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hausofmamadas · 3 months ago

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got me back on my shit again and i'm legit begging(?) you for part 5? like now pls? kthxbyeeee (also gif use, honored)

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Sorta feels like you’re just a part of it, part of him, part of the day and the routine, you know?

Wowweeee wowow, there is nothing constructive for me to say here except i just love this syntax, it’s giving prose, it’s giving bars, i’m already taking notes

But you’d still like to go out and do things together too, nice things, the way people do when they’re still trying to win each other.

SKSKSKS leave it to Johnny to get to like old-married couple with someone after only a month, like this man is just so over the rigamarole of trying to court someone proper, yknow and like it makes sense given the fact that he’s newly divorced like as someone who’s been through a pseudo-divorce of my own, i can tell you, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain the requisite number of fucks you should probably give when entering into a new relationshipskskskks but also like i see you Johnny and i’m with you and i respect the approach

… or sometimes someplace is everyplace, cause he likes just riding round with you.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh????????????????? once again fucking sickening concoction of words and all i can do here is stand and gaze at it, mouth hanging open, drooling like i’m just now witnessing the arrival of our space alien overlords coming to take over planet earth

Likes cutting through the night with you on the back. And you gotta say, those one’s are nice ones, cause it lets you shut everything off, which you figure is the same thing he likes about it. But if you’re really honest, most times, you don’t even get off the front porch.

See now this is another post-divorce approach to dating that i can really fucking get behind skdfjsks

Always with no requests, no offers, just, "You got a minute?" And you say, "yeah, for you I got ten," cause, well, you’re kinda starting to feel like need it. Like you’d sleep funny if you didn’t get to see him, even just for a little while.

LIKE YOUD SLEEP FUNNY IF YOU DIDN’T GET TO SEE HIM EVEN JUST FOR A LITTLE WHILE GTFOSOOOOOOSDKFJSLFJKA;LSKD;DFLJSLKDFJSLFKJALKJSDLKFJSK WHAT A BEAUTIFUL, MOVING SENTIMENT THAT’S JUST PLOPPED IN THERE SO CASUALLY???? Liek johnny is hte stuffed teddy bear you need to fall asleep at night, he just absolutely is, i don’t care if he’d kick me in the head for saying it bc he’s just mad that its the truth sksksjd

But you like to hear whatever he’s got to give, boring work stuff or not, cause then it means you’re even, you know? You can go on and on about the office and he’s got to mean it when he says he don’t mind hearing about it, cause you mean it when you say it back to him, right?

I love the like sincerity but also subtle self-interest in here bc i fully do this too of like if someone’s really passionate about something or really into something that i’m not into or have no frame of reference for or just generally don’t really even care about, i will humor someone, like listen to them so attentively, ask follow up questions, make observations, etc., not out of the goodness of my heart, but bc i know there’s absolutely gonna be some shit i’m nerding out about that’s of no consequence to them, they’re entirely uninterested in, have no idea tf i’m even saying and yes, it’s usually physics related SKSKKS but bc i’ve put in the time and effort to entertain whatever dumb thing they were on about that week, i can be on my shit about whatever dumb thing i’m into this week SKSKSKSKSKk

“You’ve got this thing,” he said one time, “this thing about you that makes me feel like I’ve slept a whole week just from being here.” And you said, “That’s those new coffee beans I got,” pointing to the ‘I heart Chicago’ mug he was cradling. “I’m serious.” But you were too. “No one’s ever thought I’m anything but real tiring,” you said.

STOOPPPPPPP THIS ENTIRE FUCKING EXCHANGE, I COULD TALK ABOUT FOR 40000 YEARS, I AM POSITIVELY DERANGED WITH ADORATION AND LOVE FOR THIS KSDKFJS like first off “makes me feel like i’ve slept a whole week from being here” is not only one of the sweetest, most heartwearming, romantic, and downright sentimental see i was right in my dannyfic that he a sentimental mf but only to certain ppl things to say but it’s also like such an interesting thing for how it sets up Lips’ response, the like, “No one’s ever thought I’m anything but real tiring,” okayokayokay everyone shut up for a second bc there are very few things that make me feel so seen in a fic, but a character that’s like kind of A Lot, like fast talking, fast moving, fast thinking, always at 10000, constantly buzzing with energy and knows they’re a lot so tries to like lessen the burden of being “Too Much” for other people, GODDFSKJLDKFJS I JUST– it’s just such a thing I’ve felt my whoel life cause this might come as a surprise, like i'm not sure if you could tell by these screamblogs, but I, myself, have been told that I’m an exhausting person to be around on more than one occasion by more than one person and when you’re someone who has that kind of personality, you do try to hold back or make yourself as small as possible so as not to overwhelm or wear down the ppl around you. it abs is a thing and you just captured it so beautifully here, and then the fact that Johnny doesn’t mind it, and finds it to be almost like a recharge just makes me love this man even more than I thought physically/mentally/emotionally possible like ughsdfjkslfja;lIMEAN MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I’VE SLEPT A WHOLE WEEK JUST FROMBEINGHEREREEREEEEEEE;ALKJSD;FAKLJSD;FLKJDSKSJDFKJDKLFJA

… it really seems like he's telling the truth. You’re winning out over coffee and a night in bed, somehow.

Bc a man who finds your passion and zest for life galvanizing and not exhausting is a Grown Fucking Adult

But he comes by so often, it ends up coming out of him in one conversation or another, and before you know, it’s been a while. A real note-worthy type of while. And Johnny Davis has kinda sorta become your Johnny, as much as you’ve become his, in a lazy porch step kind of way. And you feel like you know him almost. Like he’ll stick around, and you will too.

The way i’m reading this all pikachuwu one on hand, and simultaneously on the other hand, I’m chewing my fingernails down to my knuckles bc like just knowing you, there’s gonna be something imminent that’s going to paralyze, nay, pulverize me completelysk to the point that I’ll need to be scraped off the sidewalk like 7 week old gum that’s so old it’s turned that gross, greyish-black color and has a texture and consistency closer to cement than the gum it once was, like this is me rn waiting for the inevitable moment where it all falls apart bc I JUST SKDJFKSJFDFUCKIGN KNOW IT’S GONNA HAPPEN BC WE CAN NEVER HAVE NICE THINGS AND I ALREADY HATE YOU AND BLAME YOU IN ADVANCE EVEN THO LITERALLY NOTHING BAD HAS HAPPENED YETKSJKDJF

Mrs Saccone don’t even bother knocking no more, cause his bike’s cutting up the quiet more often than it’s not, and you reckon she got all tired of lifting up the broom like that. Or she got over it, you know, like she realised he ain’t the trouble she thought he was.

I’ve known a couple few mrs saccone’s in my day, guarantee you it’s door #1 bc a woman this bitter and nosy never willingly gives up a grudge cause she’s like reevaluated the snap judgements that she’s made of ppl SKSKSK like this kind of blind prejudice and bitterness is how some ppl live so long SKSKJ its more likely she’s just ancient and tired of shaking her fist at Johnny from her front porch KEKW

These days, you’re on the back of that thing like you know how to drive one yourself.

Idk how many more times i can repeat myself before this just becomes the most monotonous screamblog of all time but i can’t fucking help but point out THESE FUCKING BANGERRRRSSSSSSSS OF LINES YOU’RE OUT HERE DROPPING LEFT AND RIGHT ALSO ASKING AGAIN, FOR A FRIEND, ARE YOU SUUUUURRRE???? YOU’RE NOT AN UNDERCOVER AMERICAN???????? ARE YOU SURE BC NGL I’M BEGINNNING TO DOUBT THE LEGITIMACY OF YOUR ALLEGED BRITISH-NESS

Before you got the hang of it, he said he was always thinking you might come flying off one day, right up over his shoulder onto the concrete. You told him, you never knew that was a thing that could happen in the first place, but it was too late to be nervous about it by then cause you were already used to it, you know? So he got lucky with that one. Any earlier and you’d’ve said you’re not going no where fuckin near that thing, whether he was romancing you, or not.

PFFFFFFFTSKDFJSKJ not Lips somehow being fully unaware of the dangers of riding a motorcycle despite having now been on the back of one like 4000x which is arguably should be more anxiety inducing bc you’re not in control like have you ever been in the passenger’s seat and the driver is like making unsignaled lane changes and not checking their blind spot, breaking too late for your personal comfort y’know, shit like that. Imagine that but on two wheels instead of four Like my ex had a motorcycle for about 5mins and I rode on the back of that thing once and knew instantaneously the potential of like being full hamburger meat on the asphalt and we didn’t even go on the freakingskdjfksj highway

All the way out of town, and then some, right into the crap that lies in the dirt between home and the next one over.

Once again revoking your brit card, you are officially an honorary american now with this and my sincerest ondolences to you for it but what else am i supposed to do here when you’ve captured this very distinct regional accent so superbly, tell me, what am i to do

And you know why he’s done it, cause one of the storefronts has a big stack of grocery looking crates sitting outside of it, and everything else that might suggest it’s a place that’s selling bread, but you can tell it’s closed before he even puts the brakes on … And when you go back to Johnny, he seems real sorry about it. Like he could’a known.

PFFSKSJDKFJSKJSKKSKSKSKSJOHNNNYYYYYYY MY LOVE OML MY GOOD MANNNNSKDFJSK, homie needs like a couple cups of coffee or maybe some bennies aka trucker speed bc our babyboi is quite literally asleep at the wheel or might as well be skjskk maybe he and Lips should trade personalities for the day so he’s at least still paying attention whilst operating actual heavy machineryskdjfsk

There’s this sandwich place by your work, which you like more than any other sandwich place you’ve ever been to, and you never really have any excuse to go there, so in a way this is a blessing, you know. No bread, what a shame. Bologna and extra cheese please.

Idk what it is about this and like as if i could be any more endeared to Lips but apparently I can but there’s something so likable about their response to this bc tbh i think i would’ve been pretty salty about it myself and i like to think of myself as a generally easy-going, flexible person but like if i told you i needed bread and you drive me around for 3hrs going exactly nowhere beforehand so that we miss the store before it closes like could we not have acquired the bread and then taken the aimless 3hr joyride after we got said bread? It’s fine and i feel like it says a lot that their general mindset around when things don’t shake out how they’re expecting or things don’t go their way is to look for the little victories in the thing. it reminded me of the very beginning of pt 1 the whole “But what can you do? It’s in there, or out here, and you’re not in the shoes for walking, never mind running, so it’s not much of a choice at all.” Like it’s making me very

This forsure the 70th time I’ve used this ^ in the last week

about what they might’ve gone through that might’ve informed that POV. Let’s just say my eyes and ears are open and i am Ready for The Lore

“Did something happen today?” you ask him, cause no matter how he tries to fix his face, it never looks right. Looks like his mind's somewhere three miles behind you in the road still …

It’s so funny bc i feel like you’ve managed to capture something really interesting and seemingly contradictory about Johnny in the sense that he doesn’t say very much, which can make him a hard person to get to know unless you’re Benny and you understand the terse, cigarette-smoke-laden, caveman-like grumbles of a Chicago man in his 40s bc you, as a Chicago man in his 30s(?), incidentally communicate in the same terse, cigarette-smoke-laden, caveman-like grumbles like when you talk to Johnny, you could be saying a lot and getting nothing at all from him even if he seems to be enjoying the one-sided conversation sksksksk but at the same time, Johnny is not entirely inscrutable. He’s not even as inscrutable as Benny, who’s guardedness and quietude and we’ve talked about this before is not as affected as it is for Johnny. It’s a defense mechanism, sure, but it’s more instinctual and less practiced than Johnny, so to a certain extent, you kinda know what Johnny’s feeling or thinking just by the look on his face without him having to say anything. But bc he’s not always in a sharing mood skjsk you don’t always know the why of the thing. Which seems like two things that shouldn’t work in concert but they do and I think you’ve picked up on that and portrayed it very well here

Which is a long time for anything to be sitting on it, and you saw him two days ago, but he looked fine and said nothin about it then. So he’s either lying, or real good at hiding things, until he can’t hide them no more.

Yeah, so going off my prior point, it’s very like …. There’s always going to be a “until he can’t hide it no more,” he’s not somebody who I think could hold something in that’s really eatin at him for too long. Doesn’t change the fact that you literally have to dig it out of him like you're fuckinnnskdj deep ocean mining for sea salt SKFJSK

“Wanna talk about it in a way that’s not really talking about it?” He puffs a big breath out of his nose, then his head goes back and away like you’re bothering him, or something. “Come on,” he says. “No is no, you know how it is.” But sometimes how it is and how it should be aren’t really working out, you know, and today you’re feeling like reminding him of that.

OKAYOKAYOKAYOKAYOKAYNOEVERYONESITDOWNANDSHUTUPBCWENEEDTOTALKABOUTTHISUNTILIMONMYACTUALDEATHBED the “wanna talk about it in a way that’s not really talking about it,” is not only an abs inspired and genius piece of writing but it’s so obvious how well you know.👏🏽 this.👏🏽 man.👏🏽 Bc like that is so the approach you have ot take with someone who’s as emotionally constipated as these club guys aresksksk like get them to do the thing aka talk about their feelings without calling it the thing aka talking about their feelings SKSKKS you gotta couch it in some other euphemistic language so they don’t feel like a feral alley cat backed into a corner fighting for their lives sdkfjsks like it’s almost like you have to conversationally trap them in a net without them realizing it. also livelaughloving the “sometimes how it is and how it should be aren’t really working out” self-advocacy there at the end bc I feel like it’s crazy well-adjusted and you so rarely see that in fanfic. Liek I think a healthy relationship can still be super compelling and have conflict but i feel like the tendency is to lean to more drama, which is fine but it’s just a nice change of pace, somethin you don’t really see

“You know you don’t always have to keep me in one hand, and club stuff in the other,” you say. Which is what this is really all about, if he felt like saying so. “I can mix with anythin and anyone, Johnny.”

The fact that Lips can already read him like a book sksksjdkj is sending me. Like it’s very satisfying, the interpersonal competency, and it’s also very like “okay, johnny, can we do better so they’re not always to the emotional labor” fuckin’ men SKSKSKSK

His face pinches a little like he might’ve stood on something sharp. “You don’t even know what you’re asking for.” “Oh, like you and Brucie are running some big scary gang or something. Come on, Johnny.”

UGHGHGHGHSDLFJHK;ALSKJDF;AKJSD;JTHE WAY I CLUTCHED MY CHEST JUST THINKING ABOUT HOW THE MOVIE ENDS like that shot of The Kid and his two cronies gunning down those three guys and they just like drop in a line flashed through my head reading this which both brilliant and rude asf of you

“It’s not…it’s just things you got no interest in, you know. Stuff you don’t wanna waste your time on.” “How’d you reach that conclusion?” His chin flicks up. “Well, look at you." “What? I need to buy a leather jacket first?” When he laughs, you can tell that he wishes he didn’t, but he can’t help it as much as you can’t stop your mouth from saying the things it does sometimes.

NOOSKDFJSKSKJIMCACCCCKLING bc you know for a fucking fact Lips is gonna be rocking on of those B&W embroidered club shirts the ones everyone wore to brucie’s funeral in no time

Cause you and her got a real sweet understanding lately, one that means you don’t ask her why, just as long as she don’t make you feel bad for not wanting to do what she wants anymore. Best sort of deal you two have ever come up with.

GODSLDKFJSLDFJA;LKSJDF;OKAYAYYYYYYYYHEREEEEWE GO bc this goes back to my earlier point of the thing with them being so flexible and like not even just willing to look at the positive, cause it’s not like delusionally putting a positive spin bc you can’t look at the negative, but more like trying to find the little win to get thru the tough thing or inconvenience they need to get thru and I feel like i just ripped open my 7th willy wonka chocolate bar and found the goldeennnnnn ticket bc even if we don’t get a ton more detail on Lips’ personal life, it’s a little peek behind the curtain of like how did this individual come to be the way they are which is aces character development yessuh🙂‍↕️

“I’m thinkin, you’re gonna take a look at one of those guys and realise you picked the wrong one,” he says. “Ugliest one you could’ve,” he says.

JOHNNYYYYYYYYSDFKLSJ;LANOOOOOAOSDJIF;ALKSJDSDFJKSJDKKSKSKSKSKKSSKSKSKJKOHI AM LARRRRRRRRRFFFFING SO MUCH BC MY DUDE, HAVE YOU AFIXÉD YOUR EYEBALLS UPON THY UNNOBLE ZIPCO, FUNNY SONNY, I MEANSKJFSKJD HALF THESE GUYS LOOK LIKET THEY GOT FREAKIN SCURVY SDFKJSKD HALF THESE GUYS LOOK LIKE THEIR ONE CAVITY AWAY FROM LOSING ALL THEIR TEETHSKDFJSKDJ HALF THESE GUYS LOOK LIKE THEY PROBABLY STINK SO MUCH OF STALE BEER AND CIGARETTES, IF YOU EXTRACTED THE ODOR FROM THE AIR, YOU COULD SELLIT AS THE NEXT FLAVOR OF FEBREEZE N CALL IT “CHICAGO'S RAWEST OF DOGS” LIKE I KNOW ITS A JOKE to deflect from the obvious fear of Lips meeting his malewife BUT GODSLKDJFS THIS SHIT SENT ME IN A NEW WAY

Which is a load of hot, steaming horse crap. So you laugh, and he’s looking at you that way he does when he gets you to throw your head back like that.

Not this bein the most insane and visionary example of “show don’t tell” that i can think of in recent memory and i may or not be having a full-fledged bonafide conniption, beset by both rage and raptures at the fact that i didn’t come up with it myself wyou don't even know how much ihateyou

“Johnny,” you say. “Benny,” he says back. “That’s what it is,” he says, “I don’t want you meeting him.” Suddenly this guy's a real comic, who knew? You prod a finger into the meat of his shoulder, scoffing at him. “I took you for a lot of things, Johnny, but I never took you for a man who’s gonna worry about losing out to someone like that. Benny or no Benny.”

GOOOOOOOORRORRRLRLRSKDJFLSKJDFLET ME DO TEEEEELLLLLL YOU THE WAY I SAT FORWARD AND NEARLY THREW MY PHONE LIKE A HOT POTATO THE SECOND HE DROPPED THAT “Benny” BC I WAS NOT EXPECTING HIM TO FOLD THAT FAST SKDFJSKDFJ but also i like that he did bc i think it’s a testament to how much emotional and psychological safety he feels with Lips like I feel like that’s kinda a huge deal that he told them

At that, he kisses you in a way that feels like a reward, though you can’t figure out which one of you’s is winning.

I can’t even– no dude, im’ like actually tired of how many times you’ve dropped these inspired little one-liners to the point i’ve like rolled out my sleeping bag, put my little night cap on, turned off the light, and am now honk-shoo-mimimimimi-snoring so much that it’s making the little ball on my cap float upanddown upanddown like so

not me being unable to find a satisfactory gif to illustrate the aforementioned honk-shoo-mimimimi so just going with spongebob bc it always somehow applies

“Even if it’s the ugliest thing in the world,” you say. “M’tired of only getting half of you.”

Please see prior entry into the hall of grievances accolades bc write more of the same shit i’ve been saying this whole time, i cannotttttt i tell you

On the way home, he’s even telling you which ones of them you’ll like, which ones you’ll not like so much, and which ones you don’t need to bother getting to know at all—and you figure that means they’re a real extreme version of one of those other two categories, so you listen real close to that part.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHYYYYYY IS THIS THE MOST FUCKSIGNSLKDFJA;LKSDJF;LASKJDF ADORABLE, PRECIOUS, SWEETBBANGEL THING OF ALL TIME TO ME like he’s basically doing what we all do on this hellsite with each other where we just chisme about our fav characters from movies and tv shows and if someone hasn’t seen a movie or show, you kinda prep them like “oh you’re gonna LOVE [insert plot point, character arc here] but this other [insert plot point, character arc here] is gonna drive you fuckin bonkers." Like he’s essentially filling them in on his fav show that they’re about towatch for the first time SKSKS

Johnny’s gotta be there for all of it, of course—and you’ve just fixed yourself to the back of him like one of those old reliable saddlebags of his—so you gotta be there too. And, well, you’re really sort of excited about it.

OHHYOUUUU– NOT THE SADDLEBAGS METAPHOR IMEANNNNSKDJLFAKAGOOOOOOOFUCKYOURSELFYOUBEAUTIFULHORRIFYINGOFFENSIVEINSULTINGGENIUS I feel like the best way to convey and illustrate the depth of both my adoration and horror at this masterpiece of a fic you’re on is just to leave this here, bc this is my face rn, coming at you live, in real time

white room - pt.4

johnny davis x gn!reader, 18+, canon typical themes and language, 3.9k words, 4 of ? ao3 link | previous part a/n: thankyou for all the comments so far, it's really keeping this whole thing alive <3 <3 (gif credit to @hausofmamadas ! )

After that, the dates don’t feel like dates no more. Sorta feels like you’re just a part of it, part of him, part of the day and the routine, you know? Which you like as much as you don’t, cause seeing him so much is real nice—and it’s nearly every day sometimes. But you’d still like to go out and do things together too, nice things, the way people do when they’re still trying to win each other.

How it’s working now, is Johnny’ll show up some time—meaning after work, or after dinner, or after it’s gone dark and you shouldn’t be accepting visitors at all, but you do, cause it’s only him, you know—without the least bit of warning, and he’ll ask if you wanna go someplace. And someplace is either that bar you and him have sorta made into your bar, from that one night that time, or sometimes someplace is everyplace, cause he likes just riding round with you. Likes cutting through the night with you on the back. And you gotta say, those one’s are nice ones, cause it lets you shut everything off, which you figure is the same thing he likes about it.

But if you’re really honest, most times, you don’t even get off the front porch.

He comes over just to sit right there with you, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Like he pays part of the upkeep or something. Some days it’s like maybe a few minutes, other days, it’s closer to a couple hours. Always with no requests, no offers, just, "You got a minute?" And you say, "yeah, for you I got ten," cause, well, you’re kinda starting to feel like need it. Like you’d sleep funny if you didn’t get to see him, even just for a little while.

What you think it is, cause it happens so often, and real routine, you know, every Tuesday and Thursday and Sunday, you’re thinking he’s stopping by before going to one of them club meetings. Comes over just to see you, cause he knows he’s got no time for nothin else, so it’ll have to do. And believe it or not, sometimes he’s even got a couple of guys with him, but they carry on while he’s parking up, not waving bye to him or nothin, so it makes no difference really.

Then Johnny gets off, and takes a coffee when you offer it to him, and sits on the step when you got a perfectly good bench on the porch, and you sit right there next to him. Just talking and stuff. Saying lots without really saying much; small talk that’s a little sweet and a little boring, too. How’s your day, you know, what you been up to.

Funny enough, more often than not, his days are just as boring as yours are. Just bikes and trucks and roads with nothing much else on them. Occasionally, he’ll have a little sort of gossip on someone, like Corky pissing Wahoo off about something, but by the time you see him next, they’ve already gone right back to being best buddies, and Johnny’s got nothin more to say about it.

When he’s done talking, he sets the empty mug down and says, see ya, Lips, and then sometimes he kisses you, and sometimes he don’t, and you watch him ride off like he’s already got you down with a mortgage and a ring and everything else that would have a person waving him off like that. You don’t mind so much. About the kisses, or the little talks you guys have. It’s just like stopping for gas, you figure. He’s only there to fill himself up before he goes back into that wolf den, and if it’s you he’s filling up on, well, that’s more of a compliment than anything else he’s ever said to you.

“You’ve got this thing,” he said one time, “this thing about you that makes me feel like I’ve slept a whole week just from being here.”

And you said, “That’s those new coffee beans I got,” pointing to the ‘I heart Chicago’ mug he was cradling.

“I’m serious.”

But you were too. “No one’s ever thought I’m anything but real tiring,” you said.

“They tell you that?”

“In some way or another.”

“Well, they’re wrong, alright? S’not like that for me.”

Feels crazy to say so, but from the look of him when he arrives, and the look of him when he gets back on that bike to leave again, then sure, it really seems like he's telling the truth. You’re winning out over coffee and a night in bed, somehow.

Before you can even notice it, a whole month goes by, and it’s all cause of Johnny.

His little porch-side pit stops make one day go flying on into the next, and the next, and so on, and stuff. Then all of a sudden, you’re telling him about the signet ring that was your Pop's—so that’s why you wear it on your thumb like that—and telling him about the year you worked in Minnesota—cause that's where your grandparents lived—and you sort of do kinda tell him about Mom, but not really. Cause that would tire him out, no matter how flattering he’s trying to be.

Somewhere in that month he starts saying things about his kids, and Betty too, that you never really thought he’d ever say to you—cause why would he, you know? There's somethings even you wouldn’t ask about. But he comes by so often, it ends up coming out of him in one conversation or another, and before you know, it’s been a while. A real note-worthy type of while. And Johnny Davis has kinda sorta become your Johnny, as much as you’ve become his, in a lazy porch step kind of way. And you feel like you know him almost. Like he’ll stick around, and you will too.

There he comes again now, see, turning down your street right as you put the coffee pot on. You don’t drink it after work, or ever really, but he does. For the meetings, like you said. So it works better to have it ready for him. Mrs Saccone don’t even bother knocking no more, cause his bike’s cutting up the quiet more often than it’s not, and you reckon she got all tired of lifting up the broom like that. Or she got over it, you know, like she realised he ain’t the trouble she thought he was.

Johnny says it’s cause he saw her once and said hello, all polite and charming, so now she likes him. Yeah. Sure, you said, couldn’t be that she’s eighty something, you know, and can only bang a broom on a wall so much. Plus, she don’t like anyone that ain’t related to her, but, eh, if Johnny wants to think he’s wooed her then it’s whatever. Both of them are fine about it, or at least not causing some sort of neighbourhood war for you, so who cares?

“Hey Johnny.”

You’re already out waiting for him by the time he’s outside, cause you hear the engine long before you can see him, and he pulls up over the driveway that never gets any use no more. He don’t shut the bike off like he usually does, though. Just sits there with it running under him, feet flat either side of it.

He nods at you greeting him, then says, “Wanna go for a ride?”

So it’s one of those days. A Wednesday, you remember.

“Where to?”

He shrugs, and he looks real tired today, now that you’re looking at him proper. His eyebrows all low and lazy over his eyes. “Nowhere,” he says.

Well, that’s good enough for you. “Alright,” you tell him, “as long as nowhere leads somewhere that sells some bread. I’m all out.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Gimme a sec.”

These days, you’re on the back of that thing like you know how to drive one yourself. So quick and professional about it, Johnny don’t even have to help you up no more. Just trusts that you can climb on and off all by yourself, and that you know when to lean and squeeze your knees, and all that other riding stuff too. Which you figure must be nice for him now, cause it means he don’t gotta worry about anything other than the road.

Tonight, you’re going for miles before Johnny shows any real sign of stopping. All the way out of town, and then some, right into the crap that lies in the dirt between home and the next one over. When he does, the sun’s only barely clinging on over the top of the horizon, which must be why he’s picking now to pull over someplace, cause if he waits too long it’ll be dark, and cold. Though, you never notice the cold when you’re out riding no more, not like you did that first time, cause when you’re wrapped right up in the warm of him that’s all you can focus on. But he’s forgotten his gloves today, and his hands will sure complain about that once the sun's gone.

He’s picked some little row of storefronts that you’ve never seen before, rolling into the lot with his bike in neutral. Not firing or purring or anything, just cruising in, real slow, with one hand on the bars and the other on his thigh.

And you know why he’s done it, cause one of the storefronts has a big stack of grocery looking crates sitting outside of it, and everything else that might suggest it’s a place that’s selling bread, but you can tell it’s closed before he even puts the brakes on. Lights off, blinds down. You get off and have a look through the window just in case, like the guy might be in there behind the counter still, but nope. It’s as empty as it looks.

And when you go back to Johnny, he seems real sorry about it. Like he could’a known.

He’s got his bike parked up and quiet now. Got it standing slanted on that little stand that don’t look like it can really hold the weight of the thing, let alone that and Johnny, who’s leaning against the lean of it, too. Two big hunks of stuff on one little arm.

“Guess I’m not taking lunch tomorrow,” you tell him. Which you regret as soon as you do, cause then he looks like he feels even worse about it, wincing a little, and you were only saying something just to say it.

“I might have some at my place,” he says, more like an apology than a real offer of anything. “I guess we could stop by on the way back.”

You wave him off. “Don’t worry about it.”

“We gotta think of some other place to go now,” you say, messing with the loose thread in your jacket pockets, while Johnny messes with the cigarette he’s not bothering to light yet.

Probably planned on smoking it while you were in there shopping. Now he’s just tapping the end of it on his thigh, then flicking it round, and tapping with that end too. Which is a little more fidgety than he usually is, now that you’re thinking about it.

“Did something happen today?” you ask him, cause no matter how he tries to fix his face, it never looks right. Looks like his mind's somewhere three miles behind you in the road still, and with the tapping, and the tiredness. Yeah, you don’t need to be one of those brain doctor guys to work it out. You don’t even need to know him the way you do. Any Joe could look at him and think something was up, some way or another.

“Something like what?” he says.

You wait some more. You’re not feeling like knocking around the bush about it.

“S’okay,” he goes on. “Just somethin’, some trouble the other day. Last week. Still sitting on my mind a little, is all.”

He shakes his head.

“Wanna talk about it in a way that’s not really talking about it?”

He puffs a big breath out of his nose, then his head goes back and away like you’re bothering him, or something. “Come on,” he says. “No is no, you know how it is.”

But sometimes how it is and how it should be aren’t really working out, you know, and today you’re feeling like reminding him of that.

You move forward until you’re standing right in front of him, and cause he’s sitting and leaning the way he is, that means he’s looking up at you now. And with his legs crossed at the ankles the way they are, they’re going straight between your knees like some big lazy bean pole. Which you figure puts him right where you want him.

“I know that.” He rubs a palm down over his face, then shrugs and says, “But I don’t want you mixing with it.”

“Why not?”

“Cause it’s not—you don’t need all that.”

“I think I do.” Cause he is all of that, not just cause he’s club president, but because he’s Johnny, and the club, the guys, it’s all a part of him—and yeah, sure, you’re really starting to need him, alright, which means needing all of that, too. “I can handle it.”

His face pinches a little like he might’ve stood on something sharp. “You don’t even know what you’re asking for.”

“Oh, like you and Brucie are running some big scary gang or something. Come on, Johnny.”

You’ve not met Brucie yet, not properly, but from what Johnny says, he’s as normal as anyone. An electrician that helps him count dues and wire up telephones. Johnny’s right hand and best friend, it’s cute, yeah, and no different from anyone else they run about with. Whatever he’s painting to try and scare you off, you’re not buying it. You might’ve in that pizza place that one time, but now?

He sighs, looking even more tired than he was when you started pecking at him. “It’s not…it’s just things you got no interest in, you know. Stuff you don’t wanna waste your time on.”

“How’d you reach that conclusion?”

His chin flicks up. “Well, look at you."

And you do, you look down your front and your jeans and the boots you never wore until you started riding with him. “What? I need to buy a leather jacket first?”

When he laughs, you can tell that he wishes he didn’t, but he can’t help it as much as you can’t stop your mouth from saying the things it does sometimes.

“You know, my mom’s on some crazy pilgrimage right now,” you say.

Then Johnny does what anyone would do and says, “What?” like you started speaking a different language mid-sentence.

“Yeah, said she was going to San Francisco for a little while, to see some guy and learn some yoga, or something. But now she’s in Europe, trying to be one of them, I don’t know, sort of spiritual guide people, and going place to place looking for something she can’t even explain to me.” You clear your throat from the little frog in it. “Which isn’t the point,” you say.

His head shakes like he’s lost. “What is the point?” he asks, impatient in a kinda charming, sort of irritating way.

“The point is, she’s a funny sort of person, and before she was doing all that, when I was a kid, you know, she was always moving us about and stuff. Always dragging me along with her when I was too small to be doing things like that.” You fold your arms and Johnny don’t say nothin, so you carry on a little. “We were going all over the country, near enough, and staying with all sorts of people that I never saw more than once.”

He frowns. “What for?”

“You’d have to ask her that yourself.” Cause you and her got a real sweet understanding lately, one that means you don’t ask her why, just as long as she don’t make you feel bad for not wanting to do what she wants anymore. Best sort of deal you two have ever come up with. “All I’m saying is, I saw some real weird shit before I even learned how to read eight letter words. And I bet you not one thing about that club of yours would surprise me. Or scare me, or whatever it is.”

He nods slow like he’s thinking about it. Which you figure is him being nice, cause he’s probably only nodding to buy him time to work out what to say when a person says something like that, admitting something personal that no-one likes hinting at, you know. Like Moms not being very good moms when they ought to have been. Like kids not getting to be kids, and stuff.

“See, I’m not worried about that part,” he says.

Well. That sweeps you right off your feet almost, cause you figured that was his whole deal. “You’re not?”

One of his hand wanders up your leg til it’s sitting on your hip, with his thumb through the belt loop there. “I’m thinkin, you’re gonna take a look at one of those guys and realise you picked the wrong one,” he says. “Ugliest one you could’ve,” he says.

Which is a load of hot, steaming horse crap. So you laugh, and he’s looking at you that way he does when he gets you to throw your head back like that.

“Don’t do that when I’m being serious,” you tell him, trying to stop yourself from smiling, but not really stopping at all.

“Who’s not being serious?”

“What is it really?”

“Just what I said,” he insists. But he’s smirking in his eyes so you know that he’s lying.

“Johnny,” you say.

“Benny,” he says back.

You stop. “What?”

“That’s what it is,” he says, “I don’t want you meeting him.”

Suddenly this guy's a real comic, who knew? You prod a finger into the meat of his shoulder, scoffing at him. “I took you for a lot of things, Johnny, but I never took you for a man who’s gonna worry about losing out to someone like that. Benny or no Benny.”

That hand on your hip squeezes you a little, and pulls you in closer than you already are. “Yeah?” he says, smiling cause you’re feeding his ego now, and you don’t mind one bit about doing it.

“None of those guys are even my sort,” you tell him. “Wouldn’t pay them no mind, even if you never existed.”

At that, he kisses you in a way that feels like a reward, though you can’t figure out which one of you’s is winning. It’s all short and sweet and soft against those lips of his, and just when you're thinking like he might take it somewhere further, cause his hand’s sliding round to the back of you, he pulls away and looks right into your eyes. And you’re so close together, you’re sorta going cross-eyed to look back at him.

“You really wanna get involved?” he asks.

“Yeah, I really do.”

“Even if it’s not pretty, or whatever?”

“Even if it’s the ugliest thing in the world,” you say. “M’tired of only getting half of you.”

He nods, and it’s so slight you wouldn’t have even noticed if his chin didn’t budge against yours, stubble scratchy and forgiven for it. “Alright, then.”

You lean back to put some air and sense between the two of you. “Really?

“If it’s what you want,” he says, like it was always that easy.

Yeah, it’s what you want, you tell him, in a sort of a way. In a kind that has that little bike stand screaming for help kinda way. Kissing him so much, he don’t know whether to push you back, or lie down on that seat and let it all happen.

And then that’s that, you guess, flood gates lifted. You get to know about club stuff, as long as Johnny don’t mind you knowing, and he don’t seem so reluctant to have them meeting you no more. On the way home, he’s even telling you which ones of them you’ll like, which ones you’ll not like so much, and which ones you don’t need to bother getting to know at all—and you figure that means they’re a real extreme version of one of those other two categories, so you listen real close to that part.

You don’t ever find out what was getting him looking tired that way, not really, but he does say they’re opening a new chapter now, after some debating about it. Which sounds like something that’d be a real headache to sort out, so you figure that must’a been it.

It’s also how you find yourself invited to one of those picnics of theirs, whatever that means. The first one where this chapter and Milwaukee’s chapter are all getting together, a real big one, apparently. So naturally you says you wanna go and Johnny says alright. Alright, you know.

Pick you up early next Saturday, he says, cause apparently you gotta ride for a while, and these things go from when the first bike arrives til the last one leaves again. Johnny’s gotta be there for all of it, of course—and you’ve just fixed yourself to the back of him like one of those old reliable saddlebags of his—so you gotta be there too. And, well, you’re really sort of excited about it.

~~~~~~~~~~

taglist: @garbinge @drabbles-mc @raven-black102 @lyralu91 @hoodeddreams13 @businesscalamity

#screamblog #bikeriders #johnny x reader #johnny davis

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deanwinchesterswitch · 3 years ago

Text

Run To You ~ Chapter Ten

Chapter Summary: Kasey and Dean grow closer as they each come to a realization about their current feelings.

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Kasey Belmont (OFC)

Warnings: Language; FLUFF; Dean’s internal monologue; A bit of angst, and self-analysis

Rating: Mature 18+ (due to later chapters) NSFW

Word Count: 6127

Series Master Post

Beta: @princessmisery666

Movie Reference/Quote: None

Author’s Notes: This is an AU. While there are several SPN characters mentioned, basically no one has the same connections as they did in the show, and Dean and Sam are not related.

Written for: @jay-and-dean -Jay’s 3K Celebration and @spnaubingo.

SPNAUBingo Square Filled: Fugitive AU

**ETA - Updated title card and format 3/14/23**

Kasey can't sleep, frustrated that she can’t dive in headfirst. Patience and time are not her friends. She’s limited in what she can do until the computer and documents that Sam will be sending are delivered.

Rolling to her side, she pulls a notepad and pen from the drawer of her nightstand before shifting up to lean back against the headboard. Chewing on the cap of the pen, between making notes, she finds her mind drifting to thoughts of Dean and the meltdown she had in front of him. It certainly wasn't a display of professionalism, and she hopes it won’t mar his opinion regarding her legal prowess.

What the hell was that about anyway? He’s the one going through a traumatic experience. He doesn’t need someone who will get emotional at the drop of a hat. He needs someone strong, someone, who’s willing to stand up and fight for him.

The air around her suddenly seems oppressive. Tossing the pen and paper to the side, she slips from the bed to open her window. The cool breeze that flutters the curtains and whispers over her skin is refreshing after the sultry heat of the day. The night is clear, stars twinkling brightly in the midnight indigo sky. Still restless and now fully awake, Kasey decides to sit out on the porch for a while. She carefully avoids the squeaky floorboard near her door, not wanting to disturb Dean, whom she heard enter the bedroom below about an hour ago.

She doesn’t need it for warmth, but she drags her favorite hand-stitched comforter onto the porch, wrapping it around her shoulders as she sits on the swing. It always makes her feel like her grandmother is hugging her, and she needs that right now. Kasey tucks a leg beneath her; the other dangles over the edge, toes pushing off the boards to set the swing in motion.

Staring out at the stars, she breathes deeply, silently seeking advice from the two most influential people in her life, finding comfort in her memories of them and the lessons they taught her.

Eventually, her thoughts wander again to Dean. She can’t seem to escape him. Has it truly only been two and a half days since she last sat here, lazily enjoying the afternoon before Dean staggered out of the field? Mind shifting through the events of the past sixty-odd hours, she searches for the strand of thought that has been weaving itself through her subconscious. The one she hasn’t been able to find the end of yet.

She’s been feeling like her life has jumped the rail and is careening out of control down the side of a cliff. She is so far away from the person she had been and even further from the person she wants to be, and not in a good way.

Talking to Sam appeared to have unlocked the door to the memories and emotions she had buried deep inside her. But why now? It wasn’t like they had a heart-to-heart. She contacted him to call in a favor. A favor she was more than entitled to. So why had she become so unexpectedly emotional? She was desperate to convince him to help her, to help Dean.

Sam’s right. There are experienced and capable lawyers locally who could handle this matter. Still, Sam is the only person she can truly trust with a case that is rapidly becoming a personal crusade. He had every right to caution her about the Fremont case. It had been at the forefront of her mind since she decided to take this on. She had turned that case into a crusade for a different reason, and an innocent man had been killed, leaving behind a wife and baby girl.

Dean’s case is different, though. It doesn’t have anything to do with the mafia. He’s just a man mired in a bad situation, not unlike most of her previous clients. So why is this turning into more for her than simply correcting an injustice of the legal system? The obvious answer is Dean, but she senses there’s something else frustratingly out of her reach. Like a shadow in the peripheral of her eye that she can’t quite see—a harbinger.

It seems like everything that has happened the past couple of days has triggered a need to redirect her course. Precipitated her arrival at a proverbial crossroads, and this time, her gut tells her that no matter which direction is chosen, the path will profoundly affect her life. There will be no u-turns, no going back to the rut she had been stuck in the past two years.

Sam is her closest friend and has been for nearly half of her life. He’d always been the safety net at the bottom of the chaotic free fall of her existence until she finally crash-landed two years ago. It stands to reason that she would want him to know that she is finally coming to terms with the events of her past. However, it still doesn’t explain the wave of overwhelming emotion in that moment.

Growling in frustration, she pushes off the seat, nearly tripping on the comforter as she begins to pace. Moments later, she flops back onto the swing, leaning back with both feet planted on the floor stopping the swing’s motion mid-sway.

It had been fear—unmitigated, unequivocal fear—that Sam wouldn’t help, of the changes that are hitting hard and fast, the worry that they might not win, concern that Dean may spend the rest of his life in jail, or worse. Kasey’s no stranger to dread and apprehension, but this is different. It isn’t just about herself; it concerns Dean too.

But what of Dean? He is, after all, a stranger. What does he have to do with your emotional upheaval?

While technically not her client, she had agreed to assist with his case through Sam; decided to be a part of his defense team. So, in a roundabout way, he is her client. This is a business arrangement, nothing more. So why doesn’t it feel like one? The problem is that she’s crossed lines that should never have been crossed and done more for him than she would for any client.

Reflecting on the past two days, she knows she felt him out there. Felt him before she’d laid eyes on him, like an itch under her skin, the ghost of a shiver down her spine, a premonition. Could he honestly be the catalyst? Or is he just the mirror being held up to show her what she already knew?

Closing her eyes, she seeks out the thread she knows will lead her to the answer. Kasey replays the conversation with Sam in her mind. The joking, the nervousness about telling him, the anticipation of his response, reaching for Dean, needing that connection and seeking the comfort she knew she would find in his touch.

If Dean had asked her why she sought solace from him, she wouldn’t have been able to put it into words, not then, but everything has been so unexacting with him. The amiable communication, the casual flirting, and the natural way they accommodate each other. All of it so new and yet so familiar. That same sense of familiarity had been reflected back to her tonight when he didn’t let go, silently offering support in the soft smile he’d given her.

Holy shit!

She bolts upright, eyes opening wide in surprise at seeing a shooting star. While not all that uncommon, especially in the dark, clear skies away from the city, it’s been a long time since she’s seen one. Maybe Dean has a point. Perhaps the universe is trying to tell them something. They were both running away from a life that had betrayed them. Maybe now they have something… someone to run to.

The hard thump of her heart against her rib cage makes her gasp. In that single beat, like the click of a gear aligning itself, the reason for the wild swing in her emotions falls into place. In two short days, this man—a man she should have dismissed upon his arrival—has managed to strip away layers of pain and loneliness and effortlessly slotted himself into her small world. Not only has he given her a new sense of purpose, but he’s also managed to reawaken feelings that she had locked down in the deepest part of her heart.

No. It’s not possible. I don’t know anything about him. Except that he’s charming, intelligent, considerate, funny, can cook, and a fucking male model. Stop! He’s a convicted felon accused of murdering his wife. What if I can’t prove his innocence? What if he really did commit the crime? What if he actually is like Bundy, and now I’m trapped in this scenario with him?

Kasey vehemently shakes her head. “No. The universe can’t possibly be that cruel. You wouldn’t let that happen, would you, Grandpa?” she breathes into the inky stillness around her.

Yes, there’s an aura of danger about Dean, exuberant energy simmering just below the skin, like a barely contained live wire. Yet, there’s a stillness that comes from being comfortable in his own skin, from accepting who he is and not being ashamed to show his truth. As much as she hates to admit it, she knew who he was and what he’d be to her the moment she laid eyes on him. It was like she’d known him for decades.

Whether providence or happenstance, what they are about to face will undoubtedly be a challenge, but she’s been overcoming challenges her entire life, even making a living out of it. This one may take every tear, drop of sweat, and ounce of blood, but she will gladly give it all to ensure that Dean is safe and, above all, free.

A sense of calm swells inside her with that awareness. Her heart and soul are more at peace than they have ever been. Pulling the quilt tighter around her, she snuggles further into the swing’s cushions and sends a silent thank you to her grandparents.

Dean can’t sleep, frustrated that there doesn’t seem to be anything he can do to help Kasey. He’s never had much patience, and time is definitely not on his side. He hopes that whatever that guy, Sam, is sending gets here quickly.

Dean rolls to his back and stares up at the ceiling, trying to focus on the details of his defense and where things went wrong, but it doesn’t take long before his thoughts drift to Kasey. She was happy, excited about her friend taking on the case but had been in tears by the end of the call.

She had run out of the room without an explanation as soon as she could. He had tried to decipher what the last part of their conversation had meant. Kasey had told Sam that it wasn’t ‘just for him’, which Dean took to suggest there was something in it for her. He’s pretty sure it has something to do with why she ran away from her previous life, but it could be anything. It’s not like he knows that much about her. There’s part of herself she keeps hidden, he can sense it, but he doesn’t take it personally. She keeps those parts locked away, even from herself.

He had wanted to go after her, find out why she was so upset, and offer her a shoulder or an ear, but it didn’t feel right to intrude. After all, he’s only known her for two and a half days. Why would she want comfort from him? Kasey had reached out for him, though. She had clung to his hand as she gave an impassioned speech defending him to her friend.

At first, he thought it was to reassure him, but the way she had held onto him and looked into his eyes, searching, like she was trying to read his soul while pleading with the man on the other end of the line to help her help a man she doesn’t even know, made him think that she needed the reassurance just as badly. He had clutched her hand tighter, hoping to convey the gratitude he felt while trying to keep his feelings in check. The way she had spoken about him made his chest tighten around his wildly beating heart; he knew his eyes had misted over more than once while he listened to her.

His emotions have been all over the place, and he wonders if she thinks he’s nothing but a sniveling idiot. It’s just that he’s never had anyone stand up for him like she did or made him feel like his life matters, that he deserves a place in this god-awful unforgiving world. She gave that to him the second she allowed him to step onto her porch. He also knows that finally having a chance to slow down has partially been the catalyst for the emotional meltdowns. After being bottled up for so long, all the pent-up rage, stress, and fear are finding a release.

Dean throws off his covers, the air in the room suddenly stifling. Slipping on a t-shirt and the pajama pants Kasey had loaned him, he makes his way out of the room as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake her.

He’d memorized which floorboards needed to be fixed while she was out doing chores earlier and deftly avoids them as he quietly slips outside, careful not to let the screen door slam shut behind him. Standing in the middle of the porch, he inhales a lungful of the refreshing night air, letting it out slowly.

“Can’t sleep either?”

Dean nearly jumps out of his skin. Placing a hand on his chest, he turns toward the sound of her voice, growling, “Fucking, hell! You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Kasey laughs and scoots to the side, patting the space beside her. “Come on, take a load off.”

Dean shuffles over, mindful not to jostle the seat too much as he sits. She tucks her other leg, letting him take over the rhythmic sway of the suspended bench. The silence stretches between them, but it’s not uncomfortable. If anything, it’s soothing, a relief to his overloaded senses. Quieting his mind still seems to be an issue, though, so after a few minutes, he clears his throat. “Uh, listen, I, uh, I’m usually not such a wuss. I’m sorry for all the blubbering I’ve been doing.”

“It’s okay; I get it.” She leans away from him, and he hears a match strike. Seconds later, a dim golden glow from a lantern on the table illuminates the area around them. Shaking out the match, she places it in a small tin on the floor. “Honestly, I’d be worried if you weren’t showing any emotion.”

Dean remains silent, staring out into the night. She lays a hand on his thigh and gives it a gentle squeeze. Without thought, he rests a hand on top of hers, fingers slipping around her palm.

“You’ve had to deal with the death of your wife, a very public and very stressful trial, being locked up in a jail cell, and on the run for about two weeks now. I doubt you’ve had the chance to process any emotions other than anger and fear. Your body is just finally catching up.”

Dean briefly tightens his hold on her, relieved that she understands. It all seems so effortless and straightforward with her. It’s like she’s known him for years, can sense what he needs, what he’s feeling, without him saying a word. He’s never seen the altruism and decency that she radiates, never had that empathy directed at him, and he worries that he may taint her in some way—that all the ugliness of his life will bleed into hers and ravage the beauty and integrity he sees in her.

Kasey shifts, dropping her feet to the floor. “If anyone should apologize, it should be me. That comment about you allegedly only killing one person was indelicate.”

“Nah, it was funny. Just caught me off-guard.” Smiling, he admits, “Honestly, if the situation were reversed, I would have said the same thing.”

“Yeah, well,” she smiles back, “it still wasn’t the most appropriate thing to say, and I’m sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect.”

For the sake of his sanity and to ward off another potential bout of waterworks at how thoughtful she is, he changes the subject. “There are so many stars. Little pinholes of light.”

“It’s beautiful. Isn’t it? Did you know this is one of the darkest parts of the country? Every year the state holds a Star Party in a reservoir a few hundred miles from here. People come from all over to gaze at the stars each night, maybe even catch a meteor shower.”

Kasey turns her hand, entwining their fingers as she stands. “Come on; I want to show you something.” Kicking the edge of the quilt out of her way, she leans back, trying to pull him out of the seat when he doesn’t immediately stand. “You’re going to love it. Let’s go.”

“Alright, alright. Want me to grab the lantern?”

“Nope,” she gently yanks on his arm, bare feet tapping the floor, “just come on.”

Leaning over, he picks up a corner of the blanket and then stands. “If we’re going to go trolling around in the dark, I don’t want you to break your neck.”

The night swallows them as they step onto the yard. The grass is soft and cool. The slender blades slip between his toes and tickle the soles of his feet. It’s been a long time since he’s walked around barefoot, and he looks down, trying to make out the shape of his toes as he wiggles them. It’s so dark, though, and his eyes haven’t adjusted yet. He hesitates, wondering if he should go back for the small light, despite her denial to bring it.

As if reading his mind, she pulls on his hand. “Just stay close. I’ll make sure you don’t fall.”

What if I already have?

He chuckles and places the hand holding the comforter on her shoulder, following close as she guides him to the rear yard. She doesn’t let go of him until they are a few feet from the house, shrugging out of her makeshift cape and spreading it over the ground with his help. If it were up to him, he’d never let go.

“See, I told you I’d keep you safe. She smiles up at him as she sinks onto the soft cotton, beckoning him to join her. “Get down here.”

Kasey lies back as he takes a seat next to her. Eyes more accustomed to the darkness, he swallows thickly, watching as she does a full-body stretch, arms above her head, back arching. “Ahh, this feels good,” she sighs as she settles into the quilt, hands resting on her stomach, fingers entwined. “I haven’t done this in ages.”

Two days.

It’s only been two days, he reminds himself. How can he be such a goner for her already? He wonders if it’s a form of Stockholm Syndrome, quickly dismissing the thought because, one, it’s only been two days, and B he’s not Kasey’s captive, at least not in that definition. Still, he thinks he may very well be on his way to becoming a captive of her heart.

Stop it! The two of you are not soulmates or some bullshit like that. You don’t even believe in soulmates.

“Dean, are you okay?”

The stroke of her fingers along his forearm startles him, and he shifts uncomfortably beside her, glad for the lack of light because thoughts about soulmates aren’t the only ones he’s having. The pads of her fingers are so soft, but her grip is firm and confident, and he would love to feel it around his dick.

What the hell? Reel it in! You’re either being a pathetic basket case or a horny douchebag. Pick a side already?

He clears his throat, trying not to choke in the process. “Uh, yeah. Just thinking that I haven’t thanked you for calling your lawyer friend for help. I guess, uhm, I’m a little nervous about it too.” He hears the weakness in his voice and groans inwardly.

Way to go, dude. So much for keeping those emotions in check.

Kasey turns onto her side, leaning on her arm, and her other hand comes to rest on his knee with a gentle squeeze. “You’ve thanked me enough, Dean. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think it was the right thing to do or thought I couldn’t help. I also wouldn’t have called Sam if I wasn’t confident in his expertise in law and ability to be discreet.” Lying back down, she pronounces. “No more talk about your case. Lie down and look up.”

Dean chuckles and does as instructed, stretching out next to her and placing an arm behind his head. The sky above them is stunning. It’s like one of the pictures he’s seen on EarthSky or some other astronomy website. “Wow!” Her soft laugh makes him snap his gaping mouth closed. “I’ve never seen the Milky Way this… clearly. It’s awesome.”

“Do you see the Summer Triangle?”

“No.”

“That’s Deneb in Cygnus,” she states, pointing directly above her. “And that’s,” she leans into him, pointing to his right, her warm breath fanning his cheek, “Vega in Lyra, and there,” her finger now points in the direction of their feet, “is Altair in Aquila.”

When she lies back, her shoulder presses against his, their arms resting side by side, and like they are in some damn chick flick, he reaches for her hand. There’s not a second of hesitation before she slips her fingers between his, their palms pressed together. His pulse skitters and he crosses his ankles, thankful that the pajama bottoms fit loosely around him. Even with excitement coursing through him at her nearness, a calmness settles into his bones, and his body relaxes, his mind finally quieting, letting him concentrate on just being close to her.

“I used to do this all the time when I was a kid and when I first moved back. It always helped to ease the tension and anxiety.” Her thumb skims along his index finger, her voice becoming a whisper, “I couldn’t do this in the city. There was always too much going on. Always too bright.”

Dean taps the fingers of his free hand on his stomach, trying to push back the thought of how he wants to bring her hand up and kiss each knuckle. “I used to drive when I needed to think or blow off some steam,” he says, ignoring how easy it would be to turn his head and kiss her temple before resting their entwined hands on his chest. “I’d hit the open road until I found a secluded spot I could pull off in, then I’d lay on the hood of my car and just stare up at the sky for hours.” Though he doesn’t turn to kiss her, he can’t stop, doesn’t want to stop, his thumb from brushing over the back of her hand.

“Sounds like heaven.”

She sighs, and he wonders if it’s a consequence of imagining the scene he’d told her about or because she’s as content as he is just by being next to her. Kasey’s not the only one that’s good at reading people, and he’d be willing to bet that it’s a little of both. He hopes it’s a little of both. She hasn’t stopped touching him since he sat beside her on the porch. Though he has enough common sense not to make the first move because there’s no way he’s going to take a chance on being proven wrong and fuck everything up. So he tells himself to be satisfied with the feeling of her silky skin beneath the calloused pad of his thumb.

“Yeah. I miss my Baby.”

“You have a baby?” She sharply turns her head to look at him, shock and confusion evident in her voice. “You didn’t tell me that? What’s their name? What happened to them?”

He laughs and squeezes her hand in appeasement. “Baby is, was my car, a ‘67 Impala. She was my pride and joy.” He sighs wistfully, “I’ll probably never see her again.” There’s a little more edge to his voice now. “It kills me to think that someone else is driving her, hands caressing the leather of her steering wheel, running over her sleek black metal. I just hope whoever has her takes care of her the way she deserves.”

“Didn’t you have anyone that could keep her for you?”

“For a while, yeah.” He huffs a breath, recalling how quickly he had lost everything. “On the advice of my attorney, I signed everything over to my business partner, Benny, before the trial so that I wouldn’t lose everything in case the worst happened.” He chuckles snidely. “Well, as you know, the worst happened. Benny kept the doors of the business open as long as he could, but with my conviction, we lost a lot of clients and didn’t gain any new ones. He finally had to sell everything to help pay my legal fees and cover the business loan. He held onto Baby as long as he could, even mortgaging his home before finally selling her.”

“I’m sorry, Dean. I understand that feeling.”

She brings their hands up to rest on her stomach, covering them with her other hand, and he sucks in a breath as his pulse jumps, feeling her bare skin against his arm below the hem of her shirt.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I were ever forced to get rid of my truck.”

“It looks like a pretty sweet ride.” He counts to ten in his head, trying to calm his raging heart. “How long have you had it?”

Kasey pulls her hands from his as she sits up, and he grips the blanket between them to prevent himself from reaching for her.

Really? So now I’m a clingy sap?

“It was my grandpa’s. He taught me how to drive in that truck when I was only twelve. I could barely reach the pedals. I hadn’t gotten my growth spurt yet.” She laughs, lightly slapping her thighs. “Poor guy was practically eating his knees in the passenger seat.” Briefly glancing up at the sky, her voice softens, “I could never get rid of her.”

Dean sits up, thankful for something more familiar and less pervy to focus on, and excitedly asks, “I’d love to get a better look at her. You know what a classic she is, right?”

“Hell, yeah. It’s especially tough to find a turquoise one nowadays.”

Dean can’t believe it. Of course, she knows about classic vehicles. She also seems to have at least a working knowledge of their mechanical systems from the animated story she tells him about helping her grandfather with repairs. Just another reason to love her.

Love her? Shit. Fuck. Nooo. This isn’t love. It’s just a connection. Just two people making a connection over a common interest. A human connection that both of us have been lacking, nothing more. A connection that I’ve never felt with anyone before, not even while I was married.

Son of a bitch. There’s no way that I can love her. It’s only been two fucking days! Okay, technically, two and a half. I have to be losing my goddamn mind. It’s the stress. It has to be the stress and overwhelming relief. Yeah, that’s it, just relief and gratitude for what she’s doing for me.

Kasey’s voice cuts through his existential crisis when she mentions the Impala. He tries to catch up, not wanting her to know that he missed most of what she had said. “I’m sorry, did you say you have an Impala, too?”

“Yeah, it’s in the rear of the garage. I bought it a couple of months ago at a classic car show that Bobby and Ellen dragged me to.” She laughs. “I have no idea why I bought it. I thought it was one of the display vehicles and kept going back to admire it. When it went up on the auction block, I knew I had to have it.” The corners of her eyes crinkle as she smiles wide. “It’s not very practical; it uses a lot of gas. But you don’t leave a car like that just sitting around, so I’ve driven it into town a few times. It’s in excellent condition; whoever owned it before took great care of it. There wasn’t a lot of history on it. The auction house had purchased it, so I don’t know how many owners it had or what repairs may have been done. It needs a tune-up before I take it out again, though.”

“What year and color is the car?” Dean suddenly feels like he has spidey-sense, his entire body electrified.

“Black, and it’s a ‘67. Oh.” Kasey’s palm slaps against his chest, disbelief coating her next words. “No… it couldn’t possibly be… could it?”

“Benny never told me who he sold it to. I didn’t want to know.” He fists his hands into the blanket; there’s no possible way Kasey could be in possession of his beloved car. Yet, “You know, it would be freaky as hell if you bought my car, but considering everything else…” His voice trails off as he tries to tamp down the hope bubbling in his gut.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” She jumps to her feet, then tugs at the edge of the quilt, trying to get him to move. “Come on, Winchester. Don’t you want to know?”

“Hell, yeah.” Grabbing the comforter and bundling it under his arm as he stands, he extends a shaky hand to her. As soon as Kasey places her hand in his, they take off running.

Dean waits impatiently on the porch while she dips inside to get the keys. It only takes her a few seconds but feels like an eternity. He still can’t wrap his head around the possibility that his Baby, the car he’d spent most of his life driving, even living in for a time, might be here, just a few yards away. He’s still desperately trying to keep hope at bay. It’s unfathomable that he would be gifted this much luck in such a short time span. Then again, he’s owed some luck.

Light floods the yard between the house and garage just as the screen door slams open, making him jolt. He doesn’t have time for any other reaction as she flies past him, jumping from the top step to the grass and then sprinting toward the barn, yelling over her shoulder, “Let’s go, slowpoke.”

Dean laughs loud. He can’t contain it. If it weren’t for the stitches in his side, he would have followed her lead and foregone the steps by jumping over the railing. Instead, he takes the small set of stairs two at a time and catches up to her in a few quick strides.

Seconds later, Kasey unlocks the small side door, flipping on the light as she steps into the barn. He hesitates just outside the door, preparing himself for the disappointment he’s sure to find.

“Dean, come on.” The excitement in her voice fades away on the last word as she looks up at him. “Hey, listen,” her fingers wrap around his upper arms, “even if it’s not your, Baby, it’s still a pretty cool car. So come take a look.” She slides her hands down his arms until she holds both of his hands in her grasp, tugging him forward as she steps backward into the building.

Once he crosses the threshold, she drops a hand and turns to lead him toward the back of the garage. The familiar shape of a car beneath a tarp comes into view. When they’re about a foot away, she lets go of his other hand and steps up next to the vehicle. Kasey fists the material in both hands, ready to yank it off the car.

“Wait!”

“What? Why?” Her voice sounds incredulous, but she ceases pulling on the cloth.

His hands fist at his sides, and he inhales deeply. He’s never been this nervous about anything in his life. He shouldn’t be, it’s probably not even his car, but his gut is churning, his emotions spinning again, and for a brief moment, he’s not sure if he does want to know.

As inexplicable as the past couple of days have been, it would be over-the-top weird that this is his car. He hopes that it’s his, he could use the win right now, but on the other hand, he recognizes it would be pushing his luck, tempting fate. It would be way over his quota of good fortune to have found Baby and Kasey because he has never been favored enough to have everything he wants. The universe will find a way to take one or both of them from him.

Seriously?! What the hell is wrong with me? Kasey doesn't belong to me.

Her laugh echoing through the room stops the spiral.

“It’s like ripping a band-aid off. Besides, the suspense is killing me.” With that, she pulls the cover away with a flourish.

Before the last corner of fabric flutters to the ground, he knows. Knows without even looking at the VIN that it’s her. It’s his car.

“Hey, sweetheart, did you miss me?” He reaches out a hand and lightly runs his fingers over the dark, cool metal in awe. Elation and foreboding swirl in his stomach, threatening to choke him. He glances at the dash through the windshield to verify what he already knows, then closes his eyes, inhaling deeply to try and calm the emotional wave rising through him.

“Well?”

She sounds frantic, and when he turns to face her, she’s rubbing her hands together, bouncing on her toes.

“It’s mine.” he breathes, the edges of his vision blackening, tunneling his vision until there is nothing but her.

Kasey squeals, clapping her hands and dancing in place. Nothing could have stopped him. With one long stride, he stands toe to toe with her, hands cupping her face, lips pressed to hers.

It’s rough and messy, urgent and hungry. He feels her stiffen as soon as he touches her, relaxing when he brushes his thumbs over the apples of her cheeks, flattening her hands against his chest. His heart threatens to break through his ribs with its thundering beat, but he doesn’t care if she feels it. Her lips are supple and moist, just like he’d imagined. She smells like the fresh evening breeze and tastes like sin. If he never had the opportunity to kiss anyone else ever again, he wouldn’t care. Every kiss pales in comparison, and before he was married, he’d had more than his fair share of kisses.

Slipping a hand into her hair, the other rests on the curve of her shoulder. Dean swallows down the warmth of her sigh, filling his lungs with the sweetness of her breath, as her fingers walk a trail up his chest, nails scraping at the skin of his nape, thumb caressing the pulse point in his neck.

He swears he can feel the reaction of every last cell in his body—skin prickling, tiny hairs standing on end, nerve endings igniting with sparks, the blood coursing through his veins. Like in a slapstick movie when they flash from some poor dope having a heart attack to an image of the blood pumping wildly through his heart before it explodes.

Kasey presses up on her toes, mouth falling open as he licks along her bottom lip, slender fingers press into his skin, grip tightening, pulling him closer. It’s breathtaking and frightening. The slide of her tongue against his has a dizzying effect, but as she gasps into his mouth, he realizes that it may partly be due to a lack of oxygen, which they both seem to desperately need.

He breaks the kiss but not the connection, pressing his forehead to hers, sharing the air between them with each pant. Dark amber eyes meet his as she sucks in quick breaths, and his heart sinks the second reality comes crashing in on him. He can’t speak, can’t look away, can’t let go, so Kasey moves first.

“Dean.”

She leans back, hands sliding down his body, and he reaches up, gripping her hands and caging them to his chest. “Don’t.”

Previous // Next

Love Me Some Pie taglist: @akshi8278 // @asgoodasdancingqueen // @calaofnoldor // @compresshischest09 // @deanwanddamons // @flamencodiva // @idreamofplaid // @jerkbitchidjitassbutt // @michellethetvaddict // @mvdeanw // @shawnie74 // @siospins2 // @thinkinghardhardlythinking // @thoughts-and-funnies // @waynes-multiverse // @wayward-and-worn // @waywardbaby // @weepingwillowphoenix

@muchamusedaboutnothing

#jays3kcelebration #spnaubingo #fugitive au #dean x ofc #au series #run to you chapter ten

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nevermindirah · 3 years ago

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How every character in The Old Guard (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood relates to the main character, Nile Freeman

A series of meta posts by me, that I’ve been making notes about since fucking January and am finally finishing now in honor of ‘Ohana-thon, the July 2021 Old Guard fandom event celebrating team dynamics!

First of all, how does NILE relate to Nile?

We see her using exercise and music to cope with her feelings while she's deployed. In her first few days with the team, we see her using deep breathing as well. Throughout, we see her coping with emotionally stressful situations by leaving. She leaves the tent on base, she escapes the truck, she tries to escape the plane, she goes outside after the Quynh explanation, she goes outside after her nightmare in the cave. She leaves the debate over Booker's sentence to go join him on the porch.

She does not, however, run from gunfire, and she adapts very, very quickly to the new knowledge that taking a bullet is often the more strategic option for an immortal. Early in the lab escape, Joe tells the team to cover Andy, and Nile is the first one to interpret that to mean "cover Andy with my body and take a bullet for her."

Nile makes a point to fold her uniform to regulation on the plane. When Andy gives her orders, she either obeys promptly or loudly objects to the content of the order — she doesn't question being given orders generally, or by this person who is very much not in her USMC chain of command.

Her very first thought once she's finally accepted her immortality is for her family worrying about her, followed quickly by "I'm a Marine. They think I went AWOL."

When Nile gives her own name to someone on screen, she gives her first name. How other characters refer to Nile, by name and otherwise, is coming up next in this lil meta series!

#nile freeman #dirah discusses tog team dynamics #tog meta #tog #mine

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doll-in-the-walls · 2 years ago

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Strangely Charming - Chapter 1

Summary: In the fall of 1984, Maeve and Calcifer move to Hawkins, Indiana into Forest Hills Trailer Park across from the one and only Eddie “the freak” Munson. (Takes place from Season 2 onward)

Maeve (Emerson) and Calcifer (named after the flame in Howl’s Moving Castle, yes) are my two OCs that first appear in my fic Charming Eternity for The Lost Boys (1987) both of whom have magic.

(If this goes the way I’ve got it planned in my head this’ll probably end in a Poly ship with Steddie and Billy in some way... with the OC of course.)

(There’s a lot of opening notes which honestly you could just skip as they’re not SUPER important but still worth mentioning.)

In that fic it’s Maeve as the main character and it was mostly her POV, but I wanted to have more of Calcifer in this one because I really like writing him.

I didn’t write this in a way where you need to know anything at all from Charming Eternity so it doesn’t matter if you’ve read that one.

The only things you need to know going into this is that this is a self-indulgent, fix-it. There will be spoilers for Seasons 2-4. We will be turning canon Billy into fanon Billy. Saving all those who need saving. Maeve is a witch and therefore has magic (which is a mashup of Charmed, Merlin, etc.). Black cat. A raven named Circe. That about covers it.

NOTE: Technically Charming Eternity takes place in 1987 and Strangely Charming takes place/starts in 1984 (and there are certain references relating to Charming Eternity even though those events didn’t happen yet.) Maeve and Calcifer are in their mid-twenties in that fic, but in this one they’re 18-19. This is basically an AU for my OCs and for the show since this is gonna be a fix-it thing.

Also, since this takes place in season 2, Maeve and Calcifer move into the house that Max would move into after season 3.

Warnings: None for this chapter

Words: 1328

Face claim for Maeve is Madison Iseman (photo included in this post) - she was Mary Ellen in Annabelle Comes Home and Bethany in the new Jumanji movies (the actress not IN the game obviously lol). Blonde and she has blue eyes but OC has grey. Calcifer’s face claim is Colin Morgan (Merlin in Merlin. But more specificaly Jethro from that one episode of Doctor Who.)

-Posting this at 4:30 am so I might have to go back and fix mistakes-

Maeve had just about finished bringing in the last of the boxes into the trailer home, closing the back of her Jeep with one arm holding the last box on her hip. Before she could turn towards the small porch, across the road a man stepped out of his trailer with a pack of cigarettes. She gave a small wave when he looked up from lighting one and noticed her. He gave a nod and a small wave in return as he sat on the steps.

After putting the box in one of the bedrooms, and petting the black cat that was laying on the bed, she stepped back outside of the trailer and made her way across the street.

“Hi,” she said, giving the man another wave. “I’m Maeve.” She held out her hand as she came to stand in front of him.

“Wayne,” the man said with a nod as he shook her hand.

“Just wanted to introduce myself. Normally I’d make my brother come out and say hi too, but he’s tired from the move and isn’t really a people person anyway; closed himself up in his room.” She gestured back towards her trailer.

“That’s alright.”

“I also just wanted to let you know we have a cat we let roam outside, in case you see a black cat wandering about. Brother named him ‘Cal’ after himself. He’s usually pretty chill; won’t scratch or anything.”

“Thank you for letting me know.” He gave her a small smile.

“Oh also Cal, my brother, not the cat,” Maeve said with a chuckle, “Cal is adopted so if you’re wondering why I sound like this and he sounds like he just moved from Ireland that’s why,” she explained with a chuckle. “Just never lost the accent; though it’s not as thick as it used to be.”

“It’s just the two of you?” he asked, glancing across the street, eyebrows furrowing in concern.

“Yeah, been just us for a while. I mean it’s not like we don’t have any other family just… ya know, none here,” she said with a shrug. “Hey, uh, do you know if any other high schoolers live around here? We start tomorrow and…” She shrugged again. “We’re gonna be seniors.”

“Actually my nephew is a senior. He’s not here right now, but uh, you hear a van blasting music that’s him,” he said with a fond chuckle.

“Oh, awesome. Hey, think you could maybe ask if the weird new kids can sit with him at lunch tomorrow? I mean I know I probably look normal now,” she said as she gestured to herself. Her pale blonde hair was up on a messy bun, no makeup, a black jacket over a worn Black Sabbath t-shirt and faded blue jeans with holes in the knees, over a beat up pair of off-white vans. “but this is my at home look. I’m much different when I know people can see me.”

“I’ll ask,” he said with another small chuckle. “He likes them too,” he said as he pointed to her shirt. “So you’ll have that in common.” His smile grew but Maeve didn’t question it.

“Oh awesome. You can tell him he can come over and say hi when he gets home.”

“Not sure when he’ll be back, stays out late when his band has a show. I work nights; he always comes home before I get back, just don’t know when.”

“Oh damn, if I didn’t have to unpack I’d go check them out. I’ll have to ask when he’s playing again.” Wayne smiled. “Well, it was very nice meeting you. Got a lot of boxes to deal with so I’ll stop bothering you now.”

“Not a bother,” he said, shaking his head. “Was nice meeting you.”

“Sounds like band-boy is home,” Calcifer called from his room upon hearing music coming from outside, growing closer.

“And?” Maeve called back from where she sat at a table in the kitchenette. “It’s late, we can say hi tomorrow,”

“Never said I wanted to go talk to him,” he clarified. A meow brought Maeve’s attention to the door where Cal sat, pawing at it.

“Really? It’s late Cal,” she said. The cat meowed again. “Alright, fine.” She got up and moved to the door. “Don’t stay out too late, kay? And don’t be a weirdo.” If ever a meow could sound offended it was then. She opened the door and he took off.

The black cat sprinted across the street as the van parked, the music inside cutting off as the engine stopped. The door opened with a loud creak and the driver hopped out only to look down as Cal meowed up at him.

“Hey… lil guy,” Eddie said, blinking down at the cat. “Where’d you come from?” He closed the door to the van with a jarring slam then moved around to the back to retrieve his guitar case before heading for the door of the trailer. “Careful, neighbor has a dog,” he said with a chuckle, glancing back at the cat which he was surprised to see was following him up the steps. He stopped and looked down as Cal sat and looked up at him, gently pawing at his shoe. “You uh… hungry or something?” he asked slowly before he looked around.

The unfamiliar car across the way caught his attention and drew his gaze to the window where he saw a light was on inside. He knew the place had been for sale the past few months, but he hadn’t cared enough to pay attention as to whether or not it had been bought.

“Ah, guess you just moved in,” Eddie said as he looked down at the cat, that continued to look up at him. “Well then, welcome to the neighborhood, little buddy. I’d pet you but I can't risk you eating my hand.” He drummed the fingers of his left hand on his guitar case. The black cat rubbed against his leg and started purring. “Is that your way of telling me you won’t eat me?” Eddie chuckled to himself as he put the key in the lock. “Alright fine, but your owners come looking for you, you’re not the one who’s gonna get in trouble for cat-napping.”

He opened the door, jumping slightly as the cat ran in before he could even take a step. With the guitar case in the way, and the fact that the door opened outward, Eddie almost tripped a few times as he hurried to get inside after the animal. He set his guitar case down with a sigh as he saw the cat standing in the middle of the living area and simply sniffing at the floor.

“Shit, please don’t eat anything you find on the floor,” Eddie muttered, suddenly aware that he may end up having to take this cat to the vet if it got into the wrong thing. The cat stopped and turned to him, making him raise an eyebrow, before it suddenly sped down the hall and into his room. “Hey, whoa, wait wait wait-! Please tell me you’re a cat that doesn’t like to knock shit over,” he pleaded as he ran after him.

Thankfully Cal wasn’t knocking anything over. Instead, the cat was stretching up the panel next to Eddie’s closet, with one paw on the wall and the other pawing at a long chain that hung there along with two sets of handcuffs the cat couldn’t reach. The cat looked from the cuffs to him and Eddie had never felt as judged by an animal as he did in that moment.

“You… are a very weird kitty,” he muttered as he took off his vest and jacket. Cal sniffed around as Eddie moved to turn on his cassette player, doing his best to keep an eye on the cat. As Metallica started to play, the cat jumped up onto his bed and curled up. “Uh, alright, sure.”

A/N: I’m giving myself the self-set goal of trying to make each chapter at least 1k words since I’m posting this on both AO3 and tumblr and I tend to like shorter chapters on tumblr.

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(Next Chapter)

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Hey if you wanna be added to the tag list for this fic (or removed, don’t feel bad about asking to be removed from the list for any reason.) please just reply on any chapter (or send me an ask) and I’ll tag you in the next one. ^_^

#Strangely Charming fic #Stranger Things Fanfiction #Eddie Munson x Original Female Character #Eddie Munson

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quoigenicfromhell · 2 years ago

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Religion and science are related. The study of religion is anthropology. Which is the point of this post. Which is the only thing I was saying, since I made no other comment about her content. Sorry if I am putting too fine a point on it, but I meant my criticism hyper literally and was only referring to the content which you showed in the Screenshot which you appeared to be commenting on specifically.

Frankly if you think she's proselytizing to you, you could do what anyone else does when door knockers come to your porch asking if you've heard the good news. Don't answer the door (or in this case, block her so you don't have to see it).

Well well, it seems that Sophie got a taste of my post.

Saying religion can be a science, is indicating that religion is "correct."

Science can be proven, or at least theorized. Religion is a belief, that CANNOT be correct, because there's just so many different kinds.

Shut up.

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twdmusicboxmystery · 2 years ago

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Have you watched twd press conference at sdcc. The cast were asked which dead character they would bring back and Norman said Hershel and Beth. Im worried now.

Yup, I did! A multitude of thoughts are below. 😁 You don’t need to be worried. That was actually a massively planned hint. (Details below.)

Okay, I know I said I would talk about the special from Sunday today, but I decided I wanted to put this out first, because it ties into what I posted about the snake and tortoise legend/symbolism (read here) and I think the weirdness of the special will make more sense if you read this first.

Here’s the link if you want to listen tot he press conference yourself: https://youtu.be/Vf8k8AFZBHk

I say listen because, although this is a video, the video part of it is set on a weird, distracting loop. So you mostly have to just listen to it and try to discern which of the actors are speaking. Because you’re all TWD junkies like us, I think you’ll be able to tell who is who, for the most part.

But there are some CRAZY hints they’re throwing around in this press conference. Here’s our convo about it:

@wdway:

Guy's last night I listened to the press interview of most of the TWD cast panel. I found it actually very interesting and very insightful in many ways with the actors talking about their different characters.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

IIRC, Norman mentioned Beth as one character who he wanted to survive longer. And it was interesting, bc at first, when they went down the line, he said Hershel. And he’s used that answer before. It was later, after others gave their answers, that he suddenly chimes in again and said something like “Beth would have been a good one.” And that’s suspicious to me. It was like he just wanted to throw that out there and waited until a bunch of others were talking before he did so.

@galadrieljones:

Beth would not be an “afterthought,” since after the origins episode Norman opens up about Daryl’s feelings for Beth and it’s clear that over the past year they want us to think about her. Like “Oh yeah wait that one character whose death destroyed Daryl for five seasons what was her name again? Oh yeah Beth. She would have been a good one.” Lol.

@wdway:

I felt that Norman was being very careful about answering the past character questions and put in Beth as others were talking and it wasn't as obvious but made me very happy. I think Norman thought he was going to get questions about MMB and the spin-off and was being very cautious.

I find it a bit strange that both Greg and Norman do not know the difference between an armadillo and a possum. Greg telling the story of Daryl eating a armadillo and Norman jumped in and said it was when they first got to AZ and he messed up the first porch cleaning the armadillo. I kept waiting for someone, Gimple or AK, to say possum not armadillo but no one did. As far as I know there are not any wild armadillo in Georgia or Virginia. Could that have been a strange hint/reminder of Daryl and that possums are known for playing dead?

@twdmusicboxmystery:

(This wasn't part of our conversation, but I googled "possum vs. armadillo." Turns out, there's a common joke about armadillos being "possums in a half shell." Check it out HERE.

Couple of things about that. 1) It can't be an accident that possums and armadillos are related and this is what they were substituting with. It's not like just saying the wrong thing or making a mistake in the moment. As @wdway said, they said it over and over and no one corrected them. 2) The BIGGER deal is that "possums in a half shell" is a reference to the old Ninja Turtle song from the 80s cartoon I grew up watching with my brothers. It said, "Turtles in a half shell."

So basically, in saying this, they were saying possum = turtle. And turtle = Beth. This was 100% a Beth reference. 👀 Back to the convo.

@wdway cont'd:

I really enjoyed Josh and Seth. They said that early on in s5 that there had been in a script of a discussion between Eugene and FG about God vs science, because of time restraints they never actually filmed the scene but throughout the years there have been small hints of that discussion.

I thought that Seth near the end of the interview made his points of regretting not having more of FG story developed further but he said it in a very respectful way that made me laugh and think that he know exactly what and how to get his point across with a soft voice instead of a loud and harsh angry statement and jokingly brought the interview to a close.

There was a question asked that I didn't catch but there was a long pause and thought it was a question directed at Norman but not sure but I thought it was Greg's voice being heard saying, "be careful," as in be careful how you answer. I think someone else jumped in and started talking. It was so late and I was tired and I didn't try to go back and really listen to that part. I found a lot of great insightful moments in the interview and overall was a nice way to gain a little bit more understanding of the actors of some of our favorite characters.

@galadrieljones:

Okay so I listened to the press conference, and I agree with everything you guys have said. First, I definitely agree that Norman is being kinds of "hands-off" in this press conference, which feels very much lead by Seth and Josh and also the showrunners. Norman's answers mostly seem very off-hand to me. I can't tell if he's on guard or just kind of distracted. He just doesn't seem to be thinking very hard about his answers, where I feel that Lauren, Seth, and Josh are all being much more forthcoming and thoughtful.

Perhaps that is novel to this press conference? I haven't seen enough of them to know how Norman usually approaches questioning, but I have read enough interviews to know that he IS very thoughtful when it comes to Daryl, so to me, his answers here did feel...surface-level, at best.

In terms of the question about dead characters, Daryl first defaults to Hershel, then later, he kind of quietly interjects: "Merle...Merle would've been..." but then he's cut off and doesn't continue. Much later, after the whole incredibly weird armadillo exchange with Gimple, he then comments quietly "Beth would've been good." I laughed out loud, because it was so weird. Idk how to describe why it seemed weird. It seemed like he'd been thinking about it and just threw it out there at the last minute.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

(Okay, interjecting again. Right AFTER the armadillo thing (armadillo = Turtle = Beth) Norman threw Beth's name into the mix. Guys, this was SOOOOOO planned. And such a great TD hint!)

@galadrieljones cont'd:

I feel if a more gregarious actor had been on stage with him, like JDM, he might've made a comment about it, poked fun or something, or called attention to Norman's answer, but it's not happening with this group of ppl, because it has occurred to me that of all the actors on the stage, ONLY Reedus ever acted with Emily, and the others came on after Beth was already gone. I know FG has commented on her before, but it's like nobody hears Norman's little comment except for us.

I just thought it was neat he mentions Merle off-handedly, AND THEN BETH. Like, here he is actually being sort of thoughtful. I wish I could see the footage so I could understand his body language in this moment.

Okay, my next note hasn't been mentioned yet but I found it to be the most interesting part of the panel, which is Seth's answer to this question: Tyreese. Seth starts talking about Tyreese, and then suddenly everybody is going on and on about Tyreese and his death, and how it's "one of the best episodes." Seth even asks: "What was the title of that episode? What's Happening and What's Going On?"

They keep emphasizing how good it was, and Gimple talks about how any time he goes to Georgia he drives by the sub-development they used for filming. I just thought it was weird how much they emphasized WHAWGO, given its bizarre nature, like they want ppl to remember it, they want journalists to report on it so that people go back and watch it. Idk. Okay and back to Gimple and the armadillo thing. Like wtf? That is not an armadillo. Very weird moment lol.

Again I think Norman is weird because it's like he seems to remember certain things VERY well and then plays dumb on stuff like this. Gimple also misremembers the name of the neighborhood in Richmond as "Wiltshire Estates." It's actually called "Shirewilt Estates," and I wondered if this meant anything. Like did they purposely reverse the name at the last minute or something and now even Gimple has forgotten? Idk. Anyway multiple times ppl commented that WHAWGO is one of the best episodes of the series. I also recorded Gimple and Kang's answers for the question "Was there always an ending you were working towards?" This seemed interesting to me:

Gimple: Things changed. I feel that it folded into some plans nicely. It folded into some issues because the finale is about completing TWD story, not setting up spin-offs. There’s room for those spin-offs, but full on TWD finale concludes the story of this 11 years, and we didn’t want the spin-offs to get in the way of that satisfaction. They live together I think very nicely.

Kang: I think that’s right. I think that even if there were no spin-offs, it would feel like there is a closure to the show itself, because the show itself needs its own ending. But you know doors are left open as they so often are in life and as they were even in the ending of the comic. It’s like there’s always a story that’s continuing once the story that you tell on the screen has ended and that’s the spirit.

I was glad to hear they are using the ending to END the series, not to set up too much new stuff. I was interested in the question because the journalist mentions 2020, like as if that's the year things "changed," which it is, and it reminded me of Emily's post about 2020 becoming 2022.

I liked what Gimple said about how the changes "folded into some plans nicely" and also "folded into some issues." It does seem like things changed, but that the integrity of the original plan is still in motion.

In terms of Norman's disposition, again, I feel he was flippant with the question about characters he most connected with. First of all, he misunderstood the question and named like five characters who Daryl connects with, none of whom were Beth. I thought that was a little weird tbh, since I've read many interviews where he's mentioned Daryl's strong connection to Beth, and after Origins, it seemed to be hammering her in as a very important connection to Daryl, but then he was like, confused? And sort of off-handedly changed his answer to Dog. I really thought he was just kind of saying stuff he thought ppl would want to hear, answers he had canned in the back of his mind. I also wondered if he would have said Beth, but he already mentioned Beth once, and he didn't want to mention her again.

In terms of the "be careful" remark, I didn't get that it was directed toward anyone in particular. It's interesting if it's coming from Nicotero though, because idk I just feel like he's a little unpredictable in terms of what he is willing to give away or hint toward, while Gimple is VERY buttoned down, playing cards very close to his vest. I don't know if the "be careful" is meant more like, "Be careful not to give anything away," or "Be careful not to hurt our feelings too much" lol. Anyway, Seth jumps in w his answer about Eugene and FG and I don't think anyone else really answers.

So the biggest take-away for me was really Norman's disposition, which felt very hands-off. You may be right that he was expecting more questions about the spin-off, but there were exactly ZERO. And this has reminded me that really there was zero information about Daryl's spin-off, and I'm sure much of that was not to take away from the Rick reveal, and also to protect Melissa and her choice. I doubt she wanted to talk about it. It's possible a moratorium was placed on the subject and interviewers were not even allowed to ask. So yeah, idk? It was really insightful and interesting in any case.

Oh also, per Kang's answer to the question about the ending: I thought it was interesting how she comments on the fact that there are parts of the story that continue beyond what we see on-screen. I don't know if it's meant to hint at any one thing specifically, because it's just a good rule of thumb with writing, ie: when you're writing a story, it's important to remember that where you enter the story is not the beginning, and where you exit the story is not the end. I always learned about writing stories as an answer to the question: "Into what life have we come?" Stories imply entire lives and entire universes and contexts, especially one as big as TWD. So yeah, idk, just implication that we don't have all the information.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Definitely suspicious, though. I'm super excited for all the shows (including Tales) to start up. Can't wait to see what goodness they bring us!

Btw, I agree about them maybe putting a moratorium on talk of the Daryl spinoff after what happened when it was announced. I hadn't thought of that, but that makes perfect sense. Especially if Melissa was at Comicon (she was, wasn't she?) then they would have wanted to protect her. Good for them. And I'm sure more news about the Daryl spinoff will surface as we get closer to it's release. Again, can't wait!

@galadrieljones:

Melissa was not at the press conference but she was on the main panel I believe! And I agree we’ll probably hear more as the Richonne euphoria dies down. I also am weirdly viewing no news as good news on the Daryl spin-off, because it keeps affirming our suspicions that perhaps the premise would be too spoilery for 11c, and they have to wait for more to develop within the flagship before they can meaningfully start promoting Daryl’s spin-off without spoilers…

@wdway:

I enjoyed reading your impressions of the press conference and agree with all of them. I don't know if you have had a chance to watch the full panel but there were a couple of things that you pointed out that in hindsight of the larger panel now seem a bit a coincidence and to much of a coincidence to really be one.

You pointed out that Gimple, Seth and other spent some time bringing attention to the episode from s5 WHWGO with some saying it might have been one of the best episodes in the series. A stretch in my opinion considering most people found it hard to understand because it was so full of hints and clues to future storyline. It was also the last time we would physically (not a portrait) see Beth until s9 when she was included in the characters death scene of Rick's hallucination. (Funny how Beth was in both episodes as a hallucination.)

In thinking about the attention they were bring to WHWGO made me think of the full panel when Gimple mentioned (without naming the episode) the last episode of s4. Gimple mentioned that he and AK co-wrote the episode. I believe it was AK who said that the scene at the car between Daryl and Rick was one of her favorites and Gimple agreed. They pointed out that this was the scene in which Rick called Daryl his brother.

The coincidence that I was noticing between the two panels was that Gimple and AK were drawing attention back to s4 and s5 and that in both episodes Beth was the common denominator. In WHWGO she drove Ty into the next world and in "A" Daryl spoke of her just being "gone" just minutes before Rick called him brother. Not really sure of the point I'm trying to make other than I don't think these seemingly offhanded remarks about past episodes are off-handed at all, I think they were thought out and well planned to begin attention to s4 and s5. My question would be but for what purpose?

Another mention from Seth that I'm side eyeing was when he said that he wish that FG's and Rosita relationship could have started sooner in the storyline. Now I will say that I really do like these characters together and I know that there are many who don't feel that they are a good match but I personally enjoy them together.

I have to say that it struck me as a bit odd that he brought this up. But it also allowed a couple of things to be cleared up going into 11c. There has been a question of if FG and Rosita was still a couple and I feel that this statement indicates that they are. It also brought attention to a relationship that most people was caught off guard about and didn't see coming. It also shows a relationship of two characters with a age gap. Recently I saw a list of TWD actors and their ages. Seth is like 22,23 years older than the actress that plays Rosita. It truly might just be a coincidence that they brought attention to this relationship but I just find it a bit odd that it was put out now with s11C so near.

@galadrieljones:

This is very interesting, that they mentioned “A?” I feel with so much this past season and even beyond in 10c they have been making callbacks to seasons 4-5. I will never forget how hard I laughed when in “One More,” Aaron and FG are playing poker and I think it’s FG who wins on a bluff with an 8 and a 2 in his hand.

We also still have zero true explanation for why Leah just randomly has Beth’s hair for several episodes. As for why they’re drawing us back to seasons 4-5, I don’t know why ofc but to me that’s the original D.C. al Coda, the beginning of the end, and especially per “A,” the place where all lines converge. Ofc my dream is for there to be an episode called “B,” which will answer all of our burning questions and finally set things straight but I think that’s probably wishful thinking at this point I haven’t had the chance yet to watch the panel but I will soon.

My hopes for a “B” episode ramped up after the season 10 episode “We are the End of the World” when Alpha says to Beta in a flashback, “Where there’s an A, there must always be a B.” I was like, “OMG THANK YOU I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS!!” lol

@frangipanilove:

I really liked your thoughts here. I haven’t thought about WHAWGO in a while, and I liked how you said that Beth drove Tyreese into the next world. I feel like you put into words how I see the three/tree/trunk symbolism and the “red controls the gates” symbolism complimenting each other.

I keep saying that Beth is a “controller of gates”, based off how she untied Daryl’s red rag in Still and opened the trunk (gate) allowing the, both to climb out. And really, how you described it fits nicely with that particular symbolism, that she was the one who escorted Tyreese into the afterlife, in a car/vehicle/vessel/trunk. I really really loved the way you worded it. That’s why I feel she’s a “controller of gates”, she’s literally behind the wheel and making decisions on when and where to enter the underworld, and when and where to return to the realm of the living, if that makes sense. She “acts”, she’s not “acted upon”. Subject, not object. She has agency and a certain symbolical “skill set” that allows her to “control the gates”.

I love the idea of an episode “B”. Please make that happen, TV gods!

@galadrieljones:

I also loved your choice of words there @wdway: that Beth drove Tyreese into the next world. And frangi that’s a really interesting point, that Beth has “agency,” she is driving the car. I sort of wonder if this could be explained by her being in a sort of “limbo” at this point. Like if she’s in a coma, after being shot, somewhere between worlds, she is the only one who can steer the ferry into the underworld for Tyreese, as she can pass between both worlds, since she’s neither living nor dead. That’s actually super thought provoking and helps me to think about that scene and why she is driving the car.

@frangipanilove:

Yeah, I definitely see her as currently residing in that liminal space between the realms, to use the symbolical language. Not literally, because I assume she lives and thrives in some distant part of TWDU, but as far as Daryl and TF, and also the GA, is concerned, she’s dead. Which effectively lands her “in between” being alive and dead. Not literally, but on a symbolical level.

I think a lot of what we saw with Leah in FM was a reflection of how they are both characters that have the skills to “move between worlds” if that makes sense. They both have the capacity to “control the gates”, which we saw being set up for Beth with that scene from Still. Well, Leah ultimately died, and Beth will ultimately show up alive, because they're sort if inverted versions of each other. And I really loved Ann’s choice of words above, because being behind the wheel is such a powerful metaphor for being assertive about your life and wellbeing, and I’m not sure I’ve ever thought about that scene in that way before. Sheer brilliance!

@wdway:

I was actually thinking about how the title of s6e10 The Next World fit with Ty representing leaving the old world behind and going into the next realm just as the series was leaving behind the world they had built after the fall. S6e10 The Next World was when Daryl and Rick met Jesus who showed them a whole new world that they didn't know was there. I think in someway Beth will play a part in driving TF or at least Daryl into the next world of the CRM.

@galadrieljones:

This is all really great. Makes me think of how it was essentially Virgil who ferried Michonne into the “next world” per her adventure, and his name, Virgil, even communicates that the writers are thinking about this very metaphor. It’s the poet Virgil who ferries Dante into the Underworld in the Inferno section of a Divine Comedy. Similarly, in 6.10, Jesus shepherds the ppl of Alexandria into the new world.

(Or the “new age” perhaps)

Aaron Is another shepherd or guide, leading TF to a new world, and his name is meaningful as well. Aaron was Moses’s spokesman who was instrumental in guiding the Israelites out of Egypt.

@wdway:

I really only realize after reading comments from you that Beth driving the car in Ty's hallucination possibly had more symbolic meaning then we originally thought.

This reminded me of some shots I took from s5e2 Strangers, that I've been meaning to show/remind you guys about that tptb were given us hints of a male/female Moses type leaders.

I feel the orange clothed child represents Rick and the one in pink represents Beth.

These are not anything we haven't discussed many times in the past but it is a good reminder of what they were showing us in the episode and how it might relate to the story now. The bathroom sign that we see to the left corner of the bottom picture shows us a female and male. At the same time we're looking at Glenn and Michonne an example of male and female. The sign of Amazing Grace that includes an anchor cross, waves and water in the same frame as male/female.

@galadrieljones:

Yes I remember those drawings, but I never thought of them as being male/female. That’s brilliant. Since so much of the show is guided by dualities, it makes sense that the male/female duality would be central, since it’s so essentially human. Walkers do not seem to have genders. They are mere expressions of death, so male/female duality seems defining in separating us from the walking dead.

This actually brings me back all the way to Days Gone By, the very first conversation that Rick and Shane have in the police car. It has always eluded me a little bit, because it feels SUPER IMPORTANT, but it’s so heavy, and so symbolic, I think I just haven’t really dedicated the time to trying to understand where it leads.

Rick starts the conversation by asking, “What’s the difference between men and women?” The scene is meant to establish the differences between Rick and Shane. It’s especially meant to establish Shane as this kind of brute, whereas Rick is more thoughtful. Some might even perceive him as weak here, or sensitive.

And Darabont is framing these differences between them within the construct of women. So the entire show begins with this extreme question about the difference between men and women. This ultimate duality.

Daryl and Beth will later sort of encompass this duality really beautifully in an Eden allegory, and then a marriage allegory. Daryl is hard and stoic and sad, focused on the big picture of survival, while Beth provides her “feminine touch” in his life, teaching him how to live, how to appreciate beauty, what it means to care about ppl even tho that means you could get terribly hurt.

And ofc there’s the duality of Rick/Beth as being “sheriffs,” and all the other tons of dual symbolism that connects Rick and Beth through 5a. I don’t have a grand point here or anything lol, just wanted to provide more support to the theory that the male/female duality is important to the show, and also I just really like the idea of Beth being this balancing feminine force whose loss sends TF wandering aimlessly through the desert, and turns Rick into a kind of monster.

@wdway:

I really love how you explained it above. I also just want to remind everyone that the same male/female sign that is shown above was also in Beth's hospital room. Again this is nothing new, we keep going back to these reoccurring symbols in our reviews. As Daryl would say, the signs are all there and may I add that they have been there for a very long time.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Love all of this conversation!

What I thought of when reading the male/female stuff is that this is really why they're using Judith so heavily as a Beth proxy right now. It's always a little weird to try and explain because obviously Daryl and Judith aren't romantic (that would be creepy and weird). But they're still using her as a proxy. It's just because of the male/female dynamic and she's the current "sheriff" character with both Rick and Beth offscreen.

You could even apply this argument to Sophia. I don't think anyone ever even suggested anything weird about Daryl and Sophia, but in the reverse, people try to say he loved Beth like a daughter or sister because that's how he felt about Sophia, and there are so many ties between her and Beth.

We've always said it's because it's the "lost girl" theme, and romance doesn't factor into that theme. It can be romantic or platonic. That's still true and I think what you've pointed out here just backs it up more. Even with the Glenn/Michonne example. They're represent the male/female dynamic, as you said above, but that doesn't automatically make them a romantic couple.

When Carol killed Karen and David and Ty found them in S4, they were also a male and female, but not romantic together. Beth and Daryl on the other hand, obviously are. And of could the male/female dynamic can be seen in all the soulmate couples. So yeah. Totally agree. Love it!

Phew! That was a quite a few thoughts sparked from the press release. But what can we say? We're TWD geeks!

Any thoughts on our thoughts? Which is your favorite? Xoxo! 🔥😎 💘

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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theraddishhouse · 2 years ago

Text

Obligatory Explanation Post

This is my long explanation of how my oc, Radek Antonov, is involved in The Owl House both episode wise and generally in the story. I’m putting it under a cut for when it pops up on people’s dashboards, but it’ll be linked in a pinned post on my blog later.

I’ll also put my TWs here.

While The Owl House remains pretty unchanged in its usual TWs, Radek’s backstory and relationships might be upsetting for some people. There’s mentions and descriptions of relationship abuse (emotional/verbal/physical), physical injuries, religious trauma, house burning, and death. Please read at your own discretion.

This isn’t a formal AU. I haven’t changed anything fundamental about the story aside from my character, Radek’s, involvement. “The Raddish House” is just a joke you don’t have to call it that.

Radek is a mild self insert. Obviously IRL I’m not a 9 foot tall witch from the boiling isles. But, a lot of aspects of Radek’s character are just exaggerated personality traits I have, and a lot of his experiences are similar to mine or metaphors for things I’ve gone through. For this reason, Radek is very very personal to me.

Alright now lets get to the fun stuff shall we?

Basic Information

First things first, Radek Antonov is bigender and uses any pronouns, including neos. This isn’t terribly relevant to the story but it’s fun! Radek is intended to be Czech-coded, obviously not actually czech because they’re a witch from the boiling isles, but yeah. Radek also has PTSD, which I also have.

I use he/him pretty consistently throughout this document to avoid confusion when referring to Radek.

Season 2

I want to cover how Radek appears in the show before going into his backstory since I think that’s basically how it’d work if he was actually in the show. These are rough outlines, not entirely “this is exactly how the episode would go”.

Debut Episode - “A White-Eyed Witch”

Summary: Luz and Eda seek out an old witch in the woods who might have ties to the human realm, but not everything is as it seems.

It opens on a scene similar to the ones from Phillip’s journals - but it’s not Phillip. A person named Radek claims to have taken his journal for the evening to detail what he’s about to do. In the shadow puppets, he has long hair and six fingers. He claims to be looking for something “Phillip deeply desires,” although Radek expresses doubts about the purpose of it or or even the likelihood it exists. The text ends with Radek wishing Phillip would even wish him good luck.

Eda and Luz realize Radek was likely one of Phillip’s “companions” on his adventures, though Eda expresses some confusion. An old house in the woods belongs to an Exiled Witch by the name of Radek, and after some convincing from Luz, they decide to visit him under the assumption he’s related to the witch in Phillip’s journal, as Eda remembers him having six fingers.

When they arrive, the house is dark but clearly not abandoned, just a little weathered. Decor lines the porch of the house. Eda and Luz knock nervously and after a moment are received by a black haired person who ducks through the door to look down at them. He does have the six fingers, and notably has one bright white eye, and a white dragon palisman that sits on his shoulder. He narrows his eyes on Luz, but greets them friendly enough and offers them tea inside. Eda is nervous the whole time, but Luz believes Radek to be genuine. There’s a distinct dissonance between the two wild witches, where Eda’s color scheme is red, and warm, she’s fun and motherly, with her house full of nick knacks and oddities for the hell of it, Radek’s color scheme is blue and cold, and the dimly lit house is littered with objects, books, and the occasional sacrificial knife. Half of Radek’s face remains covered by his hair and the shadows of the house.

Luz asks Radek if he knows anything about an ancestor of his who might have had journeys in the human realm, or even encountered a human. Radek sort of chuckles at this but nods, and explains that Luz might find some evidence of such a journey here. He directs her to his office down the hall to look through the books and journals there. He urges Eda to check the upstairs, however, saying his spare storage room might have a physical item. He reassures them nothing is dangerous, and they’re free to explore.

However, when Luz starts traveling down the hall, she finds it gets longer and the end of it further away the farther she walks, and that behind her, the open entrance to the dining-living room she once was in is different, instead a wall with a left and right turn. Suddenly trapped in an illusionist’s maze, she calls out for Eda and frantically runs along the halls to find steps upstairs.

Meanwhile, Eda is trapped in her own maze, the storage room of boxes expanding as she turns corners and looks behind them. Eventually after phasing through a stack, she realizes the trick and tries to search for Luz, wanting to get them out as soon as possible. Eventually she finds a knife and starts pulling at floorboards, though a hand suddenly appears over hers. Eda is just about to jab at the floorboards again when she sees it appear and looks up, Radek inches from her face. Radke urges her not to damage the house, as the illusion would only grow more angry. Eda condemns Radek for tricking them, but Radek merely smiles and shakes his head. It’s not Radek doing this. It’s the house. It has secrets it’d like to keep, and until Eda can prove she’s not there to destroy these secrets, it’ll keep her lost. Eda reaches for Radek but goes right through him, and he fades into smoke.

Luz quickly realizes the illusion isn’t harmful, just confusing, as theres no traps or anything out to get her. She takes a few deep breaths, and tries to clear her mind and remember what exactly she’s looking for. She wants to find blueprints, or at least a guide, for how to construct a portal back to the human realm herself. When she opens her eyes, the hallway is straight ahead and leads to one, singular door. When Luz enters, Radek turns to look at her and smiles. He doesn’t say anything, and Luz suddenly passes out.

After the fade to black, Luz wakes up with Eda hugging her, also asleep, on the ground outside the house. She wakes Eda up and shows her the blueprints and spare letters she acquired and Eda has whittling tools - with the symbol of an owl carved into the hilts.

Appearance in Elsewhere and Elsewhen

This episode is complicated...I don’t have everything written out yet, but Radek is very much present in it. I’m still debating if Radek is Phillip’s companion throughout the episode or if Radek isn’t there and make an appearance at the end. but either way, Luz recognizes Radek. He also presses a kiss to Phillip’s head at some point to indicate their relationship. Good times had by all. Phillip asks for time alone to reveal the collector and eat the palisman at the end.

Additional Scene in Hollow Mind

Throughout Hollow Mind Radek is pictured in some of the background memories.

Hunter runs away at the end of Hollow Mind after throwing off his cloak. We get an additional scene of him running and ending up somewhere in the woods. He stops to get his bearings and hyperventilate, looking around frantically. A cloaked shadowy figure with one white eye appears behind, but is quickly revealed by the lighting to just be Radek, who Hunter backs up into. Radek smiles kindly when he looks down at him, and Hunter’s shoulders relax a bit.

Labyrinth Runners & S2 Finale

Hunter is implied to stay with Radek and in Labyrinth Hunters hasn’t been staying at Hexside, but rather with Radek, who has given him some hand-me-downs. He sneaks out when Radek leaves for errands, however, and goes to Hexside to investigate his options. Gus makes a joke his clothes are “remarkably mint-condition” given the era they’re from and Hunter gives him a confused look. The episode mostly progresses as normal.

I don’t have as much of a long draft of how Radek’s existence affects the happenings of the final 3 episodes of S3, but regardless, Radek chooses to look after Hunter and the other kids but eventually ends up with Belos in his throne room. It’s probably some sort of capture, since Belos for all intensive purposes means to take Radek with him to the human realm. When Luz arrives, it’s not quite clear what exactly happened, but there’s some unbound rope and an unconscious Radek at the foot of the portal. A broken palisman lies nearby, and Belos stands up to look back at Kikirmora and Luz. Radek weakly turns to look at him, reaching up for a moment before passing out. His hand holds his ankle enough to trip him slightly, however, and he looks back at Radek’s unconscious body with concern for a moment before Luz tries to jump him.

In the end, Radek ends up going through the portal with the kids and embraces all of them as they go through. He’s shown with a hand on Hunter’s shoulder in front of Camila’s house later on.

Season 3 - Thanks to Them

IDEALLY this season would have been totally full so I could explain every arc that Radek goes through but unfortunately that doesn’t happen. I have so many ideas, I have no doubt I’ll end up updating this eventually to include more of my full thoughts.

There’s the scene montage with the kids living in the human realm for months and it’s interspersed also with Radek there. He’s generally shown wearing a loose sweater and sweatpants, and theres a moment where Hunter goes into his “bedroom” is the abandoned house and he’s got one glowy white eye in the darkness, and he screams (it’s played for comedy). Eventually Radek gets a nicer outfit and an eyepatch. It’s meant to be implied Radek went through a depressive state before managing to pull himself out of it, with a little help from Camila. In my brain where there’s a full season 3, so much stuff happens including a backstory episode but oh well. Radek and Camila also DEFINITELY have a thing for each other that is obvious to everyone aside from them.

Later in Thanks to Them, Hunter calls Radek mom, this is pretty normal for them. Radek still seems to be a bit of homebody, mostly due to his alarmingly unnatural appearance. He can shrink, but only for small periods of time and notably has a distaste for it. He can’t really write everything off as body mods like the witchlets can. However, he likes to help out Camila around the house and takes care of things like chores and keeping an eye on the kids.

Radek enjoys the Halloween festivities and wears a nun costume with some blood splatter and a fake knife to greet kids at the door with, and stays home with Camila and Vee. However, later, when Camila comes running to find Hunter possessed, Radek comes along too to rescue them. Belos offers for Radek to come with him but he refuses, wanting to stay with Hunter and their new family. He leaves with Hunter through the portal at the end and looks back at Camila with a frightened gaze.

So what the actual hell is really happening?

First, some context for the Wittebros: they’re Puritans, but less because their family was and more so because their community was.

Caleb and Phillip were orphaned at a young age. Their mom was burned at the stake for being a “witch”, and their father, unable to cope, abandoned them. Caleb took his younger brother Phillip and ran, having to essentially raise himself and his younger brother.

Phillip and Caleb were involved in the religious aspects of their community at Gravesfield and took up witch hunting, though Caleb, who remembered their mother’s death, quickly had doubts about it. Phillip was too young to remember and found a lot of comfort in their religious community and fell further into it while Caleb fell out of it.

Phillip and Caleb are German and know both German and English.

Why does Radek know Phillip?

Radek found Phillip after one of his first trips to the demon realm. He ended up there accidentally after his brother told him a story about it. After arriving there he passed out from the shock and Radek found him, kicked him to see if he was alive, and when Phillip promptly screamed awake Radek invited him inside for some food and an ice pack for the kick. They hit it off pretty quickly and were good friends. Phillip tolerated Radek being a witch because Radek was exceptionally kind to him and made him feel seen.

Phillip, Caleb, Evelyn and Radek were amiable with one another for a long time. Phillip always had reservations about the demon realm and felt their crossing over was not a good thing, but kept these feelings to himself. His love for Radek especially kept these feelings buried.

Phillip confessed his love to Radek by giving him one of his crosses, their version of a promise ring, and the cross that hangs higher on his chest is still that cross. The back is inscribed with their initials.

Their peace would not last long. One night Caleb confesses he has plans to live in the demon realm with Evelyn. Permanently. This releases all of Phillip’s pent up feelings about the demon realm, their crossing over, and etc. In their argument, they accidentally knock over some candles and set the house on fire. Phillip prevents their escape and instead challenges his brother to a knife duel. If Phillip wins, Caleb stays, and if Caleb wins, he can go.

Phillip kills his brother by stabbing him in the gut and leaves him to bleed out.

When the house is just a few ashes he takes Caleb’s coat and the knife, running away and ends up in the demon realm. He confesses that Caleb is dead to Radek, and they both cry and grieve before Radek asks him some questions about how. Phillip is covered in blood - and Radek begins to put together the pieces, but when Phillip yells at him, Radek simply believes it was an accident and that stirring him won’t help.

After this, they come to find out the portal between their realms in closed.

Whats the deal with Radek helping Phillip?

Radek helps Phillip find a way to get back to the human realm under the assumption its because he wishes to still move between them. Radek becomes his “companion” in many of these journals and Phillip notes that he doesn’t perish. Instead, there’s a later entry that Phillip writes where he claims Radek has disappeared. I’ll cover their disappearance (& reappearance) later.

Radek is relatively unaware of his intentions to destroy the demon realm but realizes them slowly after his development of the first grimwalker and his cult.

After Radek speaks with his grimwalker/golden guard named Conrad, and sees he looks not-quite-like Caleb, Radek confronts Phillip and says he won’t help him anymore, telling him to stop, before Radek has to stop him himself. He refuses, and out of rage, uses his “magic” on Radek, blackening his eye and spreading those branching marks out from it. He was absorbing some of Radek’s magic this way, but stops after Radek collapses, writhing in pain and wailing and crying. He leaves Radek there.

So why is Radek still alive and still young?

Radek didn’t go through eating palismen or anything like that.

Phillip convinced Radek he was frightened his mission wouldn’t succeed within his lifetime and asked him to find him the cure for death - immortality. Radek was hesitant at first but knew already of where to go to find it. By the Titans head. He promises Phillip he’ll come back with something, and says he’ll leave the next day in the afternoon to prepare. Before he leaves, he takes Phillip’s journal and writes his own entry in it, which Luz and Eda see.

When he arrives at his destination, he finds a pool of titan’s blood and jars some of it, puts it in his bag. He holds onto this, but doesn’t seem to be under the impression that’s what he’s looking for. He walks further into the cavern and suddenly slips and falls, hitting a large stalagmite and slicing his arm clean off. Bleeding out, crying, and in his pained state trying to put his arm back on, a large, dormant G-d awakens from her slumber and sees Radek. In her sleep, she’d been keeping an eye on Phillip, and having finally lured Radek there, she promises she can give Radek what he’s looking for: Immortality. But only to Radek. It would prevent him from bleeding out in the cavern and going unnoticed in history. But there was a condition - Radek would give something up for it, and he’d have to keep an eye on Phillip until he died.

Radek accepted immediately, frightened of death and assuming the Gd would simply take his arm or another physical aspect of him. However, when he wakes up later, still in pain and bleeding out, he doesn’t immediately realize what the Gd took. That is, until he comes back with his arm off, and sees Phillip, and he suddenly feels only emptiness staring at him. All the joy, glee, or positive emotions he might’ve felt at returning to his lover are gone - replaced with an emptiness, and Radek realizes that was the cost of his immortality. Not his arm, not a sense, but half of his emotions.

Phillip instantly notices this change in Radek but brushes it off as the pain, and sews his arm back on. It...heals.

Radek is unconditionally immortal and doesn’t age or die.

Final Thoughts & Conclusion

This probably gonna be updated as I have more ideas. For now this is everything canon. The only part I didn’t mention is that Radek and Camila are endgame, not Radek and Belos. If you haven’t gotten it by now, Belos and Radek are not healthy for each other and never will be! I’ll expand upon more intimate moments between them through my art and writing and that’ll hopefully be shown pretty clearly. Phillip still actively gaslights, betrays, and hurts Radek. Radek stays because he loves him and he doesn’t really know what it should be like.

Radek eventually gets his emotions back thanks to Hunter. The joy he feels having him for a son eventually cracks the “lock” the Gd put on his emotions and he feels happy again.

I hope you enjoyed :)

#talks #toh oc #toh #the owl house #the owl house oc

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magickfromscratch · 3 years ago

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Underworld

Following my general trend of making a messy post about it here before writing up something more formal on Wordpress...

So, leading up to what I’m going to call the Rotpocalypse (if you don’t know what I’m talking about check out my post “a Matter of Matter and Time” for an explanation) I had a series of dreams about the Underworld.

This sort of relevant because I was doing ritual work to refine my mythic self for reasons relating to my study of apotheosis in Greek mythology, but not specifically of wanting to become a deity. Actually, it has to of with some Fae-kin glass butterfly “oh gods my soul is dying and magic is dying” crap that just about any other Fae-kin person, either awakened, or of the “IDK, I just played a lot of Changeling: The Dreaming and vibed with it” will absolutely find relatable.

In other words, I was using the process of transforming what was ephemeral in my nature into mythic substance to patch my ailing fairy soul.

But if the apotheosis derivative work was related, and I think it is, if only because of the strong shadow work component in it, then the Underworld dreams are probably related, too.

I consider that the trope of the Greek hero going to the Underworld as a part of their apotheosis narrative alludes to a trip through the darker parts of consciousness, facing fear, reckoning with the shadow. Also, connection to the Earth is necessary to manifest power, and if you’re going to have to give up your meat suit, you need an alternative connection. More to follow. Content warning for death, animal injury, and references to the Holocaust.

The first of these dreams actually had to do with cats. I was sitting on a sunny porch (in none of these dreams could I directly see the sky), and there were cats there, all clearly bearing fatal injuries, but in no pain, telling me about how they died. One 6 month old cat, who looked like two separate cats ditched together, was telling me he’d been killed by being hit by a car twice in the past year.

Then there were the underworld real estate dreams. I visited any number of properties. Ramshackle houses, castles, and everything in between. I seemed to be evaluating different properties, deciding which to purchase. I kept finding houses that were bigger on the inside. I was most interested in acquiring a fixer-upper with a lot of space.

Then there was a tour of underworld amenities. The spas, the seemingly endless, labyrinthian libraries, the schools, and the healers’ depots. There were also thrift shops. In one very extensive thift shop, there was a spirit who was quite tall, with very short gray hair, and her face was seemingly covered in paper mache, painted to look like a sugar skull. She explained that this particular shift shop was her favorite because it was where all the clothes went after the dead were done with them. You could find period clothing from every era of human history, in perfect condition. There were water parks and arcades, too.

Lastly, I was shown the places of torment. The first of these did not seem a place of torment at all. It had the vibe of a Los Vegas or maybe Reno area casino, that sort of sprawling interior space with restaurants, and games as far as the eye could see. Before I entered, it was explained that I had already paid, and that I had a “Elite Membership Card.” This turned out to be a good thing, because as I got to the exit, I saw the souls who did not pay before entering, and the payment seemed to be beings using some sort of extraction tool to remove something from their souls. Their eyes glowed pale green, and whatever it was, it was permanently gone from them.

And then there were the actually dank caves, and in one of the hollows, the souls of Nazi paper-pushers, who had buried their sense of right and wrong in tedium and the daily grind while people suffered in concentration camps within faint earshot, were allowed to waste away to skeletal beings, still in uniform, still pushing papers. I wasn’t shown where the more egregious violators were sent.

And lastly, shortly after the rotpocalypse, a dream of a cave that led to the outside, into the bitter, snowy cold. That was the last of the dreams. And it was then that I understood exactly what that cave, in particular, was. It was my cave. It was my particular entrance to the Underworld. And it let out in a rocky place with gray skies. In this last dream, Ogma was there and helped me to cover the entrance with furs, right before I left. But before I did, I was made aware of the shadow at the back of my own mind, the dark presence hiding at the back of that cave. Somehow, I had hospitality to offer, if I could only reconcile with it. So I’ve been working on that.

Not sure what sense to make of it all, but it just seemed important.

#spiritwork #gods #underworld #apotheosis #death

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goldenpixel · 4 years ago

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The scene with Wilbur in Quackity’s latest lore stream made me Think some Thoughts, and I wanted to get all of my SBI family headcanons together in one place, so here’s this post

First thing, this is their age order:

Philza -> Techno/Wilbur -> Tubbo -> Ranboo -> Tommy

- Techno and Wilbur were born on the same day, so most of the family refers to them as “the twins” but they are not blood related

- Philza did not know how old Techno was when they were ruling the Antarctic Empire, he thought that Techno was around 21 when he was actually around 14-16

- this is a fact that haunts Phil to this day, because he committed a massive amount of war crimes with an actual child, and also for reasons that will soon become very clear

Philza and Techno

- they’re married

- they got married with them each thinking that the other was close to their own age (Phil thought Techno was in his early 20’s, Techno thought Phil was in his late teens)

- for more on their marriage, check out this post

- despite Techno and Wilbur being the same age, Techno is mentally much older due to his past and his general status as the Blood God

- Phil did most of the work raising the older kids, but Techno did his fair share, and you can definitely see his influence when you look at the kid’s behaviors

- both of them are immortal

- Techno is a new immortal, the Blood God has only just come into existence, but he isn't leaving anytime soon

- Philza is an old immortal, he was there when the world was born, and he'll be there when it dies

Wilbur

- Wilbur and Philza are the only blood relatives in the whole family

- as much as he loves him, Wilbur has always been a bit bitter towards Techno, because when they were teenagers, Techno was off ruling and adventuring and having fun with Phil during the AE, and Wil was left home with a young Tommy to look after

- Wilbur’s hair is naturally blond, just like Phil and Tommy’s

- no one knows who Wilbur’s mom is (unfortunately mpreg is the norm on this server, so Phil carried him, and he’s got some ideas on who Wil’s mom is, but he honestly doesn’t care enough to look into it)

- Wilbur has wings

- they’re much smaller than Phil’s, he can barely fly with them, but they’re the same color and shape as Phil’s

- because of how fragile his wings are, Wilbur should not technically be able to fly, but he literally sheer force of will-ed it and threw himself off the roof of their house so many times that he can glide when he jumps from high places, and if it’s a really high place, he can get in a few good flaps of his wings to get him some extra distance

- Phil doesn’t learn that Wilbur can semi-fly/glide until one day they’re off adventuring together and Wil is being dramatic and theatrical and walking backwards while he talks, and he falls off a cliff

Tommy

- Tommy has been with them since he was a few days old

- because of his light features, most people assume that he is Phil’s son by blood, and he just didn’t inherit the wings

- (at ages 10 and 16, Tommy and Wilbur did the blood-brothers handshake where they cut their palms and then shook hands, so if you ask them, they’re blood brothers through and through)

- Techno taught Tommy how to sew

- Tommy is a young god, but he hasn’t grown into most of his powers yet

- Tommy is a god of death, the future Death himself, Kristen is his mother

- (this is how Phil comes into possession of him. Phil, being the Angel of Death, was really the only reasonable choice when it came to Death herself finding someone to raise her son)

- Tommy has light features, even though Mumza has dark features, because she purposefully made him out of the light, she wanted him to be good and kind, so she created him from the literal light that you see when you're dying

- because he was born from the actual moment of death, despite Tommy's eyes being blue, they hold the void itself in them

- if you look too closely into Tommy's eyes, it can be easy to lose yourself and fall right in

- sometimes Mumza comes to visit, these are very bittersweet moments for Tommy

- he loves his mom, and he loves seeing her and seeing Phil happy to see her, and she usually takes him along on her next trip, ever so slowly teaching him how to be Death, but he also hates that that is his future

- he doesn't want to be the next Death, he doesn't want to outlive all of his friends and his brother, he just wants to be normal

- because of this, Tommy represses pretty much all of his godly powers, trying to seem as normal as possible, the one he represses the most is his automatic healing, when he gets hurt, he wants to stay hurt

- he represses everything so well that its years before Tubbo finds out that his best friend is a god

Ranboo

- Techno raised Ranboo more than Phil did

- (because of this, he’s the only kid who actually views Techno as his father. Despite him literally being their stepdad, the others see Techno as more of a brother or an uncle)

- Techno found Ranboo when he was around 12 years old on the edge of a warped forest in the nether (if you want some more nether-boys hc’s, check out this post)

- at that age, Ranboo hadn’t hit his growth spurt yet due to malnutrition, so he was much smaller than the average human 12 year old, and everyone thought he was around 8-10 (because of his memory issues, Ranboo thought the same thing until Tommy kept pestering him about when his birthday was and he remembered the year)

- Ranboo is brought into the family when he’s 12, Tommy is 11, and Wilbur and Techno are 17

- as I said before, Techno may have been 17 when he took in Ranboo, but he was definitely a father to this anxious amnesiac preteen

- because of his height, Ranboo is constantly slouching to fit through doorways, inside houses, and to make himself appear smaller, so he grows to need a cane

Tubbo (and Dream)

- street cat

- they fed him once and he just kept coming back

- sometimes he’ll disappear for a few weeks, but he always turns up eventually

- boy’s got some family issues, some real bad family issues

- his dad is Schlatt, who left him and big brother Dream to fend for themselves when he and Dream were 6 and 11

- luckily Dream has an excellent sense of direction and memory, and got them to Aunt Puffy’s current port before she pushed off on her next adventure (but not before getting briefly separated and making some friends)

- (the few weeks they spend separated are when Tubbo first gets found by Wilbur and Tommy and forcibly adopted by Phil, and Bad lures Dream home with food and he meets Sapnap)

- both boys have ram features - floppy ears, horns, etc., Dream also inherited their Aunt Puffy's rainbow hair (he dyes it blonde semi-regularly. It's dyed when he meets sbi, and Wilbur and Techno have the exact same reaction to it when they finally see his natural hair: relentless teasing. Like father like son amiright?)

- Tubbo and Dream are half brothers (same dad, different moms), Tubbo is 1/2 ram and 1/2 human, Dream is 1/2 human, 1/4 ram, and 1/4 what he and Sapnap think is demon (basically Dream had a human-ram hybrid dad, and a human-demon(?) hybrid mom)

- when Tubbo introduces Dream to his new brother-in-law, Dream feels a bit of a kindred spirit, but he quickly brushes it off

- Dream spends most of his time either with Bad, Skeppy, and Sapnap, or on the sea with Puffy, so Tubbo mostly fends for himself

- Tubbo is more than happy to fend for himself, he actually prefers it most of the time. He doesn't like people fussing over him and sheltering him, so whenever his mood switches and he decides that he does, actually, want some family time, he just appears on sbi’s front porch

- Tubbo first meets Ranboo when he comes to visit after a few months away. No one told him that Tommy was with Mumza for the weekend, so when he arrived at 3am, 2 days before he told Phil he’d be there, he just let himself in and threw himself on top of the sleeping figure in Tommy’s bed, only to be met with a startled enderman screech that woke the whole house

- (Ranboo was in Tommy’s bed because he might not be a part of the official Clingy Duo, but the boy is as clingy as they come. He regularly sleeps in his family’s beds, both when they’re home and when they’re away, because his sense of smell is heightened as an enderman and he needs to be surrounded in their scent when he misses them or when he’s feeling sad (especially because these are the only scents he knows, he doesn’t remember any of the scents from before Techno found him))

Big brothers being friends

- one day, after Tubbo’s near-constant raving about how great the Minecraft family is, Dream agrees to visit with him

- this visit happens to fall during the AE, so the only ones home are Wilbur and Tommy

- Dream and Wilbur take one look at each other and their similar situations in raising their chaotic, problem-child little brothers, and never let go

- the four of them live together for a good 5-6 months before Dream gets a letter and he and Tubbo need to leave

- after this visit, Dream and Wilbur stay in contact, and they visit each other even without their brothers around to drag them along

- I know I said that Wilbur makes fun of Dream for dying his hair, but that’s only in public

- in private, Wilbur confesses to Dream that he also dyes his hair, that his hair is naturally blond and he dyes it darker. After this, Dream and Wilbur start dying their hair together, it becomes something scheduled that they both look forward to immensely each month

- the next time Dream and Tubbo visit together, Wilbur is off with a water spirit who stole his heart (I refuse to write about fish Sally, fight me), and Phil is showing Ranboo some cool builds in his current hardcore world, so it's Techno and Tommy who welcome them in

- Techno starts out pretty hesitant of Dream, but Dream almost instantly is like

- "I'm gonna annoy the blood god into being my best friend"

- and whatever Dream sets his mind to, he achieves

- so the visit sort of ends with Dream and Techno making Tommy and Tubbo promise not to burn the house down, and leaving them home alone to go off to cause some chaos together

Father/son relationships

- As I said earlier, Phil primarily raised Wilbur and Tommy, and Techno primarily raised Ranboo, with Tubbo coming in and out like a feral cat

- to Wilbur and Tommy, Techno is more of a cool uncle who brings them valuable trinkets from his adventures, and they want to be like him one day

- Ranboo and Phil’s relationship is almost exactly the same as Wilbur and Tommy’s relationship with Techno

- when Techno brought Ranboo home, Phil pretty much decided that he had his hands full enough with raising his two chaotic boys, and he declared that it was finders-keepers, Techno found Ranboo, so he gets to raise him

- after L’Manburg, Ghostbur and Phil learn sign language, because the explosion blew out Phil’s hearing in his left ear, and Ghostbur’s so soft-spoken that it’s sometimes really difficult for him to hear his son speaking

For more random hc’s I have about these characters and the characters of the smp in general, check out this post

Some quick tags for people who commented on my post asking who wants this post, thanks for the support guys :’) @anotherweirdohere @haveadayasgreatasyou @jupiterjordan

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