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nightqueendany · 6 years ago

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Alright, What About These New Promos/Photos/Putting It All Together?

*Friki leaks mentioned. Read at your own risk*

I’ll be doing this in order of the Episodes (Ep 1 as per the Friki leaks and subsequent Episodes based on my own speculation).

(This is super long and keeps getting longer the more promo photos they give us but I regret nothing!)

~Adding corrections to Ep1 as per the leaks from REDDIT in regards to the premier. I’ll keep my original thoughts and then also add the corrections underneath.

Episode 1

The episode clearly begins with Jon and Dany arriving at Winterfell - this is the “spine” of the Episode, as D&D would call it. It’s the “main event.”

Obligatory shots of Sansa and Arya seeing the dragons for the first time, a child climbing something to see the soldiers marching through Wintertown as callback to Bran in Season 1. Jon and Dany arriving side-by-side, “together” as they said they would. And of course, Varys all bundled up in a wagon.

Jon greets Sansa, probably hoping a hug will defuse some of the tension that is bound to be in the air with him seeing her for the first time since he bent the knee to Dany.

Dany waiting with Jorah a respectful distance away while Jon reunites with his siblings.

Either before or after the Sansa hug, Jon’s got to greet Bran because Bran is seated right next to Sansa (Premier ~ Bran is apparently “cold” to Jon, stone faced, whatever, but why would we be surprised by this?):

So Sansa greets Jon and Dany, tells Dany Winterfell is hers (a custom when greeting and welcoming a royal as Ned did with Robert, not Sansa giving up the castle to Dany or some other bullshit FFS).

(Look at Missandei in the background! Look at her little cloak thingy!) Anyway...

While all this is happening, Davos and Jorah stand back and watch things unfold:

I’m not sure why but I like the team-up of Davos and Jorah. After seeing this photo I’m hoping we get some Davos-Jorah interactions like we got Jorah and Thoros last season. But then again, much of Jorah’s stuff seems to be alongside Dany this season so there may not be time for it.

Then somewhere in this initial greeting and Dany’s arrival in Winterfell, Bran adds fuel to the tension fire:

He gives Jon and Dany the news about the Wall, the Night King, and Viserion. Dany is clearly very affected by this news because Viserion’s death was bad enough, this is so much worse. She has said several times throughout the series, “A dragon is not a slave” and now her son is an undead/unwilling/unwitting accomplice to the Night King’s plans. It’ll be a truly heartbreaking moment for Dany on a number of levels but she won’t have much time at all to process this because:

(premier~was right about Dany having 0 time to process because of the Northern Lord meeting, kudos to me)

After Bran tells them all the news, they call a meeting in the great hall with Jon, Dany, Sansa, Tyrion, and all the rest of the Northern Lords/Ladies. We know this will be a tense meeting. Tyrion says “We have to fight together now, or die” - likely this is after he has told the Northerners about Cersei promising her troops to come fight.

Apparently, by the way the leaks sound, the Northerners are much more displeased with the fact that Lannister troops are coming North than they were about Jon bending the knee and Dany being their Queen. At least, that’s how all versions of the leaks read to me.

But this makes sense though, as we’ve argued before. Dany has done nothing to these people and she’s there to help. They can see her, physically, in Winterfell, putting her money where her mouth is. Cersei on the other hand, played a direct role in harming members of the Stark family and she’s not present and neither are her troops - yet (even though we know they’re not coming at all). So it’ll be easier for the Northerner’s anger to shift to this queen they already didn’t like and who isn’t there rather than continue to direct their hate toward Dany. Again, Dany’s there, and for Northerners, actions speak louder than words.

(premier~not sure this is exactly how it will go down. I’m pretty pissed about Dany not being able to speak. I don’t think Sansa says anything during the meeting either. Just typical sexist man writing letting the men speak and the women remain silent UGH. Apparently Lyanna Mormont seems “betrayed” by Jon and the anger seems more directed at him than at Dany. This also kind of adds cred to what I’ve said above. Dany isn’t really the problem here. It’s everything surrounding the situation. By Ep2, the Northerners should be glad she’s there, they’re just salty at their former King right now and also salty about the Lannister alliance.

I have to say though, Dany sitting through this shit and listening to these salty as fuck northerners bitch and moan and her having the restraint not to go full on Dragon Queen is impressive. She’s calm. She’s not lashing out. Not telling the Northerners to deal with it and be greatful for her help. She is merely listening to them voice their complaints, as a Queen SHOULD. So TAKE THAT salty anti bitches!)

After the Northern Lord meeting, Tyrion and Sansa chat and Sansa’s concern is: Cersei. As I knew it would be. Again, she’s not really concerned about Dany. If she were, she would just flat out ask Tyrion - hey, do you think my idiot brother bent the knee because he’s getting laid, etc. But she doesn’t. She asks about what she’s been concerned about from the very beginning: Cersei. This I think will foreshadow Sansa’s arc for the season - finding out about Tyrion’s eventual betrayal and then presiding over his trial and execution at the end. All of Sophie’s talk about threats to her family, taking things away that she loves, fighting for what she loves...it all goes back to Cersei. Sophie and Maisie’s words about wanting to finish Arya’s list, Sansa wanting to help Arya finish her list, it all adds weight to this theory.

(Premier~thinking this might have some romantic undertones with Sansa’s line “I thought you were the smartest man I knew” or something like that. Really sounds like Cersei’s line to Jaime, “I always knew you were the stupidest Lannister” - both Lannister boys being condemned because they are underestimating Cersei. I don’t like it. It takes away from Sansa’s anger. It makes her anger more about Tyrion than it does about Cersei which is again, typical man writing. Make it about the man, not about the actual important thing. It’s as if Sansa is more “disappointed” in Tyrion than she is angry no one is taking Cersei as seriously as she knows they should).

Next up, according to the leaks, Jon and Arya reunite:

Now, first off, Jon is obviously brooding because of the meeting with the Northern Lords. Obviously. It literally is supposed to be Jon’s last scene right before this one so I don’t believe he’s brooding for any other reason. Anyway...

According to leaks, Jon and Arya will compare swords, “stick them with the pointy end”, etc. etc. Arya will be the one to point out to Jon that Sansa doesn’t like Dany and Jon will ask for Arya’s help in getting the two to be civil toward each other.

Now, Maisie’s “thinking with his penis” comments seem to contradict this but she also says that Arya will be on Sansa’s side. So I imagine that IF it comes up, it will not be in this episode. Yes, Sansa later confronts Jon about why he bent the knee, but if there is any talk about “thinking with his penis” it will be well after.

(Premier ~ apparently Jon isn’t brooding at all, he’s just paying respects to the gods...? I suppose that makes sense since he hasn’t had access to a weirwood in months. But I never considered Jon a very devout man especially after his resurrection so this seems odd. Maybe it’s just the leaker’s interpretation).

Further South, Euron will have ferried the Golden Company to King’s Landing to meet with Cersei:

And while she’s watching her fancy new army role up, Qyburn will be giving Cersei the news of the Wall falling, making Cersei even more happy.

Cersei will receive Harry Strickland, LC of the Golden Company, and Euron. In this conversation, since it hasn’t been brought up really in the show, I’m guessing Harry Strickland will remind Cersei about the Golden Company never having gone back on a contract. We kind of need him to say this and remind both Cersei and the audience because to me, it’s inevitable that the GC will switch sides before the end of the War, maybe after the NK comes to KL or something.

As per the leaks, Euron, after this meeting, blackmails Cersei to sleep with him. I’m hoping it’s not as rape-y as that though. I had read a “leak” (more a headcanon theorist as there was no evidence) a while back that said Euron would ask to sleep with Cersei and she would allow him to jerk off in front of her. And that to me just sounds way more them. It still has Cersei in a position of power, Euron is still a creep. But it’s much more consensual and even a little comical. So I’m really hoping we get something similar to that instead of Cersei full on having to have sex with Euron because he’s got leverage over her. But we shall see.

(Premier ~ so there is no actual sex scene but we get Euron putting on his pants after they do the deed or something like that. The way it’s framed, it’s sort of consensual - as consensual as blackmail sex can be. But I don’t think it was as if Euron held Cersei down and forced himself on her. She had a choice - give up her throne or fuck him so she fucked him. Idk, I still don’t really like it, it’s rubbing me the wrong way but it is what it is).

While Cersei and Euron are otherwise occupied though, we know from the leaks that Theon will rescue Yara in this episode:

This is not Euron’s fleet because that ship in the middle is not his Silence. It’s Theon and what’s left of his Iron Born fleet.

Now, SUPER interesting - as per the leaks, once Theon rescues Yara, he supposedly asks to go to Winterfell to help them fight against the dead.

And in the new PROMO, we have someone say “This goes beyond loyalty,” and I can’t, for the life of me you guys, decide whether it’s Jaime or Theon’s voice. It seems to have a slight Northern twang to it, which Alfie does for Theon...but NCW also has a strange accent because he’s Danish so...make of it what you will. The voice that says “This is about survival” seems to be a different voice than the first.

I do however, still firmly believe that we will see Theon and Yara in Winterfell in Ep3 or 4 at the latest. But I’ll get more into that in a minute.

(Premier ~ so this goes down pretty much as simply as worded here. Theon grabs Yara pretty easily - UGH again with the sexist shit. If it was so easy for Theon to rescue her, especially given his fragile state of mind, why couldn’t Yara have escaped herself and Theon show up to like, half the boat murdered and Yara just waiting for him like “What took you so long bro?” Would have been way more satisfying. But yes, Theon tells Yara he’s going North to help - remember he saw the wight in the Dragonpit too - unclear if Yara goes with him)

After Theon and Yara, we’re back at Winterfell with Jon, Dany, and the dragons. I think the way this scene will go is by Dany approaching Jon and adorably telling him she has a “wild idea” or something like that. Jon being Jon will be hesitant at first “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this” but will agree to do it nonetheless.

(Premier ~ I think the above pic with Jon smiling and Dany in awe will be after they’ve landed by the waterfall and he says the “We could live here for a thousand years and no one would ever find us” line. If you ask me, this is pretty fucking romantic and tropey. The way the scene is framed, Jon lands Rhaegal first and Dany and Drogon land beside them. So Jon was clearly looking for a pretty place to dick Dany down in private and so picked the most cliche place he could find - a waterfall. But waterfalls in Iceland are supposed to be fucking beautiful so it should be a really lovely setting at least).

Then, it’s dragon riding time!

I don’t think Dany will fuss around with taking Jon riding on Drogon with her first. I think she’ll introduce Jon and Rhaegal, make sure Rhaegal doesn’t eat him, then Jon will climb on and they’ll fly off right then and there. It’s a short episode. They don’t have time for lengthy introductions unfortunately.

(Premier ~ yep, was right about the no fussing. Dany asks Jon if he would ever ride a dragon, he asks “How does one ride a dragon” and Dany answers “By riding it”. There’s some banter and Jon saying he could fall and die so Dany cheekily answers “Then it was nice knowing you Jon Snow.” To me, this is Dany challenging Jon, like, daring him to get on the dragon and if he did, he’d get a “reward” at the end of it - which clearly, that’s what them landing by the waterfall is all about, they go there to have sex).

This is why I think Davos, Varys, and Tyrion look so astonished in the photo above. They’ve all seen the dragons before and have gotten quite used to them. So why would they be looking so surprised? Because Jon is on Rhaegal. Notice in the first photo above, the clip cuts out right before we see Rhaegal’s back - where a rider might perch. And if you mess with the colors in photoshop, that is Rhaegal, he’s green. So Jon rides him.

(Premier ~ yes, Jon rides a dragon. Was not that hard to put together. More on Davos, Varys and Tyrion in a bit!)

After the dragon riding, Jon and Dany kiss passionately. I firmly believe the above image is after Jon and Dany kiss because Jon still has his hands on Dany’s waist and they look super irritated, as if they’ve been interrupted, but by what, not sure.

(Premier ~ so apparently their faces of irritation are actually directed at the dragons for watching them make out. My post “Trying to make out here, you guys fucking mind?” was on the nose. I think the scene is framed like the dragons know what mom and dad are up to and it’s supposed to be comical).

It’s unclear if Davos, Tyrion, and Varys see their kiss but the leaks say they discuss Jon and Dany, Tyrion saying something like Varys thinks of Dany differently because he doesn’t have a cock - hinting at Tyrion’s feelings for Dany. (Dark!Tyrion emerging!)

(Premier ~ so as Jon and Dany walk away (or as they walk back in afterward - unclear ) Varys and Davos ponder getting Jon and Dany together - I guess like, formal marriage alliance, though don’t know if the word “marriage” is used. But I think this is pretty silly that they didn’t know Jon and Dany were having sex on the boat for a month. Then again, Perhaps Varys and Davos were on a different boat and Tyrion was the only one on the boat with Jon and Dany...? Whatever. So the idea of making Jon and Dany a “formal” thing is brought up. My guess is this won’t be the last time either. This is probably what prompts Tyrion to say Varys thinks of her differently because he has no cock).

One last interaction between Jon and Dany right outside the castle walls, so coming in from their dragon riding/make out sesh. Not sure what they’d be talking about here. Possibly Jon just told a really bad joke and Dany is not amused. IDK why but it totally looks like he’s smiling in that pic of the two of them!

(Premier ~ for your guys viewing pleasure, the whole Reddit comment on the Jon/Dany/dragon/sex fieldtrip:

(One last note about this scene: I love Jon’s line “We could live here for a thousand years...” because it says SO MUCH. 1) he says “we” as in him and Dany so he’s been thinking about living with Dany. 2) he wants his privacy with her, wants to be away from the public eye...maybe hinting that he won’t want to press his claim against her for the throne...? 3) this could be foreshadowing of Jon and Dany’s endgame and right now, with the way the writing is going, I’m not even going to hope for more than this. I don’t care who ends up king or queen, I don’t care about Westerosi politics. Just give me Jon and Dany holed up somewhere, living in peace with their baby. This line also totally gave me “red door” vibes. Goes back to Dany’s book quote in ADWD about Daario, “In her dream they had been man and wife, simple folk who lived a simple life in a tall stone house with a red door. In her dream he had been kissing her all over—her mouth, her neck, her breasts.” It’s what Jon seemingly wants, and it’s what Dany dreams of. Let them be happy!!!)

An Arya/Hound reunion follows, followed by my second favorite ship in the entire series:

Heavy flirting, flustered Arya, “M’Lady.” God, kill me now. My body is ready. Arya fucking deserves some good Gendry dick. Let our girl be young and carefree and comforted for once! I’m ready. I’m so ready.

(Premier ~ Arya apparently draws a design for a weapon for herself and Gendry starts making it for her. Totally Jaime/Brienne/Oathkeeper vibes. You love a woman, you give her a weapon. Though of course, I’m still pissed at her reunion with the Hound. Her being inexplicably angry with him...for being alive...? And him calling her a “bitch” is fucking gross. What the fuck were D&D thinking???)

A Sansa/Jon confrontation in which she asks him if he bent the knee for the North or love and Jon is likely left speechless because, as has been pointed out many times, he doesn’t have to choose between the two with Dany. He loves her and she’s going to save his people.

(Premier ~ Jon apparently “shies” away from answering and again, yeah, that’s Jon Snow. He doesn’t like to talk about his feelings anyway and now he’s being asked by his sister if he basically gave up the North for pussy. Of course he doesn’t fucking want to answer. And as someone recently pointed out - sorry, can’t remember who said it but credit to you! - if Jon were to say “no” he didn’t bend the knee for love, he’d be a liar, and if he said “yes” then he’d seem really dumb in Sansa’s eyes and prove all her thoughts about him being an idiot correct.

Sidenote: if Political!Jon were happening, why the fuck wouldn’t Jon just say it, in this, a private meeting with the woman he supposedly actually loves - and why would he fly off on a dragon to a beautiful waterfall secluded location to dick down the woman he supposedly hates? Fucking idiot antis. Guys, just steer clear of them until this is all over!)

Another intense encounter, this time with Jorah, Sam, and Dany, likely in the library, as we can see all the scrolls and books on the shelves:

Not sure how this will go. Perhaps Jorah will have seen Sam around Winterfell and want to introduce him and Dany. Then, Dany upon learning Sam’s name, will feel compelled to tell him about his father and brother.

As we know from the leaks, Sam will not be upset about his father, but upset about his brother. Don’t know Dany’s exact reaction but Sam apparently does say “thank you for telling me.”

Now, I’m not trying to diminish Sam’s grief. I’m sure he is incredibly upset at learning his brother was sentenced to death and executed by the woman he’s been hearing about for ages. This isn’t a great start for Dany and Sam to get off on but like with most things in GOT, none of our characters are ever given time to process their own grief or anger. Sorry, antis, that’s just a fact. Davos makes a quip in Season 7 about Tyrion burning his son with wildfire for fuckssake. I mean, come on. Jon is resurrected and two episodes later he’s gathering armies for his sister to fight in yet another battle to take back Winterfell. Dany learns about Viserion’s resurrection by the Night King and immediately has to face a bunch of grumpy Northerners who don’t want her there. The show isn’t great with letting our characters just be with their feelings for a while.

So while yes, I know Sam is upset and yes, his anger over his brother’s death will be directed at Dany, he won’t have much time to process this and he won’t have much time to stay mad at her. They have work to do and they have to work together now, whether Sam will want to or not.

(Premier ~ nothing really that I haven’t mentioned above. Seems suspicious that Sam goes from blubbering crying to heading to Jon to “tattle” on Dany and say Jon could be King instead - and he’s apparently not crying in that scene...? Idk, just seems weird and opportunistic. And Sam apparently makes a joke about his Dad’s death before he finds out about Dickon? Idk all around, the writing is just really confusing. Everyone’s emotions are all over the place. And yeah, I’m with several others, I hate that Sam’s “grief” is the lead in to Jon finding out about his parentage. As the Reddit commenter says, in this scene, you’ll stop giving a fuck about Sam because you just want Jon to find out who he really is. And that kind of comment seems really telling to me).

After Sam and Dany’s talk, Sam apparently immediately goes to Jon in the crypts:

Pretty sure this shot of Jon is before the parentage reveal. He doesn’t look upset and he is still wearing his Stark gorget - which he doesn’t wear in the Winterfell battle - you know, a time when it would really come in handy to protect his neck and chest...? So it appears that in the later episodes, Jon takes this off. But more on Jon’s outfits in a little bit.

Now, if this is before the parentage reveal, then I’m sure many people would ask, well, why is he lighting candles on Lyanna’s statue? And the simple answer is, because it’s what the Starks do. Sansa lights a candle at Lyanna’s statue in S5. She tells Baelish that Ned used to do the same thing. It’s just the Stark way of showing respect to their dead relatives. I can’t think of another reason why Jon would be down in the crypts anyway pre-parentage reveal but this is where Sam finds him - as per the leaks. So that’s just what Jon’s doing. Paying respects. And how perfect will it be that he’s standing in front of his mother’s statue completely clueless, only to learn moments after this that she is, in fact, his mother and not his aunt? I think Jon will likely turn back to her statue with an incredulous look on his face and see Lyanna in a whole new light.

Sam tells Jon about Dany burning his brother, tells Jon he’s the true heir, Jon insists Dany is queen now and is the one in charge, he already bent the knee, I think he argues with Sam a little about the parentage thing at first. It’s unclear how this scene will end but it will be the end of the episode.

(Premier ~ so apparently that is not the end of the episode. More in a minute. Apparently Sam tells Jon Dany would do the right thing for the people and bend the knee to him and Jon considers this possibility? Which 1 - weird. But as I stated in a recent ask, this is also another interaction that completely shoots down Political!Jon for those of you nervous-Nellies who have a heart attack every time an anti posts a new meta about it. If Jon were so afraid of Dany and suspicious of her and so distrusting of her that he had to sleep with her to manipulate her to his side, he wouldn’t think “hmm, yeah, maybe she will bend the knee to me as I’m the rightful heir”. He’d be terrified of this information and want Sam to keep it to himself. He would likely guess Dany would want to kill him if he distrusted her so. But he doesn’t distrust her and he apparently thinks she may bend the knee to him. This could be wishful thinking, but perhaps Jon is already considering a marriage alliance with Dany to avoid this drama altogether...? Who knows.

The actual END of the episode is Jaime showing up to Winterfell and locking eyes with Bran. No one else around. Just those two. The end.

Other things not previously mentioned:

Night’s Watch shenanigans. Not sure what goes on with this, if they are at castle black or not. Something with the Umbers - I had a really hard time interpreting this because it was so unclear. Will have to just wait for the actual episode. I think Sansa writers to Ned Umber too...? Fuck if I know.

Also ruins in the Wall at Castle Black...or at Last Hearth. Again, location is unclear. But definitely seems the Night King is trying to send the living a message of some kind, it’s just in an ancient language no one can understand. So this is interesting to say the least.

Also, Qyburn on behalf of Cersei, offers Bronn money to go find Jaime and Tyrion and kill them).

Phew, that was a lot.

Episode 2!

This is where I move heavy into tinfoily theory bits here but I think my guesses are pretty educated! Bear with me!

Episode 2 will open with Cersei alone in bed, Euron likely having left after they did whatever they did the episode before. And this is when Cersei will miscarry.

I have a very specific reason for thinking the episode will open with Cersei’s miscarriage but I will explain that later. Also, I know according to the early S7 script leaks, Cersei’s last 7x07 scene was supposed to be the miscarriage, but I think D&D had very good reason to shift it from S7 to S8.

So far as the rest of the order of the episode, it’s pretty unclear, as is whatever goes on during this episode because we don’t have Friki leaks to go off of anymore. But after Cersei’s miscarriage, I think we’ll head back to Winterfell where Dany will receive Jaime (remember, she’s the reigning monarch here so she would receive newcomers).

It’s going to be a tense meeting.

Because of the Jon parentage reveal the end of the episode prior, I don’t think Jon will be at this meeting. Dany may not even know where he is so it’s just her and Jaime and Tyrion and maybe a few other Team Targaryen folks.

Jaime will let Dany know of Cersei’s betrayal and that he “intends to fight for the living” regardless of what Cersei is doing.

Tyrion will stick up for Jaime, have his back, support him, tell Dany he thinks Jaime is telling the truth and that Jaime’s intentions are pure.

At this point, I don’t think Tyrion has any intention of betraying Dany and the Starks yet. But I think how Dany reacts to the Cersei news may inform Tyrion’s eventual decision to change sides later. Also, everyone please keep in mind Dany doesn’t know Cersei is pregnant (or was) and I don’t think Tyrion will tell her. I think Tyrion will just remind Dany of the dead coming south, Viserion, etc. in order to keep her from flying off for the afternoon to go take care of Cersei. If Tyrion were to tell Dany of Cersei’s pregnancy, she may immediately suspect him of knowing Cersei was lying about coming to help. So he’ll want to keep that information locked up tight.

Now, sometime after Jaime’s arrival and reception by Dany, Tyrion and Jaime will probably have a brotherly conversation, I’m guessing Tyrion will bring up Cersei’s pregnancy, maybe ask how Jaime had the strength to leave Cersei knowing she was pregnant, other things.

Jaime could then go on to have a little reunion with Brienne and may even meet Bran again. (Premier ~ obviously this happened the episode prior and maybe we would just get a continuation of that scene before Jaime meets with Dany). There is also the possibility of another large council with the Northern Lords where they tell them of Cersei’s betrayal - which would further get the heat off Dany’s back and onto Cersei’s. The Northerners will be more motivated after this news to support Dany against Cersei because again, Dany is with them and stuck true to her word, Cersei did not.

Sometime after her meeting with Jaime, Dany will be somewhere...the library? Her chambers...? And Jorah will come talk to her:

He could be telling her any number of things in this scene. They could be talking about Sam and his family, they could be talking about Jon, they could be talking about Jaime. My guess is Jaime and reminding Dany of the right path because, you know, D&D love having men be Dany’s moral compass on the show and telling her right from wrong and what to do. So Jaime seems the most likely topic. I have another alternative theory for this scene but I will get to that later!

Sometime in Episode 2, we may have Theon and Yara en route to Winterfell. Alternatively, we may not get them in this episode at all and they could show up after the battle in Episode 4. More on this later!

I think for the most part, Jon may be fairly absent from Episode 2. Someone joked he’s going to be down in the crypts brooding for several days before someone realizes he’s missing and I don’t think that’s too much of a stretch (k it won’t be days and he’ll resurface to eat and give orders but he may make frequent trips to the crypts besides).

Obviously at some point, Dany will visit Jon in the crypts:

This may be closer to the end of Episode 2 or it may even be the beginning of Episode 3. But as Jon and Dany would have had a romance-filled Episode 1, it doesn’t make sense for that to be put on hold an entire episode so my guess is this is Episode 2.

Dany probably won’t know the truth about Jon when she approaches, she just knows something is wrong, and he will tell her in this scene. Dany will be shocked, I don’t think she will mention “rightful” heir at all unless she offers Jon the throne which he would obviously refuse. I think she would just want to support him in this scene and maybe even have a nice little moment where she throws his words back to him “You don’t have to choose.”

Now, will that be the end of the angst? No. Clearly not. My guess is even when Dany comforts him, Jon will still be torn, especially about the familial thing. They’ll part ways, Dany giving Jon time and space to think. She’ll be upset. He’ll be upset. It’ll be angst central but there will be no animosity between them. Dany may even bring up Rhaegal and why Jon had such an easy time riding him the episode before.

Also in this episode (likely before Dany goes to Jon in the crypts), we’ll get Dany in the library again and she looks happier than she did in her meeting with Jaime (potential meeting with Jaime but I’m like almost 100% sure that’s what it was). It’s been speculated that because of this set photo...:

That Dany is talking to Sansa, because Sophie is in the background. And certainly this new photo of Sansa in the library as well, adds weight to that theory.

However, it seems the library is a new and very frequently used set for this season, so these two photos could be from different scenes. But maybe not! Who knows!

I originally thought that Dany might be talking to Bran and he tells her the “...brought you where you are now. Home,” line. And I still think Bran says this to Dany, not anyone else. But it may not be this library scene or this episode.

So if it is Dany and Sansa in the library, and Dany is smiling, what could they be talking about? Perhaps they talk fashion, Dany commenting on Sansa’s armor, maybe she was even the one to have it made for Sansa, as the style is very much like Dany’s dresses and the Unsullied armor with those shoulders. They could be talking about Cersei and how Dany should have known not to trust her and they could bond over that. Whatever they talk about, it’s not going to be a terrible conversation, clearly Dany is smiling and she seems enthusiastic about something.

Prior to the potential Dany-Sansa library conversation, we could have a Sansa-Arya conversation, talking about maybe trying to be nice to Dany, listen to her, get to know her before they judge her, etc. The fact that Sansa will know by now that Cersei has betrayed them (because Jaime’s told them), and however Dany reacts to that, may endear Sansa to Dany a little bit. If Sansa was worried about Cersei in the beginning, and Dany has been worried about Cersei, I really feel like this could be their connection, and Dany’s connection to Arya as well.

At this point, I don’t think the Stark girls will find out about RLJ in Ep2. If they find out at all! It’s a private conversation between Sam and Jon, not a whole family affair. So who Jon decides to tell - we have to remember he’s broody. This isn’t something he’ll want to broadcast. So if/when the Stark girls find out about RLJ is very unclear.

And lastly, the end of the Episode. And my alternate theory as to what Dany and Jorah are talking about in this scene:

In these scenes, Dany looks tired, wary, possibly upset, maybe not feeling well...you guys see where I’m going with this??

If the episode begins with Cersei’s miscarriage (I know, that’s just my speculation as well but...), it would make so much sense if the episode ended with...Dany finding out she’s pregnant.

She’s just found out her lover is her nephew, Jon’s being distant and broody, Jaime just dropped the Cersei bomb, shit’s about to hit the fan...and Dany’s knocked up! It would make so much sense for them to order the episode this way.

Episode 1 will end with a bombshell revelation for Jon. (premier ~ well, pretty much almost ends with the bombshell revelation for Jon).

And Episode 2 will end with a bombshell revelation for Dany.

Two things that have plagued both of their stories from the beginning - Jon’s mother’s identity, Dany’s infertility. Both things coming at them one after the other.

So if Dany has just found that out, Jorah may have overheard, maybe ask Dany if she wants to talk about it, maybe ask her what’s up with her and Jon as he’s noticed they’re distant lately, and Dany’s just significantly overwhelmed.

Regardless of whether the Jorah scene also involves the pregnancy reveal, I still think this is how Episode 2 will end.

I know I left out lots of characters and potential interactions, but I just wanted to get down those that I felt more sure about and cover the big events. Obviously smaller interactions can and will be taking place this episode too.

Episode 3

THE BATTLE FOR WINTERFELL!!!

This episode is going to be balls to the walls from beginning to end. I am guessing the episode will open with Bran, seeing the Night King just a short distance a way, maybe a day away, and so everyone needs to hall ass and get ready.

Most of the episode will likely take place in the dark, at night.

This Sansa pic is probably the night of the battle or the night before while everyone is prepping. Shit hasn’t started happening yet which is why she’s still outside, but it will very very soon. Likewise this pic of Jon:

Now, sidenote on this photo. My fave youtube girl mentioned this in her VIDEO that she put out recently but even before she pointed it out, I had noticed it too. What is Jon wearing? I would say this is Longclaw, but it appears to be silver, not white. It could be nothing, but if someone else noticed it aside from me, then maybe not. You guys let me know if you noticed this broach looking thing on Jon’s chest or not. But regardless, Jon is, yet again, not wearing the Stark gorget.

Somewhere in here, I think is when Jon and Sam have their conversation. “Think back to where we started.” “Now it’s just us.” BUT, the conversation will get interrupted by three horn blasts. Winter is HERE.

That’s likely Sam’s face at hearing the horn blasts. Bran is unfazed because of course he is.

And now shit goes down:

(I’m gonna hate this episode for the simple fact that I WON’T BE ABLE TO SEE A DAMN THING!!!)

Missandei and Grey Worm have their (hopefully not) last kiss. Then Grey Worm puts on his “bitches bout to die...again” face.

Everyone runs outside the castle walls to line up:

(Notice in the above, there isn’t any fire yet so likely, this is right before the battle)

Jorah and the Dothraki get in position (and apparently that’s Ghost behind Jorah - can see his outline by Jorah’s shoulder - side note, where the FUCK is all my Ghost promo content???!!!):

Brienne, Pod, and the Knights of the Vale get ready:

Meanwhile in the crypts, Varys, Gilly and Baby Sam, and a few other non-fighters sit fearfully:

And then all seven hells break loose:

Sandor and Beric are in the fray (I think this moment is Sandor’s realization that he was always meant to fight with fire, not against it. Goes back to Rory’s words about Sandor finding “peace” serving Dany. He’s already seen her save people with the dragons and fire once, himself included, so he’s having an epiphany here. The fire will save him again, rather than harm him and I think we’ll see him light up his sword blood-magic style like Beric. I really hope we get some shots of him and Arya fighting side by side, him protecting her (though she doesn’t really need it) surrogate-dad style.

Jon’s running around on the ground, chopping wights and Walkers down. Still he’s not wearing anything thicker or more protective than his leathers. Then again, it might be easier for him to move around, I dunno. But he’s doing his thing.

Someone is chopping down wights on the battlements and at first I thought this was Brienne...but she and Pod were on the ground with the Knights of the Vale. They could have moved as it appears Pod winds up fighting next to Jaime on the battlements. But I think the person above might be...

The nose certainly looks like Alfie’s nose and the person appears to have chin stubble. Could be Theon, could not be Theon. I’m praying it is. I want to see Theon in the Battle for Winterfell being a bad ass sooooo bad! But if he’s not here, I do have some speculations as to what he might be up too...more later!

Jaime and Pod are doing stuff:

I’m convinced Jaime is calling “Bronn” in this scene and if Jaime looks this horrified, Bronn may have just bit it. I really hope not but of course, there will be many casualties in this episode so I can’t get too attached to anyone!

Arya’s fucking shit up while wights clamber over the battlements, those dragonglass spikes apparently doing nothing to deter them:

...and then something goes wrong. It could be one big thing, it could be lots of little things. But something goes wrong in the battle and for our heroes. Obviously we know Winterfell falls. Get it? Winter. Fell. It has to. Not a pleasant thought, but the Night King will triumph in this battle. He will not be defeated and everyone will be forced to flee south.

As to the logistics of how people get out of Winterfell and how the Night King still moves south, I don’t know. I think somehow Arya is going to lure some of the army of the dead through Winterfell, maybe to some kind of trap, while everyone else escapes through the crypts or secret tunnels or something. Why Arya? Because she’s quick and small and knows the castle better than most. But I could be wrong.

Whatever happens with this, again, Winterfell will fall and survivors will have narrowly escaped. The Night King will head south and our heroes will have to regroup. This episode will not end on a happy note.

Casualties in the Battle for Winterfell?

Jorah - this is almost a guarantee. With us having so much Jorah/Dany content for the first few episodes, it makes sense Jorah will die in 8x03.

Possibly Brienne - she could die saving Jaime (cuz he can’t defend himself as well as he usually is able). She’ll die defending a Lannister, a play on what she said to Catelyn in S2 when Jaime was the Starks’ prisoner.

Ghost - Come on, this has to happen. I’m gonna hate it, but they’re not gonna keep him around to ferry him to Dragonstone. He’s of the North, as book!Jon says. He belongs to the North. He will die in the North.

Bronn - already stated this. Though he may live...more later!

Maybe Rhaegal? Perhaps that is why Jon ends up on the ground, he was riding Rhaegal but then gets taken down and Rhaegal dies, forcing Jon to fight on foot.

I want to say Jaime could die in this episode too but I don’t know about that inadvertent NCW leak-lawsuit business. Is he in all 6 episodes? Is he just paid for all 6 because of an old contract agreement even if he doesn’t appear in them? Don’t know. I would guess though that he dies here.

Some minor characters: Royce, Glover, Lyanna Mormont, maybe? Maybe not all of them, but some of them.

Everyone else should make it to Dragonstone.

Episodes 4/5

Now, we know via this scene of Jon/Dany, that they wind up at Dragonstone after the Battle of Winterfell:

BUT HOW DO THEY GET THERE...??

I know I kept mentioning it but now I finally get to voice my theory...:

Theon and Yara will either show up before or right after the battle at Winterfell. I think because it’s the most logical location, they’ll park the ships in Torrhen’s Square so it’s an easy getaway for our heroes. White Harbor just seems too far away for them to travel to and they can’t really go by foot because they’d be marching behind the Night King so that would be weird. But I could be wrong on the location. Regardless, Theon and Yara will likely be the ones to ferry everyone to the safety of Dragonstone. Everyone’s armies - Night King’s and Jon/Dany’s, will have faced some very heavy loses.

Now, with everyone at Dragonstone, it’s a SUPER convenient location for shenanigans on all sides of the war.

I’ve mentioned in other posts and asks the possibility of an Arya/Sansa teamup to take down Cersei - Cleganebowl totally could play into this as well as Sandor loves both girls and would want to help them and also “cross a name off his list” along with Arya. This could be before or after the Night King is finally defeated, it’s unclear. My guess is after but once everyone is in the south, it’s going to pretty much be a free-for-all.

Another possibility is a Dany kidnapping. I’ve brought this up a few times and no, if you’ve been watching my other posts, it has nothing to do with stealing Jonsa theories. It also has nothing to do with Jonerys and Cersei for some reason trying to lure Jon in to capture him or something - it would just be a showdown between Dany and Cersei because as per Lena’s comments on the Dragonpit meeting last season, Cersei believes Dany to be the YMBQ and I have seen no reason to question that.

Another potential plot is definitely the Tyrion betrayal and how it will all go down, what will start it, etc. I *think* Tyrion’s betrayal will be triggered by a Jon/Dany betrayal of him first, otherwise I see no reason Tyrion would jump sides just because he’s in love with Dany. It really would be an insult to his character if it’s all because of jealousy...I would actually HATE that. I kind of want Jon and Dany to betray him first, but how, not sure.

That could be what Jon and Dany are discussing here:

I think by this point, after fighting and losing the battle at Winterfell, the parentage reveal will be a non-issue for them. They can’t still be angsting over that bullshit when they’ve literally just lost the thousands of people, some close friends likely included.

We know from Friki’s leaks that Tyrion says in his trial, “They deserved it.” Some people think he’s talking about Tyrion blowing up King’s Landing but he also could be referencing his betrayal of Jon and Dany - Jon and Dany “deserved” Tyrion betraying them because they betrayed him first. To me, this makes much more sense.

After all, what would the people of King’s Landing do to Tyrion in Season 8 that would cause him to be so cynical as to retaliate? Seriously, that just doesn’t make sense. “They deserved it” to me, sounds way more personal. As in someone close to Tyrion betrayed him. And as Peter Dinklage said in one of his interviews, it’s tough for Tyrion because he loves both Jon and Dany. So a betrayal from them would hit Tyrion really hard.

This could go back to Dany’s pregnancy though how, I’m not sure. By 8x05, Jon should know that Dany is pregnant. It could also have something to do with Cersei’s pregnancy. If Jaime believes he’ll die in the battle at Winterfell, what if he has a private conversation with Dany beforehand like “Please protect my child, don’t kill Cersei, keep her prisoner if you must but please don’t kill her.” If something like this happened, Dany could guess Tyrion knew about Cersei’s pregnancy as well and that Tyrion was holding back information from her for the benefit of his family. Dany could see this as a betrayal from Tyrion, everything she accused him of on the beach back in 7x04 would have been proven correct.

As to how Jon and Dany potentially betray Tyrion...perhaps it happened before Dragonstone. Maybe they couldn’t find Tyrion after the Winterfell battle and so left without him...? I’m not sure. Maybe they negotiate a deal with Cersei to trade Tyrion for...something? Maybe they just plot against Cersei, plot to kill her to get the Golden Company off their backs, and Tyrion is finally done choosing Jon/Dany over his family - believing Cersei is pregnant would certainly inform his decision on this.

As to how Tyrion could betray Jon/Dany, this could come about in a number of ways as well. But I definitely think it will be a betrayal of both Jon and Daenerys - or else why would Peter Dinklage have said that thing about loving both of them?

One thing is for sure: Tyrion will betray them, he will get caught - my guess is Sansa and Arya will figure this out (oh maybe they will figure it out when they’re plotting against Cersei, perhaps they will find something out Tyrion didn’t want anyone to know...), and Tyrion will be executed for his crimes.

I believe this image is definitely of Tyrion’s trial. He appears to be standing on sand or dirt, not snow, it’s sunny-ish (I could be wrong). But it’s my best guess.

Other wardrobe guesses...

Dany’s Dragonstone dress was her Wintefell battle dress. It likely will be right after they arrive - yes, yes, I know, the timing, the timing, but when has that mattered in recent seasons?

The dress that Daenerys wears for the majority of the rest of her time on Dragonstone/in the South, I believe will be this one:

It’s a lighter material, suede not fur. It makes sense.

Sansa’s scale dress:

...I think will be the dress she wears for Tyrion’s trial. It’s very remniscent of this classic Tully look:

And we know from previous seasons, that when Sansa wants to channel inner strength in difficult times, she takes from her Tully side more than her Stark side - her wedding to Ramsay and having the two Tully fish pins being a classic example.

And, granted Tyrion’s first trial was conducted by Sansa’s Tully mother, it would make SO MUCH sense for her to channel Cat as she’s doing something similar - putting Tyrion on trial.

I think for Tyrion’s trial there may be a lot of callbacks to both of Tyrion’s previous trials, his trail in the Vale and his trial in King’s Landing. Robin Arryn is allegedly there. Davos, Arya, Bran, Sam - I think, and several others.

Tyrion will likely have a speech remniscent of his “I’m guilty of being a dwarf” speech. Regardless of what all is said and what all Tyrion’s charges are, I strongly believe he will die at the end (or near end) of this episode.

Aaaannnddd...that’s all I got! Let me know what you guys think. If you reblog, please reblog with the cut because this is fucking obnoxiously long. If you reblog with an obnoxiously long reply, either use a cut or simply make your own post and link it in your reblog to better fascilitate discussion (I say this like you guys are actualy reading this, in reality, this will likely get like, 16 notes at best because it took so damn long lol).

#got spoilers #got season 8 spoilers #game of thrones spoilers #friki leaks #frikidoctor #got theories #got s8 spoilers

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minijenn · 8 years ago

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Universe Falls Chapter 35, Part 1

Oh boy this one’s finally fucking done. Ugh, whatever like I said its kind of honestly a stepping stone for me to get to the other two Fusion Fiascos chapters, but by all means its not a BAD stepping stone. I think its actually quite good in places! But hopefully you can look past its... weaker parts and see a decently good chapter! So with my bitching out of the way, here you go!

Previous: http://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/160196015162/universe-falls-chapter-34

Chapter 35: Fusion Fiascos

Part 1: Alone Together

EXIC LC YLQE, XII LC KLKB, QEFP BUMBOFBKZB EXP LKIV YBDRK

“A five-six-seven eight!” Pearl snapped her fingers in time to the beat of the music, prompting Steven and Amethyst to begin practicing. The Gems had recently reached a stark realization in the midst of their first harrowing encounter with Peridot and their ominous ordeal in the bunker that they all might need to ready to take on a large potential threat, no matter what form that threat might take. Which was why they had decided that it was time to progress their young ward’s training further and faster and start training Steven in the ins-and-outs of one of the most unique abilities known to Gem-kind: fusion.

And seeing as how most fusions began with dancing, that’s where the Gems decided to start with Steven. Amethyst was first up for showing the young Gem the ropes as she guided him through a very basic moveset while Pearl and Garnet supervised. “Synchronize!” the white Gem reminded, still snapping along with the music. The purple Gem tried doing just that as she attempted to pick Steven up, only to end up haphazardly dropping him to the ground, much to their shared amusement. “Be serious,” Pearl huffed, rolling her eyes as the pair laughed over her. Still, they did sober up a bit and try again, with Amethyst taking up the lead again as she successfully lifted Steven high above her head, only to elicit another burst of laughter from them both.

Frustrated by their insincerity, Pearl intervened and decided to take charge using a demonstration and Garnet’s assistance. “Pay attention now, Steven,” the white Gem instructed firmly as the young Gem earnestly watched on. Gasping each others’ hands, Garnet and Pearl launched into an elegant waltz, complete with a spin and pierrotite from the white Gem. The dance gradually became more complex, with Garnet lifting Pearl and swaying her from side to side before gently pushing her against the wall. The Gem leader’s shadow hovered over the white Gem’s smaller frame, a light blue blush filing her cheeks as Garnet kept her hands pressed against the wall near her head. “See?” Pearl glanced over at Steven. The young Gem, while quite impressed and intimidated by such advanced moves, nodded with determined resolve to try it for himself.

Of course, that attempt was a less than stellar one, despite Steven’s best efforts. Unfortunately, he was a bit too short to match up with the much taller white Gem whilst trying to copy Garnet’s moves. The Gem leader did her best to help by giving him a bit of a boost, but the young Gem still couldn’t quite get a handle on the complicated dance, despite his best efforts.

Amethyst soon took over again, her smaller stature making it a bit easier for Steven to keep up with her. And for the most part, the young Gem was able to follow along with her simple hand gestures, though she completely lost him upon fluidly swiveling her hips, something that he wasn’t quite flexible enough to do. Even so, Steven took after Garnet’s moveset next, trying to keep a good pace with her as she rapidly tossed her arms about in perfect syncopation. And while he quickly fell behind her, he still replicated her solid finishing pose nonetheless, even if he was quite bewildered at her apparent skill. Pearl took another crack at things after this, preparing to guide Steven through a basic ballet set, only to end up tripping over him, resulting in the young Gem falling flatly to the ground, much to the white Gem’s concern.

And so the rest of the practice session continued in much of a similar way, with plenty of missteps and faltering on Steven’s part, but even so the Gems remained very patient in teaching him all that they could. Yet for every move they tried to show him, the young Gem always ended up being just a beat or so off, though he never threw in the towel, despite how tired he was starting to get. Still, after seeing no viable signs of fusion and after Steven hit the ground hard for the tenth time in a row, the Gems unanimously decided that it was time to call it quits for the night.

“I don’t get it,” Steven frowned in disappointment as everyone congregated in the kitchen to catch a much-needed breather. “I thought I almost had it… What could I be doing wrong?”

“Don’t worry, Steven,” Pearl reassured. “Nobody expects you to be able to perform fusion right away.”

“Yeah!” Amethyst agreed, hopping up onto the counter. “It’s really hard, even for us!”

“Not for me,” Garnet remarked coolly, leaning against the fridge.

“We’ll keep working on the dance for now, and who knows? Maybe in a few years…” Pearl trailed off, briefly pausing with a thoughtful frown. “Hm… Though I wonder if Steven’s body is even capable of fusion. Fusion merges the physical forms of Gems, but Steven’s half human. He’s organic.”

“Organic?” Steven cut in, confused and somewhat worried at what the white Gem was implying. Namely the possibility that he might never be able to accomplish fusion like the other Gems could.

“Aw, come on,” Amethyst scoffed Pearl’s concerns off. “This is Steven we’re talking about here! Who knows what’s gonna happen?!” The purple Gem attempted to lighten the mood with a bold an hearty laugh, though no one joined in as Garnet stepped up alongside Steven, her arms crossed and her manner as stoic as ever.

“Well, I think Steven can do it,” she said with complete confidence, looking over to the young Gem. Steven met her gaze with slight apprehension, rather uncertain about his potential for fusing himself. After all, the Gems had years upon years of practice fusing with each other to form completely new Gems entirely, from the swift and deft Opal, to the strong and sturdy Sugilite, to the massive and imposing Alexandrite. Considering how amazing and awe-inspiring each of those fusions were, the young Gem wasn’t sure if any fusion he was a part of could even compare if he could actually fuse at all. And if he really couldn’t…

Steven was quick to push such a thought out of his mind. Of course he could fuse. Even if he was half human, he was still a Gem nonetheless and that meant that fusion was a possibility for him just as much as any other Gem ability was. Certainly, with enough time and practice, he would be fusing with his fellow Gems in no time.

Right?

Since Steven was still rather worried about the prospects of fusion, the Gems encouraged him to take his mind off of it for now, knowing that there would be time to work on formulating a fusion dance for him later. So instead, they suggested that he go out and enjoy the rest of his evening, especially since it was particularly pleasant and picturesque outside. Steven took them up on this suggestion, calling up Connie, Dipper, and Mabel so they could all hang out and relax together in the crisp warmth of the evening. The kids had settled in a serene open clearing not too far away from the temple, one that was peacefully illuminated by both the fading glow of twilight and the fireflies lazily meandering about. And while Steven was supposed to be using this time to forget about his fusing woes, he couldn’t help but bring them up to the others, seeking solace and solidarity more than anything else.

“And we’ve been at it all day, but so far I really don’t have anything to show for it,” the young Gem confessed with a fretful sigh. “Pearl thinks I might not be able to do it at all because I’m ‘organic’, whatever that means, but Garnet said she thinks I can do it. But to be honest, I’m not so sure…”

“Aw, don’t sell yourself short, Steven!” Mabel reassured brightly. “You said the same thing about your healing powers and look at you now! You’re the spitting image of a magical healer!”

“Heh, good one,” Steven chuckled half-heartedly while Dipper and Connie merely rolled their eyes at the pun. “Thanks, Mabel.”

“I don’t get what dancing has to do with fusion in the first place,” Dipper remarked somewhat skeptically. “I mean, how does it even work? Do each of the Gems use the same dance no matter who they’re fusing with, or is it different every time? How do they even know if they’re doing it right? Is it like a feeling or is it something else?”

“I wish I knew…” Steven pouted. “Because whatever it is, I don’t have it…”

“Can’t you just get the Gems to write out the steps?” Connie suggested with a small smile. “That’s bound to make it a little easier to understand, right?”

“No… I don’t think it’s just about the dancing,” the young Gem theorized, his expression serious as he glanced down. “When they fuse, they glow and kind of… phase into each other. I don’t know if I can even do that…”

“Well maybe all that stuff happens after you get the dancing part down,” Mabel purposed with a growing grin. “And until then, you can always practice your dancing skills with us! Right, guys?”

Dipper and Connie exchanged a rather uncertain glance at this, neither of them too keen on the idea. “Uh… I don’t know about all that…” Dipper said diffidently.

“M-me either…” Connie agreed, glancing away anxiously.

“…Ok…” Mabel briefly frowned before turning back to Steven. “Well, you can always practice your dancing skills with me. In fact… I think it’s time for a… random dance party for no reason!”

Steven let out a much-needed laugh at this, his spirits lightened just a bit even if his worries over fusion still had yet to be resolved. “Ok, let me just—whoa!” The young Gem had no time to even stand for himself before Mabel grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up herself. The pair had already dissolved into a hopeless round of giggles even as they began to dance, even if said “dance” only really consisted of them spinning around in wild, uncalculated circles together. Dipper and Connie couldn’t help but laugh along with them as they watched their usual antics, especially as Steven and Mabel accidentally tripped over each other and ended up falling down in tandem, still breathlessly chuckling all the while.

“You know, I’m not sure how this will actually help me learn how to fuse,” Steven spoke up, still smirking brightly as him and Mabel picked themselves up off the ground. “But it sure is fun!”

“Yeah it is!” Mabel heartily agreed. “Hey, you guys!” she called to Dipper and Connie. “Join the dance party! It’s always more fun with more people, trust me!”

“Um, I think I’m fine letting you guys have all the-” Dipper was abruptly cut off as Mabel suddenly pulled him to his feet. “M-Mabel!” he attempted to protest, though he was laughing nonetheless as Mabel spun him around just like she had done with Steven.

“Come on, bro-bro,” she grinned wryly as they haphazardly “danced” around the clearing. “You gotta learn another dance besides the Lamby Lamby Dance eventually.”

“Hey!” Dipper’s smile quickly turned into an annoyed scowl upon hearing this teasing remark. “I know other dances besides the-” Mabel cut him off once more by suddenly spinning him out, resulting in him lightly crashing into a nearby tree, something that brought a laugh out of both twins.

Steven also chuckled upon seeing this, and his warm smile remained as he turned towards Connie, who was still sitting on the ground nearby, smirking lightly herself. “Don’t you wanna dance too, Connie?” the young Gem asked her patiently.

“O-oh,” Connie blinked, taken aback upon glancing up at Steven with surprise. “Well… well, it’s just… I… I’ve never really danced in front of anyone before…”

“Really?” Steven asked, taking a seat in front of her, even as the twins continued to playfully dance several feet away.

“Yeah…” Connie admitted, glancing away bashfully. “There was a dance at my school, and I was really excited about it but… I just couldn’t bring myself to go.” She let out a sigh as she hung her head and closed her eyes, softly muttering her next statement. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about everyone staring at me…”

Steven bit his lip upon hearing this, his own concerns over fusion fading away as his worry instead shifted completely towards Connie. And as usual, he couldn’t resist the urge to help her feel better. “Well… no one’s staring right now…”

Connie looked up upon hearing this, finding the young Gem’s claim to only be partially true, for while Dipper and Mabel were still preoccupied, Steven was intently looking to her with almost a pleading expression. “Um… you are.”

“Oh yeah…” the young Gem blushed a bit as he looked away. “One sec.” Steven reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out and looked through it briefly before finding what he was looking for. As he set the phone down in the nearby grass, a light, upbeat, yet relaxed pop melody began to play from it.

“Woo! Finally, some jams to dance to!” Mabel cheered from across the clearing, already twirling to the beat and dragging Dipper along with her.

Steven and Connie shared a laugh over her enthusiasm before the young Gem got up from the ground and backed up a few paces, covering his eyes as he did so. “So what I was trying to say was…” he smiled, still blushing softly as he extended his hand out to Connie. “Come dance with me.”

For a moment, Connie could only look to Steven with apt surprise, still quite hesitant and shy over her own dancing abilities, or lack thereof. Still, she couldn’t very well say no, especially upon looking to the hand he was still eagerly holding out to her. Which was why she took in a deep breath and, pushing her anxiety away for just a moment, she took it.

Of course, Steven quickly broke his promise not to look upon peeking out from behind his arm, smiling happily as he uncovered his eyes completely and looked to Connie. She met his grin with a soft, sweet one of her own, a light blush filling her cheeks as she allowed him to take the lead, pulling her in closer. And without any further hesitation about it, the two began to dance.

Their dance was much slower and more than the rowdy and silly moveset the twins were still having fun with, but even so that was perfectly fine for Steven and Connie. They kept their eyes on their feet as they bounced back and forth to the beat of the song, though things started to get a little looser as Steven suddenly spun Connie. They broke apart at this, the young Gem laughing mirthfully as he backed up and swayed to the music by himself. Connie did the same thing, chuckling brightly as she twirled about, her long hair spinning about with her. Steven blushed once more upon seeing this, his smile widening at just how much fun Connie was having by cutting loose and letting herself be free.

From there, the escalating elation between the pair could no longer be contained. They both simultaneously burst out laughing as they began to run about the clearing, hardly even dancing at all anymore as they skipped and jumped, completely carefree. Inspired by this freedom, Mabel and Dipper cut off their own dance and readily joined them. Soon enough, all four of the kids were cheerfully running circles around each other as the music rang out just underneath their unanimous chuckles as brightly as ever. And while the clearing itself was rather dark due to the waning light of dusk and the fleeing fireflies, it felt as though there was enough light from the sheer joy and exhilaration everyone was sharing to go around for quite a while.

Still, it wasn’t really enough for them to see by, which was why it didn’t take long for the twins to haphazardly crash into each other, sending them both clumsily plummeting to the ground in a unified burst of breathless laughter. Likewise, Steven and Connie also ended up accidently tripping over each other, but instead of falling, something else happened entirely. As the young Gem started to fall, Connie reacted quickly, catching him just in time. The pair paused for a beat, their cheeks warm and flush as they realized just how close their faces were to each other, separated by mere inches of air. Still, they couldn’t help but share a gentle laugh as they drew in closer, resting their foreheads together and reveling in each other’s warmth.

And yet, what neither of them saw as they chuckled together was the sudden bloom of pink light that had begun to radiate from Steven’s gem. In fact, they still didn’t see it even as it began to overtake them both entirely. By the time it’s glow illuminated the entire clearing, however, Dipper and Mabel had taken notice of it, and needless to say their jaws simultaneously dropped in surprise upon seeing what had happened once it faded.

Still, Steven and Connie were in the dark, quite literally, they found as they slowly opened their eyes. Instantly, they could both tell that something was off, though neither of them could really place what that something was. It was as though they were still holding onto each other, and yet that couldn’t have been the case since they had somehow ended up in a sitting position on the ground, their arms loose at their sides. What was even stranger was that the first thing they saw upon opening their eyes was a pair of long, shapely, rosy-brown legs right in front of them, legs that couldn’t belong to either of them, but still shifted in time to their movements nonetheless.

“Whoa…” they gasped, their eyes widening at the singular deep, yet still rather feminine voice they heard instead of either of their own. “Why am I-” They paused, frowning upon noticing Steven’s discarded flip flops and Connie’s flats lying near them. An arm, much longer and more mature than it should have been, reached towards one of the shoes, picking it up as they examined it curiously. “Why is… your sandal too small for my—your feet…?” They trailed off, glancing up in bewilderment towards the twins, who could only stare back at them with wide eyes and completely stunned expressions. “Guys, what’s…” they paused again, looking to the adult sized hands that apparently belonged to them, dumbfounded. “What’s going on?”

“That’s… a really good question…” Dipper remarked with apt confusion.

“Ok, you’re a really cool-looking mysterious stranger, whoever you are,” Mabel began with something of a small smile, despite her own puzzlement. “But uh… where’d you come from? And where did Steven and Connie go?”

“Huh?” they raised an eyebrow, frowning as they shook their head. “Mabel, what are you talking about? I’m… I… we’re… right here…?” The twins exchanged a doubtful glance upon hearing this, neither of them sure of what to make of the odd but beguiling person who had so suddenly appeared in place of Steven and Connie. And yet, the pair themselves was still mostly convinced that they were right. “Guys, look, I-” They cut themselves off with a sharp gasp, looking to their longer legs and arms once again. Their eyes were huge as they slowly ran their hands over their legs and surprisingly slender yet curvy figure, confirming that they could both feel the sensation of the gentle touch simultaneously. Their growing amazement only increased as they glanced down at their light jean shorts, as well as the cropped pink tee-shirt bearing a remarkably familiar star emblem on it, one that was covered by a shorter, light blue tank top. But by far, what was the most telling was the unmistakable pink gemstone fixed to their shared navel, the one thing that told them they were no longer Steven or Connie.

They were both.

“Steven?!” they gasped in shock, their hands pressing against the sides of their very long, very thick dark wavy hair. “Connie! I-I did it! Y-you did it?” The twins could only watch in continued confusion as the stranger slowly and shakily began to pick themselves up off the ground and having trouble doing so thanks to the unfamiliar distribution of their weight. “Wait,” they began again, their shared mind having a complicated time trying to grasp what was happening. “This is—no. This is… great!” They grinned widely as they finally pushed themselves up into an uneven standing position. “Oh my gosh, look at you now!” They exclaimed, glancing down at their impressive new form. “I can’t believe it!”

“Um, hey, remember us?” Dipper spoke up somewhat caustically. “Care to explain what the heck is going on here?”

“Dipper, Mabel!” they laughed, looking down at the twins seeing as how they now easily towered over them both by quite a bit. “It’s me! It’s us!”

“Uh… we’re not following…” Mabel frowned, still confused.

“You guys!” they exclaimed, unable to contain their excitement as they rose to their full height. “I’m a fusion!”

“What?!” both twins gasped in shared shock, something that the fusion got quite a good chuckle out of.

“Yeah, I guess it is pretty surprising…” they smirked, putting a hand against their neck and blushing slightly.

“Wait, so what you’re telling us is that you’re… Steven and Connie… fused together?” Dipper asked, still trying to understand, even if the entire concept was beyond baffling.

“Uh huh,” the fusion nodded, still smiling brightly.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” Mabel squealed in sudden excitement as she ran up to the fusion, taking both of their hands. “This is so awesome! I mean, when the Gems fuse it’s awesome enough on its own, but you guys fusing is literally the most awesome thing to ever happen! You guys look just like a super model!”

“Mabel!” Dipper quickly scolded, especially as the fusion froze, their face red in newfound embarrassment.

“No, uh… its ok,” they chuckled somewhat awkwardly. “I mean, we are pretty tall now, so it kinda makes sense…”

“So, how did this even happen in the first place?” Dipper asked, looking the fusion up and down curiously. “I thought only Gems could fuse with each other.”

“I honestly have no idea,” the fusion shrugged. “One minute, we were just dancing and the next, we’re… like this,” they motioned to themselves. “And it feels great! Well… great and a little weird but… I think we’ll get used to it.”

“So who’s in charge of what?” Mabel asked inquisitively, looking up to the fusion with a wide smile. “Does Steven control your legs while Connie works the arms, or is it the other way around? Do guys take turns talking or are you both talking at the same time and it comes out as one voice? Do you have any special fusion powers? Like flying? Or singing really good? Not that you guys can’t already do a great job of that when you’re apart, but still.”

“Hm… I don’t think we—I mean, I have any special powers, aside from the ones Steven already has…” the fusion mused thoughtfully. “And as for who controls what, we just… sort of do it together. It’s… kind of hard to explain…”

“So now that you guys are… uh, together… what now?” Dipper asked tentatively.

The fusion didn’t answer this right away but instead seemed to take a moment to think. And as they did so, both of the halves that composed them were at an initial loss. After all, by all accounts, they shouldn’t have even been able to exist together in this way. But now that they did, they couldn’t very well let it go so soon. They weren’t sure how long they intended on staying fused, but if one thing was certain between them both, it was that they wanted to enjoy every second that they were together for. And what better way to do that than by taking pride in what they now were. “I have to show everybody!” they exclaimed brightly, already leading the way up to the temple, with the twins following not too far behind.

Needless to say, all three of the Gems were completely shocked into dumbfounded silence upon seeing the fusion for the first time. At first, they didn’t really recognize the mysterious stranger at first, they were still scarcely able to believe who they really were even after hearing it from the twins and the fusion themselves. Still, the fusion stood confidently before them nonetheless, taking in their wide-eyed stares evenly enough.

“So?” the spoke up, grinning broadly and exchanging a glance with the twins as they stood alongside them. Mabel easily returned their excited smile, though Dipper was a bit more apprehensive about how the Gems might react, given how they didn’t always have the easiest time dealing with new things. “Pretty cool, right?”

The Gems managed to shake themselves out of their stunned amazement, though it was clear that they were still quite taken aback as Pearl spoke up. “H-he fused? With Connie?!”

“Pearl,” Amethyst cut in with an amused snicker. “Look at Garnet.”

Both Gems did so, glancing at their leader, who wore a huge, delighted smile on her face and her hands clasped together joyously as she took the sight of the fusion in. Yet, oddly enough, she said nothing, holding her elation in as Amethyst and Pearl looked back to the fusion once more.

“So,” Amethyst turned to the twins with an eager grin. “Were you guys there when these two… you know…?” her smile turned sly as she linked her fingers together playfully.

“Amethyst!” Pearl quickly scolded her for the innuendo, but the purple Gem let out a coy chuckle nonetheless.

“Yeah we were there,” Mabel chimed in with a wide grin. “We saw the whole thing and it was so cool! One minute they were just Steven and Connie, and the next-”

“There I was,” the fusion finished with a small shrug.

“And after that we were all pretty much left completely confused,” Dipper finished somewhat dryly.

“Well I can certainly understand why…” Pearl mused as she walked up to the fusion and began to curiously examine them. “This is unprecedented! A Gem fusing with a human being? It’s impossible! Or at the very least inappropriate…”

Amethyst pushed the white Gem out of the way as she ran up to the fusion, laughing brightly all the while. “But wow! You two look great together!” she exclaimed, glancing up at them. “How does it feel Steven? Connie? …Stevonnie!?”

“That’s it!” Mabel snapped her fingers excitedly. “I’ve been trying to come up with a name to call you guys and Stevonnie is perfect for you two!”

“Uh, its literally just Steven and Connie’s names mashed together,” Dipper pointed out, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, that’s what makes it so great,” Amethyst said with a smirk. “Because they literally are Steven and Connie mashed together.”

“Well, I guess we’ll go by Stevonnie then,” the newly name fusion chuckled brightly. “Oh, and by the way, Amethyst, it feels amazing!”

“Yes… well…” Pearl interjected, wringing her hands uncomfortably. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourselves, but you two should unfuse this instant.”

“What?” all four (or rather, three) of the kids asked in unified confusion at the white Gem’s request. Still, none of them were more appalled by this suggestion that Stevonnie themselves.

“I don’t understand,” the fusion said with a serious frown. “Pearl, you were so worried that Steven wouldn’t be able to do this. Aren’t you proud of him?”

“O-of course I am!” Pearl quickly exclaimed, though it was clear that she really had no idea how to hand this situation, which was why she turned to the Gem leader for a rescue. “Garnet, help me out here,” she muttered, nodding to Stevonnie.

Garnet did so, though not in the way that Pearl was hoping for as she walked up to Stevonnie, still standing a bit taller than even the rather tall fusion. “Stevonnie, listen to me,” the Gem leader began, her tone firm as she placed a hand against the fusion’s face. “You are not two people. And you are not one person. You… are an experience! Make sure you’re a good experience. Now…” Garnet’s solid expression turned into her wide smile from earlier as she imparted her next set of directions to the compelled fusion, directions that they would hopefully have no problems carrying out. “Go have fun!”

And that was exactly what Stevonnie set out to do.

On Garnet’s mere prompting alone, the fusion gleefully rushed out of the house, dragging Dipper and Mabel along with them. After all, they saw, they figured that all four of them might as well go have fun together, especially given the new exciting circumstance of them being fused. Energized by elation and excitement, Stevonnie eagerly led the way to the lake, where, on a mere shared whim, the fusion let loose and threw caution to the wind as they began jogging across the shoreline, their long hair bouncing after them as they bounded across the strip. Dipper and Mabel were only able to exchange a puzzled glance as Stevonnie sprinted off, grinning brightly as they preformed an impressive string of deft cartwheels down the shore. Still, the twins, curious about what the fusion was doing, attempted to follow them, though they weren’t that successful since Stevonnie, with their longer legs and impressive speed, easily outran them. Yet Stevonnie didn’t slow their pace for a second, fueled by a feeling that neither of their halves could really even describe. Whatever it was though, it was incredible, sparking a kind of warmth and levity within them that kept them going strong.

Regardless though, the fusion did briefly come to a halt as they reached the edge of an outcropping hovering over the depths of the lake. For a moment, they peered over the outcropping towards the dark waters below, somewhat uncertain, before they completely pushed that uncertainty aside and went for it. Stevonnie took a running start before freely leaping off of the edge, plunging into the still-warm lake with a shout of exhilaration. The fusion loftily backstroked towards the nearby shore, letting the light current carry them back onto dry land as they laughed mirthfully all the while. Their amusement petered out a little though, as they noticed the twins standing over them, both of them seemingly breathless and exhausted.

“Oh, hey, guys,” Stevonnie greeted brightly as they sat up, still dripping wet. “Why do you two look so tired?”

“Oh… no reason,” Dipper deadpanned amidst trying to catch his breath.

“Whoo! Well this little night run sure was fun!” Mabel chimed, a bit more energized, as she usually was. “So what do you guys wanna do next?”

Stevonnie prepared to answer this, though apparently, their growling stomach got to it first. “I’m thinking donuts…” they mused, smiling as they nodded to the Big Donut, which fortunately was but a brief walk away.

“So which one of you guys is hungry?” Mabel asked the fusion curiously as they made their way towards the store. “Steven or Connie? Or both? Do both of you guys want the same thing or is one of you taking charge and steering your stomach towards donuts?”

“Mabel, could you maybe stop asking them so many questions?” Dipper interjected, somewhat aggravated by his sister’s usual enthusiasm.

“I can’t help it!” she gushed, grinning to Stevonnie. “Steven and Connie being fused is just way too cool not for me to be completely hyped about!”

“Yeah, but you’re probably starting to get on, er, Stevonnie’s nerves,” Dipper pointed out, looking to the fusion for confirmation of this.

“No, not really,” Stevonnie smiled warmly. “We’re pretty hyped about it too, to be honest. It’s like… it’s like everything I do, we do together, at the same time and for the same reasons. I know that probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but… it all just feels so… right, you know?”

“But isn’t it kind of weird that you guys are basically just sharing the same mind and body?” Dipper asked with something of an uncomfortable frown. “Because that seems like it would be sort of weird. N-no offense.”

“Huh, I haven’t actually thought about it that way…” Stevonnie mused, glancing down. “I… I guess it is a little weird…” For a moment, the fusion seemed oddly flustered, their usual apparent confidence interrupted as they seemingly tried to reconcile this stark realization between themselves. But in the end, they were quick to recover from it. “B-but I’m fine. We’re fine. Everything… everything’s fine.” As the twins looked to Stevonnie with slight concern, they offered them a reassuring smile, though they couldn’t really deny that it was also an attempt to reassure themselves as well.

Fortunately, the fusion didn’t have to suede them any further as the group arrived at the Big Donut. Sadie and Lars were both on shift for the evening, though considering their lack of customers, they were content to pass the time in quiet, casual conversation as they leaned close to each other. They were so caught up in their discussion that they barely even paid the twins any mind as they entered the store first, though both of them instant froze the moment they saw Stevonnie walk in.

“Hi, Sadie! Hi, Lars!” Mabel greeted blithely as she skipped up to the counter, Dipper and Stevonnie not too far behind her.

“Um, are you guys… ok?” Dipper asked somewhat worried upon noticing how stunned they both seemed to be.

“W-wha…” Sadie mumbled dully, her and Lars both flush and completely unable to take their eyes off of the beguiling fusion as they approached.

“H-h-how can I… h-help… me…?” Lars addressed Stevonnie, stammering nervously and sweating a bit.

While the twins exchanged a confused glance at the cashiers’ odd behavior, Stevonnie simply flipped their still-wet hair back, wringing it out as they coolly gave their order. “Four donuts, please.”

Sadie and Lars continued to stare at the fusion, their mouths both agape in awe, as the latter quickly reached into the nearby case and produced a small bag containing the donuts they had asked for. Stevonnie still didn’t notice their apparent amazement as they stepped a bit closer to the counter, pulling out some of the money the Gems had given them before they left the temple earlier. “What do I owe you?” the fusion asked casually, even as Lars looked to them with wide eyes.

“Uh… ah… umm…” he struggled to find any words to say, though thankfully, Sadie abruptly rushed to his rescue.

“Oh, nothing!” she exclaimed insistently, gentle pushing Stevonnie’s hand away as she blushingly glanced away. “I-it’s on the house…”

“Really?” Stevonnie asked, raising an incredulous eyebrow.

“Mm hm,” both cashiers nodded their heads in unison pushing the bag towards the fusion.

“Well, if you say so,” Stevonnie shrugged with a grin as they took the bag.

“Woohoo! Free food!” Mabel cheered as they all headed for the exit.

“Yeah, but why?” Dipper frowned, glancing back at the still-awestruck cashiers as they left.

Stevonnie also looked back at them, stopping at the door to impart something of a word of advice. “But just so you know,” the fusion began, their hair concealing everything but their eyes as they glanced to the flustered pair. “That isn’t a very sound business practice.”

And without another word, they were gone, the twins departing with them as Sadie and Lars were both left in complete and utter astonishment at what they had just seen. But all the same, the kids set out, heading down the main street of town as they looked for a good spot to eat their easily acquired treats.

“So uh… I can’t be the only one who that that was weird…” Dipper said, nodding back to the Big Donut.

“What’s so weird about it?” Mabel smirked. “I mean, we got a bunch of free donuts. What could be better than that?”

“Nothing I can think of,” Stevonnie grinned, reaching into the bag. “And there’s enough for all of us! One for each of you guys,” the fusion handed off a donut to each of the twins. “One for me, and one for… uh… me.” Stevonnie suddenly came to a stop as they reached a nearby bench, not noticing as the twins went on without them. Still, Dipper and Mabel were quick to notice as they turned towards the fusion, whose expression was awash in uncertainty as they looked to the pair of donuts in their hands.

“Hey, Stevonnie?” Mabel spoke up with a worried frown. “Are you ok?”

The fusion didn’t respond, still seemingly preoccupied by the donuts, though their thoughts were consumed by something else entirely. “Uh… Stevonnie?” Dipper tried to get their attention again, and this time it worked.

“Huh?” Stevonnie blinked, glancing up with relatively wide eyes.

“Is something wrong?” Mabel asked, concerned.

Stevonnie didn’t answer right away, looking between the twins and the donuts and then finally themselves, their expression unreadable. “Um… no…” they slowly shook their head. “No, nothing’s…” they trailed off, their brow furrowing as they focused their gaze on the donuts once again.

“Uh, Mabel?” Dipper interjected with an uncomfortable frown, noticing the fusion’s rather transparent apprehension. “Why don’t we go and get some more donuts?”

“What?” Mabel asked, her mouth full as she munched on her donut. “But I’m not even done my first one yet-” She didn’t even have time to take another bite, however, before Dipper suddenly knocked the pastry right out of her hand. “Hey!”

“Oops,” Dipper remarked dryly. “Oh no, it fell. Now we have to go get more. Come on, Mabel.”

“Boo,” Mabel groaned, playfully sticking her tongue out at her brother as they started to head back to the Big Donut. “We’ll be right back, Stevonnie!”

“Yeah, okay,” the fusion nodded absently. “I… we’ll be here…” Stevonnie barely even watched the twins leave as they took in a long, somewhat wavering breath, their gaze still fixated on the donuts they were holding. “Seriously though, are you ok?” they asked themselves quietly, one half speaking to the other, though it was impossible for them to really make any distinction between them. “We can stop if you…” the paused, pulling the two donuts apart a bit before shaking their head to clear it. “No, no, it’s fine,” they reassured themselves, drawing the donuts back together. “Don’t worry.”

Stevonnie nodded in silent acceptance, taking a seat on the bench as they finally began snacking on one of their donuts. It felt quite odd to them, to at last be realizing the nature of what they really were now. Garnet had indeed said it correctly when they were neither two people nor one person, for they certainly didn’t feel like either of those. They were separate to be sure, but at the same time united in every sense of the word, sharing the same mind, the same body, the same existence. They were Steven, and they were Connie, and they were something beyond even the two of them. They were a fusion. They were an experience. They were Stevonnie.

Still, even they weren’t even sure what all of that truly meant yet.

Stevonnie was so lost in their own thoughts that they didn’t even notice the figure that had quietly stepped up to the bench they were on until they suddenly cleared their throat. The fusion glanced up in surprise, expecting to see that the twins had returned, only to see Sour Cream standing nearby instead.

“Oh, hey, Sour—faced stranger,” Stevonnie awkwardly greeted, remembering that pretty much no one would recognize them as they were now. “Wow, cool pants.”

“C-cool,” Sour Cream gulped, apparently flustered as he handed the fusion a flier. “Rave tonight.”

“Like… a dance?” Stevonnie asked, curiously looking over the poster.

“Yeah…” Sour Cream blushed, his hands in his pockets. “At the warehouse. I’m DJing, and a bunch of my friends from the internet are gonna be there. There’s gonna be free… glow sticks…”

“Yes!” the fusion exclaimed without really thinking about it, compelled by newfound excitement alone. “I’ll definitely be there! Thanks!”

“C-cool,” Sour Cream nodded, still quite flustered as he headed off. Stevonnie grinned as they looked back to the flier, hoping that this would finally provide them with the sort of “fun” that Garnet had suggested they go find. After all, what could be a better time than doing what had brought them both together like this in the first place?

“Stevonnieeeee!” Mabel called brightly as she ran up to the bench and plopped down beside the fusion, Dipper doing the same not to long after. “We’re back! And we have more donuts! Hopefully, somebody won’t waste them by throwing them onto the ground this time…”

Dipper merely rolled his eyes at this before addressing the fusion. “By the way, Sadie and Lars asked about you. From the way they talked, they really, really wanted to see you again for… some reason.”

“Well, I’m afraid we won’t have time to drop in and say hello,” Stevonnie smirked broadly. “Because I just got invited to a party.”

“Whoa, really?!” Mabel asked excitedly, looking over the poster as the fusion held it out for the twins to see. “No way! Just when I thought tonight couldn’t get any cooler, now we get to a super cool dance party! This is gonna be legendary!”

“Uh, hold on a second, you guys,” Dipper interjected. “Before we go running off to this party, you might wanna take another look at that flier. It says, ‘teens only’. So in other words, not us.”

“Aw, man…” Stevonnie sighed, leaning back against the bench. “And I really wanted to go too…”

“Wait!” Mabel gasped, excited by the idea she just had. “We may not be able to go to the party, but that doesn’t mean you can’t, Stevonnie! After all, you guys pretty much look like a teen, so no one would even know the difference!”

“O-oh,” the fusion frowned, glancing down anxiously. “Well… I guess so… but can you guys come along anyway?”

“Uh, sure?” Dipper shrugged, confused. “But why? You know we probably won’t be able to go in there with you guys, right?”

“Y-yeah, I know…” Stevonnie said, even though they internally wished that Dipper and Mabel really could accompany them. They couldn’t very well admit that though, even if a certain half of them saw no real problem with confessing their honest feelings to the twins of all people. The truth, as embarrassing as it was, was that they were using the twins as something of a crutch, a way to anchor themselves to normality, to who they were apart from their fusion. They weren’t even entirely sure why they might need such an anchor in the first place, but something inside of them both told them that they did, that they’d be at a complete loss without one. Which was why Stevonnie was rather insistent on having that anchor with them, especially at a highly social event such as the party they still very much wanted to attend. “But uh… it’d still be cool if you guys could come hang out nearby anyway… j-just for a while… I mean… you don’t have to if you don’t-”

“Are you kidding?” Mabel abruptly interrupted, hopping off the bench. “We’ll totally come, Stevonnie! Even if we can’t party with you guys, we can still cheer you on while you tear up the dance floor!”

“Heh, yeah…” Stevonnie laughed with only partial enthusiasm, their confidence starting to falter. “Tear up the dance floor… That… that’s totally what we’re gonna do…”

The rave was being held at the old abandoned warehouse at the far end of town, but as the kids arrived and scoped the party from the outside in, they could see that the decrepit factory was anything but empty tonight. A small multitude of teens and young adults, some familiar and some not, were freely dancing under the colored spotlights hung from the high ceiling. Sour Cream DJed the party from the platform high above the dance floor, composing a smooth chiptune beat using a unique setup of soundboards, keyboards, and Game Guys. As he turned the music up to an upbeat electronic melody, the partygoers cheered in excitement and vamped their dancing up to further show it.

“Whoa…” Stevonnie murmured as them and the twins surveyed the party from right outside the warehouse’s crumbled wall. “This looks… kind of intense…”

“Yeah, it does…” Dipper agreed, slightly concerned. “Are you guys sure you’re up for this?”

“Of course, they are!” Mabel cut in before Stevonnie could really answer. “You guys totally got this! Now get in there and show everyone how awesome you two are together!”

“Right,” Stevonnie nodded evenly enough, taking in a deep breath as they straightened to their full height. “We got this.” The fusion closed their eyes, putting on a brave face as they stepped into the throes of the party itself. “Well, here goes nothing.”

“Have fun!” Mabel called out after Stevonnie rather loudly, much to Dipper’s alarm.

“Mabel, keep it down!” he warned in a harsh whisper, ducking down behind the outer wall a bit. “We’re technically not even supposed to be here, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Mabel nodded before calling to the fusion again. “Have fun!” she exclaimed in only a barely quieter whisper, not even noticing as her brother face-palmed in aggravation.

Meanwhile, Stevonnie walked onto the dance floor confidently enough, though all the while, they were still trying to reassure themselves that they could handle this, even despite the curious stares they received as they sauntered through the crowd. “You got this,” they repeated in a muted whisper, noticing the stares even though they tried their best to ignore them. “I got this,” they said again, their voice much more wavering this time as they anxiously glanced back towards the twins outside. They both offered the fusion encouraging smiles and thumbs-up, but that still wasn’t enough to make them feel better, especially considering how many inquiring eyes were upon them. “We got-”

Before they could even finish their mantra, Stevonnie, not watching where they were going, happened to bump into one of the partygoers accidently. Both fortunately and unfortunately though, this particular partygoer happened to be immediately familiar to the fusion.

“Oh! Sorry, Wendy!” Stevonnie apologized before they could stop themselves, though upon realizing their mistake, they were quick to slap a hand over their own mouth. Wendy turned around hearing this, just as bewildered as all of her accompanying friends were upon taking a cursory glance at the flustered fusion.

“Uh, hey,” the cashier greeted in casual confusion. “Do I… know you?”

“Um, me?” Stevonnie asked with a forced, awkward grin. “N-no! I don’t! I mean, I-I don’t think I—I mean, I… I…” As the fusion continued to stammer on, they were hardly even paying any mind to odd stares the group of teens were giving them, and they certainly didn’t happen to notice Wendy steal a glance down at the conspicuous pink gemstone on their navel.

“No way…” she interrupted Stevonnie’s ramblings, both puzzled and incredulous as she glanced between the fusion and their gem. “Steven?”

Stevonnie completely froze up, their eyes wide and their posture hitched upon being partially found out. None of the other teens seemed to notice their alarm however as they instead all looked to Wendy in apt confusion. “Uh, Wendy?” Lee spoke up, dumbfounded. “That’s not Steven.”

“Look, I know it sounds crazy, guys,” the cashier turned to her crowd of friends. “But they have his-” Wendy cut herself off as she glanced back to where the fusion had been, only to find that they had conveniently slipped away from the party entirely.

Of course, Stevonnie had only retreated right outside of the warehouse, not hesitating to hurriedly tell the twins about what had just happened, even in the midst of their apparent panic.

“Wait, so Wendy actually recognized you guys?” Dipper asked, surprised.

“Well, she recognized Steven, but yeah, pretty much,” Stevonnie nodded, running a hand through their hair. “I don’t know how though! I thought we were being pretty discreet! Even if a ton of people were staring at us…”

“Aw, but what’s so bad about letting people know who you really are, Stevonnie?” Mabel asked rather innocently. “I’m sure if people knew you were Steven and Connie mashed together, they’d think it’s really cool, just like we do!”

“Uh… well…” Stevonnie trailed off, though they didn’t get much of a chance to explain themselves before the conversation was suddenly interrupted.

“So, Stevonnie, huh?” Wendy asked with a wry smirk as she stepped out from the other side of the wall, revealing that she had been eavesdropping.

“Wendy!” Stevonnie and Dipper both exclaimed, startled, though Mabel was much more pleasantly surprised.

“Hi, Wendy!” she greeted as brightly as ever.

“Hey, Mabel,” the cashier chuckled, crossing her arms as she looked to the fusion again. “You know, I knew that gem looked familiar. But how could I have guessed that you were both Steven and Connie! That’s pretty wild, dudes.”

“I-I can explain!” Stevonnie quickly interjected. “We—we were just dancing and then we accidently fused and then we got invited to this party and we really wanted to go, so we-”

“Whoa, whoa, guys,” Wendy cut in, confused. “Slow down. What did you say? You fused?”

“Yeah they did!” Mabel exclaimed with a grin. “It’s this super cool thing that only Gems can do, but Steven did it with Connie somehow and bam! We got ourselves a Stevonnie!”

Wendy raised a bewildered eyebrow, not fully convinced as she glanced to Dipper for verification. “She’s right, actually,” he said with a shrug. “Honestly, we couldn’t even make this stuff up if we tried.”

“Well, I guess I have no choice but to buy it then,” the cashier smirked, shaking her head. “But still, why’d you guys run away from the party? I mean, even if you two aren’t technically teens, nobody in there needs to know that. I mean, you had all my friends fooled.”

“Yeah, I know…” the fusion sighed apprehensively. “It’s just… I’m—we’re sort of worried about… I don’t really know… not fitting in, or something like that…”

“Don’t be,” Wendy encouraged with a smile. “Listen, dudes, your secret is safe with me. Go back in there and have some fun! I mean, when else are you guys gonna be able to sneak into a rad, ‘teens-only’ party like this one?”

“She’s got a point,” Dipper pointed out in agreement. “This is sort of like a crazy, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity kind of thing.”

“Yeah!” Mabel nodded zealously. “And if I were one of you guys, I’d totally take that opportunity to party as hard as I could!”

“Oh believe me, I want to,” Stevonnie said with a wistful grin. “But…”

“But your holding yourself back,” Wendy mused patiently. “It’s ok, you guys. Look, if you need any help in there, I got your back. All you need to do is cut loose and let yourselves have a good time together. You’ll feel a lot better after you do, trust me.”

“Mmm… are you sure?” the fusion asked, still somewhat uncertain.

“Positive,” the cashier nodded before grabbing their wrist and pulling them back towards the party. “Now come on! The party’s just getting started!”

“You really think they’ll be ok in there?” Dipper asked Mabel as they continued to watch the party from the other side of the wall.

“Eh, I’m sure they’ll be just fine,” Mabel shrugged with a rather unconcerned smile as Wendy managed to coax Stevonnie over to her group of friends.

“Hey, guys, I’m back,” the cashier greeted her fellow teens casually. “And there’s someone I’d like you to meet. This is Stevonnie.”

“Uh… hi,” the fusion waved to the teens as they all looked to them with welcoming nods and smiles.

“Oh, it’s Stevonnie!” Jenny exclaimed in newfound understanding. “For some reason, Wendy thought you were our friend Steven.”

“O-oh, really?” Stevonnie gulped nervously, though fortunately, Wendy cut in.

“Hey, cut me some slack, Jenny,” the cashier crossed her arms. “It’s hard to see under all these neons Sour Cream has set up in here.”

“So are you new around here, Stevonnie?” Nate asked curiously.

“Um… I guess you could say that?” the fusion shrugged, uncertain about how to explain themselves. Fortunately, they didn’t really have to as the beat thumping throughout the party suddenly picked up even more.

“Looks like Sour Cream’s pumping things up,” Buck noted as coolly as ever.

“Rave time!” Lee and Nate cheered in unison.

“You know what that means, Thompson!” Lee exclaimed with a goading grin.

“No! I’m not taking my shirt of this time!” Thompson protested hotly, though Lee and Nate were quick to provide him with the proper encouragement.

“Thompson! Thompson! Thompson!” they chanted zealously, finally wearing Thompson down just enough.

“The peer pressure’s too strong!” he cried, ripping his shirt off and waving it over his head. “Tambry, you better not post any pictures of this online like last time!”

“Too late,” Tambry deadpanned, having already uploaded an embarrassing snapshot to the internet.

“Aw, man, this is great,” Wendy laughed over her friends’ antics along with Stevonnie. “See? I told you guys you’d have a great time.”

“Heh, yeah,” the fusion chuckled warmly, a bright smile on their face as they glanced around the party with fresh eyes. Instead of something daunting or intimidating, they saw fun, lively scene, one that they could easily see themselves falling into.

And so they did.

With a spring in their step and a newfound confidence about them, Stevonnie stepped out onto the dance floor, guided by a shared sense of elation, the very thing that had brought them together in the first place. They were hardly aware of anyone watching them as they made their first moves, bold and smooth and eye-catching. Wendy and her friends were the first to catch sight of the fusion’s dancing, and needless to say they were all instantly impressed by the natural skill they were already putting on display.

Even Sour Cream spotted them from his DJing platform, pausing from his mixing to watch them for a brief moment. “Amazing…” he mused in apt awe, before returning to his composition and adding a descant to the beat just for the fusion.

And Stevonnie took to the beat quite well, their bare feet gliding across the dance floor as though it was nothing but air. A wide grin was fixed on their face as they twirled about, their long hair flying with the movement. Still heedless to the crowd gathering to watch them, Stevonnie took a running start for their next move, smoothly sliding to their knees and bringing their arms up gracefully. With each move they made, clusters of bright sparkles seemed to emerge from the fusion, only adding to the charm and allure that everyone who was watching them saw. Even though they were observing from the outside, the twins were dumbfounded into absolute silence at how Stevonnie was indeed ‘tearing up the dance floor’, to the point that they had it entirely to themselves by now. Yet still the fusion didn’t notice as they launched themselves high into the air, preforming a deft full-body twist before landing squarely on one knee with a satisfied sigh. Indeed, they had done it. They had finally achieved the night of liberating fun they had been seeking. Everything finally felt just right.

Yet it was only as the veil of contentment lifted that things started to go wrong.

As Stevonnie rose to stand once more, the very first thing they noticed were the many sets of eyes fixated solely on them. Everyone seemed to be completely amazed by the fusion, not just their dancing skills but them as well. Several members of the crowd even let out muted gasps of wonder, and several more had their mouths hanging completely agape in shock. But all the same, one thing was clear: they were all focused on Stevonnie and Stevonnie alone.

“I-I thought this was a dance party,” the fusion spoke up with a nervous laugh as they glanced around. Specifically, they looked to Wendy for help, but even she seemed to be helplessly awestruck by the stunning display Stevonnie had just put on. “W-why isn’t anyone else dancing?” No one in the surrounding crowd dared speak, for even if they could, no one would have had anything to really say, seeing as how they were all at a total loss for words. Stevonnie’s apprehensive smile quickly faded into an anxious frown, both halves of their heart racing with newfound fear, the world seeming to sink all around them. “This… this is what being cool at a cool dance is, right?” they asked no one in particular, their eyes darting around the room. “This is how it’s supposed to be… Why isn’t it like it’s supposed to be?!”

By now, the fusion had begun to hyperventilate, stress overwhelming them as they closed their eyes tightly. Yet strangely enough, when they opened them, the crowd was gone, only replaced by huge, dark, ominous shadows looming high over them on all sides. As the silhouettes began to spread higher, Stevonnie couldn’t help but feel crushingly small, especially as shards of what seemed to be glass also rose up from the floor. They never touched the fusion however, as instead a disco ball seemed to form around them, trapping them in its small, cramped spherical interior. Stevonnie’s breathing had grown frantic, their hands shaking as they looked to the spinning lights darting far too quickly around their claustrophobic, self-imposed prison. Alarmed and disoriented, the fusion spun around, desperate to find a way out of this trap, of this party, out of all of it. Every emotion they felt, especially dread and anxiety, all seemed as though they were multiplied tenfold, all threatening to tear them cleanly apart. Their shared mind was going far too fast with thoughts of fear and dismay and panic and far too many other things to even place a name to them all. They were far from the good experience they should have been; instead, their very existence was an experience rife with doubt and desperation to find out what they really were, who they really were.

And now, they were further than ever from finding that out.

Yet, before the fusion could crumble under the weight of their own insecurities, their attention was suddenly directed elsewhere as another figure suddenly stepped into their disco ball without warning. He was a young man, a teen, but one that neither of them had ever met before, clad in stylish clothes and carrying a foreboding kind of confidence about him, one that instantly set Stevonnie on guard as he calmly sized them up.

“Hey, baby,” he greeted with a smooth, flirtatious smirk, his hands on his hips as he stood apace from the fusion. Stevonnie hardly even noticed the visage of the disco ball abruptly disappear, replaced by the surroundings of the party once again. Everyone had apparently gone back to conversing about themselves, no one paying the fusion any mind except for this one lone young man.

“Huh?” Stevonnie finally spoke up, raising a confused eyebrow at the young man’s seemingly smug manner.

“Get ready,” he leaned in, offering his hand to them before smoothly sliding around them in a failed attempt at impressing them. “It’s Kevin Time.” The young man, Kevin, apparently, reached for Stevonnie’s hand once more, but this time, it was abruptly slapped away, though not by the fusion themselves.

“You better take good, long step back if you know what’s good for you, Kevin,” Wendy scowled harshly, stepping in between the fusion and the young man rather protectively.

“Wendy!” Stevonnie sighed in apt relief at the cashier coming to their rescue.

“Hey, like I said, I got your back,” Wendy glanced back at the fusion with a reassuring wink.

“Well, look who it is,” Kevin cut in with an icy smirk as he looked to the cashier. “I guess you’re really not over me after all, Wendy. Not that I blame you though; I’d get jealous too if I saw me flirting with another girl.”

“Doing what with another who now?” Stevonnie spoke up, eyes wide in alarm and confusion.

“Ugh, get real, Kevin,” Wendy rolled her eyes crossly. “I broke up with you, remember? Then again, it was probably hard for you to pay attention to me dumping you since you were too busy swooning over your own reflection.”

“Whatever,” Kevin scoffed dryly. “Why don’t you just step aside and let me and this cutie dance?”

“They’re not interested,” the cashier said tersely as she began to lead the distressed fusion away.

“Why don’t you let her decide that for herself?” Kevin asked pointedly, his hands on his hips as he sent the pair a determined scowl.

“Oh, well, uh…” Stevonnie began anxiously, beyond uncomfortable with this bizarre turn of events. “She’s right… I-I’m really not interested…”

“See? Told you,” Wendy gave Kevin a cold, triumphant smirk as they urged the fusion to take a breather outside the party. “Oh, and if I catch you messing with them again tonight, then there won’t be any teeth left in that stupid, smug smile of yours. Just keep that in mind, ‘baby’.”

The cashier didn’t even give him a chance to respond before turning on her heel and marching off after Stevonnie, joining them and the twins outside the wall. Needless to say that after seeing the fusion’s near-meltdown earlier, Dipper and Mabel were quite concerned for their wellbeing, and they didn’t hesitate to show that concern through a barrage of curious questions the moment Stevonnie stepped outside.

“Are you guys ok?” Dipper asked with a worried frown. “What happened in there?”

“I… I don’t know!” Stevonnie admitted, running a hand through their hair as they let out a deep breath. “E-everyone was just… staring at me and… and I didn’t know w-what to do or what to say! I… we just sort of froze up and panicked and… everything else was basically one huge blur after that…”

The twins and Wendy all exchanged a brief, troubled glance upon hearing this, none of them really sure of how to reassure or encourage the disconcerted fusion. So instead of trying to offer them advice that likely wouldn’t help them, Mabel instead returned to asking Stevonnie about their experience in something of an attempt to distract them from their ongoing dread. “So… who was that scummy guy you were talking to? And what did he want?”

“Ugh, that was Kevin,” Wendy interjected with clear disdain as she crossed her arms. “We dated for like, a week, a while back. But I dumped him as soon as I realized how much of a self-absorbed, sleazebag he is. Trust me, Stevonnie, he’s definitely not someone you want to hang around.”

“I’ll take your word for it…” the fusion muttered, admittedly hardly even thinking about their encounter with Kevin at the moment. Instead, their thoughts were preoccupied with their own lingering doubt. After all, they had nearly fallen apart entirely back in the party for reasons that they couldn’t honestly even explain; with the restless and fretful state they were still in, how could they really expect to stay together much longer? Their shared mind was still in a frenzy, even if that frenzy was much quieter than it had been before, but still, a frenzy nonetheless. And if being together, if being fused, brought them both such feelings of anxiety and apprehension, then was it even worth it for them to stay fused at all?

In fact, Stevonnie was so distracted by their own unspoken fears that they hadn’t even heard what Wendy had just asked them until she placed a hand on their shoulder. “What?” the fusion blinked, slightly startled out of their thoughts as they looked to the cashier with wide eyes.

“I asked you if you’re sure you guys wanna go back in there,” Wendy repeated, clearly concerned. “Because to be honest… you’re not looking like you’re doing so hot…”

Stevonnie blushed in embarrassment upon hearing this, only now realizing that they were rather pale and lightly sweating as a result of their own internal stress. Still, guided by instinct alone, the fusion quickly put themselves together again, standing up at their full height and taking in a deep, determined breath. “No, we’re… I’m fine,” they clarified convincingly enough. “After all, I-I got this.”

“Yeah, you do!” Mabel cheered encouragingly. “Go Team Stevonnie! Go Team Stevonnie!”

The fusion let out a small laugh at this zealous cheer, but even so, Wendy wasn’t fully sure that they were ready to go back inside, despite their apparent show of confidence. “Just remember, guys,” she addressed the fusion cautiously. “If you need to bail out of there for any reason, then that’s totally fine. After all, you are still new at this.”

“Yeah… you’re… right, actually,” Stevonnie mused, amazed at how being new pretty much summed everything about their experience up. And maybe, despite all of the pitfalls they had encountered thus far, they had finally realized they were indeed a new experience. Which meant that there was always a chance for them to become a truly good one eventually.

With a newfound spring in their step, Stevonnie followed Wendy back into the party, relieved and reassured by her promise to stay by their side for as long as they needed her to. The fusion figured that she was yet another anchor to them, much like the twins, but at least she was an anchor who could actually go into the party with them at least. And for them, that was certainly better than nothing.

Which was why it didn’t take long for Wendy to notice Stevonnie’s apparent sense of dependency, seeing as how closely the fusion was following behind her as they returned to the party. “Guys, don’t worry,” she sent them a reassuring smile as she glanced back at them. “You said it yourself: you’ve got this. And like I said, I’ll be here for you guys as long as you need-”

“Yo, Wendy!” Nate suddenly hurried up to the cashier with Tambry and Buck in tow. “You gotta get over here! Thompsons about to do the worm with his shirt off!”

“Ten bucks says he cuts his stomach on the floor and he cries,” Tambry glanced up from her phone to smirk at Buck, who lightly grinned in response.

“You’re on.”

“Ok, guys, just hold on a—whoa!” Wendy didn’t get a chance to convince Stevonnie to come along before Nate suddenly grabbed her by the hand to pull her over to the others.

“Come on, Wendy! You’re gonna miss it!” he urged eagerly, dragging the cashier off. The fusion instantly panicked at this, a sharp gasp escaping them as they tried to follow Wendy as her friends unknowingly whisked her off into the thick crowd.

“Wendy! Wait!” Stevonnie called after her, only to end up getting accidentally knocked back by somebody caught up in their dancing. The fusion clumsily stumbled backward, nearly falling to the ground entirely, though a stray hand managed to catch theirs and pull them upright. Yet upon seeing who their “rescuer” was, Stevonnie was anything but relieved.

“Well, hey there, baby,” Kevin greeted with a sultry smirk as he held the fusion close, not relinquishing his grip on their wrist. “Glad to see you away from that buzzkill Wendy. Are you finally ready for our dance?”

“L-like I said,” Stevonnie began, clearly uneasy as they pulled themselves away from him. “I really don’t want-”

“Playing hard to get, huh?” Kevin interrupted coyly. “I like that. Guess you just need some convincing first.” He sent the fusion a flirty wink as he stepped a pace away from them, the music seeming to become more intense as he began to dance solo. Surrounding partygoers paused upon noticing Kevin’s bold, swift, almost aggressive moves, which were certainly skillful to say the least. In fact, it seemed that the only ones not impressed by his suave and narcissistic ways, aside from Stevonnie themselves, were the twins as they continued to watch the party from afar.

“Ugh, that guy is such a creep!” Dipper exclaimed, aptly disgusted by Kevin’s egotistical behavior that could be seen even from their distant vantage point. “Why won’t he just take Stevonnie’s no for an answer?”

“Seriously!” Mabel agreed with a petulant scowl. “Somebody really outta teach him a lesson in-” She cut herself off with a sudden gasp, startling her brother quite a bit as she suddenly shook him in excitement. “Dipper! I just got the best idea ever! We should fuse, go in there, and beat the snot out of that Kevin guy for messing with Stevonnie! It’s the perfect plan!”

For a moment, all Dipper could do was send his sister an incredulous look before finally finding the words to respond to her outlandish idea. “You know, Mabel, that’s a great plan, it really is,” he said with obvious sarcasm. “Except… there’s just one tiny problem with it.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

“We can’t fuse! We’re not Gems, remember?”

“Oh yeah…” Mabel frowned in disappointment over her admittedly impossible plan being shut down. Though her disappointment quickly turned to alarm upon glancing back to the party only to realize that a certain fusion was nowhere to be seen. “Hey, where’s Stevonnie?”

As it turned out, Stevonnie had taken the first opportunity they saw to flee from both Kevin and the crowd as quickly as they could. However, instead of retreating inside, they instead rushed to a nearby wall, leaning against it as they hunched over in a desperate attempt to calm their panicked breathing. Even though there was ample space around them and in the warehouse in general, they still felt tightly cramped, as though they had been locked in a very small box from which there was no escape. Their long pent-up nervousness had finally built itself up into a might wave, one that threatened to crash upon them and tear them apart literally any second now.

“I don’t understand what’s wrong,” Stevonnie panted tightly, eyes wide as they stared at the floor. “You have fun dancing, but this dance isn’t fun. You’re supposed to like this. W-why don’t we like this?!” The fusion let out a sharp breath as they fully stood, their trembling fists clenched tightly as they looked at their shared form with emerging loneliness. “I wish you were here…” they sighed, leaning against the wall and loosely hugging themselves in a weak attempt to feel closer. But the truth was, despite all they were currently sharing, they couldn’t have felt any further apart. “If we were together, it would be ok. But… we are together, and it’s not… I… I’m alone…”

“Not tonight,” Stevonnie’s closed eyes flew open to see Kevin press his hand against the wall near their head. His constant flirty grin was still present as he looked up at the fusion almost greedily, as if they were more of a prize to be won than an actual person. “Hey baby, why’d you leave me on the dance floor?”

“I-I don’t-” Stevonnie cut themselves off upon hearing how tremulous their voice sounded. So instead, they forced themselves to be firm as they pushed Kevin’s hand away with a stern scowl. “I don’t want to dance anymore.”

“What are you talking about?” Kevin asked, clearly not taking them seriously as he brushed a hand through his hair. “We’re the best thing that’s ever happened to this place! Come back out with me.”

“Why should I?” the fusion asked defiantly, growing angrier by his callous manner by the second.

“Because we’re angels walking among garbage people,” Kevin patronized. “We’re perfect for each other.”

“How can you say that?!” Stevonnie exclaimed, aghast and infuriated. “You don’t even know us!”

“Whoa, whoa,” Kevin held his hands up, even though he was still smirking. “I’m just looking for a dance! Don’t get crazy.”

“No one is crazy! I just don’t like being alone here!”

“Well if you’re so lonely, then dance with me!”

By now, Stevonnie was beyond frustrated, scarcely able to believe just how impetuous and stubborn Kevin really was. Which was why the decided that enough was enough. If he wasn’t going to give up, then they might as well give him exactly what he wanted. “Ugh, fine!” the fusion growled hotly, sending a piercing glare Kevin’s way. “You wanna dance? Let’s go.”

Needless to say that not only was Kevin surprised at Stevonnie accepting his invitation, but he was also quite startled when they grabbed him by the arm and roughly dragged him onto the dance floor. “Oh, and it’s Stevonnie,” the fusion clarified as they scowled down at their unwanted dance partner. “I am not your baby.”

Before Kevin could even say anything to this, Stevonnie launched into a dance that was a far cry from their smooth, graceful movements from earlier. Instead, this dance was aggressive and wild, with hardly any rhyme or reason to it at all as the fusion merely flailed about in a frantic frenzy. Their hair swung about wildly as they kicked and punched the air forcefully, letting out all of their frustration and apprehension in the only way they could think of. This time, they paid no mind to the countless sets of eyes staring at them in befuddlement, nor did they even pay Kevin any thought as he looked to them, quite intimidated by just how intense they really were.

“O-okay, bring it back, girl,” he spoke up, his usual smug confidence completely gone as he nervously backed up a few steps.

By now, nearly everyone at the party had turned their attention to Stevonnie and their almost unhinged dancing style. With her friends distracted, Wendy finally managed to rush back over to the fusion, though she paused at the fringes of the gathering crowd, just as surprised as everyone else was, especially upon seeing the gemstone on Stevonnie’s navel begin to brightly glow. Still, the fusion didn’t stop dancing for a second, their stress, anger, and emotional exhaustion all finally coming to a violent collision. A collision that, ironically enough, ultimately ended up ripping them apart.

In a sharp flash of light, Stevonnie disappeared, and in their place emerged the two halves they were made of in the first place: Steven and Connie.

The pair fell out of their fusion and onto the ground rather roughly, initially too dazed by what had just happened to even make sense of what was going on. The nearby crowd let out a unified gasp of shock and disbelief, all of them taken aback and aptly surprised at the true identity of the mysterious fusion. But of course, no one was more alarmed at this revelation than Kevin.

“That’s two kids! I’m out!” he exclaimed, clearly shocked as he immediately took his leave from the party entirely.

At the same time, Steven and Connie had finally managed to regather their bearings, even if they were still getting used to the old feeling of being apart as they both tentatively sat up. “W-we’re back…” the young Gem said stiffly, his eyes wide as he looked to Connie in bewilderment. But instead of saying anything in response, she simply burst out laughing, unable to hold any of her countless emotions in any longer. As her laughter turned hysterical, Steven couldn’t help but join in, and by the time he pushed himself up off the ground, he was laughing so hard that he was essentially crying but he honestly didn’t care. Neither of them did. And after the night they just had, honestly, how could they care about anything anymore?

While the partygoers were all still frozen in shock, Sour Cream was really the only one to usher in the newfound levity as he threw out a cascade of glow sticks from his DJ platform and onto the crowd below. With no more reservations holding them back, Steven and Connie happily indulged, their laughter loud and bright as they began to run around the dance floor freely amidst the rain of glow sticks.

Of course, the twins had witnessed everything that had just happened from outside, and while Dipper was just as stunned as the rest of the crowd was, Mabel easily shared in on Steven and Connie’s elation. “They’re back!” she cheered excitedly. “And look at them go! Come on, Dipper! Let’s get in there and join the party!”

“Mabel, I don’t think we should-” Dipper didn’t even get a chance to finish his protest before Mabel abruptly grabbed his wrist and dragged him past the wall and into the party anyway. The attending teens hardly even paid the twins any mind as they rushed onto the dance floor, Mabel gladly joining Steven and Connie as they cheerfully danced about while Dipper took a place in the crowd alongside Wendy.

“Ok, this has seriously been one of the weirdest nights ever,” he remarked incredulously, watching as the others have their wild dancing.

“Tell me about it,” the cashier smirked, crossing her arms. “But hey, you know what they say: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” With a boisterous cheer, Wendy stepped out into the dance floor herself, joining in on the fun with Dipper hesitantly following soon after. Slowly but surely, the other partygoers eventually followed suit, still besides themselves with confusion over what they had seen, but even so, most of them were willing to shrug it off for the sake of continuing the party.

Still, even as the party picked up once more, Steven and Connie remained rather close to each other for the rest of the night, even if they were no longer fused. Certainly, Stevonnie had something to do with that, for as good as it felt to be apart, neither of them could deny that being together had felt even better. True, the experience had been rife with anxiety, fear, and uncertainty, but it had also been filled with excitement, euphoria, and elation, and in the end, all of those good things far outweighed the bad. Neither Steven nor Connie could deny that, for everything they had been through tonight, they would gladly do it all again if they could, if only for the warm, bright, cherished feeling of simply being together.

And that alone was a feeling that neither of them could wait to experience again someday.

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