#it was kind of a mike pov of him growing up trying to be a good brother leading up to. You Know
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strangledlullaby · 1 year ago
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a strangled red hc i have is that steven and mikes parents are not present because they travel a lot to other regions for their jobs and as a result mike chose to not become a pokemon trainer when he was younger because he didnt want to leave steven alone (then when steven becomes a pokemon trainer he suggests that mike could come with him since he does feel a bit bad about mike missing out on it initially)
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chirpsythismorning · 2 years ago
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☎️🎲 🤼‍♂️ ✈️🚪 ➡️ 🫀🎮⌛️
I'm Not In Love by 10cc
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previous ⏪︎ now playing ⏩ next back to playlist
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jxncywarrior · 1 year ago
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Stranger Things characters and ships as Taylor Swift albums
Part Three: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
*Disclaimer: I’m tagging all the ships and characters featured. I’m gonna try not to be biased. MOST of these are strictly based on canon. No hate to ANY ships or shippers.*
Mine: Jancy (Nancy’s POV)
“I fell in love with a careless man’s careless daughter”
Sparks Fly: Byler (Mike’s POV)
“Drop everything now. Meet me in the pouring rain”
Back To December: Byler (Mike’s POV)
“When your birthday passed and I didn't call. Then I think about summer, all the beautiful times”
Speak Now: Jopper (Hopper’s POV)
“Horrified looks from everyone in the room but I'm only looking at you”
Dear John: Stancy (Nancy’s POV)
“And my mother accused me of losing my mind but I swore I was fine”
Mean: El
“You have pointed out my flaws again. As if I don't already see them”
The Story Of Us: Lumax (Lucas’ POV)
“I'd tell you I miss you but I don't know how. I've never heard silence quite this loud”
Enchanted: Ronance (Robin’s POV)
“The playful conversation starts. Counter all your quick remarks like passing notes in secrecy”
Better Than Revenge: Stancy (Steve’s POV)
“She came along, got him alone, and let's hear the applause. She took him faster than you could say sabotage”
Innocent: Mike
“Who you are is not what you did”
Haunted: Stancy (Steve’s POV)
“He will try to take away my pain and he just might make me smile but the whole time I'm wishing he was you instead”
Last Kiss: Lumax (Lucas’s POV)
“So I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep and I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe”
Long Live: The Entire Crew
“The cynics were outraged screaming this is absurd ‘cause for a moment a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world…I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you”
Never Grow Up: Will
“Remember the footsteps, remember the words said and all your little brother's favorite songs. I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone”
Ours: Byler (Will’s POV)
“Don’t you worry your pretty little mind. People throw rocks at things that shine”
Superman: Mileven (Mike’s POV)
“He's not all bad like his reputation and I can't hear one single word they said”
Electric Touch: Jancy (Both POVs)
“I've gotten used to no one callin' my phone. I've grown accustomed to sleepin' alone”
When Emma Falls In Love: Nancy
“Cause she's the kind of book that you can't put down. Like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town and all the bad boys would be good boys if they only had a chance to love her”
I Can See You: Jancy (Nancy’s POV)
“That I could see you throw your jacket on the floor. I could see you make me want you even more”
Castles Crumbling: El
“Smoke billows from my ships in the harbor. People look at me like I'm a monster Now they're screaming at the palace front gates, used to chant my name. Now they're screaming that they hate me”
Foolish One: Will
“You give me just enough attention to keep my hopes too high. Wishful thoughts forget to mention when something's really not right”
Timeless: Lumax (Max’s POV)
“In a crowded room a few short years ago and sometimes there's no proof, you just know. You're always gonna be mine”
Links to the other parts: Debut, Fearless, Red, 1989, reputation, Lover, folklore, evermore
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ashiemochi · 2 years ago
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anubussy - v
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✠ Anubussy ↳ sorry, i don't want your touch ↳↳ it's not that i don't want you
➶ pairing: OC x Leon S(exy) Kennedy. ➶ genre: fluff, more angst, gore, longer smut/suggestive themes ➶ word count: no
NOTE: ✠ = time skip ✠✠ = switching povs/characters
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When I was a kid…
The morgue was always a depressing place. Whether it had bodies or not, the name was dreadful in itself. The smell of it was just a reminder of how fragile humans can really be. 
They are all born the same, if not living different lives, and they will always end up in a place like a morgue. 
I used to think about the kind of man I’d grow up to be.
Leon made his way down the long room where his fallen comrades were zipped up in a body bag. All of his men were gone, and he was their leader. Everything was going smoothly till a whistle-blower fucked their shit up. The fact he was the only one alive ruined him on the inside even more.
Usually, he’d have someone to go to for reassurance or a sense of comfort – but for almost a year and counting, he had no one. He was left to deal with this alone once again.
Leon stared solemnly at one of the body bags, not entirely zipped. It filled him with dread and self-hatred. He should’ve been in one of those bags but alas, he had no choice. He truly hated losing his squad – anyone who was ever around him would always get hurt.
Back in Raccoon City, Marvin and hundreds and thousands of people he could’ve saved but was too late.
Luis Serra, Mike, and Jack Krauser in Spain. He failed them.
JD during the Eastern Slav Republic civil war – god, he wanted to know his actual name.
President Adam Benford during the C-Virus outbreak and all the survivors always died, in the end, no matter how hard he tried to keep them alive.
An infinite amount of lives could’ve stayed if only he was fast enough. And those who lived – Buddy and her – were left mentally scarred to no end. 
A gargled snarl took his attention away from the slightly opened body bag, snapping his eyes to the writhing bag right across from him. The sound itself inclined him to pull out his gun and shoot it; an instinct at this point.
Each shot he took was precise, azure eyes sharpening down to a glare, lips forming a faint scowl.
I never thought my life would turn out this way.
✠✠
Willis Tower Chicago, Illinois. Four months later.
“Have you seen the news lately?”
“All I do is watch the news, So Ah – you gotta be more specific.”
“Another terrorist attack,” So Ah elaborated, “But this time, it was targeted at a biotechnology university in Ontario.”
“Big surprise.”
The wind brushed against the huddled-up girl, making her shiver but she still wouldn’t look away from her phone.
For this chilly night of Autumn, she had gone for an off-white short-sleeved shirt and tucked it into a pair of high-waisted black shorts reaching her mid-thighs, being held up by a black-coloured belt. For warmth, she wore a dark denim button-up shirt – which she left undone – followed by an oversized knitted brown cardigan.
Lastly, black tights and a pair of black upper-knee-length high-heeled combat boots. 
Her black bomber jacket – having to buy a new one – was folded neatly aside. She’d change into it before she’d have to make the run for it to try and blend in with the crowd below.
She was by the edge of the tower, back against the wall, having gone down to a deep squat with her knees to her chest. 
“It’s like that bomb in Washington, remember?” So Ah asked, “Several weeks ago… And those viral attacks…”
“It’s strange. There are no traces of any virus – they just… Turn.” 
“Ugh, hate it when they do that…” So Ah shivered, lips pressed into a thin line as she tried to brush off the nagging in her head. 
Knowing who they were waiting for, she was going to make the moment worth it. Their current and final target was Charles Wilson – a medic who was in his early to mid-forties. The same man who was in charge of the creation of the tracker. 
As if it knew it was being thought about, the chip let out a mild zap in an attempt to reset and work again. She winced, hand shooting to soothe the stinging sensation in the back of her neck. Piers must’ve heard her yelp.
“Is it still doing that thing?” He asked, knowing it’s been happening ever since So Ah’s first bloodshed.
“Yeah,” She answered quietly, “They’re getting desperate.”
“With their men dying out one by one, they’re bound to be a bit on edge.” Piers pointed out.
“Good.” So Ah hummed, visibly unphased by the whole thing. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the BSAA trucks and cars surrounding the Alexander Institute of Biotechnology – the university. 
“Do you think Chris knows?” She questioned, feeling her heart starting to pound at the mere thought of her captain seeing her in this state. 
A snicker came from the other end, “Most definitely. He was the one in charge of you and your family – he’d be the first to know. He probably figured it out himself too. You can’t really run away from him, So Ah.”
She bit on the inside of her bottom lip, growing nervous. The device next to her beeped, indicating her target was within range.
“He’s here.” She informed, setting her phone aside and getting into position with her perched-up sniper.
“Let’s get this show on the road. Last one, huh?” Piers spoke his thoughts.
The Han girl stayed quiet and focused, watching Charles move through the opposite building. He was in the hallway, quite possibly heading to his office which, luckily for her, had a window facing her. It’d be an easy kill with no suspect or witnesses.
“We could try and interrogate him to find out why he planned the tracker in the first place, you know?” Piers said, subtly trying to get her to put down the gun, “He’s one of the big guys at the BSAA. Maybe he knows something useful. Like how to take the chip out.”
He wasn’t entirely wrong – but how could So Ah be sure that he would even cooperate? What if he rats them out? It was a risk she was not willing to take.
“If you’re so against what I do, why are you still helping me?” So Ah shot back, eyebrow twitching at the faint footsteps reaching her ears.
Piers seemed a bit taken aback by her tone, mimicking her sharp voice, “Because if it weren’t for me, you would’ve been caught long ago. Not to toot my horn or anything.”
A quiet shuffle made her turn her head around to peer behind her but nothing. She could feel someone was around or watching her. Might be God finally noticing her but either way; the idea of someone else being up here with her was gut-churning.
“Consider your horn tooted.” So Ah mumbled, returning her attention to Charles, magnifying the scope closer with her finger close to the trigger.
“So Ah, reconsider this.” Piers pressed on, “It won’t bring you satisfaction.”
Another sound perked her up and she straightened up, brows furrowing deeply, “Shh.”
“Did you just shush me?”
“Someone’s here.” She whispered back in a hushed tone, keeping her eyes on the spacious roof behind her. 
She hastily reached into her bag and pulled out her tactical combat dagger. The handle felt cold under her grip despite wearing her leather gloves. Slowly, she pulled herself up to her feet, opting for a silent spar, as she carefully walked forward. Her knife was up in an alarmed fashion, letting her eyes dart around for anyone.
The massive and tall white antennas made it a bit difficult to navigate around the roof. She stopped, looking over at the door leading down the stairs. It was closed and she blinked; was her mind playing tricks?
Her fear of heights was probably getting the best of her again – not to mention, tens upon tens of lives on her shoulder, she was bound to start growing a little paranoid. 
Shift.
In an instant, she threw the knife to her left. It hit and got stuck in the exterior of one of the antennas – right next to Chris’ face.
Her eyes widened, dryness taking over her throat. He hadn’t changed one bit – if anything, his eyes had grown gentler. Whether it was because it was his first time seeing her in a little less than a year or whatever, So Ah could tell he was concerned.
And quite possibly mad as fuck.
He was in his tactical suit, short-sleeved, but no gun was in sight. Okay, he wasn’t here to take her down. 
“Nice throw,” Chris mused, yanking the dagger out, “You’ve improved a lot.”
Even his voice was filled with such worry – and pure and utter ‘what the fuck are you doing with yourself’. It wasn’t easy to differentiate between them.
So Ah stayed quiet, growing anxious as she tried to think of a way to turn this around. Her weapons were on the opposite side of the roof – behind him. 
Chris followed her eyes to the perched-up sniper, giving her a look, “May I?”
It wasn’t even a question because he just went ahead to inspect her little hideout up close, kneeling. So Ah followed him but kept her distance, watching him toss her dagger onto her jacket and pick her sniper up to peek at who she was aiming at. A hum emitted from him, setting down the weapon.
“I see you’ve been busy.”
“How did you find me?” 
Chris looked up at her, “How do you think?”
He pulled his device from his pocket, showing Piers’ face – a video call. The soldier gave her an apologetic look with a smile.
“Sorry, So Ah – no hard feelings, right?”
The girl’s wide eyes twitched, understandably feeling a bit betrayed but also a little stupid – no one would ever be on her side when it came to killing people. If there was a way where she could go back and take it all back, she would. 
If she could change her future at the Green Life facility and had succeeded in sacrificing herself to take down Frederic and George, she would – but someone saved her back then.
He kept her alive.
“I’m not here to take you in, So Ah.” Chris reassured as he stood up, setting his phone back into his pocket, “You can relax.”
“Kind of hard to do so,” She retorted, her body all tense, looking around her for a moment, “Not after everything I’ve done.”
Chris gave her a firm look, “I came alone – I just wanna talk.”
So Ah pursed her lips into a thin line, eyes narrowing at him. She still held such huge respect for him – but she was so close to taking revenge on the same man who killed her the moment he implanted that chip. Then she’d be back home, safe and sound. 
Everything would be fine.
“About what?” So Ah asked; if anything, she’d try and make the run for it through the doors. If he comes close, then she’d have to put her training to good use.
Chris exhaled for a second and he started, “Why are you doing this?”
“Didn’t your little spy report everything to you?” She couldn’t help the poison in her words and Piers’ voice came through the earpiece.
“Still here, sunshine.”
“He told me enough,” Chris said, eyeing her for her side of the story.
“Then there you go.” She deflected, returning the stare but defiantly.
Not just the chip and vengeance – but what pushed her to commit bloodshed? 
There was something deep lying beneath that chip excuse and he wanted to know. He will know.
“So Ah–”
“No, Chris.” She shook her head, somehow knowing what he wanted, “I’m not going to do this right now.”
“So, when do you want to do this, huh?” Chris shot back, shoulders squaring as he glared at her, “After you kill another man? Two or three more? Or when you’d be behind bars for life? Would you want to do this then?”
So Ah slammed her mouth shut, eyebrows curling in the middle for a split second. Her tough demeanour was faltering under his eyes. Every reason within her was fighting to come out and spill everything.
Like a cat spitting out a hairball – weird analogy but it’ll do.
So Ah’s voice came out faint, avoiding his eyes as she took a small step back, “You wouldn’t understand…”
“Then help me understand!” Chris demanded in a gentle tone, trying to coax the truth out of her, “Talk to me, So Ah.”
Tears stung her cinnamons, making them seem shinier under the pale lights of the city below and the tower. She took in a shaky breath, the need to have someone to talk to was immense. 
Chris was her captain anyway. He was one of the few people who deserved to know.
“I…” She swallowed before looking at him, “You don’t know what it feels like having every step you take observed like some sort of a lab rat. Every visit to the BSAA was getting worse and worse to no end.” 
“They’d lie and say they’re checking on the status of the virus but they weren’t.” She stopped for a moment, feigning a strong facade, “They wanted to create a virus out of my own blood… They took everything from me – so I took everything from them.”
Chris remained stern, “What about their families back home? Do you think they deserve it? Does your family?” He noticed her tense up at the mention of her parents, “There isn’t a day where they don’t call to ask for updates on you.”
Her eyes widened, shoulders deflating and she whispered, “You… You told them?”
“No, they still think you’re missing.” Chris replied, ticking his head to the side once, “It’s not my job to speak for others.”
He noticed the way she let out a faint sound, relieved that they didn’t know. She was most likely afraid to see their reactions – after all, she was on a killing spree. She yearned to see them again, but at what cost?
“It’s for the best.”
His eyes hardened at this, “You and I know that’s bullshit. So Ah, you abandoned your family–”
“It’s for the goddamn best.” So Ah snapped sharply, mimicking the anger in his eyes, “I broke them the moment I failed my mission back in China. They say it isn’t my fault but I know they’re lying to keep me safe.” 
Growing visibly upset, a snarl formed on her lips as she took one step forward to enunciate her point, “Maybe it slipped your mind but I was tagged like a dog for years. I couldn’t tell anyone because they would’ve killed me – or even worse, killed my own family.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?!” Chris scolded, “I was and still am in charge of protecting you and your family!”
“Yeah, protecting,” She spat in disbelief, making him blink at her tone as she approached him, “There’s nothing you could’ve done. The government has you on a high pedestal. They expect the best from you.”
She went to move past him, sneering in her mother tongue, “Just a golden dog to them.”
Chris went quiet, watching her kneel down in front of her laid-out devices. She was shoving everything into her bag, not paying attention to her special dagger clanking on the ground.
She was understandably upset – and Chris felt like he failed the Han family. It wasn’t necessarily his fault either. The BSAA hid things from him to the point he was about to charge into HQ and demand to know the truth about everything. 
But he also knew about So Ah’s honesty – she’d never lie about something as big as this.
Not to mention, having spent enough time around the South Korean family and flying to Seoul, Chris had no choice but to pick up a few words. 
“So, what’s your plan?” Chris indulged her, gesturing around him with his arms, “Take the lives of those men and then what? You can’t go back home, So Ah. You won’t be able to see your parents and your brother. Not anymore.”
He needed her to see the consequences of her actions before they take her by full force. So Ah was strong and would do anything for the safety of her family and friends – but how far was she willing to go before she falls?
He couldn’t see So Ah’s disheartened face as she attempted to seem unphased, but the girl was aching beyond belief. Her hands were slowing down their ministrations on the duffle bag and the devices.
“Nothing is meant to last forever.” She muttered lowly, but loud enough for him to hear her.
“Nothing?” Chris repeated, incredulous at her dismissive behaviour, “You’re really throwing away Minji’s death like it’s nothing?”
Every control in her self-being snapped at the mention of her name. It shot her up to her feet and she faced him with a look of anger creeping up her features. 
“Who are you to dictate how to depict her death?!” So Ah yelled, her hands clenching hard enough to turn her knuckles white, as she accused, “Your men failed to keep her safe! And it’s my fault for ever trusting your agency to keep shit in order!”
“My men may have failed but they tried!” Chris shouted back, “They really tri–”
But he found himself interrupted by the uncharacteristic tone.
“I TRIED, CHRIS! I. TRIED!” So Ah barked loudly, roughly gesturing to herself, “I was there! You promised to keep her safe! You promised to keep my family safe!” She pointed at him, never relenting but then heaved for air, a hiccup hitching up in her throat.
A sob threatened to leave her lips, “You promise to keep me safe…”
Chris stared speechlessly at her outburst, lips parting but nothing came out. Her body was shaking all over and he could see that same girl back in the facility of Green Life during the H-Outbreak.
An axe in hand with a look of helplessness as she’d run almost aimlessly – anything to find her parents. She never wanted any of this yet, she chose to stay on this side of the world for the sake of keeping her family safe from the grief of all the lives they had indirectly caused.
So Ah was back to being lost – again.
“So Ah…” Chris stepped forward, voice dropping a tone, “I’m–”
“Forget it. I’m not coming with you.” So Ah gulped as she sniffled, wiping away her tears quickly and she turned around to finish packing, voice croaking, “Not this time. Not ever.”
Her shaking hand picked up her dagger, finding memories oozing from it. The BSAA operator watched her hesitate, midnight eyes dropping down to her blade. 
“What about Leon?” 
She froze at the sound of his name and a bingo went off in Chris’s head. 
“He’s still searching for you.” He continued, “He doesn’t give a damn about anything else but to have you back home… And he’s a goddamn mess.”
So Ah looked at him over her shoulder. There was wariness moulded with softness in her doe eyes, her heart already skipping beats. Her ring made its presence more apparent on her skin and her curiosity got the best of her.
“What… What do you mean?”
Chris sighed, folding his arms against his chest, “That viral attack at the academy? It was orchestrated by Glenn Arias – I’ve been tracking him down for four months now.”
“... Glenn Arias?” Her eyes visibly widened and she stood up to face him, dagger in hand, “... He’s–”
“I know. Piers told me.” Chris assured, aware of the H-Virus, “We figured that the strain has similar qualities to that of the Plaga in Los Illuminados.”
“Leon got intel about it that we need. I’m assuming he told you about his mission in Spain to save the president’s daughter?” He received a nod and he ended, “I want you to join me.”
“I don’t see why I’m needed.” So Ah said, confused. 
“If he’ll listen to anyone, it’s you.” Chris revealed.
Nervousness filled her veins at the mere thought of seeing him for the first time – letting him see her. She left without any note but that last call before it dropped. A bullet had hit her phone, taking her only form of communication. 
She could only imagine the emotional turmoil she left on him. Each night was a constant fight to not call him, severely anxious that her call might get traced. Seeing him would be too risky and she’d spend nights sobbing into her pillow, muffling her crying out his name.
If anyone could die of heartbreak, it’d be her.
“... After what I’ve done?” She whispered guiltily, “To him?”
Chris nodded, “You’d be surprised.”
She was unsure, her eyes set on the dagger in her hands, fingertips brushing the curvature of the polished marble. To see him or even just hear his honeyed voice, it was a dream. 
But this wasn't the reunion she dreamt of. Arias was out there attacking universities or something – she didn’t know the full story yet. This was to save people.
Again.
Chris could tell she was close to being convinced, taking a step towards her with a tender voice. 
“So Ah, I’m not asking you as your captain. I’m asking you as your friend.” He said lowly, “If we don’t do anything, Arias’ plan would wipe out millions of lives.”
So Ah trailed her eyes up to him and then over her shoulders to where Charles was. After close to a year of killing and interrogating for information, she was torn about whether to drop her mission and go be the DSO agent the people wanted her to be or cross that last name on the list.
By people, her squad at the agency and the agents she had befriended on the way; Sherry Birkin and Helena Harper.
Chris’s voice took her attention away from the man, “Let me do what I was assigned to do. We’ll take him into custody and provide proof of everything that he and the others have done to you.”
So Ah didn’t look at him, remorse evident in her avoiding eyes, “Am I… Am I gonna go to jail? For…”
“I’ll see to it that you don’t.” Chris reassured, urging her to look at him, “Trust me, So Ah.”
The walls she had put up crumbled. Out of all the BSAA operators she had met, Chris was one of a kind. He was willing to keep his whole team safe, treating them like family. Sure, she had been handpicked by President Benford himself to be transferred to the DSO – but he still saw her as part of his team.
And it showed.
So Ah finally did, turning her back on her own immoral mission. If Leon trusted Chris then so could she.
“Okay…” She breathed out, “I’ll come with you.”
Chris didn’t hide his relieved toothy smile as he nodded, bringing up his index and middle finger to his earpiece, “Alright. Bring it around.”
A massive aircraft flew up, bright lights flashing on our two characters. So Ah stiffened at the sight of it, hair quivering up in the air as she stumbled back at the wind caused by the propellers. 
Her anxious thoughts were quick to think this was a trap all along. She looked over at Chris, warily. 
“I thought you said you came alone!” She spoke loudly over the sound of the aircraft. 
“I did!” Chris gave her a mildly amused look, “I told them to stay put but they didn’t listen!”
A familiar voice came from within the aircraft, connecting to her earpiece, and she could just sense the cheeky grin on his face.
“We learned from the best, Mija.”
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trashmouth-richie · 2 years ago
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TWIN FLAMES: 11 💔
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<w.c> 3.5k
Warnings!: NO MINORS 🔞 sexual content, drug and alcohol abuse. Mentions of physical abuse. Blood warning.
A/N: this changes pov quite a bit and I did add dividers to show when that happens… except readers pov.
Dividers by: @firefly-graphics & @silkholland
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Blood is squirting from his body like a sprinkler on a summer day as he falls to the floor. Everyone is frozen in the moment, stunned at the copious amounts of blood spreading across his skin. The barrel of the gun was still smoking as the scent of gunpowder clung heavy to everyone’s nose. The blonde girl laying on the couch has woke from her drugged stupor and is screaming at the sight of blood.
“Jesus! Jesus Christ! Call 9-1-1!” Dustin screams as he runs to the bathroom for towels, tripping on the way over the scattered beer cans. A shaky Robin on Bambi’s legs scampers off towards the kitchen in search of a phone.
You were in shock standing with your mouth hung open as everyone else seemed to jump into action. Mike barreled towards Billy, all 90 lbs of him, trying to wrangle the gun away from his hands. Dustin runs back into the living room, a terrified expression on his face, with an armload of towels and starts putting pressure on the wound. You hear your name being called but aren’t sure who is yelling it. Chaos ensues as you run to Eddie. Eddie’s in shock and disbelief that this happened, can’t believe the amount of blood he is seeing, pooling around the floor.
Steve and Nancy are huddled together like a pair of puppies in a small heap on the floor. She is crying, sobbing and so is Steve.
“Ambulance is on the way— just hold on, shit! Oh my god that’s a lot of blood! Shit! What do we do!?”
“Robin calm down, I need your help! Y/N! Get over here! We need your help too!” Dustin orders.
“I can’t, Dustin —I can’t.” Tears stream down your cheeks as you hold Eddie’s face. He is whispering to you telling you it’ll be okay.
“Y/N, he’s losing too much blood!”
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I know what you’re thinking. Steve Harrington, doing drugs? I’m the good one in all of this. But listen I was with her for years, known her practically my entire life. When you’ve been with the same girl for years and she breaks your heart over a phone call, you tend to hit rock bottom. Well actually the night I found her cuddled up with Eddie the freak Munson, that was my rock bottom. I already felt crazy when she broke up with me over the phone but this. Leaving me for him? Munson? Unimaginable. I don’t remember driving there, or what happened. Robin, the lying bitch, tried to tell me I hit y/n which couldn’t be farther from the truth. I loved that girl, everything about her. She broke my heart. And now I’m just trying to mend the pieces.
I had wanted to get out of town, go to Indy for the weekend, blow off some steam with my boys… but they weren’t available. You know who was? Billy Hargrove. And yeah he was kind of a prick and an unhinged sociopath, but when he saw me that night leaving the liquor store with 2 twelve packs and a carton of cigs, he reached out a lending hand to help end my suffering.
For the past few days Billy and I have been inseparable. Thicker than thieves, more insync than twins. We shared drugs, booze, and even girls. Life: a constant party, That son of a bitch sure is a smooth talker. No more striking out for me with Billy as my wingman. The chicks just flocked to him. I’m not sure if he kept a roll of quarters in the front of his jeans at all times or if he was hung like a race horse but man that guy can pull some serious tail.
Chrissy Cunningham and Nancy Wheeler were our regulars. Both girls sweet as sugar and as sinful as snakes. It started off with Nancy and Billy. And Chrissy and I. Banging another girl other than y/n, was different at first. I had become used to her body, and I don't think I ever got over the fact that she was the same girl who had scraped her knees when she wiped out down the big hill on Cornwall. I loved her dearly, but watching someone grow up before you and then being intimate with them was weird. The sex was great, but I didn’t know what I was missing until Chrissy showed me.
Then the swap happened. In the middle of me fucking Chrissy, Billy throws open the door with Nancy straddling him. He sets her down on the bed and grabs Chrissy, quite literally off of my cock, picks her up bridal style and leaves bringing her into his room. Not a word in the exchange, just a naked Nancy Wheeler sitting on the bed next to me, as my dick is slapped up against my belly from Chrissy previously riding it. Her eyes are glazed and there’s white powder on her tiny nose. I’m too high to figure out what had just happened, I woke up to Nancy sucking me off several hours later. I mean, it could have been seconds I really don’t know. All I know is Jonathan Byers is a fucking idiot for letting her go.
After that first night, I was never with Chrissy again, Nancy and I would sneak off together when Billy and Chrissy got too high and would pass out. Turns out she’s a really sweet girl. She cares a lot about her friends and her family, always making sure Mike and Holly were taken care of before sneaking out to meet us at Billy’s. She has big dreams of getting out of Hawkins and making something of herself. Always giggling about my plans of attending Harvard and starting a family with a bunch of kids. I felt myself growing closer and closer to her and trust me it wasn’t because I was knee deep in her pussy every night.
The night she let her guard down as we lay naked in Max’s bed, and told me that she was uncomfortable and scared of doing the drugs Billy brought us, she was the first to stop— cold turkey. That’s the thing about Nancy, one she has her mind set on something— boom that’s it. She just acted drunk and high to not upset Billy. When he was upset, all hell broke loose. Thankfully I was never on the receiving end of that rage, but I’ve witnessed it.
He busted the windows out in the living room when Max said she was afraid to stay at her own house, tears streaming down her face as Lucas held her back from slapping Billy. He picked up that kitchen chair and hurled it across the room, shattering the glass. Max screaming as Lucas held her close and left with her. I was so messed up when he did it I didn’t even notice, just felt the breeze on my face. Nancy told me about it later as she laid in my arms and sobbed. Holding her close and twirling her brown mousy hair between my fingers, I promised her we would get out of this situation. And I meant it. Every word. I just didn’t know how to do it. I tried to cut back without Billy noticing but the night sweats and rolling tire feeling in my stomach made it difficult. I yearned for the secret time with Nancy. She was a little goddess, perched up on my shoulder telling me to be a good boy. Okay— I might have hallucinated that last one.
Lastnight was the 4th of July and while Chrissy and Billy were fucking like wild animals in his car for the 3rd time, Nancy was sitting in my lap as we laid back in a lawn chair watching the fire works over Lover’s Lake. I was withdrawing like mad, sweating profusely and pissy. But Nancy insisted we look at the fireworks to “take our minds off of things.”
As I watched the black abyss sprinkle with green and red as the fireworks exploded overhead, tears fell from my eyes. How the fuck did I end up like this?! Spending the Fourth of July trying to come down from a drug addiction to which I didn’t even know which drugs I am taking. I didn’t recognize myself, didn’t recognize the man I was becoming. Nancy noticed me crying and whispered sweetly into my ear. Telling me that she would get us out, out from under Billy’s thumb and toxicity. She looked deep into my eyes and held me tightly. Running her small delicate fingers through my hair, reassuring me that everything would be okay.
But it wasn’t.
The next morning she was gone. She left me like y/n did. Dropped like the butt of a cigarette onto the dirty, shit covered sidewalk. Clearly her wanting us to get out only meant herself. She would probably go back to Jonathan. He was stable. Weird and smelled like Fritos, but stable. Who was I? Not the King of Hawkins High anymore, just druggie Steve. I stumble out of Max’s room and snort the first line I see. I can’t handle the pain of losing two incredible girls in a five day span. Not like this.
Kicking around the beer cans as I walk into the bathroom I find a bottle of pills that belong to Max’s mom. Emptying the contents from the bottle into my hands I pop them into my mouth, chasing them down with a lukewarm beer discarded on the back of the toilet. Fuck feelings, fuck trying to get better, I don’t need this shit and I don’t need them. Shooting the beer can into the tub, I turn and catch a glance at myself in the mirror. The bags under my eyes make me look like Robin tried to do my makeup while I was passed out. My hair, oh my God my beloved hair, is a mess. I look rough. But not in a bad boy way like a I’ve-been-on-a-bender-from-a-broken-heart way. Like I was drug behind a car.
The high hits me as I trip over the rug into the bathroom. I notice a blurry Billy and Chrissy fucking on the couch as he smoked from a weird looking pipe. I grab Chrissy from Billy, just as he did to me, and walk with her into my room, she slides down my body and unzips my jeans, warm hands wrap around my cock as I close my eyes, letting the tears fall as my heart aches for one girl, Nancy.
Imagine my surprise when I’m woken up by Nancy yanking me upwards and forcing water her fingers down my throat. I hurl all over the dirty, fucked stain sheets that make up Max’s old bed. She’s shoving a plastic cup that smells like rotten ass into my face and saying “drink” to me as she looks around the room for something.
“Nancy, is that you? Fuck I thought you left me I thought I was never going to see you again.”
“It is me and no, Steve I’m here, we all are; Y/N, Mike Dustin, Eddie, Robin—we’re taking you out of here— tonight.” Nancy is gathering whatever small items of clothing that both of us have scattered across this hell hole of a room and throwing them into a bag. She looks good, obviously she is clean and sober. She walks past me in a rush and I smell her sweet perfume. I can’t rewind what she said but I’m pretty sure she said y/n was here.
“Y/n is here?” I scratch my head and look around, “here at Billy’s?”
“Yes,” she whispers, “now hurry up we have to go!” Nancy sits beside me on the bed, she wiggles her small frame underneath my armpit and puts a small arm around my waist as she tries to stand up with me. My body feels like it is made of jello, I can’t stand for the life of me. “Fuck, this isn’t going to work, hang on.. Dustin!”
Henderson emerges from the hallway like a herd of bison, he’s sweating nervously as he runs to me hugging me tightly and knocking whatever energy I had gained seeing Nancy, right back out of me. “Steve! Fuck man you look like shit!”
Always the charmer, “thanks man,” I smile and rub his stupid cap into his head.
“Dustin, help me— I can’t lift him by myself.” Nancy says sternly.
Being drug along by two people who are both smaller and significantly shorter than I am is probably the highlight of my summer. I’m having a great time. Staggering into the living room Robin has her hand to her lips in a shushing motion using the other to point to Billy and Chrissy both passed out. A quick scan of the room shows Eddie and Robin standing by the door, Mike is holding a giant duffel bag. Y/N is nowhere to be seen.
We are so close to the door and to the new found freedom of being with Nancy Wheeler. What happened next is something that I’ve only seen in a movie. Mike let’s loose a deafening sneeze. Everyone holds their breath as Billy stirs on the couch. Inching closer and closer towards the door, Mike does it again. This time wakening Billy. One glance around the room and Billy is on his feet wielding a pistol around that he kept tucked into the couch. His eyes crazed as they narrow in on Eddie. For some reason, they have hated each other since Billy plagued Hawkins with his presence. As if they’re both equally trying to out trash one another. Like two raccoons fighting over the same dumpster to breed in.
Billy is screaming at Eddie. “What the fuck are you doing here dirtbag?!”
“Look, we came here for Steve,” Eddie says with his hands held up in defense, “swear to God man that’s it.”
“Don’t fuck with me Munson, you’re here to steal my stash to make a quick buck right?” Billy says gliding his tongue over his teeth in a sick demonic manner pointing the gun at Eddie and lowering the hammer.
Mike steps up to his full height putting on a brace face.“It doesn’t have to be this way man, we just want to take Steve and we will be leaving, I swear!”
So this was Nancy’s plan? Gather the troops and smuggle me out of here?
“You don’t get it Wheeler! You broke into my house and me? I’m just defending myself.” Billy laughs maniacally.
There’s no way out, I’m going to be stuck here if Billy doesn’t kill us all first. Dustin is shaking below me, Robin has tears in her eyes and looks like she’s going to collapse.
Nancy is surprisingly calm, fuck is she high right now? Did they smoke on the way over here?! Without me? Goddamnit.
“Just let us go, I will give you whatever you want man, I got a whole duffel bag full of weed, no charge just take it!” Eddie said calmly, trying to diffuse the situation.
Nancy reaches behind back to her waist and fumbles around. Really? You got an itch that bad right now?
“Oh, Fuck off Munson,” Billy sneers, “You’re not worth the cost of the bullet but, fuck it.”
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Eddie hates guns, being traumatized as a child by watching his dad pistol whip his mom over a fucking NASCAR race did it for him. Having a gun pulled on him by a sociopath? That’s a new kind of trauma all together. But he would do it for her. He would take a bullet for his girl if it meant that her and her friends were safe.
He has never wondered what it would be like to die. Never thought of how the funeral would go or who would show up. The only two things on Eddie’s mind as Billy points the gun at him are you and Wayne. You, being so special to him and so caring and loving towards him in the short amount of time you have known each other. He’s convinced that no one past, present, or future was better for him than you. His twinflame. He hoped that Steve would sober up for you, and you could continue where you left off, in love and sticking to the plan that your parents carved out for you. He anticipated that you would be happy, thinking of the short but intense time you had with him. There were so many things he hadn’t done yet with you. Taken you on a date, brought you to some God awful cheesy ass town to an amusement park, showed you the lyrics he was secretly writing down about you while you slept. It was all going to come to an end so fast and he wasn’t ready to let you go.
Wayne, the only constant stable thing in his life since he can remember. Always giving him what he needed and kicking himself in the ass for not doing more. Working graveyard shift like a goddamn dog just to provide for him. How would he pay for the funeral? How would he be able to cope with this loss since he’s lost so much already? Eddie tried to tuck that thought away as he closed his eyes in anticipation of being shot.
But nothing happened.
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I can’t believe she did it again. Nancy Wheeler surprised me every day that we’ve been together. When Nancy was reaching behind her back, she wasn’t scratching, she was pulling out a gun. And just like the snap of a finger, she Annie Oaklied the fuck out of Billy. Fuck Buffalo Bill and the Wild West show. Nancy goddamn Wheeler needed her own slot on daytime television.
Billy fell back like a stack of bricks, startling Chrissy out of her drugged out stage and she started screaming. Mike struggled the gun out of Billy’s hand as he laid on the ground. Y/n came rushing into the living room from the front door, grabbing ahold of Eddie and refusing to let go of him. I grabbed Nancy and sat down with her on the ground holding her as she cried. I can’t believe she just fucking shot Billy like it was nothing, give this girl a purple heart she’s a goddamn hero. Nancy’s crying turned into full out sobs and I cried with her, thankful that she was okay and happy that it all seemed to be over.
——
Eddie’s hands are entangled in your hair as he stares intently into your eyes. “I’m okay baby, look I’m okay!” He’s pleading with you to help you understand.
When the gun went off you thought for sure Eddie was a dead man. Silently begging God to have the bullet magically hit you instead of him. But neither happened. Nobody had noticed Nancy pulling out a gun behind her back, nobody saw her fire at Billy. It was a complete and utter shock to see him hit the ground instead of Eddie.
The red lights of the ambulance and the whine of the sirens fill the streets of Cherry Lane. Dustin is still instructing everyone on what to do. Eddie helps you out to the van opening the back of it so he could sit with you and wait. Eddie points out Chief Hopper as he climbs out of his Blazer. He shakes his head as he lights another cigarette with the end of the one he’s already had in his mouth.
“You, and you.” He says pointing to Nancy and Dustin. “Explain what the hell is going on.”
Nancy goes into a long winded explanation of the events that unfolded that night. She explained that everyone was there to help Steve and do an intervention. Billy pulled a gun and she shot him point blank. Hopper drags his hands down his face and the worry lines already set deep in his face twitch with disappointment. “Alright Wheeler I’m going to need you to come with me to get your statement, Harrington, you too. The rest of you go the hell home and stay there, and for god sakes take that girl to the hospital she needs some help and some goddamn clothes.”
Robin, Mike and Dustin follow you and Eddie back to his place. Hungry, and trauma induced tiredness plagued everyone’s mind. Eddie told everyone that they could sleep over; they could either sleep on the floor of his room or the van. They all trudge inside groaning and wiping their eyes like tired toddlers marching to a nap. Eddie pulls you back and always against the van. Holding you by your shoulders at length. “Sweetheart, are you okay?” There were no tears left to cry as you tucked yourself into the crook of Eddie’s neck. Breathing him in suffocating yourself on his scent. What a wild fucking night it had been. Eddies gig, shower sex, and saving Steve all in one night was enough to have you sleeping for days.
“I’m fine, exhausted beyond belief, but I’m okay. I’m just happy you’re safe. And that Steve is too. Nancy really seems to care for him doesn’t she?”
Eddie thought for a minute, “she does. I’m just confused because I saw her with Byers, and then with Billy… and now she’s with Steve?”
You let out a small laugh, “I guess she wanted to experience life a little bit too.”
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Taglist: @boomhauer @b-irock @big-ope-vibes @sidthedollface2 @syrennna @manda-panda-monium @creoleguurl @idkidknemore @munson-blurbs @munsonficdump @gathered-moss
If I forgot anyone let me know!!
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elum4x · 2 years ago
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It's a Sunday night and I'm thinking about the van scene again because I was reading an s4 rewrite and that scene really stuck with me. It was from Will's pov but I'm thinking about Mike and how his thought process was actually fully revealed in the van scene and he basically said that he wants to break up with El.
Like, Mike clearly feels so seen when Will says "you're scared of losing her." Like YES that's what he was worried about, but it's not because he's insecure about not being cool enough for El. He's already been shown this season to be coming into himself - he dresses differently, he has older friends who support his hobbies, he doesn't care as much anymore about being seen as a freak. He already tried to relate to El by reminding her that they've both been bullied.
But part of growing up is that he has realized that there isn't any red string of fate tying him and El together. I think that he has realized that if he breaks up with El then they might not be friends anymore - because they've never really been just friends before! He doesn't have a solid foundation with El based on shared interests and experiences outside of UD trauma and dating, and at this point she lives in another state. And that's what scares him. If El doesn't need him AKA if they break up, will they stop being friends?
Personal story time: I stayed with my ex-girlfriend for way too long (years) despite some fundamental incompatibilites because she was my best friend while we were dating and especially later on, after I lost touch with some of my other friends after moving. I knew it wasn't working but I really valued our friendship and I was afraid that if we broke up she would be really upset and not be able to be friends with me anymore. It was easy to deny a lot of the negatives of our relationship because we'd been together for a long time, it was long distance, and you think like, 'well, even if this relationship makes me unhappy a lot of the time, this person makes me really happy some of the time, and I don't want to lose that.'
So like, I could just be projecting, but I also think Mike could be doing the same thing, even subconsciously. He doesn't love El that way, but he's afraid that if he tells her, that she won't want anything to do with him anymore.
I think that makes the van scene even a little more heartbreaking because as many people have pointed out, Mike's face falls when Will says "even El, especially El." Will basically just confirmed Mike's fear - El needs romantic love to feel connected to him. Otherwise, their relationship will fall apart. Mike also could have interpreted Will's speech about being different as saying that if he breaks up with El, it'll confirm her fears as well about being different, too different for him to want to date her. I would go as far to say that this could be part of why his monologue is so focused on praising El and telling her how awesome her powers are - he totally misinterpreted what Will was saying due to his mindset. The audience knows that isn't what El wanted/needed to hear, but Mike didn't really understand.
I don't think Mike knows he's gay yet, but I think he's struggling with sexuality at this point. He doesn't feel the way he should, the way he wants to, about El, and maybe he feels a little too much for Will (the triple-take, anyone?) but he hasn't put the puzzle pieces together yet imo.
Again, this has already been said, but Mike isn't shown putting much effort into repairing his relationship with El after the monologue scene. He kind of feels like he's put the ball back in her court. He's treading lightly, because he doesn't want to lose her as a friend, but he's not trying to win her back romantically because he's desperately in love and doesn't want to break up. If that was the case, I'm sure he would have tried to talk to her when she went to her room in the cleaning scene.
Mike just wants to be friends, but hey, he's 15, and that shit is hard to figure out when you're a grown adult. Most relationships don't survive the transition from romantic to platonic. I think El breaking up with him would be a huge weight off of his shoulders and the best thing for El's wellbeing as well, so that's what I'm hopeful for in the early days of s5!
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deanismysavior · 2 years ago
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Am I the only one who finds Mike's relationship with his family extremely weird? Like I know Karen seems to be a supportive mom in general, after all she was the one who said Mike can talk to her about anything in S1, then Mike hugged Karen after they found Will's ''dead body'' and he also hugged her again at the end of S3. Yeah Karen and Mike actually seem to have a normal relationship but it's not explicitly shown or focused on. She also doesn't know anything about the UD situation. Nancy doesn't seem to talk to her anyway. Ted is... Ted.
Nancy and Mike also have no relationship literally, despite them struggling with the same supernatural stuff all the time. When was the last time they really talked anyway?
People call Will a sad loner gay kid often times but Will at least has stronger ties with his family. We know his relationship with Joyce, and he has a strong bond with Jonathan even if Jonathan is dealing with his own stuff, we know both are there for each other and talk.
While Mike literally is disconnected from his family, Nancy included.
It comes off as weird because the writers ignore it all the time😅. Like why not include some genuine talks between Nancy and Mike at all, have them talk about their struggles or something? It's just really weird.
Mike literally has no one to talk to. He only opens up to Will but even then he doesn't exactly open up because he has other issues deep down.
Now it was just eye-opening for me when I wrote all those sentences because I realized what my problem with Mike's character is: Mike is an extremely closed-off character and we literally get to see nothing about his struggles. We only get to see it during the van scene where he voices his insecurities but that's it. Like.
Compare his character to other characters: We get to see El's whole struggle with finding herself, and we get to see Lucas's trying to get over bullying, we get to see Dustin's side albeit not that explicit, and Max has a whole arc dealing with d*pression, and Will is struggling with being gay and opening up about that. All of those are shown explicitly from each character's sides while we don't really get to see Mike's POV at all.
His character comes off as extremely disconnected. He is not naturally progressing in the narrative, it's like he is just pushed around by the narrative instead of having his own voice. I am not sure if that makes sense. Like Will had to push him to do something the whole season as well.
Mike's character feels so weird and disconnected and his dynamic and relationships with others just seem to be very underwhelming for me. And one of the main reasons is because he literally has no explicit voice in the narrative.
I actually think Mike and Nancy's relationship dynamic being so strained kind of makes sense. We're clued into the fact really early on that Mike and Nancy don't share a whole lot of common ground. We get introduced to Nancy's character when she slams the door in Dustin's face after he goes to offer her pizza. Dustin then kind of addresses that Nancy has been acting weird to Mike, and Mike's sort of like, "she's always been like that," and Dustin says "Not always" and brings up the time that Nancy dressed up as an elf for their campaign. And Mike says, "Yeah, like four years ago!" To me, this scene reads a lot like Mike felt like he lost that connection with his sister once she tried to grow up. The age gap between them sort of functions as a catalyst for creating this distance.
We also see in season 1 Ted saying, "Come on, Nancy with Mike?" when the people who are working with Brenner come to talk to them about how they believe Mike has been harboring El as a fugitive. Ted Wheeler is kind of known for his snide remarks, but he's generally pretty on the money with his implications, and he's implying here that Nancy and Mike really don't spend any kind of one-on-one time together anymore.
Now we know that Nancy and Mike both get involved with the Upside Down in different ways, Nancy through her relation to Barb and Mike with his relation to Will, and when they join forces here, they're kind of still not really on the same page because they don't know what's going on in one another's lives.
That's why when we get to this scene after the first big fight against the upside down, we get this expressing of a want for more closeness, but neither one of them are actually really ready to put in the work they need to to close that gap in their relationship.
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In these scenes, Nancy kind of sets the precedent of lying in their relationship, and it's interesting because if you look at Mike's expression after Nancy tells him her relationship with Jonathan "isn't like that," it seems like Mike kind of goes, "Oh, okay," and takes what she says sort of at face value. So whether or not he's telling the truth about El here? I don't know. It reads as defensive, but in the same way as his "Pretty cool" line about El reads after he realizes he calls her pretty. The biggest empathy miss here though, I think, comes from Nancy.
Throughout the seasons, we can tell that they care about each other, but they don't have the type of relationship where they can really be open and honest, and if I'm honest, I think most of that comes from Nancy. She's older and she still sort of views Mike as her annoying little brother who needs protection. She sort of goes off on her own a lot, with both Steve and Jonathan, and doesn't make herself available to Mike in the same way that Jonathan does for Will. I think Nancy and Mike's dynamic is really meant to stand in stark contrast to Jonathan and Will's because Nancy and Mike grew up in a household where love was never properly expressed, so showing that kind of familial affection doesn't come naturally to them.
But I'm going to give a hot take and say that Nancy is more closed off than Mike is. Because initially, Mike is not all that closed off. He teases Nancy, tries to pour syrup on her eggs, and joke around with her, which for him, is an attempt to express closeness and sibling bonding, but Nancy kind of just shuts Mike's behaviors down.
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And even though they do get somewhat closer, Nancy continues to do this even into season 4. Mike once again reaches out to see if she'll join his campaign and she gives him the most annoyed look ever. We know she used to be open to participating in DnD, but she isn't anymore. And I think it's honestly a little heartbreaking because Nancy is the FIRST person Mike thinks of when Eddie tells him he needs a sub for Lucas, because unlike Dustin, Mike doesn't really have close relationships outside of the party, but you can tell he wants to be closer to Nancy.
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When Mike gets to high school, we know he's still mercilessly bullied, and this could have been an opportunity for Nancy to take him under her wing or defend him more, but she really doesn't seem to do this. Nancy has elevated her status in high school, she's sought after, but Mike still maintains his loser status, and while Nancy does love and care about Mike, she doesn't really go out of her way to make him feel welcome or accepted. It actually creates a really interesting contrast between how Nancy and Mike interact as siblings where Nancy kind of fails to support Mike, and Will and El as siblings, where Will steps in and is constantly looking out for El's best interest, even at the detriment of his own reputation.
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So while Mike is more closed off in his relationships than the other party members, I don't really feel like it's from a lack of his trying to be closer, it's more because Mike has fallen into a pattern of expecting his feelings and expressions to be shut down. We see this in his relationships with Nancy, Ted, and El, and I think though Lucas and Dustin are there for him, they don't always fully understand what Mike wants or needs and are more quick to dismiss his behaviors and write him off as acting like a douche than to check in on him. The only people who have ever really held space for Mike are his mom and Will, and I think, as a teenage boy growing up, it's a lot easier to talk to your friend about what you're going through than your mom, especially in a household where expressions of love aren't normalized.
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I think though, that Nancy and Mike have both made huge strides this season in their willingness to open up to others, Mike with Will, and Nancy with Robin, surprisingly, so I think that when Nancy and Mike are together in season 5, we may see them actually become more vulnerable with one another and finally have more of the sibling dynamic I think they've both secretly wanted the whole time.
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castleclerics · 2 years ago
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byler have already been romantically involved theory
(or kissed or had little moments but regardless they’re both too scared to speak of it again)
gonna be adding on to my headcannon about mike and will kissing before but the audience not knowing yet which i’m starting to think could be possible.
let’s start with the rain fight scene
one of the first times i ever watched it (a few days after s3 for ref) i literally thought some lines implied that they’ve had a thing before/kissed. and this was only when i knew will was gay i never even considered him liking mike at this point or them ever being together which is super interesting. so, going off my very first instinct of this scene i’m gonna break it down.
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first off watching this scene with this perspective in mind kind of makes so much sense it feels like everything falls into place. also realizing this is just another part of their miscommunication trope.
“—so you can swap spit with some stupid girl?”
will thought they were on the same page in their relationship which is why he’s so confused as to why mike wants to do nothing but makeout with el all the time. he thought they were in this together even if they unofficially were together romantically.
“it’s not my fault you don’t like girls”
mike basically saying “it’s not my fault you didn’t move on from that one time we kissed. i moved on you were supposed to too, i’m not actually gay that was me just experimenting i’m not actually gay like you, you got the wrong idea” his insecurities are showing, he’s trying to keep on a normal not gay path, (even though we all know he’s never stopped liking will) probably because him being vulnerable with will before freaked him out because he realized his feelings for him we’re all too real.
will’s face captures a huge range of emotions but i do remember thinking there was an element of disbelief. especially in terms that he couldn’t believe mike was leaving him alone in all of this and that now he has to go through his queerness and love for his friend alone, when mike possibly told him otherwise.
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“but we’re not kids anymore”
possibly implying that them kissing or showing their feelings for one another was just a “kid thing” and now since they’re growing up more will should be on the same page as him.
“i mean what did you think really? that we were never gonna get girlfriends? that we were just gonna sit in my basement and play games for the rest of our lives?”
who wants to bet mike and will agreed at some point that this would be their life together, hence why it’s talked about so much in the show. but now mike is backtracking. and that’s why will goes “yeah, i guess i did. i really did.” as in “i did because you’re the one who TOLD me this is how it would be for us” especially with his passive aggressive facial expression which completely explains why he would make that face and why the delivery of that line implied they’ve discussed before that this is what they both wanted, or something along those lines. it honestly doesn’t make much sense if it’s not because of this. also damn this has strong brokeback vibes. like they literally reflect the character’s struggles i’m convinced they definitely got inspo from this scene https://youtu.be/KVK6yLqY54w
youtube
like i said in my headcanon, the roller rink argument is also really telling. from the panic in mike’s voice and face when he says “what” to will straight up asking what they are to mike’s “we’re friends! we’re friends.” again, mike being like “god stop getting the wrong idea also stop digging so deep i’m trying to appear straight and you’re ruining it for me.”
now let’s look at their POVS in s4 quickly:
the first couple times mike talks about el to will it seems pretty normal but after that it’s almost like he’s testing the waters, to see will’s reaction, trying to gage if will feels anything for him at all anymore especially after their fights even though they made up. and since will keeps pushing for mike to be with el he’s convinced he has nothing there for him anymore.
will thinks he has a chance of something more being there between them again when he grabs the painting because they literally just flirted, but will slowly realizes over the roadtrip that mike is still hung up on el. that’s why he was selfless because he for the final time gets confirmation that mike doesn’t have any feelings whatsoever for him anymore. maybe that’s why it’s extra painful because they we’re so close to actually being together at one point but now will thinks he’s just lost that forever.
here’s when they flirt for ref. also just wanna say the way mike says and emphasizes “best friends” sounds like he’s implying something more lmao. also i’ve always thought it was interesting how they both are literally comfortable with flirting with each other and now i’m realizing if i’m right about this theory it’s because they’ve done it before. it’s like they’re used to it. we as an audience just don’t know that yet.
so, with all this in mind, what if when they actually confess it’s less of a “i’ve loved you this whole time” and more of a “i never stopped loving you.” LIKEEE
it also just feels like we’re purposefully left out of the loop of something more happening between them like if you watch all their scenes with that perspective it feels extremely plausible.
feel free to add onto this i’m curious if any of you can catch anything else i haven’t said i’ve been theorizing about other stuff for days on end my brain is mush at this point 😭😭 this is also one of my less srs theories and i haven’t checked for holes either bc honestly i cannot be bothered to think anymore about this theory but still !!
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hellshee · 2 years ago
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bradnate (t e m p o r a r y ! ! pls) breakup…go on…👀
okay so there's no plot here but some observations and they might even contradict each other lol:
they never speak about their breakup and if they do it's their some of their closest friends, f.e. mike (usually they have to pe pushed a lot to talk bc both of them like to keep things inside), or their family (more valid for brad because nate's parents are catholic and uptight. like they mean well but they're not always the best people to go to.)
there's almost never a moment when they badmouth each other. if it's their closest friends, mike or tony or so, or a family member, then yeah, they might say something bitchy about the other, but they also have a deep understanding of the concept of not airing your dirty laundry in public so they just don't. but the main reason is that no matter what happens between them, there's always enough love and respect for each other that they still have each other's back when it comes to everyone else.
piggybacking on my previous point: if they were to breakup and somebody said something bitchy about one of them thinking that it's fine, the other will always find a way to tell that person to mind their tone and their business.
they really are the kind of people who still deeply care about the other even while broken up. they'll try to subtly find out if the other's okay and they'll ask their mutual friends and stuff. comes with a lot of angst and pining.
i feel like brad is generally good at hiding away under some vehicle and ignoring his feelings, but also out of the two of them, he's the one more openly bitter about it. for brad, it's hurt and pain and trust issues and bitter sarcasm and pretending like his world isn't being turned over. for nate it's quiet and alone and sad and not feeling good enough and feeling helpless and full of regret and lost in his head.
mike and tony and everyone else absolutely cannot with them anymore. like we all know brad and nate are good at non verbal communication in a warzone and they're very good at it outside of the warzone too but not always. there's still work to be done outside of that. brad's trust issues are bound to try to self-sabogate him and nate needs to get out of his head sometimes bc he can easily lose himself if he's in there too much. so, yes, most of the time they get each other like no one else can, but when they don't? when there's doubt over something? it can come crashing down on them full speed. and well, with time they do learn to communicate better, and not run away but towards each other, but it does take them a little bit of time to get there.
so anyway like i said the guys are over this. mike tries to knock some sense into both of them, but sometimes brad is annoyed with mike because a) he feels like nate tells him too much (this is just a temporary annoyance because brad's a secretive sob esp about their fights and stuff, but he does actually care about mike and he knows how important mike is to nate, etc.) and b) he will sometimes say, because he's a little shit, that mike's always gonna see stuff through nate's lenses because he's nate's best friend. obviously, that's true to a degree. what is also true is that mike speaks the truth, only the truth and nothing but the truth, or at least he tries his best to make them understand the other's POV when he feels it's needed and brad does know that but he's just pissed off at the world
they're clearly the type of couple who even when they're broken up, everybody can tell that it's them and everyone else. like when they're in the same room, they gravitate towards each other, they're constantly following each other's moves if they're in the same place, etc. nate can always feel brad's gaze practically burning his skin. it's both comfortable and exciting. it's them and then there's everyone else.
nate's quieter about things because he's had to bottle up a lot growing up. brad, however, is more prone to say things during the breakup that will further hurt nate. that's because he's hurting and he wants to see a reaction out of nate ffs. obviously, when he does get a reaction and he sees nate's face, he realizes what a fucking asshole he can be sometimes.
but also just because nate's generally more closed off and in his head about things doesn't mean he's not hurting as much as brad is. it's sometimes even worse. but when he does speak, he says or asks brad stuff that just takes brad completely by surprise. nate gets to the point really quickly. he knows and is and can be subtle, but when he's at his limit, he can get to the truth of it real quick.
they both have insecurities and issues and stuff to work through. they both get better at it with time.
it really depends on the context of the breakup, but nate is pretty clear when he asks brad if they're really gonna end everything over *insert misunderstanding here*.
brad likes to act like this doesn't affect him as much and like he can't take it, he can move on, he can do his thing, but if nate says something to him or opens up in a way that shows that he's hurt, brad's whole defense system is knocked down. he loves nate. it's that simple and that complicated.
i feel like during the breakup, if it's a longer one, and brad's finally out from under whatever vehicle, they'll meet again during drinks with friends or something, and they'll be alone for a minute and brad being brad will say something incredibly fucking heartfelt to nate and nate will be like !!!!!!!!!!!! on the inside bc thanks colbert i will just never ever get over you if that's okay with you
these are some of my thoughts. thanks for coming to my ted talk
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callsignspark · 1 year ago
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I'm so glad you liked it!!! (apologies for any tears and the heartbreak, I'm right there with you.) thank you for all your kind words and reactions, my heart was so full reading your thoughts!
god I’m already bracing for the punch to the gut I’m expecting. Just me waiting for that shoe to drop… - I really started off painfully strong with the foreshadowing huh?
oh oh oh, this 🥺 I’m so soft over this. Mav coming to take care of them. Pls my heart - that's his family!! he's done everything he can for them since Goose passed!!
oh bless, I just know it looks terrible in that way that all teen boys are like FACIAL HAIR= MAN NOW BEHOLD ITS GLORY. But tbh I’d still probs be crushing even if it looks as terrible as I imagine it to be. - oh it's so bad. Slider makes fun of him but nothing will stop him and his three mustache hairs. (they're just all glad he's not attempting a beard)
well fuck me, him giving Goose the rundown was NOT on my bingo card and now I’m entirely too tender. NOT HIM TELLING HIS DEAD DAD THAT HIS MOM ISNT WELL EITHER I CANT - this was the first part of writing where I was like "is this too far? too much?" and then pushed ahead with no changes
it’s the burden that’s not a burden, that he’s forced to grow up quicker and take on these things and give up that last bit of his youth because he wants to be the support system. He wants to take care of her because he’ll trade all of that if she can just get better 😭 - all the adults were in shock that he immediately was prepared to push off college and then the heartbreak that followed when he was told no. he would have done anything to help.
the LOVE in this gesture, the sacrifice. - Mav really has gotten the short stick in all of this but he's giving so much, it's so hard to see him lose more and more with each passing year
HE JUST WANTS HIS MOM 😭 that poor boy already misses his mom. He knows he knows he knows he knows - this si the second point where I was questioning if I was doing too much
having my own Barbie movie montage here - this is literally the highest compliment omg
oh and that she knows it and feels to too. God I’m crying now. That she want to give him one more day of normal, they’ve 12 years of first day of school photos, there’s a routine. That everything else is out of her control but she can give him this 😭 - now I'm crying because I don't think I fully considered the impact of Carole's determination to finish the tradition omggggg
that there’s a game plan is breaking my heart. That boy is so strung up in knots, every minute must feel like an hour. And how can he listen and learn over the sound of his pulse in his ears? - Carole and Ice are planners (me projecting) and it was supposed to make everyone feel better because they wouldn't have to scramble to figure things out. but it really just made things worse for Bradley since it made his anxiety worse on her bad days, knowing what it means if he gets called down.
I love Mav!Dad moments, and thinking about what they’re bond must have been like before Everything™️ - their bond before the betrayal was so close. they were so close. on the rare occasion they got to spend time with Viper he would call him lil M (maverick), not baby Goose like al the other '86 guys. because to Mike, that's Maverick's kid even if he looks like Goose.
me trying to take this advice too because the tears won’t stop. But also, these moments with his FAMILY. That there was so much between him and these men, and the after of it all just makes me tender. - *hands you tissues* the relationship between Bradley and the men that stepped up to become his family after his dad died are so important to me. they really did all they could for that kid!!
The thing that makes him parentless three times over. - the way this made me cry omg that's exactly the worst part.
no words for the Carole/Mav POV just tidal waves of emotions - it was the hardest part of this to write!! to try and capture the devastation of this from the adults' perspective!
Bradley’s emotional needs being gently tended to makes me so, so soft. That he knows he’s not alone, that there’s a safe place for him to land 😭 - she loves him and knows that he's so strong but this is his weakest point. he was just a kid and he's never fully healed, so she handles him with extra softness and love.
1) curious about this surprise and I hope it involves planting a whole garden for Flora, 2) the whiplash of living a happy life and loving where you’re at but then being reminded of those hard moments. Forgetting and then feeling guilty for forgetting. - (1) the surprise is Flora-related, it's not a garden but now you're giving me ideas!! (2) he's usually really good about remembering but sometimes it sneaks up and this year was even worse because it's a big anniversary. 20 years goes by so fast and so slow at the same time.
THEY BOTH HAVE THE NIGHTMARES ABOUT EACH OTHER I CANNOT - it's so bad. they (were) the only family each other had left so the dreams about losing the other just really hits them hard.
i love how quick she is to try and put him at ease, but that she comes with the facts is even better. Like the tangible things that she can give him to help stop the spiral. - she knows from experience that physical touch and concrete reassurances help him calm down. so she tries her best to do both ASAP when he's having a rough time.
thank you so much for all your kind words!! it was emotionally tough to write but I'm so freaking proud of how it came out!
Bradley and Mary
straddling your partner's thighs
look at what you've done, anon. I've gone and written something ridiculously long.
send me a physical intimacy prompt for any of my Dagger, Sword & Shield couples!
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your lap is my safe place - part i
pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x Mariella “M&M” Vertucci (fem!OC)
warnings: 18+ minors DNI, uterine cancer (discussions of a terminal illness and treatment), death due to cancer (established universe death), grief over losing a parent, funerals, panic attacks, vomiting, you don’t need to read Mar[r]y Me to read and understand this but you should anyway
word count: 7.1k
part ii - coming soon
note: originally, this was supposed to be a short, simple prompt answer - one part sad and one part smutty - but it's gotten extremely out of hand due to my inability to be brief. so this is part one (the sad part), and the smutty sequel will be coming (ha) sometime early next week. and when I say this part is sad, I mean sad. some of this is very much based on my experience with loved ones who have had cancer and/or were terminally ill. it was very therapeutic to write, even if I did cry a whole lot.
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Tuesday, September 3, 2002 | 06:35 A.M.
Bradley wakes up to his alarm clock blaring in his ear, feeling like he’s going to throw up, which is weird for him. Mav says that he’s never met anyone with a stronger stomach. Eighteen-year-olds have stomachs of steel, his mom jokes when she’s having a good day.
He stumbles down the hall and hangs his head over the toilet. Nothing comes up. The nausea goes away in a few minutes, but his gut still feels twisted. He brushes his teeth and decides the likely culprit is the new recipe Mav attempted for dinner last night. He choked down a few bites of the horrible fish tacos before his uncle called it a failure and ordered pizza.
Back in his room, it doesn’t take him long to finish getting ready, pulling on his new first-day-of-school outfit and shaping his mustache. He doesn’t care what Slider says; it’s looking good, much thicker than when he started growing it in April.
“It’s my first day of senior year, my last first day of school. Until the academy, anyway. But with the summer training, the first day of classes probably won’t even feel like a first day.”
His father’s official Lieutenant-JG portrait stares back at him. Unanswering as he fixes his hair.
“Mom is getting worse… She’s getting weaker; I don’t think we have very long before she has to go into hospice. I really want her to get better - I wished for it - but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
He swallows hard and fights back tears, remembering his birthday just a few months ago. Everything hadn’t seemed quite as bad then as it is now.
“I hope she can make it to Christmas. I almost have enough money saved up to buy her that pair of earrings that look like the ones Princess Diana had at her wedding. They’re not real pearls like hers, obviously, but the lady at the jewelry counter told me they’re replicas, so I think she’ll like them anyway.”
Brown eyes identical to his own stare back at him. Hints of the mischievous, prank-loving man visible in the polite smile captured. The old photo is carefully tucked into the edge of his mirror; it was his mom’s first, but she gave it to him when he was eight. She had caught him staring at it every day for a week, quietly talking to it about his day.
“Wish me luck, Goose. It’s gonna be a big year.”
Downstairs, he’s greeted with the second weird thing of the day. First, his stomach, and now his mom is flipping pancakes. She’s hardly had the strength to use the bathroom by herself in the last six months, but this morning, she’s standing at the stove, singing along to the radio, and making his favorite breakfast.
She’s always said that bad things happen in threes, but strange things happen in pairs.
He thinks she might be right, but if she feels good, he’s not complaining. She never feels good anymore.
“There he is! Oh, Mav! Look at my baby boy, all grown up and ready for his last year of high school!”
“Ma…” He groans, and without prompting, he bends down to let her kiss and pinch his cheeks like he always does.
He’s not sure how many good days she has left, so he tries his best to behave and make her life easier.
He doesn't complain when she asks him to take the garbage out after he already did; her memory hasn’t been as good since she got sick. He keeps the anger inside when everyone forgets his baseball games because she had chemo; it’s more important for Mav and Ice to take care of her than to watch him throw a ball around. He even offered up his college fund to help pay for another round of treatment. He was denied before he could even finish the suggestion, but he just wants her to get better more than anything in the world.
Needs her to get better.
She sets a stack of pancakes in front of him, and again, he has the urge to cry when she kisses the top of his head. Her perfume takes over his senses, and if he closes his eyes, it’s almost like he’s little again.
A massive stack of fluffy, perfectly round pancakes, slathered in butter and syrup, filled with his mom’s love.
Mav sitting across the table from him, drinking the worst black coffee to exist on the planet.
His mom humming off-key at the stove, her beautiful, golden hair swishing as she gets into a song.
But then he opens his eyes, and he’s not little anymore.
The pancakes are still covered with butter and enough syrup to give him a cavity, but they’re not the same. They’re flat and mishappen; her arms aren’t very strong anymore, so Mav must’ve had to help her.
Mav still sits across from him, terrible black coffee in his mug, but now he looks old. Too old for someone in his thirties. They’ve been lucky he’s been able to be here this past year. After Mom got sick, Ice and Viper pulled some strings to get him assigned to a shore-duty desk job. Bradley knows he hates it. Can see it in the way he watches every plane that passes overhead - civilian, military, it doesn’t matter - his fingers twitching to be the one controlling the powerful engines. But he never complains, is steady and strong, taking Mom to appointments and Bradley to school.
His mom is humming at the stove for the first time in a long time, somehow more in tune than she’s ever been. He wants to make a joke about how the treatments must have fixed her tone-deafness, but it would just make everyone sad. A reminder that it’s the only thing her treatment has fixed.
It’s taken everything else away.
Her skin, once bright and youthful, is now dull and gray-toned. Her energy has been zapped; she doesn’t even have it in her to make it through their Sunday movie nights. Her body is frail. She was always slim, but now she borders on gaunt, her appetite nonexistent most of the time. Her hair was the first thing to go, a rotation of brightly colored scarfs and hats replacing the blonde strands that used to reach her shoulders. He looks at today’s choice. A bright red scarf that matches the white sundress and red cardigan she’s pulled on.
She looks pretty.
“You look pretty, mom.”
It grabs the attention of both adults, the two of them staring long enough that he squirms in his chair.
“Thank you, baby.” Her pleased smile tells him it was the right thing to say. “You don’t want your pancakes?”
“I do. They look great, but my stomach kinda hurt when I got up, so I don’t want to eat right now. I’m sorry. If you put them in the fridge, I can eat them for dinner.”
“Oh, don’t be silly! It’s a special day; we’re going to have something special for dinner! Something that Mav won’t be making.” The teasing smile she sends to the table makes the knot in his stomach unwind some. It makes him feel good enough to take a small bite.
The shape is wrong, and they’re not fluffy enough, but the taste is the same. The flavor melts over his tongue. The pressure in his chest, the one that showed up around the same time as his mom’s cancer diagnosis, lightens a little bit.
I should fake sick and stay home.
The thought comes out of left field, but he’s immediately on board. She hasn’t had a good day in forever, and he doesn’t want to miss it. Who knows when the next one will come. If there will even be another good day. He wants to spend time with his mom while she knows what’s happening.
“My stomach hurts; I don’t think I can go to school.” He groans and grabs his stomach, trying to look as pathetic as possible to sell his story.
He’s forgotten how sharp his mom is, how well she knows him. “Nice try, honey. You were fine two seconds ago, and you’re not missing your first day of senior year. Now, c’mon! It’s photo time!”
Carole is marching towards the front door before he can argue, so he tries to sway Mav in his favor. But the dark-haired man just shakes his head and avoids eye contact, grabbing the camera off the counter. Bradley stands in the middle of the kitchen, the knot retwisting itself.
He suddenly realizes that his upset stomach has nothing to do with yesterday’s tilapia trying to get its revenge and everything to do with what he overheard in the waiting room during his mom’s last checkup.
“I know, I heard. Isn’t it terrible? He'd been sick for a while, but it seemed like he was getting better. He even took his kids on a bike ride, and then - BAM! - he was gone the next day!”
“Oh, that happens a lot with people who are sick for a long time. Toward the end, they get this sudden burst of energy. It’s like God’s way of giving a happy memory to them and their loved ones. Letting them have one last good day before they go.”
He’s actually going to throw up this time.
Bradley drags his feet all the way to the front door, delaying his departure as much as possible. He doesn’t want to leave, but he knows he’s not going to win any fight against her right now - he’s going to school, come hell or high water. And he doesn’t want to fight with his mom; instead, he chooses to commit the moment to memory.
The gentle touch of her hands as she fusses with his hair, making sure it’s just right before any photos.
The brightness of her smile, how it’s the one thing that’s never dimmed despite everything she’s gone through.
The teasing barbs she exchanges with Mav, the man who has been family to her for longer than Bradley has been alive.
He looks at Mav, the man who has done his best to help raise him. Tried so hard to be a fatherly figure in place of the man who was lost too soon. Mav looks tired, Bradley wonders if he’s thinking the same thing as him.
She’s going. She’s going, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
Just like every year since kindergarten, they squish together on the porch, his mom wrapping her arm around his waist. He thinks about how she used to have to squat down so their heads were together. Now, she’d have to go on her tiptoes, and he’d have to crouch down for that to happen.
He knows his smile looks fake; he has to force himself because this might be the last photo he gets with his mom, and that makes him sad beyond words. Carole quickly fixes that, tickling his side on that one spot that always gets him. He giggles and tries to squirm away, his smile turning happy and real as she laughs at him.
“You’re just like your father; he was ticklish in the exact same spot.”
Even the talk of Goose doesn’t bring them down like it usually does. Today, it lifts everyone’s spirit to realize how much he’s like the father he didn’t get to know.
After Mav has taken an ungodly number of photos, Bradley asks for the camera and stands next to his uncle. He snaps photo after photo of his mom, hoping that if he takes enough, he won’t ever be able to forget this moment. Then he shuffles Mav on the porch and takes photos of the pseudo-siblings. He rearranges them one last time, setting the camera on the porch railing and hitting the timer.
He doesn’t know it yet, but that photo of the three of them standing in the yard with the Bronco just visible in the background will be the last photo taken of his mother. As an adult, it will be tied for first place with five others as his favorite photo of all time.
After the last flash, Carole pulls him close. “I am so proud of you, Bradley. Your dad would be so proud of you. You’re such a good boy. I love you so much.”
He hugs her tighter than he should; he can’t help it. The little gasp she lets out at the intensity of his hug makes him feel a bit guilty, but he doesn’t stop.
He doesn’t want to let her go.
“I know, honey. I know. It’s okay.” She tries to soothe her baby, who isn’t a baby anymore. He’s a full-grown man who is so much smarter and wiser than any 18-year-old should ever be. He’s been through so much more than any kid should ever have to go through. She feels bad about how quickly he’s had to grow up. “Everything is gonna be okay.”
No, it’s not going to be okay. But he holds back his tears because he doesn’t want her to cry when she’s having a good day. He reluctantly lets go and slips on his sunglasses - aviators, just like Goose - before heading for his car, knowing that if he doesn’t go now, he’ll never be able to make himself leave.
With his stomach in even more knots than he thought possible, Bradley heads off to school, waving as he pulls out of the driveway. Trying to burn the image of his mom waving, one hand on her hip as Mav nudges her and makes her laugh.
From the moment he parks the Bronco in the seniors-only lot, the entire school day feels like torture. He can’t even enjoy the beginning of his senior year, something he had been waiting for.
Senior year means graduation. Graduation means going to college. College means packing his stuff for Annapolis. Annapolis means he can finally start working on his dream.
He’ll learn how to be an aviator while roaming the same halls as Goose while he learns the ins and outs of aeronautical engineering. He might even be lucky enough to get placed in the same dorm room. Being an aviator means he’ll be just like his father. And Mav. And Ice. And Slider. And all of his other uncles from the class of '86. But he can’t bring himself to be excited like usual.
Instead, he’s on edge the entire day. Waiting to get called to the nurse’s office. They all had agreed as a family - Bradley, Carole, Mav, and Ice - that if she passed when he was at school, they would have the front office call him down to the nurse’s office. Ice would pick him up, Mav likely busy dealing with the doctors and the funeral home and everything.
He can barely eat the lunch his mom packed. A peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich, cut into triangles like when he was little. Chips, cucumber slices, and a chocolate chip cookie round out the meal. He tosses most of the food but is careful to keep the little note she had put in the brown paper bag.
I love you, Bradley. You’re going to do great things.
He presses it between the pages of his calculus textbook before he goes to gym, making sure he doesn’t bend the pink sticky note, preserving her swirly handwriting as best he can.
Finally, the bell signaling the end of the eighth period rings. Relief washes through his body. There’s been no call from the nurse, and his school day is over. He hastily packs his bookbag and practically skips towards the parking lot, waving at some friends still in class. He’s one got free period during ninth period, and as a senior, he gets to leave early if he has no class.
He’s planning his route home - he wants to stop at the corner store to grab a treat for his mom - when he skids to a stop where the concrete sidewalk meets asphalt.
Ice is leaning against the bumper of the Bronco.
“Happy birthday, Bradley!” His mom yells before blowing a kazoo.
He couldn’t be happier. It’s his birthday, his mom is having a good day, and he just got the keys to the Bronco. It’s officially his, just like he always dreamed it would be.
“Your dad’s dream was for you two to fix it up together and give it to you on your eighteenth birthday,” Mav explained. “I know I can’t replace him, but we had a good time working on it, right?”
Bradley nods and hugs his uncle. Mav will never be his actual dad, but he’s the closest thing he has to one. He helped raise him. He had sacrificed so many weekends to spend time with him, showing him how to fix the Bronco or throw a football with a perfect spiral. He’d even taken him on motorcycle rides, but they agreed not to tell Mom about that.
“Okay, knock it off, you saps. It’s time to blow out your candles, Baby Goose!” Slider enters the dining room, looking ridiculous with a crooked party hat on his head. He’s concentrating hard to balance a cake that’s much too big for the six people in attendance at his birthday dinner.
It’s set in front of Bradley, and he laughs when he sees the cake is covered in little plane toys. It looks like a cake made for a little kid, and he loves it. Aunt Sarah lights his candles and starts singing. He sits there for 30 seconds, watching his family sing off-key and thinking about how he loves his family so much his heart hurts.
“Okay, baby! Close your eyes and make a wish!” Carole smooths a hand over his hair.
He smiles up at her. “Only if you help me, ma.”
She bends down, doing a quick countdown before they close their eyes and blow out the candles together. For the first time in years, Bradley actually makes a wish.
Please don’t let my mom die. I need her.
Ice is talking to Slider, who’s parked in his white Jeep, and even from this distance, he can tell they’ve been crying.
Slider has obviously given Ice a ride to school, and now they’re waiting for him. If Ice doesn’t have his truck, that means he’s going to be driving Bradley. And that can only mean one thing.
She’s gone. My wish didn’t come true.
His backpack hits the ground at the same time as his knees, and he throws up. It’s not a lot; he’s barely eaten today, and by the time his uncles reach him - their feet pounding on the pavement - he’s just sobbing and dry heaving into the grass.
“Breathe, Bradley. You gotta breathe, buddy.” He can’t tell which one is talking; blood is rushing in his ears, and he just keeps crying.
“Bradley.” It’s Ice, holding his face up. “Listen to me. Your mom is not dead. Do you hear me? She’s not gone. But she had to be taken to the hospital; we’re still waiting for the test results. We’re gonna go there right now, but you need to breathe first, okay? You gotta breathe.”
He does his best to stop crying and take in air. His body literally shudders on the first breath, his lungs greedily sucking in the oxygen. After a few breaths, a water bottle is shoved in front of his face. He doesn’t even know where it came from, but he drinks, his throat raw.
Slider pops a mint into his mouth before helping him stand. “It’ll help your throat and your stomach.”
He races to the car, throwing the keys to Ice, who almost drops them. Both adults speed out of the parking lot, heading directly for the hospital.
Halfway there Ice has a chilling realization. The car is silent. If he’s learned anything in the last twenty-odd years, it’s that a car ride involving a Bradshaw is never silent. There’s always talking and laughing. Usually, you can count on singing and bad seat dancing, but today, it’s silent. There’s not even the sound of crying. And when he looks over at Bradley, he’s startled to find him catatonically staring out the windshield, his face bone dry. He looks like a statue, and it freaks Ice out how quickly he’s shut down. He hasn’t attended Sunday service in a long time, doesn’t even know if he believes in a higher power, but at that moment, he sends off prayers to every deity he can name, hoping that one of them can pull off a miracle for the boy who’s already dealt with so much.
It’s even worse at the hospital, Slider nabbing the spot next to them seconds after Ice shifts into park. The three of them hurry towards the ICU, where a nurse lets them all in after she hears who they’re visiting. Technically, only Bradley and Pete meet the requirements to be allowed in, but the entire ward is aware of the situation and are prepared to let as many people visit as needed.
Bradley freezes halfway to Carole’s room, Slider almost running him over. A priest is walking out of her room. He shakes hands with Mav and somberly nods at the frozen trio when he passes.
Mav watches as his best friends gently nudge his godson forward. His heart feels like it’s splitting in two as tears start streaming down Bradley’s face. A face that looks so old and so young at the same time. Maverick feels like he’s watching his 18-year-old nephew transform into the little boy who just lost his dad. His lower lip trembles just like it used to when he would fall and scrap his knee. Except this time, there’s nothing Mav can do to make it better. There’s no antibacterial spray, no Spiderman band-aid, no over-dramatic kiss with magical healing powers. This time, there’s only a young man who’s now taller than him. He stands in the doorway with red eyes and a mustache that makes him look so much like Goose.
“What happened?” Bradley croaks, afraid to enter the room. He hates the way his mom looks when she’s hooked up to all those machines. The beeping hurts his ears. “Why was the priest in here?”
“I don’t know, kid. We were about to eat lunch, and she collapsed. The doctors don’t know either; the test results didn’t show anything that’s telling them what’s going on. Everything is just suddenly worse.” Mav gets choked up; he can hardly continue. “They uh- they said this is probably it. That we should say our goodbyes. That’s why I had the priest come in. When we talked about her final wishes a while ago, she made me promise she would get her last rites.”
Bradley tackles him in a hug before he finishes talking. They cry together, mourning the loss that hasn’t happened yet.
The four of them have been sitting in silence for hours, listening to the beep of the heart monitor, when Bradley speaks up from his post beside his mom. “What else does she want? I know she wants to be buried next to Goose, but what else? She didn’t tell me.”
“She wants yellow carnations in her arrangements. Her wedding band stays with her, just like Goose, but her engagement ring goes to you. She wants to be wearing that blue dress she wore when she first met your dad.”
“That’s it?”
“There are a few more legal things, like with the house and the cars, but that’s laid out in her will. She made me promise I’ll take care of you, which I was always going to do no matter what.”
And she made me promise I’ll never let you fly.
Mav doesn’t add that final promise to the list; it’s not the right time for that conversation. He’s not sure it’ll ever be the right time.
Carole can feel herself getting weaker, but today is a good day; she feels good. Strong.
“Peter Howard Mitchell! Listen to me, you stupid, stubborn, obnoxious jackass! We don’t have a lot of time before Bradley gets back, and we need to talk about this!”
Bradley had felt guilty about leaving to go to the movies with Tessa Richardson, but Carole had insisted - he’d had a crush on that girl for years. It was about time he had his first kiss. And she was 95% certain it was going to happen today. Her motherly instincts were tingling.
“I don’t want to talk about it, Carole! I’m sick of every conversation we have being about you dying!”
“You think I like talking about it? Knowing that I’m leaving behind my little boy?” She gets in his face, yelling with every ounce of strength she can summon. “You think I like knowing that my body is giving up? That I’m dying? I can feel it happening, Pete! I can feel myself drifting away! And nothing the doctors are doing is helping! I know that it’s scaring Bradley, scaring you, but it’s scaring me most of all!”
Maverick catches her, and they sink to the ground; she sobs in his arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry; I’m so sorry, Carole. What do you need me to do?”
“Bradley can’t fly.” She pulls back, wiping her eyes. “He can’t fly for the Navy, Pete. I know he wants to, but you can’t let him.”
“But Carole, it’s his dream to-”
“To die just like his father?” Her words shock him. “I love Nick more than anything, Pete, you know that. But do you know what I would do to have him here with us today? Do you realize I’ve lived three times as long without my husband than I did with him? It’s been fifteen years - almost sixteen. I only knew Nick for five, and we were only married for three before he was gone. I would do anything to have Bradley know his father.”
“Care…”
“You’ve been incredible, Mav. You’ve done your best to be a father to him; he loves you so much. I love you so much; you’re my best friend. But I've missed my husband every day for the last fifteen years. He was the love of my life, and I miss him so much my heart hurts. I’m not going to be here, but I can’t stand the thought of the same thing happening to Bradley. I won’t let that happen to my baby. So, you have to promise me, Pete. Promise me you won’t let him fly.”
They sit on the floor in silence, staring at each other. The internal debate roars inside Maverick, hurting his chest. He loves the Bradshaws more than anything. He would do anything for them. He still feels guilty about his best friend’s death, knows it was his fault, even if the investigation said he was innocent. The guilt of Goose being gone eats away at him, little by little each day.
Carole is right.
He can’t - he won’t - lose Bradley the same way.
“I promise I’ll do my best to keep him out of the air. But Carole, he’s almost an adult. Soon, there won’t be much I can do to control him. I can’t stop him from applying to the Academy or joining the Navy.”
“Yes, you can. Get Ice to pull some strings, indebt yourself to Viper. Do whatever you have to do. Do everything you can to protect him, Pete.” Her voice is cold and emotionless, knowing it will destroy her son, but at least he’ll be alive.
It was the one and only time they had talked about it, but every time Bradley excitedly talked about his future, Carole would look at him with this face that made Mav feel awful. It’s her request, but he was going to be the reason Bradley’s dreams were crushed.
Mav leans over in his chair, guilt and hopelessness consuming his body. The knowledge that his godson was about to be more like him in all the ways he never wanted.
Orphaned. Mother dying, with a broken heart, years after his father was killed while flying.
Denied entrance to the Naval Academy due to something beyond his control.
“She doesn’t want anything else?”
“No.”
It’s the last word spoken. A lie.
Slider and Ice spend the night just outside the door in some extra chairs an orderly had been kind enough to scrounge up. Mav shifts between standing at Carole’s side to hold her hand and sitting ramrod straight at the foot of her bed.
Bradley stays by his mom’s side the entire night, clutching her left hand. He plays with her wedding band, twisting it around her finger like he used to when he was little. He thinks about how different everything is going to be. He’s going to be alone a lot more now. He’s legally an adult, so when Mav gets deployed or transferred, there won’t be a need to scramble to make sure he’s taken care of. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do with the house or if it’s even his to worry about. Mav, Ice, and his mom had taken care of the legal stuff without him. He wonders if Slider would loan him some money so he can get those earrings. She won’t be able to appreciate them, but he still wants her to have them. It’s the last thing he’ll be able to do for her. They’ll go nice with her blue dress, he thinks. He sits there and thinks. He’s there the whole time.
He’s there, wide awake, when Carole takes her last breath at 3:14 AM on September 4th. He’s there when the doctor comes in to declare her dead; he shakes Bradley’s hand, giving him the first of the thousand condolences that will follow. He’s there when the nurse comes in to turn off the monitors and unhook the IVs; she gently asks if he wants to leave while she cleans his mom up, but he refuses. He doesn’t have a lot of time left before he’ll never see her again; he can’t waste any time. He’s there for another hour, trying to say his goodbyes through sobs. He’s there until his uncles drag him out, promising him that he’ll see her again before the funeral. He’s still there, mentally, when he goes to sleep at Uncle Tom’s house. He and Pete are sleeping over, neither of them ready to face the house.
He’s there three days later, shyly asking the funeral director if it would be too much trouble to change his mom’s earrings. When he asked Uncle Ron about the money, he put them both in the car, drove to the mall, and paid for the earrings without question. The two of them hugged for a long time before they went home. He’s there at the viewing, next to his mother’s casket for hours, numbingly accepting condolences and hugs from hundreds of people. The one bright spot is being reminded how many people loved his mom. How wonderful she was to everyone she met.
He’s there at the graveside service, the first to place a rose on the polished wood. He stays there once it ends, refusing to leave, watching as the casket is lowered and the hole is filled with dirt. He’s there to place a bouquet of yellow carnations, her favorite, on top of the fresh earth. He pats the dual gravestone, one half still blank, before he lets Mav pull him to the car. He looks back one last time, and as the sunshine dries his tears, he swears he can hear his parents' laughter in the wind.
As an adult, now with two dead parents and one estranged, he’s there every year that he’s not deployed. He clears away any weeds and leaves before placing a bouquet of yellow carnations on the gravestone that now bears two names. Sometimes, there’s a single red rose already there when he arrives. Those are the years he knows Mav beat him to saying hello. He’s there for hours at a time, sitting with his parents and eating a bag of trail mix with extra M&Ms added - Goose’s favorite.
The first year that he and Mary are together, he’s there alone. He trusts her implicitly, and she knows the whole story. He told her what happened with Mav and everything that followed; it was a conversation they had early on. But this is something too raw, too personal, to share so soon in a relationship. He’s spent so many years doing this by himself that he’s not sure how he would handle having another person with him. Even if it was someone he loves so much.
Mary understands.
“Of course, you understand, you’re perfect.”
“I’m not perfect, Bradley. I just care about your feelings.”
“You’re perfect for me.” He kisses her before she can protest. “Thank you for caring about me.”
The day of, she kisses him softly as he leaves, pushing a sandwich bag of trail mix into his hand. Her only ask is to tell her when he gets home safe if he needs space, letting him know that her house is always open if he doesn’t want to spend the night alone.
He spends that first year catching them up. Now that he’s stationed in San Diego, it’s easier to visit more often, but several things have happened since his last stop. Usually, he talks for a bit and then sits in silence, choosing to reminisce on the happy memories. This time, he spends most of the time talking. Telling his parents about Mav, the shenanigans of the Dagger Squad, about Mary. He tells them all about Mary. How much he loves her, how he hasn’t said it yet because it’s only officially been two months, how he’s pretty sure she can tell anyway. He goes on and on about her eyes, her kindness, her intelligence.
“I love her so much; I’m going to marry her.” He blurts it out, a small gasp following his declaration to the etched granite stone. It’s not the first time he’s had the thought, but it’s the first time he’s said it out loud. And now he can’t stop thinking about it.
Mary in a white dress with a veil sitting on her pretty brown hair, a gold band on her ring finger. The two of them committing themselves to each other in front of all their loved ones. Twirling her around the dance floor to their song, dipping her at the end to kiss her and make her blush. Everything that would follow. A house. A dog. A few kids. Diapers and dance recitals to gray hair and wrinkles.
“Holy shit… I’m going to marry her.” The breeze ruffles his hair, and he knows it’s his parents. “Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll make sure we’re married before I get her pregnant, unlike you two.”
He decides to stay the night at Mary’s, feeling better than he ever has on this day. He goes to find her the moment he enters the house, using the key she recently gave him. She’s on her office floor, organizing her bookshelf, when he presses himself against her, devouring her in a kiss. Bradley’s added weight throws her off balance, and the two of them topple over, sprawled in the paperbacks.
When he finally pulls back, he’s pleased to see that she’s flushed and her chest is heaving.
“I’m not complaining, but what was that?”
“I’ve never had someone to come home to after visiting them; I’ve always done it alone.” He talks into her neck, enjoying the way her fingers tighten in his hair when his lips brush her skin. “I’m just really thankful I have you.”
“Oh, Bradley…” Mary doesn’t know what to say. She loves this man so much, and she knows it’s too soon to say that, so she shows him. The night ends with a shower and papercuts in places where papercuts should never happen.
The day sneaks up on him the second year they’re together. They’ve been busy; between work, helping Jake with his surprise, and preparing to move in together, August went by in a blink. It leaves him with no time to mentally prepare.
Bradley jolts awake, sweat covering his temples and his heart thumping. It’s the worst nightmare he’s had in months. It was a twisted mess of awful moments. Some real, some imagined. Reliving his mother’s death but worse, almost dying on the uranium mission, losing Mary to cancer, same as his mom. He woke up just as a doctor was telling him she was gone and he wasn’t allowed to see her.
“No, sir, I’m sorry, but you can’t go back there. Her husband doesn’t want anyone else back there. You’ll have to wait for the funeral… if you’re even allowed in, asshole.”
He whips the covers off and trips his way to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before his dinner makes a return trip. The commotion wakes Mary, and she quickly makes her way to him, finding him laying on the floor, his shirt whipped into the tub.
His chest is so tight it hurts. He can’t believe he’s having a panic attack. He hasn’t had a full-on panic attack in years. There’s been anxiety, moments where he can’t easily catch his breath and his heart beating faster than it should, but nothing like this. He feels like he’s drenched in sweat, his heart is pounding, and he can’t breathe.
“Bradley? Look at me, sweetie.”
Mary.
“Can you look at me, Bradley?” He can hardly see through the tears. “I know it’s hard because you’re crying so hard, but look at me.”
It takes all his strength to turn his head, but he does it because he knows she’s worried.
“There you are. Okay, baby, I need you to breathe with me.”
He’s not exactly sure how she does it, but she helps him calm down. His body listens to her instructions before his brain realizes.
It takes a while, but he can breathe normally again. She helps him sit up, propping himself against the tub and letting his head fall back. He hears the sink run before there’s a soft touch on his shoulder.
“Gonna touch you, that okay?” He nods, appreciative of how considerate she is, always thinking of him.
Mary gently wipes his face, cleaning it of tears and sweat before brushing the washcloth over his arms and chest. It helps ground him, feeling more inside his body than before.
“What time is it?” Bradley rasps as she rinses the cloth.
“Late. Or early, depending on how you want to think about it.” She peeks out of the door, checking the time. Her face is somber when she comes back to him. “It’s 3:20, honey.”
“Twenty years… she’s been gone for twenty years.” He reaches for her, and she easily complies, straddling his thighs when he tugs her hand.
They sit in silence, wrapped tightly in each other’s arms.
“I had a nightmare.” He starts, answering her silent question. “It was her death and the uranium mission back-to-back, losing her and then him.”
She hums, encouraging him to continue. She doesn’t know the details of that mission - her clearance level is high but not that high - but she knows that he and Mav barely made it back. Both of them brushing hands with death multiple times.
They have nightmares. Less frequently now that they’re a few years down the road, but they still happen. Mav dreams that he doesn’t save them, that one of the bogeys gets them before Hangman reaches them. Bradley’s feature him missing the helicopter, having to watch Mav bleed out.
“Then it was you. You were sick. It was the same thing as Mom, uterine cancer. And I couldn’t even say goodbye. You married someone else, and I wasn’t allowed in.”
She takes a sharp breath. That’s new.
“I don’t want to lose you, Mary. I love you so much, I think it would kill me.”
“Oh, honey.” She cradles his face, forcing him to look at her. “You listen to me, Bradley Bradshaw. You are the best thing to ever happen to me. I love you more than anything. In two weeks, we’re going to be living together. When the time is right, we’re going to get married and have a family.”
She can't help but press a quick kiss to his mouth. “And I’m healthy. There’s no history of uterine or breast cancer in my family, and I just had my annual appointment last week. All the tests came back negative for bad things. Nothing is wrong. I'm totally healthy, okay? I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“You can’t guarantee that.”
“You’re right, I can’t. We can’t control everything, and sometimes bad things happen. But I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to make sure I don’t ever leave you.”
“Thank you.” His voice is quiet and scratchy. “I know it’s hard with what I do, but I promise you’re my number one thought when I’m in the air; coming home safe to you is my top priority.”
“Now, I’m gonna cry, Bradley.” They both let out watery laughs. “You’re such a sweet man.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now let’s go back to bed; I need my beauty sleep before I meet your parents.” She pulls him up, and they fall asleep quickly, tucked together as the early morning light peeks through the curtains.
When they get to the cemetery the next afternoon, a red rose sits on the headstone. One step in front of him, Mary picks it up and brushes some leaves off the base. He watches as she places the flower back in its spot, plucking a few dandelions before she stands.
“There,” she says, brushing dirt off her hands, “that’s better.”
The wind picks up, twisting her long hair around, and he rolls his eyes.
“Yeah, Mom, I know. She’s very pretty. I’m working on proposing. We gotta do some stuff first, but it’s coming.” He mutters under his breath.
“What was that, honey?”
“Nothing, baby doll. Want to help me put the blanket down?” His hat blows off, and he scowls at the tree that’s nearby, smiling when he hears her muffled giggle.
Miss you, dad.
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part six will be coming next week! have a great weekend everyone!
@gretagerwigsmuse | @bobfloyds | @hangmanbrainrot | @notroosterbradshaw | @princessphilly | @roleycoleyreccenter | @thesewordsareallihavetogive | @a-court-of-roscoe-and-baby | @katieshook02 | @hellojameshowyadoin | @aristotles-butthole | @atarmychick007 | @whatislovevavy | @kmc1989 | @sometimesanalice
fic tag | Mar[r]y Me masterlist | credit for dividers here
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rreyie · 4 years ago
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pov: levi is your baby daddy
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warnings- pain? but i mean of course there’s pain you’re pushing a little human out of your vajayjay
a/n- dad levi has been on my mind lately, thought i would grace y’all with this to hold you over until new things are published WHICH I PROMISE WILL BE SOON IVE JUST BEEN BUSY WITH SCHOOL :(
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when you’re pregnant, his protective instinct goes into OVERDRIVE
he’s not letting you out of your sight for more than five minutes and that’s being generous
he’s doing everything for you, dishes, laundry, cooking and cleaning are done by the end of the day
if you even try to do anything he will pick you up and carry you back to the couch (very gently ofc)
if you’re in a modern au and you live somewhere where taking the subway/train/bus is needed, levi will literally give the stink eye to someone or say “she’s pregnant, you should give up your seat” and it comes off in an asshole kind of way 😭
but it’s all out of love
once you go into labor, levi is breathing over your shoulder the entire time
and when the baby finally comes out, he will obviously let you hold it first but then after he will take it and won’t give it back
he’s scared at first, now that there was a possibility he could lose another loved one to this cruel world
he’s going to cry while holding it for the first time. he just thinks the baby you two made is so beautiful
and it has his eyes! that makes him laugh for once lmao
and you better believe that kuchel is that baby’s guardian angel!
uncle erwin, uncle mike, auntie hange and auntie nanaba will def play a part in how the baby grows up
when you take the baby home, the nursery is already all set up for it, thanks to levi and erwin helping to build it
you come home to find a bunch of gifts stacked on your dining room table from the scout regiment??? literally everything you need is there like diapers, food, even some stuff for you and levi
levi takes the baby everywhere with him, he has a harness that hange built him so the baby can ride on him while he’s using odm gear
and when levi can’t take the baby, hange will, although you might wanna avoid that since she might be a little reckless
your new addition makes nanaba want one SO BADLY and mike came yelling to you one day that she won’t stop talking about it because of your baby
levi will always carry a little reminder of his family with him, like a family portrait in his wallet that he will look at if he’s on a long mission or something
when the baby cries in the middle of the night, you never really have to wake up since levi will respond immediately, plus he has insomnia so it won’t really bother him that the baby woke up
he will probably fall asleep with the baby in his arms on the chair that’s in it’s room
he tries his best to be an active dad, and although his temper can snap sometimes, he learns to develop a soft spot
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beepboop358 · 3 years ago
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I think the main thing that bothers me about the anti-Mileven reading of the show is that it seems very mean-spirited on the Duffers' part? In a way that borders on unprofessional. It's one thing to mislead and divert your audience's attention; it's another thing to have written a whole story that has spanned three seasons with the sole intent of laughing at Milevens for getting invested in that story or treating them like they're too stupid to be watching your show.
Hi anon!
Oh i don’t really see it as super mean-spirited! I see it more as a heartwarming story of kids growing up and finding their way, especially because of Mike’s sexuality. There’s something very uncomfortable but also beautiful about growing up and things and yourself changing and figuring things out, and I think that’s what the show is really trying to do here with the mike & el to byler relationship transition. But I am speaking from a byler’s pov, so I haven’t considered how it may look to those who don’t necessarily ship byler or those who view it differently than I do. I really hope it doesn’t seem sinister on the duffers part, because I don’t really think it is. I really believe this wasn’t their intention. And you’re totally right if their only point was to make fun of people, it would be unprofessional and it would horribly backfire on them because they would lose viewers, and no one wants to feel like they are purposefully being made to feel stupid :( But I truly don’t believe they are trying to do this, just from what we have seen in the show. Most of what the show does with Mike & El is just show they don’t make a good romantic couple, and that just romantic Mike & El won’t be endgame. I do however really honestly believe that they will keep Mike and El as close friends, and not abandon their relationship entirely, just the romantic part of it. And we have evidence for that too! Mike was the first person to treat her like a real human and show her compassion, and the show doesn’t downplay that at all. Mike does love her and care about her, and she him, it’s just not romantic. Platonic love is still valid :) The two of them will always be bonded, and I can’t imagine the show ever completely dumping that. I personally am a big fan of platonic Mike & El. The show has only damaged romantic Mike & El, but not platonic Mike & El, so I think we’re headed for that, and I think they will both thrive in that friendship.
I really don’t think they are out to make all people who ship them seem stupid or just to laugh at them, or anything like that, because if they were the Mike & El interactions in the show would be far more toxic than they are, if they just wanted to scrap their friendship and relationship entirely. Like if they did want that, I think we would see more of Mike & El just always fighting and doing horrible things to each other etc. But Mike & El’s interactions just show they won’t work as a romantic couple, I think they will absolutely keep them as close friends, because we have evidence for it :) And honestly it would be bad writing for them not to. They’ve been through too much together to pretend like it never happened or to just kind of use it to make fun of people. There would be no point to giving Mike & El the careful, detailed development they have, if they just wanted to make fun of people who like the couple. They did put time and effort into their relationship, and I really don’t see them doing that just to tease people.
thanks for the ask! I hope you’re doing good 💗
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headinthestaticsky · 3 years ago
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Sanctuary with the Enthralling Moon: Jasper Hale x Fleur Swan, Chapter 4
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Authors notes: I think this is my least favorite chapter I have wrote... but, I hope you guys like it anyway.
All rights go to Stephanie Meyer, none of the characters in Twilight are mine.
“Stay afloat When it feels like it's all going nowhere And you wanna know But the tide keeps trying to pull you under Let it go You can't fight the waves, boy, it's no wonder If you wanna grow Don't fight what's natural.”
Rush by, Kali Uchis
POV: Back to Fleurs.
Today I had woken up on my own and according to my alarm clock, it was already the afternoon. I stumbled down the stairs, almost running into a wall before making my way to the kitchen. I put my head on the table, trying wake myself up. It was crazy how fast the months had gone by. November and December came by in a flash and Leah and I had been hanging out more. I had almost dosed off in the kitchen when I heard my dad speak.
 “Hey Petal, Sam called... he wanted to see you today.”
“Sam? I didn’t except him to want to see me.”
“He was asking for you.”
“Okay, I’ll head down there now.”
I felt nervous on my way down there, I wondered why Sam was wanting to see me, why Bella was all of the sudden going down there. I stopped the car and sat there for a moment, collecting my nerves and unanswered questions and putting them in the back of my mind. When I got out I saw Sam, he looked pretty different from last year. His hair was cut short, he was way more buff, and he had a tattoo.
“Hey Fleur.”
“Sam.”
I sighed and then started walking toward the beach, Sam was trailing behind me.
“So... Jacob and Bella huh?” Sam started.
“What do you mean?”
“You haven’t heard anything about it?”
“No, Bella hasn’t had a civil conversation with me for a solid 5 months.”
“Oh... they’re apparently building dirt bikes down at Billy’s.”
“... She’s trying to kill herself... she won’t make it 5 inches without getting into some kind of accident.”
“Yeah...”
“Look... why did you call me? We haven’t talked for an entire year.”
“ I know you saw Leah yesterday, what did she say to you?.”
“We caught up, and then she told me what happened between you two. Why would you do that to her?”
“Do what?”
“Uh, break up with her after 3 years to then date and get engaged to her cousin? Someone who she was extremely close to mind you.”
“I wish I could tell you Fleur, but it’s complicated.”
“It seems to be all you do lately... You never explained to me why you didn’t want me to date Jasper so bad.”
“Because he’s a...”
“A what? Besides, I’m still dating him... I lived.”
“Of course you’re still with him. Your brain must’ve gotten fried back in Arizona.”
“Hey, don’t you dare insult my intelligence! What is with you? Why are you such a DICK all the time! Besides this isn’t about my relationship, this is about yours!”
“Don’t call me that Fleur.”
“Don’t insult me.”
“Hey, what’s going on down here?”
“Paul, stay out of this!”
“I’ll tell you whats going on, your friend here is being a complete dick!”
“Aww, did he hurt your feelings?” Paul said mockingly.
“Calling someone stupid tends to piss them off.”
“Well you don’t exactly look the intelligent type.”
I whipped my hand back and smacked him, He turned his head back around and started panting heavily. His face was red with anger and rage.
“Fleur... get back. Paul calm down.” Sam said
I slowly took a few steps back. All of the sudden Paul morphed into a wolf, I was frozen in my spot. Paul then took off, away from the beach.
“Sam... saying you turn into a wolf is not complicated... it’s pretty freaking clear. “hey Fleur... I turn into a giant ass werewolf.
“Come on, let’s head back to the house.”
“I would go with you... but I can’t move.”
Sam sighed before picking me up, he started running back down to the house.
“So... I’m going to assume being a werewolf has something to do with what happened Leah huh?”
“Yeah, it does...you see us werewolves have the ability to imprint on someone. This person could be a lover or just have a brother/sister relationship. We’re a protector to that person we imprint on.”
“So you imprinted on Emily...”
“Yeah, the second I locked eyes with her... I couldn’t stop myself from imprinting, it was as if someone else had over taken my body.”
“I get it now, you don’t really have a choice as to who it is, it chooses you.”
“Exactly.”
“Now that I got that part of the context clues it makes you seem way less of a dick...I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“So... if your tribes legend is right, you know that the Cullens are vampires.”
“Yeah we do.”
“Listen, the Cullens are not bad people, they don’t even go after humans.”
“They’re still a bunch of leeches.”
“You need to have some faith in me here Sam. Jasper’s amazing, he would do anything for me. I would do anything for him... we protect each other. Even though, he does a lot more of the protecting than me.”
He sighed
“Okay, okay... I’ll trust him...  but that’s about as far as I will go on that.”
“It’s progress...”
Timeskip: A week later
It seems I was always going down to the reservation anymore after meeting Emily and having the whole imprinting thing cleaned up I was hanging around Sam a lot more. Today I was going to visit Billy and Jacob. I wanted to see if those rumors on the dirt bikes were true. Bella still wasn’t talking to me so... I would have to figure it out myself. When I got there I started walking toward an old red shed, I knocked on it, waiting for someone to answer.
“Come in!”
“Hey Jake, it’s been a while!”
“Fleur!” He ran toward me and spun me around in a hug.
“So are the rumors true? Where are the dirt bikes?”
“Yeah...what are you doing here Fleur.” Bellas voice had jumped in, venom leaked out of it.
“You haven’t talked to me in 3 months Bella. When I hear that you’re somewhere I have to investigate it... Me seeing you is a rare phenomena, it’s like it happens every 100 years.”
“Well you saw me, you can leave now.”
“Make me leave.”
“Okay you two, cool it. You can come with us if you want  We plan on riding the bikes down by the beach.”
“Oh...”
“No... she will not come with us.” Bella interrupted
“No don’t worry about it... I was going down to Sam’s I thought I would stop by on the way.”
Bella scoffed.
“Of course you’d hang out with Sam, Jake has told me about him, I heard he tries to influence people too.”
“Are you trying to insinuate that I made the Cullens leave, again?”
“Glad to know your brain still works.”
“I’m not starting this with you Bella, you’re not worth it I need to go, Emily is excepting me soon. It was nice to see you again Jake.” 
“Yeah, I’ll see you around.” Jake looked between us... he looked trapped, caught in the middle of our childish fight.
POV Change: Bella’s
“Can you believe her Jake? I know she’s just trying to get me in trouble with those bikes... she’s probably on her way home telling Dad right now.”
“What’s up with you and Fleur? I really don’t think she came here to find proof of you doing this just to tell your dad.”
“You don’t know her like I do, she’s a manipulator...”
“I’ve just never known Fleur to be like that...”
“You haven’t been around her long enough to know her like I do... Can we talk about something else please?”
“Sure... we need to go anyway.”
Timeskip: To Sam and Emily’s AND a POV Change: Back to Fleur
Emily was making food in the kitchen, she was excepting the rest of the pack to come over today so she had her hands full. I was peeling potatoes and carrots while talking to Emily. It was nice, it was like talking to an older sister.
“So you Bella aren’t doing so well?”
“No... it was so weird, we had been getting along a lot last year... Then all of sudden we got into a fight in Arizona and we haven’t been the same ever since...”
“I understand how you feel, It’s the same way with Leah and I. Ever since Sam and I got together... it just hasn’t been the same.”
“I might be able to help you out with this one... Let’s say that the situation with Sam was flipped. He was with you, vanished for a week, and then imprinted on Leah when he came back. It would be a lot to take in for someone... I don’t mean to make you sound like the bad guy but... if you put yourself in her shoes, you might understand her a bit better.”
“Yeah, you’re right... I couldn’t imagine how that must feel. But, what do I do?”
“Just give her sometime. I’m positive she’ll come around, the way she talks about you to me seems full of love. She just needs some time apart right now.”
‘Okay, that’s fair... I’ll give her some space... thanks Fleur.”
“No probl...”
“Fleur come quick! Bella hit her head she’s bleeding.” Jacob said, he was panting as he if he ran down here. His shirt was missing too.
“Damn it... I knew she shouldn’t of gotten on those bikes... She trips walking on a flat service with nothing in front of her.” 
I ran out of the house, Jake was running quickly behind me, I could see Bella leaning against her truck, holding Jake’s shirt on her head. 
“Do you need me to drive you to the hospital?” I asked.
Bella didn’t even look at me, her head was turned to the side.
“Look, you can still hold a grudge against me... we don’t have to talk the entire way. But you literally bleeding out of your head... you need patched up.”
Bella groaned in annoyance, before throwing me her keys. She opened the truck door and then slammed it shut.
“Thanks for tell me Jake, I better go,”
“No problem.”
We didn’t say one word to each other the entire trip to the hospital, nor did we talk the entire ride home. I of course, had to explain to dad why she had a patch on her head.
“She and Jake were walking on the beach, the sand was a bit too slippery and she fell and hit her head on a rock.”
A week had gone by, Bella was even more tense than usual. Jacob had stopped talking to her after an incident at the movie theater with her and Mike. At least, that’s what dad had told me. My dreams with Jasper were getting more real and intense. The last phone call I had with him seemed like the dreams were starting to get to them. 
Flashback to phone call.
“I saw you again, you were following me where ever I went, but you disappear before I can talk to you.”
“That’s so strange...”
“One day I’m going to call out for you, and you’re actually going to be there.”
“I hope so, I miss you so much.”
“I miss you too.”
Flashback over
“Petal, Harry and I are going on a fishing trip. Watch out for Bella, if she goes anywhere, follow her. I don’t know how she’s doing right now since Jake is talking to her... We don’t need another woods incident.”
“Sure, no problem.”
It seemed as soon as dad had left, Bella planned on leaving, I caught her before she could reach the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Does it matter?”
“No, I was just planning on going for a walk...I thought I would invite you to go with me.”
“Really? Where did you plan on walking then?”
“To the woods.” I lied on the spot
“Fine... I’ll go with you.”
We walked in the woods for a bit, the only sound I could hear was crunching underneath my feet.
“Do you know why Jake hasn’t talked to me?”
“No.” I half lied, I thought I knew what was happening...Billy had said Jacob had mono and he couldn’t even go outside. But, I thought he was changing, that he would become a werewolf soon. 
“Oh come on Fleur, I saw you two talking outside before you went to drive me to the hospital... You want me to be completely isolated from everyone.”
“Are... are you insane? Did that hit you took from the bike accident damage your brain somehow? All I did was thank him for bringing you back.”
“Whatever... this is all your fault!” Bella said, she then sprinted out in the woods, trying to lose me.”
“BELLA!” I yelled and began to chase after her. I found her quickly though, and I saw her hunched on the ground, picking at dead bits of grass. I heard rustling on the other side of the field. Bella heard it too and looked up, she then gasped.
“Laurent?” 
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michaelbjorkwrites · 5 years ago
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Narrative Anchors: How to hold your readers’ attention, wherever you take them.
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One of my old fiction professors, Tom, used to always grab coffee with us students whenever our story had been workshopped.
We'd meet at the downtown coffee shop, where we fought the flocks of students for a table, pulled out a couple wrinkled copies of the story, and discussed feedback over bland coffee.
It was during one of these discussions that Tom pointed out something I'd stumbled into doing well. (He's very good at that.)
"I think this is great, Mike," he said, tapping my story on the table. "From the opening line, the question is whether these two will sleep together, and that grounds us. If my attention ever wavers, I can always fall back on, 'Oh, well have they slept together yet? No, not yet? Okay, cool. I still know where we are, then, and where we're headed.' That makes the story easy to follow."
This wasn't, admittedly, a major focus of our conversation. We moved on to discuss more important things (like the story’s key flaws), but somehow that comment stuck with me over the years.
And now, looking back, I realize it was the first time I started thinking about something I'd eventually call "narrative anchors."
What's a narrative anchor?
It's something I made up. But trust me, it's helpful.
In short, I consider narrative anchors to be the craft elements you include in a story to ground your reader. On the one hand, they can help you craft a story that rings with simple, crystal clarity, and on the other hand, they can empower you to challenge readers with fresh, creative storytelling, without ever losing them at sea.
I put narrative anchors into three categories:
Plot Anchors
Character Anchors
Style Anchors
Plot Anchors
Plot anchors are a clearly defined situation, goal, or destination for a story. Tom (above) pointed out a situational plot anchor in my story, but you'll find plot anchors everywhere. For example, in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang needs to master the four elements and defeat Fire Lord Ozai. We know from the beginning that defeating Ozai is the end-goal, so we feel grounded at every stage of the story, knowing where we’re going.
Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville, is another great example. Ahab is hellbent on hunting down the White Whale, and we never lose sight of that goal, even as the narrative stretches across hundreds of pages.
That’s the point of a plot anchor: to give your reader a clear direction, so they always know where they’re going.
Character Anchors
These anchors are the clear motivations and arcs you give your characters. Disney does this well in their musicals, always using an "I want song" (more about those here) to clearly declare what their main characters want: Mulan wants to express her true self, Hercules wants to find where he belongs, and so on. The rest of the story then circles around that character's pursuit of their "want."
When readers have a strong understanding of your character's motivation and journey, they have a much easier time following the story as a whole.
Style Anchors
Style anchors are my handy little catch-all for every other craft choice you make to bring clarity and simplicity to your work. Style anchors can include: short chapters or paragraphs; simple and accessible language; straightforward writing forms; clarity of description; engagement with the five senses; using a smaller cast of characters; sticking to a single POV; and so on.
Cool. So when (and how) do I use these narrative anchors?
Tip 1: Don't start with anchors. Start with the story. Take your idea, begin developing the characters and plot, and start writing.
Tip 2: As you write and revise, start thinking about anchors. Ask yourself what kinds of anchors you already have in place, what others may be helpful to add, and whether or not you're doing enough to ground your readers in the story.
Tip 3: Consider your audience. Readers of popular fiction will want to be reasonably grounded, so you should try to always use at least a few anchors. But if your audience likes super artsy, experimental fiction, you may be able to get away with fewer tethers.
Tip 4: That being said, don't be afraid to challenge your readers, whoever they are. If you want to get creative, go for it. If you want to experiment with form, language, plot, character arcs, or whatever, PLEASE do!
Tip 5: But when you challenge readers one way, try to compensate by grounding them in other ways. For example, maybe your story lacks a clear plot anchor, but you include a character with a clear arc and motivation. Or maybe your story is incredibly challenging on a stylistic level, but you give readers a clear character motive and plot (this was my experience reading Moby-Dick).
Tip 6: If big anchors don't fit, consider smaller ones. For example, if your story lacks a BIG plot anchor like defeating Fire Lord Ozai, maybe use smaller plot anchors to drive individual sections of the book. Or maybe instead of a BIG declaration of your character’s motive at the beginning, include little anchors for your narrator that act like breadcrumbs for their motives and development.
Tip 7: Mix and match anchors as necessary, because there is no magic formula.
Long story short?
Write the story you want to write — then use narrative anchors to keep your readers reading, wherever your story takes them.
Tom may not have said that all in so many words, but if I bought him a coffee, I bet he'd agree.
Good luck, everybody, and good writing!
— — —
Your stories are worth telling. For tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog.
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g0ldengubler · 4 years ago
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(*i do not own this gif*)
A/N: (from wattpad): heyyy...how y'all doin? ugh i'm not too happy with the sex scene (even though i'm grateful that a friend of mine helped me with one of the paragraphs) but this is the best i can do right now with the mental state i'm in. pls bare with me with posting, my personal life has gone downhill so fast it's crazy. i wanted to get this up on halloween but it sadly didn't happen. i do apologize. but i hope ur excited for this fic! thank u so much for reading ilyyyyyyy :) (from tumblr): ok last post until tonight! sorry for the spam, i only had this so far so i thought why not throw it all on here now lol. but ok enjoy :)
Category: smut
CW: daddy kink; degradation (from both men to clover); penetration (female receiving); oral (m+f recieving and giving); drunk sex; praise kink; this chapter is not full of smut but you don't have to read the smut if you're uncomfortable
Word Count: 3235
positions | prologue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Clover's POV~
~Two Years Later~
It's been two years since I joined the team, and I've never felt more at home than I did on my first week. Luke, Spencer and I have been named, 'The Golden Trio' thanks to Penelope. We've been stuck like glue ever since I beat them in poker, like the best friends I always wanted but never had. Because of what happen when I was a kid, I always stayed close to my dad and never felt the need to make friends. Sure, I'd have people that I'd see 5 days a week at school, but nothing as close as we were. During our days off, we'd get drunk and have a poker night or a chess night, teaching Luke how to play but he never seemed to understand it, so we'd slowly switch to UNO or Cards Against Humanity.
Today, Halloween of all days, was just another paperwork day. Sure, being out in the field was exciting, saving American citizens like how Emily saved me, but I found relaxation in looking over files and sending my behavioral advice. Everything was calm in the office with everyone doing their work, and some days we'd watch a movie in the conference room or play games when we either got done with our work early or, as Garcia would say, "All serial killers have taken the day off. Maybe even went to therapy."
As I walked back to my desk after turning in the last of my files to Emily, Rossi came out of his office and stood at the railing. "Everyone," he announced, "I think it's safe to say that for the first in several years, we do not have a case on Halloween night!"
Everyone cheered, especially Spencer. Halloween was his favorite holiday, you learned. He was very passionate about its spooky nature by dressing up in a scary mask at work, before having to take it off because of a case. He would pout when he would see Emily, Rossi, or Garcia come out, telling the team that we had a case. This year, however, I noticed a grin on his face that stretched from ear to ear.
"In honor of that, I will be throwing a party at my house and you're all invited. But don't think you could run away from my grandmother's recipe!"
I turned over to Spencer, who's desk was right next to mine, a curious grin growing on my face. "So doc, what are you going to be for Halloween?"
He leaned back in his chair and looked over to me, his left elbow pressed against the armrest. "I was originally going to go as Tom Baker's Doctor Who since I still have the cosplay from when Garcia and I tried going to a convention, but with how my hair looks now, I think I'll go as a mad scientist or, if I want to be more specific, Einstein himself."
"I can see you dressing up as Einstein," I smiled, "Hell, you could even go as Dr.Emmett Brown, himself."
"Who?"
I looked back at him, jaw falling to my desk. "You know, from Back to the Future?"
He still looked confused.
"Don't worry about it, Clover," Luke said as he walked over and sat at the desk in front of me, "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."
"Now I'm curious about this movie." Spencer said, his curious face getting curiouser and curiouser.
"Maybe we can sneak away from the party tonight at some point and watch it." I wink at him and the two began chuckling.
"Those movie's are the closest to nerd I'll ever get." said Luke, which sparked Spencer's interest even more.
"So what are you going to be tonight, Kingsley?"
I looked over at him with a smirk."Oh, Alvez, THAT is a surprise."
~That Night~
"They did the monnnster mash!"
Music was coming from all over the backyard and in the house. Everyone from the BAU was dressed up in their spooky (or sexy...or cutest) best and was dancing the night away with champagne in their hands. I had walked in a little bit late compared to everyone else, which somehow Rossi didn't give me a sassy but funny remark about it. Rossi and Krystall dressed up as Bonnie and Clyde, Tara, along with Jj, Emily, and Garcia, went as nuns, and Matt went as Rickey while his wife, Kristy, was Lucy.
Luke ended up going as Magic Mike, not because he was full of himself, that was way out of line for him, but because the team would joke that he could become a stripper if he had to and played along. Spencer was, indeed, Albert Einstein. Garcia must've helped him with his hair, getting it to stick out like Einstein's and spraying gray hairspray in his hair. Both looked really good in their costumes, I couldn't complain.
I walked in as a sexy devil. I'm not scared to dress sexy when I could. I was comfortable in my body and I wasn't doing it to get someone's attention. I just love to feel myself from time to time, almost like a confidence boost if I needed it. I walked over to my two dudes and saw their eyes bulging out of their heads as they turned around to see. I was in a tight red crop top that showed off the girlies, with red short shorts, black fishnet tights, and red heels. I had horns on the top of my head thanks to a headband, and a tail that was attached to my shorts. The two were completely shocked, but were the respectful men that I always knew they were.
As the night went on, I was kind of getting bored. While I loved being surrounded by my coworkers turned family, I wanted to get wasted. It was Halloween night for crying out loud, but I didn't like being drunk in front of a lot of people. Even when I would go to the club, I would just have one drink and then dance with everyone on the dance floor. I didn't trust my drunk self, not physically but just how my personality changes. It embarrassed me to no end, so I only trusted a few people. Two of them, obviously, being Spencer and Luke.
At one point, I was sitting on the couch in the living room by myself. Luke and Spencer came in and sat down next to me, asking me if I was ok. When I explained to them what I was feeling, they both grinned in unison as they looked at one another, then back at me. I knew exactly what they were thinking, and they were in for it. We said goodbye to everyone, grabbed our coats, and headed out the door where we all met up at Luke's place.
When we walked in, Spencer and I sat on his couch getting Back to the Future ready while Luke made us all drinks. As we watched, we ended up leaving our glasses on the table and started taking turns drinking the vodka bottle, numb to the burning sensation. After taking the last shot in the bottle, I set it down and lay back against the back of the couch and blacked out, letting the alcohol take over my mind and body. The last thing I remember was leaning my head against Spencer's shoulder, while my feet were on Luke's lap...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clover was giggling on Spencer's shoulder as her foot slowly rubbed over Luke's lap. Luke shifted his position on the couch, trying not to notice what that was doing to him. Not like he had a foot fetish or anything, but the amount of friction caused his pants grow tighter by the minute. Spencer, who had never been this drunk before in his life, started playing with her hair as he moved his arm around her. Spencer could tell that she was just as drunk as he was, but he didn't expect her to lay her hand on his chest, playing with the necklace he had around his neck. He tried to focus his attention to Back to the Future III, but once she started playing with the gold piece of metal with her mouth, he couldn't help but to look down at her, her eyes never leaving his.
He looked over to Luke, who had moved Clover's foot over and started palming himself  through his pants. Spencer quickly looked away, trying not to give in to his own urges. He moved his focus back to Clover, who's eyes were still locked on him. Before he could do anything, she let go of the necklace and began to slowly move her hand down Spencer's chest.
"I know why Luke moved my foot away," she whispered as her hand gently fell on his lap. She moved her fingers ever so lightly over the bulge that was growing in his pants. She had also moved her foot back onto to Luke's bulge, rubbing over it softly.
The two looked at each other, almost in confusion at first. But then, they silently agreed that they were up for it, as Clover clearly was as well. Luke moved her foot off of it and stood up, pausing the movie as Spencer moved her hand out of the way and lifted her head up as he started to get up. He takes her hand and helps her up, grabbing Luke's hand before wobbling their way into his room. She jumped onto the bed as Spencer shut the door, letting the light from the moon and street lamps illuminate the room. The two stood in front of her before she motioned her finger for them to come over.
"You're one hell of a brat, Kingsley." Luke slurred as the two quickly walked over to her, plopping down on either side of her on the bed.
Clover leans in and kisses Luke while Spencer went for her neck, cupping her left breast and massaging it. The touch alone had a moan leave her lips and into Luke's as he moved his tongue on her bottom lip, asking for entrance. As their tongues melded together, Spencer moved the fabric of her top over and took her breast out of the cup of her bra, leaning in and began licking her nipple before taking the whole thing in his mouth sucking it. Clover broke the kiss and let out a whimper, which made both men chuckle as she leaned both of her arms behind her on the bed for support.
Luke looks over to Spencer as he lets go of her breast and looks up to Luke. "Do you think she'll stop being a brat if we do something like this?" Luke asks before moving his fingers down to her core, rubbing over her shorts. Clover bites her lip to hold in a gasp, which Luke wasn't too pleased by.
"Are you going to behave, little one?" Spencer asks as he plays with the waistband of her shorts, his lips ghosting her cheek.
Clover nods, still holding in a moan just from being touched.  Luke grabs ahold of her jaw and quickly turns her face to look at him. "Use your words, princesa."
"Please," she whines.
Spencer has Clover buck her hips as he pulled her shorts and tights off of her. They notice how turned on she was on her panties and both lean in, biting and sucking on either side of her neck. Spencer's fingers linger the inside of her thighs while Luke went back to rubbing her through the cloth. She moves her hips against his fingers, begging for more.
"You were such a tease just a few minutes ago, and now look at you. So helpless and needy in a matter of seconds." says Spencer in between kisses.
Hearing that made Clover take her panties off in a swift, but quick, motion. She couldn't take it anymore, she needed their touch.
"Eager little girl, aren't you?" Luke chuckled.
It took a minute for her to realize that Spencer went straight in, sticking two fingers inside her and pumping slowly while Luke rubbed her pussy. Her brain had turned into mush full of pleasure that when they went in, she couldn't help but let out a loud moan. They sped up their movements, making her let out a silent scream.
"Fuck, daddy!" She gasped out.
The two were shocked, but didn't complain about the name. "Which one of us is daddy, kitten?" Spencer asked.
"You can't think straight, can you?" Luke asked.
Clover pulls Spencer in by his tie while pulling Luke in at the same time by his belt. "Shut up," she says breathy, "just shut up and fuck me."
"Don't go back to being a brat now," says Luke finally after a moment of silence, "You are going to behave or you'll be punished. And I don't think you'll like what we'll do."
Spencer continues to finger her quickly and deeply, curling his fingers as he hit her gspot every time while Luke rubs faster on her clit. Clover falls onto the bed as wave of pleasure hit her like a train.  She closed her walls around Spencers fingers, getting closer and closer to release as he sped up his pace even more.
"Cum for me, little girl, I want you cum so hard on daddy's fingers."
Spencer connects his lips back to her neck as she screamed, letting the waves of pleasure shoot through her body. Luke rubs her slowly to let her ride out her orgasm as Spencer pulls his fingers out and sticks them in his mouth. The way he cleaned her off made her ache all over again, wanting more and more. She didn't want this to end; This was the most pleasure she's ever had.
Luke looks over as Spencer finished devouring her, removing his fingers from his mouth with a small pop. "She tastes so sweet."
Without a single word, Luke gets off the bed and kneels in front of it, pulling Clover by her knees closer to him. As Spencer started making out with her, Luke dives right in between her thighs, licking a single thick stripe up her core, making her moan through the kiss. As their tongues fought like swords in their mouths, Spencer starts to unbuckle his belt and pulled his pants with his boxers in a swift motion, letting his cock spring free. Before it could hit his stomach, however, she grabs onto it with her left hand and starting pumping him slowly. He groans into her mouth before breaking apart, watching her stroke his aching cock.
"Please, daddy. I need your cock so bad fUCK!"
Neither of the two knew who she was talking to, but they did know that it didn't matter. Luke gets up from the floor and takes his costume off while Spencer moved his position so that his knees were on the bed. Clover moves up a bit so that Luke could get back on. The two pump themselves a few times before they pushed themselves in. She took Spencer's cock in her mouth as Spencer grabs a handful of her hair, slowly pushing her down as Luke thrust. As soon as she was comfortable of their size, Luke began thrusting slowly. Clover moaned and grind against him, begging for more, which he happily obliged. Spencer groaned under his breath when she moaned, making him buck his hips forward, shoving his cock down her throat. She gagged on it, tears piercing her eyes.
Clover was at this moment, and maybe even every moment after this, beneath them. Spencer and Luke were exercising their rights to dominate, belittle, and humiliate her. Her holes were filled as her mind quickly unraveled from the rush of pleasure from every minute pulsation. She couldn't even follow their taunts anymore, and the only bit of rationale that she could muster was to be the best sex doll for her two dominators. Her pussy ached for more punishment as they admonished her sloppy performance. She moaned hungrily as she was ravaged, playing the broken slut; no, she was their broken slut. Eagerly enjoying their obvious amusement.
The knot in her stomach was getting tighter and tighter again. She knew Luke was just edging her, making her wait to cum until he was ready. He looked to Spencer, who was holding on for dear life, almost getting into some sort of sub space of his own as the look on his face was begging for release. Clover felt both of their cocks twitch inside her, letting her know they were close.
"Cum for us, princesa," Luke growls, "just one more time for daddy. I know you want to, baby."
Clover turned into a screaming, moaning mess as she came all over Luke's cock, making a huge mess on the bed. That was the last straw for the two men, as they both released inside her, filling her over the edge. The two pulled themselves out, Spencer laying next to Clover (who was showing him that she swallowed every last drop of him) while Luke watched his cum pool out from her, enjoying the view before he lay on the other side of her. Clover wiggled her arms through theirs, focusing on something to cuddle her way into. Spencer quickly grabbed tissues from his side of the bed and cleaned her up.
"You did so good, Clover." says Spencer. He throws the used tissues away in the waste bin beside him and turns back to see tears prickling from her eyes again. "Ssh ssh, it's ok," he coos as he wraps his arms around her. Spencer's soft praises mixed with Luke's gentle hand playing with her hair helped her come back down from the cloudy headspace she was in. She felt cared for and safe with them comforting her.
Clover snuggles into Spencer as Luke's arm wrapped around her waist, spooning behind her. Spencer kissed the top of her head as she nestled her head on his chest, letting the sleepiness that alcohol gave take over them.
As she drifted off to sleep, Clover hoped that she wouldn't forget this perfect night.
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ziracona · 4 years ago
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What do you see happening after Josh is being rescued? Does he meet everyone of his friend eventually or some of them keep their distance? I read one of your answers about them abandoning him and honestly I don't think they didn't care at all about him, but the events were so traumatic and scary that they probably had a hard time taking into consideration that small possibility of him being alive. Plus I guess it's also part of the smooth flow of the game if it makes sense, Mike doesn't go after Jess either after he sees her falling into the mines and accuses Josh of killing her without being 100% sure that she is dead and without seeing Josh around when shit happened to her. But if I were Josh maybe I would be upset knowing they didn't come for me at all. So how would a reunion go?
That’s valid! You can interpret the lack of an interest in rescuing Josh to multiple things—that they are very sure he’s dead, if you want to be as generous as possible to them. That they think he’s probably dead and are afraid of dying too more than willing to save him, that they’re (sans Chris) too mad about the prank he pulled, etc. And I can see why people would go for any number of them. I think to me it has always read like they think he is probably dead, and the whatever he has, 30%, 20% chance? Of still being alive just isn’t enough for them to feel motivated to face very likely death to go hunting for him, especially with flamethrower dude just dead doing the same. Which makes /me/ angry, because Mike went batshit after seeing Jess wounded and dragged through a window and more trying to save her, multiple characters can kill themselves trying to save the others in the finale, etc, and I just think if you /can/ save someone who is your friend—or like, you have a shot anyway—you don’t know it is too late. You should. (& true Jess can still be alive and Mike will assume she is dead, but in his defense, so do basically all blind playthroughs she looks like she falls four stories or something while already almost dead I can’t fault Mike for assuming that was a 100% death there. Boy really tried. Whereas Josh’s vanishing from the shed is much less confirmed. There is no ‘I watched him fall’ here. Just a neither he nor his dead body were still in the shed so /something/ happened). Like I do get it, that’s a terrifying situation and not helping doesn’t = not caring, but I will hold it against characters if they don’t risk themselves to save their friends and I will be unhappy with them. Loyalty is very important to me. But it is a truly terrifying situation.
But I also get why they’d be terrified to go out there. I don’t think it makes them evil to not want to risk it till they have to, it just makes me disappointed in them. I don’t think I said I think they didn’t care about him—typo if I did, because I certainly don’t think that at all! I think Chris was traumatized and felt very sure he was dead, Ashley didn’t care (she explicitly says she thinks he deserves it and tries to stop Chris from saving him the first time), Emily doesn’t care a lot one way or another and is mostly on her own trauma right now and thinking about Matt and the awful shit she saw, that Sam does care but thinks he is probably dead and is in team mom mode and cares more about trying to keep as many friends alive as possible right now than anything else and doesn’t want to lose the others, and Mike is still pissed but also feels very bad and would prefer for Josh to make it but is also more focused on group survival and not losing anyone else since he just lost someone he loves horribly (based largely on how his reaction to the safe room scenario is either to kill Emily and feel awful but do it because he very vocally and visibly doesn’t want the others to be killed and she won’t go peacefully, and he’s terrified of losing them, or to try but not be able to because he loves Emily, and instead give the gun to the others to try to save themselves with in the event she /does/ turn). And although he’s a right coward bastard for leaving Josh if Josh gets grabbed instead of killed, down in the mines, I do think he cared about Josh. He seems truly sorry to some extent when he finds him, and does /try/ to lead him out of the mines. At the point they make the decision to go for the cable car key, I don’t think they don’t care at all, except Ashley. I just think they should care more. Although I tend to give Chris a pass because he just watched a man get beheaded, has strong reason to think Josh is dead, is injured, and spends the entire rest of the game more or less in traumatized mode quiet in the corner.
But that said I can also see why people would interpret the reactions to mean they all believe he is very dead, and mean they’re going after his corpse! I can see lots of basis in-game to interpret in quite a number of ways. And be generous to the fool kids if you want to! I /super/ hold abandoning Josh in the mines wildly against Mike, but Mike is still one of my favorite characters in the whole game. I love how flawed the cast is and that you go in hating most of them and only slowly grow to care because you don’t want them dead-dead, which keeps you there long enough to see some of their good sides. *cheff’s kiss* the great ability of the horror genre. The bar to initially invest is so low, it lets you have such a multi-faceted cast.
Okay anyway, original question! What do I see happening after Josh gets rescued and exorcised.
I think he meets up with all of them again eventually. Interesting to think from Josh’s pov how he’s going to feel. I expect to some degree he does feel abandoned, and fairly, and in RoB it is very clear he is afraid to some extent of Mike and Chris after being dragged off and tied up and left in the shed, and the things they said to him. He also /definitely/ feels massively guilty and self-blaming about all of it. He’s telling himself through Hill that no one will come for him and it’s his own fault by the final chapter. And mostly he’s just afraid of Mike and in ptsd dissociating mode by the time Sam and Mike find him. So, mixed feelings on his part I expect. Lots of fear and pain and hurt at being abandoned and so universally believed capable of murder, hurt, left to die alone in the mines. Pretty damn betrayed, and that on top of the hurt from what happened to his sisters and the inherent paranoia of paranoid schizophrenia. Hurt that they just left him. Hurt they didn’t believe him. Hurt nobody came for him until it was too late. Hurt he got betrayed again. Probably pretty miserable overall. But with that, also feels really bad about going too far and hates and blames himself intensely for everything, and I expect is also kind of not just traumatized but ashamed of what happens to him, and everyone knowing about the possession and the cannibalism. Probably he wants to lock himself in a room in the corner of a big house and never come out. But also is intensely and miserably and hopelessly lonely. Probably feels all of his friendships are likely broken beyond repair.
I don’t think they are though. Chris “I’m not your bro” six seconds later “bro are you for real?” Hartley almost dies trying to save him and wouldn’t care about the possession stuff except to be worried about him. Sam is angry and harboring some resentment, but clearly reacts to Mike reporting he is gone with regret. Mike would probably feel very guilty for leaving him and be hesitant to reconnect and then defensive doing it, but I think he cares. Jess wasn’t even there for this shit so probably she does. Same for Matt maybe? Ashley and Emily are harder to guess for. I think Ashley would be incredibly angry and resentful—I mean she wants him dead in-game, but might eventually join the others if the others got over stuff? Bc she’s also kinda a joiner? Really it’s hard to say she is a very...hair-trigger character. Volatile and intensely and massively changeable. Probably the least predictable of all. That kind of person scares me deeply in real life because I have been very backstabbed by them before. >.> But anyway hard to say. Also a lot of this depends on what ending, even assuming they all live. But I usually assume that like, Mike almost shot Em, didn’t, Matt tried to save her, Sam saw the workshop, etc ending. Emily I really don’t know. She’s a very self-reliant and hard person. She didn’t have anything very specifically for or against Josh with her experience, but wasn’t that close to him before, so I think she just kinda falls wherever she falls.
I think mostly though that they’d reconnect. Definitely Chris would jump to it, and I think Sam would too—she’s a well educated, empathetic and understanding person. She’d know he needs her. And Chris is his childhood best friend and cares the whole game. I think Mike would try to go too because of guilt, and because he’s a decent guy. Probably so would after not much time those least effected by what Josh did. I think Josh would be alone while being exorcised and probably reocvering in a hospital some after, and Chris would be the first, or Chris and Sam possibly. I think he’d be afraid to see them, and it would be complicated and messy and painful for them all, but it would be okay and sort itself out and they’d find old ground quickly. And having them there would be /incredibly/ vital to helping him recover. I think eventually he’d get back on his feet, and a lot of his old friends would be around and stay in his life. I think things would get better. I’d say the OG ExorJosh comic writer I think did a good job of guessing about what a lot of it would be like. Hard, and slow, and messy. But a lot of them care for him, and I think that would matter enough to help things get okay between them again.
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