#Also when they found El and Will asked if she was ok I died

[notebooknonbinary]

everyone else moved on but I’m still stuck at “well we’re her brothers and we’re family.”

[lee-laurent]

Summer Boy Pt. 2 - Quinn Hughes

Summary: Quinn and Elwyn find themselves caught in a web of lies as they attempt to hide their feelings from their friends. Luke, however, still wants the girl and he's willing to overlook his morals to get her.

Content: angst, fluff, (sort of) unrequited love, mentions of sex, slut-shaming, panic attacks, luke being an ass

Part 1

notes: ok ok, you guys are amazing! i could never expect my first post to do that well! (also if you haven't seen my about me post, english is NOT my first language!! so spelling errors and stuff i try catch but i'm learning :)) i had a lot of ppl ask for a part 2, which is awesome cause i was planning on doing it regardless of how much attention the first part got! i haven't written in years, like since high school so this is me attempting to get back into it :D thank you again everyone, much love! - lee

p.s. ppl that asked for part 2 are tagged at the end :))

Quinn was infatuated with Elwyn. Everything she did was perfect in his eyes. Even when she'd get a little too drunk and trip over herself, he still thought she was graceful. If he wasn't in love with her already, then he definitely was now. And he wanted to shout him from the rooftops, he wanted everyone on the lake to know how much he loved Elwyn... however there was a small issue: his brothers.

Jack and Elwyn had been friends their entire lives. They were attached at the hip. Twin flames. Growing up adults always said they'd end up married, which both of them thought was disgusting. Sure, they'd been each others' first kiss, but after "learning" how to make out together they decided it wasn't meant to be. They could never see each other in a romantic light. Although Jack could never be with Elwyn, he had made it clear that his brothers couldn't either. Elwyn had been off limits since they were ten and Quinn gave her a puck at one of his games.

Luke. Where to start with Luke? Luke hadn't found Elwyn cute until she came to visit in Jersey after he signed. She'd walked into Jack's apartment, a smile on her face and he thought he'd died and gone to heaven. When did Elwyn get... hot? She'd always just been his older brother's best friend. Sure, he knew of the crush his eldest brother harboured, but he was positive Quinn would never act on it. Plus, she lived closer to Luke. If he could convince Jack, maybe he'd have a chance. A chance he was still begging for.

"Come on, Jack. Let me take her on one date!" Luke pleaded, following his brother around the pool table.

"No. You're my brother and I love you, but El can do way better."

"I- I'm not going to break her heart, Jack. One date."

"Maybe she doesn't want to date you," Jack shrugged, lining up his shot.

"Okay, then she'll reject me and I can move on. But we all saw her when we played beer pong."

"Don't be cocky, Rusty. El is a touchy drunk, always has been."

"So I can ask her on a date?"

"No."

Luke groaned, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"Who's he not asking out?" Quinn asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Elwyn."

Quinn choked on his spit, "You want to ask out, Winnie?"

"Yeah! You've seen her. She's a smokeshow."

"Ew. Don't talk about El like that," Jack grimaced.

"I mean have you seen her ti-"

"Luke! Ew! Dude."

"Shut up, Jack. If she wasn't your best friend, you'd also think she's hot."

Quinn remained silent, watching the scene unfold. He felt gross listening to Luke talk about Elwyn like that. He'd be the first to admit she was fine as hell, but hearing someone else say it felt wrong. The two younger brothers continued to bicker about the attractiveness of the girl, when Quinn finally piped up.

"Are you letting him?"

"Letting him what?" Jack's brow furrowed.

"Ask her out."

"Hell no! Winnie is off limits for brothers."

"So if I asked her out?" Trevor smirked, joining the three brothers.

"No. That applies to friends and teammates too."

"Lame," Trevor whined, leaving to find Cole.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Anyway. No one is asking out Elwyn. She doesn't even like hockey boys."

Quinn felt his heartdrop. She doesn't like hockey boys? Was she just stringing him along cause she was horny? He thought she liked him, though she'd never explicitly said it, he thought the moments they'd shared were proof enough.

Elwyn was humming along to the song playing from her phone, while she attempted to do her hair. A knock came from the door behind her, leading to press pause on the melodies of Chappell Roan.

"Come in!"

"You don't like hockey boys?"

"Huh?" She swiveled around on her chair to face the boy in her doorway. There stood a sheepish looking Quinn, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I said, 'you don't like hockey boys?'"

"Who told you that?"

"Jack."

"Oh, um, I mean... they're not normally my type."

"So you don't like me?"

"Quinn, I didn't say that. Don't twist my words," she sighed, turning back towards the mirror.

"But you haven't said otherwise."

"Neither have you."

Quinn sighed, quietly shutting the door behind him. He stood behind her and pressed a kiss to her exposed shoulder, wrapping his arms around her.

"Elwyn, I like you. I like you a lot."

She pursed her lips and nodded, leaning back into his chest.

"I like you too, Quinn."

"Is this the part where we have the best sex of our lives?" he smirked, earning a gasp and slap to his peck.

"Quinn!"

"Sorry, sorry. So... later?"

"Get out!" she giggled, pushing him away.

Fifteen minutes later, El left her room, running straight into someone's chest.

"Oof."

"Hey, Ellie."

"Oh, hey, Luke," she smiled, stepping back.

"Some of the guys and I are gonna watch a movie, if you want to join."

"Sure."

"Sick. Basement in 10?"

"Sounds good."

However, when she got down to the basement, there were no spots left. The guys had taken up the couch and all the chairs, even the floor was occupied. El looked around awkwardly, noticing the lack of both Quinn and Jack, who she was told went to the grocery store.

"Here," Luke smiled, scooting over slightly. She responded with a tight-lipped smile, sitting "next" to him. It was more like she was sitting on him. El could've sworn she heard Ethan snicker when she sat down.

The movie the boys at chosen was terrifying. Elwyn could normally do scary movies, but this one was getting to her. She jumped as the villain appeared on screen again. Luke wrapped his arm around her waist, giving her a squeeze.

"You okay?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm good," she smiled politely.

Another jumpscare and Elwyn had fallen completely onto Luke's lap. She wasn't upset about it though, it was comforting in the moment. Dylan had taken notice of the position that Luke was in and elbowed Mark and Ethan. They all "discreetly" turned to look at the two, who looked rather comfortable. Elwyn jumped again, hiding her face in Luke's neck.

"This movie is terrifying," she whispered.

"It's ok, Winnie. I've got you."

It was in that moment that she realized the position she was in. Fully cuddled up on Luke's lap, one of his hands on her waist, the other on her thigh. What would Quinn think if he walked in right now? What would Jack think?

"I need to use the bathroom," she scrambled to get off of Luke.

"Oh, we can pause the movie."

"No, it's okay. I'll, uh, I'll be back."

She ran up the stairs, locking herself in Jack's ensuite. What was she doing? She couldn't let Luke get any ideas. She really liked Quinn. But oh my god, what would Jack think? Would he kick her out? Surely, he'd murder her before his brothers. They were his family, she was replaceable. Maybe she should end things with Quinn. Tell him it wasn't worth the strain it would cause on their relationships with Jack. But then again she'd already done things with him, would Jack even forgive her for that?

"Oh my god. I can't breathe," she gasped, splashing cold water on her face.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

Her mind was running a thousand miles an hour. She had to stop seeing Quinn. Maybe she could just avoid him. Jack was more important. She had too. The more she thought about it, the more difficult it became to breathe.

She sat down on the floor, trying her breathing exercise again.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

Finally she felt her heartbeat slow and her breathing return to normal. She wasn't going to let boys ruin her trip with her best friend. Nope. Plan: Avoid Quinn Hughes at All Costs, starts now!

"What did I do?" Quinn mumbled as he watched Elwyn interact with Jack. She hadn't even shot him a smile when he walked in the door from shopping, she'd gone straight to Jack. They were giggling amongst themselves while they cut up fruit for dinner.

She looked just as happy as she had this morning, but now she was pretending he didn't exist. He brushed her shoulder as he walked past her and she flinched, scooting closer to Jack.

As the night progressed, it became more obvious to the boy that she was ignoring him. She hadn't even looked his way once all night. Too busy keeping up with Jack, following him around like a lost puppy. He even tried shooting her a text, which was ultimately left on read.

Q: Hey, is everything okay? You seem off tonight.

Nothing.

It wasn't until she was closing her bedroom door to get changed that he caught a moment alone with her. She shrieked when her door opened, clutching her shirt to chest.

"Oh my god! Have you ever heard of knocking? I'm getting changed!"

"Why have you been ignoring me?"

Elwyn rolled her eyes, turning her back to him. so she could continue getting changed.

"Winnie?"

She exhaled loudly.

"Elwyn?"

"Maybe I just don't want to talk to you, Quinn."

"But- what did I do?"

"I'm trying to get ready for bed."

"El, just talk to me. Please. I thought we were getting somewhere."

She could hear the sadness and disappointment dripping from his words. It made her want to cry, knowing it was her fault he was feeling that way.

"I'd like to go to sleep now."

"El," he reached forward, grabbing her wrist and spinning her to face him. "What is going on? If I did something, I'm sorry."

"We can't, Quinn."

"Wha- we can't what?"

"We can't do this. We can't be together. Fling or not. It's not fair to Jack."

"Not fair to Jack? You shutting me out, isn't fair to me! Not everything revolves around Jack! You're an adult, he doesn't get to make decisions for you!" Quinn seethed, his face heating up.

"Don't yell at me."

"Don't yell at you?! Then don't be Jack's mindless little minion, Elwyn! Jesus fucking Christ!"

"I- I'm not," she whispered, blinking away tears.

"Yeah, well you sure fucking act like you are," he left, slamming the door behind him.

"What was that?!" she heard Jack yell.

"The wind!" Quinn lied, storming off to his room.

Elwyn couldn't hold back her tears anymore, sliding to the floor. She sobbed, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle the sound. How could he say that to her? She thought she was doing the right thing. She never imagined it could've gone that poorly.

Quinn couldn't sleep, he was too angry. Why did Elwyn let Jack dictate her life? She could be with whoever she wanted, she was a grown woman. So what if Jack was mad at them for a day? He'd get over it. If he could just get her to realize that he was there for her, no matter what happened-

A knock at the door broke him from his thoughts. Elwyn quietly opened and shut the door, sitting herself on the edge of his bed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ignored you. I thought I was doing what was right."

"I shouldn't have yelled at you, El. But you have to communicate with me. You can't just shut me out, especially if you want to make this work."

"But what about Jack?"

"Elwyn. He loves you. You're his best friend. He'll get over it. I promise."

"I hate lying to him."

"Keeping a secret isn't lying."

"I just-"

"Come here," he opened his arms, Elwyn climbing into the bed next to him. He kissed her slowly. He wanted to show her how much he cared about her. Loved her even. She ran a hand through his hair, giggling when he nipped at her bottom lip.

"Think we can stay quiet?" she whispered.

"Easily."

"Quinn! Wake up! The boys wanna go out on the boat! And have you seen El? Jack said she isn't in her-" Luke stopped dead in his tracks. A bare back faced him, the sheets barely covering her waist. "Holy shit."

Luke ran down the stairs, taking his place at the table.

"You okay, Rusty? Looks like you've seen a ghost," Trevor joked.

"Hm? Yep. All good. Great even."

"Okay? Did you wake up Quinn?"

"Um... yeah. Yeah. He'll be down soon."

"Did you find El? I'm getting worried," Jack mentioned, sitting next to his brother.

"I-"

"Morning!" Elwyn smiled.

"There you are! You weren't in your room, I was worried," Jack hugged her.

"Yeah, fell asleep in the basement watching TV. Was having trouble falling asleep."

"All good! Glad you're okay. Is Quinn awake up there?"

Luke watched something flicker in her eyes at the mention of Quinn.

"Yep, he's just brushing his teeth."

As if on cue, Quinn came thumping down the stiars. A smile plastered on his face. Luke felt sick. It seemed that Quinn had finally gotten his dream girl, but at the expense of both of his brothers' feelings.

"Sorry, guys. Didn't sleep well," Quinn explained, grabbing some cereal.

"That's funny. Neither did Elwyn," Luke smirked.

"Oh. Funny coincidece," El shrugged, eyes darting everywhere but at the youngest Hughes.

"Must've been something in the air last night," he continued.

El furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. What was Luke going on about? Surely he didn't know that she'd slept with Quinn last night? Quinn had assured her they'd been silent. They even put a pillow behind the headboard like teenagers hiding from their parents.

"So... boat day?" Quinn offered, feeling the growing tension in the kitchen

"Yes!" Jack cheered, "Come on, El. I'll help you with your sunscreen."

"Coming," she followed after him, shooting a concerned look at Quinn, who just shrugged in response.

"So, Quinn... anything you want to share with the class?" Luke asked.

"Um? No?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah?"

"Positive? Nothing you want to share about Elwyn?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend you don't know."

"Luke, I don't know what you're implying."

"So, why was Elwyn naked in your bed this morning when I went to wake you up?"

"She wasn't," Quinn replied quickly, maybe too quickly.

"I know Elwyn when I see her, Quinn."

"Luke, I didn't sleep with Elwyn."

"You slept with Elwyn?" Jack's voice joined the conversation and suddenly you could hear a pin drop.

"I-"

"You slept with Elwyn?" Jack repeated, his voice increasing in volume.

"No, I know your rules, Jack."

"He's lying! I saw her in his bed this morning! That's why you couldn't find her!"

"Shut up, Luke!" Quinn sneered.

"No, please continue, Luke. I'd love to know what else Quinn is hiding from me."

"That's it, I think. I just saw her in his bed when I went to wake him up. Looking less than dressed."

"Jack, I don't know what he's talking about," Quinn pleaded.

"Bullshit! I-"

"Why's everyone yelling?" Elwyn's voice was soft compared to the rest of the conversation. Her nails were dug into her palms, surely leaving behind little crescent shaped indents. Worry filled her eyes.

"El..." Quinn breathed.

"Care to explain yourself, Elwyn?" Jack snapped.

"I'm confused."

"Don't act all innocent now when you were spreading your fucking legs for my brother last night!"

"I-"

"You what? Are acting like a slut?! Then yeah, you're right."

"I'm not a slut," her bottom lip quivered. Quinn was quick to get in front of her, feeling the sudden need to protect her from his brother's vicious words.

"She's not a slut, Jack. You don't control her."

Jack was at a loss for words. Quinn was right he didn't control her, but he could still be pissed at his brother.

"Fine, I don't control, Elwyn. She's a grown woman. But you, Quinn, you- you broke my rules! You took advantage of her!"

"How did I 'take at advantage of her'?" he air quoted.

"You-you..."

"You have no argument here, Jack. And you, Luke... what gives you the right to tell him? When you were trying to get with Elwyn too?"

"I'M NOT AN OBJECT!" her outburst made everyone jump, "Stop talking about me like I'm not standing right here! God! You're acting like children! Quinn, give me your car keys?"

"What? Why?"

"I'm going home."

"You're-"

"El, no. Please," Jack pleaded.

"You just called me a slut! You think I want to stay here with you? Ha! You are crazy."

"Babe, please."

"Don't 'babe' me, Quintin. Give me your keys," she demanded, reaching her hand out.

"No. You're angry. You shouldn't drive like this."

"Fine. I'll fucking walk home!" she threw her arms up, storming out the front door.

The group of boys stood around the kitchen staring at the Hughes brothers. Were they not going to go after her? Apologize? Boat day definitely wasn't happening.

It was getting dark out, Quinn and Jack were beyond worried. Jack was pacing the living room, his head snapping to the door every time there was a noise outside. Quinn was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands, sending text after text to El. No answers. Luke and their friends were in the back, drinking and pretending all was well.

"Should we go looking for her?" Jack asked.

"I think that'd just scare her off."

"But what if someone snatches her off the street? It's getting dark out. She's been gone all day, Quinn."

"She'll come back."

"Stop pretending like you know her better than I do just because you slept with her! I know my best friend."

"Jack, can we not fight right now? We have more important things to worry about."

Jack just sighed. He was worried about El, but her sleeping with Quinn was still in the background of all his thoughts.

"Can I just ask why? Like was it to rub it in my face? To get back at me for something?"

"It has nothing to do with you, Jack. It's about Elwyn. I really like El. I've liked El since we were kids. And she finally showed me that she feels the same way. I'm- I'm happy with her."

"She- you love her, don't you?"

"It's too soon to say that."

"Quinn..."

"Yeah... I do. I... I do."

"Shit. She probably hates me."

"I mean, you did slut-shame your best friend."

"Right."

"If we're giong to blame anyone for this mess though, I think we blame Luke. El and I were going to tell you. But Luke kind of jumped the gun."

"Really? You were going to tell me?"

"Yeah, I mean last night... we talked about it."

"I guess that makes me feel a bit better."

Quinn was about to apologize, but the front door creaked open. A sniffle and the sound of shoes hitting the ground made Quinn jump up.

"El?"

She just stared at them, arms crossed over her chest.

"El. I'm so sorry," Jack wrapped his arms around her, but she didn't reciprocate the hug.

"That's nice. Are you done calling me a whore?"

"I didn't mean it, El. I was mad. It was heat of the moment."

"Yeah, well, I don't fucking appreciate it."

"Do- d'you think you can forgive me?"

"Yes, Jack. I'll forgive you," she chuckled.

El finally hugged him back, pressing a kiss to his cheek. She turned her attention to Quinn, who awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hi, El."

"Quinn."

"I'll give you guys some space," Jack shot them finger guns, walking out backwards.

"El, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel like an object. You're not an object. You're... you're Elwyn. And I- I love you."

"You love me?"

"Yeah, I do. I love you."

She bit back her smile, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Can I kiss you?" he whispered.

"Of course." Their lips met in a sweet, languid kiss. "I love you too, Quinn Hughes."

And their lips met again, smiles on their faces breaking it, ending in a fit of giggles. They finally had each other.

Tags:

@h0e4fictionalme-n @toasttt11 @homestylehughes @laheyxlover @dontknowhockey

[castleclerics]

The Talisman: All Connections to Stranger Things

I keep forgetting that I read this whole book and bookmarked like eighty things so let's dive into all the connections that I found to Stranger Things (also things about the way the world of this book works that just scream ST to me that need to be included) including ties to my own theories.

(lovedddd this book btw. wolf is my fav character i've ever read, matt duffer knows what's up:

Quick plot: 12 y/o Jack Sawyer travels across the country to acquire The Talisman, which he was told will save his dying mom's life. He "flips" over between his world and to a world called the Territories constantly during his travels.

This is extremely spoiler heavy btw ok let’s begin:

This is just in order of my bookmarks to make it easy for me, bolded are the most important/blatant parallels.

First, just for some context if you’re curious, in the scene with The Talisman in it, Lucas is reading the part where Jack flipped over to the Territories for the very first time. This is definitely significant considering Max is newly in a coma, and probably alone wherever her consciousness may be, but more on that later.

-This man named Speedy gives Jack a potion to flip into the Territories. When Jack comes back to reality he asks where he went. Speedy tells him he vanished into thin air. It's veryyyyyy Will in the shed. He literally vanishes.

-Jack's entire journey is him traveling from the farthest east of the country, to the farthest west of the country. The Talisman resides in the west in the Territories.

-The queen of The Territories is Jack's mom's Twinner. When Jack sees the queen in The Territories she's in a coma-like state. "The queen cannot see, she cannot speak, she cannot move" ahem:

-In one scene a root from the ground in the Territories grabs Jack by the ankle and another one chokes him. Classic.

-Jack and his mom (Lily Cavanaugh Sawyer) really remind me of Billy and his Mom’s relationship. They also lived in California like them. Billy’s mom saying “ten more minutes, but any longer dad’s going to be mad” reminds me of how Lily has always tried to keep Jack safe from uncle Morgan, and how he was very abusive to her.

-While working at a tap, Jack hears the phone ring and he senses it’s something calling from the Territories. When he picks it up it’s a monster from the Territories that migrated to his world. He’s a customer sitting at the bar and he hunts down Jack while in the tap. Wonder what that reminds me of...

-When drinking the potion that can transfer Jack into the Territories, he instead got thrown back into a memory from when he was six.

-Something someone does in reality can have a ripple effect in the Territories, for ex. a war in America started a war in the Territories, when Jack's dad died in their world he died in the Territories soon after.

-Jack meets a werewolf named Wolf in the Territories, and he calls the real world "the place of the strangers".

-A full moon is coming so Wolf and Jack decide to lock Jack in a shed to keep him safe. Jack loses his mind in the shed because it's basically sensory deprivation, but given how much Jack reminds me of Will it's interesting it was a shed he was locked in because time itself starts to become not even a real thing to Jack, and he can't tell how much of it had passed.

-Jack and Wolf eventually make their way to this place for troubled boys called "The Sunshine Home" which is very HNL, strict, and revolves around evangelical Christianity. The man in charge of it all, Sunlight Gardener, has major Brenner vibes. Also, a kid at the home says over 60% of the kids there are there voluntarily which could be interesting to think about, The Truman Show kind of idea that if El truly wanted to escape the lab she could've. or this:

-At The Sunlight Home, Jack and Wolf try to escape but Jack had run out of Speedy's magic juice. While they're about to get caught, Jack concentrates really hard and realizes he can flip into the Territories with Wolf only with his mind. He remembers he used to be able to this as a child too. He would go to this place called “the daydreams” as a kid and he believed it was his imagination, only learning later on that he had actually been flipping into the Territories. Interesting because of the way ST ties people's own minds to physical dimensions.

-When they flip, they flip into “Furnaces of Black Heart” “Black heart at the middle of the world." A pit. there, the most fucked up creatures and horrific things that exist in the Territories live there. It just reminds me of the gates colliding at the very center of Hawkins, and how new monsters are possibly going to be crawling out of it (The Crawl).

-This one is probably my favorite. So throughout the book they really make you love Wolf, he's the gentlest soul, horrified of being in Jack's world and everything scares him but he still tries for Jack. He’s the most loveable character ever. At The Sunlight Home they end up locking Wolf in a box as punishment for him not getting used to the rules fast enough, which triggers him to turn. He then commits a huge massacre of The Sunlight Home and all the boys who live there.

However, what the book has already established about him makes you come to understand that he isn't a monster. It's the main overarching lesson of that event. Even though he just did all of that, he doesn't want to hurt people, it was a result of the way he was treated. I believe this to be a direct parallel to my theory that El actually did commit the massacre, and Brenner showed her a timeline where she didn't, in Nina.

-In the box Wolf was in, the cops found bible verses and stick figure drawings etched into its walls…

-For some context let's talk about Morgan Sloat, Jack's uncle. When Jack was 6 months old, Morgan attempted killing him in his crib, and is after Jack the entire novel.

-Here’s a direct quote about Twinners. “When one migrated and entered the body of one’s Twinner, the result was a kind of benign possession.” also Morgan’s Twinner, “Morgan of Orris”, spoke to him in his mind. Orris would migrate to the real world from the Territories and basically possess normal Morgan’s body. They don’t just possess your body, things about you change. Your heartbeat may run at a faster rate, your eyesight may be different etc.

“Sloat was able to plan murder, but it has been Orris, time and time again, who migrated to carry out the act itself. It had been Orris in Sloat’s body who had attempted to smother the infant Jack Sawyer in Utah (just as he had overseen the assassination of Phil Sawyer’s counterpart, the commoner Prince Phillip Sawtelle, in the Territories.)"

I haven’t seen The First Shadow and idk everything about it yet but I’m pretty sure this is this is very TFS Henward coded

-When Jack and Richard are almost as far west as they can go in the Territories in a place called The Blasted Lands, the creatures there remind Jack of radiation poisoning. Here's an excellent post that covers radiationgate. Jack concludes the land had nuclear damage and these creatures are born poisoned.

-The Territories can be a reflection of the real world at times like for example, if you're walking somewhere, your Twinner is walking in the same direction to a place that could reflect the one you’re traveling to in the real world.

-The "Black Hotel" is where The Talisman is held. The description of the inside of it reminded me of the Creel house and there were some people who believed the evil in the Territories had begun all the way west, "At land's end, at the edge of the big water." where the Black Hotel is. (the sequel to The Talisman is The Black House and I haven't read it but I'm interested as to why it turned into a house :0)

-While trying to run away from one of Orris' minions in The Territories, Jack tried flipping but had brought himself forward in time in The Blasted Lands a century or two where everything was abandoned.

-It's revealed that The Talisman is the "axle of all possible worlds". let's go timeline knowers!!!!!! Jack is the "chosen one" because he’s one of few “single-natured” people, meaning because his Twinner died (when Sloat had tried killing him in his crib in the real world, his Twinner had died in his crib in the Territories) and since that happened, he died in all other worlds, but he still exists in one world, only one world.

Morgan says how since there's endless worlds/timelines, then there more than just "twinners" and the Territories is just one world out of infinite ones.

-The Talisman is also the same in The Territories as it is in the real world and is the single thing that is the exact same in all worlds.

The closer Jack gets to the Talisman in the Black Hotel, the more he flips between worlds and the more the worlds overlap.

This may be the most important parallel:

The light within the crystal globe of the Talisman was every color of the rainbow. Rainbows are mentioned a few times throughout the book, even on the first page. When Jack would feel happy or protected during his journey, he would be reminded of a rainbow. You realize it’s because the Talisman is literally calling him before he even knows about it. In a scene he heals Speedy with the Talisman and even chants “rainbow! rainbow!”.

Idk if I've ever mentioned this, but I’ve been theorizing for a while now that the rainbow room is a direct reference to the multiple timelines/other timeline selves. I think this book proves me right, especially since The Talisman is the axis of all possible worlds.

The first time I ever thought this was because of this shot, twins on the rainbow.

“there upon a rainbow is the answer to a never ending story”

It gets more interesting when you look at something like skittles (taste the rainbow) and who is seen having them in the series.

I have also theorized that max being in a coma is important bc she's not fully gone but wherever she is, she may be another version of herself in a different timeline completely. She wasn’t supposed to be revived and I think this gives the characters an upper hand in s5 because she is still existing out there somewhere, as her Twinner possibly, and that Twinner may have knowledge the characters need if they can find her.

also here’s just some more rainbows in "holly’s" room that I had to add hehehe

-When Jack makes contact with The Talisman for the first time, an earthquake happens across all worlds.

-The final battle between Morgan and Jack takes place on the beach of the Black Hotel, and snow stars to fall. A huge storm ensues and reminds me of the source and spores in the air in Billy’s mind in s3.

-The very end of the book is the Talisman healing Jack’s dying mom and the queen of The Territories waking up. The healing is described as a birth and they describe it in vivid detail even mentioning how “the opening of the Talisman was like a vagina.” We all know the gates resemble vaginas, and how there is soooo much about mothers and birthing in this show and it just reminded me of this kickass post also by the goat @henrysglock because I cannot get into all that here but iykyk <3

But let's think about this again. The queen only wakes up because her other self in another world is healed, and is healed by something that holds every timeline in existence... and maybe that's why they chose to have the Talisman in the scene it is, and why they paralleled Max to the queen. In conclusion, I think Max’s Twinner is one of the answers to everything, and could even be possible that she'll wake up as her Twinner, not the Max we all know.

Thats about it! I lowkey feel like I’m missing a certain dynamic or something but if I think of it I’ll edit this and add it. I finished reading it a long time ago so this took a while to remember what was going in this book bc it has like 700 pages 😭😭 anyways I rly love this book even despite the few shortcomings it has and am so excited to see the series the Duffers are working on for it !!!!!!!! aaaaa

[weirdo09]

mike wheeler headcanons

he’s a demiboy/gender-fluid and he’s gay :p (poly too)

hates hawkins with a burning passion

once, him and will made this whole plan to go to a land they called never land (byler Peter Pan au 🤭)

very judgmental and very moody

LOVES weezer(a little too much)

so much teen angst it’s insane

also loves nirvana, the smiths, David bowie(loved his ziggy stardust era) and freddie mercury

freddie was like his first celebrity crush

didn’t come out of his room for weeks after he died(love ya, darling <3)

is autistic as fuck

also has adhd

has the weirdest but coolest hyperfixiations(?)

him and el are besties ofc

they have little hangouts

bywheelclair supremacy, he loves his boyfriends so much

he’s a little bitch(affectionately)

he loves to grown his hair out

he fidgets with his hair when he’s nervous

he also bites his top lip when he lies(as shown by finn)

loves rock

definitely loves kurt cobain(he’s so fucking pretty my guy)

hates Courtney love with a passion

loves hole tho(it’s her band btw)

loves getting his hair braided

can speak fluent french and canadian french(also creole, he met lucas’ extended family down in Louisiana and forced himself to learn it)

has a rock collection

and a vinyl collection

a ton of mix tapes too(from his boyfriends ofc)

when he learned to drive, his parents got him a beat up IROC(lives that car so much)

loves when people touches his hair or give him head massages(he gets headaches and migraines easily)

dyed his hair red to match max, she loved it

has also dyed his hair blonde, his mom cried when she saw it

has little tea parties with holly and dress ups

loves his sisters to death

he’s a scrawny motherfucker(love scrawny by the wallows)

still has his old binder full of will’s art

has stolen some of will’s art and gotten new binders to put them in

will found them one day and confronted mike

mike teared up bcuz he thought he was in trouble

will have him a hug and said that he could’ve guess asked for him to draw him things

now asks will to draw him things all the time

will secretly loves it but acts annoyed when he asks

loves cuddling(he’s a touch starved lil boy, ok?)

definitely plans cuddle dates with his boyfriends

will babble away with no chance of stopping

gets tired easily

loves makeup

regularly does his(he kills his boyfriends every time)

loves autumn but still has mixed feelings about it since will’s disappearance

loves to do eyeliner

has a few dresses and crop tops

has stolen a lot of his boyfriends’ clothing(usually hoodies, sweaters anything that’s warm)

gets cold really really easily so he has a lot of sweaters

pronouns: he/him/his/they/their/theirs/xe

has written a ton of fanfiction(but has never shown it to anyone)

gets distracted kinda easily so he has fidgets

LOVES to fidget with people’s hands

so likes to compare how hands feel

lucas’ are smooth but rough in some parts, little bigger than his and very nice to hold

will’s are smooth, well-manicured

wow i made a lot 🥲

@adorewillbyers @verashalurks @background-character-341 @sunflowersand-bees @pimplepogue @forever-augustine @foodiewithdahoodie @tinylittle-superfan

[brascu]

warning for spoilers from season 3 

alright, I believe Klaus is gonna get fucked next season an here is why

when he meets his father in the void, Reginald tells him he is his greatest dissapointment and that he wanted him to live to up to his full potential.

Later, in season 3, when Klaus is able to catch that ball, he says that “now he’s ready”. Ready for what? Klaus asks, and Reginald takes him to the cemetery where he admits he made Klaus so traumatized so he could control him.

He says with all letters that Klaus was the most important child to learn how to control his powers. (season 1)

And all through seasons, Klaus is the closest to his father. Every timeline.

But then we go back to season 3 when Reginald locks him outside the tunnel. Why? after fully comprehending his powers, Klaus didn’t have a chance to use them. Why would Reginald bother training him? why would he rush to do so? Why only him?

If locking him outside was by chance, he wouldn’t have said those lines. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth”. The greates potential is more trouble than he’s worth? bite me. Why would he run off with him to train as the word crumbled?? 

I’ve already said in another post, but I believe the tunnel couldn’t handle more than “the shaman and the seven”. And Klaus was the only one able to get inside of oblivion by himself. Maybe it was a bet, but maybe it wasn’t. After all, when they’re getting on top of the sigil, He again uses Klaus so Allison could be out of there. I believe she was supposed to kill him and save the others.

But then we go back to the cemetery, where Klaus was able to conquer those ghosts. Really nice that scene, but terrible useless, no? What he does with Luther, calling him to fight, he had already done with Ben in season 1. What does Reginald really wants from Klaus’s powers?

At this point, I believe Klaus really is the most powerful Umbrella, and probably the smartest one as well. Luther’s leadership? Klaus leads hords of ghosts. Diego’s long distance and furtivity? Klaus can get anywhere without raising suspicion, can shoot and again, can use the dead. Allison’s rumours? Klaus has +5 in charisma and is really good at manipulating people. Five’s agility? Klaus literally can’t die, who cares about bullets? Also, he understood ans was ok with time travel in his first time. Ben’s tentacles? Ben6 could only materialize at his will and Ben2 is a coward. Viktor’s sounds? pretty much they’ve been used for blowing things up? the thing with the kugelblitz was nice but it didn’t work. (I know I’m biased, I know)

We are always looking for number ones or sevens, but if you think four is exacly in the middle and the universe is a sucker for balance. How about someone who lives as much as he dies? Who looks for death while fearing it?

Who is so strong, but don’t fight? Who’s so irritating, but charismatic? Who’s manly and girly? Easily distracted, passionately focused, joyfully uninterested, profoundly curious? 

Klaus doesn’t pay much attention to everything, but what’s important at the moment, by chance, he takes seriously. Something he found before season 1 was vital for season 3′s development. He is Reginald’s perfect little mess of intuition. And intuition is a skill that he’s trained and took him places.

I can’t wait to see what in hell that alien has stored for him. Because I know he haven’t finished what he started. 

You can stop reading here if you don’t want to see me going crazy lol

(also, did you guys notice that Reginald’s notebook, when taking notes about Klaus’s deaths, had other times before the first time he killed Klaus in this timeline? 22 minutes, the time Klaus took to come back to life after the first time Reggie killed him, was not his first entry. We cannot read it, but there’s a previous note in the exact format he’s using right now.

 I’m so sure Reginald can travel through dimensions or something. Specially since I saw something about a elevator in the comics, both Klaus and Ben are seen together in elevators[ben on his feet while klaus is on the floor when we have dead ben and both on their feet when Klaus and Ben2 are alive] and when we see Luther coming back from the dead [void - another dimension] he comes from an elevator.)

(and as you guys already know that I love finishing my theory dump referencing another piece of media, this time I bring you Hair - The Musical. 

Klaus went back in time to the 60′s two times. In the first one, he went to the vietnam war(alone) and watched his lover die. The second one(whole family), that was before that, he became a hippie in a somewhat polyamorous life. In Hair, the play, Claud(Klaus) was part of a hippie comunity(Claud family) and ended up in vietnam(alone), where he died. Claud(Klaus) had this love triangle with Berger(Ben) and Sheila(Jill). By the end of the play, Claud dies and comes back as a spirit, but no one sees him(Ben/Dave). 

The most famous song of this musical is “The Age of Aquarious”, by the band the 5th dimension. It’s said that the fourth dimention is time, what we were exploring through last three seasons. The fifth dimension would be both a level of conciousness that happens after self realization (Klaus making peace with his trauma) and please remember that when Klaus re-introduces himself to Reginald he says he is the spiritual one; or the fifth dimension would be “ is that it is a dimension unseen by humans where the forces of gravity and electromagnetism unite to create a simple but graceful theory of the fundamental forces“ (definition taken in sciencing.com). Both seem fitting for me. 

The song starts with “When the moon is in the seventh house”. This all could be a coincidence, But I really don’t believe in those. or maybe I do... un coup de des...)

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck & Eddie: Eddie is one of May’s older brothers within the 118’s found family

Eddie and May are like brother and sister within the 118’s found family because Bobby has been a father figure to Eddie for more than four years and he is May’s stepfather since he is married to Athena who is May’s biological mother. While Eddie worked out of the dispatch center, May was his direct connection to the 118 and their familial dynamic was established several times. 

In 5x16 “May Day”, after the 118 arrived at the dispatch fire, Bobby asked Sue if May had been evacuated and when she realized that she had forgotten about May and Claudette, Eddie spoke up and said, “She’s still up there?” and that’s when Bobby told Eddie to get some turnouts.

While Eddie was putting his turnout gear on, he was standing next to Buck and when Buck asked him why Bobby was going in, Eddie responded, “May’s still up there”.  L*cy said it seemed like she was missing something and Eddie spoke up and said, “Family history”.

May and Eddie’s brotherly and sisterly dynamic was established again after the 118 freed Bobby and May from underneath the collapsed roof when Bobby told Buck that he was ok and L*cy said, “Says the man who just got hit by a roof” but Eddie shook his head at her like he couldn’t believe she said that which was similar to Eddie’s earlier reaction to her comment when she said she felt like she was missing something after Eddie told Buck that May was still inside.

Then the rest of the 118 encircled Bobby (minus L*cy) and Chimney commented that Bobby always carries the whole operation on his back and that’s when Eddie said, “I gotcha Cap!” which was followed by him and Buck carrying most of Bobby’s weight after they put Bobby’s arms around each of their shoulders.

When Claudette died, May was surrounded by her family, Athena, Bobby, Eddie, Hen and Buck.  After May said, “Hen, she was fine, I don’t understand” Hen responded and said, “Neither do I” with Eddie standing just a few feet away from them.  The last conversation Eddie and May had while they both worked out of the dispatch center in 5x18 “Starting Over” was about Bobby, Eddie’s father figure and May’s stepfather.  Therefore Eddie and May have and always will be seen as brother and sister, especially after Buck and Eddie get married since Bobby is Buck’s found dad which means he will become Eddie’s found father-in-law and Eddie will then become a found brother-in-law to May.  Also, the father/son dynamic between Bobby and Eddie was re-established in 5x16 right before Eddie went back to El Paso, TX in 5x17 “Hero Complex” to reconcile with his biological father Ramon.

May was there for Eddie in the same capacity as one of his biological sisters, Adriana or Sophia could have been with her witty sisterly comments and her Gen Z knowledge.  May helped Eddie learn what the acronym FOMO stands for in 5x15 “FOMO” and she also helped him with his personal dilemma about living his life the way he wanted to instead of the way he was expected to when they discussed how that luxury social media influencer had been living a lie to get followers (related post: Eddies Heart reference 17).  Eddie helped May too when he told her that she wasn’t wrong for wanting to protect her family and she was able to talk to him about going to college in a way that she hadn’t been able to with her mother or anyone else in her family.  They were both in situations that required them to make a rushed decision, hence May’s word of the day “absquatulate” that she had ready for Eddie in 5x11 after he arrived at the center. The word means to “leave abruptly” and that’s exactly what both of them did.  May decided not to go to college in 3x18 “What’s Next?” after she graduated high school while Eddie left the 118 abruptly in 5x10 “Wrapped in Red”.  They would both leave dispatch abruptly in 5x18 with both of their time ending in that episode, which just so happened to be the same episode that showed Maddie returning to work.

If Maddie had still been working at dispatch while Eddie was there, then both May and Maddie would have been Eddie’s connection to the 118 since Maddie and Chimney are in a relationship.  But Maddie and Eddie have only been allowed to verbally communicate with each other twice in CANON since they’re the two most important people in Buck’s life (related post Maddie and Eddie); therefore if Maddie and Eddie had been at dispatch at the same time, the show would have kept them separated just like they have done all the other times they were in the same setting.  Eddie has developed a lot of relationships and friendships with those inside of the 118 like his friendship with Chimney (Eddie and Chimney), his friendships with extended 118 family members like Karen (Eddie and Karen) and he established a friendship with Linda while he was at dispatch (Eddie and Linda).  Eddie said it in 3x11 “Seize the Day” that the 118 was the family he chose; therefore May is included in that family dynamic too and they looked out for each other while they worked out of the dispatch center because that’s what family does for one another.

GIF 5x11 “Outside Looking In’

GIF 5x15 “FOMO”

GIF 5x15 “FOMO”

GIF 5x15 “FOMO”

GIF 5x15 “FOMO”

GIF 5x15 “FOMO”

GIF 5x15 “FOMO”

GIF 5x15 “FOMO”

GIF 5x15 “FOMO”

GIF 5x15 “FOMO”

GIF 5x18 “Starting Over”

GIF 5x18 “Starting Over”

GIF 5x18 “Starting Over”

GIF 5x16 “May Day”

GIF 5x16 “May Day”

GIF 5x16 “May Day”

GIF 5x16 “May Day”

GIF 5x16 “May Day”

[berrymoos]

heyheyhey :)) ik you might wanna focus on other fandom agere stuff and that’s ok but i keep thinking about little!eleven from st and how she’d be so curious and weird in her own way and just AAAAA so any thoughts on little!eleven hopper? (also i love your blog <33 OK BYEEE -🐝)

snuffy i'm going to be so honest, i wasn't planning on making this into a full hc post but i started having more thoughts than i thought i would have 💀 (HNDHDJWU DAAH thank uuu hngkskx💞💞)

ミ﹒﹒💛🧇🐝🌻✨🫶

🧇 — regressor eleven headcanons!

as you said, she explores eeeverything with her hands ��� touching, grabbing, feeling ,, literally everything! the party love themselves a curious tot el .... until she tries touching a hot stove top or reaches for the hornet's nest in the park bc she has got to know exactly what this thing is, which means she has to touch it with her bare hands to understand

speaking of, the party all know of her regression & pitch in to help (*´˘`*)♡ max, lucas, & will could classify as her "main cgs" — mayhopclair agenda <33 & will big bro cg supremacy!! — but she loves everybody very much 💞

her regression doesn't have a specific age?? she acts differently & has particular skills depending on whether her regression is positive or vent-y – very mixed bag

hopper carries her around on his hip during her vent regression spells – el never asks; just one moment shes sitting on the floor, sulky & staring into space, the next she's way in the air, supported by strong arms & love <33

LOVES eggos with whipped cream & syrup with chocolate chip on top, kinda like what hopper made her in s2 (iirc). the hopper-byers fam have it like once every month or so bc it's almost disgustingly tooth-achingly sweet. joyce balances it out by adding their sliced fruit of choice on top

can, will, & has used her powers to reach the sweets joyce hid on the top cabinet. to her credit, joyce is excellent with hiding them ... but el is equally as excellent at finding them. no matter how obscure the hiding spot is, she'll find them. always >:-)

SKATING WAAABAAAA ꉂ(ˊᗜˋ*)♡!! she's not all that good in bigspace to begin with so it's not like she magically gets more balance when she's in Tot Mode 💀 given el is very very quiet abt her regression & doesn't like to be out where there are lots of ppl, max suggests they take her this abandoned skate park she found! it's perfect!

(no it's not, max & mike got into an 6-minute argument about el potentially face-planting into concrete & it ends with mike relunctantly agreeing IF ONLY she's got elbow pads, knee pads, AND wrist protectors)

lucas has a (baby) bag (technically it's el's but shhh) filled with bandaids, snacks, extra clothes, backup pacifiers ... literally everything useful you could ever imagine is in there bc lucas can never be too prepared. it's a scooby-doo bag!!

mike gets his pillows stolen by her & max for blanket forts, but they never tell him what they're doing with them. he'll ask “why do you guys keep stealing my pillows?” after el runs in to take his third one, but she'll giggle & run away. max tells him to mind his business & leaves. he finally gets up to see them making a blanket fort when will walks in to “borrow” his blanket

el & stickers? match made in heaven. every opportunity she gets, she's sticking them on something: the fridge, the toilet lid, dustin's cheek. EVERYWHERE! she even has a sticker pages specifically for her friends and family ,, she has them choose a sticker, she unpeels it, & sticks it on them like “ ‘ticker for you ... an’ a ‘ticker for you ... an’ dis one is for you...”

regressor max & regressor eleven duo says who? SAYS ME (﹡ˆ﹀ˆ﹡) those two are a mischievous duo, ask ANYBODY in the party 💀 max has such a foul mouth in & out of headspace, but she tries her best to keep her foul language at a minimum, but sometimes she slips up (especially if there isn't a cg around) & eleven just .. repeats her. max is like “ no no no el!! u can't say that!!!”, but she actually finds it hilarious & lowkey doesn't care HBSJDJE

(she doesn't care until a cg is around & el drops an sh-bomb & lucas specifically slooowly turns his head toward her💀💀)

self-indulgent pkmn au headcanon: el & mew 💞💞 mew is equally as curious as el is, so they explore new things together! ... while the rest of the party & their pokemon watch them like hawks to assure neither of them are trying to poke an exposed power cord

[midnightstar-90]

Hidden~ Eddie Diaz x Nash! Reader

A/N: I wanted to add some action, so I moved up when Shannon decided to divorce Eddie. Eddie is too good to make him into a cheater. I'm not really good at describing intimate-type stuff either.

Lose Some, Win Some

Y/N's POV

I am finally home. I'm home with my son, and the school gave me a couple of days to rest. I sat on my couch, watching the news. "Today, police suspect LAFD's 118 for robbing $300,000 worth of cash from a local bank. Police say that the LAFD was there to help the bank manager and a delivery man with a seizure or a possible nerve agent. Police also say that they found the cash inside one of their firetrucks. More information coming up, soon."

After hearing that, I remember the number on one of the firetrucks at the crash. The 118 saved me, and if they saved me, that means that Eddie and my dad are being questioned for a robbery. I haven't known Eddie long, but I know that Eddie, nor my father, would rob a bank.

Zachary walks into the room. "Mommy, I'm ready for bed," my little man says. I turn to him and say, "Ok, I'll be in there in a bit." He runs back to his room.

I hear a knock at the door. It is almost 9:30 pm. Who could be at my door? I go to the door and look through the peephole. Eddie and Christopher stand at the door with a to-go bag.

I open the door, and I say, "Eddie? Chris? what are you doing here?" "I bet you have heard about what is going on. The police have ransacked our house, and I was wondering if you could watch Chris until this blows over?" Eddie asked me desperately.

I smile at the two boys. "Sure. Chris, Zach is in his room getting ready for bed. You can go hang out with him until I get you a bed ready. His room is down the hall, the First door on the left," I tell the little boy, and then turn to Eddie.

He hands me Chris' night bag, and I joke and say, "There better not be any evidence in here." He chuckles, saying, "Nope, no evidence, just clothes, and a toothbrush."

I invite him into my apartment. He walks in and says, "Nice apartment. Is that a skylight?" He points up, at the skylight, in my living room.

(Y/N's Living room /w a skylight)

"Yeah, when Levi died, I would tell Zach that his father was watching him from the stars. So, I decided that anytime we missed Levi, we would watch the stars," I said, trying not to tear up.

Eddie reaches in his pocket and pulls out a picture. "I'm guessing this is Levi?" Eddie asks, handing me the picture. I look at the picture and lose my cool. Eddie sits me on the couch and just hugs me.

This is the closest I've ever been to a man since Levi. It felt good. I felt protected. I don't need protection because I was in the navy, but this man made me feel loved.

We sat on the couch, with me crying into his shirt. "Mommy, aren't you gonna put me to bed?" "Yeah." I get up, heading into my child's room.

Eddie follows me into the room, and what he sees shocks him.

(Zachary's bed)

Christopher is sitting on the bottom bunk of a firehouse bed. The whole room was dedicated to firefighters. When we got in that crash, and he met his grandfather, Zach decided that when he gets older, he would become a firefighter.

Christopher looks at his dad and says, "Dad, Zach said he wants to be like you and uncle Buck when he gets older."

Eddie continues to look around. He walks towards the cubby. Inside the cubby is some of Zach's favorite toys, some pictures of Levi and I, and some pictures of Zach and I. What really caught Eddie's eye, was the picture of Zach on my shoulders, at the El Paso Zoo.

I am tucking the boys in, when I hear, "You were in El Paso?" I look back and say, "Yeah, that was Zach's 2nd birthday. Levi was born in Austin, but he grew up in El Paso." Eddie just nods and goes back to looking around.

As I'm tucking Christopher in he says, "Dad and I are from El Paso. It would have been cool if we met before LA." I smile at the boy, before walking out and turning off the lights.

"We have a lot in common, you know?" Eddie tells me. I look at him and he looks back. "Oh, really?" I ask. Eddie and I move closer to each other. I continue to look at the man and I ask, "Like what?" "Well, for starters, we were both fought for our country." Imagining this man in a military uniform made the moment even hotter. I moved closer. "Ok, and?" "And, we both had a son at a young age."

At this point, he was towering over me. I quickly pulled the man into a kiss. He kisses back. I move my hands from my side to his chest, and he grabs my hips. He deepens the kiss as I move my hands from his chest to his neck. I feel strong hands go under my shirt.

We keep making out for a couple of minutes until I pull back. "I'm so sorry. I forgot you married," I say frantically. "She told me she wasn't ready. She filed for divorce. I also didn't feel like our relationship was working. She left us when Chris was little. I kinda like this hot teacher, who was in the Navy and has a son. Also, she knows about being a firefighter." Eddie tells me, holding my hands.

I kiss Eddie again. Eddie and I head to my room, without breaking the kiss. That night was the best night in forever. Everyone got a sleepover.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The robbery thing has been put behind us, but a new problem has arrived. My father didn't tell the LAFD everything about why he transferred, therefore leaving him suspended. He hasn't told me either, but I think it is best to let him come to me about it.

I started work again today, except I feel like I'm looking after 3 kids. My dad insisted that we hang out, you know since he wasn't there for most of my life.

I wake up at 5 am to a large banging noise. I look to see who it is, and surprise surprise, it is my father with tons of groceries. "Dad, what are you doing here. Zach is still asleep, and I don't have to be up till 7 am." I tell my dad, letting him in.

He heads to my kitchen and sits down the food. "I was thinking that I could make you and Zach breakfast, and then I could take you to work."

I gave my father a loving look. I feel bad that his past came back to haunt him, but maybe something good will come out of it. Besides, I missed the father/daughter bonding we had. Eddie told me his food is at grade A chef level, so why not let him cook for me.

"Well I love what you're doing, but I'm missing sleep. If it's fine with you, could I go back to sleep?" I ask, and receive a nod back. I walk to my room, but I turn back to check upon him. I know he's sad, but at this moment he looks happy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up at 7 am to a heavenly smell. I walk into the kitchen, after remembering my dad was making breakfast. As leave the hallway to see my son and father talking about firefighting. I smile, and my dad turns to face me.

"Ah, you're awake! I woke up Zach and got him dressed for you." my dad says taking a bite of the french toast. I go into the kitchen and make myself some food. I see french toast, fresh fruit, bacon, eggs, and freshly squeezed orange juice. I look amazed as I take some of everything.

My dad works up the courage to ask me a question, "I was wondering if you wanted to stop by the firehouse, like old times. I have some people I would like you to meet." With my mouth full, I say, "Yeah, I missed those days" "Oh man, mommy is breaking a rule. She is talking with her mouth full," Zach says to the man next to him.

Dad laughs. "Well I ate, but I have to get dressed." I head to my room to get dressed.

(Y/N's outfit to work)

I walk back into the living room and we get ready to head out. We make it to the school, and I say goodbye to my father. I take Zach to class. I get to the office and I see Eddie and Chris. "Hey, I was just hanging with your fire captain." "Well, can you tell him we want him back because his replacement is terrible?" I laugh.

"So, are you coming to the firehouse?" Eddie asked me like he knew my dad would ask me. I give the firefighter a suspicious look and then say, "Yeah, my dad asked me this morning. Would you like me to bring Chris?" He gives me a "yeah, sure", and then we say goodbye.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christopher and I had so much fun. We were in math, and I helped teach him fractions with mini Kit-Kats. Then, in English, we acted out storytime with his class. The day ended in science, where we build and erupted our own volcanos.

It is the end of the day, some and of the boys waited outside for my father. When he arrived, we got in and started heading towards the fire station, which was only a 5-minute drive.

We walk into the 118's fire station, and Zach went off. A scream could be heard throughout the whole building. All the firefighters and paramedics stopped to see what was going on. My dad walked up to me and said, "Just like his mother."

Eddie and another man walked down the stairs to see what was happening. I smile at the majestic man walking towards me. We go into a hug before I hear a cough.

"Eddie, aren't you gonna introduce me to the pretty lady," the man asked Eddie. I smile at the man, but Eddie and my dad roll their eyes. My dad jumps into the conversation, "Buck, this is my daughter, Y/N, and her son, Zach. Y/N, this is Buck."

Buck and I shake hands. "My name is actually Evan Buckley, but everyone calls me Buck. You are somewhat of what Eddie has told me. Your pretty, but I expected a younger Bobby, with boobs." Eddie smacks Buck's chest.

I'm laughing and I head upstairs with the others. "Mommy! Mommy! Can I go down the fire pole," Zach asks, tugging on my pant leg? I nod my head yes.

Another man and woman walk over and sit with us in the lounge. "Why is there a little boy running around? Did someone drop him off, because I think your only supposed to do that with babies, not children," the man said, sitting right next to me. "That's my son. I'm Y/N." I hold out my hand waiting for the man to shake it. "I'm Howie, but everyone calls me Chimney. This is Hen," The man says, and the woman waves.

We continue to talk until the emergency bell rings. Everyone heads downstairs, but I pull Eddie back. I give him a long kiss, with my arms around his neck and his around my waist.

I pull back and say, "I had fun the other night. Maybe, I could see if my dad could watch the boys, and you and I could maybe have dinner at my house." Eddie groans and says, "Oh, how I would love that. We could also watch a movie."

This man will be the death of me. "Yeah, but you need to go." Eddie runs off to an emergency, I head to the store with my dad, Christopher, and Zachary.

"You know, you don't have to hide Eddie from me," He tells me. I look at him shocked. "I see the way you guys look at each other, and I saw you guys kiss today," he says calmly.

"Well, since you know could you help me make a meal for him and I tonight, and can you watch the boys?" I practically beg. He nods, and then he moves towards the isles, picking out ingredients.

"I don't want to intrude, so I will give you a recipe card. But yes, I will take the boys, just use protection. I don't want to see another grandchild for a while," he says, earning a smack on the chest from me. "There are children around," I whisper.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My dad gave me a recipe for Ravioli, served with garlic bread and bacon-wrapped asparagus. I am almost finished cooking when I hear a knock.

(Y/N's Date Outfit)

I open the door to see a devastated Eddie. I go in to hug him, and Eddie says, "She's dead. Shannon died in the emergency room. That call we left for, that was for her. What am I gonna tell Christopher."

I welcome the man in, and I sit him on the couch. "Do you want to eat?" I ask, hoping that I could get him to relax and eat. "No" is all I hear, before he shoves his face into my shoulder, and lets it all out. I rub his back and say, "Everything will be fine."

We sit there, on the couch, just cuddling. I smell something burning. My eyes widen and I yell, "My bread!"

Eddie's mind comes back to earth and he heads towards the kitchen. Not only is the bread burnt, but there was also a slight fire. Eddie quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher and put out the fire.

I was so scared. Eddie saved me from a fire. At the moment, I forgot all about the food, Eddie's emotions, and everything else. I kissed Eddie out of thankfulness. We kissed for about a minute before he pulled away.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that, with everything going on. I was scared. I could've just stood there and let the fire grow, but no, you saved me. You are m-" Eddie cut me off with a kiss.

Eddie picked me up and took me to my room. He laid me on my bed, and next thing you know, our clothes are off.

Taglist: @notanordinaryprincess95 @jjpogueprincess @wiypt-writes

[danversxluthor]

Glasses (Pt. 1)

-------------------------------------

Part one of a possibly three part story. Kara finally decides to take the plunge and plans to tell Lori and El about her secret identity. Lena is fully supportive but worries about how the girls will handle the news. As Kara continues to delay the news, Lori comes to some troubling, yet wrong, assumptions about her parents. 

------------------------------------

Kara and Lena had avoided having this discussion with their girls for as long as possible. Originally, they had planned to sit Lori down when she was in middle school and have the talk, but that was pushed back once they realized Lori didn’t know how to keep a secret from El. Then, they decided to have the talk with Lori and El all at once, the old two birds with one stone rationale. But, then life got in the way. Lena was launching a new branch of L-Corp directed at humanitarian efforts, while Kara was busy with Supergirl duties in both National City and Metropolis ever since Clark and Lois moved off planet. Not to mention both Lori and El were busy being high schoolers. Lori was popular and well-liked by her school mates; so much so that her social calendar rivaled Lena’s work calendar at times. And, El, well, to everyone but Lena’s surprise, El was thriving in high school. Sure, she wasn’t like Lori with a million friends, but she found extracurriculars she enjoyed like chess club and mathletes. 

“We have to tell them.” Kara blurted out as she and Lena laid in bed. Lena knew something had been bothering her wife the past few days and clearly Kara was ready to spill. Lena carefully marked her page, set her book down, took her glasses off and shifted to give Kara her full attention.

“What's going on Kar? You’ve been tense the past few days. Talk to me, babe.” Lena placed her hand on Kara’s thigh, rubbing gentle soothing circles as she patiently waited for Kara to respond. 

“They’re both in high school now! And I mean, gosh, Lori’s already 16--she can drive Lee. And soon she’ll go off to college, and El, I mean she’s already becoming so independent, and--” Kara was rambling, a clear sign of worry.

“Kara, love.” Lena cut off. “Just breathe.” Lena took a deep breath encouraging her wife to do the same. Kara took a few seconds before continuing.

“We need to tell the girls who I am.” Kara finally said. “That… that I’m Supergirl.” Lena had been waiting for Kara to bring this up again. Even though she was extremely hurt when Kara finally told her about being Supergirl, Lena also respected that Supergirl was Kara’s secret to share. She never wanted to pressure Kara, even though she was concerned about how the girls might take the news. 

“I can’t have them live their entire lives without knowing me. They need to know who their parents are, Lee.” Kara looked at her wife with determination and apprehension. Lena could tell Kara had been holding onto some guilt about this.

“Kara, I love you and our girls love you. And you’re right, they deserve to know you and about where they come from.” Lena places a chaste kiss on her wife’s cheek, eliciting a small smile from the hero. “This is your choice, however you want to do this, I will stand by you.” 

--------------------------

“Lori! Come on, get a move on!” Kara yelled up the stairs. El cringed at the sound as she stood in the driveway. Despite having her noise cancelling headphones on, the sound still got through and rang in El’s head. 

Lena was just finishing packing up the car for their weekend trip to the beach house, when she saw El adjusting her headphones. 

“Ok, there Ellie?” Lena wanted everything to go smoothly today. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she or Roa could do about Lori not being a morning person, especially on a Saturday. El gave a timid nod before clamping her hands on her headphones once more to the sound of a slamming door.

Out walked Kara carrying Lori fireman style over her shoulder. To Lori’s credit, she didn’t kick or scream or pout, she knew this was a losing battle and at least she could sleep in the car. 

El let go of her head phones and gave Lori a little wave good morning. Lori didn’t understand how El could manage to be so nice so early in the morning, especially with the noise. 

“Hey, weirdo.” Lori greeted El as Kara put her back on the ground. 

“Lori…” Kara warned. 

“Sorry…” Lori mumbled as she got settled in the back seat. 

The ride to the beach house was mostly uneventful. Lena drove well over the speed limit to Kara chagrin, but somehow never got pulled over. Lori slept most of the way, only waking when they stopped for breakfast. And, El kept her headphones on and sunglasses down as she looked out the window at the passing scenery.  

By the time they arrived at the beach house, Lori was finally awake and caffeinated enough to help Ellie unload and Kara and Lena opened the house up. Kara and Lena took the quiet moment away from the girls to relax on the back deck facing the ocean. They purchased the house back when Lena was pregnant with Lori and it always brought the couple back to the early years of their family, when life was far less complicated and their babies were still babies. 

The family enjoyed the rest of their day at the beach. Lori and Kara were able to go surfing while El and Lena stayed in the shallow water. Lena was still apprehensive about the ocean ever since her mother died. Even though El liked that her mom stayed with her in the shallow water where El could keep her headphones on she also looked longingly out at her sister as she rode a wave. It was amazing to El, how something as loud and vicious as the ocean could make a person seem like they were flying on air. 

“You know you can go out there with them if you want. I’m sure Jeje would love to teach you how to surf.” Lena pointed to Lori who just caught a wave. 

El shook her head and nervously pushed her sunglasses up her nose. The nervous fidgeting reminded Lena so much of Kara. As El had gotten older, Lena started noticing more and more of Kara in her. Sure, El had Lena’s black hair, emerald eyes, and intelligence but personality wise, she was all Kara. Lena marveled at how El, despite her challenges, could be so kind and empathetic to a world that often wasn’t kind to her. 

Lena put her arm around El, who only tensed for a moment before allowing her mom to pull her to her side. The pair watched as Kara and Lori laughed and splashed one another. It was a nice break from their usual yelling. 

That night Kara decided to build a fire in the firepit on the deck. It had been a good day, beyond what she could have dreamed, and now she just hoped the news wouldn’t ruin it all. Lena could tell Kara’s tension was building and decided to take the time while Lori and Ellie were finishing the dishes to check on her wife. 

“Hey, love.” Lena wrapped her arms around Kara’s waist from behind and rested her head on her wife’s shoulder. 

“It's been a good day.” Kara took a deep breath. “I love you babe.” The couple would’ve stayed like that longer, but their kids were promised s’mores and the fire was picking up. 

After everyone had had their fill of gooey chocolaty goodness, they all settled in. After a long lapse, Lori finally broke the silence.

“So, this has been fun and all, but why are we here?” Lori asked genuinely looking between Lena and Kara. 

“Well…” Kara started, she had played over and over again in her head exactly what she wanted to say but now it all felt wrong.

“Oh my god, are you and mom getting divorced?” Lori asked with panic in her voice. 

“Well…” Kara’s brain was still trying to figure out how to address the entire reason for the trip. Luckily Lena quickly jumped in.

“No darling, we’re not getting divorced.” Lena gives Kara a very annoyed side eye, signaling for her to pull herself together. “Your Jeje just has something she’d like to tell you.” Lena looked to Kara who took a deep breath.

“And, I think it’ll have to wait for tomorrow.” Kara nodded toward where El was sound asleep on the chair wrapped up like a little burrito with her headphones and sunglasses still on.

[lighting-killer]

THOUGHTS! OK LISTEN! HEAR ME OUT! WHAT IF:

Fundy was actually a baby fox and while Wilbur was in the forest he spoted Fundy and then saw his mother disappear and a gunshot go off like in fix and the hound! However Wil took Fundy in and because he was lonley he raised the fox cub as if it was a human child. Fundy started to learn how to walk like Wil and actually was so smart that he started talking and forming his own thoughts! So when Fundy and Wilbur were watching a movie he noticed that all the kids had moms so he asked Wil were his mom was.

A few months before Wilbur had found Fundy his lover, Sally was killed in cold blood, leaving him upset and trued to take his own life by jumping off a bridge next to the dock him and Sally used to meet on. Though the fall didn't kill him he started suffering from memory issues and the last thing Wilbur saw before lossing his conscience was a salmon. This image and memory stayed in Wilbur's head and actually belibed that his lover was a salmon named Sally. Though he was aware that she had died he was still upset and wanted to play out the thought that him and Sally could have had a child thus leading him to tell Fundy that his mother's name was Sally and that she had to leave while he was very long and for unspoken reasons, couldn't come back.

Wilbur is just a man who lost a lover and his real memories of her and wanted to play out his fantasy as best as his crazyed mind could. But he did truly love Fundy.

To add to this: Fundy is at some degree, scared of Wilbur because when he was little he would offten find Wilbur having a full conversation with himself as if someone eles was in that room and the conversation always ending with him saying "I love you" along with a second later of, "Why are you leaving Sal?" But would also find his dad crying and pleading for Sally to come back, while rocking back. Fundy only asked Wilbur once and was just told that he didn't rember.

Wilbur loved Fundy but as he grew up and Wil got older he started lossing more memories and was unable to understand that Fundy was his son and that he loved him.

Ghostbur was Wilbur when Sally was still alive and still had his humor. He offten made jokes about the fish that would eat the bread the two would throw out for them and offten said, "Sally, look at that beautiful salmon! It has your hair color, though your alot prettier than a fish." And would pull out a flower and tuck it behind her ear because he loved her smile and laugh. Ghostbur offten wrote books with lyrics because Wil and Sally would duet songs together and dance on the dock, messing up and laughing while tripping on the others feet. Ghostbur also knew who Fundy was and loved him just like Wil did however his memories always became muddled and blurry when he would see or talk to Fundy. This is due to Wilbur starting to loss his memory and sanity which confused Ghostbur who did not rember Sally dieing or him trying to die.

Revivebur is just like original Wilbur but without the consistency of him lossing memories. Fundy doesn't see Revivebur as his father nor did he with Ghostbur so Revivebur can't renew the love he had for his son.

Fundy still doesn't and probably will never know what happened to Sally and why Wilbur went crazy and why he talked to himself. Fundy was hurt when he was practically pushed aside and forgotten and treated Wil as if he was dead because technically, the Wil an father he knew stopped existing when he was 17.

Thoughts? I like this actually. :]

[strangebrainrot]

How to Save a Life

(aka me about to destroy your emotions in ways you may or may not be prepared for)

TW: implied past abuse, referenced and lightly described su*c*de

Max had never expected to be in this sort of situation, but here she is. She’s putting on an outfit primarily made of black. A button-down, dark jeans, and one of Billy’s leather jackets. Though they’re probably hers now, she supposes. She really can’t believe that there’s no metal blaring from his room, no thud of knives or darts hitting his target board, not even the flick of his lighter or the sound of his hairspray. The house just feels… empty. Quiet.

It feels wrong. The funeral is just as quiet. Billy would have hated it. Max half expects Billy to wake up and jump out of the casket to chew everyone out for it. Max has to beg Susan to let her play Stairway to Heaven. When people start going up to pay their respects, Max can’t help but cry. Billy just looks so wrong like that. She’d gotten so used to seeing him irritated or smiling and no in between. But his face is calm. Relaxed. The idiots put him in a suit that probably has him screaming up in Heaven.

Though, Max isn’t really sure if there is a heaven. Especially if the person that rules it took Billy away from her and, according to Neil and her mom, sent him to hell. Max couldn’t believe that someone like Billy would go to hell. Sure he was kind of a dick, but he never did anything to deserve that. So she chooses to believe that Billy’s either still there, watching over her or in heaven partying with Jimi Hendrix.

She’s asked to give a eulogy, just like the rest of her family, but she’s the only one that says yes.

“Billy and I were siblings. Simple as that. He was a jerk and I was a brat, but he was also good. He was too good. I watched him save so many kids from the waves or run animals to the vet. He taught me to skateboard and how to clean a wound.” Max does her best to wipe the tears from her face, but it really doesn’t do much. She’s still crying when she continues.

“He did so much for me and I never got to return all those favors. I was never there for him like he was for me and it hurts my heart that he thought that meant I didn’t care at all. I cared so much about him, so I have to hope that he’s happier up in heaven. He deserved to grow up and get married and have kids, but he won’t have that now. I want to have that, though. So that when I die and meet him in heaven, I can tell him about everything. I think he’d like that.”

The pastor pats her on the shoulder in support as she steps down from the podium, all previous inhibitions about her tears are completely forgotten.

She does what she can to incorporate anything she can from Billy’s room into her own. His shirts, his jackets, the dart board, his knives, even his posters and blankets. Anything she can take, becomes part of her room and this becomes especially true when her parents decide that they can’t bear to live in California any longer.

When she hears the news, she immediately finds the journal she took from his room and starts a new entry. It’s sort of her way of talking to him. The front of it is still filled with the random things he wrote, from forgotten homework assignments to stupid little notes and doodles. Max had started writing letters to him when he died. She doesn’t want him to think she’s gonna forget about him, so she writes him as much as she can.

This letter is about how stupid it is that their parents are trying to forget about him, but that she’ll never forget him. She won’t let him be like that Metallica song that came out not too long ago. Fade to Black. He would have liked it. She adds it to the list of songs she wants to make into a mixtape to remember him by. All his favorites, songs he despised and she loves, even just songs that make her think of him or that she thinks he’d like.

They move to middle of nowhere, Indiana. Billy would’ve hated it.

Max gets enrolled in the local middle school and kind of gets stalked by some nerds. All because she beat their precious high scores. They moved here to get away from the memories of Billy, but it feels so much worse living in a place where she has no memories with him. All she can think of is how much he would have loved or hated so many different parts of the town. He would have loved the long, open roads and absolutely hated the girls that all looked the same.

So much happens that she almost doesn’t get to write to him. Some things happen that make her think that maybe Billy really is watching over her. She has to stop herself from crying or blowing up like Billy used to when some jerk from the high school asks why she wears stuff that’s clearly too big for her and isn’t girls’ clothes.

So much reminds her of him and she can’t help but cry, even though she can practically hear him telling her to buck up or “chuck it in the fuck it bucket.” It all just hurts so much. Especially when the nightmares start. They’re usually the same- all of that day when she found him. She found him in the bathroom, bleeding and broken in the bathtub. The water was already cold, just like him. She knew how Neil treated him and it made her want to scream because she knew there was nothing she could do to help. Not really. But the note on the counter told her it wasn’t Neil that did this. Not this time.

“I’m sorry, Max.

I should have been a better brother. He’ll leave you alone, though. I’ll tell Hendrix you said hi.

I love you

Billy

P.S. It’s all yours now. Don’t let them sell it.”

Sometimes the nightmare shows when she shook him by the shoulders, begging him to wake up as she screamed and cried his name.

She goes through so much in this new town and she wants nothing more than to be able to hug her brother and tell him all about it and have him tell her what to do or call her “shitbird” and say it’s gonna be ok. But he’s dead and all she can do is write to him. For years.

And one day, decades after Billy died, Max is back in California. She’s had time to heal and become herself. She still wears his clothes and listens to his music and reads his notes, but it hurts a lot less. She’s sitting in her living room with Jane- or El as their old friends still call her- and writing a new letter to him.

Dear Billy,

I hope you’re doing good. Jane and I are. It’s September 14th again.

Yknow, sometimes I still write these and half expect a response. It’s so dumb. I really can’t believe it’s been over 20 years. Jane says hi again… and sends hugs. We got a cat and named it after you. He’s just like you, I swear to god.

I heard another song that made me think of you. It just came out today. It’s called “How to Save a Life” by some band called The Fray. It really does feel like how I felt all those years ago. Especially when it goes “And I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life.”

I put it on the list. I really think you’d like it. Or hate it. I can’t tell sometimes.

Anyway, I love you Billy

Max

P.S. Happy birthday

[theshipsfirstmate]

Agents of SHIELD Fic: All My Best Kept Secrets Are the Ones I Didn’t Know I Had

post-SHIELD 7x06 and also post-Agent Carter season 2. peggysous -> daisysous.

doing my best to tie up the loose ends that get Daniel from Peggy to Daisy, because I, like many others, could not have imagined shipping him with anyone else and then the last few eps of SHIELD have taken a sledgehammer to my feelings. so, just like this ship, idk where this came from, but here it is.

Title from “Something in Common” by Dawes.

All My Best Kept Secrets Are the Ones I Didn’t Know I Had (AO3 - wc: 3218)

After Peggy went back to New York, Daniel told himself to take it easy.

And he tried, he really did. He even said it in his head, sometimes, the way Jack had: “Take it easy, Danny boy.” The wise-cracking agent had never stopped teasing him, even after they had become something resembling friends. But he was gone now too, left behind in a past that didn’t feel as distant as it should.

They’d had all of one day together, he and Peg, before everything went to hell. She had kissed him -- in his office, of all places -- and he had reveled in it for a few blissful moments before sending her away with a matching grin on her face, so he could pick her up later that evening for a proper date.

He’d planned on Musso and Frank -- had been carrying around the image in his mind for longer than he’d admit to anyone -- but after he picked her up and saw that mischievous flash in her eyes, he’d called an audible, turning the car south on Western, guessing she’d be up for something a little more adventurous. He was right, she was taken with El Coyote from the moment they walked in, wide-eyed and grinning at everything from the margarita glasses to the friendly waitress who’d winked and called him “Blanquito.”

Looking back at it now, he’s almost glad he doesn’t remember too many more of the details. He doesn’t remember what they ordered or exactly how long they’d sat and talked in that booth. He just remembers the warmth of her eyes, her hand in his across the table, the way she seemed more relaxed than he’d ever known her to be. Those were the things to hold onto.

He’d dropped her off with a gentlemanly kiss at her front door -- and a less-than-gentlemanly follow-up when she’d tried to convince him to come in for coffee. His only regret now was not taking her up on the offer. Not so much for the obvious reason, just to give them a few more easy hours before it all came crashing down.

Because when Daniel returned to his own front door that night, there was a patrolman — one of the new guys, whose name he had to read off his badge in the dim porch light — sitting on the stoop, waiting for him. 

“Thompson’s gone,” the kid said. “Never made it on the plane. Signs of a struggle in his room. And a lot of blood.”

The next week was non-stop, chaos and panic and a wild goose chase that had led them everywhere but to Jack. A sinister cloud hung over the entire office, and the spectral whispers of the one name no one wanted to speak aloud echoed in the desperate silences. He and Peggy barely had a chance to look at each other, let alone talk about anything but the latest scraps of evidence, and when it was all over, well, there was no relief there, either.

He’s never gotten used to funerals, and having a hand to hold this time didn’t make it that much easier, not with the weight of failure pressing down on them both.

Thompson had fought hard, that much was clear when they’d finally found him. But it wasn’t enough. That was Daniel’s biggest fear every time he thought about the facts they had been able to gather, every time the unspeakable name echoed in the confines of his restless brain. Cut off one head, and two more take its place -- would they ever be enough to fight it? Would it ever be easier?

__________________

“You know it truly is nothing to do with you, don’t you?” Peggy had asked him, eyes turned down to the table between them, to the cups of coffee untouched and growing cold. This time, Daniel didn’t reach out for her hand. He listened to the buzz of the planes taking off at the Lockheed Air Terminal down the road, and wished it were enough to drown out the whole day entirely.

“Peg, you don’t have to do that,” he’d muttered, feeling childish. “Spare me the pity, I-”

“Daniel,” she’d interrupted, in that tone that left no room for questions. “I’ve never pitied you, and I certainly don’t intend to start now.”

He stared back, silent. That was the problem, you see, with the goodness of a heart like hers. There was no artifice, no way to crack back in a moment like this one. As miserable as it was, he was going to have to sit here and take it.

“Please,” she’d continued, softer, still barely looking at him. “I want to say it. I need you to know.”

He’d huffed out a breath through his nose and aimlessly fiddled with the tiny pitcher of milk. “OK.”

“I want to say…” she had started, stopped and gathered herself, then started again. “I want to tell you that you deserve so much more than what I can give you.”

He’d hated hearing the cliche, even as he weighed its truth. He wasn’t sure what exactly it was that he deserved, but hadn’t he known it would be this way from the start? Hadn’t a part of him always worried that there wouldn’t be room in her heart for the kind of life he wanted to share? 

“It’s not for the reason you think,” she’d insisted, before he could come up with something to say in response. “I promised myself….When Steve died, I promised myself I would keep up the fight.”

She hardly ever said his name aloud. It didn’t ruffle Daniel as much as he expected, but it did make him speak up.

“I’m in it with you, Peg. I hope at least you know that.”

She’d nodded, and then she’d finally looked up -- and he immediately wished to God she hadn’t. Because there, behind the sheen of barely-restrained tears, was their ending.

“All we can do is our best,” she told him, not for the first time. “And I think we both know this fight is going to take the best we have.” 

He nodded and swallowed against the lump in his throat he was starting to worry might be permanent. 

“But this... It’s too much for me, Daniel. I can’t lose you too.”

A bitter part of his brain pointed out that it was ironic, to say that as she walked away. But he tamped that down, and told her the only truth he could find that felt like it wouldn’t make things worse.

“I’ll miss you, Peg.”

She had reached out then, squeezed his hand fast and tight, telling him the same before swiping beneath her eyes. And then, she was gone.

Easy.

__________________

Daniel had tried, he really had. In his brief moments of free time as they watched the Hydra trail dry up hopelessly once again, he went on a handful of absolutely mediocre dates with the sunny blonde who worked the front desk at the local library and the brunette waitress who left her number on his receipt at the diner. He even let the guys at the office set him up once with a busty redhead who was so forward he spent the next week trying to suss out whether or not they’d paid her.

But there wasn’t anything there. There wasn’t anything anywhere, it seemed. With every interested woman he met -- and there were a few, he didn’t mind saying -- it was the same as it had been with Violet. Perfectly fine, perfectly nice, perfectly room temperature. In another lifetime, maybe he could have convinced himself that’s what it was supposed to feel like. But not now. 

And then one day, he walked into his office on a top-secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base, and met a girl from the future.

There was something about her, right from the beginning. She was beautiful, there was no denying that, and he saw something familiar in the mischievous glint in her eye — he’d been able to clock her CIA lie on its face, though it was just one part of a larger, much more confusing puzzle.

At first, he thought his reaction to her was just part of the chaos -- excess adrenaline at the prospect of seeing Peggy unexpectedly and the frantic and unexplainable events that followed. But then it didn’t go away.

She kept surprising him, that was familiar too. Comforting, almost, in a bizarre, backwards kind of way. She saved his life on the train — he’s always had extra respect for a woman who could throw a good punch. And he hadn’t missed the shadow that crossed her face when he mentioned all the things that Hydra had taken from him. There was even more to uncover, he was sure of it. Even finally learning her first name, Daisy, had him furrowing his brow at the dichotomy.

But there was hardly time to dwell on it. He’d expected to drive out of that futuristic aircraft and never see her, or any of her compatriots, ever again. He’d deliver his package to Stark, go home to an empty house, and wake up tomorrow to throw himself back into the work.

The next thing he knew, he was staring at the familiar eagle on the wall, and Agent Coulson was telling him he was dead. Like it was that easy.

__________________

He tried to throw himself into the fight immediately — he’s always been aware of the liability of dead weight and there wasn’t any time to stumble around and gather his bearings if he was going to be useful in the team’s mission to stop the Chronicoms.

Still, he would catch Daisy watching him, warily, like a timer on a bomb. She teased him in the clothing store, elbowing him playfully when he stopped dead at the “modern” 1970s fashions, but when he met her eyes, there was something more insistent looking back at him. It was like she was asking him a question neither of them could put into words, sizing up whether or not he was going to run, or stay, or fit, or break, or...something.

He tried his best to not to give her more to worry about. So he wouldn’t be the one to extract Hydra from S.H.I.E.L.D. in the ‘50s -- as it turned out, there were plenty of other ways to save the world. That was the core of the mission he’d signed up for from the start, and he felt more at ease the more he realized this was a team devoted to the same cause.

But he wasn’t sure what it was, exactly, that made him step up behind her in that underground bar and call her “sweetheart” -- maybe the same misguided sense of chivalry that got him a dressing down after he made Krzeminski apologize to Peggy in the briefing room back in New York. Mercifully, Daisy had gone along with his ruse, surprising him again with a palm pressed to his chest and a conspiratorial grin in his direction. 

And he hoped it was duty again, not the memory of that smile, that made him insist on accompanying her to hack into the base. After a confrontation with the scruffy kid with the dark circles under his eyes, he was more aware than ever that this team was just barely more adjusted to their circumstances than he was. But that still didn’t quite explain his growing desire to stay at Daisy’s side. 

What he was really looking for, if he’s honest, was a bit of solid ground. What he was wondering was if the feeling in his chest would turn out to be fleeting, if the quaking he’d felt when she touched him was because of her powers — or if it was something else entirely.

Because it seemed like something he never felt with Violet or the librarian or any of the rest. It seemed like it might be something he’s only felt once before. And it’s just his luck that it comes wrapped up in even more danger.

He tagged along just the same, watching her back and trying to learn on his feet about all the things she could do in addition to making the earth shake. She could break into a computer network he can’t even begin to comprehend, she could snap a crystal clear picture of him on that thin screen she said was a telephone, she could quirk an eyebrow at him and make him forget, just for a moment, that his life had descended once again into supernatural chaos.

“You look OK for a guy who just aged 20 years.” She teased him a second time as he marveled at the photo, and his stomach flipped all the way over to melancholy. But he wasn’t totally honest about why.

His heart ached at the thought of Peggy getting the news of his “death,” but the biggest goodbye of all, Daniel had realized, was to the man he used to be. However lonely and lukewarm he thought his life had been, he hadn’t been prepared to lose it so suddenly. There was possibility there, and promise to mourn, and the uncertainty about what lay ahead now had given him a rose-colored rearview mirror to look back at all he had left behind.

But when he told Daisy that this might be his last stop, she had simply turned back to her computer, assuring him their current dilemma was just a minor setback -- “Without us, it’s way worse,” she said.

She said it like she’d already accepted him as part of the team, like another thing she knew that he didn’t was that he hadn’t lost himself to the ether of time travel. She said it like he belonged.

It made the decision seem easy enough.

__________________

When the Malick kid’s goons bring her back, when he sees her limp and bloodied, slumped on the floor beside him, he has another flash to his past -- Peggy lying prone, impaled on a mean-looking length of rebar. He had learned that night how strong she really was. Not just because she had survived, but because she had let him see her at her weakest and most terrified, had let him haul her into his arms and onto his couch and into focus for his fiancee, who he knew would be able to see right through it all. 

He had blown up his entire life just for the weak, grateful smile they shared when they realized she was going to be OK. And it had been worth it.

Daisy doesn’t seem the type to let someone stroke her hair either, but Daniel tries to stop himself from drawing any more parallels right then and there. He keeps checking her pulse point like an excuse, and hopes it’s a fair trade-off that he agrees to tell her the story of his rescue. 

He doesn’t like to think about Stevens much, about the way he’s carried the potential of that pesky man's life with him every day since he woke up on that stretcher. That’s what you do when someone dies for you. You have to live for them.

That makes him think of Peggy again -- and then, unbidden, of Steve Rogers. He remembers the stories they used to tell about what Captain America was like before the serum: skinny, frail, half a dozen 4F rejections under various pseudonyms. He thinks of that kid, plucked from the life he was supposed to live and thrust onto a pedestal that must have felt completely untenable at times -- given muscle and then immediately handed the weight of the world.

And now there’s Daisy, with these powers. The kind of strength good men would covet and evil men would kill for. And like him, she’s left behind whatever life she had in order to fight her way through space and time and try to save humanity.

Peggy was a woman who ran headfirst into a storm without giving so much as a thought to an umbrella. Daisy, he’s learning, is the storm itself.

So he talks to her, and he keeps talking. He tells her things he’s never told another living person. In fairness, he thinks, he’s technically known her almost 20 years.

He tells her about survival, certain she already knows. He tells her about warfare, a different type than she’s seen, but with a common enemy. He tells her to fight -- and when she shows him the shard of glass she’s snuck back to him in a bloody palm, he knows the way his heart thuds could be just as dangerous as the psychopath in the other room.

Daniel’s always been good at waiting for his moment, and mercifully, it comes not long after Daisy slips completely into unconsciousness. He shifts away from her on the dirty floor to avoid risking further injury, and he readies himself like he had in the trenches.

When the time comes, he fights, just like he knows Stevens must have fought to get him to safety. They catch a lucky break when the earth-rattling powers prove to be too much for Malick to handle, and he carries her back to the ship, leg aching all the way, remembering the stern nurse in the field hospital who had looked down her glasses at him every time he’d complained about the throbbing.

“It’s the beat of your heart, soldier, remember that,” she had snipped as she doled out his meds. “If nothing else, it means you’re still alive.”

The team meets him at the door to help Daisy into their med bay, and when Agent Simmons mutters something that sounds an awful lot like “Not again,” something else twists inside Daniel’s chest. Shrugging off his own first aid until she’s been attended to, he takes a seat by the door to stay present but out of the way. Maybe some small part of him hopes that when she wakes, he’ll be a familiar face.

If he’s honest, he’s never thought about living to see the end of the 20th century, never even considered it. He was a S.H.I.E.L.D. director with war injuries and more than his fair share of close calls, it would have taken nothing short of a miracle. But he doesn’t think twice when the scruffy kid -- Deke, he remembers this time -- tells them they’re about to jump again. He's not sure when he changed his mind, but it’s been changed, nonetheless. 

“I’m where I need to be,” he says, as the soft beeps of Daisy’s monitor assure him that if nothing else, she’s still alive.

Easy never felt quite right, anyway.

[vanillawinston]

Mad World| Chapter THREE

Joker x OC(Jane Parker)

Summary: Jane was in the wrong place at the wrong time and suddenly her life was falling apart. The past and future of a dangerous obsession which changed his life and destroyed hers completely.

Warning for this chapter: /

Back to the start HERE

Previous part HERE

Next part HERE

Words: 1987

My nerves were raw when we all, dressed in our new clothes, equipped with our weapons, had to enter a helicopter. Unwanted I remembered how the first time ever in such a thing I had been by his side; I remembered how happy I had been back then, how different my world was. This situation now was weird. It was strange not being in a cell, being kind of free, sitting here, surrounded by those people. A few days ago I was ready to die, to let everything end, and now I was here with all those other prisoners, and one of them was Harley, the new girl at the side of the men I once would have died for without thinking twice about it.

I sighed hardly when I fastened my seat belt and of course hat the misfortune to sit right in front of Quinn. On my right sat this weird and kind of creepy crocodile man, who had the name Croc. From a nearer view he looked less creepy, but I was still freaked out of sitting next to him, in the end he still was a fucking crocodile. On my left sat the tattooed man, El Diablo. I had heard some stuff about him and his power of creating hell like fire out of nowhere. Weird. The other strangers were Captain Boomerang and Slipknot. We were for sure the weirdest group ever, especially in the company of Rick's friend Katana who was walking around with a bloody sword in her hands like some ninja and who was looking at every one of us like she wanted to nothing more but to behead all of us.

"So, I still have some issues understanding our position in this matter," Floyd spoke up while the last technical details were checked before we would depart.

"You will do as I say, you will follow the rules and do what you can do best."

"If not then... Pshhh," Boomerang said and made a gesture with his hands like he was imitating an explosion, and I shivered of it, but to explode doesn't sound that nice, not at all, and this Rick guy had the full power over us and our lives.

"Typically," Floyd snorted. "We are doing your dirty work and getting nothing in return."

"We will see," Slipknot mumbled when the helicopter started, and for a moment I was frightened of this sudden noise and the movement. It was still strange to process this whole thing, to really accept that we would go on this mission, that I was free, away from the prison and the torture in it.

"Easy kid," Floyd laughed now more friendly and calming, which was really helpful. I calmed down, remembered that everything was ok, even though it was strange lifting up, leaving the earth, the prison behind. My calmness didn't last for long though when I saw Harley's curious gaze on me. "Aren't you a bit young to be here?" she asked me amused, like it was some joke, but she was right. I was the youngest of all of them. I was a lot younger than the rest.

"The girl is 19 and in here for two years," Floyd answered and manged it that everyone was staring at me impressed. Even this Samurai Lady looked astonished to me. Yeah, everyone was asking themselves what the hell I did to end up here, how bad my crime was to suffer so much in such a young age.

"And why?" Boomerang asked, and I saw how this Diablo guy eyed me silently from the side. He didn't say a word, stared at me intensively, and it was really distracting.

"I'm useful," I said, didn't want to think about it again, about everything I've went through. The last few months I never had to go through all of this crap, but these last days I had to relive everything over and over again, talk about it, remember some horrible stuff, and I really had enough. I didn't want to say more, especially since no one knew my connection to the Joker and no one should, especially not Harley.

It is common knowledge that the Joker once had another toy than Quinn, but everyone, including himself, thinks she is dead. No one knew my real name back then, except for the Joker. I had a different name, one the Joker liked more, since only he was allowed to know the real me, the real Jane. I had managed it to stand all this time at his side without anyone ever recognizing me, only if they would have been close to me. Just the government had found out the truth.

"We really are weird," Boomerang laughed loudly, and I used the distraction of the others to look to Diablo, who was still staring at me.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him, and he seemed like he was trying desperately to find an answer when suddenly there was a loud bang and the whole helicopter started to spin around. It felt like I was pressed sharply against my belt, everything was spinning, my body was shaking from one side to another, and the fear of dying surrounded me. It felt like we would all gonna die, and even though I've welcomed death a lot of times in my life, I was scared, I didn't want to go now, not like this.

Some of the belts of the others stopped working by all this shaking, I saw how someone was falling without a hold in the vehicle, and this destiny almost was mine as well when I heard my belt click. I saw with wide eyes to the wall in front of me, knew that I would fall against it, that I would probably die, break all my bones, when suddenly Diablo put his arm in front of me, hold me back like some sort of extra belt and he kept me safe this way. It must be so hard and so painful holding his arm in front of me like this, holding me back, but he didn't stop, not until we finally reached the ground and the whole horrible trip found an end.

Breathing hardly, I looked to him when I took his arm away from me and he was just like me out of breath and exhausted. I stroked my hair back, tried to calm myself, but it was hard, after all we almost died here.

"A hell of a landing," Boomerang laughed, stood up from the ground and seemed ok, considering he was the one who was falling around during the crash, the one whose seat belt has stopped working just like my mine did, with the only difference that he didn't had a Diablo who saved him.

"Oh, this was funny," Harley giggled, and I thought I had to throw up, for one because of her but also because all this spinning made me dizzy.

"Everyone ok?" Rick asked, and I stood up, followed the others out of the wreckage, tried not to fall, so giddy was everything.

My eyes widened in shock when I saw the city around us, saw all those demolished buildings. It was nice seeing something different than the prison, but what the hell had happened here? It looked like a T-Rex or something had a fight with Godzilla here. Has Gotham changed this much during the last years or was this just part of the mission?

"Everyone is fine," Floyd mumbled and stand next to me, looked just as shocked to the city.

"I'm really here, seeing all of this again," I breathed quietly, and Floyd smiled. "Enjoy it. This won't be a journey to an amusement park like Harley is assuming," he said amused, and I sighed hardly.

"No, it won't." I looked back to the others, who were trying to get all their stuff out of the wreck and where I saw how Diablo was already looking at me. The guy was weird, but he has saved my life. Who knew what would have happened without him? I wasn't as stable as Boomerang to survive something like this. I was small, thin, really thin, it wasn't healthy anymore. There was no chance I would have survived. This was why I took all my courage to walk right to him, saw how he eyed me curiously while doing so.

"Thank you," I said struggling, and it was weird saying this. Gratitude. How long haven't I felt something like this?

"It's ok," he said shortly, turned around, and I rolled my eyes. He wasn't a big talker, was he?

"It is not. It wasn't easy holding me there, even if I'm not much of a weight, so thank you!" He looked me in my eyes before he stroked his in tattoos covered head.

"It really is ok, but try to watch out for yourself, lightweight," he said smirking, and I immediately smiled back when Rick shouted us all together, so I walked to him, asked myself what would happen next?

"So we have to keep walking, and I warn you, don't try anything or I will blow you up." "We got it," Slipknot answered him, was clearly annoyed, didn't seem too impressed of this whole blowing up thing. Either he wasn't believing Rick, or he simply didn't care, but it was his problem not mine. My biggest problem right now was trying to stay alive but also not to kill Harley who was a pain in the ass with her annoying behaviour.

"Don't be so tensed," Floyd said when we started to move, right into the destroyed neighborhood.

"I'm not tensed," I defended myself, and he smiled. "I see your tension and I really don't know what the reason behind of it is, but I'm sure it is not only because of this mission." "Then have fun trying to find out," I said amused, wouldn't tell him anything, he would probably judge me for my past, think I'm some lunatic, and if Harley finds out the truth... god, she would kill me! She would definitely kill me, she was too obsessed with the Joker, I was a threat, she would never let me live.

"I will find out, I promise," he said smiling when I suddenly heard Rick curse and fast saw the reason why. Slipknot tried to flee; so he really didn't believe Rick. Skillfully he climbed up one of the buildings, and I really thought he would escape, he would manage it, so fast and easy he moved up the building, when there was a loud bang, and he was dead. From one second to anther he was dead, just like that.

"Holy crap," Boomerang mumbled shocked, and I put my hand on my fast beating heart, but this was horrible. We really were damned, we really could die just like this if Rick wants us to, but it was also terrible to see someone die again, to see, after such a long time, someone die again in front of me. I've completely forgotten how fast this could happen, how fast someone, who was just breathing, could be gone forever, and I really don't want to think about it. This view opened so many old scars, old horrible memories came up, and I hated it.

"I hope this was a lesson to all of you," Rick said, looking with a weird look to the dead Slipknot, before he turned around and started walking again.

"Oh, how much I hate this son of a bitch," Floyd said disgusted, and I knew this whole thing would end in a tragedy, and I was right in the middle of it.

Aloha :) I hope you liked it. In the next part there will be finally something about the Joker. Sorry for any grammar or editing mistakes, tell me if you like to be tagged and the Gif is not mine xx

Tag: @xxqueenwxtchxx

[storiesbyjes2g]

Genetics & Story Summary

Genetics

Even though we all know Melany looks nothing like Kameron, she doesn’t look exactly like Brytani either. Like, most of the time, I don’t feel like I’m looking at a younger Brytani. But they look so much alike I can’t tell what the differences are. Last night I decided to find out how they are different. I found Brytani in another save and aged her down. I aged Kameron down and took off his beard and skin details so we can really see him. I also took away Mel’s details even though they don’t change her much. I made a picture with them all side-by-side to compare.

How about I never really realized Melany had a dimpled chin! And, how cool is it to learn Kameron gave it to her! (I feel like she should write a song about him called Dimpled Chin lol) I’m guessing her cheeks come from him because Noemi also has high, cute chubby cheeks as well. Mel’s face seems to be a little longer than Brytani’s, also compliments of Kameron, but I knew that one already. There is something about their eyes though. I can’t really tell what it is, but they are not the same. Are Brytani’s wider or something?

As far as skin tone goes, Mel is right in the middle, a shade darker than Brytani and a shade lighter than Kameron. I still think it’s funny how EA measures what is light and dark, but we won’t get into that in this post...or maybe ever lol.

Story Summary

This may get long, so I’ll put it under the cut.

Recently I welcomed my new followers and told you about my story. I appreciate everyone who has hopped on for the ride! 😘 So many of you have joined in on this silly little legacy drama, and I don’t want anyone to be lost. I’m going to catch you up so you know who everyone is and what’s going on because I don’t expect you to go back to the beginning, although it doesn’t take very long. I did that a few months ago. It was fun!

Ok! So you’ve met Melany and her parents. Kameron started this whole thing as my guy to save Strangerville. Afterward, I figured I would continue playing with him and give him a much deserved good life. He had the world famous celebrity aspiration, so he started hanging out in DSV and rubbing shoulders with celebrities. That’s how he met Brytani Cho and thus creating our dear, sweet Melany. But, Brytani is not about that relationship life, and things fizzled after he attempted to propose to her.

It didn’t take long for her to leave. Bye Felicia.

Kameron and Melany left Strangerville for a new life in Oasis Springs. He joined the intelligence branch of the military and moved up the ranks. It was tough being a single dad, but he made it work.

Brytani was hyper-focused on her career and made very little time for Melany, and Kameron held that against her. Needless to say, their relationship was never the same, and co-parenting was no walk in the park. Melany, however, attempted to make the best of her mother’s visits, though she wished she visited more often.

Eventually Kameron moved on completely and began dating. He had a few flings and a few dates, but when he met Nadia, he was like a moth to flame.

They messed around a lot, and it didn’t take long for him to ask her to be his girlfriend. They dated for a while before he asked her to move in. He needed to see how things would work with her and Melany. It delighted Kameron to see how well they took to each other. I mean, Melany was an exceptional kid. Who wouldn’t love her? Nadia did and took her role in Kameron and Melany’s lives very seriously once she understood the family dynamics.

Nadia’s pregnancy and the engagement happened around the same time. They had a son named Nathaniel Courtney Pierson, whom they call Nate. Life was very busy with a new baby, new house, and new city (Willow Creek). Once life settled down a little, they were married in Sulani.

It should be noted that Melany began playing the violin at a young age. Kameron took her to El Selvadorada once, and it rained almost the whole time. She was going through a loud phase and picked up the violin; she loved it. She completed all 5 child aspirations which gave her a boost at learning adult skills. By the time she was a teenager, she had maxed the violin skill and had written her first song! She also started a SimTube channel. Between her two celebrity parents and the videos, she was a 4 star celebrity by her teen birthday.

Teen life for Melany was pretty average—aside from the celebrity madness. She had a group of friends she loved. She was on top of her studies and made A’s. She didn’t give her parents any trouble.The only complaint she has was with her mother. Brytani retired and came around more often, but still not often enough. By this time, Melany’s little sister, Noemi Amiah Pierson, was born, and she saw what she missed by not having two parents in the same house. Nadia was an excellent step-mother. Melany didn’t want for anything, and she loved and appreciated her. But she had a mother. Why couldn’t Brytani be like Nadia? Was something wrong with her? Did Brytani love her at all? She was secretly jealous of her young siblings, and those feelings ate away at her. She became withdrawn, cried a lot and made angry videos, but it didn’t help. Brytani was still a deadbeat mom. Melany expressed her frustrations once, but Brytani couldn’t make her feel better. She wasn’t the motherly type and thought Melany would be fine with Nadia not realizing the girl just needed her mom.

Things got slightly better in their relationship, but this would always be a thing between them. Even now, long after Brytani’s death, Melany still feels conflicted about their relationship.

The Piersons moved to Sulani. Melany aged up and went to Britechester University to study Fine Arts. She stayed in the dorms her first semester and had two roommates. That’s how she met her current best friend, Dr. Anissa Thurston. She studied biology and felt a connection with Melany immediately. Being a popular celebrity, Anissa knew everyone would be all over her and act weird. She just saw a fellow freshman nervous about being in a new place and hoping everything would be ok and made it her business to befriend Melany. Little did she know their shared Bailey Kay fandom would create a near indestructible bond.

Like any overprotective father, Kameron struggled with Melany going to college. He wanted her to stay at home for the first semester. And, as one could imagine, he was not ready for boys. Luckily, he made a friend in an elderly gentleman named Myron Churchill. He never had an older friend who could advise him from experience—a father figure. Mr. Churchill’s friendship became precious to him and helped a great deal.

Melany met Nick Wilkinson at a party. She felt uncomfortable about the outfit her friend made her wear on top of everyone looking at and whispering about her being a celebrity and all. Nick approached her and started a conversation. He made her feel better and was terribly cute. All they did was talk, but he definitely left an impression on her.

Brytani died, and Melany withdrew from school for the rest of the year. Nick called to see how she was and to express his condolences, and that’s how their friendship began. He was a huge movie buff and studying drama at Foxbury Institute to become an actor. He also was a huge nerd and avid gamer. Melany is also a gamer as Kameron was a gamer geek and raised her on video games and sci-fi. They were “friends” for a long time before he asked her out. After dancing around each other for so long, it didn’t take long for them to begin an official relationship.

They graduated, and Melany goes back home to Sulani to figure out the rest of her life. At this point she had written and licensed 7 songs and had a few small performances. She loved performing but wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a full blown artist like her idol, Bailey Kay. Also, up until this point she had only been a musician. Few know this, but Melany is also a singer. She keeps it private, but the girl is talented. Despite this talent, she never considered being a singer or writing lyrics to her songs. But sometimes she hears words in her head. They repeat themselves and won’t go away, so she began writing them down. After having this experience a few times, she felt her music life changing and needed professional advice and reached out to Bailey Kay (after much coaxing from friends and family) who gave her some wise words.

Eventually, Melany decided to live in Brytani’s mansion in Willow Creek which she inherited. The thought of living there used to give her pause, but she wanted to be closer to Nick and her friends because traveling from Sulani to San Myshuno and Del Sol Valley was getting to be too much. Besides, she was a grown woman now and needed to get on with her life. Also, she felt like she caused the problems Kameron and Nadia had briefly in their marriage. She invited Anissa to live there as her roommate because she didn’t want to live alone and wasn’t ready to have Nick move in yet. But, soon after, he approached her about the idea and she agreed it was an excellent idea.

That’s pretty much where we are now. Melany and Nick are living their best lives together. Nick is a dynamic actor and getting more popular by the day. Anissa finally got a job as a doctor and is looking forward to dating since getting over the breakup...that Melany caused. Yikes. We’ll hear from her about that soon, so I won’t steal her thunder, but I will say it almost ruined their friendship!

I hope this was helpful for the newcomers and nostalgic for the OGs. If you have questions along the way, just ask! 

[crackedoutgiraffe]

The Stars in Your Eyes

Part 2 of To the Moon and Back

Part 1: Chapter 1

5/1/2013

3 months and 15 days after Maeve was killed. Reid still had dreams about her. He wouldn’t talk about them with you, but he would wake in terror and be calling for her. 

With the case in South Dakota, Reid finally opened up to Rossi that he wasn’t sleeping well. Rossi told him to give in to his dreams and play out his ‘fantasies’. 

That night Reid told you about his dreams and you told him it was ok that he still thought of her. He felt bad that he couldn’t get over her and that he was engaged to you. There wasn’t much you could do to help him, but you did what you could. 

He told you that he had a recurring dream where Maeve would ask him to dance and he would always say no, that night he danced with her. The dreams stopped after that and you two resumed your normal life.

5/25/2013

The Replicator, as he had been named, was terrorizing the entire team. When the team finally got to wind of his deeds, he was already plotting his plans to murder Strauss and Blake. After the case in New York, the team decided to stay the night and get some rest before the flight back home. 

Strauss was missing and it was the team’s job to find her. Hotch stayed with her while she died and Rossi stayed with her at the medical examiner. There were few clues but the team eventually got to the conclusion that the replicator’s real name was John Curtis, an FBI agent. 

After the helicopter crash, almost being blown up, and having numerous surveillance photos taken of you, some of which were more risque (Morgan never let you live that down), Reid saw just how close someone could come to hurting you. 

He begged for you to take a break and let him protect you but you refused and continued on with your work. He would barely leave your side during cases and made you promise before every case that you both would make it out alive. 

1/24/2014

With the arrival of the new section chief, everyone’s behavior shifted, JJ’s more than most. Will came in on the 23rd saying that JJ hadn’t come home and that she was missing. The team quickly did what they did best and started to look for her. You, Reid, and Garcia broke in the Secure Compartmentalized Information Facility to dig up whatever information you could on JJ’s state department mission.

Everyone brought their heads together and figured out that the best way to get JJ and Cruz, who was also found to be missing, back was to call Emily. She gave valuable information about JJ’s deployment that led the team to find out who the mole was. 

When the team got to the server facility they were holding JJ in, you, Emily, and Hotch ran to find the entrance to the basement. The three of you moved down the stairs and to a single room. A man was standing next to a blonde and holding a knife to her throat. Hotch fired two shots into his back. He was dead on the spot. 

JJ was beaten up. Her hair looked wet and her shirt was partially unbuttoned. Cruz was laying on the ground in a pool of blood. You were quick to run over to JJ, but she pushed you away and begged you to help Cruz.

Emily helped her down and then came to help you and Hotch. By the time you helped him up, JJ was gone. Cruz helped direct Emily to the roof, and she was quick to follow. 

You and Hotch helped to carry Cruz back up. When you returned to the surface, the team was still engaged in a firefight with the goons. Hotch carried Cruz and you covered him. Reid, Blake, and Morgan knocked out the last gunman and joined you in the main lobby.

JJ and Emily joined you all moments after a body had fallen from the sky. JJ gave her greetings to her teammates and Reid was overjoyed to see her ok.

The next night JJ was discharged from the hospital and Rossi invited everyone out for drinks. During the outing, Reid never let you out of his sight. That night he asked you, “Promise me, promise me that whatever happens to us, we pull through. No matter what happens neither of us can die.” He held out his pinkie and you gave him the only acceptable answer, “I promise.”

3/14/2014

Reid had almost been killed by a man with rabies the day prior, but now it was time for you and Morgan to have your fun. 

Morgan told you he got Garcia’s and Reid’s physical tests waived, but he had a prank he wanted to pull. Three days ago he forged an email saying they had to take the physical endurance tests. They had been spotted at the track on the 12th getting ready to take their test before they were called away for a case.

Morgan and you strolled up to the track in disguises and surprised them. They were not happy, to say the least. 

Morgan and you were yelling words of encouragement their way and helping them train. When they were all tuckered out, Morgan told them the truth, that Morgan had their tests waived. They weren’t happy with your deceit. They tried to run after you two, but they were too tired and you were too fast. 

When you drove Reid home that night, he gave you the silent treatment. You tried to joke with him about it, but he was not having it. He eventually broke and started laughing when you had to help him up to the apartment because his muscles were so sore. 

3/8/2014

The team was called to a case in Texas to investigate prostitutes killed with carvings in back. The team looked at all the evidence and the new body that showed up and put an APB out for Justin Mills.

Within hours Mills’s car was spotted outside of El Lobito’s diner. The team rushed over there with numerous cops. Mills was inside freaking out and the cops were outside preparing to take him down when a shot was fired.

The bullet hit the sheriff and the shootout began. Blake tried to go and help the sheriff who was bleeding on the ground. You heard Morgan scream Reid’s name and terror flooded your body. You ducked down behind the car door you were firing from and turned around to see Reid bleeding on the ground and Morgan trying to drag him behind the car. No matter how much you loved him you still had a job to do. 

The police officers rushed the building and JJ and Morgan followed him. You went around to the back of the police car to find Blake talking to Reid and calling for help with her hand over his neck. The blood was flowing faster than she could stop it. Morgan and JJ caught up to Mills and shot him. 

The ambulances arrived right as Morgan and JJ returned from the abandoned building MIlls retreated too. The paramedics got Reid on a gurney, Morgan hopped in the back with him to get stitches. The deputy came over to give you and Blake information on how to get to the hospital.

When you arrived Reid was wheeled into surgery, and Morgan was treated for his wounds. Blake paced through the waiting room and you stayed in a seat tapping your foot. Eventually, the silence got to you. You stood up and walked out of the hospital and to a nearby bench. Rossi found you sitting by yourself and came to sit with you.

*

“Did you know that he wants to have kids, can you imagine that?” you put your head on his shoulder. “Spence as a dad.”

“That child would be so lucky,” he moved his head to look at the stars, “they would have the best parents in the world.”

*

You and Rossi sat in silence for another hour before JJ came to tell you that her, Morgan, Hotch, and Prentiss were heading back to the station. Rossi got up to join them. You told JJ you would call her when Reid woke up. 

You made your way back inside to find Blake and Garcia with a surgeon. 

*

“What’s going on?” you rushed into the waiting room.

Garcia gave you a quick hug, “Doc, this is Y/N, Reid’s fiance.”

“Agent,” he extended his hand and you shook it, “Dr. Reid is going to be fine, he’s actually very lucky. Couple centimeters to the left and it would have hit his carotid.”

*

You sighed with relief and went to the room number the doctor provided. Reid was laying in the bed with bandages on his neck. He looked so peaceful. Garcia started to lay out some of his favorite Doctor Who figurines. 

Eventually, he woke up and you gave him a big kiss. Blake had gone back to the team but you stayed for a little longer. He eventually told you to go back and join the team. You reluctantly obliged and headed for the station. Your breathing was erratic when you walked in. Hotch noticed this and forced you to stay at the station to look through old files for anything they missed. 

It wasn’t until later that you were told about the corrupt deputies. It wasn’t after they tried to kill Reid a second time that Hotch told you about the danger you were in at the station. 

Before sunrise, the town was wiped of their corrupt deputies and everyone could rest easy. The team stayed in Texas for an extra day to give Reid more time to rest.

On the flight home that night, Reid was asleep on the couch with his head in your lap and you petting his hair. 

1/27/2015

6 months until your wedding. You got a call from Hotch in the middle of the night that you needed to go to a cabin in the woods. Hotch told you to not tell Reid.

When you got to the cabin the team was standing around a body on the floor with three bullet wounds. It was Jason Gideon. 

Hotch called Reid an hour later with the news. He drove his beat up VW bug to the cabin. When he walked in he looked bad. His hair was disheveled and he had been crying. 

During the entire case the team tried their best to comfort Reid. He had been through so much during his life. 

Just like with Maeve he stopped being able to sleep. He would wake up at obscene hours of the night and leave your bedroom. You would follow him out to see him playing chess by himself. 

*

“What’re you doing?” you asked, groggily.

“I’m trying to finish his last game,” his eyes never left the board.

“Gideon’s?” you sat down on the floor across from him. He responded solely with a nod.

*

The two of you played through his game, and eventually Reid fell asleep on the couch. You covered him with a blanket and returned to your bed. 

Your entire wedding was planned. All you had to do was keep Reid alive for six months.

[365days365movies]

February 8, 2021: The English Patient (Part 2)

Before I get started up again, just another note here about the movies of this month: infidelity.

Can we, like...stop? Why do so many of these movies revolve around at least one party cheating on their partner? It’s a trend I genuinely hate, and I feel like somebody has taken some wrong messages from films like this. Namely, that it’s OK to cheat on your partner if TRUE LOVE is involved! Probably broken up a hell of a lot of relationships, honestly.

OK, rant over. On with the show!

The affair continues in earnest, as the war escalates. On the eve of Geoffrey and Katherine’s wedding anniversary, he’s planning on surprising her. It’s revealed that he works with David Caravaggio, AKA Moose, a spy for British Intelligence. However, this doesn’t end well for David, as he’s soon captured by German forces.

See, they’ve received intel about his spy work from an unknown source, whom David fully believes is Almásy. And as he’s tortured for names...the German interrogator cuts off his thumbs. And it’s...fuck me, man, it’s rough as HELL. I’m gonna post the video, but be warned: it’s a tense and intense moment

In the present, Caravaggio reveals that he’s killed both the man who cut off his thumbs, and the man who took pictures that incriminated him. But there’s one more man: the one who showed the Germans how to get into Cairo in the first place. He believes that that traitor is Almásy, a cartographer.

Back in the past, Almásy and Madox talk about the war, and it’s revealed that their expedition may soon be forced to come to an end as a result. Katherine also feels the same about their affair, and the two decide to end it for the sake of Katherine’s marriage. Not that Almásy is happy about that, mind you.

After making a fool of himself at a dinner with the entire expedition, he also basically assaults Katherine, and I DO NOT LIKE IT, DEAR LORD. Yeah, he’s hurt and he misses her, but he acts like what he would call a cad, and what I would call a dick. Jeez.

In the modern day (so to speak), Hana and Kip are starting their own flirting and romance at the monastery. And based on how things tend to go for Hana and everybody she loves...yeah, damn, I’m not optimistic for Kip’s chances. Still, I’m happy for them at the moment, no matter how this ends. Seriously, they’re cute, and I like it.

But, uh, the next morning, there’s a bomb that Kip needs to defuse. After spending the night together, Hana asks him not to go, as she’s understandably afraid that he won’t come back. I am, too, as they’ve found a BIG-ASS bomb nearby. And in the process of disarming it, the bomb becomes armed.

 At the same time, a bunch of American tanks start parading through the town, vibrating everything, including the bomb. After dropping his tools, and not knowing if the bomb can be disarmed...he successfully disarms the bomb. And in the process, it’s revealed that Germany has officially surrendered, hence the celebration.

But the celebration is cut short when Kip’s friend Hardy is killed by a booby-trapped statue (yeah, really), and he descends into a deep melancholia. As Hana is waiting, she overhears Caravaggio’s conversation with Almásy, where  Almásy finally confirms that he wasn’t a spy. So...who was? Well, I have a hunch.

Madox apparently killed himself after finding out that Almásy was a spy, which he claims not to have been. But the Cliftons also apparently were killed, and Caravaggio blames Almásy for that. However, we soon see exactly what happened.

Remember that surprise Geoffrey had planned? Well, surprise, it’s an attempted murder-suicide!

I think the spy was Geoffrey. Makes sense, honestly. He knew about the affair, and planned to kill himself, Katherine, and Almásy in one shot. As for why I think he’s the spy, well, the spy needed to know their way through the desert, and needed to be a cartographer. Geoffrey fits that just as well as Almásy does, and he’s been away doing God knows what throughout the film.

Anyway, Geoffrey dies in the crash, and both Katherine and Almásy survive. Katherine’s pretty badly hurt, but Almásy gets her out, and to safety. On the walk to safety, she reveals that she’s always loved him, and never stopped doing so. Which is good that she told him. Because Almásy leaves her at the Cave of Swimmers to get some help from the nearest town...and I’m pretty sure she won’t be alive when he gets back.

Almásy makes it to the town of El-Tag, after walking for three days. But upon revealing his non-English last name, he’s immediately under suspicion as a German spy or some such, and they refuse to help him get back to her. They instead knock him out and arrest him. They literally put this dude on a TRAIN, and he ESCAPES AND JUMPS OFF OF IT to save her. Goddamn.

Eventually, he gets back with the help of the Germans, but does so by...giving them the maps through the desert.

Oh. Fuck. So Caravaggio’s fate actually WAS his fault. Even then, though, he decides that he can’t kill Almásy for something that was entirely not his fault. Meanwhile, Kip’s leaving, having been redeployed to a new location. He speaks on his feelings for his fallen friend, as well as his feelings for Hana. The two lovebirds agree to meet again, and I’m rooting for them.

And speaking of feelings...Almásy does make his way back to Katherine, using Madox’s plane to get to the Cave. But unfortunately...he’s far too late. Katherine’s passed away since he’s been gone. Goddamn.

And as Almásy remembers, he also confesses to Hana that he wishes to die. He asks her to overdose him with morphine. Oh, and by the way, sorry if I haven’t been super funny for a bit, but...fuckin’ WHOOF, this film is heavy as shit. It’s not getting better on that front, because Hana agrees to do it. As he remembers Katherine’s death one last time...Hana reads him to sleep with Katherine’s final letter. She and Caravaggio leave the monastery, with Almásy‘s book in Hana’s arms now.

Hana’s face

And, uh...that’s the English Patient. Jesus. Just...wow. See you in the Review, I gotta take a break.