a mission.

Its a quick interlude- not even a full two minutes but it gives you enough time to run to the lamp. The shroud of darkness comforting, easing the awkwardness that was steadily building. With Steve out of the house and you left inside, naked, you're really starting to reevaluate things.

Yanking a throw blanket from the armchair, you wrap yourself in it before plopping back down on the sofa.

Steve Harrington is outside getting a condom.

Oh my god, is this real life?

You wish you could call Bean.

Your brain’s going a mile a minute as you stare at the dark ceiling when you hear the front door open.

It’s dark, but not pitch. Your eyes have adjusted enough that you can see him, bare chested a little out of breath because of what must have been a sprint to his BMW.

“Ow, fuck- Y/N?” Steve stumbles over a piece of furniture with a clatter, not familiar with your home’s lay.

“Come here before you break something” you urge, reaching out and tugging on him once your fingers link.

“What, like my head?” His knees hit the couch and he's going for his fly.

“No, something more valuable. Like a vase” it should sound more malicious, on any other given day it would, but right now you just can't muster it. Not when he’s taking off his jeans, not when he's back to hovering over you. How are his eyes more intense in the dark?

“You okay?” He asks, like he cares. Your chest pulls something tight, an artery block or something. Maybe your uncle was right about eating pizza.

You nod fast, humming a sound of agreement.

Steves gently as he pries the throw blanket away from your body “Yeah, you sure? About this?”

“I’m sure- i-if you are, I mean” fuck, its so uncomfortable. These moments before always are.

“I'm sure” his voice is so much steadier than yours. Asshole. You yank him down, hard, by the back of the neck.

Its lips and tongue then, teeth and shivering flesh. The furnace between the two of you cranked back up to a hundred as you perch your knees high around his waist, as he settles back into making you squirm, hooking you on the ends of his fingers, and then quickly switching to fast strokes of your clit until you- oh fuck you’re not going to, are you?

You come with a shocked whine, your core clenching something piercing and good and holy fuck you can barely believe it.

Most men can't even find your clit, much less make you come. It’s always a fumbling experience, where you end up getting yourself off for them. The fact that Steve had gotten it, on his own, on the first go?

This can not be real.

“You good, baby? That feel good?” He mutters in your ear.

Baby? What is life? Like seriously, what is this?

You feel shaky and out of it now, and if you grab his free hand and make him hold yours, you’ll blame it on the endorphins later. You need a tether.

“Y-yeah, fuck, are you going to put on that condom or not?” he thinks its funny, the way you can barley talk but still manage to be a smartass. You think it's annoying, how fondly he's looking at you.

You have to get that look off of his face, kissing him’s a good of method as any.

Steve’s still a teenage boy, one who can make you come, but still. Nineteen. He jabs in a little too hard, hits an angle inside of you that makes you gasp with pain, that makes the two of your bodies go into limbo, a hard attempt at figuring out just how you fit together,

“There?”

“A little to the left, yeah”

“There?” he asks again and you can't stop grinning because maybe he's not good at everything. Maybe King Steve isn't the pussy pleaser everyone thought him to be,

He gains his bearings then, straightening out and thrusting just right as his hand goes back between your still throbbing legs, tracing where your bodies meet and the almost inhumane sound that tears itself from your throat cant even begin to cover how fucking. Good. It. Feels. So. Good.

You didn’t expect to spend your perfectly good, Saturday night hanging off Steve Harrington's dick. But you can't say you regret it, not when he's moaning your name in your ear.

Come Monday morning, you make your usual trek to work, through the parking lot and the food court.

You don't stop when the neon sign of Scoops Ahoy comes into view. When Steve gives you a hopeful grin from behind the ice cream counter.

It’s easy to pretend you don't see it and continue on up to Sam’s, the escalator your forever savior.

You're good at pretending.

Hope you enjoyed this monster of an intro chapter! Taglist is Open! But please be ready to leave some feedback if you’d like a tag.

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x plus #steve harrington x you #steve harrington #steve harrington imagines

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genshin-impact-writings · 3 years

Note

May I request a songfic for Wicked Game for Childe x reader? Like, he's in love with the reader but he keeps pushing them away because he feels like it makes him weak etc. Can have a sad or happy ending, whichever you prefer! ❤️

I'm so, so sorry for the long wait, dear! But I couldn't decide where I wanted to go with this, so I kept working on other requests but it's finally done. I really hope you're still interested in this and like what I came up with. I decided to write a more happy ending because I wasn't in the mood for making it angsty, hope you don't mind that. Anyway, have fun reading and take care! <3

Btw, I listened to this version of the song while I was working on this.

Wicked Game – Tartaglia/Childe x gn!reader

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you It's strange what desire will make foolish people do I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you

The day he had met you was one he would never forget. With nothing more than a single glance and a soft smile you somehow had flipped his whole world upside down, a world he had carefully constructed around himself when he became the Eleventh of the Fatui Harbingers. It was almost funny, really. No one had ever managed to throw him for a loop, not even the strongest enemies he had to face on the battlefield – until he had stumbled upon you on that fateful day in Liyue Harbor. Suddenly, nothing he knew before seemed to make sense anymore. And after a few seconds of staring at you, he realized that he was irretrievably lost.

Lost in the way you smiled at him and the other customers that came to the small tea shop you worked at. Lost in the way your pretty eyes gleamed in the pale light of the moon when he saw you after dark. Lost in the warmth and comfort he always felt when you were around.

And as the time progressed and weeks and months went by, Tartaglia understood that it was more than just a crush. He was so in love with you that it almost hurt him physically.

And yet, he knew that he couldn’t allow himself to feel like that. For someone like him, it was dangerous to care about someone, not only because his enemies would never miss an opportunity to hurt him by hurting the ones he loved but also because feelings like these were nothing more than a distraction, a hindrance that kept him from completely focusing on his missions. Tartaglia couldn’t afford messing up, not when he didn’t want to disappoint the Tsaritsa. After all, he had sworn an oath, an oath to always put her and her interests first, and he couldn’t do that when someone – when you were all he could think of. You were the first person who crossed his mind as soon as he woke up and the last one he saw before drifting off to sleep in the evening. It was wonderful and terrible at the same time, and yet, there was nothing he could do to stop himself from falling deeper in love with you.

It would be smart to avoid you, hoping that these feelings would disappear someday but still, he found himself visiting the little tea shop you worked at every day. It was embarrassing, really, given the fact that he knew absolutely nothing about tea but instead of listening to you as you explained the tea varieties and different ways of preparation, he kept staring at you, taking in your beauty and indulging in the warm, fuzzy feeling that always welled up inside him when the two of you crossed paths.

And the fact that you seemed to like him too didn’t make things easier. It was so hard to pretend that he didn’t care for you, to push you away over and over again, but for the sake of your safety – and to protect his stupid, foolish heart from shattering into a million pieces – he needed to keep you at distance. He needed to be strong, not only for his homeland but also for you – he needed to protect you from himself and from the things he did in the past and would do in the future.

Even if it meant that he would end up alone again.

Even if it meant that he had to break your heart.

No, I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart) No, I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart) With you With you

Tartaglia had started avoiding you one and a half weeks ago, not visiting the tea shop once and heading into the opposite direction as soon as he saw you on the streets, and still his heart started to beat faster when he thought about you or heard someone mention your name. He hated to act like this; he hated to hurt your feelings but what else could he do? You’d be better off without him, as well as he’d be better off without these distracting feelings.

At least, that was what he tried to tell himself.

And it worked surprisingly well – until he bumped into you on your way to work that morning. He hadn’t noticed you at first, or else he would’ve chosen another way to get to Northland Bank, but now it was too late to turn around and leave.

“I’m sorry,” he said, carefully avoiding your gaze as he helped you picking up your belongings that you had dropped. “I didn’t see you.”

Your lips curled into a soft smile. “It’s no big deal,” you replied. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you at the shop for a while.”

“Oh, about that…” He didn’t finish his sentence. It had been foolish to believe that you wouldn’t notice it. One time, you had even called out his name when you saw him near the shop, only to see him fobbing you off with a brief wave of his hand before turning around and leaving without giving you another glance. “Well…”

“You’re probably bored by my rambling about tea, huh?” you guessed, still smiling at him like you were really glad to see him again. “Don’t worry, I’m not offended if you are.”

“No, that’s not – that’s not the case.”

Your eyes were twinkling in amusement, and before he could look away again, he suddenly found himself staring into your eyes, his stupid heart skipping a beat as your smile grew wider. “That’s good to know,” you said softly. “But I was thinking… maybe we could meet up later, I mean, when – when the shop’s closed. You know, like-“

“Like a date,” he finished your sentence, his mouth suddenly so dry that he barely managed to get the words out. No, no, no, this couldn’t be true. How was he supposed to reject you when you asked him for a date, looking at him with his hopeful expression in your eyes? Just how?

“If you don’t want to that’s fine, too,” you mumbled, your cheeks heating up in embarrassment. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

Tartaglia chuckled. “If I don’t want to?” he repeated and shook his head in disbelief. “Oh, (Y/N), I’d love to go out with you.” The words were out before he could stop himself. He knew that it wasn’t right, that he should take it back right now but as soon as he saw the genuine happiness in your eyes, he knew that there was no way back. And, if he was completely honest for a second, he didn’t want that anyways.

“I’ll pick you up at your house at – um, let’s say, tomorrow at 8?”

“Perfect.”

What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you

He didn’t show up.

Once again, you darted a nervous glance at the clock above the table, probably for the millionth time today. It was already half past 9 and Tartaglia was nowhere to be seen. An hour ago, you had tried to calm yourself down by telling yourself that he would be here any second now, that he was held up by someone or something but now, it was hard to think positive.

With a quiet sigh, you plunked yourself down on the couch. Tartaglia had stood you up, and it was stupid to deceive yourself by trying to tell you otherwise. He obviously had no interest in going out with you, it was easy as that. Perhaps he had only agreed in the first place because he didn’t know how to tell you No, or maybe he had fun going around and making others feel absolutely miserable.

You didn’t know, and you didn’t care.

No, that was actually a lie. You cared. You wanted to know what was wrong, why he wasn’t here with you right now and why he had started to act like you weren’t even friends anymore about two weeks ago. Overnight, he had changed his behavior completely, starting with not visiting the tea shop anymore through to blatantly ignoring you whenever your paths crossed. But no matter how hard you tried to make sense of it, you simply didn’t understand it.

And the fact that he invited you on a date, only to stand you up, confused you even more. His behavior made no sense at all, whichever way you looked at it.

You sighed again. In the beginning, your relationship had been so easy. You never had any trouble understanding him and you had always assumed that he liked to spend time with you. Heck, for a while you had even thought that he returned the feelings you had for him.

But apparently, he didn’t.

You buried your face in your hands, trying to fight back the tears that were welling up in your eyes. What kind of game was he playing? Did he even realize how much his behavior hurt you?

And I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart) No, I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart) With you

“You! Stop right there!”

Tartaglia froze as he heard your angry voice. For a brief moment, he considered acting like he hadn’t heard you and just walk on by but deep down, he knew that he owed you an apology and an explanation why he hadn’t shown up to your date almost one week ago. The truth was that he really had wanted to go out with you – but at the same time, he had seen the opportunity to make you hate him by standing you up which would hopefully help him to get over you.

So much for that, he thought to himself as he slowly turned around to you. You were staring at him, your eyes filled with pent-up anger. “I was convinced you’d ignore me again,” you said, arms akimbo. “But it seems you’ve finally gathered the courage to talk to me after you skipped out on me last week.”

“Yeah, about that-“

“Stop,” you interrupted him. “I don’t want to hear your half-assed apologies. I just want you to listen to what I have to say.”

He pressed his lips together and nodded. In all this time he had never seen you so angry and it was obvious that you were about to release a tirade but he knew very well that he deserved it. He deserved that you didn’t even give him the change to explain himself.

You huffed at the contrite expression on his face. “I’m not going to fall for that,” you warned him. “So don’t even try.”

Tartaglia nodded again, still not saying anything, just as you had told him.

“Great. Listen, I really don’t want to steal your precious time,” you replied in an undertone of utter sarcasm, “I just want to understand what’s going on. We’re friends, aren’t we? Damn, my silly self even thought that we could be more than that for a second but that’s not – that’s not the point now. I only want to know why you treat me like I am not in the least important to you all of a sudden.”

When he didn’t reply anything, you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “Hello? Haven’t you got a tongue in your head?”

“I don’t know what you want to hear, (Y/N).”

“The truth, Tartaglia,” you stated simply. “I don’t need any apologies or justifications. Just the truth.”

Tartaglia shook his head. There was no way he could tell you the truth because then, he’d have to explain why he was so afraid of falling love, why he was so afraid of being weak. This was none of your business; it was his burden, not yours. You shouldn’t even worry about things like that; you should be in your shop, happily smiling at customers instead of wasting your time with someone like him.

“I can’t do this anymore,” you said when the silence between the two of you became unbearable, your voice shaking ever so slightly. “If you don’t want to be with me, just tell me. I can take it. But stop acting like you care, only to ignore me the day after! Stop pushing me around like that.”

Tartaglia was painfully aware of the fact that you were on the verge of tears. Everything about your posture told him that you were about to lose your composure, and yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say something. He knew that he had treated you like garbage, that he had hurt your feelings over and over again but what was he supposed to do now? There was nothing he could do, nothing he could say to turn back time and wipe the slate clean.

“I’m sorry,” he finally whispered, completely helpless, while you stood there with hanging shoulders as tears started to stream down your beautiful face. “I’m so sorry.”

“I should’ve known better,” you sobbed. “I should’ve known better than to fall in love with someone like you!”

In that moment, he felt his protective instinct kick in. It didn’t matter that he had promised himself to stay away from you or that he was the reason for your tears. All he wanted now was to comfort you, to reassure you that everything would be fine again.

In an instant, he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to his body, his hands gently caressing your back as you buried your face in his chest. “Don’t cry,” he mumbled, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. “Please, darling, don’t cry.”

He held you close, uttering apology after apology and patiently waiting for you to calm down. When you finally pulled away, your eyes were puffy and red-rimmed. Your lower lip was trembling, almost as if you were trying to fight back even more tears. “I hate you.”

“I know,” Tartaglia replied softly and reached out to brush a strand of hair from your forehead. “I deserve that.”

“I don’t really hate you,” you whispered.

“I know,” he repeated and cupped your face with both hands, gently wiping away the tears on your cheeks before he leaned in and brushed his lips against yours in a soft, almost chaste kiss. It didn’t last long, and yet it was enough to make him realize that being in love with you didn’t make him weak. It made him strong.

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.

#tartaglia x reader #childe x reader #genshin x reader #childe genshin x reader #tartaglia genshin imagine #genshin impact x reader #genshin imagines #gn!reader #gender neutral reader #tartaglia x gn!reader #childe x gn!reader #reader insert #songfic

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criminalmindzjunkie · 3 years

Text

The Reward of Suffering (Part Six)

previous chapter

Summary: Spencer comes face to face with a ghost from the past.

A/N: Hey... how y’all doin? Long time no see, huh? Sorry about that - hopefully this extra long update will make up for my absence. This has definitely been my favorite part thus far, and I had so much fun writing it. I hope you guys enjoy reading it. You guys know the drill by now: SPOILERS for season 12. Also, shoutout to @zhuzhubii for posting the absolute best set of gifs right in time for this update - you’re the coolest.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader

Warnings: cursing, mentions of death, mentions of rape, mentions of mental illness, kidnapping, choking

Word Count: 10.3k

With every clack of my heels on the concrete floors, the nervous feeling in my gut grows into full blown nausea. It’s been nearly two months since I last walked these halls, but somehow it feels like a lifetime has passed. Considering everything that transpired in the last forty-eight hours, it makes sense that I feel that way.

I hadn’t been on the team when Lindsey Vaughn first came into the picture ten years ago, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t familiar. At the time, I thought nothing of the kind neighbor that I sometimes passed in the stairwell on my way to Spencer’s apartment. I mean, why would I? I had no reason to be suspicious. Our interactions never went beyond the usual pleasantries – polite smiles and the occasional greeting – and I never gave her a second thought.

Maybe if I had, Cassie wouldn’t be dead, and Spencer’s mother wouldn’t be missing.

I shake my head at the thought. Now isn’t the time to ruminate on what ifs. I would have plenty of time to blame myself when all of this is over. Instead of torturing myself, I focus on trying to steady my breathing as I come to a stop just before I reach the interview room of the Milburn Correctional Facility.

I know what lies beyond that door, and I’m equal parts excited and worried. Excited, because I’d finally be able to see Spencer after two long months of daydreaming about when I’d finally hold him in my arms again. Of course, it was very possible that Spencer wouldn’t want to see me. After all, I promised to keep his mother safe, and instead of doing that, I let myself get swept up in moving in to my apartment, and now Diana was God knows where.

I was so sure that he wouldn’t want to see me that I’d initially suggested that Emily be the one to go to the prison and get him. My idea was met with a sad smile and a pat on the shoulder.

“I think that if it was anyone but you standing there when they open that door, it’d break his heart.”

Her reassurances did little to assuage my nerves. I spent the entire ride here running over every possible scenario that I could imagine, scrambling to form some kind of game plan. But now that I was here, any semblance of preparedness left me the second the guard reached for the door handle.

“You ready, ma’am?”

Yes.

No.

I don’t trust my voice, so I settle on nodding my head. The door opens with a groan, rusty hinges creaking in protest, and with shaky legs and a heart that threatens to beat out of my chest, I step into the doorway.

It’s like the world stops turning on its axis when his eyes meet mine. Those familiar pools of caramel stare back at me with such an intensity that I force myself to look away, petrified at the prospect of seeing disappointment in them.

I trail my eyes over his frame, drinking in every inch of him - every bruise and every scrape feeling like a dagger to my heart. My eyes linger on the bandage adorning his left arm, before trailing down to the one on his leg. Emily had warned me about happened, about Spencer injuring himself in order to secure his safety. It was smart of him - that I knew - but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t horrified.

His hair has gotten longer, and his curls hang limply around his face. The usually clean-shaven Spencer I once knew was a thing of the past - replaced now by a more disheveled, scruffier version.

Clean-shaven or not, he still looks just as breathtaking as always.

I hesitantly raise my eyes up to his again. He’s staring at me still, mouth parted in shock. He doesn’t look angry, just confused, and that fills me with a tiny sliver of hope.

“Hi, Spence,” I murmur, voice thick with emotion. It’s not until I speak that I realize I’m crying, and I hastily wipe at my cheeks with my shirtsleeve.

The dazed look in Spencer’s eyes washes away when he hears my voice and he blinks hard.

“What… H-How are you…?” he trails off, eyes moving up and down my body.

It feels so fucking good to hear his voice again, and I find myself unable to hold back a sob.

“M’ here to take you home,” I choke out.

It’s like all the tension in Spencer’s body is expelled at once and his shoulders slump in relief. I open my mouth to elaborate, to explain how Emily had managed to pull this off, but I’m stunned into silence when Spencer’s body collides with mine. I hadn’t even had time to process that he was moving before his arms snake around me, tugging me forward until there’s no space in between our bodies. Spencer’s hands collect fistfuls of my shirt, clinging desperately to the fabric as he nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck.

Once I get over the initial shock, I’m hugging him back, arms locked around his torso in a vicelike grip. He doesn’t smell the same – the usual fragrance of cinnamon and vanilla is long gone, replaced with that of some generic detergent – but the way his broad shoulders feel underneath my palms is something so familiar that I can’t help but smile against his chest.

This is still my Spencer.

Spencer lets out a shaky breath against my skin and I let out an involuntary shudder at the feeling.

“Missed you so fucking much,” Spencer whispers. “I-I can’t believe you’re here. Thought I was imagining it.” Spencer takes a shaky breath in, nuzzling further into my neck. His next words are muffled from the way his lips press against my skin, but I’m still able to make out the quiet ‘I’m sorry’.

“You’re sorry?” I hiccup, eyebrows scrunching up in disbelief. I attempt to pull away so that I can look at him, but Spencer only tightens his grip on me. Something about it makes my chest feel incredibly warm, but I push that feeling aside for now. “I’m the one that’s sorry. I should’ve done more – I should’ve visited more often. I let myself get busy, and if I’d just been more careful, then your m-mom… she wouldn’t be-”

“Stop that,” Spencer interrupts, and this time he’s the one that pulls away. He holds me at arm’s length and those beautiful brown eyes lock with mine. “This is absolutely not your fault.”

Spencer’s hands come up to cup either side of my face and his thumbs wipe away at the tears on my cheeks. “You’ve done so much for me – for her. I’m sorry that I took you off the list. Things were getting so bad here, and if something would have happened to you…” Spencer pauses, closing his eyes and leaning down until his forehead rests against mine. “It was never because I didn’t want to see you, I promise. And… And your letter - I can’t even begin to explain how much that helped. I’m sorry that I couldn’t write back. I didn’t know what to say. Especially not after…”

He doesn’t elaborate, but I’m able to fill in the blanks myself. I bring my hand up and rest it on top of his.

“S’okay, Spence. I know,” I whisper. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I understand.”

Spencer hums and a ghost of a smile tugs at the corners of his lips.

“Time to get you out of here, Doc.” I remove his hand from my face and give it a reassuring squeeze. “Let’s go get your mom back.”

Spencer opens his eyes and for the first time in two months I’m on the receiving end of my favorite smile in the whole world.

I lead him from the room, never once removing my hand from his. Now that I have him back, I don’t ever want to let go.

For the second time today, the clacking of my heels against the concrete floor is the only sound that can be heard. Spencer moves silently beside me, his face pulled into a somber expression as we stalk down the long corridor. His hand brushes against mine, and I long to reach out and intertwine our fingers like I had only hours before. I suppress the urge, stealing one last, poorly concealed glance at him before I settle my gaze on the door at the end of the hall.

In the last several hours, the entire case had been flipped upside down. We’d been wrong all along – Scratch wasn’t to blame for the shit show that had transpired over the last three months. It’d been an easy enough mistake to make. After the incident with Tara’s brother, Scratch was the obvious choice. Pair that with the fact that Spencer had been drugged and we had no reason to suspect anyone else.

Cat Adams was the last thing on everyone’s mind when Mexico happened. It’d been over a year since Spencer outsmarted her in that restaurant, and she was very much out of sight and out of mind. She was in a maximum-security prison, for fuck’s sake. That alone should have rendered her unable to carry out a scheme this convoluted.

But apparently that meant nothing, because Cat had somehow managed to be the mastermind behind this whole ordeal, perfectly orchestrating the entire thing from her cell in solitary confinement – using Lindsey Vaugh as her metaphorical puppet on a string. We’d sorely underestimated Cat, and our arrogance had come back to bite us all in the ass.

A guard that stands at the end of the hall opens the door for us, and I feel an intense rush of foreboding as we step into the room. The sound of the guard closing the door behind us brings a sense of finality to the situation; there is no turning back now. Either we walk out of here knowing Diana’s whereabouts, or we miss the mark completely and loose Diana in the process.

I cast a worried look at Spencer, whose eyes are trained on the double-sided glass. The tension has returned to his shoulders, and his fists are clenched tightly at his sides. There’s a sort of fiery determination in his eyes – a sort of menacing resolve that I’d never seen in him before.

Spencer looks intimidating, and nothing like the Spencer that was led from the courtroom three months ago. I pull my eyes away in favor of looking through the glass.

Reid had been able to see through Cat’s mind games the first time, but the Cat that sat on the other side of that door is a far cry from the one he encountered a year ago. If she’d looked cold and calculating before, she looks downright deranged now.

“Are you sure you want to go in there alone?” I ask after a moment. “I could-”

“No,” Spencer cuts me off. His tone is hard and definite, warning me not to argue. “I can’t ask you to do that. Emily shouldn’t have made you come in the first place.”

“Emily told me to come with you because she knew that there was nothing she could do to make me stay.” I pause long enough to shoot him a weak smile. “Hope you enjoyed your three-month break from me, because I’m going to practically glued to your side from now on. You’ll be dying to get rid of me in a month’s time.”

Spencer’s lips twitch, threatening to turn up into a smile.

“I sincerely doubt that.”

“We’ll see,” I breeze. “But I’m serious, Spence. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here the whole time – I’m not letting you go in there alone, and I’m not going to leave you.”

“Promise?” Spencer asks, finally pulling his eyes away from the window in favor of looking at me. There’s a sadness in his eyes that wasn’t there before, and the weight of his gaze is so heavy that I worry I might buckle under it.

I reach for his hand and hook my pinky finger around his, lifting our intertwined hands to eye level.

“I promise.”

Spencer’s pinky finger squeezes mine and he closes his eyes.

“I don’t deserve you.”

�� “You deserve the world, Spence.”

For a moment I think he’s going to say something else, but then Spencer’s lips press into a tight line and he only nods in response. He releases my hand and I let it fall limply at my side. Spencer rolls his shoulders back, and that stony expression returns to his face. He reaches out and pulls open the door, and I follow closely behind him at he steps over the threshold.

It’s as if I’m invisible; Cat doesn’t even spare me a glance when I enter the room. Her eyes, narrowed and sparkling with amusement, hone in on Spencer immediately.

“Spencie,” she greets, smiling deviously up at him.

“Where’s my mother?” Spencer asks, completely devoid of emotion.

“I missed you.”

“What did you and Lindsey do to her? How did you-”

Cat raises a hand, effectively cutting him off. She points a finger at him, and the smile that she previously wore is replaced by a grimace.

“Now, stop. You don’t get to walk in here and hiss at me like I’m the criminal. No – we’re going to do this my way.” Cat kicks the chair that sits on the opposite side of the table and Spencer reaches out to grab it. “Have a seat.”

Spencer complies and Cat’s smile returns.

“How was prison? Did you like it?”

“No.”

Cat hums.

“It’s not fun, is it?”

“Unlike you, I didn’t deserve to be there,” Spencer retorts.

Cat leans forward, crossing her arms before resting them on the metal table.

“How did you stay sane? A brain like yours needs stimulation in such a gray place.”

“I worked in the laundry room and I played chess.”

“That’s three, maybe four hours, tops. What about the other twenty?”

“I read.”

Cat shakes her head. “That’s still not enough. You have to… go someplace.” She taps the side of her head. “Up here. Or else you go crazy. Do you want to see where I go? I’ll show you.” Cat crooks a finger at Spencer, and I tense at the gesture. The idea of that psychotic bitch getting any closer to him makes my skin crawl. I clench my fists together and the feeling of my nails digging into my palms is enough to ground me.

Spencer leans forward, mimicking Cat’s relaxed position. She reaches a hand out towards him, and before I can think better of it, I speak up.

“Hands off,” I warn.

Cat halts her movements and fixes me with an irritated expression, looking me up and down distastefully before turning her attention back to Spencer.

“Close your eyes,” she instructs him. Spencer complies. “Good. Now keep them closed. Sit back and relax. When you open your eyes, I want you to look at me like I’m the first woman you’ve seen after being in prison for three months.”

I clench my jaw at that. Something stirs in my chest – something foreign and possessive that has me bristling. I tense, watching closely as Spencer opens his eyes and smiles that beautiful smile at Cat. My stomach turns painfully at the sight.

“Hello, Cat,” Spencer greets her, and all the contempt his tone previously held is gone – replaced with a neutrality that bordered on happiness.

Cat lets out a pleased laugh.

“You’re here!” she exclaims, throwing her arms out as she gestures about the room. “You’re really here.”

“There is nowhere else I would rather be,” Spencer replies, sounding startlingly genuine.

This is all an act, I remind myself. Spencer’s just playing a part. None of this is real.

Cat crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow at him.

“You’re good at this. You’re so good at this that I almost believe that you don’t want to kill me.”

“I don’t want to kill you,” Spencer says with a shake of his head.

“No?”

“No.”

Cat narrows her eyes at him.

“What if I let your mother die?” she inquires. “Then would you kill me? Or would you just…” Cat trails of as she leans forward. “… Hurt me? Would you pin me down and leave bruises that don’t go away?”

I swallow hard against the bile that threatens to crawl its way up my throat. Spencer might not want to kill her, but I do.

“Is that what you want?”

Cat shrugs her shoulders.

“I guess I just want to know if you would – if you could.”

Spencer gives a small shake of his head.

“No.”

“No?” Cat taunts, cocking her head to the side.

“It’s not the kind of man I am.”

Cat’s face drops and her eyes narrow into slits.

“Do me a favor and tell your little chaperone over there to step aside, because we’re going to play another game. And this time, we’re going to find out exactly what kind of man you are.”

Spencer’s eyes flit to me and he nods towards the door. I open my mouth to argue, but the pleading look in his eyes has me clamping it shut. It’s okay, his eyes seem to tell me. I know you promised, but I’ll be fine.

Cat waves at me as I reluctantly move towards the door. When the door clicks shut behind me, Spencer takes it as his invitation to continue.

“Let’s play,” his voice sounds through the speaker to my left.

“Let’s!” Cat exclaims before resting her head in her hand.

“So, is it the same game as last time?” Spencer inquires. “I answer every question you ask honestly?”

“No,” Cat sighs out. “This time you get to ask the questions.”

Spencer raises an eyebrow at her. “About what?”

“Well, I know a secret about you. And you can ask me as many questions as you like to figure it out. But you only get one guess as to what it is. If you guess correctly, I take your phone, I call our friend Lindsey, and I tell her to release your dear mother unharmed. If you don’t…” Cat trails off, before mimicking bringing a gun up to her mouth and firing.

Crazy fucking bitch.

“Is there a clock?”

“There’s always a clock.” Cat holds out her hand, eyes flicking down to Spencer’s watch. “Give it to me.”

I cringe when Spencer hesitates – I know what he must be thinking. That’s Gideon’s watch. The only thing he has left of him. I’d never seen Spencer without it in the two years I’ve known him.

Spencer reluctantly slips the watch off of his wrist and hands it over.

Cat smirks and slides the watch onto her arm.

“Now, you’ll have four hours.”

“Do you want to give me a hint before we start?”

Cat chuckles. “Do I look like a girl that gives hints?” “Actually, you do.”

Cat takes pause, looking Spencer up and down before speaking.

“Okay, how about this; it’s a secret you’ll never admit to.”

“I know what the secret is.”

Cat quirks an eyebrow up at Spencer.

“You do?”

He nods. “Why else would you put me through all this?”

“Ooh, phrasing it in the form of a question that way it doesn’t count as a guess. Very smart, Doctor.”

“I’m gonna walk you through a scenario, and your face is going to tell me how close I am,” Spencer murmurs, an amused smile on his lips. He leans forward to rest his elbows on the table. “From the moment I arrested you, you watched and waited for the right time to take your revenge. When you learned I was going to Mexico, you took it. You and Lindsey framed me for murder so I’d be put in a prison and treated like a criminal, and then you kidnapped my mother so I would know how it feels to have a parent manipulated, because you want to prove that you and I are the same. Am I right?”

Cat feigns a yawn in response.

“Mm. Sorry, I couldn’t hold that in any longer. What were you saying?”

“Psychopaths tend to get bored easily.”

“You’re right. Let’s speed this up,” Cat sighs with a roll of her eyes. She pushes away from the table, standing up and walking over to Spencer’s side of the table. I fight the urge to barge in when I see her take a seat on his lap. Cat runs a hand down Spencer’s chest before she continues. “Shall we? What do you think about all the pain you’ve suffered in your life? What would I capitalize on, do you think? Is it… the death of your mentor, SSA Jason Gideon?”

I can see the way Spencer’s jaw clenches and it makes my heart lurch painfully in my chest.

“No, because we caught the man who killed him.”

“What about Agent Morgan and your guilt over not visiting his little boy?” Cat whispers in his ear as her hands fiddle with the collar of his suit.

“I was in prison.”

“Yeah, but you had time before that. Why didn’t you go?” she presses as she grazes her nails down the length of his throat. I see red when her hand loosely circles around his neck. Spencer absolutely loathes being touched by anyone other than those closest to him, and I’ve no doubt that he’s horribly uncomfortable.

“Truthfully, I got distracted. I was trying to figure out a way to help my mom. She didn’t have time. Morgan, Savannah, and little Bobby did. So, there’s absolutely no shame in admitting that. Morgan would understand.”

“I agree. That’s why that’s not the secret,” Cat divulges, brushing her nose against the side of his face before pulling away and standing up. I let out the breath that I’d apparently been holding and allow myself a moment to run a shaky hand through my hair. If I was getting this frazzled from being a bystander to this conversation, I can only imagine how Spencer must be feeling.

When I look back up at the mirror, Spencer’s looking over his shoulder at me through the glass. I know he can’t see me, but I can’t help but feel guilty for losing my cool.

“Good job, Spence,” I murmur to myself as I pull out my phone. After a few rings, Rossie answers.

“Go ahead, Y/N. You’re on speaker.”

“Cat has an extremely deep background on Spencer. She knows about everything – Gideon’s death, Derek leaving the team, his mom’s condition,” I inform them, tapping my foot nervously against the concrete.

“She’s throwing him off-balance.”

“Yes, but Spencer also purposefully gave the wrong name of Derek’s son and she didn’t correct him,” I point out.

“She must’ve gotten her hands on Reid’s confidential FBI file,” Emily chimes in. “It would mention pertinent team information but it wouldn’t name Morgan’s son for confidentiality reasons.”

“We were thinking she’s been getting help from someone inside the prison. This goes deeper than that,” Rossi sighs.

“Call us if she says anything else of any importance,” Emily signs off. I mumble a quick goodbye before pocketing my phone and turning my attention back to the window.

“Working deductively, the secret wouldn’t be any of the topics you’ve already volunteered, because you wouldn’t want to make it easy on me,” Spencer reasons. He clasps his hands together and sits back in his seat before raising an eyebrow in challenge.

“Genius, truly,” Cat taunts sarcastically as she twirls the watch around her finger.

“So, what is left that I wouldn’t want to admit?” Spencer muses, eyebrows drawn together in contemplation. Cat shrugs her shoulders at him and another moment of tense silence passes.

“Love,” Spencer utters, and Cat’s incessant twirling of the watch comes to an abrupt halt.

Got her.

“Is that what this is all about – love? For my mother?” Spencer whispers, and when Cat fails to respond, he shakes his head. “No, not for her. For you. You want me to admit that I’m actually in love with you.”

Cat purses her lips together.

“Don’t get me wrong – I love my fairy tales as much as the next girl – but I’m not delusional,” Cat says as she crosses her arms.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Very sure. So sure, in fact, that I had Lindsey leave a clue for you in that little scrapbook in your apartment.”

I scrunch my face up at that. The clue in question had been a message inscribed on the back of an old photograph;xx-xy. We’d originally deduced that the message, the female and male chromosomes, was to confirm that Lindsey was working with Scratch. But now? Now I didn’t have a clue what Cat was talking about.

“I couldn’t have you come all the way down here and make a guess until I was positive. That is…” Cat pauses for dramatic effect, a sly smile on her lips. “… until I tested positive.” Cat punctuates her words by placing both hands on her stomach, and the action makes me raise a hand up to my mouth in shock.

No. There’s no fucking way.

“What, you’re pregnant?” Spencer asks, confused.

“No, we’re pregnant.”

I feel my knees buckle upon hearing the admission and I blindly reach for the chair to my left.

This cannot be happening.

“No,” Spencer says, shaking his head adamantly.

“Oh, yes,” Cat replies. “Mazel tov.”

“Here you are, ma’am.”

I reach for the file, my movements stilted and awkward.

“Thank you,” I mumble to the guard, who gives me a peculiar look before leaving the room. I waste no time in flipping through the file, heart pounding wildly in my chest as my eyes skim over the page until –

Positive.

I slam the file down on the table.

“Fuck!” I yell out in frustration. I’m thankful then for the thick, concrete walls, because neither Spencer nor Cat show any sign of having heard my little outburst. I place both palms down on the cool metal of the table, my breaths coming out in haggard puffs as I try to rationalize it all.

“- not possible,” Spencer’s voice coming through the speaker snaps me out of my thoughts. I cut my eyes to the window to find Spencer pacing the room. “Even if you are pregnant, the baby’s not mine.” Spencer comes to a stop behind his chair and shoves his hands in his pockets.

“Except for the part where it is.”

“That’s completely preposterous. You’ve been in prison,” Spencer points out as he once again takes a seat across from her.

“So have you.”

“And we’ve never-”

“I know. We’ve never…” Cat trails off with a suggestive waggle of her brows. “Ask me how I did it. Come on, ask me.”

Spencer rolls his eyes, but he indulges her nonetheless.

“How did you do it?”

“I had Lindsey dose you in Mexico. You lost time. And I gave her very specific instruction on how to get you in the mood,” Cat admits.

“What?” Spencer snorts cynically. “Did she pretend to be you?”

“Why, would that have worked?”

Spencer leans forward and shoots Cat a cruel kind of smile.

“No.”

For a split second Cat’s face falls, but only for a moment and then she goes right back to smiling that wretched grin.

“Yeah, I know, I know. Believe me, I know exactly where I stand on the Spencer Reid hot or not list,” Cat sighs. “So, ask me again.”

“How did you do it?”

“I told her to pretend to be Y/N.”

For a second I think that I misheard her – the blood rushing in my ears almost overpowered her admission – but the way Spencer’s entire body tenses before he looks back at the window tells me that I didn’t.

Why me?

Spencer gulps hard before he turns back around. I find my way to the chair nearest me and collapse into it.

“How do you know about her?”

Cat gives him an unimpressed look.

“It wasn’t hard, seeing as she’s your very best friend in the whole wide world,” Cat teases as her eyes wander from Spencer to the glass behind him. She waves at me, endlessly amused, before turning her attention back to Spencer. “But that isn’t all that she is to you – is it Spencie? At least, Lindsey didn’t think so. At first, she thought the two of you were tangled up in some kind of sexy little tryst. But then I had Lindsey do a little digging, and, well, that’s when we found out about the boyfriend.”

“Stop.”

“Oh, it seems I’ve struck a nerve!” Cat trills gleefully. “Shall we call her in here to join us? I know she’s just on the other side of that glass. I’m sure she’d love to hear all about how pathetic little Spencer Reid pines after her like a school boy with a crush.” She pouts her bottom lip out in mock sadness. “There’s just something about unrequited love that really tugs at my heart strings.”

Oh.

For the second time since arriving here, my hand comes up to cover my mouth as I struggle to process Cat’s words. She can’t be right, can she? Spencer had never done anything that eluded to him seeing me as any more than a best friend. Perhaps she got it wrong. Lindsey saw me come and go and she just assumed it was something that it wasn’t. There was no way that Spencer -

“I said stop.”

The underlying plea in his voice is enough to make tears well in my eyes. If what Cat is saying is true, that means that Lindsey . . .

“All it took was Lindsey saying she was Y/N for you to crumble like a house of cards. You really made it too easy.”

“You’re lying.”

Cat chuckles. “Listen to you, you’re not even trying to deny it.”

“It didn’t happen,” Spencer argues, voice so quiet that I have to strain to hear it.

“Hey, I was thinking, if it’s a boy, we should definitely call him Spencie Jr.”

Spencer pushes back from the table so abruptly that both Cat and I flinch, and he’s almost out the door when Cat delivers one final dig.

“-But if it’s a girl, I think we should call her Y/N. I mean after all; she played such a huge role in in her own conception!”

The sound of the door slamming behind him as he trudges into the room is enough to make me bolt up from my seat. Spencer comes to a stop at the center of the room, eyes wide and full of remorse as he looks over at me.

“I-I… I’m…”

I try my best to muster up a smile but I worry that it comes out more as a grimace.

“Later,” I murmur, and Spencer winces before nodding his head in defeat. I walk over to the table and open up the file. “She’s not lying about being pregnant.”

Spencer joins me at the table, eyes skimming over the document.

“She’s three months, and the timeline matches, but that doesn’t mean-”

Spencer yanks the file off the table and hurls it at the window, shoulders rising and falling rapidly as he runs a hand through his disheveled hair.

I take a step back and Spencer curses under his breath.

“I’m sorry. It’s not you,” he sighs. “I just… need a minute.”

I press my lips together and nod.

“Take all the time you need. M’gonna go call Emily,” I murmur.

Spencer closes his eyes and lets his head hang low.

“Yeah, okay,” he whispers dejectedly, and the despair in his voice is enough to stop me in my tracks.

“Spence?” I call out. He looks up at me from underneath his lashes, more than a little bit timid and scared. “I’ll be right back, okay? I’m not leaving you.”

I open the door and step out of the room, but it doesn’t close before I hear the quiet ‘thank you’ drift from within.

Spencer waits until the door clicks shut behind her to push away from the table and head back into the interrogation room. He couldn’t bear the thought of her overhearing any more than she already had. As far as Spencer was concerned, Cat had just singlehandedly ruined the one good thing he had going for him, and at this point, he had nothing left to lose.

“Let’s pretend you’re telling the truth,” Spencer starts. “That means I guessed it, right? The secret, the one I don’t want to admit to? It’s my child?”

Cat looks up at him with bored eyes and Spencer feels his unease begin to give way to rage.

“Is that your guess?” Cat asks. “You only get one, remember?”

Spencer takes pause, before shaking his head.

“No. It’s too easy,” he decides.

“Believe me, getting pregnant with your baby was not easy,” Cat mutters, and Spencer’s lips press into a tight line. The implication of it is enough to make his skin crawl. He feels violated and absolutely disgusted, but still he tries to school his impression into one of indifference. Spencer thinks about his mom, scared and confused, and that’s enough incentive to make him focus on the task at hand.

“You misunderstand. It’s too easy emotionally,” Spencer explains in a clipped tone as he sits down. “Because I can take your child from you. The child I had absolutely no role in creating, but a child that I would care for better than you.”

“That’s rude,” Cat seethes as she slowly lifts her head from off of the table.

“It’s true. You can’t be a mother, Cat. I’m not trying to insult you – it’s your psychological makeup. You literally do not have the emotional skills to care for another human being. You’d lose interest in your own baby the way a six-year-old loses interest in a pet hamster. This baby is simply a means to an end, which is to keep me here and playing your game, guessing like a fool and assuming something that I never should have assumed in the first place.”

“And what would that be?”

“My mother’s already dead,” Spencer says, and the words taste positively foul in his mouth. “She was dead before I walked in here”

Cat’s lips pull into a frown.

“She’s not dead-”

“Yes, she is,” Spencer reiterates as he rises from his chair.

“No, because that would be cheating and I don’t cheat. You cheat!” Cat panics, voice growing louder the closer Spencer gets to the door.

“I’m done playing,” Spencer says as he turns away, reaching for the door knob.

“Get back here!”

Spencer pulls the door open. “Goodbye, Cat.”

He has one foot out the door when;

“I’ll let you talk to her!” Cat yells out as she slams her fist down on the table.

Spencer lifts his eyes up from their spot on the floor, and it’s with a jolt of surprise that his eyes meet Y/N’s. It feels to him like it always does when he sees her – like some great relief that floods through his entire body in an instant. He feels guilty for it, now that she knows, but that doesn’t stop him from basking in it. The feeling grows when a triumphant smile graces her lips, one that says you’ve got her, Spence. You’ve got her right where you want her.

Spencer is positively rejuvenated by that smile.

He reluctantly pulls his gaze away from her and focuses back on Cat. He’s come too far now to fuck it all up.

Spencer pulls his phone from the depths of his suit pocket and hands it to Cat. He watches on as she dials the number, and his heart beats so fast that he wonders if she can hear it. The sound of the dial tone ringing fills the room, and Spencer can only hope that the call will be long enough for Penelope to trace.

“You’re early,” a voice that’s unmistakably Lindsey’s calls out. Spencer lets out a shaky breath of relief.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Did he guess?”

“No, not yet,” Cat sighs. “We need proof of life.”

“All right, hold on,” Lindsey says, exasperated, and her words are followed by several seconds of muffled rustling and what Spencer deems as some sort of liquid being poured.

“Spencer!”

His heart practically bursts out of his chest as he lunges forward, yanking the phone out of Cat’s hand and bringing it up to his ear.

“Mom - mom, are you okay?”

“I don’t… know-”

Spencer opens his mouth to reply when the gut-wrenching sound of an explosion rips through the tiny phone speakers, distorted and so loud that it makes Spencer’s ears ring.

“Mom!” Spencer desperately yells into the phone, but all he gets in reply is a ‘gotta go’ from Lindsey before the line goes dead. Spencer growls out a string of swears, throwing his phone down on the table before leaning over the table.

“What the hell was that?” he yells, and he’s vaguely aware of the sound of the door opening, but he can’t focus on anything other than his own rising panic.

“I don’t know,” Cat replies, opening her mouth to continue but Spencer cuts her off.

“Lindsey said you were early. Was that a signal?” he bellows.

“Spence, come on,” Y/N tries to interject. Spencer feels her hand on his shoulder but he shrugs it off before bringing his fist down on the table.

“Was that a prearranged signal to kill my mother?!” Spencer snarls, eyes wide and teeth barred. He feels positively feral, images of his mother in all sorts of terrible states of distress flashing through his mind like some grotesque picture show. “Tell me the truth!”

“No! I am!” Cat shouts back.

“Tell me the truth!”

“I am!” Cat spits out, eyes flashing angrily. “You wanna know the truth? Your mother is an Alzheimer’s-ridden moron who’s getting dumber by the day and if she’s dead, it’s your fault!”

Something comes over Spencer then, and in an instant, he’s shoving the table out of the way and pushing Cat against the wall. His hands find purchase on her throat, not dissimilar to how hers had on his hours before, but instead of dragging his fingers against her neck, Spencer’s clamping down on it as hard as he can, taking great pleasure in the way she gasps for air as his hands tighten. Everything around him fades away until all that he can focus on is that way that her pulse feels under his hands – the way it starts off strong, before tapering, slower and slower until he can barely even palpate it anymore.

“I’m going to kill you,” Spencer hears himself whisper as he presses down hard on her windpipe. “M’gonna fucking kill you.”

Cat’s eyes are fluttering closed now, and Spencer shouldn’t enjoy the way the light in her eyes starts to dim. He shouldn’t but he does – in fact, it prompts him to press harder and harder and –

A harsh yank pulls Spencer away from Cat, and as soon as his hands begin to loosen Cat splutters in an attempt to catch her breath.

“Spencer, she is pregnant,” Y/N yells in his ear, and just like that his tunnel vison fades away and Spencer feels the adrenaline leave his body. He only realizes that his hands are still on Cat’s throat when Y/N yanks at his arms again. “Fucking let her go, Spencer!”

His entire body goes limp and he allows himself to be drug away from Cat and out of the room. Spencer’s heart still pounds and his blood is still roaring in his ears, but the satisfaction has given away to shame. He steals a glance at cat as he’s being pulled from the room, and despite her ruffled appearance, she’s grinning at him – smiling as if to say see? I told you that you were just like me.

Spencer stumbles into the other room, steadying himself on the wall to keep from faceplanting onto the cold hard floor. Now that the adrenaline has expelled itself from his body, he’s left shaky and panting and ashamed.

The feeling of Y/N’s eyes on him as he braces himself on the wall only exacerbates his mortification. What will she think of me now? Will she think me to be some kind of monster? Spencer wouldn’t blame her - he’s held that same opinion of himself for months now.

Spencer stands there, face turned downwards as he catches his breath, and when he can take the weight of her gaze no longer, he darts out of the room and down the corridor.

Being alone is preferable to being a disappointment, Spencer thinks as he flees the room.

It doesn’t take long for her to find him sitting in the floor, knees to his chest with his face downturned. Spencer hears her before he sees her, and he prepares himself for the yelling that’s surely to come.

She surprises him when she slides her back down the wall until she’s sitting beside him, legs sprawled out in front of her. He doesn’t look up – fearful of what he might see when he looks into those beautiful eyes of hers. There had been love there, before all of this happened. Not the kind of love that was reflected in his own, but it was love just the same and Spencer thinks that it might kill him to see that love replaced with disgust. So he doesn’t look. Instead, Spencer just sits there, slumped over and pathetic, hoping that she doesn’t pick up on the fact that his hands are shaking.

“Richmond County police just reported a gas station explosion. One victim – male. Whatever Lindsey did, we have to assume that your mom’s still alive,” Y/N murmurs. Spencer lets out a shaky breath and his grip on his knees tightens. It’s good news, and he’s grateful, but it does nothing for the overwhelming guilt that’s eating away at him.

“Hey,” she whispers when he doesn’t reply. “Can you look at me, Spence? Wanna see those pretty brown eyes. Please?”

Spencer chokes down the sob that threatens to come out. He shakes his head.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened in there. That… That’s not me. At least, I don’t want it to be,” Spencer whispers. “Emily should’ve sent someone else with me. I never wanted you to see me like that.”

Her small, incredibly soft hand comes to rest on his own and Spencer closes his eyes at the feeling. Y/N flips his hand over and intertwines their fingers and Spencer can’t help but think that’s she’s showing him way more kindness than he could ever deserve. But he’s selfish, unable to deny himself of the feeling of her hand in his, so he clings onto her hand for dear life.

“I’m so scared that this is who I am now,” Spencer mumbles, prompting her grip on his hand to tighten.

“No, Spence. Don’t say that,” she chastises him. “You’re the best guy I know. Everyone has a breaking point – Cat just knows how to bring you to yours, is all.”

“You… You don’t know…” Spencer trails off, still unwilling to look her in the eye.

“I do know, Spence. I may not have been able to visit, but I asked about you every day,” she says as she shuffles closer to him. Spencer can smell her perfume now, subtle and sweet and comforting. “I know that two inmates, Frazier and Duerson, killed your friend in front of you. I know that they wanted you to move heroin for them, and I also know that if you didn’t, you would’ve been next. Anyone in your spot would’ve done the same.”

“You wouldn’t have.”

“Hell yes, I would have,” Y/N persists, and Spencer can’t help but to look up at her from behind where his unruly curls fall into his face. “I would have, Spence. If someone was threatening my life, you bet your ass I would have done the same thing. It doesn’t make you a bad person – doing whatever it takes to survive does not make you a bad person.”

She must pick up on the hesitancy that lingers in Spencer’s eyes, because she decides to continue.

“You know who does think like that? That – that in you doing what you had to do in order to survive somehow makes you a psychopath?” Y/N pauses long enough to point her thumb towards the direction of the interview room. “She does.”

Spencer watches the realization wash over her face, and for a split second he’s terribly confused. It isn’t until a ghost of a smile pulls at her lips that he catches on, and when he does, he has to stop himself from doing something terribly stupid like kissing her.

“She does,” Y/N reiterates when she sees that Spencer finally caught on. “Because she knows.”

“That’s the secret,” Spencer thinks aloud. He pushes himself to his feet and begins to pace down the corridor. “The one that I don’t want to admit about myself.”

“Hold up, Spence. Let’s talk through this, because she will not lose to you twice. She already said that this wasn’t about the two of you being the same.”

Spencer scratches the back of his next, nodding to himself.

“Then she’s all about the game. She thinks that I cheated the last time because I lied about her dad, so it’s integral that she beats me by following the rules.”

“But, Spence, she’s the one that makes the rules. She can change them to ensure that she wins.”

“-Which means that I’m locked in-”

“Like she is.”

“She needs me locked in, playing by her rules, a game I can’t win, so she-” Spencer pauses then, and an actual, honest to God smile creeps its way across his face – the kind of smile that was only reserved for Y/N. “I got it.”

Spencer doesn’t elaborate, because he doesn’t need to. He can tell with one look that she understands, because somehow, she always does. Spencer offers her a hand and hoists her to her feet.

Spencer almost laughs as the two of them step back into the room. Of course, she would be the one to figure it out. It seems like she’s always saving him, these days.

“Guess that’s one way to get you to put your hands on me.”

Spencer feels a twinge of guilt, but he pushes it to the back of his mind as he holds a hand out to Cat.

“Dance with me.”

Cat lifts an eyebrow at him.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want the people watching to hear what I’m about to say.”

Cat is still suspicious, but she takes his hand and lets him pull her to her feet anyways. Spencer puts his arms around her and the two of them begin to sway back and forth. Spencer suppresses the urge to pull away when her hand lowers and intertwines with his own. It’s rough and calloused and cold – a direct contradiction of Y/N’s – and Spencer positively loathes it.

“You had eyes on me while I was in prison, didn’t you?”

“Spencie, don’t ruin the moment,” Cat groans.

“I don’t want to, but I’m on the clock. Answer my question, am I right?” Cat places her head on Spencer’s chest, her hair smelling of some generic bar of soap, and Spencer wishes more than anything that he was smelling the familiar notes of honeysuckle and vanilla instead.

“Yes, you’re right. I wanted to make sure things were just as uncomfortable for you as they were for me.”

“That’s how you timed everything so perfectly. Like sending my mom and Lindsey to visit me when I thought I was at my lowest.”

This piques Cat’s interest and she lifts her head up until her eyes meet Spencer’s.

“Thought? You’re sure you weren’t?”

“No, I wasn’t. Because I didn’t feel bad – I felt scared at how much I enjoyed poisoning the other prisoners. I had a hundred ways of getting myself out of that situation, and I picked the one that would cause them the most pain.”

“Well, look at that,” Cat hums. “You might end up saving your mother’s life after all.”

A moment of silence passes as Spencer contemplates his next move. Before he can get the words out, Cat breaks the silence.

“They won’t get there in time. They must be on their way, right? Your team is too good to wait around, but you know me. I always have a contingency plan,” Cat murmurs, hands dipping under Reid’s suit jacket. She rubs her palms across his chest in slow circles and Spencer tries hard not to squirm. “They’re walking into a trap, and the only way out is if you give me your phone and you guess – right now.”

Cat removes her hands from Spencer’s chest, crossing her arms and fixing him with a pointed look. Spencer reaches down and pulls the phone from his pocket, passing it to Cat who wastes no time in taking a seat at the table once more.

Spencer’s skin tingles, half from anticipation, half from fear. They’ve come too far for him to misstep. He thinks of his mother – of how the next two minutes will determine her fate, and Spencer clenches his hands into fists at his sides.

Here comes the moment of truth.

“When we first sat down, you said you were going to show me what kind of man I am. And you have.”

“Every time I dial a number, you’re getting warmer.”

“At first, I was furious, because the secret had to be the baby inside you. How could it be anything else? But then I realized that somehow, you knew I liked hurting those men.” Cat dials another number, prompting Spencer to continue. “Now, I know it’s both things.”

“So, which is it, Spencie? Come on, don’t fumble it now. You’re at the one-yard line.”

“You’re not pregnant with my child. You got pregnant with Wilkins to put me in as compromised a position as possible. But it should be mine – I wish it were mine. Because you and I… we deserve each other. That is the real secret.”

By the time Spencer finishes speaking, tears are steady falling down Cat’s cheeks. With a shaky hand she presses the call button, and Spencer watches on with bated breath as the phone rings.

“Kill her.”

When Cat receives no reply, she pushes out of her seat and begins to pace around the room. “Lindsey, I said kill her.”

“You bitch,” Lindsey curses, sounding positively heartbroken in the way only a jilted loved could. “You’re pregnant?”

“Lindsey, sweetheart, it’s complicated, okay?”

“No, it’s not,” Lindsey whispers, and then the sound of the dial tone is all that’s left.

Not a second later, Y/N bursts through the door; the figurative light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

“We’re clear.”

Spencer snatches his phone from Cat’s hand before turning to face Y/N.

“Is my mom okay?”

“Yeah. She’s fine.”

“We do deserve each other, by the way,” Cat calls out, prompting Spencer to pivot and face her. She slides back into the seat and shrugs her shoulders. “You guessed right.”

Spencer falters for a moment, but then a voice in his head is reminding him that he deserves the world. And that voice sounds a lot like Y/N.

“You lied, by the way. You were going to kill my mother regardless.”

“Yeah, I think you really liked hurting those men. Once you cross that line, you can’t ever go back. And you’ll never get her to love you, either. You and I are too fucked up to be loved.”

Spencer takes two steps forward before he bends down, reaching out and clutching Cat’s forearm in a tight grip. Without breaking eye contact, he slides his watch off her wrist and back on to his own.

“Watch me,” Spencer whispers, and without so much as a parting glance at the broken women sitting at the table, Spencer walks towards the light.

The elevator ride up to the bullpen is a quiet one, not unlike the jet ride before it. I had about a million questions that I was dying to ask, but I thought it best to let Spencer stew in silence. The poor guy had been through enough in the last twenty-four hours – he didn’t need me hounding him on top of all of that. Besides, I wasn’t entirely sure where to start in the first place.

So, Spence – how was prison?

I heard you got the shit kicked out of you. How interesting, so did I! Wanna trade war stories?

I hate to put you on the spot like this, but was that little tidbit about you being hopelessly in love with me true? Just curious.

As wonderful as all of those conversation starters were, I didn’t really think that now was the time to breech any of the aforementioned subjects. So, instead, Spencer and I communicated in stolen glances and shy smiles, and that more than sufficed for the time being. We had all the time in the world to talk later - there was no need to rush.

I can practically feel Spencer shaking with anticipation when the elevator ride comes to a close, and the two of us share one last, longing glance before the doors open and Spencer steps out and into the arms of his mother.

There’s not a dry eye in the house when Spencer and his mother reunite, and it takes Emily ushering us all away to keep us all from devolving into sniveling messes right in front of the elevator. We all scatter about the bullpen, and after a quick trip to the bathroom I meander to Emily’s office.

“Derek Morgan – you are a sight for sore eyes,” I whistle as I walk into the room, not stopping until I’m pressed up against two-hundred pounds of rock-hard abs.

“Ah, little bit. I sure have missed you,” Derek laughs as he presses a kiss to the top of my head.

“To what do we owe the pleasure? I’d be hard pressed to believe that you just decided to drop in at three o’clock in the morning.”

Derek lets out a sigh and the smile drops from his face.

“I wish I was just here to say hello, but we may have bigger problems. I got a text from Penelope saying that Reid was out of prison and that he wanted to see me. And that he was staying in an FBI safehouse where he was putting his mother up for the night.”

I cast a glance at Emily, who shakes her head.

“I didn’t approve of that,” she explains, and just like that, a weary feeling settles over everyone in the room.

“I think we all know what this sounds like,” Derek says.

“A trap.”

“I know we’re all tired, but we may have a new lead on Scratch.”

“Somebody did a bang-up job of cloning my cellphone to send Morgan a text luring him to a nonexistent safehouse. And whoever that somebody is has mad skills,” Penelope explains.

“The kind of skills Scratch has,” Stephen mutters, earning a round of murmured agreeances.

“Were you able to trace where the hack came from?” Luke inquires, earning an affronted glare from Penelope. She shakes her head at him before turning to Derek, who’s watching on with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Do you see what I have to put up with?”

Derek chuckles and gives Luke a pointed look.

“Alvez, you’ll always get a location with this one.” Derek reaches forward and rubs Penelope’s shoulder, and it’s impossible to miss the way Luke’s eyes zero in on it.

“Down boy,” I whisper at him. “Green isn’t your color.”

“Shut up.”

I roll my eyes good-naturedly before turning my attention back to Emily.

“Obviously, Morgan can’t come with us. He’s a civilian now.”

“We’ll miss you out there,” JJ chimes in.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it out there in the field with you guys. I think about it every day. But between my old friends and my new friends, you guys are gonna go out there, you’re gonna handle your business, you’re gonna make people feel safe, and then you’re gonna go home. And that’s all that matters.”

“Civilian life has turned you into a sap,” I tease.

“Is it just me, or has this one gotten mouthier since I left?”

Penelope pats him on the arm.

“Someone had to fill the silence.”

After everyone has the opportunity to tell Derek their goodbyes, it’s a mad dash to get everything we need to roll out. I pull my hair into a ponytail and shuck off my blazer, only to replace it with my Kevlar. I’m in the middle of securing the last strap as I hurry down the hall when I come in harsh contact with the front of someone’s chest.

But it’s not just someone – it’s Spencer.

“I thought you left already?”

Spencer lets out a strained chuckle.

“Uh, yeah. I was on the way out when Penelope texted and said Derek was here. Mom’s sitting with Anderson while I go talk to him.”

I nod in understanding.

“Good ole Anderson,” I manage to say, trying hard not to cringe at my awkward choice of words.

“Yeah,” Spencer mutters, shuffling his feet as he looks anywhere other than my face. “There’s a case, I’m assuming?” he says, gesturing to my vest.

“We think we have a lead on Scratch, actually.”

Now, that gets Spencer’s attention. His eyes finally settle on me, and his brows furrow.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me? I need to go with you-” Spencer makes a move to brush past me, put I stop him with a hand on his chest.

“Back it up, Spence. There’s absolutely no way Prentiss will sign off on that, and even if she did, I’m still saying no.”

“And I’m supposed to listen to you?” Spencer tries to keep his face neutral, but his lips twitch as he fights back a smile.

“Mm. What I say goes, and I say that you need to go home and not even think about work for at least a month. You certainly could use the break.”

“A whole month, huh?”

I nod, looking up at him with a faux serious expression.

“I better not see you around here for at least that long, or there will be repercussions.”

Spencer finally does smile at that, and I can practically see the way he’s mulling over his next move in his head.

“Does… Does that prohibition extend only to the work place?”

I tilt my head to the side.

“I’m lost.”

Spencer scrunches his nose up and his eyes dart across the hall before eventually settling back on me.

“It’s just that, well, I don’t really know where this leaves us. Will I still see you outside of work, or is that all messed up now?”

“Why would that be messed up?”

Spencer closes his eyes and he lets out a haggard breath.

“Are you really gonna make me say it?”

Even though he can’t see me, I smile up at him anyways.

“On any other day I absolutely would, but things are a little… hectic right now. How about we put a pin in this conversation until things slow down a bit?”

Spencer slowly opens his eyes and they roam over my face, searching.

“You’re not uncomfortable? Considering everything that, uh, she said about me? Especially the part that pertained to you?” Spencer asks, meek and unsure.

I shake my head.

“I think you’ll find that I am very much the opposite of uncomfortable,” I reply. We stand there for a moment longer, just basking in the fact that after three long, miserable months, we’re finally together again.

Spencer opens his mouth to say something, only to be cut off by Emily calling my name from further down the hall.

“Duty calls,” I chuckle, pulling away from Spencer. “Tell you mom I said hi, and I’ll be by to visit once you have time to get settled in,” I call over my shoulder.

I make it a good ten feet down the hall before Spencer’s tugging at my hand and pulling me flush against his chest. He hesitates for a moment, and a flash of uncertainty clouds his eyes, but then he’s pushing it down and pressing his lips to mine.

Spencer’s lips are slightly chapped, but so, so warm as they move against mine. My response is instantaneous – I don’t hesitate for a second before I’m kissing back. The kiss is slow and tentative, as gentle and tender as it is intoxicating. It’s everything that a kiss should be and it ignites a fire in me that has me grasping at Spencer’s shirt, desperate for more. The hand that isn’t cupping the side of my face presses firmly against the small of my back, urging me forward until absolutely no space is left between us.

Every drag of his lips against mine acts as gasoline to a flame, and I can’t help but think that Ray Bradbury said it best. It is a pleasure to burn.

I’m the first to pull away, but it isn’t because I want to. What I want is to stay just like this – entangled in Spencer Reid – until not an inch of our bodies lay unexplored by the other. But when Emily calls out my name yet again, I force myself to stop.

“I really need to go,” I murmur regretfully, and Spencer nods.

“Yeah, I know.”

But that doesn’t stop him from going in for one last, delicious kiss. This time when we break away, it’s his doing. I don’t have the self restraint to pull away twice.

“Pinky promise you’ll come back to me in one piece?” Spencer says as he lifts his pinky finger up in offering. I link mine with his, and I smile a dopey grin at him.

“Of course, I will,” I reply. “After all, you and I are due for one hell of a conversation.”

I shoot him a wink before I’m running down the hall and slipping into the elevator just before the doors close. My teammates all shoot me curious looks, but I pretend like I don’t see and I lean against the wall, trying and failing to slow the rapid beating of my heart.

It’s Stephen who approaches me when we all file out of the elevator and into the parking garage.

“Spencer Reid wouldn’t have anything to do with that love-sick look on your face, would he?”

I attempt to school my expression, but one pointed look from Stephen has me devolving into a fit of giggles like I’m a goddamn school girl.

“Possibly.”

“Possibly my ass. When we get done with this case, I expect a full explanation,” Stephen chuckles as he climbs in the back of the SUV.

“You gossip like a teenager, Walker,” I tease as I climb in after him.

“What can I say? You kids keep me young.”

I let out a loud laugh at that.

“Best shrink a girl could ask for.”

If suffering brings wisdom, I would wish to be less wise.

- Unknown

taglist: @90spumkin, @wave0fg00dvibes, @bartlebyreid, @goldenxreid , @crubbycrab, @djreid , @waywardswain, @anotherr-fine-mess , @shadyladyperfection , @memoriesfornobody , @fakeauthor , @easygoingtheatre , @haylaansmi , @criminal-minds-reider , @leavesofgrass-stark , @anitazut, @reidspurplescarf , @xoprincessmel, @pinkdiamond1016, @eldahae, @itsametaphorbriansblog, @ziggystardustxo

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ilomilo · 2 years

Text

assorted things i learned about ilomilo while plumbing the game files at 1am instead of packing, doing homework, or sleeping

CHARACTERS, CUBES, AND CREATURES

the sock puppet dog is called a cubethief

the little DEMON cube that shoots up if u walk in front of it and goes “DOOWAP!” is called… the teaser cube. unsurprising

the apple eating creature that goes “YOPE YOPE YOPE” is called a muncher (and the apples are called edibles 😏)

the birdcage creature is called a nabber

the bounce cube is called… exactly what it sounds like LOL (and fun fact being launched off of it is called a “piong!”)

the plunger cube is also called exactly what it sounds like

the arrow thing that shifts gravity is called a carpet

the single cube with the little bunny ears that u can pick up is called… a p-cube? idk what the p stands for

the long doglike cube that snaps out from 1 to 2-4 blocks and woofs at u is called a chain cube!

the like duplicate cubes that you can create out of paper in ch 3 are called mirror cubes

the bird cube that flies vertically is called the elevator cube (duh i suppose)

the cube that lets you walk on top of it and flip upside down is called the hole cube

the cube that turns u 90 degrees when u walk on top of it (or that rolls one block every couple seconds) etc etc) and kinda like.. burps at u. is called a rotocube

lantern cube and light cubes (what u create by placing the lantern cube) my beloveds…. <3

the creature in berry story that’s like the weird little guy on wheels that is always on the opposite face of the active player is called a mimic and the little guy on wheels who carries you with the tray is called the transporter cube. i know that one or both of these two have been referred to as piccolo and/or bouncer before in canon and the sounds they make have been called gny/issel which i think means “creak” in swedish. idk im too tired to go back and check any of the naming stuff (but anyway i don’t like berry story very much so im not as motivated KDHDKDHDKDHJ) but i will do so someday in the hopefully near future <3

the cute creatures who play instruments when u win or get achievements etc are called (aptly) drumman and tubaman

sebastian = “infoman” (i need to go back and check if his ladybug was in the file.. im assuming so) and his house is called the info cube >:~) hell yeah

the safkas are called “kid” in the texture files and “baby” in the sound files 😭😭😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺🥺 and there are actually 4 of them that were made for the game but the red one isn’t used i don’t think!

fun fact: ilo’s pattern is plaid and milo’s pattern is floral… and all of the safkas but the teal one has both plaid and floral (🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺)!!! the teal one has vertical stripes + floral which is very cool :”~D

this is probably common knowledge but it’s news to me — if u get certain achievements in world of keflings and raskulls then u can unlock special costumes for ilo and milo! ilo can be a pirate, “winter” (??), a devil, or a dragon… milo can be a doctor, a witch, a king, or a wizard. not sure if there is anything to read into about this but i am thinking MANY thoughts and i also want to do fanart

i have no idea what a wallpig is but apparently it’s a character. i think it’s honestly the giant background thing that wraps around chapter 1’s skybox (name for level environment apparently) sometimes? but yeah i have to go check

idk if it’s just me but… i don’t think fold cubes are actually in the game right? like maybe they’re the mirror makers but i thought they looked like portals and not faces

also speaking of mirrors i feel like there are mirror textures in the files that don’t actually exist in the game.. like for the nabber and stuff? but ch 3 is my least favorite so i might be misremembering

some notable background creatures i am either too tired to remember or haven’t paid enough attention to: balloon creature, a cupboard creature, the dogfish (which i vaguely recall), the eggs (i think those are from the multiplayer version which i haven’t played in ages), ropegirl, VICTOR (who i will see in my nightmares), and pirate piany who i literally don’t think ive ever seen in my life but there’s sebastian lore in there bc they look like sebastian. basicslly i need to go back and replay the whole game but pay attention to bc characters

LORE AND EASTER EGGS

interestingly enough it seems like the park level was supposed to be ch 1 as planned but then ch 2 would’ve been the noir / night level, ch 3 would’ve been the water level, and ch 4 would’ve been the paper level? that reflects in some game files but not all of them so i wonder what their idea for the story was before they made the switch

letter names 1-5 (i.e. signatures on the memories) are ilona, milton, kalliope, saffron, and dr gris (probably out of order im too tired to check lol) but letter names 6-10 turned up totally blank for me. idk if they’re just supposed to be negative versions of them but the fact that they have numbers and not any sort of “n” indicator is… suspicious

game mechanics i saw in the files but genuinely have zero recollection of: “blink of denial,” smooch, and a phone ringing and being picked up?? maybe all of this is from berry story but idk

sound file names i get a kick out of: “suckplopp” (sound effect; exactly what the name implies) and “rhubarbarella” (the version of the ilomilo theme that plays when u first start up the game before pressing enter to get to the main menu or whatever)

the memories are called “meta stories” in certain game files and the memory fragments are called “membits” that generate “memory fluid” that goes into the “memory machine” !!! wow

there are lots of cool houses / trees / etc in the bg that ive never paid attention to before but a few of them either have faces / characters on or inside them OR…. they have ilo and milo on them 🤯 like this one house in ch 4 (noir level) has a bunch of them in the ilomilo shuffle style incl with crossed out eyes???? uhmmmm

other cool bg things to give shoutouts to: the carboat, the lightrope (which presumably ropegirl hangs out on), the machinarium

i am SO MAD abt this one. so there’s a paper plane that flies around in ch 3 AND IT’S MADE OF AN ILOMILO MANUAL 😭😭😭😭😭 like it has a picture of ilo and milo on it and then u can see folded up excerpts abt chain cubes and p-cubes and the premise of the game… psspspspsps southend studios release the sacred texts

one of the playroom “props” has ilomilo shuffle playing on a video game screen! and (even cooler) another one has a whole bunch of wooden blocks with the only visible block letters being k, s, i, and m……. our four main characters kalliope saffron ilona and milton might have something to say about this 😜

according to the sound files there was going to be a narrator implemented into the game in some way shape or form! complete with breathing and lighting a pipe and lots of speaking files… but i couldn’t tell if they were speaking an actual language or a made up one like sebastian (and now that i say that i wonder if the narrator would’ve been sebastian’s “human” counterpart? but idk)

one of the background items (technically two but the 2nd is a recolor) features a label for something called nom nom jam with ilo and milo dancing around the words! ilona and milton jam making era……

THE RECORDS READ “SEBASTIAN RECORDS” WITH MILTON AND ILONA’S NAMES AS THE ARTISTS?????? were they musicians 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

#tess talks #tag later #im so exhausted i can’t think straight but i do wanna say i have a HUGE appreciation for ppl who develop games and i have even more of it no #now bc this shit looks like it was painstaking and im so grateful to get to look thru the files!! ok more tmrrw but for now goodnight

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strangertheory · 3 years

Note

I saw a post of an updated map of Hawkins on reddit and all the work that had to go into it because of inconsistencies in the maps/locations. the duffers take so much care in all the little details down to background props and hair ties. do you think maybe, the fact that the many maps of Hawkins don't line up, could support your theory that Hawkins is an internal world (or multiple) too?

I had not seen this Reddit thread prior to you contacting me to ask about it, but now that I have: Wow. Wowowowowowowow.

Yes! Thank you so, so much for sharing this particular Reddit post with me.

Given how much time this Redditor spent studying the different maps of Hawkins that are featured at different points in the series and creating the references photos representing their research, I encourage everyone to go read their original post and perhaps if you have a Reddit account consider upvoting it and supporting them and their efforts.

You can read the original Reddit thread that we will be discussing in this blogpost here at this link. (Go check it out!)

The aspect of the research and information provided to us in this Reddit post that interests me the most is, of course, this statement:

“The official map, as I call it, is near-identical to the one seen in ST2 Hawkins PD with Hopper’s marking the rotting farm locations. That one also matches one Murray had pinned to his wall that he shares with Jonathan and Nancy in ST2. Since they made commercial copies of this to share with the public, I have to consider it official and/ or at least the best starting point. There are other maps shown in the series and they DO NOT match this one and even have things flipped… one could say upside down…”

For a while now I have strongly suspected that there might be scenes in the series that take place in an “Upside Down” or a “dark reflection of our world” that we (and perhaps the characters themselves) are not yet aware could be taking place in a different version of Hawkins. This renews my enthusiasm for my theory that there is a meta layer to the events in the story that we fans aren’t aware of yet and that might involve characters existing in different places (and ways) than we currently understand. Perhaps there are less overt distinctions between the Hawkins that we think we know and yet another version of Hawkins than the eerie "Upside Down" alone.

Are there simply many parallel universes that are nearly identical to the one that the characters live in and that might have identical versions of themselves inhabiting them, too? Are we (sometimes) following the experiences of alters and introjects dealing with memories in internal worlds in a DID System as I currently wonder?

I think this Reddit post gives us a lot to think about.

If the work that this Redditor did is accurate, and if certain landmarks of Hawkins are inverted on maps at different points in the show, then I definitely have one more detail in Stranger Things that is going to be keeping me awake thinking at night and thinking about various theories until season 4 is released.

“Do you feel cold?” “No, just a little out of it. Like I haven’t really woken up yet.”

Do Will and El only interact when they are in the “Upside Down” or have some form of access to another state of consciousness (co-consciousness?) or an internal world? I discuss this idea briefly in this post about Will Byers’ Secret Files and also explore the way this could be implied during Mike and Will’s conversation on Halloween in this other blogpost.

They certainly share many, many parallels that cannot simply be a coincidence.

I’ve speculated that perhaps Hopper’s Cabin and Starcourt Mall are internal worlds, and I’ve even sometimes speculated that the entirety of Hawkins could have a mirrored alternate version of itself in another parallel universe or in a different layer of consciousness. I strongly suspect that the “Russia” that Hopper is trapped in might not quite be the Russia that we all know in our world but an "Upside Down” Russia.

I’m thinking about those Matryoshka Dolls again and thinking about different levels of consciousness / reality and meta-narratives like those featured in Stranger Things 4 Video Store Friday movies such as Inception, The Matrix, The Truman Show, Inside Out, Welcome to Marwen, The Wizard of Oz, and many others.

What secrets do we not yet know about these characters and the story yet? I’m dying to know, and I suspect that there are many secrets woven into the fabric of the series so far that will make a little more sense by the end of season 5.

*I’ve discussed the hypothetical that Stranger Things might be based on the concept of alters in a DID System dealing with traumatic memories and persecutor alters within internal worlds in other blogposts (many of which are pinned at the top of my blog) so I won’t go through the entire nuanced concept here, however I want to once again remind anyone reading this that whether or not my thoughts regarding the creative intentions of the writers turn out to be true or not, a fictionalized Netflix series or a fan-theory blog like this one is not the place to learn about real world medical conditions such as dissociative identity disorder and I encourage everyone who is interested in the topic to seek out legitimate, recent medical authorities and sources that can provide you more information on this topic. I actually have another Ask in my inbox which requested that I touch on the ethics of writers choosing to feature real-world medical conditions within fantastical universes that I’ll be answering hopefully within the next week or two. (I want to give it my best careful effort since it’s such an important topic.)

#stranger things theories #stranger things #the did theory #hawkins indiana

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descendantofthesparrow · 3 years

Text

Encore - Harry Hook x Reader - part 19 - fight

You let out a sigh, looking into the slowly rocking glass of water you had been swirling around. You and Harry had recently fought so now you sat dejected in your kitchen. and it wasn’t like you hadn’t had one before, it's just….this one had hit a bit harder than the last.

It all ended in Harry storming out of your apartment and slamming the door behind him back to his world. It had been three days since then.

And now you sat in your lonely little apartment, watching as the rain beat down on your winders and echo throughout the seemingly empty room.

You took a shaky breath and downed the rest of your water, standing from your kitchen table and walking over to the sink, placing your cup inside, and dragging yourself over to your room.

You flipped onto your bed and curled up under the blankets, burying your face into Harry's pillow.

You felt your nose burn as the sea salt, woodchips, and metal filled your senses. You missed him.

Three days with not even a text or updates from him. You had fought before but he had never left your side for long, sometimes never leaving in the first place, just sitting in the other room until the both of you calm down.

But three days with no contact worried you.

You huffed and picked up your head, laying your chin on the pillow and staring with droopy eyes at your closet door. “maybe I should go first?” you muttered, rolling over and continuing to stare at the door upside-down “but I might make him even madder by not respecting his privacy” the burning at your nose got worse, and you blinked harshly as you scrunched it. Blinking open your eyes, the room around you blurred as tears trailed from the corner of your eyes.

“fuck” you chocked, reaching up and rubbing at your face “god, fuck, shit, ass, cunt”

You gasped as a calloused thumb brushed away a tear from your cheek, you sat up, letting out a low sob as you stared into the shining ocean blue eyes of Harry Hook. “hey” he whispered, leaning towards you and wrapping his arms around you, picking you up and sitting on the bed, setting you on his lap and holding you to him tightly. “I’m sorry my love, it was a stupid fight”

You didn’t respond, rubbing your face into his shoulder and sniffing. You didn’t even remember what you had fought about, it had just escalated so fast. “forgive meh?”

You just nodded into his shoulder, unable to speak around the lump in your throat. Harry let out a relieved sigh, he brought his hand up and thread his fingers through your hair, rubbing his fingers against your head and completely encasing you within his body.

The two of you spent the next couple hours in comforting silence, listing to the rain beating against the apartment and the other's soft breathing.

You had almost fallen asleep to the sound of Harry's heartbeat but he kept shifting and fixing your spot in his lap. At one point you had tossed your arms around him and squished him till he stopped moving, allowing you to properly relax.

Harry pressed a soft kiss to your cheek and lifted you out of his lap, taking your left hand and quickly kissing your knuckles “I’ll go make us some food, what do yeh want ta drink” he whispered. You smiled and shrugged.

“I think I have some sparkling cider in the fridge?” you croaked; voice still shot from your earlier bawling session. He gave a soft smile and nod, squeezing your hand for a moment before dropping it and heading to the kitchen.

You sighed, falling back against your sheets and letting the tension release from your body. Finally, the three days of stress and worry were done. You lifted your left hand in your sights, biting your lip as the red ruby ring stared back at you.

What if Harry had never come back? What if he had decided that you weren’t worth it? Or had decided to break up with you?

It really was just a stupid fight that had ended badly but it had sent your mind reeling after a whole day had gone by with nothing coming from Harry's end.

You sat up as something delicious passed by your senses, you grabbed your (fav color) fluffy blanket from the top of your sheets and wrapped it around you, padding into the kitchen and licking your lips at the sight of Harry stirring something on the stove. “what-what you making?” you asked, walking up behind him and resting your chin on his shoulder.

He turned to kiss the top of your head and muttered against your hair “chicken rice bowl, Desiree was on dinner duty on the revenge and showed meh how ta make it, it's really good and I thought yeh might like it”

“it looks awesome” you muttered, looking over at the steaming covered rice on the other side of the stove, before looking down at the chicken cooking in the pan that Harry was messing with. “do you need me to do anything?”

“aye, make the sauce fer me?” he gestured over to a paper hanging from the cabinets, and you nodded, walking over to the paper and reading down the quickly scrawled recipe.

“homemade teriyaki sauce?” you murmured to yourself, throwing your blanket on a kitchen chair and getting to work.

Luckily the sauce was easy to make, within only a few minutes it was done and ready to be poured into the pan of chicken.

You handed the sauce to harry who poured it into the pan and stirred it around, letting it coat the chicken. “Desiree said ta let the sauce soak in for a bit, so now all we do is wait” you nodded and leaned onto his arm, smiling softly as he lifted it and wrapped it around your waist.

You had thought you and harry would (hopefully) reunite, that it would be awkward and the two of you would take a bit to get back to the way you were before the fight.

But it was as if the fight never happened, and it relieved you.

You and Harry talked about your usual small talk, the lost revenge, Auradon, wedding stuff, and the events of the past two years.

After a few minutes of talking and waiting, the chicken was ready to serve with the rice. Harry separated from you and pushed around the chicken with the spatula. “can yeh get the bowls out love?”

You hummed in confirmation and walked over to the left where your bowls were, opening the cabinet and pulling out two midsized bowls.

Harry took one of the bowls and spooned a good portion of rice into the bowl before doing the same with the chicken, he took a spoon and poured some of the chicken sauce onto the food, smirking as the dark sauce soaked into the rice.

“nice” he muttered, setting the bowl on the kitchen table behind him and backing away, letting you fill your bowl. He picked up his bowl and walked over to the living room, setting it down on the coffee table and turning on the tv. “Mandalorian or….whatever?” he asked loudly, turning to you and raising his brows

“Mando” you called back, pouring the sauce on your food and grabbing your blanket tossing it on the back of the couch, and plopping down on the soft cushions.

Harry sat next to you and pulled you into his side, clicking on the series and setting it to the first episode. The rest of the night was mostly spent quietly eating food and watching movies.

It was a nice break from the last three days. You let out a light sigh and burred yourself into Harry's side, glancing up at the snoring pirate that still gripping onto you tightly.

You jumped slightly at the sudden buzz coming from Harry's pocket, you stealthily pulled his phone and unlocked it, seeing a text from Uma.

Cap’n

Cap’n-Hey, you two okay?

You smiled, you were glad you and Harry had a friend that cared so much about you, even if she didn’t like showing it all the time

You -(y/n) answering from Harrys phone cuz the dork is asleep: yes we are okay, harry made dinner too

Cap’n - good, another day of Harrys whining and I would have combusted, keep him there for a little bit, he worked himself to the bone to distract himself over here, he needs a day off even though he just had one

You - yes ma’am

Cap’n - (y/n)….

You - sorry :’)

Cap’n - alright, night

You - night!

You set Harry's phone on the coffee table and burrowed back into his side, smiling as his solid heartbeat rang in your ear.

It was hard to believe it had been over two years since you had been magically transported to the Descendants world and fallen in love with who was once a fictional character you had a crush on.

You still had no idea how you had gotten there in the first place but, you looked back up at Harry, whose lashes fluttered against his cheeks, you sure as hell weren’t complaining.

-end of part 19-

ALSO, I thought I started this (part of your world in general) back in….December? of 2018, which I think that’s when I started posting on Wattpad but apparently, I posted part 1 of part of your world on October 19th, 2018! So, it’s been 2 years since I started part of your world! Which was the true start to my growth as a writer! I think I’m going to start wrapping up encore soon since there's not much more I can do with it other than random parts with fluff and some angst sometimes, so maybe 10 more parts at max, maybe ending with the wedding? Idk but I think this set of part of your world is coming to a close. Rewrite is still ongoing with D2 being written right now, and a possible D3 if D2 does good. Along with the Full Rewrite/redone versions of Part of Your World/Reprise, it'll be under the same name with just a 2.0 at the end so it'll just look like Part of your World 2.0/Reprise 2.0

Thank yall for reading!

permtaglist

@queer-cosette @sephiralorange

@lunanight2012 @daughter-of-the-stars11

@musicarose @random-thoughts-003

@remembered-license @verboetoperee

@rintheemolion

#Descendents #disney descendants #harry hook descendants #harry hook #harry hook x reader #harry hook imagine #descendants #encore #reprise #rewrite #shuffle playlist

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illfoandillfie · 3 years

Note

Can I get a general career reading? With the art nouveau deck and the archetype oracle please.

of course darl!

tarot: ace of cups, page of cups, justice, queen of cups,3 of swords, the fool, the tower, the hanged man, the world

okay!! we have some interesting cards here! something that drew my attention immediately was the first and last cards. we open with an ace which is the start of the minor arcana and all of the aces are related to new starts or new opportunities. And then we end on the world which is the last card of the major arcana and symbolises completion and fulfilment. so this seems to be a self-contained cycle you’re entering.

I’d also like to just acknowledge how many cups cards there are here. The cups as a suit is related to emotions and the heart so this may be a highly emotional time or you may find yourself being driven by your emotions rather than logic or reason. There’s also a lot of major arcana cards which isn’t necessarily good or bad but it’s worth noting because the major arcana are generally related to Big life events or milestones whereas the minor arcana are more sort of every day things. so this seems like it’ll be a significant period for you. but lets have a closer look at it all.

So like i said, the aces are related to new opportunities and the suit of cups is tied to emotions and the heart. So the ace of cups is related to new things or new situations that are cause for strong emotions. A lot of the time it’s connected to romance but in this career reading it’s probably more likely some sort of new opportunity, particularly related to creativity. There’s a lot of potential here, all you have to do is reach out and take the cup. But it’s not all happiness. The ace is being clarified by the three of swords which is a card of heartbreak and suffering, It can be through delays or absences, unrest or confusion. Any sort of disruption or incompatibility. This could indicate something going wrong at work. A worst case scenario could be being fired/retrenched but it could also be related to people you work with or just a tough work environment that you struggle with. Something here isn’t looking good though. The ace of cups can relate to intuition or spirituality as well so it might be that you’ve had a gut feeling something is coming or you might have noticed changes happening around the work place and if that’s the case I would definitely listen to your gut and prepare yourself for bad news. But there is definitely a silver lining here. The 3 of swords isnt the main card, the ace of cups is and that says to me that while something will go wrong it will open you up to finding something new which is a better fit for you. It might even be that the bad thing happens to someone else and consequently you take over their roll or something like that. But if you’ve been thinking about starting up some sort of creative endeavour, like an etsy store or writing a novel, this is the time to push forward with it.

Then we have the page of cups and the fool. There are two court cards who appear in this reading so one may be someone you’ll associate or work with but it’s entirely possible that both of them represent you. The page is imaginative and sensitive. He’s a bit of a dreamer and often has his head in the clouds. This definitely fits in if you’ve been considering a new side hustle or if you’ve been thinking about making a change in your career path. the fool as a similar sort of energy but he’s less dreamy and more of a free spirit. he isnt worried about where he’s putting his feet, far more concerned with what he’s experiencing in each moment. He’s innocent, sometimes naive, but also courageous and more concerned with having fun. In relation to career and finances he’s definitely a symbol to take the leap - whether it’s selling art or putting your hand up for a promotion or leaving a job and finding a new one. The fool says go for it, especially if it’s something you’ve been dreaming about doing. There’s a very fresh and energized feeling in these cards and it seems you’ll soon be presented with an opportunity to follow through with your dreams.

next is three major arcana. Justice is about doing things in the right way without cutting corners. The fool might be impulsive but justice is reminding you to do things right the first time so you don’t make a huge mistake that ruins all your plans. The tower is interesting in this position. I won’t sugar coat it, usually the tower is about a drastic, dramatic change. The kind of thing that shatters your world, sends everything crashing down around you. Together with Justice it could be a sign that some sort of truth is going to come out that turns things upside down for you. If you’ve been stealing office supplies or embezzling money (hopefully not) it is going to come out. On the flip side it could be about someone else’s lies being found out. If you’ve been involved with any workplace disputes recently the justice card is a sign that things will go in your favour as long as you’ve been honest and fair. And this could relate to that big change that’s going to open the new opportunity of the ace of cups.

But I don’t feel like that’s exactly it. If the tower had shown up next to the 3 of swords i would say yeah that’s it. But with it being sandwich between justice and the hanged man i feel like it’s something else. So let’s look at that hanged man. It’s a card related to sacrifice, release, and changing perspective. In relation to career it could symbolise feeling stuck or uncertain about where you’re headed. So together these three cards could be advice for you or a warning of sorts. They’re saying that the big change and taking that leap of faith the fool asks you to take, won’t be easy. There will be times when you feel like you made a mistake, like you’re in over your head and you’ve gotten yourself into a tower situation that is so much worse than whatever the 3 of swords you left behind was. You will think about throwing in the towel. you will think about giving up. But don’t listen to those voices. Justice is on your side and the scales will rebalance for you. It might take some readjustments, it might take rebuilding parts of your plan, it might take a fresh perspective. But you will be vindicated in your choice to try something new and things will clear up.

Finally we have the queen of cups and the world. The queen of cups is a bit of an upgrade to the page from earlier. Of course, the queen may be someone you’ll turn to for advice or help. But I think she could also be you, closer to reaching your goal and the end of the cycle. The queen of cups is compassionate. She is calm and comforting. She symbolises devotion, pleasure, success. Where the page dreams and imagines, the queen creates and acts. She’s also a reminder that whatever you do as a job should help you feel emotionally fulfilled and not just financially. Especially since she’s being clarified by the world which is related to fulfilment as well as harmony and completion. The world comes at the end of a journey. It represents assured success and is associated with getting that job you want as well as graduations and celebrations. It’s a sign that if you take this opportunity that will present itself soon you can turn it into something you love and which can offer finance stability. The World is also about the start of a new cycle though. As one thing draws to an end, or one goal is reached, you see there is still further to climb and more to accomplish.

I drew you 4 of the archetype cards as well as a few numerology and elemental cards.

So the archetypes first. Thanks for requesting this deck by the way! I don’t often use it so it was nice to bring it out again! The thought behind these cards is that everyone’s personalities and psyche is made up of a number of different archetypes, some more evident than others. And these archetypes may change as you grow and also depending on the situation you’re in - you might act one way at work and another with your friends. I think traditionally these cards would be used to describe people but I’m hoping they can give us some insight on traits you can use in relation to your career as well as general sort of knowledge about the situation presented in the tarot cards. Each archetype as a light side and a shadow side which reflect both positive and negative aspects.

The first archetype is the Alchemist. Light - transformation of base motives and goals into golden wisdom. Shadow: Misuse of power and knowledge that come through spiritual practice. - to me this really fits with the tarot cards. The main message of the tarot was to seriously consider whatever dreams or fantasies you’ve been thinking about in relation to your career to to go after them and i think thats what the light attribute is really getting at here. You have the power within yourself to turn you little goal into something big and beautiful.

Prince. light - romantic charm and potential for power. shadow - using power for self-aggrandizement. This is interesting considering the number of cups cards we had and how often they’re linked to romances. The prince may be someone you come across, maybe someone involved in whatever the 3 of swords situation is. However, the prince is also seen as a ruler in training and if you’re appearing as the page of cups to start and gradually becoming the queen, then it’s also quite possibly related to your journey.

Trickster. light - transcending convention, stuffiness, and predictable behaviour. shadow - manipulating others through duplicity. This card could be linked with the fool perhaps, unpredictable and kind of wild. It also reminds me a bit of that justice card, especially if you’re taking it from an angle of “someone did something wrong and they’re being caught out”.

Child: Magical. So, according to the guidebook there are 4 archetypes that everyone will have one of but each of them have multiple versions. The child is one of those and here we’ve drawn the magical version. light - seeing the potential for sacred beauty in all things. The belief that everything is possible. shadow - pessimism, depression, and disbelief in miracles. believing that energy and action are not required for growth. this definitely feels like its related to the ace of cups and the 3 of swords, believing that something wonderful can come from something painful. It may also relate to the page who spends his time dreaming rather than acting, like the shadow attriubte.

From the numerology deck we got personal growth, effort, and pride. personal growth indicates a time of significant growth and improvement and that is absolutely reflected in the tarot cards above. theres a lot of potential here and a lof of cards that suggest this will be a turning point for you. Effort is a sign that things coming will require some hard work from you, extra effort to overcome obsticles and challenges. but when the going gets tough the tough get going and you are definitely tough enough to handle it. And Pride to me represents that you will be proud of what you can accomplish through this hard work.

Finally, the element cards: magnetism (attraction) and rock (endurance). there are magnetic forces that are pulling you towards this change and this opportunity. this could tie in with the intuitive message of the ace of cups, if you’ve been able to sense things shifting. rock is another card that points to things being difficult at times and it’s saying you have what it takes to get through them and to find success and happiness.

#woof #this was a bit of a long one.#i dont think i can get through the last couple of readings tonight #since i have work tomorrow #but i will answer them asap #i might try and get them written up over lunch tomorrow even if i cant get onto tumblr to post them until after i get home #i'll defs try to have them up by this time tomorrow though!#i'd say i'd post them on wednesday when i normally have a scheduled day off #but this week i'm covering for someone and actually working weds and thurs #but dw! they are coming!#card readings

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cocastyle · 5 years

Text

The In-Between Chapter 4

Stranger Things x It Crossover

with some Bill Denbrough x reader

Word Count - 5,710

Warning - cursing (if some people don’t like that kind of stuff)

A/N- ahhh chapter four is here!! so I got a little carried away with this chapter and had to cut it down (this only means that chapter 5 is already partially written so yay). this is a pretty action packed chapter, but I hope you guys like it! we are so close to the Party and the Losers’ Club meeting🤩I’m super excited!! thank you for all the love and support!

if you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know!

T H E I N - B E T W E E N

Intro The Losers’ Club The Party Prolouge 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Epilogue

As much as it pained the Losers to have to wait another day to save Mike, they knew it would be no use if they went into the whole situation more tired than they already were. So after getting the few hours of sleep that they could and having to go through another dreadful day of school, you could say they were a little impatient by the time there was only a minute of the school day left.

Y/N bounced her knee up and down, her toes being the only thing touching the ground as she violently shook her leg. Her eyes were trained on the clock at the front of the room and she was biting her lip nervously, the only thoughts she could think of being that she wanted nothing more than for the school day to be over.

Bill watched the girl silently from his assigned seat across the class. Back when the teacher had allowed them to sit anywhere, the two had sat side by side. However one pair of girls had ruined it for everyone the day they kept talking during class which meant the teacher could think of nothing more to do than create a seating chart.

Y/N was placed at the front of the room while Bill was in the back, but Bill didn't complain. He would've liked to sit next to the girl, but luckily for him, his spot in the back gave him the perfect side view of the girl's face, allowing him to admire her from afar without her even noticing.

In that moment, his eyes kept flickering between the clock and Y/N who he hesitated on a little bit longer each time. It was only when the bell rang that Bill seemed to snap out of his thoughts and he was quick to get up from his seat and race over to Y/N, grabbing onto her hand and dragging her out of the room as the teens raced to find their friends.

Neither of them had to go to their lockers and it seemed the other Losers didn't either because Beverly, Richie, Eddie, Ben and Stan were already waiting by their bikes when the two made it.

"Finally! You two just couldn't save your make out session for later, could you?" Richie asked causing both teens to simultaneously blush and glare at the boy.

"Shut up, Richie," Y/N muttered as she reluctantly let go of Bill's hand and got onto her bike. "Come on. We can go to my house."

The others nodded and not even fifteen minutes later they were at Y/N's house, locked away in her basement with papers and pencils on a huge table in front of them.

"The portal you guys saw," Y/N began as she took a piece of paper and drew a long line across the middle of it, "it goes to a place called the Upside Down. I know I've mentioned it before, but I don't think I've ever really explained it. One of my past teachers once explained alternate dimensions like this. Think of this line as a tightrope and the tightrope represents our dimension."

Y/N drew a little stick figure on top of the tightrope before saying, "For an acrobat, they can only go backwards or forwards along the rope since the rope is flat. They can't turn upside down or they will fall off."

She then drew a tiny dot on the rope. "This is a flea. Now the flea is different than the acrobat. It can go forwards and backwards, but it can also go up and down meaning that it can get into the other dimension. The portal is like what makes us fleas, allowing us to cross over into this other dimension if that makes sense," Y/N explained.

"I'm confused," Stan muttered. "How does something like that even exist?"

"We don't know. It's just kind of been there and we don't exactly know why it's all decay either," Y/N replied.

"Why do we have to be fleas to go into the Upside Down?" Richie asked gaining everyone's attention. "I don't want to be a fucking flea!"

"What? Richie-" Y/N began as she shook her head.

"I don't want to be a flea, Y/N!" Richie exclaimed while Eddie shook his head at the boy.

Before Richie knew what was happening, Eddie had whacked him on the back of the head. "You idiot, we aren't going to turn into fleas. It's just a metaphor, dumbass," Eddie said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh," Richie said as his eyes lit up in realization. The others just shook their heads in disbelief.

"So what's the game plan then?" Beverly asked.

"Yeah, how are we going to save Mike? We can't all go to the Upside Down, right? What if the portal closes?" Ben asked although Y/N knew he only asked because he didn't want to be the one to go into the portal.

"That's where my experience with the Upside Down comes into play. Now I've only been in there once, but I know enough to make my way around and stay safe. We don't need everyone going, so I'll just go and have a rope tied to myself so that you guys can pull me back if I yank hard enough," Y/N explained.

"I-I-I'm going w-w-with," Bill declared causing the young girl to look at him with raised eyebrows.

Y/N let out a small laugh before shaking her head as she smiled at the boy, "No, you aren't."

Bill furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. "I-I-I'm going, Y/N," he insisted.

The girl shook her head. "You don't get it. I am the only one who knows what this place is like. I'm not about to bring any of you, especially you, into that place. It's just not happening," Y/N told him.

"I-I-I will be fine b-b-because I'm with y-y-you, but I w-w-will not let y-y-you go in there a-a-alone even if you d-d-do have experience w-w-with this thing," Bill said, crossing his arms as he gave the girl a serious look that told her he wouldn't back down.

Y/N frowned, obviously not pleased with Bill's decision, but nodded. "Fine, but you aren't allowed to leave my side even for a second, got it?" she asked.

Bill smiled and let his arms fall back down to his side. "W-W-Wouldn't want to be a-a-anywhere else," he said. Y/N felt her face heat up at that and she quickly looked away while the others all looked at her in amusement.

"So what do we need to do now?" Eddie asked.

"Well we can't exactly just waltz right into the Well House," Y/N explained. "We're going to need supplies like weapons of any kind, flashlights, masks and rope."

"Lots and lots of rope."

- - -

"I can't believe you're doing this," Eddie muttered, his face pale as he stared at the pulsing goo in front of him that lined the basement wall of the Well House. He looked as if he might puke or pass out. Maybe even both. "That thing looks like an infection just waiting to happen."

"Oh, hush. They'll be fine. It's just decay anyways," Beverly noted from where she was tying the rope around Y/N's waist, remembering what Y/N had said about the Upside Down being a world of decay. She finished tightening the rope before standing back and looking at the girl who grinned at her.

"Be careful and go kick some demogorgon and It ass while you're at it," Beverly told the girl. Y/N smiled and the two girls high fived before Beverly gave her a quick hug just in case something were to happen.

"Remember, we are just trying to figure out what is going on in there and hopefully you guys will find Mike while you're at it. No unnecessary fighting if you can help it," Stan said.

Y/N nodded and the two did a small fist bump before Y/N turned to see Bill talking to Richie, Eddie, and Ben. Her eyes locked with Bill's and she gave him a small nod. "Ready?" she asked.

Bill nodded and pulled his bandana up and over his mouth and nose, a technique Y/N had advised him to use to keep the decay out of his lungs. "Ready," he nodded.

Y/N nodded back and put the bandana over her mouth and nose as well before looking over at Richie, Eddie, and Ben and saluting then. Eddie chuckled and waved to the girls while Ben quickly saluted her back. Richie tried to hide his small smile as he rolled his eyes at the girl, but he couldn't stop himself from smiling at her goofiness and looked to the ground.

Bill lightly grabbed onto Y/N's hand, instantly gaining her attention for a moment. Their eyes locked and he squeezed her hand slightly before she squeezed back. The two then looked before them and took a deep breath before pushing their way through the goo portal, the ropes attached to their waists staying on the other side with the Losers where a huge pile of rope they had managed to find from town laid by their feet.

It took about a minute for the two to break out of the other side of the portal and about fifteen seconds for their eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness around them. Y/N shuddered at the sight before her, the familiar sight of decay in front of her bringing back too many memories.

Bill let out a small gasp, his eyes wide as he looked around and muttered, "What the hell. . ."

Y/N ignored the boy and was quick to flip on her flashlight. "Let's go," she said, her hand still tightly holding onto Bill's as she took a step forward.

She held onto him so tight that Bill thought his hand might break, but he knew she was just afraid and thinking of her many experiences with the world they were in so he held her back just as tight and rubbed a thumb along the top of her hand.

Bill followed at her side and pulled his flashlight out as well as the two began to walk deeper and deeper into the Upside Down. Bill didn't know what to think as he looked around, still shocked at the place that was before him.

They seemed to be in the Well House still, or at least a version of the Well House. Bill had thought the house was already broken down, but this just proved how much worse it could be where half of the building was practically crumbling to ashes while everything was covered in a grayish green decay.

The teens quietly made their way up the stairs of the basement and began to make their way towards the front door, making sure to be quiet enough not to let It or the Demogorgons know they were there.

"We should check outside first. Mike's bike was left outside, so maybe we could find clues," Y/N told him in a whisper and Bill nodded in response.

Luckily the door was already open so all the two had to do was step over some of the broken wood from the door before they were outside. Bill almost gasped louder at the sight of the outside world.

Just like Y/N had said, the scenery around him reminded him of Derry. There were buildings and streets identical to the ones he was used to seeing every day. The only difference was that this landscape was covered in decay and a green and gray tint to everything.

Bill could only stare in shock, so Y/N gently tugged on his hand as she pulled him forward. They couldn't afford to get distracted or separated. Not in a place like this.

The two walked down the front stairs and Y/N dragged Bill over to the same bush that Mike's bike had been in, only the bush was nothing but a bunch of broken twigs while all that was left of a bike was the rusty handles broken in pieces on the ground.

Y/N frowned and bent down to pick a metal piece up. She stood up and studied it for a minute before looking up and around at the scenery in front of her. She was quiet as she looked around, her eyes scanning the area as if she were waiting for something to happen or looking for clues to anything alive having walked through these parts.

Her questioning gaze was soon answered when a small almost screeching noise came from the house behind them. . .the same house they had just walked out of.

Y/N's eyes widened while Bill stilled beside her. "W-W-What was th-th-that?" Bill asked as he looked to the girl beside him confused.

Y/N shook her head and turned to look at the house, but as soon as she heard what sounded like claws scrapping across the ground as something started running through the house, she immediately burst into action.

Her grip tightened on Bill's hand and she bolted, yanking the boy forward as she yelled, "Run!"

All she could hear was her own heart beating in her chest and the cries of a demogorgon as she ran. She knew Bill was yelling at her, possibly trying to figure out what was chasing them and what they were going to do, but she wasn't able to function or process his words so all she heard was a muffled voice yelling from behind her.

Y/N didn't know where she was running as they rushed forward, but she knew that she had to find somewhere to hide, someone where the demogorgon would have trouble finding her. Why she thought the creepy woods was a good idea, she had no idea. But then again, everything in the Upside Down was creepy so how could the woods be any different?

"This way!" Y/N yelled as she pulled Bill into the forest with her. All the trees were bare of leaves, some of them even having branches and twigs broken in odd angles, but there were so many of them bundled together that it was easy for the girl to find them a hiding spot between two large trees towards the middle of the woods.

Y/N had to remind herself to keep her breathing low, that it didn't matter how scared she was. If the demogorgon heard her breathing, then it would be able to find her. It took a second but she finally managed to get her breathing to almost inaudible.

The only problem was Bill who was holding onto her hand with a deathly grip as his other hand held onto his chest. His eyes were looking around frantically and his breathing was almost so rapid that his body shook with every breath.

Y/N frowned sadly before quickly turning her body so that she was in front of the boy. Her hand was quick to go over his mouth, instantly making his breathing ten times quieter. Bill stared at her with wide eyes and she tried to remain calm as she looked at him.

Sweat was dripping down both of their faces and fear was evident in their eyes. Bill shook below her touch and Y/N gave him a sympathetic look before letting go of his hand so that she could brush her hand through his hair, a small gesture she always did when she needed to calm him down.

It seemed to help a little bit and he just blinked and watched her silently as she kept her hand over his mouth. Once she knew he was calm enough for her to look away, Y/N peaked her head out and around the tree so that she could look back in the direction they had just come from.

A snap of a twig had her pulling back and practically launching herself at Bill, the two huddling together as Y/N kept her hand over his mouth and bit her lip to keep herself quiet. Both teens were shaking as they heard the crunching sound of dead twigs and leaves and Bill squeezed his eyes shut before leaning into the girl more, never having felt this scared except for three years ago when they had fought Pennywise.

He hadn't even seen the thing, but it didn't take much for him to realize why Y/N was so freaked out and the sound it made only added to his own fear.

The two were so quiet that the crunching of the leaves and twigs was the only sound that filled the air. So when the sound suddenly paused before starting back up again and growing distant as it did, the two knew they were safe. Y/N waited a moment after the sound had disappeared before pulling away from Bill and looking around the tree.

She let out a small sigh of relief once she saw that the coast was clear and she turned back to Bill before pulling her hand away. Their noses were touching from how close they were, their rapid breaths mingling together as they stared at each other.

"W-W-What was th-th-that?" Bill asked, his eyes frantically searching Y/N's as if they held the answer to his question.

"A demogorgon. Something you do not want to meet," Y/N breathed out. She let her eyes flicker over Bill's face before she looked at him worriedly and used a hand to cup his cheek, her thumb rubbing his skin as he leaned into her touch. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Bill instantly nodded. "Y-Y-Yeah, I'm okay," he told her before he reached up and brushed a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. "Are you okay?"

He knew how much the Upside Down and the creatures inhabiting it had affected her. There had been countless nights where she had showed up knocking on his window with tears in her eyes and where he had held her in his arms as she cried and shook in his hold from how frightened and upset she was. Bill had never minded much especially since Y/N returned the favor whenever he had nightmares of Georgie and It.

Y/N let out a shaky breath and nodded her head, "Yeah, I'm-"

Her sentence fell on deaf ears as an ear piercing scream filled the air. Y/N instantly tensed while Bill looked at her confused. Y/N ignored the boy as she quickly pulled away, her eyes wide as she looked around. "That scream. . ." She muttered making Bill furrow his eyebrows.

"W-W-What scr-" Bill didn't get to finish because Y/N's wars were suddenly filled with another scream that made her eyes widen.

"It's Mike!" she cried out. "This way!" Before Bill could even get up, the girl had bolted and by the time he was up, she was already gone.

"Sh-Sh-Shit," Bill muttered as he realized him and Y/N were now separated. "Y/N!" he cried out, but there was no response. Knowing there was no way in hell he would be leaving without her, Bill took a deep breath before running in the direction she had went, silently wondering to himself what screaming she had been talking about.

The screaming may have not been real for Bill, but for Y/N it was very real. So real in fact that she didn't even think twice about running off to find Mike. She knew about the horrors that came with the Upside Down so she could only imagine what was happening to him at that moment.

However, it wasn't until she reached a small clearing where Mike was standing with a blank expression on his face that she realized she had been tricked.

"Mike?" Y/N called out, confusion laced in her voice. Upon realizing it was him, she let out a sigh of relief and ran over to the boy, a smile on her face. She reached the boy in a matter of seconds and was quick to wrap her arms around him in a hug. "Thank goodness you are okay! I don't know what I would've done if I-"

The girl fell short as she realized Mike wasn't hugging her back. Confused, Y/N pulled way to see that Mike was staring at her with a blank look on his face, his eyes wide as he just stared at her in silence.

"Mike?" Y/N questioned, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. "Come on. We don't have time for games. We have to get out of here."

Y/N turned to leave but before she could even take a step, Mike's hand was suddenly grabbing onto her wrist before he let out an eerie laugh.

"Oh, but games are so much fun, Y/N," a voice that didn't belong to Mike told her. The girl tensed at that and slowly looked behind her to see that Mike had disappeared and been replaced by It.

The clown grinned at her, his sharp teeth shining as his eyes stared at her. "We can play a game," It suggested while Y/N shook her head and began to pull against It's iron grip. Tears were in her eyes as she struggle, but It didn't seem to notice. "The other kids love my games. You can float too, you know. You'll float too. You'll float too. You'll float too! You'll float too!"

It's voice was so loud that Y/N's ears hurt. Letting out a strangled cry as tears began to stream down her face, the seventeen year old tried deservedly to escape his iron grip. It just laughed and Y/N's eyes widened when the clown's mouth opened up to reveal rows of sharp teeth.

Just when It was about to clamp it's teeth into her arm, Y/N remembered the rope around her waist and yanked on it before using her leg to sweep It out from under his feet.

On the other side of the portal to the Upside Down stood the Losers' Club who were all staring at the portal ahead of them with frowns on their faces. "You think they're okay?" Stan asked quietly, his voice just above a whisper.

As if having heard his voice, the rope that belonged to Y/N suddenly began to move forward faster than any of them had seen. Beverly's eyes widened and she quickly grabbed ahold of the rope, only then realizing that Y/N was tugging against it to signal that she needed them to get her out.

"She's pulling on the rope! Y/N needs help!" Beverly exclaimed, the others' eyes all widening as they hurried over to the girl and began to pull on the rope.

Y/N let out a small sigh of relief as she began to run, the rope pulling back against her not only helping her run faster but also telling her that her friends were trying to help her.

She had lost It a little ways back, but Y/N was no fool and knew that he was not far behind. Stumbling through the woods, Y/N was barely paying attention and accidentally slipped onto the ground.

The girl let out a groan as she sat up, but it was only then that she realized the tugging on the rope had stopped. Y/N furrowed her eyebrows, a small panic rising in her chest as she hesitantly reached out for the rope and began pulling on it. It was as if the rope was as loose as could be and before she knew it, Y/N came face to face with the frayed end of a rope.

The rope, her way back home and the connection to her friends, had been cut.

"No," Y/N muttered as she felt the bubble of panic rising in her chest. "No. No. No. No."

"Y/N, please don't run! We can all be friends down here!" It's voice sang from a little ways away causing the girl to drop the rope in her hand and scramble to her feet.

Y/N didn't know where she was going at this point, the rope not being of any help anymore. Everything in the woods looked the same and the longer she ran through it, the more scared and upset she got. She just knew that she had to get away from It.

She hadn't even realized she was crying before her vision got so blurry that she was literally just stumbling around. Her breathing was heavy as she ran forward, her eyes flickering all around her.

Hadn't she passed that tree a minute ago? Why did everything look so familiar? Wasn't that the place her and Bill had hid from the demogorgon?

Y/N froze at that. Her eyes wide as she realized Bill was no longer with her. When had that happened? She didn't know whether to be relieved since he didn't have to deal with It or scared because she didn't know what was happening to him.

"Bill!" Y/N cried out frantically, tears streaming down her face even more as she suddenly became frightened for Bill's life. "Bill!"

A loud screech from behind her made her jump as she realized both the demogorgons and It were now after her. Knowing she had to find Bill, Y/N took a deep breath before running back into the thicker parts of the woods, making sure to still run away from the creatures that were following her.

"Bill!" Y/N yelled as the branches on the trees scratched her face and pulled at her hair. "Bill!"

She ran through the thick trees for a second longer before she suddenly came stumbling out into a small clearing. No sooner had her feet touched the ground that something came barreling into her side causing her to hit the ground as she let out a scream of terror.

Y/N squeezed her eyes shut as she began to cry, knowing that this was it. A fucking demogorgon had gotten her and she was about to die. She really hoped Bill had found his way out, that he had made it back to the others and that they would work with her friends from Hawkins to kill these motherfuckers.

"Y/N?"

The girl's thoughts were hushed at the sound of her name and she slowly blinked her eyes open to see Bill propped up above her. "B-B-Bill?" she questioned, still leaning back slightly and shaking because she wasn't quite sure if this was actually the boy that had stolen her heart or some sick hallucination caused by the clown.

But then she saw the rope attached to his hip and the concern in his eyes as he gently reached up and cradled her face in disbelief before hugging her tightly. "F-F-Fuck. Don't sc-sc-scare me like th-th-that," he muttered as he held her close to his body, stroking her hair and pressing a kiss to her temple as he did so.

And she knew it was him.

A loud sob left her lips as she clung onto the boy, a feeling of relief washing over her at the fact that he was okay. However, the two didn't get long to comfort each other before a loud almost howl like screech filled the air.

Y/N perked up at that, instantly remembering why she had been running in the first place. "We have to go," she told him before she grabbed onto the rope around his waist and began to yank on it. Within a couple of seconds, the rope was starting to pull Bill up onto his feet and through the woods. Bill was quick to grasp onto Y/N's hand and the two began to run as fast as they possibly could in the direction the rope was pulling them.

It didn't take long for them to exit the woods, the Well House coming back into sight. Y/N silently wondered if the house had been that close all along and if the woods had just been a trick of her mind.

A red flash of lightning came from behind them and Y/N felt the hairs in the back of her neck stand up. She hesitantly looked behind her before gasping at the sight of the Mind Flayer, a creature from the Upside Down that she hadn't seen in two years. She had thought he was dead.

"We got to go!" Y/N exclaimed, pulling Bill along faster towards the house. A howling screech filled the air before it was followed by another one and then another. It didn't take much for Y/N to realize that the Mind Flayer had sent a herd of demodogs after them.

"Shit," she muttered as she pushed Bill into the house, glancing back to see a herd of demodogs and demogorgons running out from the woods they had just come from with the Mind Flayer right behind them.

Bill looked outside as well and his eyes widened before he quickly grabbed Y/N's hand and began to pull her towards the basement. The two could hear the creatures that were hot on their trail and for a second they both even swore they heard the sound of Pennywise laughing from behind them.

But then they saw the flashing portal and didn't even think twice before lunging inside, the two flying through and onto the floor of their world causing the Losers to all jump back in surprise.

"Holy shit! You guys okay?" Beverly asked as she hurried over to help them up, but neither of them made a move to get up. Y/N had started to cry while Bill held her close to his body, his eyes trained on the portal in front of them as if he couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Guys? Why aren't you talking? What's wrong?" Ben asked worriedly.

"Yeah, what the fuck happened in there? And why the hell was Y/N's rope cut?" Richie questioned in anger as he held up the frayed end of the rope that had been on their side.

"What about Mike? Did you see Mike?" Eddie asked.

The questions all came barreling at the two, but neither were able to process just what their friends were asking. Y/N was shaking as she held onto Bill, the boy shakily holding her back as both of them stared at the portal in front of them.

Just then, the lights above the group began to flicker causing everyone to look up confused.

"Oh no."

The Losers all froze and turned to look at Y/N, their faces paling slightly at the look of sheer fright and panic on her face. "What's wrong?" Stan asked, not knowing if he actually wanted to hear the answer.

However, he got his answer sooner than he expected when a slimy looking hand pushed its way through the goo portal on the wall. Before any of them could blink, the face of a demogorgon appeared, it's whole face opening up like a flower to reveal rows of teeth as it screeched at them.

Everyone let out a scream while Richie yelled out, "What the fuck! What the fuck!"

The next few seconds were a blur as everyone scrambled towards the stairs, tripping over each other as they did. The demogorgon chased after them, but somehow the teens were able to be just a step ahead of the creature.

They ran towards the front door and Y/N quickly pushed her friends outside before they all stumbled across the front yard. The demogorgon was right behind them and Y/N pushed her friends across the street only to trip and land just on the other side of the road.

"Y/N!" Bill cried out once he saw that the girl had fallen behind. He went to run back, but it was too late, the demogorgon was already standing above the girl with its mouth opening up even wider if that was even possible. Y/N whimpered and tried to crawl away but the demogorgon's hand was suddenly latching onto her ankle.

But its hold on her disappeared almost as quickly as it had happened. The hold was suddenly ripped away as a car came barreling past the group, the front of it hitting the demogorgon so hard that the creature went flying back.

The Losers all blinked in surprise before looking to the car that had stopped in front of them. Y/N was breathing heavily as she pushed the strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail out of her face.

Her lungs and ankle were on fire as she looked up at the car and she was shaking out of fright, but she still managed to smile as the window rolled down to reveal that face of Steve Harrington. The boy ran a hand through his hair before glancing down at Y/N who was lying on the ground still.

"L/N, still don't know how to stay out of trouble I see," he mused, the corners of his lips twitching up slightly as he looked at the girl.

Y/N let out a laugh of relief that had the Losers all looking at her with wide eyes, wondering how the hell she was able to laugh after what had just happened.

Then they saw the smile on her face and the way she looked at the boy as if she couldn't believe her eyes and they knew this person was obviously important to her and she was relieved to see him. This all together made them look to the boy confused, wondering just who the hell this guy was.

"Harrington, still don't know how to drive I see."

* * *

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257 notes · View notes

skekheck · 4 years

Note

In that same vein, how about gelfling ranking??? OwO

Warning this post may contain lightly spiced opinions. Also not going to list all of them because there’s a lot...

BUT HERE WE GOOOOOO

1. Seladon: Say what you want with how AOR handled her redemption arc, but she’s by far the most interesting and complexly written gelfling character in the series. She was raised with a lot of pressure, being the eldest daughter of the all Maudra. She had to train hard and taught by a mother who never really showed her love or recognize her accomplishments. Most scenes she’s in with Mayrin her mother criticizes her constantly. Seladon was raised to serve the skeksis and that their word is law and true. And then suddenly her mother and her younger sister who she had a strained relationship are planning to flip it upside down. Lead by the being who represents all of Thra who hasn’t been seen or heard of in forever. And then her mother was murdered for treachery and further being manipulated by the beings she was taught to serve. Does any of this excuse what she did? Of course not, but constantly seeing people berate her over actual genocidal turkeys is very telling how people’s biases get in the way of what’s going on. But at the same time, a character generating this much discussion for her gray morale is proof of how great of a character she is. Also she rocks the goth look.

2. Kylan: Sweetest boy. Because he’s a minor character in AOR, I’m going to be talking about him from the books. His characterization was inconsistent in Shadows, but they became clearer in Song thanks to the fact his story was told from his perspective. He never really fit into anything: his parents were taken from him at an young age, his step-mother was not very kind to him despite loving him, he never fit in as a Spriton. Now, being part of a resistance of fighters, he once again feels inadequate as a songteller. How can a songteller fight the skeksis? Kylan struggled with self-worth, constantly comparing himself to his peers. But through his travels, he discovers that he has a place in the resistance and there are things that he can do that no one else can. He took on and defeated skekLi the Satirist through playing is firca (and aided by the mystics). Kylan was able to engrave dreametches (a rare and hard to learn skill) into the petals of the Sanctuary Tree to get the word out about the skeksis. He even saved Tavra’s life. He may be the broth boy in AOR, but he’s the smart, shy but very sweet songteller and I think more people should acknowledge that.

3. Tavra: Absolute MVP in both AOR and the book series. There are things I wish AOR kept about her, like her relationship with Onica (but I feel this can still be remedied if they find the right way to include it). She was the glue in her relationship with her sisters, keeping them together even after she “passed away”. Although it took her a while to get there, Tavra shined even brighter in the books. After losing her original body, she lives the rest of her life as a spider. Like Kylan, she was having her own self-doubts of what she could do with her new body. She does manage to find ways to work around her predicament, but seeing what sacrifices she would have to make (like not being able to see her sisters ever again) is heart breaking. Whatever her situation may be, in both iterations her bravery is commendable and I absolutely adore her character.

4. Periss: So this is my complete bias coming in, but I loved this character. Although he’s not my favorite from the book series anymore, he still remains high on my list. He’s a rebel: he hates his clan and their complacent ways. He knew their Great Tree was alive, but no one listened to him as they thought he wasn’t able to let go. He fought with his brother, sandmaster Erimon, to the point he decided to run away. Periss became a thief who grew a fondness for materialism, as opposed to a clan who lives on minimalism. When the main group finds him after stealing from them, they force him to get them to the Dousan Clan and indirectly confront his problems. It’s there that we find he’s not completely selfish and cares for those around him. I adore smug thief characters with a heart of gold and Periss quickly grew on me. Please be in future seasons.

5. Onica: While a minor character in AOR, she plays a bigger role in the book series. Her characterization is similar, but we get to see more of her: she has a backstory and established relationships with other characters. She lost her wings while stuck in a storm, losing her wings by saving one of her friends. Although she mourns over the loss, she will never regret doing what she did and even concluding that meeting Tavra was worth it. She’s also got a little sass to her and I love how she doesn’t take shit from no one. I hope we get to see this version of Onica in future seasons.

6. Naia: Once again, book series does her more justice. She’s a headstrong badass who cares about her family and goes through great lengths to find her brother. Like a lot of her friends, she has her own problems of fitting in into the grand scheme of things and eventually doubting herself when she believed her one special gift was taken from her. Also she had a super interesting expansion on her dreamfasting ability where not only could she dreamfast with animals but also with the skeksis/mystics (with Gurjin involved). She doesn’t take shit and she gets stuff done no matter how hard it is.

7. Maudra Argot: Sassy, doesn’t take any shit, should have been the All Maudra. How dare Mayrin rob that from her?

8. Maudra Seethi: My favorite maudra only for the tiniest bit of lore about her and design. I want to know more about you. Gimmie more lore.

9. Rek’yr: He’s really cool, but there’s not much to him. Hopefully we get a prequel comic starring him soon.

10. Kira: Should have been the protagonist of the movie. She’s a cute bog princess with a noisy rolly polly dog, can speak to animals, used said animals to kill a skeksis, knows how to use throwing weapons, what’s not to love? Sequel comics ruined her, though.

11. Brea: I love her inquisitiveness and her need to find the truth. I said this before, but my friend and I joked she was BOTW!Zelda and that still sticks with me. The two are so much alike. Brea is my favorite out of the main trio, but I wished she was as developed as her sisters.

12. Gurjin: I like him just fine. I don’t really get why people are so thirsty for him but everyone’s got different interests. He is really funny though and kiddos to him for staying strong while being tortured by the skeksis. He’s kind of the odd one out as I like him better in AOR than I did in the book series. I mean we didn’t really get to know him until Flames and by then he just couldn’t leave an impression on me.

13. Mira: Should have been alive instead of Rian. I kinda really wanted an all girl trio.

14. Maudra Ethri: I wish they kept her gem eye that was really cool.

15. Maudra Fara: She’s cool. That’s all I can really say.

16. Maudra Mayrin: Conflicted. One hand I understand why she acts the way she does but on the other hand that doesn’t excuse her from treating Seladon so poorly. Even when she finally steps up to the skeksis I don’t think it really makes up for what she did. A golden star for trying, though.

17. Elder Cadia: Who?

18. Deet: Okay I might get some salty fans on me but... I don’t particularly care for Deet? Like she’s cute and should be protected, but that’s really it. She’s just cute. It’s cool to see things from her perspective: the surface world of Thra is so new and newcomers to the series can see its wonders and dangers through her. But there’s not much else. Hopefully this changes but I’m not very impressed.

19. Rian: Now I don’t mind him, but I think I fell into the camp of I wish Mira was alive instead. He’s the typical hero character who’s needlessly surrounded by tragedy. The show never really gets him to mourn properly. And then he just moves on from Mira to Deet just like that? He’s also not really interesting as a character. He’s my least favorite of the main trio.

20. Ordon: I like him, but I don’t think he was very rememberable. I think he resolved his issues with his son too quickly and as soon as they reunite Ordon is killed off. His sacrifice wasn’t even worth it because skekMal survived anyway. Ordon’s death felt cheap, adding needless trauma and sorrow for Rian who was already dealing with the loss of Mira. Ordon deserved better.

21. Amri: Okay here’s another take people might get salty over: he’s boring. he had promise being a weird experimenter, but we don’t really get to see much of that except for a few instances. Amri had a collection of jars full of weird junk he made. They were brought up in Song and never again. I’m not sure why he became the protagonist of Tides I feel like he should have remained as a side character. He just never made an impression on me.

22. Jen: As interesting as white bread. I haven’t read the novelization of the movie yet so this opinion may change, but he’s just... not interesting. Also the sequel comics totally ruined him for me.

23. Kensho: I keep forgetting him most of the time. He’s boring.

24. Maudra Mera: Fuck this racist bitch. Worst gelfling 0/10.

#here's a longer one I probably forgot some peeps but here you go #nightmarefueler #asks for skekheck

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tubbotums · 4 years

Text

“What’s your feelings on looking back over the past decade? Everywhere you go and see people do it, and I was thinking about mine... which was a bit shorter considering I wasn’t alive until 2013.”

I mean I don’t really look back on it all that much. No point in looking back toward the past when the future’s right ahead, right?

“Yeah, but... do you think maybe you don’t wanna look back at the past because it hurts a bunch? Like you just wanna move on from it and focus on the better things ahead?”

Well when you put it like that...

“No I’m not accusing you or anything, I just-”

I know. It’s just... hard for me to actually do so. I started the decade as a stupid kid in middle school, and I’m ending it a slightly less stupid kid in college. The beginning half of the decade seems like a blur to me, and the latter half was... hard. My life essentially got flipped upside down, I had to cope with new feelings that made my life all the harder, I met people and lost them seemingly as quickly as I did, and I got hurt. A lot. It’s easy for me to say that this year, the past couple and even the decade as a whole was shit, because truth be told it really feels like it was.

But then I think about what else happened to me. I think about how I met some of my closest friends who I consider family at this point. I think about how I managed to get into my dream college and managed to get into the program I’ve always wanted to, how I’ve even managed to produce work that’s public now. I think about how I figured out what I wanted to do with my life and how that affects me as a person, and most importantly... I met all of you. The road has never been easy and in all honesty it’s caused me a lot of heartbreak and stress, time wasted I can never get back. Yet here I am, saying all of these things and knowing 100% that I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

So to answer your question, I can’t exactly say I like reflecting back on the past all that much. It shows a weaker version of myself who made some stupid mistakes, let himself get taken advantage of and got hurt more times than he can count because he just didn’t have the mental capacity to realize a good situation from a bad situation...

But I think it’s important, and if anything it can give you a confidence boost when you need it seeing how much you’ve grown and changed. At the end of the day, I think we really all need that. You can probably relate, right?

“I can, but I gotta say... your holiday/special occasion speeches get cheesier every time you use them. I think that’s the last thing people wanna see around here.”

Shut up, it’s important to get these feelings out there. I mean sure it’s probably not what people come here for, but what good is showing off your fat gut if we aren’t allowed to be honest with ourselves? We aren’t just you you know.

“Yeah yeah, get the last fat jokes in of the decade... and here’s to another one?”

If I’m here for another decade then something’s went wrong with me, but yeah... here’s to another decade. Hopefully we can make it even better than the last one, and maybe get a bit more in control as we find ourselves.

“That might be hard for you without 2020 vision-”

... How is it that you can take a sweet moment we just shared and ruin it with such an awful and obvious pun?

#Yang #(have a Happy New Year everyone)#(This year was kind of a mess for me and put me all over the place but thanks for staying with me if you did)#(It was noticed and I can't thanks those that did help me through it enough)#(here's to hoping 2020 and beyond can be better)

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ctl-yuejie · 5 years

Text

the grandmaster of demonic interior design or mound squatting & a smitten renovator

⇨ for @howdydowdy who wisely suggested a home renovation tv series au based on my crack gifset

Ia . IIa . IIIa . Ib . IIb . IIIb. Ic . IIc . IIIc . Id . IId . IIId . Ie . IIe ⭐︎ . IIIe ⭐︎⭐︎ . extra

(this fic is super unbalanced, get ready for the 2k part ahahaha)

IIIc.

Despite arriving early, Lan Wangji’s luck has him run into Nie Huaisang as soon as he arrives at the hotel reserved for the experts on the show. Chipper in the wee hours of the day, Nie Huaisang is used to the chaotic scheduling and ensures him that there is no need to join the crew before the day of filming. Lan Wangji doesn’t know how to work with this kind of laissez-faire attitude towards the production that supposedly single-handedly saved the old traditions and the tv station itself. His brother’s guess at Nie Huaisang just using this as an opportunity to find work as an interior designer without actually having to work full-time in the field seems to be spot-on. All the ‘experts’ on the show being a hand-picked group of pretty men just cements the suspicion that he’s got a hand in everything. With a flourish of his fan Nie Huaisang vanishes into the streets, leaving him with the advice to head into the city centre and lookout for fancy birds. Lan Wangji isn’t sure whether that is an euphemism or not.

Sticking to his initial plan he decides to get familiar with the shooting area first. Luckily the hotel was chosen strategically, only a short trip away from the ominous place donning the name of Burial Mound. He isn’t so sure anymore whether analysing the style of cultivation practiced there will be a walk in the park or if he should’ve done more studying despite what little he was given from the production team. After consulting the map on his phone Lan Wangji finds the pathway that leads up the mountain, an old sign announcing the amount of kilometres left to the cave.

He can’t fathom how a filming permit got granted for what seems to be an alternative housing project.

The way up takes time, but despite the slope he doesn’t break out into sweat. None of the woods grow leaves, nevertheless the sky is completely blocked from view. Vines are enclosing him on both sides, and the branches of the old, hunched trees seem to claw their way onto the path. The perfect trap. He finds himself to be more alert than ever before.

At the end of the pathway he is greeted by a buzzling crowd.

Stepping out into the clearing feels surreal, almost like he travelled back and forth in time during his ascend. Shaking of the oppressive atmosphere of the thicket he takes in his surroundings. Cables for the cameras are getting set up while the producers and the director are conferring next to the entrance to a cave. Gingerly he makes his way over, some of the regular inhabitants shooting him curious glances. The stark white of his clothes, unperturbed even after the hike up the mountain, induces a respectful distance. Lan Wangji decides to wear the traditional Lan Clan attire for the actual shooting day then and there.

One of the producers gets alerted to his presence and after introducing herself she starts to apologise profusely. Lan Wangji feels doused in shame. It was inadequate to come here this early. He has caused more trouble than he intended and now he doesn’t know how to express his regret properly.

Instead he settles on inquiring after the briefing, a promise to vacate the premises ringing in the air. The producer almost curtsies to the obvious amusement of the director and makes quick work of her bag, fishing out a thin script and an outline of the show. “We will have a meeting tonight at the hotel in preparation. Most of tomorrows segment will be focused on Huaisang’s area of expertise, so you only have to take a look around and get interviewed afterwards for a first impression on the vibe of the cultivation.” Her eyes almost vanish behind the brim of her bucket hat as she cranes her neck to try and match his height. Lan Wangji thanks her and ponders how much he should prepare for his segment. Listening to the stories of his brother most people on the show are affiliated to powerful clans which allows them to own such peculiar houses in the first place. He just assumed that he’d already be familiar with the cultivation style, but just standing here, even surrounded by a friendly group of people, something feels off. A cold wind clasps his feet in confirmation.

He flips open the script and his eyes just so fall on the name on the top corner of the paper when a delighted voice calls out for him..

“Lan Zhan! Lan WangJiii! I knew it was you!” Grinning Wei Wuxian comes to an abrupt halt before him, curiously looking him up and down. Lan Wangji feels surprisingly unsettled by this unexpected encounter. The constricting feeling from the climb up is back.

His brother must have known.

Wei Wuxian seems to be very impressed with how Lan Wangji has changed in appearance since they last saw each other in school.

13 years ago.

Lan Wangji still hasn’t recovered from the initial shock, a tiny “Wei Ying” living his lips before he corrects his posture and bows formally. Wei Wuxian follows his movement in an almost flippant imitation, still grinning at him.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan. I didn’t expect you of all people to be in show business.” Lan Wangji doesn’t know if that is a good thing, so he says nothing. “Makes me curious what your area of expertise is on the show.” And with that he has pulled the script from his hands studying the cover page. “Script – Cultivation expert” is written on the front with a “confidential” stamp across it. “I didn’t know this show was about cultivation as well? I thought it was all remodelling and refurnishing advice. Hopefully Huangang Jun will be lenient in his comments, -“ Lan Wangji’s brows ever so slightly knit together after hearing Wei Wuxian call him by his title. How does he know?- “I really want this to focus on the community having to live here.” Gently he retrieves the script from Wei Wuxian’s hands to stop himself from staring.

“But isn’t this a happy accident? Jiang Cheng signed me up for the show not knowing you were one of the hosts, otherwise he would’ve let me know. Or not.” He seems to contemplate that thought for a moment.

Lan Wangji doesn’t know why Wei Wuxian is so excited to see him again but he basks in the pleasant albeit novel feeling, relaxing with every word that leaves Wei Wuxian’s mouth. Not much has changed since they attended the same after school classes at the cultivation heritage centre. Wei Wuxian still animatedly talks without a pause and seems to find joy in everything around him while pulling all kinds of faces. Lan Wangji’s pulse quickens when realization dawns on him that different majors at university and over 10 years weren’t enough.

13 years.

He has grown, he has changed,

But it isn’t enough.

The director joins them shortly, curious at how they know each other and while Wei Wuxian tells him an abridged version of how the Lan Wangji used to supervise his detention, he takes in the other people in the area.

Around 30 people are working in the communal space in front of the cave, fixing up the small wooden huts and looking after the vegetable patches. Most of them are well over 40 and unsurprisingly he doesn’t recognize anyone. There is only one child and his eyes are fixed on Wei Wuxian as his little fingers daringly get closer to a muddy puddle.

“Ah-Yuan!” Wei Wuxian calls out in mock-rage and runs over, picks up the young boy and holds him upside down. Ah-Yuan giggles and laughs, before wriggling out if his grip and running off to an old woman weaving baskets. Wei Wuxian turns around, waving him closer, the last sunrays of the day basking his face in a warm light.

Around them the group of artists (?), squatters (?) cleans up and gets ready for the night but Wei Wuxian grips his wrist and pulls him towards the cave.

“Let me give you an exclusive first look of my private quarters before shooting starts!” Wei Wuxian says accompanied with a suggestive wink as they cross the entrance. He has to remind himself that he doesn’t know Wei Wuxian anymore, that he was very young and inexperienced back then. Lan Wangji’s burning ears betray him.

As they proceed into the second chamber of the cave candles light up, illuminating the harsh rock that encloses them. Now with nightfall the place feels more eerie, finally justifying the legends of the Burial Mound that still get told in town. Sensitized after years of training, he can feel the old dark energy.

Wei Wuxian must feel it as well, he can see the talismans on the walls to ward off evil. For the first time he wonders why Wei Wuxian chose to live in this place.

The chamber is empty with the exception of a makeshift bed and a round table with woodwork on it.

Does Wei Wuxian sleep here? Only lurking spirits for company?

“I can show you more tomorrow, but if you like you could take a look at the gadgets I’ve carved. You are much more knowledgeable with these kind of things...at least you used to be...” Wei Wuxian’s smile is so soft, eyes gently vanishing into lines. Lan Wangji takes extra care in schooling his face into an impassive look.

At first sight the gadgets seem to be the perfect prank material, they are designed to cause small explosions or form a cloaking fog. But he can’t help and think about what confrontation Wei Wuxian is preparing for. The carving is done very carefully and judging from the papers on top of the table, much work went into finding the perfect designs.

He settles on an “Acceptable.” Wei Wuxian’s face pulls into a smile, making him want to repeat the word over and over again.

“I really didn’t know you were coming. But I’m glad we meet again. It has been a long time since I could talk to someone who understands what I’m talking about.”

He was right. A lot has changed. He isn’t used to this Wei Wuxian who is mature in his honesty. And he knows he is doomed just like before, because even this unknown Wei Wuxian he wants to be close to and find out who he is.

“But it is getting late, Lan Zhan, I shouldn’t keep you on the mountain. I bet they arranged suitable accommodation for the esteemed Huangang Jun down town. Let me show you off!”

“Hm.” He hums in agreement and they make their way back to the entrance.

“Don’t worry I will show you the rest tomorrow. I will need you to stay sane when Huaisang starts berating me for my tasteful furniture choices.”

“I will be there.”

Wei Wuxian is visibly startled by the fervour in his voice. “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan. Of course you’ll be there. Or the crew would have schlepped all the equipment up this godforsaken mound for nothing. And we can’t have that taint your reputation.”

Wei Wuxian laughs most of the way down.

Just before the path opens to the road at the feet of the Mound he says his goodbyes.

“See you tomorrow Lan Zhan.” Then: “Sleep well, Lan-Er Gege.” The mischief in his voice bubbles over.

“Wei Ying!” It comes out sterner than he intended but Wei Wuxian seems pleased at having struck a chord, making his way back up the Mound while waving him goodbye, back turned.

Lan Wangji allows himself to wait until the red of Wei Wuxian’s hair band vanishes into the grey thicket. With nightfall the cold is creeping into his bones and he becomes aware of the old grave stones that line the path. Even in the 21stcentury, Burial Mound stays a fitting name.

One step onto the well-lit road and he’s enveloped by the humid heat of Yiling’s night.

#the untamed #the untamed fanfic #lan wangji #wei wuxian #wangxian #mdzs #mdzs fanfic #the grandmaster of demonic interior design #ctlyuejie writes #long post #ahahahahahahahah i know it might not have seemed like it but this fic is actually quite long #this is when the crack caught feels and i couldn't turn back #and i have ton of head canons for this au that won't even make it into the fic orz #and i love socially awkward but aware lan wangji and oblivious social butterfly wwx #i know i shouldn't bring it to everyone's attention but the name of Wei Wuxian gets dropped a lot in this part...not because I couldn't have #edited it down but lwj's everything pretty much focusses on Wei Wuxian soooo...#hiding this in the tags so it won't be too obnoxious #wwx might call lwj's name a lot but in his mind lwj #says wwx's name A LOT #hope everyone is enjoying this update as much as i do

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searchingforaplacetocallhome · 6 years

Text

Everything About You - (Kandomere x OFC Pt 4)

Setting: Bright movie-verse

Characters: Kandomere & Topaz Bennett (OFC)

Warnings: strong language possibly

Background: Topaz Bennett was the brightest student of her class, always the hardest worker in the room and it finally landed her a much coveted spot on Homeland Security’s Magic Task Force. By a cruel twist of fate, her new ‘partner’ turns out to be an elf named Kandomere, who seems to think it is his task not only to train her as the new agent on the task force, but educate her on pretty much anything else as well.

“Now this is a story all about how My life got flipped-turned upside down And I’d like to take a minute Just sit right there I’ll tell you how I became the servant of an Elf called Kandomere”

Word count: 2390

Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3

For the song she listens to >> --click here-- <<

Part 4 - Get used to it...

Some songs were just too good not to blast at full volume and sing along to with gusto. Blues rock was one of her vices, so when her playlist transitioned to the next song, she instantly squealed and picked up the remote to turn up the volume. The sound of guitars in a blues rhythm filled the room.

Dead of night baby, we’re finally alone. I’ll pull down the shades if you unplug the phone.

Adjusting the sloppy ponytail on top of her head, Topaz sang along to the lyrics while dancing around. It was laundry night, so she was wearing whatever wasn’t dirty, which in this case was a pair of hot pants and an oversized shirt she’d stolen from an old boyfriend, that said ‘careful, I bite’. Finished with the folding, she was sorting her clothes into different piles, taking sips of her beer in between.

Turn on some music, Marvin Gaye’s real nice. Once we get settled, I’ll turn out the lights. Don’t be afraid of the dark...

“Don’t be afraid of the dark. I’ll be there to hold you, don’t be afraid of the dark,” she sang, on key, and did a little hip turn before depositing another t-shirt on the pile. Picking up her phone, she sent a quick text message to Genny to tell her to hurry up and bring more beer. She had no idea how far the music was carrying, but she didn’t really care.

With the laundry sorted, she just started putting it back in the basket when she thought she heard a knock on the door. Pausing a moment she heard nothing else, so she shrugged and continued swaying her hips and singing along at the top of her lungs. “You might tremble, you might shake. Scream out loud, you may even break.”

-knock knock-

Genny had arrived and hopefully she got beer or they would have to go out to get more. Dancing her way over to the door, she missed a line in her song but picked up on the next. “You beg for more, you forget about the night,” she belted out and swung the door open with a swinging roll of her hips. “Did you bring beer?”

Kandomere raised an eyebrow as he stood there, one hand in his pocket, the other dropping to his side. “I did not.”

Well this was awkward.

Straightening up instantly, she pulled on her shirt as if that could cover her more. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

“Boyfriend?”

“No… Genny. Miss Larsen? Anyway, can I help you with something? Sir?” She scooted a little sideways, trying to use the door as cover.

“I called twice and left a message. Do you ever check your phone, Topaz, or do you just ignore my calls?”

“When you still insist on calling me that, I just might start.” Walking into the living room, she turned down the volume on her music and picked up her phone. Unlocking the screen, she discovered she did have new voicemail messages. How had she missed that when she just texted Genny?

“Did you mute your phone again?”

“No.” It was a blatant lie as she flipped the little switch on the side back to volume and put her phone down. When she looked at him, he was looking around her apartment. She could tell it was still far beneath him, but it wasn’t the mess it had been when he had intruded on her day off. She had cleaned and it showed.

“Don’t look so surprised. Contrary to what you believe, I do have domestic skills.” Her tongue darted out. “So since you’re here, wanna give me the quick and dirty version of it?” The moment the words left her mouth she regretted it. Why couldn’t she ever stop to think before she spoke? Because she didn’t have a brain to mouth filter like everyone else, that was why.

“We have confirmation. We’re leaving for Nevada.”

“Oh.” He seemed to be waiting on something, both eyebrows rising. “Oh! You mean right now.” Looking down at herself she made a face. “I should change...” Good thing she had the presence of mind to pick up her dry cleaning before going home today.

Grabbing the clothes basket, she disappeared into the bedroom, dropping it on the bed. Stripping down quickly, she put on a bra, contorting herself to get the damn little cloth flap to lay flat instead of irritating her back all day as usual. Picking her dark blue pants suit, she carefully lay the jacket on the bed to put on after she had her hair fixed. That way she avoided having to pluck all the stray hairs off later. The whole switch took less than two minutes, including her shoes.

Just at that moment, her playlist switched to a song even more embarrassing and she hit the power button on the speakers before the song could really get started. She found Kandomere standing by the counter, fingertips running along a stack of envelopes. Each one of them had a dreaded red stamp or sticker on them.

“Do you mind? Those are personal.”

“You’ve got a lot of overdue bills.”

“Yeah well, we aren’t all born with a silver spoon in our mouths. Some of us have student loans to pay off.”

Retrieving the trolley suitcase from the hallway closet she was thankful she had enlisted Genny’s help in putting together a go-bag just in case. With her phone in hand, she followed Kandomere down to the car. The trolley’s wheels whirred as she pulled it behind her and texted Genny to let her know that she was going out of town for work. This was not something she wanted to call her up for, because she knew Genny would squeal in her ear and that just wasn’t something she wanted to explain to him.

Handing her trolley off to a man in a black suit, with a transparent wire going from his suit colar to his ear, she was a little startled. What was with the security? Montehugh held the door open to the back passenger seat, and she smiled politely at him as she slipped into the spot.

“You’re coming with us, Montehugh?”

The big man chuckled and shook his head. Was he laughing because he could hear the silent plea in her voice. “Not this time, Bennett. My wife would string me up by my balls if I missed our tenth anniversary.”

“You’re married? You mean you actually tricked a woman into putting up with your ass all the time?”

Another laugh from the man. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry though, you’re in good hands. He doesn’t bite… much.”

This got a snort from the elf beside her, making her head snap in his direction. Kandomere was amused. Shaking her head, she turned her attention out of the window. Her phone buzzed with a message from Genny that had way too many exclamation points in it. Typing a quick reply she kept the phone in her hand, but the screen turned away from prying eyes.

The plane looked impressive, making her jaw drop a little as she stared in awe. She had seen it plenty in the movies, but the few times she had flown herself had always been on commercial flights.

“What’s the matter, Bennett? You look like you’ve never seen a private jet before.”

So smug and arrogant. Once again the brain to mouth filter was sorely missed. “Why do you always have to be such a jackass about these things?”

Montehugh snorted. “He can’t help himself. He’s an elf. We’re all inferior creatures to him.” He waited until Kandomere headed for the plane, two men following behind to take their luggage on board. “He might look and act all high and mighty, but once you get to know him, he’s really not a bad guy. He’ll grow on you, I promise.”

“You do realize that what you’re really saying is, ‘he’s a jerk but you’ll get used to it’, right?”

Montehugh shook his head. “Boy, he’s in for a rough ride with you. Do me a favor Bennett, don’t let this job change you.”

“I’ll try not to. Congratulations to you and the wife.” Greeting him with a little salute, she crossed the distance from the car, to the plan, and keeping a good grip on the railings, she climbed the steps, bracing herself against a gust of wind before all went still and she was faced with a flight attendant who gave her a bright smile and welcomed her aboard.

The interior of the plane was mostly white with light brown leather and polished wooden tables. This was nothing like a commercial flight, since there were only eight seats in rows of two facing each other, and an actual couch behind it. She was sure it was secured to the floor though.

Kandomere was already seated by the window, one hand on the table, his well manicured nails tapping against the wood, a flash of an expensive watch peeking out from under the sleeve, which he revealed when he checked the time. Expensive suit, expensive watch, probably an expensive manicure as well. Did he get mani-pedi’s with his elf buddies? The thought made her snort and drew the elf’s impossibly bright blue eyes to her.

“Are you going to stand there all flight, Topaz?”

She still couldn’t figure out what offended her so about him calling her by her first name, she just knew that it did. Her nose pulled up a moment, her lips pressed together in contempt. Moving, she took the seat across from him. The soft leather gave way in just the right places, and it almost felt like the seats in his car.

The flight attendant walked up and greeted them again. “We’ll be preparing for take off in a few minutes. May I take your drink order?”

“Scotch, neat.”

“Just a water, please.” Topaz frowned when the woman walked off and turned her attention to Kandomere, who was still looking out the window. “Didn’t your parents teach you how to say please and thank you?”

“No. Humans are servants.”

“Right...”

An awkward silence filled the air. Buckling up for take off, she relaxed in the seat and following his example, stared out the window as the runway started to disappear further down below and that funny flutter made her stomach turn a little. Flying wasn’t her favorite activity. Once in the air, their drinks were brought over, but the silence still hung in the air between them.

His response had made her painfully aware of the different cultures they had grown up in. Even though they were working for the same agency, no matter how far up the ladder she climbed, she would never be seen as his equal. Not because she was a woman, but because she wasn’t an elf. Her gaze went to the gorget around his neck. Elves above all. Above all Elves.

The script was intricate, and beautifully etched into the metal, or was it silver? She had never bothered to ask. The words however, were a reminder that to Elves all other life was inferior. They ran the world, kept the economy going, but no matter how hard the rest of the world worked, they would never achieve the wealth the Elves possessed.

“Didn’t know you could dance.”

She blinked. Not expecting Kandomere to break the silence, her eyes met his, then looked away. “Well now you do. You learn something new every day.”

More silence. Grabbing her glass off the table she took a few sips of her drink. He had tried to make small talk with her and she had cut him off, because the thought he could think of her as inferior angered her. Her race shouldn’t factor into her worth. Sighing, she rolled her shoulders to release the tension.

Say something, woman, anything!

“Do Elves dance?”

“What kind of question is that?”

Shrugging her shoulders, she unbuckled the seatbelt so she could shift around in her seat a little. The flight attendant noticed her trying to get comfortable and came walking over with a pillow and a wonderfully soft fleece blanket. Fussing around, she arranged the blanket around her and pushed her back into the pillow until she was comfortable.

Kandomere waited for his answer, a finger tapping his glass. It was empty already.

“It’s a legitimate question. I mean, with that stick so far up your ass it’s kinda difficult to bust a move, don’t you think?” She really needed a filter between her brain and her mouth. If only she could stop the words from coming out somehow, but whatever she thought shot straight out of her mouth. “I suppose you could do the Rigor Mortis two step.”

“We’ll land in Nevada in about two hours. From there we will be headed straight to the field office. I suggest making the most of the flight and take a nap.”

“Now see, you feign caring, but I know you don’t care if I get enough rest or not.” Someone really needed to stop her. Not even pinching herself stopped the words from coming out. “What you’re really saying though, is ‘I have no good retort so I would like for you to shut up now’.”

“And yet you’re still talking.”

Her eyes went wide and she scoffed at him. “See this is why nobody likes you.”

Opening the briefcase on the seat beside him, he pulled out a tablet, and started swiping a finger across the screen. “Go to sleep, Topaz,” he said in the tone of a parent telling a child to go the fuck to sleep.

“You don’t tell me what to do.”

“I am your boss, so yes I do. Go to sleep.”

“Yes, sir.” She saluted him.

“Topaz. Stop talking.”

“I wasn’t-”

“Still talking.”

The sing song tone in his voice made her shift angrily to get more comfortable. From the corner of her eye she could still see him, his focus still on the tablet. Maybe a nap wouldn’t be such a bad idea. At least she wouldn’t have to try to make small talk with Grumpelstiltskin. The nickname made her smile, even as she closed her eyes and let the sounds of the plane lull her into sleep.

#bright fanfiction #kandomere #getting somewhere #need more coffee

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mygoateecreation · 3 years

Text

Photo Text For Mac

Roy ~ Welcome to the Community.

Free Happy Birthday Photo Text For Cousin

Photo Text For Pc Windows 10

Can anyone share their experience with the 'copy text from picture' property please?

I did the following tests using OneNote for Mac v.15.8 on OS X v.10.10.3:

1. Created a PNG screenshot and dragged it into OneNote. The embedded image DID have the option of 'Copy Text from Picture'.

What is text edit app. Add Text to Photos with Preview App on Mac This built-in app is rarely the first choice for Mac users who want to add text to photos, but completing this task with Preview App is remarkably easy. Open the app and import the photo you want to edit, then make sure to click on the 'Show Edit Toolbar' icon and select the 'Text Tool' feature.

2. In OneNote I did 'Save As..' on that image, which saved it as a JPG on the Desktop.

Adding text to images is a fairly simple process to begin with that is made even easier with Preview, the basic image viewing app that is bundled on all Macs. May 16, 2013 Adding text to images is a fairly simple process to begin with that is made even easier with Preview, the basic image viewing app that is bundled on all Macs.

3. Dragged that image from the Desktop back into OneNote. The embedded image DID have the option of 'Copy Text from Picture'.

4. In OneNote I did 'Save As..' on that image, which saved it as a JPG on the Desktop.

5. Dragged that image from the Desktop back into OneNote. The embedded image DID have the option of 'Copy Text from Picture'.

..So the above worked as expected, although I did have to wait a minute or two before the option of 'Copy Text from Picture' appeared. I don't know the reason you're seeing different results.

Did this solve your problem?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for marking this as the answer.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this response?

Thanks for your feedback.

Thanks AlancitoXV,

I currently work with OSX Yosemite Ver10.10.3, Onenote Ver 15.8 150301,

created PNG screenshot of your reply (so it's text-based), and then dragged it from my desktop into Onenote, but the embedded image DID NOT have the option of 'Copy Text from Picture'.

I also Saved to my desktop as PNG (one time) and as JPEG (another time) a picture from my friend's notebook (which he shared with me), that had the 'Copy Text from Picture' option, and then dragged it back into Onenote, but in both cases the picture lost its ability for 'Copy Text from Picture'.

I would appreciate if anyone in Microsoft would be able to address this disparity. Seems like my Onenote is capable of 'Copy Text from Picture' only for some pictures but not for others.

I am wondering if there's a certain role.

Thanks a lot!

Roy

Did this solve your problem?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for marking this as the answer.

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Sublime text for mac. This system gives you flexibility as settings can be specified on a per-file type and per-project basis.

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I currently work with OSX Yosemite Ver10.10.3, Onenote Ver 15.8 150301, created PNG screenshot of your reply (so it's text-based), and then dragged it from my desktop into Onenote, but the embedded image DID NOT have the option of 'Copy Text from Picture'.

Roy ~ I did the same with identical software versions & PNG screenshot and, after waiting a minute, the embedded image does have the option of 'Copy Text from Picture':

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As could be seen in the snapshot i provide, i do not have this option available, only copy link to a paragraph.

I've waited more than a few minutes..

Hopefully this bug could be fixed in next versions of Onenote.

Thanks,

Roy

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Free Happy Birthday Photo Text For Cousin

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• Click OK, and Word flips the text in the text box, producing a mirror image. You can create an upside-down mirror image by changing the Y setting to 180. How to rotate a text box in word mac 2008.

Hopefully this bug could be fixed in next versions of Onenote.

Roy ~ You could make sure Microsoft is aware of the problem via this feedback form:

www.microsoft.com/mac/product-feedback

…Click Select a Product… and choose OneNote for Mac. Since that site doesn't accept screenshots, you could link to this thread.

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I've tried this action in another Mac of mine (laptop at home, instead my desktop at work) - and brilliantly, the 'copy text from picture' became active! .. (which is basically good news for my laptop, but sort of bad news for my desktop. ) - seems like there might be some platform incompatibility issues on some machines. Roy

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cookiedoughmeagain · 6 years

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Haven DVD Commentary: 2.11 - Business As Usual

There are two commentaries for this episode. Here are some notes on the first one:

Shawn Pillar: Executive Producer of Haven and Director for this episode Brian Millikin: Script Co-ordinator and writer (though not for this episode)

Topics covered include:

“The way we talked about this episode in the writer’s room as as part one of a two-part season finale.”

Shawn being delightfully enthusiastic about getting to direct a whole episode.

It’s a big episode because everything changed at the end of the last one with the Rev’s death. “Haven has been flipped upside down. Duke is now on the path to learning about himself.”

The stretch of road by the sea that we see the runners running along is somewhere they have shot at a lot, including for episode 13, the Christmas episode.

Shawn enjoying the aerial shots, because he is terrified of heights and he was in the helicopter shooting them.

Shawn enjoying directing Adam Copeland, “Edge” because he is “a very natural actor who just keeps getting better every episode.” And how it was fun to direct him because he’s a great performer and “comfortable in his own skin” and loved to be directed; he’s a director’s dream because did everything exactly as he was told. “Either you’re a really good actor, or I’’m a fantastic director … hopefully it’s both.”

Brian talks about when they were hiring him and all it really took to make the decision was when they watched his retirement (from wrestling) speech on YouTube.

This being an interesting episode for showing a bit more of how the Troubles (and fear of the Troubles) are affecting the town e.g. the bystanders watching the argument between Stu and Patrick. “The cat is getting out of the bag.” “We wanted to try and escalate the level of tension in the town following the Rev’s death,” and in a way that starts to pull at Audrey and Nathan. And how the episode gives us a better sense of Haven as a town.

Shawn talks about how Brian started with them as an intern after college, and was assistant to his father Michael Pillar. And after “years of toiling with us on our different shows; Greek and Deadzone and Wildfire, Scott Shepherd and Matt McGuiness and Sam and Jim,” took him under their wing and decided he should write an episode this season. He wrote an episode which Shawn directed. But “being the writers assistant in the room gives him an unique perspective on every episode and he becomes the guy who has to co-ordinate the scripts and type in changes and …. Type up all the notes and keep the writers organised. So in some ways, he knows where the bodies are buried more than anyone.” And Brian agrees that he probably does know the show better than anyone else.

Shawn talks about how one of the things he wanted to do in directing the episode was to have the camera moving. “I think it adds a lot of tension, and a lot of mood.” And he says that in this episode “basically every single shot is moving.” In some ways it shoots faster, and looks better than when you don’t move the camera. He adds that it’s “a little tougher to edit sometimes”. Brian says he loves it and that “you can always tell when Shawn Pillar has directed an episode,” from whichever series it is, and adds that it “brings a lot of energy.”

The talk about the importance of picking the right locations for each scene so that they flow together, and trying to anticipate what the DP is going to want to do with the lighting, and what the art department is going to want to do with the background etc.

Shawn refers to directing as “the most fun I’m allowed to have. Normally I’m fixing problems; this time I got to create my own problems and fix them myself.”

As we see Duke on the phone to Evi’s mum, Shawn talks about wanting to feature the whole boat set, and how there was originally much more to this conversation but they had to cut it. But they originally would have shown Duke on the phone in the distance walking back and forth across the set and would have shown more of the set because there’s a lot of it which we never get to see which is a shame, “because the sets are gorgeous”. So “let’s pretend we’re making a feature film” and shoot lots of wide shots rather than just relying on close ups all the time.

As we see Duke read ‘Crocker’ on the lid of his silver box, Brian talks about how they have been waiting all season to get back to this point. “We introduced this box back in episode four” and now seven episodes later they finally got to bring it back. And Shawn talks about how a lot of the set up they laid for the season got paid off in this episode, which spiked the arc of the story telling to the finale, which then itself sets them up for season three.

Shawn talks about the woman who plays Colleen Pierce; her name is Crystal Allen, he describes himself as “a huge fan” and says that she “was almost Evi.” She was one of the final three for that role. And he talks about one of the advantages of his role in relation to this episode is that he didn’t need to do any casting; he was able to use people he already knew and whose work he admired, including for both Colleen and Stu Pierce.

Brian talks about the evolution of ideas from a storytelling standpoint i.e. how the episode evolved in that the original idea was for something where it looks like a Troubled person is killing other Troubled people. And then we find out that it’s someone has framed a Troubled person as a weapon against all Troubled people. Originally there was going to be a group of people that had kidnapped Stu, and a race against time to get to him, but “based on some network notes” that was condensed, and that allowed them to get to some of the other things in the episode they wanted to get to; e.g. the plot line with Duke and Dwight, and Audrey and Lucy, and Audrey and Nathan’s interactions which “came to dominate the episode; in a good way.”

As we see Audrey and Nathan argue in the interview room after Nathan lets Patrick go, Shawn talks about liking this scene as the first time we’ve ever really seen Audrey and Nathan argue. And how it was a pleasure to get to direct that, and to be able to let them play with it, and how he pushed Emily and Lucas to fight and to be more intense, and then pulled them back for another version. And then they cut together the best moments from all of those different versions and that it worked out really well.

They both comment on the “return of the tandem bike” as we see Vince and Dave bringing more copies of the Herald. And Brian comments that he loves the TOWN GRIEVES newspaper headline. As Duke talks to the Teagues, Shawn comments that this is a good example of the value of staying in wide shots and medium shots for longer, because it shows of the town (of Lunenberg) in the background. And that it was nice to be able to do that because although they go to Lunenberg for Duke’s boat “rarely do we get to shoot in downtown Lunenberg”.

And then they comment on the divide that we see between Vince and Dave, and “seeing that they’re on two different sides of something that we don’t totally understand”. And what a great job the actors always do with these characters. “You can tell that they love each other and hate each other”. And about Vince and Dave as being brothers first and foremost, but then also enemies, and you “see that bubble up sometimes, that they have a differing agenda.”

And they agree that “Eric Balfour is always fantastic, and always finds ways to pull it off the page and make it a little bit funny, a little bit quirky.” “I think he makes everything better.”

They talk about how there are a lot of fathers and sons in this episode in terms of Nathan missing his father and living in his shadow, and Duke discovering things about his father, and also Duke and Dwight talking about their fathers. And Shawn continues, “And Vince, we may find in Season Three …” and then Brian interrupts him to compliment the camera work and we never get back to the point about Vince.

They talk about the Duke and Dwight fight sequence, noting that “Eric is a trained fighter” and obvious Adam came to Haven from wrestling, and so him and the fight co-ordinator were able to work with the actors to get their suggestions for it as well. He comments that they shot the scene really fast with a hand held, and mentions that the key that flies out from the box was CGI.

They note this is the first real fight they’ve done in Haven and that fight scenes can be tricky because they take a long time to shoot and there can be safety issues. Adam was injured in his previous career as a wrestler, so they wanted to be very careful not to ask him to do too much “Because a) I love the guy, and b) we definitely need him in work the next day”. Shawn also notes that “there was a stunt man ready to step in for Adam, but he didn’t quite match.” So they staged it in a way that Eric took the brunt of most of the hits.

Adam got smashed in the head with the candy glass, but they only had the budget for two or three of those, and Shawn was worried that Adam might get cut, so they shot everything else until they were happy and then did the glass smashing after. He adds that a lot of the choreography was more between the actors and the cameramen and that worked because the less rehearsed the fight is the more real it feels.

They both agree that they love the scene where Nathan and Audrey talk (argue) in the car, and Shawn adds that it was shot in two separate bits, because the wide shots were shot on location in Lunenberg and the closeups were shot a couple of weeks later in Chester, with fake backdrops outside the windows.

Brian talks about the shooting schedule, how they shot Duke’s phone conversation with Evi’s mother, and Duke and Dwight’s fight, and Duke and Dwights conversation, all in one day; one day in the boat to shoot all the inside boat scenes. They had a day in Lunenberg. A day on the boat outside.

They talk about how visible Duke’s boat is in Lunenberg and how you can just walk about and see it, and how they have both met fans there. And Shawn talks about meeting a couple of fans “I think they were English and they happened to be in town” and he invited them to come to set and they came to the boat and “we gave them headphones and let them listen to us filming”. [I am not jealous at all, oh no :/ Who are you, English Haven fans? I want to hear all about it!]

For the scene where Audrey and Nathan argue while Patrick is tied up on the other side of the room, they shot this in Lunenberg; inside the building that we see Patrick coming out of earlier. For the part where Audrey goes upstairs, they shot part of that ahead of time, because Emily was down at Comic Con, and then part of it (the parts with real fire) were done on the soundstage with a stunt person. So they didn’t have real fire in the actual building; there they shot with Emily and just smoke and CG fire, and then cut in with the stuntperson running through real fire. And the smoke we see coming out of the building from outside is the actual building they were in, with CG smoke. When Audrey kicks down the door to go into the room to find Stu, they “cheated” in that Emily kicked down the door and then actually came back into the same room they were already filming in. So basically when you can’t see Audrey’s face, that’s the stuntperson on the stage running through real fire, and where you can see Emily’s face, that’s her on location with CG fire added after.

As we see Duke and Dwight on Simon’s old boat, Shawn says “We cheated Duke’s actual boat in Lunenberg, as this other boat. Because, a boat’s a boat, you can’t really tell the difference.”

On small spaces like inside the boat where they couldn’t fit dolly track, they shot with handheld cameras to keep the movement and the energy up.

Brian talks about the initial reaction to the idea of Simon hiding stuff on his boat; “a lot of people thought that didn’t make any sense at all” that you could hide something on a boat that well. But Matt McGuinness (who co-wrote this episode) is himself a sailor and insisted on it and threw in all this boat terminology to convince them.

As Sal comes down the ladder, Shawn says, “I love this actor; he looks perfectly Haven. I’ve been saving him for a while to use and I finally selfishly had to put him in my episode.” He was originally brought in for a different part in another episode and it was felt he wasn’t right for that part, but “when we need a pirate, when we need a salty old dog” he would be perfect. He adds that the first time round the actor was playing it “a little too drunken, a little too piratey” so Shawn told him “just be yourself” and he was brilliant. There was a lot more to this scene that was quite funny between him and Eric, but it got cut for time.

They mention for the Stephen King fans that the name of the previous owner of the boat (Ray Fiegler) was a Stephen King reference. Brian adds that it’s his job to get in as many Stephen King references as he can, so when the script gets changed he just quietly puts them back in.

They note that the concept of the meeting of Troubled people was a little controversial among a lot of the writers and producers, the idea of the Troubled getting that organised, and this well known. But he says he thinks they pulled it off and it works. Shawn adds that it’s a natural escalation; if you’re going to keep things realistic, then the town is eventually going to notice at least some of what’s going on, and they’re going to start talking about it.

They add that was one of the challenges in working on Dead Zone; not making Johnny Smith too famous, so there they always kept people skeptics. But in this show they have to walk that same fine line where some people don’t believe in the Troubles, some people believe because they live it day to day, and then some people are scared of the Troubles/Troubled. Which Shawn adds “I think is symbolic of other social issues … and I think that’s one of the great things science fiction can do is take contemporary issues and put them … in a context that allows you to examine them in a different way.”

Brian asks Shawn about the shooting of Nathan and Audrey’s kiss and how they went about it, and Shawn says that his mom was on set for the shooting of this episode and they have this thing where they always show the pilot for a new show to his mom and “if she cries, then we know that it’s good.” So she is their test audience. And his mom was there on set for the blocking of this scene [which Google tells me means “working out the details of an actor's moves in relation to the camera”] and “she started crying during the blocking … and I was like ‘people, my mom is crying, this is a great scene’. And so that was hilarious and awesome and we knew it was going to be a great scene.”

Shawn adds that this is something that the two actors have been wanting to play for a long time “and I was honoured and privileged that I got to direct it, and it was really fun. They did a really good job.” And he remembers the cameramen being really enthusiastic about it as well during filming. And he says it was “really cathartic to finally shoot this scene.” And Brian agrees that “it’s so heartfelt.”

When Nathan starts to say something and then cuts himself off with a “never mind” Shawn says that there was no line there. There was something they had that they didn’t like and they cut it, and not knowing what to put in its place they used the “never mind” as something realistic that people do.

They note that at this point the episode turns, because the case of the week is ended and it becomes all about Audrey going to see Lucy and the fall out with Duke and “it’s a unique episode in that regard”.

They note that the important line in this scene is when Nathan says, “I hope you come back and tell me what they are,” because there is a sense that he could lose her. He knows she has a bigger role to play, though he doesn’t know what it is.

This was a difficult episode to get it to not be too long. A lot of times if something’s long you cut out the not-great stuff and find you’re too short, but with this one there was so much to they really wanted to include that it was difficult; “everything worked, everything was good, all the acting was good, it just looked beautiful, and it was such a fully packed script that it was really difficult” to cut it down to the right length.

As Audrey and Lucy are sat down to talk, they comment that the only issue was this scene was that it started raining, so that as we are looking at Lucy, it’s not raining; when we’re looking at Audrey it is raining in the background, “but hopefully nobody notices that.” That scene was shot in Chester; the production office is in the background. They’re just down the road from where they shot Duke on the phone by his car in the previous episode, and the soundstages are just up the street in the other direction.

They talk about Audrey (or her previous Lucy incarnation) as a living time capsule, a bag of evidence that Audrey left for herself; this warning that she left with Lucy a long time ago.

They talk about loving this episode for the fact that it is really significant in terms of the relationship between Audrey and Nathan, but then when Audrey learns about Simon Crocker being after Lucy, it also becomes really significant for the relationship between Audrey and Duke as well.

They talk about the shot were we look down on the Rouge with Dwight on deck as Duke finds the box, this one:

And then where the camera tracks down closer to them. “This was an incredible shot; one of the best shots we’ve ever done in the history of the series”. It was technically difficult to do because it was actually done on the boat, and with the right equipment it would be easy; but they did not have that type of crane, so it was really complicated (“a ballet dance”) to move down and keep the shot straight. “Our whole camera team really had a tough time pulling that off, but they nailed it and it looked pretty damn smooth. It looked like we had the most expensive equipment in the world and actually we didn’t.”

They talk a little as well about maximising efficiency by shooting multiple things from the same crane angle to save time.

They made two versions of the silver box; one was just a solid wooden thing that didn’t open, for when it was pulled sideways out of the can. They talk about how there was a lot of discussion for a long time about exactly what weapons were going to go in the box “we were emailing photos of weapons from Assassin’s Creed for months”.

The blood on Duke’s hand was CG effects added after; they didn’t have time to “mess around” with blood on the set. As Dwight flies across the Rouge, that was a stunt man and a crane pull that was anchored on a pole that is there that is actually used for fishing nets.

There were a couple of shots in this scene (shot on three cameras) where one of the other cameras was visible in the shot and they had to CG that out.

The scene of the meeting in the Herald at the end; when they were shooting this, Adam Copeland had a 104 degree fever.

There were also various comments throughout this about how everyone did a great job; writers, actors, cameramen, crew; in relation to the sets and the music. I didn’t write all the names down, but; everyone did a great job.

As ever there is always the possibility that I have got their voices muddled up at some point.

#haven syfy #haven dvd commentaries #2.11 - Business as usual #long post

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